Happy Easter from our little Easter Bunny!
Easter Bunny
Wednesday, March 27
Oh little bird, how we love to see those deep blue eyes. We sit and stare all day long. The past 2 weeks together have been a fairytale (the kind where no one gets to sleep though). It's exhausting and perfect in every way. We are completely smitten with you.
Monday, March 18
I went to my routine Dr. check-up and the good ol doc asked me if I'd like to have my membranes stripped. I still don't know why I said yes to that question. It's just as painful as it sounds. But at almost 39 weeks preggers, you are willing to do just about anything to get the monster out of you. The doc did his thing and then...I passed out. Yep, I passed out on the exam table. I must have a pain tolerance of maybe a 2. If that. When I woke back up, the doc was like, "Ya, you're gonna need to get that epidural when it comes time for the actual labor." That must happen all the time right? Um, no. I'm a pansy. I left the office even more terrified than ever about the whole labor and delivery thing.
The next day I had THE WORST stomach ache. Ever. I called my mom to tell her about it because sometimes just complaining to someone actually makes things better. My mom was like, "Honey, you're 9 months pregnant. This stomach ache that keeps coming and going, it's not a stomach ache. You are having contractions." I started timing my "stomach ache" and they were pretty consistent and continued to get stronger and closer together as the day went on. Around midnight, I woke Dave up because my "stomach ache" was not going away. This was IT. So we grabbed our bags and headed to the hospital. They hooked me up to the stress test machine and sure enough, I was having contractions consistently every 2 minutes. This went on for the next 3 hours. I was dilated to a 3 when I went in to the hospital, and 3 hours later I was still dilated to a 3. They sent me home with some Percocet and a hefty bill for the false alarm. I slept like a baby for the next 8 hours straight so I think it was worth it just to get those lovely little pills.
I woke up feeling great and I wanted to get out of the house so we went to Lonestar Taqueria. I had heard that spicy food may encourage labor and I decided to load my plate up with their most spicy sauce. If you know me at all, you know that I cannot handle even the mildest of mild sauces. But again, 39 weeks pregs and you will do strange things. And guess what? I think maybe, just maybe it worked! We went to bed and I woke up around 5 AM feeling that "stomach ache" pain again. I did not want to go in for another false alarm so I held off for as long as possible. By 8 AM, my body was literally shaking and I couldn't stop it, so I woke Dave up and we went to the hospital. Again. They checked me and admitted me right away! The anesthesiologist came in about 30 minutes later (longest 30 minutes of my life!) and started my epidural. He finished starting the IV and I seriously didn't even know he had ever started. Once the medicine kicked in, I was feeling like a rockstar. My in-laws arrived shortly after, and then my mom and sisters, and Megan and Spencer all came to hang out and wait for little Tenley to get here. It was so fun to have a room full of people to make the time go by.
Around 12:30 PM everyone decided they were hungry so they wandered down to the cafeteria. I was only dilated to a 6 at that time, so we figured they had at least a few more hours before anything exciting happened. As soon as everyone left my room, I started to feel a strange pressure that had not been there before. The nurse had just checked me 10 minutes prior, but I was so relieved when a nurse popped her head into my room asking how I was doing. I told her I felt weird, so she checked me and the next thing I knew she was yelling at Dave to push the call button so we could get the doc and staff on their way. I had gone from a 6 to a 10 in a matter of minutes!
With Dave on one leg, my mom on the other and Cathy (my MIL) behind me, I pushed for 42 minutes. And then the most amazing thing happened. I became a mom to the most perfect baby I've ever seen. Tenley Love Madsen entered our world on 3.13.13 at 13:13 weighing 6 lbs 13 oz.
The next day I had THE WORST stomach ache. Ever. I called my mom to tell her about it because sometimes just complaining to someone actually makes things better. My mom was like, "Honey, you're 9 months pregnant. This stomach ache that keeps coming and going, it's not a stomach ache. You are having contractions." I started timing my "stomach ache" and they were pretty consistent and continued to get stronger and closer together as the day went on. Around midnight, I woke Dave up because my "stomach ache" was not going away. This was IT. So we grabbed our bags and headed to the hospital. They hooked me up to the stress test machine and sure enough, I was having contractions consistently every 2 minutes. This went on for the next 3 hours. I was dilated to a 3 when I went in to the hospital, and 3 hours later I was still dilated to a 3. They sent me home with some Percocet and a hefty bill for the false alarm. I slept like a baby for the next 8 hours straight so I think it was worth it just to get those lovely little pills.
I woke up feeling great and I wanted to get out of the house so we went to Lonestar Taqueria. I had heard that spicy food may encourage labor and I decided to load my plate up with their most spicy sauce. If you know me at all, you know that I cannot handle even the mildest of mild sauces. But again, 39 weeks pregs and you will do strange things. And guess what? I think maybe, just maybe it worked! We went to bed and I woke up around 5 AM feeling that "stomach ache" pain again. I did not want to go in for another false alarm so I held off for as long as possible. By 8 AM, my body was literally shaking and I couldn't stop it, so I woke Dave up and we went to the hospital. Again. They checked me and admitted me right away! The anesthesiologist came in about 30 minutes later (longest 30 minutes of my life!) and started my epidural. He finished starting the IV and I seriously didn't even know he had ever started. Once the medicine kicked in, I was feeling like a rockstar. My in-laws arrived shortly after, and then my mom and sisters, and Megan and Spencer all came to hang out and wait for little Tenley to get here. It was so fun to have a room full of people to make the time go by.
Around 12:30 PM everyone decided they were hungry so they wandered down to the cafeteria. I was only dilated to a 6 at that time, so we figured they had at least a few more hours before anything exciting happened. As soon as everyone left my room, I started to feel a strange pressure that had not been there before. The nurse had just checked me 10 minutes prior, but I was so relieved when a nurse popped her head into my room asking how I was doing. I told her I felt weird, so she checked me and the next thing I knew she was yelling at Dave to push the call button so we could get the doc and staff on their way. I had gone from a 6 to a 10 in a matter of minutes!
With Dave on one leg, my mom on the other and Cathy (my MIL) behind me, I pushed for 42 minutes. And then the most amazing thing happened. I became a mom to the most perfect baby I've ever seen. Tenley Love Madsen entered our world on 3.13.13 at 13:13 weighing 6 lbs 13 oz.
She came out crying, which made me so happy to hear her little lungs working. The second the nurse handed her to me, she calmed right down. She knew me immediately.
After about 45 minutes of skin-to-skin, and an awkward attempt at nursing for the first time, the nurses took Tenley to get cleaned up and all that other routine jazz they do. As they moved me from labor and delivery, down to the mom and baby floor I got to see one of the most precious sights a girl could ask for. Dave was watching over his newborn daughter with the biggest grin I've ever seen.
All squeaky clean and ready for visitors.
This is a sight that continues to melt my heart every day.
We had so many visitors during the 24 hours that we stayed at the hospital. It was so great to feel so much love and support from friends and family during such a special time. Tenley baby, you are so loved. You have forever changed our world and we feel so blessed to have you in our lives.
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