Still a bit yellow...

Thanks to Cory for posting that last post on my blog... I was tending to the baby while sitting in the ER. So... yes, it has been an interesting week! I can't believe it's been a week already! Anyway, Cory gave you all the short version (as Cory is prone to do) so I will give you the slightly fuller version (as I am prone to do ;) )

We had a baby!! (yah, I know we're past that, but I have to start somewhere don't I?)

Madison Lynette (there is still some question/disagreement about this because my wonderful husband filled out the paperwork for the birth certificate and didn't show it to me, or double check his spelling, and now he can't remember how he spelled Madison's name. Yes, amazingly, I let him live... more out of necessity at the time, but his continuing existence is because I really do love him) where was I? Oh yes, Madison Lyn(n)ette was born Tuesday, November 4th at 1:27pm. For those of you thinking... wait, didn't they call at like 10am saying they had just gotten into the hospital. Yes, we got a call (finally) saying to be at the hospital at 8:30. We got there and went to registration, got all the papers signed and sorted out, got checked in, and just after 9 we made our way back to our room (almost sounds like a weekend getaway at this point huh?). Yes, then it took them over an hour just to get an IV in me (I am still black and blue, and looking a bit like a recovering drug addict). They eventually had to call in the anestesiologist to get my IV started. So, sometime around 10:30 or so, they finally got some fluids started, and another 30 minutes or so later they put me on the lowest setting of pitocin they could give me. This is the part where I feel totally cheated.

I was having not too horrible, but consistant contractions, growing in strength, so I asked for my epidural, which was not a very pleasant thing since it never really took the way it should have, even though that is probably a good thing. I got my epidual and those lovely contractions disappeared from the moniter, but not from my body. I kept telling the nurse that I could still feel the contractions (they were still bearable though, so it's okay) so they kept moving the moniter around to try to pick them up... to no avail. To the nursing staff, that means "She's not really having contractions." So my nurse went on a quick lunch break. I laid there in the bed, talking to Cory, breathing through my contractions, and kept telling him, "I hope she doesn't take long, I can feel the baby coming down."

We finally had a nurse come in to re-adjust the moniter again, and I told her I was pretty sure the baby was ready to come, and I swear this woman looked at me like I was nuts! I was lucky my doctor had just come down to check on me because when he did he said in a very surprised voice "Um... She's ready to push". One and a half pushes, and three hours after we got the party started, it was over, with a beautiful baby girl, weighing 8lbs, 8oz and measuring 19 1/2 inches long, and no record of contractions to prove I did any of the work.

We left the hospital on Thursday, having noticed that Madison's diapers were getting a bit runny but not too concerning. Like every baby, she had jundice, but at a little higher of a level, so we were sent home with a special bed with built in lights about the size of an old scanner. By Friday night, we had already gone through a package of diapers. When we were up to a dirty diaper about every 15 minutes or so, the Doctor told us we needed to go into the ER. My parents came and picked up the girls (yet again), and we spent all night in the ER getting an IV and various tests for Madison. Noon the same day (Saturday) we went back into the ER to get more tests and to have Madison's IV taken out.

Turns out, she picked up a bug just before we left the hospital, which is just now working it's way out of her system (3 packages... over 120 diapers later). Stomach virus gone, but still seriously jaundiced, Madison is still on this horrible bed, and still hating it. We have another appointment tomorrow, and hopefully her levels will be low enough to take her off the bed.

For now, I have all the props waiting to take the much awaited pictures of Madison... just waiting till she is more like a baby and less like a pumpkin.