The FIRST Bath at Home!

Well... our second little one has proven to be just as modest as her big brother. Amongst getting used to the schedule of a new born again, we are remembering the fun of first. Since we had been home for a few days now, it was time to give Maddie her first bath. I had been taught a really good trick by my delivering nurse regarding how to give babies baths in the beginning. So we started with the unpleasant part. As you can see, she was less than thrilled.

But then the fun part began. After getting her full body wash, it was time to wash that WONDERFUL head of hair! And wouldn't you know it, she LOVED the sound of the running water. She calmed right down, and allowed us to run her head under the water. All swaddled up, she just patiently allowed us to finish up with her bath.

She is so precious about getting her hair washed too! She'll move her head from side to side, depending on which side we're attempting to get wet or rinse off. She's a natural already!

It's the best shot I could get of her being held under the faucet, but her face is so precious when she's getting her hair washed!

Then it was finished, and she was at peace! All swaddled up! We had a wonderful first bath, and have had a few good ones since. But we're mostly excited for when she's big enough to sit in the big bubble bath! But we're still quite a few months away from that!

AND THEN THERE WERE FOUR!

HERE SHE IS! LITTLE MISS MADELYN!!!!

Well, it was a LONG and HARD process, but she is finally here! Her official due date was November 14th, but she decided to wait and make her grand entrance on her own special day! It was a fun, and slightly interesting story, and I wish to tell you EVERY rough minute of it!

On Friday, November 14th, I went in for a doctor requested appointment, to see if I had made any progress toward labor, to which I had not. So Allan and I were given some information regarding induction, which I will say, I was not all that excited for. But because my doctor (being as everything needed to be on her schedule) decided that she wanted me to attempt to deliver before she went on her Thanksgiving vacation. So we were scheduled to go in to the birthing center on Monday morning, November 17th, to be induced via Mistoprystl. She had decided because naturally I was making no progress, it would be a bad idea to use Pitosin, because it was a "losing battle". So we heard the information, and signed our hesitance away for them to do this procedure.

I had called down as I was supposed to on Monday morning, to make sure a bed was available, and a nurse. Originally I was told I would need to be there at 7:30 am, and they would start inducing by 8 am. Well, everyone in the world knows nothing EVER works the way it is supposed to, and so they told me to come down at 8:30 am when I called, and didn't even start the process until 10:15. What were they doing you ask? That's an excellent question, and I wish to goodness I had an answer for you!

Then, slowly but surely, the contractions started... they were light, but noticeable. I laid down for an hour, then sat up for an hour, and then was allowed to walk around for an hour. Inducing was not as fun as you'd think it might be. Then after the first dose, they did another treatment. I again had to go through the same process. My contractions started picking up, to being about every 7 minutes, and not lasting very long. But I noticed them. The nurse then decided because I was having contractions, that it would be a good idea to not do another treatment, and allow my body to try to start it's own natural pregnancy. So at 4:30, I was on my own. And you know what, nothing really changed. The contractions started to get a little stronger, but nothing too difficult to bear. Family and friends sat around, waiting for something to happen. I walked the halls, waiting myself for something to happen. And then at 7:30 pm, the doctor came in, and it was the worse news in the world. She said I was making no progress, and that they were most likely going to send me home (I could have told her there was no progress, because wouldn't you know, they didn't give me the additional doses they probably should have!). She said because I was having contractions, they were going to monitor me for a couple more hours, and then make a decision. To which they did, and then 3 hours later, they told me they'd monitor me for another four hours and get back to me. There were a lot of mixed emotions that I don't want to go in to, and a lot of frustration about the HORRIBLE nursing staff, and the even worse doctor who was treating me. As you know, I didn't like her to begin with. So at 1:30 in the morning, they decided to send me home. CAN YOU BELIEVE IT!?! I was SO horribly upset at this point. They sent me with some sleeping medications, to which I did not take, and basically left me with no real resolution. Only fears of what this would lead to.

