Madeline is here!

Her Birth Story:

Madeline's original due date was January 8th, 2012. I have only 5 days left of student teaching and I graduate from UVU. This week was supposed to be my very last week. Then I was planning on getting completely ready for the baby to come, catch up on photography stuff, and deep cleaning the house, etc. Little did I know, our plans would soon change!

This pregnancy has been a whirl wind! I've had kidney infections and other little issues here and there. Student teaching has been really fun, but stressful at the same time. A few weeks ago, I started feeling crampy and I thought that was odd. I went and got it checked out, but they didn't seem to think anything of it. I was having lots of contractions a few weeks ago, we went to the hospital in Provo to get checked out, but they still didn't seem to think much of it.

On Saturday, I was at Michaels with my mom and sisters getting some Christmas crafty things and I was feeling extra crampy that day. Something whispered to me to call the doctor while I was in the store. I rolled my eyes to myself because I keep thinking these doctors must be so sick of hearing from me. Haha. I called them anyway and told them how I was feeling. The nurse told me to go to Labor and Delivery and get check out right away. I called Nick and we didn't think much of it, but went to the AF hospital to get checked out. I got into a gown and chatted with the nurse there about my symptoms. Since I was only 34 weeks... she didn't think much either. At the end of us chatting about everything, she decided to go ahead and check my cervix.

After she checked it, she seemed very surprise and said, " oh wow. You're dilated to a 3." I immediately paniced a little bit inside... " I'm only 34 weeks! It's too early for her to come!" I started shaking because I was so nervous about it. She told me that a lot of people dilate like that and stay at the same number for months. She told me to come back in the morning to see if anything changed.

That night, Nick and I packed a bag... still not thinking too much, but we decided we'd better pack one just incase. The next morning, we went back and she checked my cervix again. I was now dilated to a 4.5. We were SO surprised. I didn't think anything would change and neither did the nurse. She admitted me right away.

We hung out in our new room for a little bit, ran lots of tests, got a lovely IV and lots of shots. They put me on magnesium to slow down the labor... that drug is awful by the way. Totally made me feel super sick and out of it. They gave me 2 steroid shots for the baby's lungs to develop.

Luckily, my mom and dad were in town for the Thanksgiving holiday. They were actually about to drive off to Texas that Friday, but then my youngest sister was asked to give a talk in her BYU ward, so they decided to wait to leave until Sunday after her talk... well, Sunday, I was admitted into the hospital, so they decided to stay again. :) I'm so glad they were here for it all! ( My dad's birthday was Nov 28th and he wanted so badly for her to come on his b-day. How cool would that have been? She was just an hour and a half late. :)

Anyway, nothing too exciting happened all day Sunday... just trying to keep things steady... we wanted to keep her in the oven for as long as possible. Monday morning early, I felt liquid dripping down my legs. The nurse was in there at the time and it was only a little trickle. She swabbed the fluid and then tested it to see if my water broke... it showed positive, but then they still weren't sure if it actually broke or not ( for some reason).... but they kept running tests, and some would come back positive and some negative. It was very strange.... but in my book: if it said positive at all, doesn't that mean it broke? anyway....

It definitely was "leaking" but they wanted to wait until morning to do other tests ( because they had to wait 9 hours or something to do another test...) but a few minutes later, a nurse came in and told us they just found out they actually could do this ONE test to see if my water broke or not for sure and it would only take 10 minutes to find out. They did the test, came back in 10 minutes, and told me my water did indeed break. They induced me right away.

They gave me potation and my contractions started to get worse and worse. Jason, McKell and my mom were all in the room when those started happening. We were carrying conversations but I decided I was in too much pain to keep talking so I made them all leave. haha. The contractions were about 3 minutes apart. After about 10 minutes of those, I decided it was time to get an epidural. ( This all happened SOO fast!) The guy came about 5 minutes later to give it to me and it took about 15 minutes to give me the shot. By now, my contractions were almost unbearable... and they were about 1 minute apart. Holy cow, that was the WORST pain I've ever felt in my entire life. Sweet Nick was trying his best to help me through it. The epidural never quite kicked in... and I felt 90% of that birth. Even though it was very painful, It was the most amazing experience I've ever had.

I dilated to a 10 SO fast.... I had to start pushing... the doctor quickly came in and we started the process. I pushed for only 18 minutes and little Madeline came into the world. The doctor was super surprised at how fast I delivered. I was too ( and grateful because I was in so much pain. haha).

When they placed her on my chest, I was overwhelmed with emotion. It was a feeling I can't describe. It was so, so amazing. I can't believe that sweet little being was inside of me all this time! Hearing her cry was the sweetest sound I've ever heard. It was all a big dream.

I was so afraid Madeline would have a lot of complications because she was so early, but she has been able to breathe completely on her own. She never had to have an oxygen machine or anything to help her. She looked super healthy and just beautiful.

The doctors have been SO amazed with her. They all keep calling her a "super star" because of how awesome she's doing. Babys at this age have a hard time sucking and swallowing.... but Madeline does it great! She is sooo strong. Her personality is very strong as well. The nurses all laugh at her and say "she's a feisty little thing." Haha.. great. Like mother-like daughter. :) I can feel her sweet, strong spirit and she is definitely in charge. She wanted to come early for some reason... and she's supposed to be here right now. She is the cutest little thing.

I think she's Nick's twin... and it sounds like she's got my attitude. Oh dear, are we in for it. haha. She already is bringing us SOO much joy... I can't even handle it.

I was discharged yesterday and she's still in the NICU. It was a very empty feeling leaving the hospital with out her. I am at peace though because I know she's in great hands and I want her to be completely healthy and ready to come home. The doctor says she is progressing very well and she could easily come home next week. We'll see how she does! Right now, I go to the hospital often to do feedings and to just be with her.

This entire thing has been so very spiritual and I have felt so close to heaven just being with her. How can anyone say there's not a God? She is a very special daughter of her Heavenly Father and I feel so blessed and lucky to be her mom. I love staring at her and smelling her and just being with her. I've only known her for a couple of days and I don't know how we ever lived with out her. She is an absolute blessing and I don't know how I got so lucky to have her  in my life.

I already don't want her to grow up! But I'm SOO excited to start our lives together as a little family. Thank you everyone for your prayers and love. We have greatly appreciated it all. Keep praying for our little girl and her health! She is a fighter and we just love her to pieces.