Truckin' It

Luke is really interested in Madeline right now. Maybe this means they'll have a great relationship forever and never fight! Hey -- a mom can wish, can't she?

He obviously loves her very much. He's given her his trucks on several occasions, and even his bus a time or two. Now, that's big! He couldn't understand why she wouldn't hold them in her hand, so he just put them on her tummy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4KOSnrl9040

1 Month!

Maddiecakes is 1 month old already! It's gone so fast already, and I'm sad that I only have two more weeks of maternity leave left. I remember feeling like this last time -- I could definitely be a stay-at-home mom! I love it. But, alas, back to work I go. Sigh.

Madeline is doing great, from what I can tell. She's still having one long stretch of sleep at night (about 4 hours), then waking every 2-3. We sleep until about 8:00 a.m., or until Luke wakes up. So, I feel pretty rested. She's starting to track, and she'll follow my voice when I move. Every once in a while, I'll hear a little coo and it seems she's starting to smile a little bit. I have to say ... she can turn that cry on pretty quickly. If she wakes up when she's not ready, or if she's not fed fast enough, watch out. She gets mad! Her skin is still flaking a little, but that should stop pretty soon.

I've loved every minute with her. What a sweet little girl she is! Happy happy happy = me.

A certain little someone couldn't just watch Madeline's photo shoot. He wanted in, too! But, he's not so little anymore ...

Loving on Sister

Luke's really sweet to Madeline. Granted, his pats are a little hard sometimes, but overall, he's a little lover, giving her kisses and hugs all day long. "Hi baby," he says. And, he'll mumble her name: "Mallalin."

In the Pink

5-day picture

Baby Madeline is in perfect condition -- in the pink! At her 2-day checkup, the doctor said she had a little bit of jaundice, but it's gone away now. She tested positive on the Coombs test (a blood test) in the hospital -- since she and I have different blood types, she had more red blood cells to combat my blood. So, it gave her an increased risk of developing jaundice. Or, at least that's how I understand it. They explained it to me several times.

By her 2-week checkup, she'd already gained her birth weight and more and grew a half inch -- measured 8 pounds, 6 ounces and was 20 inches long. She's a sleepy baby! The first week I had to wake her up at night to feed her, and I really shouldn't have complained! Now, she has one long stretch of about four hours, then she's up every two hours throughout the night. Makes for a tired momma!

Adam has been on Luke duty for the last 3 weeks now. He's such a sweet dad and Luke just adores him, so this hasn't been hard for either of them. When he's home early, he's taken over the bedtime routine for Luke. There are a few nights a week that I'm on my own and that's hard to juggle. Adam's mom, my mom and our sisters Brooke and Lanie have been sweet enough to come over those nights to help with dinner until I get my footing. Madeline's first bath.In front of the house with the stork announcing her arrival. What a great way to tell the neighbors! So many have stopped by and brought us dinner and gifts. We haven't cooked in 3 weeks.

It's a Girl!

Our beautiful Madeline Kathleen was born Saturday, May 28, 2011, at 7:53 a.m. She weighed 8 pounds, 3 ounces, and was 19.5 inches long. What a big, healthy girl! Needless to say, I was so pleasantly surprised that she was a girl! A daughter ... couldn't have been happier!

The delivery wasn't anything that we expected, to say the least! On Friday, I was wrapping up at work when I started having contractions. I went ahead and finished the day, leaving at 4:30 p.m. like usual. My mom had planned on watching Luke for us that night so we could go to a movie -- our last date before the baby. When I told her I was having contractions, she said, "I'll go ahead and pack an overnight bag." It's a good thing she did! Throughout the movie, the contractions were about 30 seconds long and all over the place. Then, they stopped before we went to bed. At 2 a.m., I woke up to 1 minute long contractions about 6-8 minutes apart. The doctor had always told us to head to the hospital when the contractions were 1 minute long and 5 minutes apart for an hour (5-1-1). At 5:30 a.m., I called the doctor on call, and she told me again to wait until they were 5-1-1. So. That's what we planned to do. But, at 6:30 a.m., Adam suggested we go ahead and start getting ready, so I got into the shower. Wow. Standing up must have accelerated everything! All of a sudden the contractions were a minute or so apart, and I felt like I had to push! So, Adam jumped in the shower after me, and we started to get ready to go. When my mom woke up, she found me in the kitchen and I told her what was happening -- I felt like I had to push and like I was going to also throw up (a sign of transition labor). She had me lay down on the couch and suggested we check to see if I was crowning! What?! Crowning? How could it already be to that point? Adam checked, and I wasn't crowning, but we were jumping in the truck as quickly as possible!

At this point, I'm scared to death. I was sure I was going to have the baby in the truck on MoPac. It was everything I could do to not push right then and there! I was even holding myself like you do when you have to pee. Like that would've done anything! Adam drove 95 miles an hour with the flashers on, and we raced into the hospital. I think I threw my driver's license on the check-in counter: "My name is Nicole Scott! And, I have to push!" A nurse ran me down the hallway in a wheelchair screaming at all nurses on deck to head to room 54. When we got into the room, they dressed me in the gown and got me to the bed. But, I still have to push! And, where's the doctor!? Turns out the doctor on call lives only 3 minutes away, but it felt like eternity for her to get there. The nurses were running around like crazy -- nine of them must have been in there with us. Finally, the doctor runs in, sits down, puts on her gloves, they put my feet in the stirrups. I push and my water breaks. I push once more and out pops the baby! I didn't even get the epidural! And, how in the world was I walking around being 10 centimeters dilated? Am I crazy?! We checked into the hospital at 7:44 a.m. and had Madeline at 7:53 a.m. That's how to have a baby in 9 minutes: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OvD4zEkaYA0 Madeline, 1 day old Luke meets Madeline: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ks22tPdoJcU
Definitely not my birth plan! But, it turned out wonderfully -- we have a beautiful baby girl who's healthy and happy. And, I have to say ... I am pretty proud of myself for having a big healthy baby without an epidural. Definitely tougher than I thought I was.