Madelyn Joy Has Arrived!

The blog pollers have predicted it again!  You voted that you thought Madelyn would come early and you were right...10 days early to be exact!  Here's the recap of her first week.

Sunday, March 20th

Megan woke up early Sunday morning having contractions.  They were coming regularly, but were still 10-15 minutes apart.  Knowing we could still have a long ways to go, she encouraged me to go ahead and go to church Sunday morning.  I led both morning services with my cell phone on my music stand, ready to walk out as soon as she called =).  When I got home, they were about 8 minutes apart.  We went ahead and called the hospital and they suggested that we come on over.  We got there around 2:30, they decided to officially admit Megan at 3:30, and she had the baby at 6:00 on the dot.  We were shocked (and Megan was quite pleased) by how fast everything went.  As soon as we saw baby Madelyn, we knew our lives had changed forever.

Monday, March 21st

On Monday, the doctors quickly decided to keep us in the hospital another day.  Madelyn was a tiny 5 pounds, 4 ounces and wasn't too terribly interested in eating.  They were concerned about her being able to keep her temperature stable on her own.  We were happy about staying another day to make sure things with Madelyn and Megan were both going to be well taken care of.  We also enjoyed seeing several visitors from church and getting to show off our baby girl.

Tuesday, March 22nd

On Tuesday, the doctors felt like she was eating a little better, keeping her temperature up, and would be okay to go home.  She had to take her "car seat test" and then we were good to go!  When we got home, she was at first pretty unsettled.  We wondered what happened to our quiet little baby from the hospital =).  But, she calmed down before long.  She even slept through her first night at home ok, only getting up every three hours to eat.

Wednesday, March 23rd

On Wednesday morning, we already had an appointment to take her back to the doctor to see how things were going.  We were excited about her first checkup, even taking pictures to remember her first visit.  We assumed we'd hear everything looked good and we'd be on our way.  However, she was now down to 4 pounds, 15 ounces.  And, they were concerned about a yellow-tint to her skin, wondering about jaundice.  Even though these were minor concerns, I think this is when we realized how much we loved this little baby.  She had to go have some blood tests and when they pricked her little foot, Megan and I were crying almost as much as she was!  Wow, that love for your own child is something we've never experienced before and we were just overwhelmed.  We just wanted more than anything for her to be okay.

Thursday, March 24th

We went back to the doctor again on Thursday.  We were so relieved to hear that she had gained 2 ounces in 24-hours AND that her bilirubin levels were already going down.  She had eaten well, picked up some weight, and any jaundice concerns were already going away.  What a huge blessing to hear that she was going to be just fine.

Friday, March 25th

This was the first day of her life that she didn't have to see the doctor.  We are trying to feed her every two hours to help her eat as much as she can.  We're also keeping a close eye on her temperature, keeping her bundled up most of the day.  She still sleeps for a good chunk of the day, but is doing very well.  Since the doctor strongly suggested staying away from crowds of people, we're going to stay in this weekend instead of going out to church.

This has been quite an amazing, life-changing week for us.  We are enjoying every minute of holding her and just staring at her beautiful face.  Sure, hearing her cry at 2 in the morning isn't the most exciting thing, but it is a joy to be able to help her calm down again.  She's so adorable...even at 2 in the morning =).  The next interesting adjustment will be Madelyn meeting our dogs.  They have been at a friend's house this entire week.  The meeting should be an interesting one.

We praise God for our healthy, beautiful, baby girl and we thank you all for your prayers and encouragement.