Madison's Arrival

Hey Everyone!

Here is the story of Madison's arrival into our world.

Monday morning at 1:30 April woke me up by saying she thought she may have peed in her sleep and needed to go to the bathroom.  I asked if she had pains that would go away then come back and she told me she wasn't sure, but thought her water may have broke and was going to take a shower.  While she was showering I heard her moan really loud at which point I stopped my hurried packing of the truck to see if she was ok and take note of the time.  I knew at this point that there was no question about her being in labor. I stayed in the bathroom and waited until the next contraction started; I thought my eyes were lying to me or I had mis-read my watch when it started 3 minutes later.  My eyes were being honest and my time telling abilities were not failing, the contractions were indeed 3 minutes apart.  At this point, I said to myself, "oh shit we are a good 25 minutes from the hospital going the speed limit."  So I went into overdrive getting the truck packed.  Once I had finished I returned to the bathroom to find April out of the bath and having another contraction.  Once she finished she said she had to dry her hair and put on her makeup.  I thought, "Really? Dry hair, make up?"  She had almost finished drying her hair when she finally decided to listen to me and get in the truck. 

I got her loaded and climbed in the drivers seat at which point she reminded me that I should give the horses some hay.  I jumped out of the truck and threw a few flakes over the fence then ran back to the truck.  I sped towards our gate, slammed on the brakes, opened the gate and got back in the truck. It is now 2:07 according to the clock on the truck radio.  April told me to drive careful because it hurt when I stopped the truck, which is understandable.  I wanted to go as fast as I could through our neighborhood, but the cops are so bad here I held it to only 10 miles over. Once out of the neighborhood I kicked it up to about 80-85 down 3351 towards I-10.  I knew once I hit I-10 I would be golden since it was so early.  While I was driving the books I had read and classes I had taken on driving were kicking in. Hands at 9 and 3 to maximize control, shuffle steer, late apex corners, brake before entering corners, look through the corners to find my exit, gentle roll back into the throttle mid-corner, etc..etc...   We got to I-10 and hit green lights at the access road.  Once I got on the highway I figured I would keep it under 100, which I did.  Although, 98mph is still fast through a narrow construction zone.  After scaring the crap out of a few cars on the road, we arrived at the hospital at  2:25.  

As we pulled into the emergency drive April finished a contraction so we had +/- 3 minutes to make it to labor and delivery. I left the truck in the emergency circle drive of the hospital and April and I ran to the second floor where labor and delivery is.  They knew we were on our way because I had called them while we were making our mad dash.  While we were trying to answer their questions to complete admission, April had another contraction at which point the nursing staff went into action and shuffled us off to the nearest delivery room and promptly striped April down and examined her at which point they said, "You are having this baby now and you can push whenever you want."  Now the only thing that was in our birth plan was drugs and lots of them.  This was April's first demand when we got there.  They told her that it was way too late for that and that she was going to have the baby without them.  I have never seen such a look of pure horror on someones face.  I asked if I had time to move my truck, and they said probably "..if you hurry."  I sprinted down the hallway and figured I had better call Ted and Mary.  So while running down the hallway I gave them an update and they said they would get ready and head our way.   I finished parking the truck and sprinted back to the room to see one nurse complete the IV as a second one say she could see the head.  This was at 2:35.  I looked down and saw the head then concentrated on trying to help April through the delivery.  The nurse that had put in the IV was amazing.  She helped April focus and walked her through pushing, I couldn't thank this nurse enough later as she took Madison and I to the nursery.  Anyway, April had 9 minutes of pushing and loud screaming and at 2:44 am on 1/24/11 Madison Alexis entered our world.

After she was born, they went through the normal steps, clean, check vitals, get the AFGAR score which I believe was 89, weight 6 lbs 13.5 oz, etc.  I called my parents at this point and said that Madison had arrived.  My Mom said "you mean you are at the hospital."  I told her no, and to listen to her new granddaughter crying.  April then nursed Madison for a few minutes before Madison and I headed off for the nursery.  While April was nursing, the doctor on call finally showed up, 15 minutes after delivery.  I may dispute whatever bill I get from that lady. Once we get to the nursery the nurse there started explaining to me what she was going to check and do.  She measured Madison's length, 20 inches. She checked her temp, blood sugar, blood pressure, and a bunch of other things.  While doing this she said that it normally takes an hour before they get the baby's temp up and stable enough to give them a bath.  Not my daughter though.  The nurse looked at me and laughed and said that my baby is an exception because her temp is where it should be and Madison preceded to have her first bath.  I was ticked because I didn't have my video camera but I got a few photos of the experience.

The rest of the time at the hospital was nothing out of the ordinary.  Family and friends came by on Monday to see how April was and get introduced to Madison.  Then Monday night we kept Madison in our room and she thanked us by keeping us up all night but I wouldn't have changed a thing.  I use to have several favorite sounds; the first time a motor kicks off after I've rebuilt it, the sound of a high-lift, solid lifter cam in a big block, the sound of a top fuel dragster.  Now after spending the first couple of days with my new daughter and especially that first night, there is nothing sweeter then the sound of her little sounds and cries.

