6 Weeks Old~

Madalyn is getting so big! I weighed her this morning after a bath and she was 11 pounds, 3 ounces. Im not sure how long she is, but she is definitely a big girl! She is getting to be very good at holding her head up on her own and is always looking around to see whats going on. This past week she slept through the night for eight hours one night, and for six hours on two other nights so I certainly cant complain about not getting enough sleep. She smiles all of the time and had the cutest dimple in her left cheek, which we assume she gets from her Uncle Ben.

5 weeks old

Surfing on her "tummy time" surfboard!


Catching a wave!


Bathtime with Mommy


She's floating!


Naked baby...

Im so proud!

I never thought the smallest things would make me so incredibly happy. Really. But today Madalyn played with her (I mean Savannah's borrowed) playmat for quite some time. Since Peyton had destroyed several of the toys that go with it, we had to make our own with linkable letters. Gigi had given her some little rattles in her Easter basket so I attached those... and Madalyn worked very hard to be able to wiggle enough so she could swat at the rattle with her fists. She was so happy when she got it to make noise... and after watching her try this and finally accomplish it, I was so incredibly proud. She is getting so big! If Im this excited over this... imagine how it will be when she rolls over or crawls or walks or talks!

Madalyn's first month

House Slideshow

Really one month...

Almost a smile!

She's so big!

She's one month old!
Thanks to Jenna for the correction. Today is Madalyn's one month birthday, not Sunday. That was her 4 week birthday. So today she is officially one month old. And what a busy day she had... we went to Lowes yet again to buy the "big stuff" for our house. She loves her Baby Bjorn when Mommy wears it... she just rests her head on my chest and naps while we shop. We ordered all the wood and drywall to replace the walls that we knocked down, as well as 2 kitchen cabinents. We cant afford to do the entire kitchen yet, so we bought the base for the sink and the corner, which has a built in lazy susan which makes it very useful for storing appliances and baking dishes. Just those were almost $400! They are white and will look great when they countertop is done (we are using a deep blue tile with white grout) We also bought our trim for around the baseboards in Madalyn's room and the office. It was an expensive day, but I am really looking forward to seeing it all put together.

Nana Swanson babysat again yesterday so I could work on the office a little bit.... the walls are finished except for one part where the drywall will be replaced. Ben and Shawn are finishing the plumbing there tonight, and when the wood and drywall is delivered we should be able to start moving a little faster.

One month ago today....

It is so hard to believe that one month ago today our little angel was born. This month has passed so quickly, and as my mom is so quick to remind me that all fly by like this. Madalyn has grown up so much in this past month. Now she is able to look at us and recognize who we are and will smile and coo at us. It is the most amazing feeling to be able to hold her in my arms and know that she is my flesh and blood.

Madalyn has many hours of being awake, and is so scared to miss anything. She really only likes her crib at night, probably because during the day Mommy and Daddy are up and doing stuff and she is missing out. She will nap in her swing quite happily and often opens her eyes to peek and make sure we are still here. Its funny because I am the magic "OFF" button... no matter why she is crying if I pick her up she will burrow her head into my shoulder and the cries will immediately turn to wimpers. She is such a Mama's girl (just like me) We have a great time together. I never expected that motherhood would come this naturally for me, but it seems to be the thing that I was put on Earth to do.

This past two weeks we spent traveling... Mom and Dad's for ten days, and then to Jenna's house on our way back home. Savannah seemed very interested in her "baby" and liked to share all of her toys with her, even though Madalyn didnt seem too interested.

Today we weighed her... right after she ate so it wasnt accurate... but she weighed 10 3/4 pounds. So she is most likely about 10 1/4 pounds... what a big girl! She probably grew at least an inch while we were out of town.... she actually outgrew several of her pairs of pyjamas.