The next morning, I woke up, and the contractions were still there, VERY noticeable. I was also having some other concerns, so I decided to call and talk to the birthing center, to get their advice. They told me that nothing seemed to indicate pregnancy at this point, and to just kind of monitor things. So for the day, every 5-7 minutes for the most part, I was having contractions, and they'd last about 1-2 minutes a piece. But we didn't let it stop our day. We went out to the stores, stopped by and ran some errands, and just went about our day. And things seemed to keep progressing as they did, but I thought NOTHING of it. Then Allan's brother and wife came over to make us dinner, and help us out with a few things, and I noticed that things were getting far more noticeable, and more painful. So at 6:30 pm, I decided to start monitoring my contractions. They were consistent, every 3-4 minutes, lasting 45 seconds to a minute. At 9:30, I decided to call down to the birthing center, and explain what was going on, and they requested me to come in to get checked out. So needless to say we rushed in, in the most pain I have EVER been in in my life! Okay, that's not true, but it sure felt like it. They sent me to the exam room where Allan joined me, and guess what they found out. I was already at 9 cm. And everything from there was a wonderful rush! They wheeled me in to my room, where I had to rush to get all my papers signed, and my IVY in. Allan rushed calls to family to tell them to get down to the hospital as quickly as possible. And before we knew it, she was on her way!
And she was born, not even an hour later! Weighing in at 7 pounds and 2 ounces, and 19 3/4 inches long. Her official time of birth was 10:45 pm, and her head was FULL of black hair, as you can tell. It was perfection! I couldn't have asked for a better labor, since I got to do most of it at home, and a better delivery, which only took about 30 minutes!

She is so delightful, though we've found her to be SUCH a night owl, which I guess she gets from her mom! But she's so quiet, even when she's all worked up, you could barely hear her. We just adore her little voice!

When she is awake, she's SO curious, she just looks around to explore the world around her. Of course she had a natural tendency to put her thumb in her mouth, just like her brother, but she seems to have grown passed it! We just are in awe remembering what it's like to have such a little, little one around! Ethan is doing WONDERFUL with her for the most part! The only time he really has a hard time is when people come to visit, and they don't focus all their attention on him like they used to. But he's good at helping get her baby diapers, and putting her pacifier in her mouth when she's upset, and he likes to tell everyone who his baby is. Though it took him a while to realize that baby Madie wasn't in mommy's tummy anymore. He really is going to continue to be a great big brother in the end!

Well, I'm sure there's so many more stories to share, however, I need to tend to my little miss! but I wanted to make sure to get everyone updated! Please feel free to stop by and visit any time, as long as it's after 10 am! Or else I won't hear the door! haha. Have a WONDERFUL Thanksgiving. I know what we're thankful for this year!

I'm ready for the big entrance...

Well - - needless to say, YES, I am one week away from my dreaded due date, but this last week has been the MOST difficult for me (what with Ethan being born TWO weeks early) - - I have been anticipating the labor pains, and hoping that they will lead to the big delivery, however, I have had many many contractions, not close enough to mean anything, yet feeling like I need a sign that the end is coming! haha... I won't lie, I am more scared of this labor than I was of Ethan's, mostly because I know what to expect with this one. But I am sticking to my convictions of a drugless labor, with the support of all my family and friends. Truthfully, I'm more scared of not realizing I'm in labor! I know, crazy as it sounds, but I'm just someone who has a completely different body chemistry than most of the women I have talked to. With Ethan, I was awoke from my sleep to what I thought was a horrible moment of "peeing my pants" - - which I later learned was my water breaking. Never have I felt more ridiculous. And needless to say, contractions to me, really feel much like menstrual cramps, so what if I'm sitting here, uncomfortable as can be, having contractions, without realizing that they pains I'm feeling are labor pains? How crazy am I??? I know... These are the things that are running through my mind DAILY!

Allan has been wonderful this past week, while also anxious for the delivery, because he's looking forward to his 8 week vacation! And I don't blame him! But he's definitely been making me take every step possible. We've gone out walking, and he's even gotten to the point of requesting that I walk on the treadmill downstairs while we're watching shows. Because I'm eager to have this happen to, I'm definitely not fighting his requests. He has been far more understanding to what my body has been going through this time around, than he was with Ethan. But I think my strength through all of this has shown him how much I can handle. Today (11/7/08) marks my last day of doing childcare until after the baby is born. I will take 3 weeks off, and since Allan will still be here, we will transition back in to our daily routines. So hopefully that's a sign that she'll come by Monday! With Ethan, I worked up until "literally" the day he was born. He was born on a Monday, and I was at work the previous Friday. But every other opportunity I've had for this pregnancy to resemble his, has failed me! haha...