We arrived home around 11am today, 1/26/11.  April's parents were kind enough to take care of our animals and clean up a little bit in our house while we were at the hospital.  We were very glad for this so that we could concentrate on our first afternoon home with our little one.

I have taken 2 weeks off of work to spend with April and Madison and acclimate to our new life.  April and I are so exited to begin to watch Madison grow and learn.  We are sure there are going to be some exciting things in our future. 

14 Days To Go

I haven't updated the blog in sometime.  The holidays were crazy as well as all of the prep work for Madison.

The first part of December a wonderful baby shower was thrown for us by our families.  We had approximately 70 people attend.  We are very grateful that we received almost everything we need for Madison's arrival.  I don't think I have ever opened so many gifts at a single time!  Everything will be put to good use.

We then had Christmas at our house.  We had my family over on Christmas Eve for dinner and our white elephant gift exchange.  This is always a hoot as there are always a few comical gifts exchanged.  We then had April's family over for a few days to celebrate Christmas with them.  Having our niece and nephew around for a couple of days was good practice for what we have to look forward to.

As far as prep-work, I have finished remodeling Madison's room.  I repainted, put up chair rail, and installed new baseboards.  I have also removed all of the carpet from our upstairs and put in the same wood laminate flooring that I installed on the first floor of our house.  I also repainted the other two rooms upstairs and finished the remodel of one of the upstairs bathrooms.  I have also been busy, with the help of family and friends, building a 4 stall barn for the horses.  I had hoped to have this complete by the time Madison arrives, but that unfortunately won't be happening.

Since we are now in the home stretch as it were, we are trying to prepare ourselves for this huge change and resign ourselves to the fact that our lives will be forever changed.  We are very excited and can't wait to meet our daughter (although I hope she waits another week so I can wrap some things up).  April's last day of work will be the 21st.  We hope that she has at least a week to relax and finish the final preparations.

My next blog will be after Madison's arrival.  I will have pictures and I pray a great story about her entry into our world.

3rd Sonagram

Here are a couple of pictures from our latest sonogram from 9/16.  We found out that we are having a little girl and her name is going to be Madison Alexis.  We can't wait to meet our little one.  It was amazing to see her in the 4D sonogram.  Instead of seeing a little blob, we could actually see her little face and make out some of her facial features.

We are now starting to pick out nursery decor, or I should say April is starting to pick out nursery decor.  Of course there is going to be a bunch of pink.  Now we just have to get the upstairs organized so we can start putting it all together.

We are very thankful that our old neighbors and good friends have given us some of their baby stuff from their daughter who is now 6.  We now have a stroller, car seats, and pack and go playpen. These items have made us realize the amount of space such a little person is going to take up.  We are glad that we have a ton of closet space.

April's good friend Jennifer took April baby shopping to get us registered for all of the baby necessities.  Thank goodness for Jen because I don't even know where to start with all the baby stuff.  April isn't as lost as I, but Jen's experience and knowledge of what we need was extremely helpful. 

We have had a lot of non-baby stuff going on too.  I have torn out all of the carpet and the marble in the entryway and replaced it with wood laminate flooring.  The carpet was VERY easy to get up.  The marble required a small jack hammer, called a demolition hammer, to remove it.  Since marble is so soft, it broke into small pieces and created a ton of dust.  This was a pain, literally.  My back was killing me after I finished getting the marble up.   The laminate went down fairly easily.  The house looks a million times better now!  Plus I have something to show-off whenever someone comes over which is an added bonus.

Today we started on our barn for the horses.  We have a company that is going to come in and set the posts and build the roof.  I, along with some help, will then hang the siding and build the stalls.  April is really excited to have a barn where she can put our horses when it rains and gets cold. 

Second Appointment

 We had our second appointment this past Friday and everything looks great.  The kiddo's heart rate was a bit slower at 153 bpm versus around 175 a month ago.    We were really surprised when we saw the ultrasound this month.  Although we won't know the sex for another 5 weeks, it looks like it is practicing for it's hobby based on the video.  Video of ultrasound  I can't say that I'm disappointed at all.  :-)   The picture below is from an appointment we had on 7/15 to take some baby measurements.  It has some long legs!

What we found out on June 10th

April called me on June 10th, my Dad's birthday, while I was on a call. I thought this was her normal lunchtime call to me so I told her that I couldn't talk at which time she told me it was important and blurted out the news that she had taken 3 pregnancy tests and they all came out positive. At that point I stopped paying very much attention to my call, fortunately it was wrapping up anyway.

We set our first appointment for July 9th and the pregnancy tests were confirmed. Hearing the heartbeat for the first time was amazing. I think I almost fell out of my chair. The due date is January 31st which is very close to my birthday, it's cousin Marin's birthday, and it's 2nd cousin Lauren's birthday. Now that it is confirmed, the planning begins. We have to pick out the room we want to use for the kiddo, I have to finish redoing one of the upstairs bathrooms, along with all of the other things that I'm sure we aren't even aware of yet. It is going to be a great 7 months!