2 Month Checkup

Today was Maddie's 2 month checkup. She weighs 11lbs 8 oz and is 23 inches long. She's growing right on track. The nurse gave her the first round of immunizations and she didn't even flinch. She did get mad though when it was time to leave and I had to put her in her car seat. She hates getting strapped in.

Here's the only picture I could get of her before we left to go to the doctor. As you can see, she wasn't happy then either. Isn't she just pitiful.

Staying Put

Gary started teaching at a different school this year. He moved from teaching 3rd grade at Gilchrist to teaching 3rd grade at Florida State University School. It has been quite an adjustment especially with a newborn baby. His school is completely across town and it takes him close to 45 minutes some days with traffic to get there. We have been in our house for almost 5 years now and we thought, even with the downturn in the market, that we would at least be able to sell our house for what we bought it for and look for something closer to Gary's new school, which would make it closer for me too since it takes me about 30 minutes to get to work, and give us room to grow since we are busting at the seams now. So we called our realtor to come over and discuss our situation and give us options. Turns out, after working up some comps, that our house is only worth about $1,000 more than what we owe... and that's after paying almost $200 more every month AND... it's still expected to decline some more before it gets better, GREAT :/ However, we are in better shape than a lot of people who bought at the same time. We are very fortunate to have a home. Plus, we are going through Financial Peace University and we are on our way to becoming debt free. Knowing that we really can't afford to move has actually put our thoughts at ease and has helped us focus our efforts on paying off all of our debt. So, we are going to stay put for now.

Maddie's 2 Month Birthday

Yesterday was Maddie's 2 month birthday. She is doing so much better than she was a month ago. We have gotten her into more of a routine and she has actually been sleeping through the night. Tuesday night she slept 10.5 hours! But, on average, she sleeps 7. Her daytime napping has been good too. She is up to eat and play for a couple of hours and then goes back down for 2-3. She still hates tummy time and hasn't rolled over this week, but she is getting better at it. She does, however, like to be on her back and look at the toys hanging down from the play gym and hitting them with her arms. Her reflux has gotten better and she is not crying all the time. In fact, she is cooing and smiling a lot more. Next Thursday we are going to start daycare. We will start out part time to try to develop a routine for her and mommy so that when mommy goes back to work it won't be so hard. Wish us luck.

Big Milestones

Madison has been sleeping 6-7 hours through the night! Woo Hoo!! However, it all comes at a price. She is very fussy and won't sleep well from 5 until about 11 at night, but then she finally poops out and goes to sleep and sleeps for a long time. Madison doesn't sleep well during the day either. There's about 5 hours during the day where she just won't go to sleep. When she does sleep, she has to be tightly swaddled. She fights it, but it sure helps her sleep. She's constantly moving and her arms and hands flail around and she hits herself in the head. I am hoping she gets control of her movements soon so that we can stop swaddling her.

She's also eating like a pig. From 5-11 she will consume 10 or more ounces of formula and still wants more.

She is getting so big and strong! She has held her head up since the day she was born and this week she has rolled over from her tummy to her back 5 times; although, she only does it for mommy. She has now discovered the tv. She loves to watch tv and just look around at everything. She is so nosy. I wonder where she gets that from. I think that's why she's so hard to get to sleep.

Oh and don't try to fool her with a pacifier, she already knows the difference between the pacifier and the bottle. If you try to put the pacifier in and she's still hungry, she will tighten her lips and keep pushing that pacifier out with her tongue. She's a smart one :)
Madison has really started enjoying bath time. We have a whale tub that fits over the kitchen sink. She just sits back and relaxes while she has her bubble bath.

Our First Long Trip

On our first long trip, we went to Port Charlotte to see Gary's grandparents on Labor Day weekend. We were so worried about this trip. Was she going to sleep or scream the whole way there and back? We decided that it would be best to leave early Saturday morning. She had started a pattern where she would sleep from like 11:30 and sleep 3 - 4 hours and then she would be back up again to feed and down for another 3-4 hours and continue on this cycle until about noon. So, Madison woke up around 3, we got her fed and packed up and on the road we went. We left Tallahassee at 4am and had to stop at the rest area in Ocala to feed her, then 30-45 minutes later we were back on the road and arrived at Port Charlotte around 10:30am. On the way down, we saw some hot air balloons passing over Tampa (It made us think of our friends in Albuquerque where they have the hot air balloon festival every year in October... maybe they were getting prepared to go to NM). We had a nice visit and Gram and Pa just loved her. The car ride back; however, was not nice. We decided to leave during her 'fussy' period so that when we got home we would be able to sleep. So, we packed up and left Port Charlotte at 9pm Sunday night and headed home. She cried a lot and was just kinda fussy all the way home. But, when we got home at around 2am, she was out like a light. She slept for 6 hours. Even though the ride home was rough, it was worth it. She was going to be fussy anyway, so we thought we might as well ride... plus it kept us awake.

