Our Hospital Stay

Sad but true, Baby Madison has already spent several nights in a hospital at only 5 weeks old! Here's the story...

She wasn't her normal sweet self over the weekend...way more fussy than usual and had a hard time sleeping. I didn't think much of it, thought it was a growth spurt. Then Tuesday morning Nolan left to work on a machine in Colorado. She was super fussy all day, cried more than ever. After one of her naps I noticed she was really hot. Luckily, Lyndsie came over to help me take her temp...didn't want to try the dreaded rectal temp alone for the first time! It was 101.5! I freaked out, called the on-call pediatrician who said I need to go to the ER right away...then I started balling and freaking out even more! My sweet sis-in-law was amazing at trying to calm me and she called my mom to help. My mom came right over and we took her to Long Beach Memorial, Miller Children's Hospital. She was taken right away for a chest X-Ray, they drew blood, got a urine sample via catheter, and attempted a spinal tap (tried 3 times and never got a clean sample). Then they admitted us to a room where they stared an IV, antibiotics, and put her on a heart monitor. It was AWFUL!!! Hearing her scream while they poked her tiny little limbs trying to find a vein...and Nolan was out of town...I was an absolute mess!

We stayed at the hospital until Friday. I spent every night by her side, sleep deprived, and annoyed by LOUD beeping monitors. My amazing mother would relieve me during the day so I could shower and get a few hours of sleep. Finally, all of her tests came back negative for bacterial viruses. Turns out she has Enterovirus Meningitis, sounds bad but it is pretty much just a typical flu. It is very common in babies, especially in the summer. Because babies have underdeveloped immune system they always admit them for at least 48 hours since the viruses can move very quickly.

We are home now, (Nolan got home Friday night, he missed it all), and she is doing great! You would have never known she was sick. Unfortunately, she is still considered very contagious so we are confined to the house for 2 weeks! It's ok...just more time to spend with my cutie pie!

She is starting to smile and coo and it just melts my heart...I see so much of Nolan in her tiny face and I just love it...knowing we made this beautiful baby just makes me love him more. He spent his first Father's Day in bed with her watching golf and baseball all day! It was adorable!

Also, thank you all for your well wishes, prayers, hugs and kisses...they were needed more than you know...and for those of you just finding out we know you love us too! It was such a whirlwind event I only had time to post quick messages on Facebook.

Madison's Newborn Pictures

We had Madison's pictures taken when she was just 7 days old...

The rest of Madison's newborn picture session is now online at www.jessicalakephotography.com; there you will enter the website and at the bottom right corner click the tab that says "proofing". Once there it will ask you for a password and you'll enter: madison.

We hope you enjoy these pictures our little sweetie!!!

To make is easy we posted a link to the pictures...just look in the right hand column to find the link! ENJOY!!!

She's 4 weeks old already!

Wow, how time flies! We can't believe our little munchkin is already 4 weeks old, and she is doing great!

We were released from the hospital on Mother's day. The day started off great and ended up awful! We had a super rough first night...I think Madison cried from 1am to 4am straight! Since then we have settled into a pretty good routine, (thank goodness!) I am having a tough time breastfeeding so she is mainly getting formula, which might be a good thing, since she goes between 6 and 7 hours between feedings at night! You'd think I'd be well rested...but, no...still exhausted! She's still a guessing game that takes up all my brain power!

We have made it out of the house a couple of times and she has been pretty good. She has already been to the ranch! She doesn't always love her car seat but she is starting to get used to it. She really enjoys her bath time, but like to pee on mommy before mommy can get a diaper on her...mommy needs to learn to move faster!

Being a new mommy has been hard at times but overall she is a wonderful baby and we are truly enjoying having her in our lives. Over the last weekend we were all lying in the bed together...Makalani included, and Nolan and I just laughed at our cute little family and talked about how great our new life is.

If you haven't met little Ms. Madison yet you are missing out! She's a sweetheart!

Madison Kaye Real has arrived!!!

Our baby girl is here!!!  Madison Kaye Real was born Friday, May 8th, 2009 at 12:32AM.  She weighs 8.7LBS and is 21 in. long.  It was quite an adventure to get her here.  

I was attempting to go to bed Wednesday night when I started feeling funny.  I tried to go to bed but I just couldn't stay still.  I started having strong, consistent contractions about midnight.  They started out about 10 min. apart but quickly got closer and closer together.  By 5 am we knew we were in true labor and called our doula, Taffy.  She came right over and we started doing some breathing and laboring positions to help me cope with the pain.  I was determined to stay home as long as possible.  We were able to labor at home for a while.  We finally decided to head to the hospital at 10:30 when my contractions were about 2 minutes apart and the pain was getting pretty bad.  We were able to check right in!

