Day 5

What a busy day we had today...we lost total track of time and learning that this is normal in this place. Maddie was more beautiful today. We met with her doctors-we're learning so much. A Cath procedure is scheduled for tomorrow...risks are low yet it will be her first major thing done here, so we're still nervous. Part of the cath is done for diagnostic reasons and part to fix some areas of her heart. Some decisions can't even be made until they get in there with the cath. So, "game time" decisions tomorrow. Our confidence in the dr performing this is very high and we know we're in the BEST hands. We had a beautiful priesthood blessing for her tonight as well given by Derek and Uncle Jerry, after hours in our dark CICU room. We just need to have faith and trust in God that Maddie will handle this with ease and refocus our thoughts in that He is holding her in His hands. It's difficult to realize that this is so out of ours. Please pray for Maddie, our doctors and nurses, and for Bryan and I. We all will need it.

Day 4

Here's Maddie's favorite sleeping position- she sleeps exactly like I do! Her day went pretty "normal" for her, she's a little more jaundiced today but that's nothing to stress about. We attempt nursing at her feedings but she is getting what she needs from the bottle...needs more calories so they amp up my breast milk so she gets the amount of calories she needs, since she burns more with her breathing. I've gotten a little attached to our day nurse. She knows more about Maddie than I do, which is a tough realization but Anne is who Maddie needs right now. My "mothering" is limited here...one thing I'm looking so forward to when we get home. She lets me do "my thing" whenever possible and usually I don't even ask, she just tells me when I can have my opportunities. Today, I got to hold her for the longest time. I reclined back in a chair and had her on my chest, felt her rapid heart beat on mine. It was so therapeutic for me and her, I think. We have a Cath procedure scheduled on Wednesday and met the renowned doctor today. Will talk more tomorrow with doctors about this. But we feel comfortable and very hopeful in what their ideas are to help start the process of fixing her heart. We also had visitors today, Bryan's Aunt Nicki and cousin Michelle, they brought us all sorts of yummy goodies and magazines that will come in handy during all of our "down time"! My cousin Jenni has also visited a couple of times as well as went shopping for us...we were lacking some clothes after rushing over here!

Our favorite Nurse, Anne...letting mommy feed Maddie a bottle!

Day 3

Hope you got our email...finally sent one out to announce Madison's arrival. We also posted some pictures of her, shortly after her birth and I'm starting to label the posts by Day #. So look back in the blog to see her first photos. We had a good day today and are growing and bonding with our little girl. I nursed her today and we do get to hold her frequently, change diapers, burp her, etc. I even "decorated" her little space (I think the nurses sensed my "Martha Stewart" ways and they rolled out a big cart full of supplies.) She's had more trouble breathing over the past days, her chest showing lots of movement, stressful. Her oxygen SAT levels are very high- upper 90's, which at first we thought was a great thing, meaning she was more normal like our levels would be. Not for a heart defect baby though. What this means is too much blood is going through her lungs (via her ductus that's opened in her heart with IV) and what this is like for her is she's sprinting or running hard most of the time. She has been really tired too. The doctors decided to put her in a nitrogen tent to get these SAT levels down. This contstricts the amount of pure oxygen she's getting and by putting more nitrogen in the air. We're learning so much. She also looks more jaundiced today and may need some lights tomorrow. We're going to bed here in a little bit, tomorrow is a big day. The doctors, cardiologists and surgeons are meeting to go over her case and possibly decide on a surgerical procedure and set the date.

The little boys came up with Uncle Ryan and Aunt Jess yesterday. It was so good to see them and spend a little time with our boys. They both seem to have grown a foot and change so much. They are handling all of this very well and have enjoyed themselves. We took them back to see Maddie this morning and in their quick visit, Cade loved her tent and wanted to see her little toes. Jace was wondering why we can't bring her home today. We enjoyed having Mike, Lesa & kids here as well, also our moms. Mom and Nancy went home for a day or so to get caught up and organized before coming back to stay a while. We're so blessed to have such a wonderful family and support group.

Today was also a baby shower back home for Maddie and I, as well as for our friends, Lisa L. and her baby girl (due April too). What a surprise that Maddie came EARLY and we missed out on the fun! We thought of you and missed all you girls today...

