Maternity Leave

Maddy 3 weeks old

So for the 1st two months I was off and got to spend plenty of time bonding with Madeline and healing from my c-section as well. The days were sometimes rough after the 1st two weeks were over and Mr. S went back to work. There would be evenings he would get home from work take one look at me, grab the baby if she wasn't down sleeping and practically push me into bed to sleep, there would be mornings he would gently wake me and tell me he had to go to sleep so he had sleep for work and I would get up with Maddy and take over. We knew once my leave was over I was going to be working a modified midnight shift so we started early with our "time" of day that Maddy was one persons responsibility to get up with although I still had to get up quite often to pump milk while he fed her but some nights I would pump, he would feed her and change her diaper and we would all go back to sleep for the next 2 or 3 hours.

Small baby Big dog

So I would love to say that Madeline started sleeping through the night (STTN) at an early age but she didn't and quite frankly I was tired all the time. They say that the exhaustion and up every 30-45 minutes to pee in the 3rd trimester is good practice for a newborn and I'd say that yes that is pretty true! Thankfully my mother in law was a huge help. She'd come over to visit a few hours a week in which I would, sleep, run laundry, do dishes or just visit depending on what needed to be done. We still have this arrangement but now when she comes over I nap and she plays with the baby a win-win-win situation for the most part.

Tired Daddy and sleeping baby

Of course my 8 week leave started at the end of April and went until the end of June. During this time you would think hey its spring good weather you can get out and enjoy it. Yeah the Michigan weather had other plans for us I think only the last 2 weeks were mainly decent other than that it was chilly or rainy and not really weather you want to drag a newborn out in.

1st few days of life

So our Divine Miss M was a little bit of a diva from the start. She had to go to the special care nursery because she cried so hard that she dropped her oxygen levels. She ended up having to stay because when the staff decided to clean her up she did it again.

She had a chest x-ray and her lungs were clear but the hospital pediatrician saw a slight murmur that we would have to keep an eye on. And due to the fluid in the lungs she had to have an IV. Well she had monitors attached to her feet and her hands were too pudgy to get a good vein for an IV so they ended up having to place the IV in her scalp.
We were able to go and see her in the nursery as often as we wanted with the exception of the nursing shift changes but we weren't allowed to pick her up and hold her. Finally when she was about 12 hours old I got hold my baby for the 1st time. She was connected to tubes and wires but it was still a thrill to finally hold her.
By the next morning when Daddy got to hold her for the 1st time (he had gone home to take care of the dog and get some sleep) she was able to be disconnected from the monitors and only had her IV to contend with. I think she wrapped Daddy around those little fingers from the moment he first held her.

After about 30 hours in special care she was allowed to come to my room and be with me but still had the IV access and still had to go and have IV antibiotics.

On the Monday after she was born her pediatrician came in and examined her and we were told that the murmur they detected was very slight and it already sounded as if it may have closed up, and that the pediatrician was hearing a clicking sound in Madeline's hips.

We were to come and see her later that week in the office so we would follow up then.

Madeline had her last dose of antibiotics and was returned to my room without her IV and it was so nice to see my little girl with no tubes, wires, etc attached. I dressed her in one of the outfits that I had brought from home and the service that takes pictures of the newborns while in the hospital came and took her pictures. I took one of her propped up on the boppy pillow on my hospital bed.

3 days old

We were released from the hospital and went home to settle in to our new life.

Having a baby around a dog thats not used to one is interesting that is for sure. Our dog, Leelou was the baby of the household and was a bit jealous of this new little thing that had come into her home. For the 1st few weeks anytime Madeline cried the dog barked. After a few weeks this stopped.

long time no blog again

I have neglected my poor blog again...

One of these days I may do a better job. The last post I made I was about 26 weeks pregnant with our lovely little girl. She'll be 4 months old next week. Motherhood is very rewarding and challenging so far. Somedays I think I am the worlds worst mommy others I feel like I am fairly competent. Right now I am feeling pretty good. M is sleeping in her swing right now, I just finished cow duty and will be hopefully catching bottle washing in a few minutes.

We had a computer malfunction so I am posting from my phone. Hopefully I will have time to post from work on ocassion so I can add some pictures now and then. Please friends help me stick with this.

I think later after bottles get washed and if the divine Ms. M stays sleeping I will try to post some of my pregnancy experiences, the birth story and then some about our sweet girl and her 1st few months.

Wish me luck!