6 months

Miss Delaney is 6 months old now... the time is getting away from us.. I didn't even do a 5 month update!!!! ooops...  She is growing more hair, and it looks like it will be strawberry :) yay!  She has beautiful blue eyes and the cutest dimples/smile.  She weighs about 19 pounds now.

Delaney now has longer periods of awake time during the day.  She takes a morning and evening nap, both about an hour long.  She sleeps through the night about 9 hours, then back to sleep for 2-3 after a morning feeding.

We just stopped breast feeding. She now takes formula.  I was supplementing for a couple weeks, but we just made the switch completely.  My original goal was 3 months, and we made it to 6! :)  Honestly, I would have loved to keep going.. but work really got in the way.  It is hard to have to leave to pump, and since I'm the manager I can't exactly up and leave the crew for 20-30 minutes every few hours. I would be in the back room pumping and get a knock on the door saying "we need you!!"  After a few skipped pumping sessions and Delaney getting hungrier, we had to supplement.  So, I figured since she was already getting the formula I would forget the hassle and quit. 

She can now roll over and also grab her toes!  She tolerates tummy time for quite awhile and she extends her arms out and lifts her head and shoulders completely.  She is sitting propped, and can sit by herself for a few seconds before toppling over.

She is a drool machine, and loves to suck on her hands.  She is now reaching out for faces when you hold her, so you get a nice drooly hand grabbing your face!  hahah

We can't get enough of her smile, and she's quite the chatterbox too.  She is very observant and watches  Collin and also the cats walking around.  She likes the sounds of the TV or music in the car, or the mobile in her crib.  We are looking forward to taking her swimming for the first time, probably next month. she's so cute in her bathing suit! 

4 months

Delaney is now 4 months!  Time is just flying!!!  We love this little girl so much.

She is sweet as can be.. all you have to do is smile at her, and she smiles right back!  She coo's and babbles, and can now do raspberries too!

She tolerates tummy time for awhile, but she prefers to lay on her back.  She is starting to roll onto her sides from her back. And, when she is on her tummy she can lift her head and shoulders and hold them up for quite awhile. She is very strong!

She has the best giggle!  She will giggle when tickled, or if something seems very funny to her. She will giggle at daddy when he gives her eskimo kisses :)  She is going to be a daddy's girl for sure!  She has been going through a phase where she doesn't really like anyone holding her except mommy or daddy.  She does however love to look at people and "chat".  The TV catches her attention a lot (ut-oh!)  Collin is still not interested in watching tv, so this is very different for us.

Delaney has many nicknames already.. "Laney-bug, pretty-pretty, widdle, sissy, baby girl, boggs, and "The Mrs."   To name a few ;)

She weighs 16.5 pounds and is about 27 inches!  ALL with only breast milk!!  So proud of us both for sticking with it!   She takes bottles of pumped milk while I'm away at work, and nurses when I'm at home.  She is a chunka!  She now drools constantly and likes to eat her hands and bibs.

She's a tough little lady too.. Collin likes to smack her on top of the head as he crawls by.. and if her belly is visible, he will poke her belly button too!  She never cries though, she watches every move he makes... I think she will be catching up to him in no time!

She will be leaving her bassinet this month and going to her crib! She's getting too big, and since she sleeps through the night now it is best to get her used to sleeping in her own bed!

12 weeks

Miss Delaney is such a great baby!  I tend to not call her by her name. I've been calling her Sissy mostly, or pretty-pretty or girlfriend! hehe.. I'm sure she will grow into Delaney, just seems a little old for her right now.

Ms. Pork-chop weighs about 16 pounds right now!!!  She eats and eats and eats.  I can't believe that she has grown so much already, and with only breast milk! I feel very proud and accomplished!  I plan to continue nursing, it is going well.  I was worried that my supply would go down, once I returned to work, but I've managed to work pumping times into my daily schedule pretty well.

We can't get enough of the coo's and smiles..she even giggled for Daddy today :)  She enjoys the swing now and takes naps there during the day.  She has been sleeping through the night, about 7 hours!  We do a midnight feeding and sleep until around 7.  At which point she joins me in bed and then she nurses, and we snooze until Collin wakes up, around 9ish :)

She is very strong already lifting her head up and I even saw her reaching to grab her toes.  She loves to be held and snuggled. She is very snuggly, so its great!  Collin gets a little jealous sometimes, so he joins in on the snuggles!  Everything is going great, we couldn't be happier :)

7 weeks old

Delaney is now 7 weeks old!  The time has passed quickly, and it has been great having her home with us.  She sleeps a lot, and eats a lot..normal baby stuff!!   She fits right into our lives..and its already so routine I forget what it was like without her.   Collin LOVES his little sister :)   He likes to touch her, but he tends to hit...we are trying to teach him how to "do nice" or "gentle", but he is very young and it might take awhile for him to fully understand.  He loves to "kiss" her though, his way of kissing to anyone is leaning in and placing his forehead on you. lol. he is so cute!

So far Delaney has been sleeping pretty well. She feeds about every 3-4 hours.  She has had a couple nights where she slept 5-6 hours.  She rarely cries, but when she does she makes it count!  She likes to be held and snuggled.  She does not like the swing.. oh well.

She's already started smiling and cooing also :)

I have to go back to work on monday.. mixed feelings.. I am very excited to get out and be an active part of society again. Being on bed rest since August I am so ready to get back to work.. But I will miss my babies so much!  I'm glad to have a husband that is also a great daddy..I know they will be just fine when I'm at work!

