Happy Birthday Madison Grace!

 My due date was Saturday, September 3. We had went to the doctor on the Friday before and everything was still looking good. The doctor checked me and I was 2cm dilated and more thinned out than the week before. She suggested we induce the following week if Madison had not made her appearance on her own. We decided to set our appointment for Tuesday, September 6 since Monday was Labor Day. 

We tried talking to Madison, walking a few times a day, eating spicy foods and a few other old wives tales but none of them worked. So Tuesday morning, after not much sleep the night before, we get to the hospital at 6am to be induced. By 6:15, we are in the delivery room getting hooked up to IV fluids, the contraction machine and the heartbeat monitor to keep track with Madison's heart rate. Around 8am, they come in and start my Pitosin(the induce meds). By this point, I'm already contracting on my own at 3-6 mins apart with no pain, and am dilated 3cm. The doctor comes in around 11, says I'm dilated 3 1/2 cm and breaks my water. Bring on the pain! 

I had back labor which was mainly in my low back and butt. They weren't too bad to begin with but as I kept dilating, the pain got worse and worse. Around 1:00, when I saw I was contracting every 1-2 mins, and could hardly stand the pain anymore, Alan called the nurse to come check me and I was 6cm dilated- time for the epidural!

The doctor came in for the epidural and I was so nervous! I was scared that I wouldn't be able to sit up during contractions and be really still for him to put the epidural in. But really the worst part of sitting up and leaning over was that it hurt my shoulders really bad, just hunching over for what seemed like an hour -even though I'm sure it was 5 minutes. If I've never heard angels sing before the epidural, I heard them that day! It's true what they say about it being the best invention ever! All I could feel was my belly tightening when I was contracting but there was zero pain. At 3:00 the nurse came in to check me and I was 10cm dilated. "Ready to push?" she said... 

"Um, where's the Dr?" 

"Oh, he won't come in until the baby is about to come out- about the last 10 minutes" she said

"Well okay..."

After an hour and 10 minutes of pushing, at 4:22pm, Madison Grace made her appearance!

Daddy cutting the cord. The nurses said in all their years, they had never heard a father apologize to the baby for cutting the cord. He kept telling her he was sorry for hurting her :) That's Dr Eastin, the doctor that delivered.

 

 8.1 lbs. 20 3/4" long. 4:22pm September 6, 2011

 

After the cord was cut, holding her for the first time. I think my face says it all. What an emotional moment!

All cleaned up, stretched out under the heat lamp..

Mommy/daughter time

Madison meeting her Grandma(Crystal's mom) for the first time

 

In the nursery after her bath. Stretched out again!

 

Meeting Uncle William

Madison is 1 day old here.

 

Little Strawberry

  

One of my favorite pictures. It makes my heart melt.

She looks so tiny in his arms!

Uncle Parks

Aunt Rachel

She loves her daddy!

Madison with her Nimmie(Alan's mom)

 

 First car ride - coming home! Thursday, September 8. Best 5 year anniversary present ever. I know she looks stuffed in the car seat and we have since figured out how to put her in there correctly :) Bear with us, it was our first time putting a child in a car seat! She didn't mind, she fell right asleep!

 

In her bassinet at home.

All swaddled up in her crib.

Swinging for the first time. She has since learned to like it.

Sierra checking things out

Meeting Pepaw for the first time

Heading to her 1 week checkup. Doesn't she look more comfy?

7.15 lbs - 62%
20 3/4" long - 90%
13 3/4" head circumference - 66%

Doctor said she looks really great and he's very pleased with her weight. They lose weight after they are born but should be back to their birth weight by 2 weeks of age. She goes for her first round of shots October 28.

Meeting her great grandmother, Gimmie and seeing her Nimmie again.

Smiling for mama

And a big smile for daddy!

Love these feet!

She wakes up smiling!

Hey!

 She yawns all day long! It's sooo cute!

Tummy time on her mat, holding her head up, looking in the mirror.

39 & 40 weeks

August 27-Sept 3(39 weeks)

Not many more changes from here on out. Her lungs will continue to develop and she will keep building her fat layers.

