It's hard to believe, but our little Madisen is here! This past week has been such a joy to meet her and to get to know her. Brent and I both are just so amazed at how much the Lord has blessed us. Madisen just completes our family and brings such a beautiful spirity into our home.
I'll explain the whole story as short as I can. After talking with the Dr. and just feeling completly miserable we decided to go ahead and induce labor. We checked in the hospital at 5:30AM and was dressed and in a bed by 6. After 2 nurse changes we started getting things rolling around 630. The nurses were pretty mean to me with the IV's and I have 3 bruises on my arm to prove it. But that really was the worse part of the day. I was given the first dose of pitocin (which I was told was the smallest amount) and started contracting about 1 minute later.
I was under the impression that I would be contracting all day and that the contractions would GRADUALLY get worse. Well this was not so. The contractions started out mild and I was sure I could handle them, but at about 7AM the contractions were so bad that I wasn't able to breath. I was shocked at how fast and hard they came on. The Dr. told me that she had a mild setative that would help ease the pain. So I took it. Well it wasn't mild. I had NO choice but to go to sleep.
While I was so relaxed I decided to get the epidural so that I wouldn't move. It worked perfectly and Brent was such a great help during the whole process. After the epidural I was knocked out completly. I guess I had to have Brent move me around because I wasn't even consious.
About 3 hours later the nurse became quite worried. She kept messing with the monitors on my belly and woke me up about 5 times to move me around. I still wasn't sure what was going on, but I knew something was up because she told me she was going to call the Dr. Apparently they couldn't find the baby's heartbeat and felt no movements. The nurse checked me and said that I was at 7 cm. The Dr. got there within a few minutes. The plan was to put a small monitor on the baby's head. As the Dr. was checking for the baby's head she got a strange look on her face. She called for more nurses and told them to get the table ready. Madisen had already proceeded down the birth canal and was within minutes of being born. As they rushed around like mad women trying to get everything ready, Brent had to start waking me up completly and preping me to push.
The nurse put on an oxygen mask on me and that made me have the WORSE cotton mouth. So I didn't want to push until I got some ice. But the Dr. litterally yelled "THERE IS NO TIME FOR ICE, YOU NEED TO PUSH!!!" So I did about 3 times and baby Madisen was born at 12:17PM!
Everything else was such a blur. Brent was taking pictures and nurses were all around me scrambling around. But the minute I got Madisen in my arms, I fell apart. It was a very special moment. I couldn't believe that Brent and I made such a beautiful miracle. And I couldn't believe that she was here.
We were in the hospital for 2 days and passed all tests with flying colors. The next few days at home have been litterally up and down. I have gotten a taste of the baby blues and find myself crying for no reason. We've had some trouble with our nightly routine and feeding (I had no idea that breast feeding was so hard) But we are surviving. I'm terrified of being alone without Brent here to help. He is one awesome father and has helped TREMENDOUSLY!! But he has to go back to work on Monday. My mother will be here on Wednesday to help out so that is a comfort.
Here are a few pictures of our baby girl.