Nana and Papa Swanson babysat her for three hours today while we went to the house and did some work. I had to stop myself from wanting to keep calling to check up on her! Turns out we hadnt even pulled out of the driveway before she spit up all over Nana. They gave her 2 bottles of breastmilk I had pumped and she took them like a champ. But she cried the entire time we were gone.... luckily they love her or she might have scared off her babysitters! (Maybe that was her intent... so Mommy and Daddy wouldnt leave anymore!) When we got home she wouldnt let me put her down until about an hour ago when she finally fell asleep and could go in her crib. Its ten at night... so I had to do my homework while holding her. She didnt even want her Daddy... how in the world am I going to be able to leave her to go back to work? :)

I have at least 4 more weeks of mandatory maternity leave before my doctor will let me go back to work.
More updates later....

3 Weeks Old

Home

There is something so refreshing about the familiarness of home. I realized that tonight as we sat outside and Shawn swam in the pool... and I caught a whiff of the same scent of night blooming flowers that I have been smelling for the past 18 years. And it reminded me of all of the nights before now that I have enjoyed the serenity of a night outside on our dock. The windows of the houses across the lake still make the same patterns on the still water. And the sound of the crickets and the occasional fish jumping are now the same. I love being home.... and I love it even more now that we are able to come here with our daughter.

We came home last Monday to stay for a few days, and that has turned into a week... and we are stil here. It is nice, being home with Mom and Dad and relaxing. I cant remember the last time I was here this long.... and I am certian it will be quite some time before Shawn and I will both be off together to make this trip. It is nice to be able to be here, somewhere I am completely comfortable, and share this family time with Madalyn.

She turned 3 weeks old on Sunday, and what a difference from when she was born! She is so bright eyed now... and it is very apparant that she can recognize faces and voices. She will turn her head when she hears her Daddy talking and whenever I hold her and talk to her she gets the most beautiful smile on her face. It makes me melt. Earlier today we were "playing", which mostly entails me talking to her and kissing her... and she looked at me and her face lit up in the biggest smile.... it was so amazing. She is such a blessing!

Madalyn's First Bath

Well the day finally came... when Madalyn was 10 days old her umbilical cord stump fell off. This means no more sponge baths... and she is ready for her tub! I had absolutely no idea how to go about bathing her... so of course I had to call Mom and ask her for advice. I was a little worried since she HATED her sponge baths and would scream and cry the entire time. I assumed she would hate the baby bath tub as well.

Taking Mom's advice, I ran the water for her tub. Thinking I had it set so it would be filling for awhile and would overflow into the sink, I went to take Madalyn out of her clothes and wrap her in a towel. While I was doing this the tub tipped in the sink and spilled water over the edge and onto the floor. (Luckily we have tile!) I wrapped her in a towel and put her in her swing while I set up the tub. Once I had that on the counter I went and got her from the swing, only to find she had peed all over her clean towel! Luckily I had planned ahead and had several already laid out. : )

I expected screams from her when I put her in the tub... but she surprised me and LOVED her bath! Madalyn played and splashed her hands against the water (she is only 11 days old!) and never even so much as wimpered. She didnt even cry when I washed her hair, or when I washed her face and she got some water in her eyes. I was shocked at how much she seemed to love bathtime! She actually started crying when I took her OUT of the tub because she loved it so much!

Let me say something though... being a Mom is hard work! I now have an entire load of towels and wet clothes to wash because of her bath! :) But its worth it because she smells so clean and "baby soft."

I am recovering quite well from my C section... and each day I feel even better and find I can do more. I think starting tomorrow Madalyn and I are going to take some afternoon walks....

Madalyn's first week

This week was certainly a busy one for Madalyn! She got to come home from the hospital Tuesday and we tried to settle into a routine around here. She sleeps very well (about 3 hour blocks during the night!) and is an eating champ! Its amazing to see how much more "awake time" she has each day.

She got visits from her Nana and Papa Swanson, Gigi and Papa Hill, her Aunt and Uncle Jenna and Brad and Savannah and Brad's parents and his cousing Kenna after the Orange and Blue game. She also met Uncle Ben and Aunt Amber... not to mention Auntie Kristina and Auntie Megan who came to see her in the hospital. She got lots of presents as well this week, including a Vermont Teddy Bear with her name on it from Papa Hill.