We had a doctor appointment on the 2nd that showed I was 2cm dilated(10cm is delivery) and my cervix is more thinned. Her heart rate was in the 160s. My weight is 128 and my belly measures 39" which means she's dropping! We have an appointment on Tuesday(6th) to induce if Madison doesn't come before then. And being that her due date was yesterday, I don't think she's in any rush but we are hoping she's going to come on her own tonight or tomorrow. Please continue to pray for us. Here is my 40 week picture since there won't be any more changes and she will be here on Tuesday at the latest!(40 weeks)

38 weeks

August 20-27, 2011Madison's organs are fully developed now. And we know, since our ultrasound yesterday, that she is weighing over average roughly. Her development is nearly complete as she tends to a few last-minute details like shedding the skin-protecting vernix and lanugo. She's also producing more surfactant, a substance that prevents the air sacs in her lungs from sticking to one another once she starts to breathe. Most of the changes this week are small but important: She’s continuing to add fat and she is fine-tuning her brain and nervous system.

This week we got Madison's car seat base in Alan's car and her sunshades in both cars. Since we are transporting Wilma back and forth to the vet using my car, we have just put the base for my car with Madison's hospital bag and car seat. I also got both of our hospital bags packed as much as I can, adding my travel bag with bathroom must-haves and a 0-3 months outfit into Madi's bag just in case she's too big for a newborn outfit-which might be the case, if the ultrasound measured right! I also had my last massage before she comes too. I decided that's what I wanted for my birthday and I'm so glad I did! It was MUCH needed and highly recommended for any pregnant girl! I go every 3 weeks anyway but during my pregnancy, massages have been like a little slice of Heaven for me. I'd have my massage therapist in the room with me massaging me during labor if she'd do it! :)

Doctor's appointment on the 26th showed her heart rate was in the 130s. I am also still 1/2 cm dilated, which is no change from last week. It's also where we got to see Madison with 4D ultrasound pictures and got to see the little fat rolls on her legs and the little bit of hair on her head! My weight is 128(down a little which is normal) and my belly measures 38". I am 39 weeks 1 day today(Sunday) so we only have 6 days left until her due date of Sept. 3. We are anxiously awaiting her arrival!

Back off boys!

We had our 38 week 6 day appointment today and they did an ultrasound to see how big Madison was. She is weighing in at 7 lbs 15 oz! They said to give or take a pound since it's hard to get an accurate measurement-that it's a rough estimate. Here are some of the pics:

This is a regular profile picture. You can see her mouth open. We saw her moving her mouth like she was sucking a bottle. See all the stuff floating around in front of her face?

Here are the 4D pictures:

Mouth open! So cute!

All that stuff floating around is why you can't see her right eye very well. You could see it just swirling around! So weird! That is her arm up by her face.

Those lips. To.die.for. I mean seriously! That is her arm and you can see 3 of her fingers. The cheeks. Oh dear.

This one makes her face look squished :) Look at those cheeks! The chin!

So peaceful.

We can't believe how cute and perfect she is! I'm so glad they did another ultrasound, and that she did some 4D pictures so we can picture what she looks like. I am still 1/2cm dilated which is no change from last week. But it doesn't mean I can't go into labor tonight since everyone dilates at a different rate. It may take me another week to get any farther or it could take a few hours. We will see! All I know is that we can't wait to meet her!

37 weeks

August 13-20, 2011
Madison is now full term! That means if she's born now, her lungs are likely mature enough to adjust to life outside the womb. She weighs roughly 6 1/3 lbs and measures a little over 19" from head to heel.

We had our 37 week 6 day doctor appointment yesterday(19th) and the Dr said I am already dilated 1/2 centimeter(4 is active labor and 10 is delivery) and my cervix is 1/2 effaced (thinning to prepare for labor). This doesn't mean that she will come tonight though. She could or she could wait 2 more weeks. My belly measurement went down an inch by the way the doctors measure-they measure from chest to pelvic bone, I measure circumference- which means Madison is dropping to prepare for delivery. The Dr also ordered an ultrasound for next Friday to see how much Madison weighs and to make sure everything still looks great. We haven't seen her since our scare at 25 weeks, so we don't mind seeing her again!