So now, it's all down to waiting. At my last appointment (11/3/08) she had said that I had noticeably dropped, however, my cervix was not showing much movement. She said not to be discouraged because it could change at any point, but she was sure I would be in my next clinic appointment. So far, she's right. I go in again on Monday (as long as no labor starts over the weekend) and she'll let me know where we're at there. I am hopeful I will have made some progress by that point.

I am hopeful that the next blog I post will be the arrival of this wonderful bundle of joy. I'd like to meet her. See what she's like, see who she looks like, and am more than convinced that she will be every bit as beautiful as her brother was and is! I just want to hold her in my arms, instead of in my tummy. But I'm convincing myself that it will all take place in God's perfect timing. Well... It's time to get back on my feet. Hopefully something will work in my favor!

Thanks for taking the time to read of my frustrations and fears... I hope all are doing well!!! I look forward to being able to introduce you to our wonderful blessing!

A Day to Celebrate the Little Lady!

What would my little girl's baby shower be without a Minnie Mouse cake???

It turned out to be SUCH a wonderful baby shower! I couldn't have asked for a better turn out, and better food, and even more important, such wonderful blessings for our little girl. I really was blessed by my family and friends on this amazing day, and there is just not enough "thank yous" in the world to give to everyone to helped planned, and who made an appearance. Here's some wonderful photos of the day, the games played, and the amazing people in my life!

Here is three generations celebrating together. My mom, and her mom, and I, all together, celebrating the arrival of the fourth generation of girls in the family! The last time we had a photo like this was at my wedding, so this was very exciting for us!

Part of the baby shower party. Here are my mom and grandma again, my sister in law Angie, and her mom Diane, and one of the greatest daycare moms in the world, Catharine! I hope they had as much fun as I did, they were such a blast to have at the festivities!

Also, baby Cate, two weeks old, was able to make an appearance. My soon to be daycare addition! I was very excited to get to see her again. She belongs to Catharine, and is going to be roughly two months older than Miss Madi, and they are destined to be Best Friends Forever because they share a name in common (as Madi's middle name will be Kate just like her mommy's)! Her big brother Corbin and Ethan are only 5 months apart, so I couldn't ask for a better Daycare family!

Also joining the party were such WONDERFUL friends of mine, Tammi (who's daughter Tori is only a month younger than Ethan), Mandy (who helped plan the shower, and who also has a daughter Jilly who is 3 months younger than Ethan) and my Heather, whom helped with taking the pictures at the party! What a life saver! I couldn't ask for people who lift me up any better than these three gals! I was blessed to have them there!

My Trisha! One of the many who also helped plan my baby shower, she also did TREMENDOUSLY wonderful things for me! Aside from helping Mandy lead the games, she took me out shopping to be able to have a WONDERFUL baby shower outfit the week before. I was SO grateful and thankful for her pampering! She also picked me up and delivered me home from the events. She's such a good friend to me, and I'm so thankful to have her in my life! What a great hostess (of the many that were there!).

The other master of ceremonies, Mandy, whom made Madi the most BEAUTIFUL picture frames, that everyone signed, to hang in her room! We're excited to get those put up! These two girls really made the events and the day SO much fun! I am so lucky to have wonderful people in my life!

Me and my wonderful Daycare mom Catharine! What an awesome lady. Just had her baby TWO weeks ago, and she's back on her feet like it was no big feat! She's an amazingly awesome lady, and I appreciate her family so much, and am so thankful for the opportunity to get to watch her kids during the day while she works. I look forward to taking them back on after I heal from having little Madi. I enjoyed being able to spend the weekend with her!!! (As her son Corbin's 2nd birthday party was the day before!).