Madison's First Bible

We went to church and they presented Madison with her first bible and prayed over us.

2 Week Checkup

Madison had her 2 week checkup and everything looks good. She weighs 8lbs 10oz and has grown 2 whole inches to 21.5 inches long. However, we were telling the doctor about her excessive and forceful spit-ups and that she had not been sleeping well and was hungry all the time. She believed that Madison had reflux and asked that we go to the hospital to have an Upper GI done to confirm what she believed was reflux and to make sure that nothing else was going wrong. In the meantime, she was prescribed zantac and reglan. That night was the first night Maddie actually slept through the night. Hallelujah! The following week we went to have her Upper GI done (after hours of her crying because she couldn't eat for the test, so pitiful) and it did in fact confirm that she had moderate reflux. We struggled with her for several more days, she was still spitting up a lot and crying and just not sleeping well. Because I was breastfeeding, I tried making changes to my diet, but nothing seemed to help. We tried everything that you are 'supposed' to do. Elevating the bed, feeding her upright, burping frequently, mylicon drops, etc... After a couple more weeks, we decided to change her to an Anti Regurgitation formula and it finally seemed to help. She is now actually keeping her food down much better and is actually sleeping for 3-4 hour periods.
We go back to the doctor on 9/28 for her 2 month checkup.

Our Little Glow Worm

Before we left the hospital, our pediatrician, Dr. Singh, noticed that Madison had a touch of jaundice. She said it wasn't a big deal and to keep Madison near a window for sunlight as much as possible and to come back to her office in 2 days for a checkup. So we did as she asked and came back 2 days later. Madison was looking good. She had already surpassed her birth weight. However, she still looked a little jaundiced and she sent us to have some bloodwork done. On our way home we stopped by the fertility clinic where we had gone to help conceive Maddie to show her off and then went home. Later that afternoon we received a call from the doctor saying that Maddie's bilirubin level was too high and she wa sending someone out to our house with a biliblanket. Maddie was to sleep on this lighted pad until her levels decreased to an acceptable level. We had to go back to the lab every day and have her blood drawn to make sure that the levels of bilirubin were decreasing. Luckily, she only had to sleep with the biliblanket another 2 days, 3 in all. We were all so happy to take the biliblanket back.

Tweets and Commentary From the Hospital

• Madison's first car ride! We are on our way home!!!3:53 AM Jul 27th from txt
  We were so ready to go home. Madison hadn't slept as well as we had hoped. We thought that once we got home it would be better. Boy were we mistaken :)
  
  



• I'm a daddy! Baby Madison was born at 7:08 pm. She is perfect! Mommy and Maddie are doing great! Love to everyone from the THREE of us!!7:50 PM Jul 25th from txt
  We only had 2 hours to visit before we had to go to our room for the night. During those 2 hours, Madison and I got all cleaned up in the L&D room and saw several visitors; My Mom, Dad, Teena, Carla, Sean, April, Drew, Zane, and Aunt SueEllen. We finally made it up to our family care room and got some rest. Madison slept fairly well that night.




