Madison

Madison Ruth
February 19th 
7 pounds 13 ounces
19 inches long
12:18 pm

On February 13th I went into my routine checkup and the doc said everything looked great and proceeded to  ask if I wanted to be induced THAT DAY. WHAT?! I told him I had to check with my husband and he looked at me like I was a crazy person. Apparently in Utah, with your second child you can get induced a week early. I wasn't ready for that.
When I got home, kind of in a panic I might add, Ethan and I decided that if we could pick the day that she was coming, we might as well pick a day that Ethan had less school. That day was February 19th.

I scheduled an appointment and then we spent the week getting everything ready. My mom decided to come down from Washington on Wednesday night to help with Kelsey and on Thursday February 19th, we went to the hospital at 6am to start the induction process. I had spent the whole week being scared but on Thursday morning I was just in an excited daze. Its kind of weird walking into the hospital knowing that you are going to have a baby in a few hours.

After all the paperwork, they gave me my iv and then we just waited. Ethan did lots of homework and I took a nap.  Slowly but surely I got more ivs and more medicine and more tubes and stuff and then eventually my epidural came.  Like last time I was a giant baby when it came to getting the epidural, well and everything else actually. My epidural doc had me sit up and proceeded to do his thing and half way through he was like, "are you a runner?" In my nervous state I was like, "You can tell that I run from my spine!" Everyone burst out laughing. Apparently he could tell because my heart rate stayed low and consistent. I'm still not convinced its because I have an awesome spine. After the epidural, everything was peachy. I felt nothing more than I needed too and so I have to say that at 12 pm when they said it was time to push I was shocked. Its amazing how wonderful birth is when you can't feel it.

*There were a few other funny things  to note. The nurse, who was AWESOME, kept stepping on my iv line which would tug it and hurt like crazy. She did that like 5 times. The epidural doc said that I would probably need more medicine because " red heads have a higher need for medication" Besides that being crazy, did he SEE my hair?! The last thing of note was that when they were taking the internal temperatures of Madison they kept asking me if she had a lot of hair. Um.... haven't met her yet.

I started pushing at 12 pm, and at 12:10 I begged the doctor to be done. He kind of chuckled and was like " you know some women do this for hours right?!" I told him I was a whimp so I didn't feel bad. Luckily for me I was able to be lazy again shortly after that because at 12:18 she came!! Dr Broberg was a wonderful doctor and a great coach. Because of his help I needed no extra attention after Madison was born which helped recovery ten fold.

 

After she was born, they cleaned her up and brought us a beautiful baby girl. We still didn't have a name picked out but after about 30 seconds of looking at her with her adorable hat we just knew that she was Madison and just like that we were in love all over again.

We got an hour to just rest and then they took us down to the nursery where they cleaned her up. They took me to my room and about 9 different nurses came in to tell me all the rules and I swear I heard about 10% of what they told me. I was so out of it. I literally had a baby 1 hour before and they were telling me all about menus and other important things like social security cards. I listened so poorly I thought that we couldn't order food and that we had to go to the social office to get a card both of which were completely false.

 The rest of the day was spent holding Madison, recovering, and seeing lots of visitors. We had so many people come and visit us. It was wonderful and very much needed.

 Andy and Annie sent these beautiful flowers!

Aunt Hannah took tons of selfies and shared some with us. I love it!

We also had Aunt Christine, the Nelsons, and Grandma Nelson stop by.

 

That night Ethan spent the night at the hospital and Madison spent the night in the nursery.

I don't want to compare birthing stories, but it was nice this time to be able to hold my baby after she was born, to be able to spend time with her during the day, and to be able to take her home on schedule. Also being born in the day light just somehow made it so much easier. 

The hospital was on "child lock down" so no child under the age of 14 could visit because of flu season.  Kelsey couldn't come to the hospital at all. It was really sad and really hard on all of us. She needed to see where I was and needed to meet Madison and I needed to see her. Ethan got the brunt of it trying to be in two places at once all day long. Ethan was such a trooper and never complained but I know he was exhausted.

Because of the lock down, the hospital was deathly quiet which was nice. I also got a lot of one on one time to snuggle with Madison while Ethan ran back and forth. As peaceful as my hospital stay was, I was so excited to leave and get back to Kelsey once again.

We slept like this for hours especially when Ethan was with Kelsey

The rest of our stay consisted of more visits from Grandma Nelson, Gramma Wing, and Hannah and then more rest and recovery. That day I spent a lot of time on the phone talking to my Grandmas and friends and family. Its amazing how fast the day can go when all you do is talk to people. Ps the cookies that the hospital kept bringing me (I had at least one every meal!!!) were amazing!!!

 Unfortunately, the night that Ethan and I were going to have our celebratory dinner at the hospital, Kelsey smashed her fingers in the door and so Ethan had to stay home and comfort her. He also wanted to take Kelsey to on a little date as her last night of being an only child.

Kelsey was so good while we were gone, but she just needed us to be together and needed everything to be normal.Ethan decided it would be best if he stayed home that night and slept at the house. After Ethan got Kelsey in bed he came and held Madison from like 10-12 pm. He was so exhausted the hospital was so calm. It was nice to have him around for so long. 

