Our Baby is All Grown Up

I consider myself pretty lucky in regards to the hormonal roller coasters that are supposed to accompany the post-partum period. Except for a few teary moments when I witness the cuteness of Maddy and the crying fits we'd both have while trying to breast feed, I don't think I've necessarily experienced "the baby blues."

So this past Sunday on her 2 week birthday her belly button stump fell off and I cried.

It was her first milestone; an event Jason and I had been waiting for "I wonder when her belly button will fall off..." I suddenly felt very old and Maddy suddenly looked very grown and very large and as she laid there kicking her legs and "swimming" with her arms and I stood there holding the stump, yelling for Jason to "come look at this!!" and crying.

Whatever. Call me a crazy hormonal mother if you will. I was (and still am!) proud and sad that our baby passed her first life test. The result: a perfect "innie."

On a lighter note, Madelyn had her first road trip this past weekend to witness the McNixon wedding. Talk about STRESSFUL. Maddy could care less; she was the perfect baby who just slept, ate and pooped as people ooohed and ahhed over her. Me on the other hand, actually needed 1.5 glasses of wine to get through the reception and had to leave town when the reception was over. I couldn't take another moment of looking down at Maddy to see a complete STRANGER kissing her face and asking to HOLD HER. Yes, both of these things happened. It really opened my eyes; from now on, I guess it's socially acceptable to walk up to a complete stranger and kiss their baby ON THE FACE. Right? WRONG. Back off, people. Regardless of the mayhem that accompanies a new (and adorable!) baby, the wedding was gorgeous and I was very happy to spend time with old friends I hadn't seen in a long, long time.

As for now, baby is actually sleeping (thank you, thunder storm). I am going to change my 3 day old shirt and go stare at the belly button stump we saved in a jar =)
*kidding, though Jason did suggest it**

MADELYN LILY IS HERE!

Here goes. The first official entry of our daughter's blog. More so than her poopy diapers and spit up burp cloths, starting this blog makes it so real! Our baby girl is a week old today and though Jason and I are delirious from sleep deprivation it suprisingly flew by.

So--here are the details.

1. LABOR IS NOT FUN. I don't think this is ground breaking news to all mothers out there, but for all you men out there....be glad you get to encourage pushing not perform the pushing. Ours started out as an induction on Saturday June 12th. Bright and early we were set up in the hospital room and were told by our doctor that we'd "probably have this baby by 7 pm." GREAT! We were ready. Excited. Nervous. Both sets of our parents plus Becky were on their way to Jax to cheer us on.

2. NEVER BELIEVE WHAT TIME THE DOCTOR GUESSES YOU'LL HAVE THE BABY. Our "You'll have this baby by 7 pm" turned into a whirlwind of contractions, epidural, 2 different nurses and talk of C-section.......much to my horror. My "should be quick" labor did not end until 03:53 the NEXT morning when our beautiful baby was born. My body refused to dilate more than 4 cms which is where I stayed parked for about 6 hours. My awesome nurse told me after the fact she "knew I'd end up having a C-section" but humored me anyways because of my pretty much refusal to get one. My doctor obliged and gave me till 1 am to "show some progress." Not a full 10 cms, but ANYTHING. Luckily I zoomed through the rest of dilatation and was able to deliver Maddy as planned.

3. BREASTFEEDING IS HARD! No need for explanation.

4. OUR BABY IS THE CUTEST BABY EVER. See posted pics for proof.

5. SLEEP.........I honestly thought people who would say "sleep now while you can!" and "get ready for sleepless nights" and "newborns = no sleep" etc were exaggerating. I WAS SO WRONG. I don't sleep. I don't nap. Every squeak and grunt she makes sends me into a fit of panic (SIDS, SIDS, SIDS). There has been no need to set up the baby monitor yet. I've somehow managed to improve my hearing 1000 fold and can now hear the slightest baby sigh through walls. I know, I know. Paranoid new mother. But I would rather lie awake at night sacrificing sleep to listen out for the slightest abnormal noise.....

For now, though sleep deprived and poo-poo covered, we are so in love with her and don't know how we were able to make such a beautiful baby. In the meantime, we're trying to figure out how to keep her little and sweet forever........