More wonderful people in my life. My mother in law Sue, her neighbor Sarah, my sister in law Katie, and Sarah's mom Rene. Sue and Katie also contributed SO much to this shower to make it So wonderful! I was so blessed by the things they did for me.

My wonderful family! My cousin-in-laws as I call them, Nicole (my cousin Chad's wife), Danielle (my cousin Josh's wife), my aunt Monica (their mother in law) and my cousin Brittany. It was so nice to get to see them and catch up a little.

The table that I made my stake at! There's me, Trisha, Margie (a GREAT family friend, and a wonderful ex-coworker!), my mom, Malaika, and my other great Friend and ex-coworker Sarah (Malaika's mom!). We had fun cheating off each other's game cards, and chatting, and telling such great stories! It really was a fun day. If you didn't have a chance to make it, you REALLY missed out!


We played some REALLY fun games. One being the "Candy Bar Pregnancy" game, where people had to match candy bar names to pregnancy terms, and it really turned out to be so much fun. People got to see candy bars in a whole new light! We also tested people on their "observance" of baby foods, and seeing if they could name them, just by looking at them. Then during the gift opening, we handed everyone a "baby pin", and anyone who got caught saying the words "cute", lost their pin, and the winner was the person who held the most pins at the end of the gifts. It was fun to see everyone put their heads together, and get things accomplished!

The gift table was absolutely covered with such wonderful blessings for our little girl. Thank everyone SO much for being SO wonderful to us!

The food was DELICIOUS. Mandy contributed her AMAZINGLY awesome vegetable tray. It was delicious! I was so grateful for it! And Trisha made Guacamole, Hummus, and brought plenty of chips and dips to share. They were also amazing! And my mother in law made a great meat and cheese tray, with crackers included, and an awesome apple and caramel tray. It really was an amazing spread of food!!! I ate to my hearts content! I hope everyone else did too!

The moments of me opening Madi's WONDERFUL gifts. It was really an awesome day for this little girl. She ended up getting SO much, and we were SO thankful and grateful for that! I look forward to getting it all put away, and now I am just at a loss for what her going home from the hospital outfit is going to be. I gave up my "cute" pin VERY early in the game (on the first gift actually!) because I couldn't contain myself. I was very excited to see the wonderful things that my friends and family BLESSED my little lady with!

New Additions for the New Addition!

Well, her room is JUST about complete... and as I was sitting, making up a poster board to display at the baby shower, I decided I would share some updated photos of how the room has come along. It really looks amazing. I can't compliment my husband ENOUGH on how great of a job he did designing, creating, and completing her room. He's a great dad! And these kids could not be blessed enough with the wonderful things he creates for them! Here is her new Crib organizer! I had to add a touch of Care Bears to this room, naturally, as it was a childhood passion of mine, and some of the additions are things I have had since I was a young young little girl. This however was not one of them, we bought this at resale, and the colors matched, so Allan was delightful enough to allow me to put it up! I think it's a GREAT addition!
This bumper we were lucky enough to find at resale as well. It matches the colors, and adds a few. It is butterflies, which is one of the three things we've put in the room, and we were excited to finally be able to say that the Crib is MOSTLY complete. Just need a blanket, and we're set!
The crib sheets were a fun addition as well. This is one of four that we've added to the room. I like the color of the stripes, and how well they work in the room! It's very much something that makes me happy! Couldn't ask for things to fall in to place better!
The changing table has started to be organized, with the few things that we have! I love the free samples that we keep getting. Looking forward to getting more! haha... Just needing to change the cloth on the changing pad, and paint the stars on the side, and when that is done, it will be complete!
The curtains turned out AMAZING. Allan really is a great sewer! They are identical to the curtains in Ethan's room, only these are purple, and his are blue! We did both sides of her curtain in the same pattern, unlike Ethan's, who has a Mickey Mouse head print on the inside layer. But they look great in the room!

There's more photos added, of the additional things we've put in the room! Looking forward to sharing things from the baby shower!

HELP! I'M NESTING!

