Our First Weeks

So our first few weeks have just flown by!  I've wanted to post an update so badly, but every time I look at the clock another day has gone away.  Our first couple of days home were really quiet and filled with lots of rest.  Much of the day I would sit and just watch her sleep.  She came here so fast, it was almost as if I couldn't believe it was all real.  I couldn't and still don't remember being pregnant without having to look at pictures on the blog.  When I hold her in my arms it amazes me that she could even fit in my tummy!  Seems so surreal, it is almost unbelievable. 

The first week my mom stayed with us :o)  She was such a big help with late night care, meals and keeping the house stocked, organized and clean.  Madelyn and I worked on sleeping and eating!  Breastfeeding was going really well and at our 1 week follow-up appointment with the pediatrician she had gained all but 2oz of her birth weight back.  The doctor said that I earned a raise since they normally take up to two weeks to get back to their birth weight.  Every day she is growing and in the first week we could already see that she was losing her "baby looks".  I had already resorted to begging her not to grow up.  How pathetic I am; I know :o(

 

The second week my grandparents came for the second shift and as with my mother were extremely helpful.  By this week we were working hard on trying to establish a routine.  Some nights she would sleep good and then another night would come along that wasn't so good.  As we would sit and watch her sleep, she would make all these different faces.  Smiles, frowns, wrinkled forehead and many more...we wondered what could she possibly be dreaming about??? She's only been living 2 weeks!  Something to wonder about.  On St. Patty's day Madelyn's umbilical cord fell off during her nightly wipe down so now we have a belly button!  YAY!!

The following week on Madelyn's 3 week birthday we took our first bath!  She doesn't like being wiped down and so we thought she would enjoy the bath.  However, she didn't like the bath either so we had to resort to her favorite....running water does the trick.  She likes a baby shower under the kitchen sink faucet.  Also, Ryan's mom came and I was so thankful for her to pick up where my mom and grandparents left off.  A helping hand has really been great and don't know what I would do without such wonderful & loving families to help us.  This week I'm hoping we were able to set Madelyn a routine finally, but only time will tell.  While Nana was here we decided to take our first trips out of the house.  We started with baby steps by taking a stroll around the neighborhood.  She loved the stroller and fell fast asleep.  Then we decided to make a trip to Babies R Us to buy more "sweat pea" or "sack dress" night gowns because daddy doesn't like having to figure out how to put the other night clothes on during her nightly changes.  We also had our first play date with her best friend Miss Evie Ward!  She's only 2 weeks older, but you could clearly see that there is so much change to a baby in such a short period of time.  We had our three week follow-up with the pediatrician today and Madelyn's weight is not picking up like it should so we are having to start supplementing the breastfeeding with formula once a day.  We go back in one week for another weigh-in to see if that helps.  Keep your fingers crossed!!  I'll post another update next week....or at least I will try ;o)

Hello Madelyn DeLois Tolle

Well I promised Wendy that once she had the baby I (Ryan) would write the entry about the exciting delivery day.  I suppose I should start with how the day started; first thing this morning I woke up around 4 am and told Wendy that I thought today seemed like good day to have the baby.  She laughed and stated watch today really be it just because you're saying this now (and yes it turns out I do know things). 

Wendy's mother came down the night before to stay with us for the week to help make some of the final preparations and be there for the delivery.  We had decided that since today was her due date we should try to go and walk around the mall to see if we couldn't help move things along.  If you haven't noticed from her entries, everyone around her has been delivering their babies early for the past month, so she had started to lose hope that this might be a smooth and timely arrival as the days have continued to pass by.  So there we are just leaving Macy's and all of a sudden she stops and gasps for air and says "Ryan!" and as I turned to look, she continued with "it's happening" with a wide eyed expression on her face.  With that I took her arm and led her out to our car with her mother covering her from behind. 

From this point all of our knowledge of child birth from our readings and conversations with others led us to believe we had hours before anything dramatic would be happening, but we were so very wrong. In the time it took us from leaving the mall to arriving at our house to grab the bags she had started having contractions at an alarming rate.  A quick dash through the house and a last review of the the checklist and we were off to the hospital.  In this 30 some odd minute car ride she had gone from 8 minute intervals to 4 minute intervals between contractions, with her mother right there at her side every step of the way breathing like an Olympic Lamas coach.  Without sparing any time the nurses looked her over and said I think she's ready to have this baby NOW, and a short 2 hours later we had our Little Baby Tolle in our arms and in our lives for ever.   

Madelyn weighed in at 7 lbs, 8.6 ounces, was a whopping 21 inches long, with hazel eyes, and dirty blond hair.  For those of you who have been following the blog from the beginning, yes, I just lost the weight bet with Wendy and have locked myself in for 10 any-time diaper changes at her discretion.  And for everyone following the blog, here is the long awaited profile photo, please say hello to Ms. Madelyn DeLois Tolle.