My mom stayed this week with us.... and thank Goodness for that! She was able to help me recover from my C Section as well as help take care of the baby. She went home last night, so Shawn and I had our first night alone with Madalyn... and lucky for us she was only up twice so we were able to get some rest!

Madalyn is an absolute doll and we are both so in love with her! She loves to snuggle and when we can get her to open her eyes they are the most beautiful color of dark blue/green. Its hard to tell which one of us she looks like more... I have a baby picture of me at 48 hours old that you would swear was her. But then sometimes she looks more like Shawn... so we will see...

Baby's first pictures

Here are some of Madalyn's first pictures, taken at the hospital after she was born.

Madalyn Jean Swanson

She's finally here and is so beautiful!

It was a rough couple of days... starting with going in at midnight on April 7th to start my induction. I was given Cervadil to prep my cervix for delivery and I almost immediately started having contractions. At about 10 the next morning they started me on Pitocin and we expected a fairly quick delivery. Madalyn on the other hand had other plans. I got as far as 8cm and felt like I needed to push, but she wasnt low enough. That went on for about 5 or 6 hours and just before midnight on Easter Sunday my doctor decided to do a C section because I had started running a fever and her heartrate had started going up above 200 bpm, a sign of a possible infection. She was born at 1:04 am and weighed 8 pounds, 8 ounces and was 20 1/4 inches. It sounds like a big baby but she is actually quite the little peanut! She was the first baby born on Easter and got a special little Easter basket from the volunteer staff at North Florida.

They immediately took Madalyn to the Special Needs nursery for evaluation, and it wasnt until 4 am that I knew if she was okay or not. It was a horrible feeling, not knowing if she was okay... especially after they whisked her away so quickly. When I finally could go see her she had an IV and a cardiac monitor hooked up to her... scary for a new mom! Because her heartrate had been so high and she had been a little pale at birth they had kept her under the oxygen hood and were treating her for a possible infection. But the Nurse Practitioner told me that if she could nurse and keep food down they could take out the IV and she could stay with us in our room. So Madalyn and I got a crash course in breastfeeding (she is a champ at that!) and later that afternoon she was able to come into our room.

All of her bloodwork came back great and she actually was able to be discharged from North Florida before I was. My doctor let me go home yesterday because my mom was here to take care of me, so we made it home earlier than anticipated. We have been home since noon yesterday and have been settling in... I have been exhausted trying to recover from both a day of labor AND a C Section... so I havent felt up to doing much. I apologize for not returning phone calls and promise I will be calling shortly as baby and I settle into our routine.

Right now we are the luckiest people in the world. Our daughter is absolutely gorgeous and healthy and has the greatest temperment we could have asked for. All of our friends and family have been so supportive and have been taking wonderful care of us.

We will be posting more pictures as the days go on I promise!

Officially Homeowners

Well, as of about 1 this afternoon we are officially homeowners. The final signitures certainly didnt reflect as much stress went into the deal.... but its done and the house we wanted is ours. We had already been doing some work on it so we were holding our breath until the official closing... and now its done. What a big day! And Shawn has already put so much work into the place... it needs a lot more, but you can see some improvement. And its nice to have a place of our own to call home.... and something that we can benefit from.

And in about 20 minutes we are off to the hospital.... I am going to be induced and Madalyn Jean should be here sometime before Sunday we are hoping! (I am hoping for early tomorrow morning, but thats just cause I have to push her out and I want the pain over with!) So homeowners and parents in the same 24 hour period... how exciting! We are truly blessed....

38 Weeks, 4 Days

Well today I had my doctors appointment. It was certainly an experience. My doctor was actually out because he had hurt his back and I was told that I was going to see the office RN and she would check me and then I would see him next week. I told the LPN that we had said that we were going to talk about induction this week, especially since my blood pressure has been high. She said she would call the nurse midwife to come and check me and she would talk to me about induction.

