Soooo sorry for the delay..we've been a bit busy!

Well, she's here. Is there any more to say? Sure there is! Anyone up for a story?? Sorry if you've heard it before...

on Wednesday 4/2..well..I think the last time I posted...Aaron and I made a stop at Target after work to return some duplicate shower gifts. I've been used to "leaking" the whole getting up and down and 'op, I peed a little'..yeah, so I had that moment on the way out of the car...but I kept getting wetter..not normal. So I left Aaron at the return desk and stepped into the ladies...this wasn't just pee...my water had broken. Yes, the cliche'd "water breaking in public" HAD happened, but thankfully, it wasn't a GUSH, it was just a slow, but very important leak..and a leak that wasn't stopping. So I waited to finished up the business at the return counter, and let Aaron know that we might want to make the Target shopping brief b/c we needed to head to the hospital.
So there I was...I've seen the movies, the tv shows, etc...your water breaks, THEN ta-da, there's the baby! That's how it is SUPPOSED to happen...b/c the magic of tv tells us, that's how it goes!
But it didn't happen that way. They did go ahead and admit me, b/c even though I couldn't really feel them, I was having contractions, I was dilated at a 2, and I was 85% effaced....progress good...fast forward to 10am (after feeling like I was peein the bed all night b/c my waters kept leaking) and I'm still at a 2 dilation, and getting increasingly frustrated.
They start the Pitocin, aka Devil in a bag. No really. That stuff sucks worse than anything I could even describe. The pain, oh the pain. Terrible. But thankfully I had Aaron right there with me (in his clothes from the day before) with the cold rags and the "breathe Honey"'s.
Luckily at 12 they hooked me up with the Epidural. Aaaahhhhh...sweet leg and lower extremity numbing relief!!
And there came the dilation too...and by 12:30...fully dilated to a 10 and 100% effaced! All there was left to do was push...so with the coaching of Aaron and Grace (the most AWESOME delivery nurse in the world) they'd tell me when I was having a contraction and I'd push....or so I thought. That epidural was soooo good, but I couldn't feel a dang thing. I couldn't feel pain, pressure, or contractions, AND I couldn't feel whether or not I was pushing...and although I thought I was...I wasn't. So Grace made the decision to stop the Epidural (I mean I know...sad!), and up the Pitocin.
Aaron was poised at my left leg, and Grace was at my right as I started the pushing. I remember crying, I remember thinking "I'm just gonna break in two". I was seriously convinced that death was imminent. Oh, and I had to stop pushing to throw up about 3 times. I got snappy with Aaron at one point, I was honestly so sick of hearing him say "just one more push, you are so close" that I kicked back at him "you've said that the last 3 pushes!" and when Grace asked me after one exceptionally hard on me push says "Don't you want to see your baby??" I yelled back "NO! I don't!" she smiled and said "Ok, we'll let some nice family adopt her from the nursery"...and I pushed harder.
Aaron and Grace could see the head, they could see I was making progress...they told me I was making progress, and I just begged for the Epidural back or SOMETHING to make the pain stop (I was totally un-numb at this point and pushing naturally).
Dr. Cargill (my OB, and superstar) came in as I was crowning and zoop-zoop, push-push and at 3:46pm on Thursday 4/3 ( and a slight tear later ) Madelyn Grace FINALLY made her appearance. 7lbs and 11 ounces, and 20 1/2 inches long.
The nurse asked me if I wanted her up on my chest, to which I breathily said "no, I'd like for you to clean her up, then give her to her Dad"
Why am I still in so much pain? WHY is the Pitocin still on full blast?? And WHY are you pushing on my stomach? Passing the placenta was almost as bad as actually having the baby! But once that was out, once I was stitched up, and once I had an ice pack...I was feeling pretty good.
Aaron got to hold her once she was cleaned up. And for awhile he just stared at the cone-headed swollen little squinting girl that was staring back at him.
Once the medical people had cleared out, Aaron relinquished his holding to me. Such a nice feeling, such a weird feeling. Just, such a feeling.
Aaron's parents, and Madelyn's Grandma and Grandpa Greer, and Uncle Ryan were first to visit, shortly followed by my parents, and Madelyn's Mamaw and Papaw Gilliam.
Now the hospital stay didn't go great..well..let's rephrase that...the medical staff...was superb, seriously the nicest nurses ever. But I had lost a little more blood than they had anticipated during delivery, and the shock and the throwing up didn't stop once the baby had arrived. It stopped for a few hours, but around 7 I started getting sick, I got sick when they changed our room to a more private one, and around 9 when Aaron had finally gone to sleep and Madelyn was safely tucked away in the nursery and the nurse came to help me get to the restroom I ended up waking up in the floor. Yikes.
The next day it was determined that I needed a unit of blood, and that Madelyn's post delivery blood test was a bit concerning. So while I was getting blood in my room, she was getting iv antibiotics in her little head.
By Monday we were both cleared to go home. So we came home. Mom, Dad, and Baby...a new little family.
For the past week and a half since we've been home Maddy and I have just been chillin' out at home. We've had visits from the Grandparents (both sets), Aunt Ta-ta, and lots of church friends who fed us some wonderful food! Today we made a venture out to my work to meet all the "Aunts", since we've just got Aunt Jodi on my side, all the co-workers have been made honorary Aunts.
Thanks to Aunt Marie who took the great pictures for me! Hopefully there will be more to come! I just have to make it a point to get up here and get the pictures on the computer!
So that's the story....we (Aaron and I ) are loving having her home. Aaron is liking being Daddy and seems to be really into his little girl. And I'm falling more and more in love with my little girl each time I look at her.
We'll keep you posted.
I think it's naptime..for both Maddy, and Mommy!