My weight is 130.4 (23 lb weight gain) and belly is measuring 37 1/2".

36 weeks

August 6-13, 2011
Madison is now the size of a honeydew! She weighs roughly 6 pounds and 18 1/2" long. She is shedding the hair and vernix(the waxy substance that helped her not to wrinkle in her 9 month bath) that covers her body. Her gums are rigid and her liver and kidneys are now working! Her circulation and immune system are also good to go. Her lungs are the only organ that isn't fully developed yet but she's getting closer to that every day.

We had a doctor appointment on the 11th. I finally got to see my actual doctor this time! She said that everything looks great and it looks like Madison is head down still. We were a little concerned because the thumping of her hiccups had moved from my low belly to the middle of my stomach. We also rearranged the living room to make room for her Pack N Play(playpen) and her swing. Now Wilma's crate is taking up her Pack N Play spot so we will have to figure that out when she gets here. My weight is 129.6 and belly is measuring 37 1/2".

My last day at work was the 12th. I am officially a stay at home wife & mom. It was bittersweet since I've worked with those girls for 3-7 years and I will miss seeing them everyday but I'm so excited and blessed to be able to stay home with Madison.

Sweet Wilma

As most of ya'll know, our dog Wilma was in an accident a last Sunday. When Alan cuts grass, Wilma free roams and follows him. The past month or so, she's gotten bad about chasing after white trucks. Well a white truck came down the road pulling a trailer and she chased it and clipped her leg on the trailer. I was inside visiting with a friend and a guy came to the door and told me that Alan needed me. We took her to the emergency vet/hospital in the next town over. We called them on the way and they had a room ready for her when we got there! She seemed to do okay on the way over there, wagging her tail and giving Alan kisses. They x-rayed her and told us her leg was broke, which we already knew it was. Said they were going to keep her overnight and a specialist would do surgery Monday morning on it. When we left her, she was very sedated but doing okay. We went back the next morning to speak with the surgeon and he went over what he would do. He said it wouldn't be a good idea to come see her that day so she can rest. After the surgery, he called to say it went well and she was resting. He said he put a rod in her leg and they decided to put an external fixture on her leg. He said we could go see her the next day and he was pleased with the way she turned out. Tuesday morning he called to update me and said she seemed to be a little behind in progress but was overall using the leg a little, but stated she was in a lot of pain and that could be a lot of reason why. We decided to go up there around 3:00 and she gave us really big smiles when we got to her! She stood up, using that leg and the nurse asked us if we wanted to take her out to potty. When we took her out, she mainly used the 3 legs but stepped on her hurt leg every few steps. After she pottied, we let her lay in the grass for a good bit and she really enjoyed that! After we were done visiting, the surgeon told us they would probably keep her until Thursday. We requested he update us on her condition Tuesday night. He called around 7:30 and said she was doing great- much better than that morning. He said her face was a lot brighter. He said he would call us Wednesday morning with another update.

He called around 9 Wednesday morning, and much to our surprise, he said she could come home! He said he personally took her out to potty that morning and she used her foot every step she took, as long as she walked slow. He said as long as we had some blankets to switch out since she was draining a little and watched her carefully, that she was fine to come! He said her progress was where she should be at that point and he was very pleased! We went to pick her up around 2:30 and she was so excited to get to go on a car ride!

It is now 7 days since since her accident and we think that today has been her best day yet. She's been doing really well overall though. She is slow going in the mornings but we think it's because she's been 8 hours overnight without medicine and her leg is stiff since she's crated while we sleep. We take her out again around lunchtime, around 5-6 and then again before we go to bed around 10. Alan rewrapped one of her screws last night because the drainage has collected and was really smelly! Below is a picture of Wilma's fixture. I didn't take a closeup of it for obvious reasons. And we want to thank Melissa for moving our lawn mower out of the front yard and say we are sorry she had to be here to witness the whole situation.. And for the use of her crate so Wilma can sleep in the room with us at night.

Wilma will have to be confined for at least 10 weeks. We take her back to the Dr for a checkup this Thursday so we are hoping for a good report! Just keep praying for her healing!