Well the midwife came up and she was very nice. However, she is a midwife and a big proponent of natural childbirth (meaning no inductions and C sections unless emergencies.) She told me that there is a much higher risk of C sections with inductions and that is because sometimes the cervix isnt favorable for induction. I told her that I had been checked last week and was told I am very favorable for an induction, and we were to evaluate that today based on my blood pressure. She checked me and I was actually between 2 and 3 cm dilated and 50% effaced.... VERY favorable for induction. She said she could feel the baby's head and my bag of waters and she wouldnt be surprised if she came soon on her own because of how low her head is.

She then told me she would talk to the on call doctor about sending me to the hospital today for an induction. She called her and they talked... and the doctor said since there is a note on my chart that Dr. Muskus will be delivering me she wouldnt make that decision without talking to him. So the midwife came back and said to make another appointment (which I couldnt get until Tuesday of next week!) and to spend as much time lying on my side as possible over the next week.

I was so upset... mostly cause Im overtired from not sleeping and over emotional right now... but I was frustrated as well about this whole BP issue and them saying I need to rest and not do anything. There is so much going on that I want to help with... as well as feeling like laundry and dishes are piling up and I am suppossed to stay in bed all day! Plus if my doctor had been there, then I would have gone in for an induction. Or if I had been seeing the other doctor she would have sent me in... but they wanted him to make that decision but were going to wait until he comes back to work.

When we got home Shawn called his Aunt Michelle, our doctors wife and filled her in on what happened. Long story short.... we ended up talking to my doctor at home and he said he would call and have me put on the schedule for induction on Saturday, his next day on call. So unless she decides to come before then, we will end up going in Friday night at midnight to have Cervadil and will start Pitocin some time early Saturday morning. Looks like Madalyn will be an Easter Baby after all!

Better than a walk through!

Well yesterday was the BIG day... when we would see if the people were actually out of the house or not. I felt like we stalked them all day with drive-bys and "stretching our legs" by walking down to the corner. There was very limited activity at the house all day, so I was getting VERY worried because there was a HUGE pile of junk outside the house!

Well around 5 I had Shawn call the sellers to set up a time for our walk through today. They said they were going out of town this morning and wouldnt be back until late Tuesday.... BUT we could have the keys last night as soon as the people turned them over and could get into the house to start working. Much better than a walk through! So around 7, after my parents had gotten into town, they came by with the keys and dropped them off and were so excited for us. They said we could get started doing stuff around the house since they knew the baby was coming SOON... and that we can do the closing via mail as soon as we are ready.

The bad part of having the keys is that the people didnt clean... and that kind of falls onto us. Which we would have done anyways... but I hadnt planned on cleaning up shampoo bottles and toothbrushes and taking down the girls' stuff in their room. According to the sellers the couple split up this past month and the guy took off... and he knew he needed to have his stuff out by yesterday and never came back to get it. They have until we officially sign papers to come get their stuff... anything after that becomes ours. Which for the most part is a bunch of junk we wouldnt want.... BUT the guy apparantly is a drywaller and had a bunch of tools that he now has about 2 days to come claim or Shawn is a very lucky man! They also left a TV there, but we told the sellers if the Mom wants the TV Shawn will load it in her car for her because Im guessing the reason she didnt move it was because she couldnt lift it.

So today was a long day... woke up and had breakfast with my parents and went to Lowes... we bought a bunch of stuff for the house (Thanks Mom and Dad!) and a Sawsall for Shawn (his favorite tool so he was in heaven.) Then back to the house where Shawn got to work on the yardwork... mowing and pruning cutting down tree limbs. Then he used his new carpet knife to cut out the carpet in the baby's room and office and then he had to tear out the terrazo floors underneath which was a project in and of itself. I had to come home and resume bedrest after awhile because I was exhausted, but he worked super hard. When I went back over there later the house looked much improved.

We also picked out all of the colors of our paint and they look amazing together... cant wait to see them on our walls!