On Saturday February 21st we packed up and were ready to go home. My delivery doc was so amazing that by Saturday I was walking around and felt amazing. I hope all deliveries can be like Madison's.

Kelsey was at Ralphie's house, so we took Madison home and the first thing I did was start to clean. I couldn't help it. I was so excited for Kelsey to meet Madison that I had to find a way to pass the time. My mom was at a birthday party, so when we brought Kelsey home it was just the four of us. It was kind of amazing. I am so grateful for my little family and love them all so much. I didn't know I could feel so much love for so many people.

And then Kelsey got home. At first she really didn't want to hold Madison but she walked right up to her and gave her a big kiss. Then she immediately went to get all her new toys so that she could share with her. By the evening, Kelsey's heart had changed and  we couldn't pry her fingers off her sister. It was love at first sight for Kelsey too!!

The first meeting

 

 After loves and hugs, it was time to play!!

 

Kelsey hasn't stopped asking to hold Madison since this moment.

On Sunday Gramma and Grandpa Wing come to visit. I'm so glad we have so many family members who show so much love and support during big events in our lives. Its going to be sad to leave so a circle of love.

We also had Andrea and Jed visit and the Nellys!

We are so grateful that Madison is in our family. I already feel like our family wouldn't be complete without her. She is such a sweet little girl and I can't wait to get to know her better.

Happy Valentines Day

We've never really been Valentines Day celebrators. We always do something but never really do anything big. I mean one year Ethan played church ball while I ate pizza with my mom. We love holidays, but we just don't celebrate this one very big.

This year however was going to be different. We had a plan, we had a date, we had a reservation, and we had a babysitter. It was going to be awesome. I even got Ethan a gift this year (two boxes of toaster strudel. Best wife ever!) And then Friday happened.

We wanted to take Kelsey to the BYU gymnastics meet because we knew that she would love it. We took her to the park, got a pizza and were ready to party. While we were at the meet, which she TOTALLY LOVED!!!, I started getting so uncomfortable. Soon discomfort turned into sick, and I needed to go home. At first we thought it was just end of pregnancy stuff, but then Kelsey started acting sick too. Long story short, Kelsey and I were just on the brink of food poisoning.

*Kelsey really did love the gymnastics meet. She got to see Cosmo, danced to all the dances, and when they were doing their tricks she would go "Awesome! I want to do that." She loves all things dance.

 Our little dancer getting excited for the meet

After a long night, it was Valentines Day and it was spent pretty differently than we had intended. Plans changed and I spent most of the day in bed, but I honestly have never felt more cared. Ethan and Kelsey show me every day that they care, but today they went above and beyond. Ethan cleaned the house and did the laundry, he did all things Kelsey including taking her to two parks on a walk, and to a BYU tennis match, he ran my errands, brought me beautiful flowers, and sacrificed going to the BYU game to sit at home and watch it with me. I am so lucky to have such a wonderful husband who is just flat out kind.  He sees a need and fills it.  Not to be too gross , but in the middle of the night when things were looking bleak, he was immediately at my side, holding my hair, rubbing my back,  and helping me switch bowls because I was too sick to do so. He even got Kelsey all bathed and cleaned up and switched her sheets without even waking me up. I literally had no clue that Kelsey was sick too because he acted so quickly. He literally did everything. It was not a fun day necessarily but I really felt so special.

I emerged once from my room to find the washing machine going, a spotless house, Kelsey playing in her room, and Ethan doing the dishes. Love this picture. It makes me feel so blessed and taken care of. 

 At one point Kelsey said she missed me, brought her books into my bed and said "I read to you mom." Melt my heart! She also made me water soup and juice.

 

My Valentines day treats. Ethan took Kelsey to the store to get me some "treats" and flowers. When Kelsey surprised me with the juice and crackers she goes "Happy Birthday mom!! Now you can share with me!"

 This is what Valentines day looked like in our house! Kelsey loves that creepy little turtle. We were so excited to give it to her too. She named him Tiny Tim.

We did have some bright moments. Kelsey thought it was funny to put Tiny Tim in her tummy and say that she was having a baby. She has started going up to my tummy saying "Baby sister come out!" Yesterday she said "Baby sister come out so you can meet baby turtle!" It was so cute.
She has also started giving my tummy kisses. I know she will still struggle with the newness of everything but it gets me excited to see just how excited she potentially is for her little sister. Fingers crossed that this will last.

Happy 7th Valentines Day to this guy. He is the kindest person I know

Some other bright notes included Jed and Andrea stopping by with a Valentines Day balloon and treats and opening our Valentines cards from Grandmas. When Kelsey opened each one she would go "Awesome!" I wish I could have recorded it. She loved them so much.

February pre baby

February has been awesome minus my mood swings. Once I hit 38 weeks I got so mean. It was embarrassing and resulted in a lot of tears from many people. I felt awful but I like couldn't control it. I would get mad at everything. Lids not closing, Kelsey being tired, Ethan chewing, being too big for my clothes, my shoes coming untied, wind blowing, etc. You name it, it made me mad. I felt so bad most nights and would just sit in bed wondering how to control my emotions. I wish I could blame being pregnant but I don't know if I can and that  makes me mad! Luckily the weather was beautiful in February meaning a week of 65 degree weather!! It was a little tender mercy from heaven.

