Welcome Baby Madison!

Things have slowed down a little so I felt I could finally put an entry in for the birth of our third beautiful baby girl - Madison Lea. I love having a history of the girls' and their important events, so here is her birth story.

The whole pregnancy, Sam and I had planned for the worst possible case - due to both girls being born early, and me needing to be on bedrest for both, we had planned on this pregnancy not going well. After months of anticipation, we realized this pregnancy was going to be completely different. 32 weeks came and went with no signs of any issues. 36 weeks came and went and no dilation, no effacement, no restrictions. We started realizing we had a very likely chance of having a term pregnancy. 37 weeks, 38 weeks and no signs I was going to be going into labor on my own. Every day I was having contractions, but nothing that was causing any changes and nothing regular. After discussing with my OB, due to my previous C-section, I did not feel comfortable having a baby vaginally (Or VBAC) due to risks that are associated with this, unless I went in on my own. I was not going to be delivering on my own it seemed, and I knew I had difficulty with delivering an 8 pound baby in the past, and I was concerned with a term baby we may be in the same boat. So with much thought we decided to schedule a C-section on February 5th, hoping I would go on my own.

February 5th, we woke up at 4:30am, went and checked into the hospital at 5:30am. It was so surreal to walk up to the maternity floor and just say "I am here to have a baby". They checked us into the pre-operative room, calmly started my IV, hooked me up to the monitors so we could hear her heartrate (which was perfect) and track any contractions (very few). Two hours of prep with lab draws, IV fluids, and history taking, all calm and collected. The anesthesiologist walked in and talked to me about the spinal block, my OB came in about 7:25am. They had me walk into the OR suite, took Sam to the daddy room, and prepped me for delivery. It was the most surreal feeling - last time I was in the C-section suite, I was so ready to deliver the baby after 20+ hours of labor, 2+ hours of pushing, that I did not even care what was going on and frankly was so tired I didn't even pay attention. This time, I was refreshed with sleep, and my nerves started taking off. They placed my spinal block great - ever person in the delivery room was amazing and calm and talked through everything. The nurse anesthesiologist was sweet and made sure I was letting her know what I was feeling. My body below my ribs went completely numb, they did all the prep they needed, and I was doing this all without Sam by my side.

As soon as the started putting the blue sheet up, they allowed Sam to come into the room. I started crying because all my emotions were raging - I was scared, I was nervous, I was excited, I felt unsure of if this was the right choice. Sam came in, held my hand, and calmly talked me through to get my nerves calmed down. I was SOO grateful for him when he came into that room - I could not have done it without him - I was able to get ahold of my emotions and just anticipated the delivery of our term baby girl.

At 8:06am, we heard the most amazing sound. Madison came out crying, and didn't stop crying. It was the most wonderful sound, as with both girls they cried, but instantly stopped and required intervention. The nurses calmly walked her over to the warmer, Sam was able to go see her and came back and told me the best news - she looks perfect and is just calmly laying there letting the nurses do what they needed to do. He brought her over so I could see her, I was able to give her a kiss I was able to look at her beautiful face without her being rushed away. It was an amazing feeling. She was born at 7 pounds 13 ounces, 20 3/4 inches long, 14 3/4 inches head circumference. A perfect size.

After they finished, I was wheeled into recovery. In the recover room I was able to hold Madison, I was able to try to breastfeed her, I was able to love on her and marvel at her beauty. I was able to feel what it was like to have a "normal" delivery (at least as normal as you can have via C-section). We were able to be up in our room by lunchtime and the grandparents were able to come back and see her. Throughout the next three days, I had her in my room, I was able to feed her on demand, she had no issues with bilirubin levels being high. She was perfect - it was perfect. The only concern we had was her weight - she lost weight, getting down to 7 pounds within two days (losing 10% of her birth weight - right at the level they start to worry). When we discharged home, she weighed 7 pounds 1 ounce.

The girls were able to come to the hospital to see her the day she was born - this was different than what we had planned as they had been closed to all kids. The lifted the ban on February 1st. It was the best news. The minute Izzy and Brooklynn walked through that door, their eyes lit up and they were instantly in love. Both held Madison - she didn't cry she just laid there, allowing her sisters to marvel at her size. My heart grew bigger watching the sisterly bond that was already forming. I knew that it was the perfect decision to expand our family from a family of four to a family of five. Madison just fits perfectly.

One of the pediatricians in the doctor's office (not the one we go to) came in and checked on her the day she was born.  He asked about the genetic disease Brooklynn has.  I explained that Madison does not have any increased risk than anybody else in the community (again which is 1 in 200,000) as Sam and I have already had our labs drawn and we do not have the mutation.  He didn't listen, and rather said we needed to get her in to genetics and make sure she doesn't have anything.  I was pissed.  I was frustrated.  Sam was frustrated.  We didn't want to start this story again.  The next day, our amazing pediatrician came in and checked out Madison.  She stated everything looked great - she was doing well.  She talked to me about the recommendation from the previous doctor - no genetics referral needed to be made - she is not at increased risk and we will just watch her closely to make sure there were no signs of anything, but at this time there were no concerns.  I smiled.  It highlighted again why I loved this pediatrician - she listens, she responds appropriately, and she takes my input as a parent and respects and validates my feelings.

Madison is three weeks old tomorrow - she is well above her birth weight (8 pounds 6 ounces on Monday at the doctor's office). She is eating every 2-4 hours. For two nights in a row she has slept from 3-4 hours between feedings. I am loving life right now and loving my three beautiful girls more than I ever thought I could. Watching Sam sweetly look at Madison makes my heart full. Seeing Izzy and Brooklynn not showing one sign of jealousy, but rather be full of love for their baby sister, makes me smile. Life is good. I am so grateful.