• Whoa! 10 cm came fast! Pushing is going to start any minute!6:45 PM Jul 25th from txt
  I was checked again and I was only about 4.5 cm and was told that it would probably be late that night or the next morning before I has the baby. So, Gary had asked my mom and Carla to wait in the waiting room so that I could get some sleep. While they were out, I got some sleep and woke up looking at the monitor and it started showing Madison's heartrate drop every time I had a contraction. This made me very uncomfortable so I had Gary ask the nurse to come in and find out what was going on. This was the first time that they had checked me in almost 4 hours. I was at 9.5 cm, very close to 10 and the baby was at a -1 station and we were told that it would still be several hours. Gary went out to inform Mama and Carla. While he was out, the nurse had me turn over to my left side and I asked the nurse how I would know when to have her come back and when to push. She said it would feel like a lot of pressure on my bottom. I then told her that I was feeling that sensation. Gary came back in and then she checked me again and I was at 10 cm and the nurse asked me to give her a push. After 1 push, Madison was ready to come out. This happened all in about 10 minutes. Gary went back out to tell Mama and Carla that it was happening NOW. They came back in while the nurse and midwife were getting the room ready. The pushing started and Mama and Carla left the room. Madison was born about 15 minutes later and I got to see it all in the mirror. It was such a surreal experience!!! I couldn't believe it. Gary was so good helping me breathe and focus. When Madison was born he was so proud! It was the start of our little family!!


• Thank God - the epidural is in! It was getting rough there for a minute. Becky's asleep now and contractions are getting stronger!3:45 PM Jul 25th from txt
  After the water was broken and the pitocin was started back up, the contractions came quick and strong!!! I asked for IV meds within 20 minutes and they gave me Nubain. 10 minutes after that, I asked for the epidural. The Nubain didn't do anything for me. The only problem was that the nurse anesthetist was in a surgery and couldn't leave and I still had to get through a whole bag of fluids. 'Are you freaking kidding me?!!' Gary put a blood pressure cuff around the IV bag to help it go through faster and the waiting game was on for the anesthetist. Finally, 2 hours later she comes in and has to go through her schpiel about the epidural and I needed to sign this consent form yada, yada, yada. I 'signed' the form - it was an unrecognizable signature and I really didn't even care what the form said. I sat up and put my legs over the bed and more water came out - I thought that was all done. Gary was standing beside me and I remember looking at him as the water was hitting the floor and I said, 'I promise that is not pee'. Like he really cared :) I was so scared about getting the epidural. Gary stood in front of me and forehead to forehead helped me get through it. Ahhh, the epidural did wonders! I couldn't feel a thing. Definitely would do it again, but next time I would do it quicker.


• Water is broken!!!!!!!!1:03 PM Jul 25th from txt
  At noon the midwife came in and gave us 3 options. 1.) Go home - not gonna happen, we came too far. 2.) try breaking the water again - Oh what pain! 3.) C-section. I really didn't want to do a c-section, so I opted for them to try breaking the water again. Thanks to my breathing techniques and Gary being my focus point, I was able to withstand the pain for them to break my water. I think I lost 20 pounds of water. It just kept coming and coming. The L&D nurse and the midwife said they hadn't seen someone with this much water in a long time. No turning back now!!


• Trying Cytotec again,this time a little closer to the source. Hopefully this'll give us some results. Becky's hanging in there like a champ!9:48 AM Jul 25th from web


• Just did an exam and things haven't progressed as much as we'd hoped. They were going to try and break the water, but we'll have to wait.9:46 AM Jul 25th from web
  Only 2 1/2 cm... What?!! They tried to break the water and they couldn't quite reach the cervix well enough... very painful... I thought I was gonna die.


• Cytotec is started- we'll see how this helps her to progress from here. I'm in bed now and she's already asleep. If nothing else, we'll rest10:47 PM Jul 24th from txt


• We're in a holding pattern now. Pitocin didn't do as much as we had hoped. They may try Cytotec (sp?) through the night. We'll know soon.8:16 PM Jul 24th from txt


• Mommmy is still doing great - napping at the moment. Gotta get up some energy for the exciting night ahead of us!5:04 PM Jul 24th from txt


• With the onset of the pitocin, Becky's contractions have become a little stronger and more regular. Pain is still not a big issue - yet!3:51 PM Jul 24th from txt


• Pitocin was started about 45 min ago and then increased within the past few min. They will continue to increase the dose every 30 min.3:49 PM Jul 24th from txt
  Yay, we should be well on our way now, right?!! Wrong!


• Becky's starting to have regular, mild contractions!! No pain yet, just tightening. The pitosin cocktail should be coming our way soon.2:14 PM Jul 24th from txt


• Thanks to the Newcombes for coming to visit and bringing lunch! You're the best!11:53 AM Jul 24th from txt
  The cytotec seemed to be giving me contractions, they're getting stronger but still not painful yet. Just feels like strong menstral cramps.