Here she is! Days 1 & 2

Here's some pictures! Bryan spent all day with her off and on yesterday and I got to go see her last night on a "4 hour pass" from U of W. I was able to hold her for a couple of hours and tried nursing...I ended up giving her a bottle, which was fun. She's learning the whole "suck, swallow, breathe" method right now. She's still doing well...but we are keeping in mind that things can change quickly. The nurses and docs reinterate this every time we mention how well she is doing. And, notice the blue???? Just can't escape it! I asked the nurses that she has a pink blankie on today!

Surprise...She's Here!

Well, the plan did not go as planned. Madison Grace decided to come a little early...35 weeks, 4 days. My water broke at 2:30am on Wednesday night so we drove 90 to get over here in time. I labored all day with the help of Pitocin but this just didn't go smoothly. My mom and Bryan's folks came right over and stayed with us all day as I labored off and on all day. Derek and Carly also made the trip over and Derek gave me a very nice blessing, which helped calm us down and regained our hope amidst the shock that this was happening a month early. Maddie began showing distress right before 10:00 pm and I was rushed into the OR for an emergency C-section (the umbilical cord had prolapsed and was coming down first). Dr. Suzanne Peterson & Dr. Nathan performed the C-section, luckily one of the first things they learn is what to do in case of a prolapsed cord...keep it from getting compressed by the babies head! Thanks to Dr. Nathan, he did just that by riding on the gourney with me!

At 10:07 pm, March 13th, she arrived, weighing 5 lbs 14 oz. and was 19.5 inches long. She is doing wonderful- breathing on her own, her prostaglandin IV is in (which helps her heart function until her surgery) and she was sent to Children's last night, with Daddy going along in the ambulance with her. I was able to see her and even "half-way" hold her before she left. She's absolutely beautiful and pretty fiesty already. She is just being monitored in the NICU at Children's for the next couple of days. Maddie handled all of this chaos very well and her lungs are showing maturity (even being a few weeks early). Apgar scores were first a 3 then 9. We've already fallen more in love with her and are very impressed with how she's taking to life outside the womb. I'm still here at University of Washington Medical Center (Seattle) hopefully will get released tomorrow sometime if I can pass all of the "tests". I'm doing good, just very tired and sore. The past 36 hours have been very eventful, so we're still getting our minds wrapped around all of this. Since I'm confined to the bed, I had time to announce our little girl and ask that you continue to pray for our precious baby.

Nesting

It's been awhile since I've last posted...really no changes around here. Just CLEANING and PROJECTS! Funny how when you're pregnant, that nesting bug hits you. I've been infected with it over the past month. Maddie doesn't have a bedroom, so hers is the corner of our room: a nursery nook. My mom came out Monday and we tackled painting my bedroom (she did most of the work) and over the weekend, I tiled our hall bathroom with linoleum stick-on tiles! Nothing like waiting until the last month of my pregnancy to complete these jobs that have been on my "to do" list for a year! As for the pregnancy, it's going well. I'm getting big, going weekly to my doctor in Moses Lake for Non-Stress tests and weekly appointment. Our next appointment in Seattle is Mar. 24th. If I show some "change" and baby looks ready, the induction will probably be scheduled. The doctors have always talked about inducing between 37-39 weeks, which would be the earliest in 2 weeks! I am feeling like it will be somewhere around that first week of April. I turn 30 that week, so who knows, maybe we'll share the same b-day. The little boys are getting excited. They know that their "vacation" is starting when mommy goes to have Maddie: staying with grandparents, aunts and uncles, being entertained to the highest and getting to do almost whatever they please! What every preschooler and toddler dreams of! I hope they'll want to come back home and live here when we get home with Maddie- Makes me a little nervous. All in all, we're hanging in there and just starting to count the days down. Spring is finally here and with that comes hope and renewal. Maddie couldn't be arriving at a more perfect time of year. We're nervous yet getting very excited to meet our little angel. Coming soon...a picture of Maddie's corner!

Baby Shower for Miss Maddie

The term, "I'm tickled PINK" says it all! My wonderful sister-in-laws, best friend Carly and aunt Kerry threw such a fun baby shower, open house style, for Maddie on March 1st. The guests included just family and a few of the grandma's closest friends. Let's say that she's set!!! Outfits for all occasions and accessories too! Little girls are so much fun!