We were excited to see how far I had progressed, since I had been in labor for 10 1/2 hours already...I was only a 4!  The pain was bad and I wanted the drugs but I decided to try to stick it out a little longer.  At around 2:30 they checked me again and I was at a 5-6 and in more pain than I could handle...I had been laboring for over 14 hours on my feet...I never sat down!  I decided I needed the drugs...my feet hurt too bad to continue.  Wow...the epidural was AMAZING!!!  I finally got to lay down and I was a lot more comfortable.  

A couple of hours later they checked me again and I was a 6...I was wondering if this was ever going to end!  My wonderful husband, amazing doula, and loving family stood waiting to see what was taking so long.  It was so frustrating!  The doctor finally decided to break my water, hoping it would move things along, and the scariest thing happened.  It seemed that the entire hospital staff ran into my room.  No one said anything, they were all over me moving me around, talking all technical, it was scary!  Turns out that there was a dip in the baby's heart rate after a strong contraction.  This slowed everything down...I stayed dilated to a 7 for the rest of the evening.  

The doctor finally came in and suggested a c-section, which I was totally against.  But she talked me into it because I had been laboring for a full 24 hours now and I was stuck at 7 and a -1 (the baby was still really high in the birth canal).  The doctor explained that even if I made it to a 10 I would still have to push and she was thinking I might not have the energy.  I was very upset but decided that a c-section at that point was better than an emergency c-section if the pushing was too much.

They prepped me for the surgery and in I went... 1/2 sad I missed out on natural delivery, 1/2 happy I was finally going to meet her.  The surgery went well.  Nolan held my hand the entire time.  It was amazing  when they held Madison Kaye in front of my face for the first time. Nolan left to cut the umbilical chord and watch them clean her up. He brought her back to me and let me look at her while they finished stitching me up. She was beautiful!!! I was in love!!! 

Nolan and the baby went to the nursery and I was taken to recovery. At about 3a.m. we were admitted to a room to get some rest. Later that day Madison Kaye was brought to us. Here are some of the pictures.(please see pictures to the right, we are working on posting an album)

 

 

 

 

39 Weeks and counting!!!

I just had my 39 week appt. and all is still well...after a little anxiety! I went in for what I thought was going to be a 10 minute quickie exam turned into be being there for an hour and a half. Apparently, my blood pressure a little high and they wanted to rule out any complications. He, the doctor, said he was going to do a routine exam and actually did a sweeping of the membranes and checked for dilation. WOW!!! Not what I expected and not something I would ever want done again!

After that they monitored the baby's heart rate for 20 minutes, they drew some blood, and did an ultrasound to check the fluids inutero. All of the tests came back great! The doctor told me to go home and have sex with my husband! That was the only advice...I bet Nolan will thank him later!

So, I'm now back home with my feet up, thinking my mom is wonderful for helping me put the final touches on my nesting projects. I'm also waiting for my adorable husband to get home from work!!! Oh...yeah!!!

38 Weeks...Tick Tock!

So, I apologize for the delay...it sure has been awhile since my last update. I was busy working, and I loved my job, but it took a lot out of me and I wasn't up for much, just wanted to sleep! My 3rd trimester was more exhausting than my 1st! Now that I'm not working I figured it was time for an update...all the nagging helped get me motivated!
I just had my 38 week check up and all is going perfect! The doctors had me stop working earlier than expected (by 3 days) and I think it was a blessing in disguise. Since then my blood pressure is back down and the swelling or edema is much better (although my feet still look like small boats and I have temporary loss of my ankles!) I feel great and I still love being pregnant. My little Madison isn't a kicker...she does daily yoga! She's really fun and just stretches away so it doesn't hurt, it's sorta soothing. I just sit and watch my belly move and laugh. I'm going to miss being pregnant!!!
Last week at the doctor's office Nolan realized that I am full term and our little girl could come any day...he turned pale white and had to sit down! He's been so sweet and he's been taking good care of us...even been feeling some sympathy pains!!! He's been singing to her and he picked out the most beautiful song...I cry every time he sings it to my belly. I just keep imagining him holding her in his arms singing to her (smile and tear)! Lyrics are posted on the side...
The next update will be very soon and I promise pictures of her room and our crazy nesting project we've been up to!!!