• Just started the oral meds ... contractions should be on their way soon!10:05 AM Jul 24th from web


• Good Morning! We're up and Becky's had breakfast. Unfortunately, the cervidil didn't work so they'll try an oral med soon.8:45 AM Jul 24th from txt
  What?!! only 1/2 centimeter more after 12 hours of cervadil???


• Had to run home to get an eggcrate to cushion the cot and a t-shirt to sleep in. No matter how prepared you are, something gets forgotten!2:30 AM Jul 24th from txt
  The nurse had actually given us an eggcrate but then realized it was for Gary and came back and took it away... how rude.


• So far only mild contractions seen on the monitor and felt, but without any pain. We'll see how tonight goes ...1:37 AM Jul 24th from txt


• Becky's mom & dad, Teena, Teri, Mandi, and Elaine came to visit tonight. We're trying to wind down now and get some rest before the big day!1:36 AM Jul 24th from txt
  We were thankful for visitors... it helped keep our mind off of what was about to happen.


• Settled in labor and delivery. Cervidil has been started. 12 hours and we'll see how things have progressed. Whataburger for dinner YUM!10:06 PM Jul 23rd from txt
  I didn't even get through eating my hamburger. The midwife came in to start the cervadil and then I was too excited to finish eating.


• At the hospital waiting to be admitted and begin our journey toward parenthood! Talk about a mixture of extreme excitement and anxiety!8:02 PM Jul 23rd from txt


• We just found out that Becky will be taken in tonight to start the induction process at 8:00. Baby Madison should be here sometime tomorrow!1:29 PM Jul 23rd from txt
  I didn't know that I was going to be having a surprise baby shower at work in an hour! I think everybody was a little nervous :)
  

Much Sooner Than We Expected!

I had noticed over the past week that I had been getting what seemed like insect bites all over my hands, wrists, and ankles. I had blamed Gary and Chester for getting fleas in the house because that was what it had to be. However, Chester didn't have fleas and Gary wasn't getting any bites either. The 'bites' were spreading down my arms, feet, legs, and belly. I couldn't figure it out. When I went to work on Monday, the general consensus from everyone that I asked in the office believed it to be an allergic reaction. So, I went next door to our nurses to ask for something that I could take, if in fact it was an allergic reaction. They told me that they couldn't give me anything and that I needed to talk to my OB/GYN about it. I had an appointment the next day, so I just waited and talked to them about it. She didn't seem to be too concerned but said it looked like a classic case of PUPPS and said to take Benadryl. She sent me off for some blood work to confirm that it was PUPPs and we went ahead and scheduled the elective induction for Monday July 27th, as I stated in the earlier post. I tried the Benadryl and didn't have much luck. Tuesday night I hardly got any sleep because I was itching so badly. Wednesday night it was worse. After trying every itching cream in the aisle of CVS (Shhh, don't tell anyone) without getting any relief, Gary convinced me to go to the hospital to try to get some answers and relief. So, we did. We went to triage July 22nd and there they gave me Benadryl by IV and Nubain to help with the itching. It worked for a little while, then I was back to itching again. Thursday morning, the itching still wasn't any better, so I called the Doctor's office. I decided to walk over to the office, since I work at the hospital, it was just a short walk. Gary met me there and demanded we see a doctor. After talking to the midwife and doctor, they decided that we could go ahead and start the induction that day since the rash would not go away until after delivery and we were going to be induced in 4 days anyway. That's where the chaos began. I didn't know it at the time, but I was going to be having a surprise baby shower at work in just 2 hours. So, I went to the baby shower and it was a surprise. Gary had to tell me in the doctor's office since they told us it was going to be later that day that we were going to be induced and there were so many things that had to be done but I needed to be there for our baby shower. So, we had the shower - It was awesome! We had to get someone to take care of Chester, eat, do some laundry, and get the rest of our bags packed. I left work at 5pm, came home, and left the house at 7:30pm. We didn't even get a chance to eat. We got checked in at 8pm and got into our room around 9pm. We called Mimi to bring us Whataburger when she came. When Mimi got there, we were so hungry. I started eating and that's when the midwife came in with the first induction method, Cervadil. There was no turning back then. :)

Before the contractions got bad :)

Trying to Catch Up

I promise I will be updating soon. I am just trying to catch up and type up everything first and then post them all when I am current. More to come soon. Or maybe I will start tweeting... hmmm :)