Tomorrow we have a doctors appointment in the afternoon and HOPEFULLY will be scheduling Madalyn's birthday... it would be nice to not be pregnant so I didnt feel so useless while working on the house!

I am going to put together a slide show (pregnant ladies make great photographers if nothing else) of the house BEFORE... we are planing to document the whole experience so we can look back and see how much we have accomplished. Right now it seems, at least to me, like a very overwhelming project... but it is something Shawn loves to do and he says he can do a lot of things to the house... and I trust him when he says it will be great when we are finished.

Hospital Trip #2

Well, we went back to the hospital last night. It was definitely something I didnt want to do, but I felt much better once we got everything checked out. My blood pressure was high when they discharged me Wednesday morning, and I think somehow it got overlooked. When I talked to Shawn's mother and told her how high it had been, she said they never would have discharged me from Shands. I had assumed my doctor had seen what it was and he sent me home... but then when I actually thought about it I realized it may have never been brought to his attention, especially since I was in there for nausea/vomiting. I think it kind of got lost in the shuffle. But yesterday Shawns mother checked it for me and it was high, and last night I went to the fire station and had Kristina check it and it was still high and I called her... and she said to call my doctor. This is definitely one of the times it helps to have an OB doc in the family. Shawn called him last night and he wanted me to go in to the hospital to have some labwork drawn. He said he had no idea my pressure had been high when I had been in Wednesday and he would have never sent me home with it being elevated.

So back to the hospital. They had me lay on my left side and took my pressure like that and it was much lower. I told the nurse I felt like a broken car at the mechanic when my pressure was not too high. The reason it had come down so much was because I was laying in bed on my side and the weight of the baby was off of my blood vessels. I got up to use the bathroom and took my blood pressure sitting up, and it was elevated. My bloodwork came back okay... but I was sent home and told to "take it easy" all weekend. I see the doctor Monday afternoon. If I hadnt already gone on maternity leave he would have made me at this point, so I am glad that all of my paperwork was done last week and I didnt have to worry about doing that today!

So who knows what he will say Monday... I hope he doesnt plan on keeping me on bedrest for the next 2 weeks! He had mentioned induction at 39 weeks.... so maybe Monday he will at least schedule me. Though when we went in last night I kept thinking "we cant have her tonight.... Im so not ready to be a mom!" It made everything sink in a lot more... like this really is getting close. In less than 2 weeks she will be here.... SCARY!

My parents are coming up here tonight to watch the game and hopefully will be able to be here for our walk through tomorrow. Still doesnt look like the people have moved out... and their lease is up today. There werent any cars there last night or this morning.... but there is a bunch of crap outside the house. So I dont know if they took what they wanted and left... or if they are planning on moving today or what... but it will be interesting tomorrow to see what has been accomplished.

We will decide on a closing date after our walk through and my doctors appointment, but it will definitely be sometime next week! The next couple of days will be spent picking out flooring and paint and all that fun stuff!

38 Weeks

No real baby news as of yet. Just lots of Braxton Hicks contractions for warm up, I guess. I see the doctor again Monday and maybe he will induce me??? I am certainly hoping.

We heard for certain yesterday that we are "cleared to close" on our house with the bank! YAY! That was a lot of stress off of our backs. Now we just have to hope and pray that the tenants will be out in the next two days. Their thirty days is up technically tomorrow, but I think the sellers gave them until the 31st to be out. We are planning to do our walk through on Sunday, April 1st... so they better be out. And we may close as early as next Wednesday, depending on the baby and if/when she decides to come! Shawn and I have taken quite a few evening strolls down our new street and there doesnt seem to be any progress as far as moving is concerned. We are such dorks about it. They have a tarp out there, and we were like "oh a tarp! They can put stuff in a pickup truch and cover it with that!" They HAVE taken the screen door off of its hinges and we were like "maybe they did that to move big stuff out!" But in reality, no real signs of them not being there anymore.