On a brighter note, when Kelsey and Ethan were together, they would laugh and laugh and laugh. At least they had their moments of happy.

Back to February.
Kelsey continued to be awesome about playing by herself and letting me be cranky. Ever day I would take a nap on the couch and she would just sit by herself and play with her toys or read books. She never got into anything and always played quietly just to let me sleep. As soon as I would wake up she would ask me how my quiet time was and if I wanted to go to the park. Could she be sweeter!?

Kelsey loves to play with her little people. She has these princess figurines and will pick them up and sing their song.
 Ariel: Part of your world, Belle: Beauty and the Beast etc.

I went through Kelsey's clothes and this is pretty much all I could find! Some girls  come super girly and I'm grateful Kelsey is one of them. This does not include her dresses :)

Kelsey loves to go to work. One day she grabbed her purse and etch-a-sketch, told me to stay in the house and said "Bye. Seeya. I'm going to work"

February  consisted mostly of baby prep. I tried to do everything before the baby came. I sent out millions of emails for MBASA, did my visits the first week of February, deep cleaned everything, stocked all our cupboards,  and planned my activities for my girls weeks in advanced. I'm so organized now that I am really wondering why I don't just always live this way?!
The biggest thing about baby prep was changing our room into a nursery too. Not ideal, but you do what you do until more space is available. It will be a tight couple of months.
We have just enough space between the wall and our bed to put a little crib. I'm not loving the baby sleeping in our room but again, no other choice.

We turned my dresser into her dresser and even found this little ditty from when Kelsey was born so she has a decoration.

The "take home" outfit and bear. Kelsey wore the same thing and I'm so excited to have them wear the same thing.

Here's what Ethan looked like in February :)

 

 Here's what Cami looked like February: 38 weeks when this was taken

February brought lots of naps out of pure exhaustion just like January.

I had to stop running at 36/37 weeks because it was starting to feel unsafe. It was hard to stop because my lungs still felt amazing, but I felt like I was making the best choice for my baby. Because I couldn't run, Kelsey and I started walking like crazy. Every morning Kelsey and I would walk to the BYU indoor track and because of the indoor season we had to be done by 9am. Every morning I would wrap Kelsey up, pack her breakfast and head over to the track to walk my  2 miles while she would eat.

Kelsey LOVED it. There was a running class she loved to watch race, some guy practicing the hammer throw, and a mom who was always there running with a tiny baby. She always pointed out peoples shoes and outfits and every time we would go into the annex she would go "its so beautiful mommy." Kelsey was such a trooper in my exercise attempts.
She tried to be a good cheerleader too. She would always ask if I was going to run and would say things like "good job mommy" "you can do one more" and my personal favorite "You have to go potty?" at ever lap :)

 

In February we introduced Beauty and the Beast and Kelsey fell in love instantly. Chip and Gaston were her favorites at first. She loves bad guys for some reason.  She had a really hard time accepting that the Beast was not bad just mad and that when he changes at the end of the movie he is now a prince. She kept asking where the Beast went and who was this person with Belle.Regardless of all of this, she loved it, sings all the songs everywhere we go and tells me I must control my temper.

Ethan had to have the computer A LOT in February which got tiresome, but one morning he surprised us by leaving it at home. Its kind of sad how excited we were to have it.

The biggest event in February consisted of Ethan going to Chicago for a case competition from  February 5th-February 8th. It was a long stretch especially since he had to be gone on the nights of the 3rd and 4th too, but we made do while he was gone. Kelsey and I got along really well and had a lot of fun just mommy and daughter. I'm actually  glad that Ethan went  because it really gave me time before this baby comes to spend time with just Kelsey. The weather was so nice too which never is a bad thing.

When Daddy's gone it means:
A lot of park time (3.5 hours one day and 2.5 the next)

Lots of walks in the sun

Trips to restaurants (this was a SMALL!!!)

And texts back and forth because we didn't have face time

We also spent a day at Ikea with Norah and Shara which was super fun too.

Kelsey missed Ethan so much. Every day she would ask if daddy was happy in Chicago and sometimes she would just walk up to me and go "I miss daddy so much." It never gets old how much she loves her dad. When Ethan walked in the door on Sunday night she ran as fast as she could to get into his arms.

Side note, Hannah came over to our house everyday Ethan was gone. EVERY DAY!!! She is a VERY busy college student and still took the time to make sure Kelsey and I had face time with someone other than each other.  She is such a sweet heart. She knew we would be lonely and took it upon herself to just make sure that we weren't. I didn't even mention that we were lonely. She would just take the time out of her schedule to come say hi and play with Kels seeing how I really can't.  Hannah was such a life saver. I wish I could adequately thank her for the wonderful service she provided for me and Kelsey. I love Hannah so much and am so grateful that she lives so close to us. It will be so sad to move away from each other.

And to wrap this entry up, Kelsey just wanted to wish everyone a Valentines day.

It took a few tried but eventually we got that smile we all know and love