Monday

Another Linebacker for the family . . .

He'll just play for a different team than Dalton. :)

Introducing . . .

Nolan David Hyde IIIborn to Mandy and Nolan Hyde
on Sunday March 29th
at 12:11am
9lbs 5oz.
22 inches long


So yes, this does mean that I am now a "great"-aunt at the age of 24! How crazy is that? And "great"-uncle Todd is SOOO proud too. Mandy and baby Nolan are do
ing well. She labored like a champ. Contractions started on Saturday around lunch time. She went to the hospital at 2pm and was pushing by 11:30pm. She pushed soooo great, but baby Nolan was sunny-side up, which made for a VERY difficult delivery. Pray for Mandy as she recovers in the next few weeks. And pray for baby Nolan that his head and face heal.... the doctor used a vaccuum and forceps which left a big strawberry bruise under all his black hair. Also his face is bruised from where he was hitting her pelvic bone as she pushed. Overall he is doing great ... and so handsome! I suppose they will come home today. Pray they don't have an extended stay, like we did!

Dalton loves him already. He was trying to hold baby Nolan's HUGE hand!



Sunday

The "Joys" of Spring!

As spring arrives, so does my hubby's favorite hobby! This is the best possible way to sum up my feelings . . . Seriously, I think I wrote this . . .


Wednesday

WORKING WOMAN!

My first day back to work finally happened. After a lot of worrying and anticipation . . . it wasn't so bad. Todd stayed home with Dalton and they did fine without me, playing and watching Disney movies. After going into Dalton's nursery and peeking at him literally 10 times before I left, I was fine too. I guess I wanted to make sure I didn't forget what he looked like. HAHA. I was happy to see my best work friend Toni was there to keep me company. I didn't really get to ease back in, I walked into a patient's room who was screaming for an epidural. Now being the new experienced mother that I am, I understand just how crucial it was for her to get the epidural IMMEDIATELY! So I jumped right in and called the anesthesiologist. As he was there and attempting her epidural, the woman who had been 4 centimeters just minutes before was now exclaiming that she needed to push. This was also something I understood totally!!! We stopped the epidural and I found that she was now ready to push. Her doctor was AT HOME! So needless to say, I had a crazy morning almost delivering the baby MYSELF, but I did find a doctor to deliver the 5lb 5oz. peanut!
The afternoon slowed down and I had time to pump for Dalton to replace the freezer stored milk that Todd was using. This was something that I was worried about. I didn't want to have to give Dalton formula for these 3 days a month that I will be working. That seemed unneccesary, but of course I would do whatever in order to provide for Dalton. So I was happy to find time to pump at work. I suppose they are a little more understanding when it comes to that since I do work in Labor and Delivery.
That's all for now. I'm working again Saturday, and then not again until April 1st.

Sunday

Dalton's Dedication





Today we dedicated Dalton to the Lord, agreeing to be Christian examples for him and to bring him up in a Christian home. We are so happy that the Lord has entrusted us this precious child of His! We prayed that He would send us a child and now we will honor Him by raising Dalton so that someday he will make the decision to ask Jesus into his little heart!
(Thanks to cousin Erica for these great photos!)

Thursday

Hope you like it!!

A much needed facelift of this blog occurred in the wee hours of the morning. What was I thinking!?! I aim to please my devoted readers . . . hope you all enjoy! These monkeys fit us perfect. If you know my husband, it is he that makes this house a jungle, not the 3 1/2 month old!

The not so "first day" back!

Pep talk after pep talk, I finally had psyched myself up for the first official day back to work. The plan was for Todd to take Dalton to my mom's on the way to work. All plans were made, Dalton's bags were packed, my lunch was made, clothes laid out . . . etc etc.
The phone rings at 5am. "Autumn, I hate to do this to you on your first day back . . . buuuuttt . . . we don't need you this morning. Call back at 10 to see if we need you at 11."
Apparently, the Lord was watching over the patients of Dekalb Medical Center on Tuesday. Dalton had a horrible night (which normally don't exist here at the House of Payne). I suppose he could sense my tenseness and apprehension about working on Tuesday. He literally didn't sleep for more than 30 minutes at a time. IT WAS HORRIBLE!! When my alarm went off at 4:30, I had already been up for quite a while. But I jumped in the shower to begin my routine. After the phone call, Todd and I immediately stopped everything and thanked God for the blessing of a few extra hours of sleep. Dalton had finally gotten into a good sleep now at 5am. There was no way I could have cared for patients on Tuesday, I could barely care for myself after the night we had.
Needless to say, when I called at 10 after having slept from 6am to 9am, they asked if I needed to come in. HA, yes I may have needed the money, but I still was in no mood for working. I was exhaused. I took advantage of being given a choice, and chose not to go in!
I took that as an opportunity to spend the beautiful 80-something degree day with my baby boy! And I'm glad I did.
We'll try this whole "back to work" thing next week!!