Well, this last week has been a REAL organizing experience for me. So far we have been fairly blessed with many hand me downs (which I am not complaining, and am looking forward to more!) and some new clothes to add to Miss Madelyn's wardrobe! I have been playing with them here and there, looking at them SO intently, and imagining how wonderful she is going to look in each little outfit we have. But last week, this urge hit me. And just having them piled up in bags, was not doing any good for me. So I decided it was time to ORGANIZE and CLEAR OUT! The only problem, I don't have a dresser for her yet, and we don't have enough storage containers. So it had to start somewhere, and that place was going to be with Ethan's room! I made Allan grab me down the bins of clothes I had stored up in the Attic. Then I brought those out in the living room, along with all the bags of clothes that I have been browsing through. I cleaned out all the clothes in Ethan's dresser and closet that he just can't wear anymore. Then it was down to business. I sorted through EVERY box, picking out the things that I HAD to keep, and putting them in to bins by size, then putting everything I was going to be willing to part with in bags to hand down to someone else. By the time I was finished with Ethan's clothes, I had his bins down to two, one was for birth through a year, the other, a year through his current age. Then I FINALLY had bins to be able to separate out clothes for the little miss. I decided I was going going to keep out the newborn through 3 months, and put the rest up in the closet in the bins, as she grew. I started at 9 pm on a Thursday night, and worked hard on this project through 4 pm on Friday afternoon (that includes sleeping, eating, and playing with the kids!). I was EXHAUSTED by the end of the day, but I couldn't stop. Needless to say, all I need to do with the clothes now, (besides collect more!) is get her a dresser to decorate up, wash the clothes, and put them away appropriately. So my eyesore is not completely gone, but it's not as bad as it was!

I'm excited for the baby shower this weekend! I hope people come! I'm excited to post some pictures, and talk about all the wonderful blessings and games that will take place. I'm excited to share in this moment with all my friends and family! Plus the gifts and attention is always nice to have every one in a while! I won't lie!!! haha... And hopefully she gives me some time to get organized and put away before she decides to make her special appearance!

Keep an eye on the blog for more information to come!

The New Doctor...?

Well, as many of you know, I had to choose a new doctor to deliver the baby and see me for my last month and a half, as my current doctor has come to retirement. It was a sad day to hear that, as she has been such a good doctor to me, despite my original issues! But she referred me out to another doctor who used to work in her offices, and who practices much the same that she does. I was nervous about what was in store for me, but I knew that no matter what, I had to be able to move on and be strong. So Monday, we tracked off to the new office (which surprisingly is actually just right next door to my old doctor's!) and prepared for whatever was to happen! The office was quiet, and no patients were in there (you would think that would be scary, but we prefer it that way, it means quicker care!!!) and they got me right started with all my paper work. As I filled everything out, they came out quickly to bring me back. First, hitting the scales (because I didn't quite have to pee yet... the dreaded test I have to do EVERY TIME I go in! haha). ONE POUND LOST!!! YAY!!! That's a good sign right. She weighed me twice, just to be sure. I was ecstatic! The nurse was very nice, and helpful, and that made things a little easier. Then we waited patiently for the doctor to arrive. Not knowing WHAT to expect... I had only seen her picture on Tuality's website, to try to bring a little bit of comfort, but wouldn't you know, she resembled nothing of that picture. She was shorter than I expected (which of course is not a bit deal) and had made some changes since that original picture. She was very comforting, and very quick to greet us properly as she walked in. She asked us all the usual questions, then got RIGHT down to business. She mentioned the weight loss, but said it was nothing to be concerned about because of the weight I am at to begin with. She measured my tummy, and said I was a little bit smaller than what I should be... that was surprising to me, because Dr. Arrington always says I'm perfectly on track. So hopefully she was just measuring wrong??? But the bonus to that is that I get another ultrasound if she thinks I'm still measuring small!!! I wouldn't mind another one of those! She said my iron was a little low (as determined by my previous glucose blood draw) but I am not surprised, because I am having one heck of a time getting those prenatal taken everyday. I'm working hard at it, but I'm not a pill taker, so it's very hard for me to be consistent at something I'm not used to! But I'm working on it! But other than that, things went very well with this appointment. I see her again in two weeks, so we'll see where things are at then!