A weekend full of visitors

Hazel has had a very busy little weekend. Not only did she cheer the Bears on to victory (Go Bears!), but she also played hostess to some visitors.

Grammy and Papaw Burton arrived on Friday afternoon to take a peek at the new granddaughter, and Hazel appears to have passed their high standards. Grammy and Papaw returned both Saturday and Sunday as an extra pair of hands, fixing us meals, helping with laundry, and always willing to hold the baby.

On Sunday afternoon, Ryan and Julianna Linder came to visit.

Hazel meeting Jack, her kitty

Showing off her long legs

There are her pretty eyes...

And, a roar for good measure

Everybody home safely

After two days in the hospital, everyone has made it home safely. Megan and Hazel were discharged around 1:30 on Thursday afternoon, and the new family made its way back home. That evening, we were visited by Aunt Anne and cousins Laura, Katherine, and Audrey!

The first look at the new cousin

Katherine and Hazel seem to be getting along already!

It looks like Laura has done this before

Some of Hazel's first gifts (from Aunt Stephanie)


And for those who think Hazel does nothing but pose for pictures, her are a few more of her being cute and/or funny...

Just another Monday night

Monday night started like many others. I went to volleyball while Megan stayed at home and snuggled with the kitties. When I got home at 8:45, Megan said that she had been having some light, inconsistent contractions, and it might be worth timing a few. At about 9:30, she had a significantly stronger contraction, and felt a small pop. Sure enough, her water had broken, and was slowly trickling down her leg. We called the doctor, and she suggested we head over the the hospital, but to take our time.

We got to the hospital around 11:30, went through check-in and into triage. The triage nurse took a look at Megan, and stated that we were in a rather unfortunate situation. Her water had broken, so we had to stay at the hospital, but she was only 90% effaced and 1cm dilated. Her guess was that we would not do anything really exciting until some time Tuesday afternoon at the earliest. We moved down to our labor and delivery room around 12:30, and our nurse suggested the Megan take a dose of Nubain to take the edge off the contractions and a sleeping pill so she could rest for the big day upcoming. Megan took the sleeping pill at 12:45, and tried to get some sleep.

At 2:15AM, Megan was awake and in distinct pain. She paged the nurse, and complained that the Nubain wasn't doing much of anything. The nurse suggested maybe an epidural would be appropriate. We were hoping to avoid using an epidural, but the contractions were coming quickly and painfully. Megan told her that we would like to talk it over before we made a decision. The nurse thought that was a good idea, and checked Megan just to see if anything was happening. She dilated to 6cm! However, the nurse still thought it would probably take another 5-6 hours.

At 2:45am, we paged the nurse to start the epidural process. She set Megan up on an IV and paged the anesthesiologist. She also took a quick peak at how Megan was doing. 8cm dilated! So, we waited, and contracted, and waited, and contracted. At 3:15AM, the anesthesiologist opened the door. The nurse did a quick check, and Megan was at 10cm! We decided to just get the baby out, and not take the time to get the epidural. Megan's doctor showed up at 3:20, and at 3:39AM, Hazel was born.

Mom and baby are still at the hospital and doing very well. Mom is a little sore, but is in good spirits. Hazel is beautiful, and everything we could have hoped for!

Hazel Lynn McCain
6lbs 4oz, 19.75 in

Hazel's first peek at her daddy

Hazel and her momma are doing just fine

Hazel and duckies, perfect together

Goofy face #1

Goofy face #2

And to think, that face is going to be my downfall...

Some nursery pictures

It took us a while, but the nursery is just about finished. We are going for a garden theme. In the garden, we have all kinds of cute little bugs (and occasional kitties). The garden is surrounded by a white picket fence, and (hopefully) everyone is happy!

The ladybug crib

The kitty wasn't part of the original design, but he insists that he adds a touch of class

The dresser and changing table with a ladybug lamp.

More ladybugs. I'm starting to sense a theme.

Note Daddy, Mommy, and Baby ant crawling up the door frame...

Last Weekend

The last few weekends have been very busy for Glenn and I. We have been working our little hearts out on the nursery, and I am proud to report that we are very close to being able to say that it is finished. It is, in fact, much closer to being finished than it was a month ago, and that is saying a lot.

Last Saturday, Stephanie and Anne came over to help us get some painting done in the nursery, and we had a great time together. The girls painted the room a bright spring green, and then the three of us stamped all kinds of ladybugs, butterflies, and dragonflies, and even a couple of snails and a caterpillar on the walls, while Glenn ran off to play poker. Here are a few pictures of our efforts.

Steph and Anne are painting pros!

We all knew that fingerpainting was Glenn's special skill. See how artfully he has mastered painting ants on the wall with his fingers? I'm so proud of him!

Because our walls are textured, getting a rubber stamp to look the way you want it to is harder than it seems. It requires lots of concentration.

Our garden-themed nursery is almost complete. I will have more photos by the end of the day hopefully.

Steph and Anne also threw us a shower last weekend. That was their Sunday project! They did a great job and everyone had a great time. Aunt Ann and Uncle Bob came down from Chicago and they brought Mandy with them too. They also brought gifts from ALL the McCains and Swindells. For such a little creature, our little baby sure got some great big gifts! There were a lot of our in-town friends that were able to make it to, and it was fun to spend the afternoon with everyone. Plus, Tony got to show off his new basement home theater, as the Colts game was broadcast in high definition on the big screen projection t.v. downstairs for all the men. (And the Colts won.) Here are a few photos from the shower.

The obligatory 37 week belly shot. No wonder I've gotten so big; I can't stop eating cake!

The two cutest pregnant women in the whole world (if I do say so myself).

We can't wait for our "twin" cousins to come and play together.

All photos for this blog entry are courtesy of Stephanie Marsden, as she is the photo-snapping guru, and Glenn and I haven't yet figured out the new camera I bought him for his birthday. (It's a simple point and shoot, and yet here we are....)