She's Here!!

Delaney Morgan Madison was born @ 1:45 PM on November 16th.  Weighing 10 lbs. 4 oz. and measuring 22 inches long!


We arrived at the hospital at 11 am and went through some pre-surgery stuff like signing consent forms meeting with the team that would deliver the baby and then the anesthesiologist.  I had to get an epidural for the procedure.  It was a very awkward feeling...not terribly painful, but uncomfortable.

I was moved into the operating room and Jason had to "scrub-in" putting on the blue outfit with hair net and face mask etc.  The room was actually pretty comfortable, they had music playing and they talked to me the whole time about what was happening.  Same as the epidural procedure, the actual c-section was not terribly painful, but lots of pressure and weird feelings.

Everyone was astounded at Delaney's size..they took her out and Daddy was able to cut the cord.  Dr. Beal (one of our NICU drs. for Collin) was there to look after Delaney while they finished my surgery. It was surreal to be able to hear her crying and know .."WOW she can breathe ALL BY HERSELF!!!!"   What a great feeling :)

After I was all stitched up, and Delaney was weighed and measured they took us back to a recovery room for a few hours where they monitored mine and babies temp and blood pressure.  She wanted to feed right away and she was amazing at latching. She is a little piggy to say the least!   She did have low blood sugar as suspected, so they gave her a tiny cup of formula.  Her temp was low for quite awhile so they had us do skin to skin.  It was so great to be able to hold her and feed her within the first hour of her life.. Such a different experience this time around.

Once Delaney's temp was acceptable they took her for her first bath :)
She is doing so well...She is sleeping good and eating well..We had to supplement some formula because breast milk takes a few days to fully come in and even though she is breast feeding, she wasn't satisfied enough.  So we let her have some formula and then she was very happy and napped for 4 hours on the full belly :)

We think that both of our babies are a good combination of us, with Collin leaning towards Daddy, and Delaney leaning towards me!   I found it very interesting though, that Collin's blood type is mine, and Delaney's is the same as Jason's.

I feel that I am recovering pretty well from the surgery..It is a little sore and hard to move around too much, but I was able to take a shower today and put on real pajamas instead of the hospital robe.. So i'm feeling pretty great :)

We should be able to go home sometime tomorrow!  Here's the first pictures of our "little" lady..

Last Prenatal Check-up!

Today was my last prenatal check up and all is well!!  We are scheduled for a C-section this Friday!

Ultrasound showed plenty of amniotic fluid, so she's happy moving all around still.  She is in position for a vaginal delivery, but that will not matter since she's getting cut out!!  Her measurements were off the charts and they are guessing she will be around 10 lbs 3 oz at time of delivery! WOW. thank goodness we opted for the surgery!!

My Dr. also wanted to inform us that because of her size and my history with the gestational diabetes, do not be alarmed if they bring her up to NICU for observation. She could have low blood sugars at birth because often when the mother is gestational diabetic, baby tries to help out and produce extra insulin. This wouldn't be the end of the world as the NICU staff are like our family! And, we know she will be taken care of by some of the best people in the world.

These next few days will be busy as we prepare for Delaney's arrival. I've started the "nesting" process and have the nursery all ready to go along with clean laundry for everyone and a sparkling oven! LOL why I felt the need to clean the oven?!  who knows!   Now all I have to do is pack up the hospital bag and we should be good to go :)

We will post her first picture sometime Friday evening!

The "Plan"

This week I am 36 weeks gestation a.k.a 9 months!!!! HOLY COW, we made it :)    After having a 25 weeker, this kind of feels like the longest pregnancy ever; and it is accompanied by all the glorious uncomfortable, restless, peeing every 2 hours kinda nights!  .. As my mom said, "Be careful what you wish for!!"

Our most recent ultrasound for baby's measurements showed she is now weighing in at around 8 pounds.  Just 3 weeks ago she was estimated at 6.. so her growth pattern is very strong.  This is a tad bit concerning, seeing that we have 4 weeks to go!  They think she will end up around or over 10 pounds!!!  Because of this information, my Dr. has strongly recommended we opt for a C-section.

There are pro's and con's to this decision.  Overall, it is safer for baby (and me) to get the C-section.  This is because a)  My first baby was under 2 lbs, he didn't exactly pave the way for his MUCH bigger sister and there are risks or tearing, etc. b) Since it took awhile for the gestational diabetes to get in-line with medications, Delaney was exposed to high sugars at times and has obviously packed on the weight.  It is very common for gestational diabetic babies to carry their weight more in the shoulder area and they look like football players. The Dr.'s main concern is shoulder dystocia for the baby, meaning the baby would be at risk of breaking arm/collar bones, cause nerve damage, or worst case death from compression of the umbilical cord in the birth canal.  

So, knowing all of this, the decision is an easy one... C-section it is!

The only real "con" besides the longer recovery time and soreness, and being al drugged up, which I also did not want.. is missing out on the magical moment you see in movies when the baby comes out and is immediately thrown onto your chest and is such a wonderful experience..blah, blah...

That was the one thing I was really looking forward to, but it seems that is something that just cannot happen for me.  I have to remind myself, "who cares?!, I get to hold her for the rest of her life!!"  And besides, after waiting 10 hours to meet Collin, and waiting 5 DAYS to hold Collin.  I am okay with waiting an hour or whatever this time!  I just want her to get here safely, and we can go from there!

Unless nature decides to take a different course and start labor early, Delaney's expected arrival date is November 16th!