Well, I thought I would make it through my whole pregnancy without any middle of the night trips to the hospital, but I was wrong. Tuesday night I started having severe GI problems that kept me up all night and I was absolutely miserable. I couldnt keep anything down and couldnt get comfortable and was having horrible stomach pains.... so at 5:30 I broke down and called the on call doctor. She was certain I was dehydrated which can bring on contractions, but the kind that wont do anything except make me uncomfortable. She wanted me to come in, so we loaded up and went to North Florida where they put me on the fetal monitor and watched me for awhile. They had planned to give me an IV of fluid, but my blood pressure was up.... not dangerously high, but high enough it wasnt worth dumping more fluid into my system. So I laid there and drank Gatorade for three hours while they made sure the baby was okay. Which she was.... very active during her morning playtime. My doctor came in after that because he was the one on call Wednesday, and he sent me home and he will see me Monday.

So then when I called work yesterday to tell them I was at the hospital there were no problems. Then around 11 I got a phone call asking me to call in when I got a chance. When I called the district chief he told me that they had changed me to 40 hour weeks effective Monday (as in 2 days ago) and they had wondered why I hadnt shown up to work Monday or Tuesday. Hmm... maybe because noone told me this change of plans? I was more than a little frusrated, because the way the contract reads if you are hurt on the job you get first shot at the 24 hour spots. I am still on light duty because of my knee technically. So if anyone was to be moved out of their spot, it would be someone who is there for a non work related problem, and there is someone who works the day after me out for that. I was so frustrated with the whole thing, and so exhausted and not wanting to deal with it. So rather than fight it, I just decided to start my maternity leave early. It wasnt worth going through the hassle of converting my salary to 40 hour pay check for one week (since Im hoping she is born next week!) and having to use a bunch of time next week for my doctors appointments and house closing stuff. It made more sense just to take the extra 2 shifts off. So now I am officially on maternity leave, and Madalyn can come any time she wants since I wont be worried about being at work! :)

It will be nice to have some time home before she gets here... so I can get everything ready and relax and have some "me" time.... plus it is nice not to stress about going to work, which has been difficult since I have been on light duty.

Whew that was a lot to update! I am off to teach my last class at SFCC today, though I am sure I will pick up more hours the longer Maddie decides to wait to come....

Love Letters

Here are the beautiful letters that we had made for Madalyn's room. Jenna had some made for Savannah by someone she met through The Knot.com, a wedding website. Katie did a great job and she is expecting her own little girl soon... If anyone is interested in ordering letters for her let me know. They look absolutely beautiful and she can do them to match any nursery theme and colors.

Well, the day is getting closer! We are about 2 weeks away from meeting our little one... even less if my doctor is true to his word and schedules me for an induction after my 39 week appointment (Monday!) Can you tell how badly I am hoping this will happen? I am just so anxious to meet our little girl and stop saying "when the baby comes..." or "after the baby is here" and just have her here! Plus it would be nice to sleep on my stomach again, and not have to pee 12 times nightly. I know everyone says that Im not going to get much sleep with an infant... but I am convinced I will have an easier time getting up with her when there wont be a million obstacles keeping me from getting back to sleep (such as a huge protruding belly or aching calves or stuffy nose or incessant need to pee) So I for one think it will be easier. And at least then Shawn can share in the responsibility. All he knows now is how many times it is back and forth to the bathroom for me. : )

I cant REALLY complain though, except for the absolute exhaustion. All those "sleepless" nights are catching up with me, and I think just the added weight and stress and all makes even simple tasks seem overwhelming. It takes me all day to do 2 loads of laundry! (Well to be honest, the laundry I washed yesterday is still in the dryer waiting to be folded... so thats more like 2 days to do one load!) And Shawn, bless his heart, helps out so much around the house in addition to working extremely long days.... he does so much more then he needs to. I am so lucky to have him around to put more then his fair share of effort into keeping things up around here. I just keep telling myself that any minute we could be leaving for three days to go have our little girl and will be having people come and check on Allie and have my mom staying here, so we try to keep everything as picked up as possible so that we arent leaving a mess.

Off to bed for me....