Madelyn Ruth

She's here and she's lovely. Born on Saturday, 2/12/2011 at 2:35pm, weighing a shocking 10pounds 3ounces and 20 1/2 inches long. Her rolls know no end.

Last night, Tuesday night, her umbilical cord fell off and I wondered at it. When did it fall off with Joseph, and with Emma? I remember Joseph's drying faster than Emma's, and Emma's hanging on by a tiny thread for days. But when? I want to remember when. So, at least now I'll remember that Madelyn's cord fell off in the middle of the night Tuesday night, when she was 3 days old. That's satisfying.

Up until yesterday, she'd been quite the sleeper, but it's become apparent that part of that was Lortab, God bless it. What's also become apparent is that Maddy is not a high needs baby, thank our gracious God. It's no secret that I was anxious about that, Emma having been a very high needs baby. I'll say that I'm still very scared. I'm a mess without sleep. A train wreck. What if I lose too much sleep and slip into depression? Of course, God alone will be with me, just as God alone is with me now. So, I'll be remembering that as much now as much as later.

The first day Maddy was born, she didn't slip into that newborn coma that most do hours after birth. She was wide awake, nursing and quietly studying everything around her. Her traumatic entrance might have played its role there. It was finally around 10:00 or 11:00 that evening that I nursed her and she went to sleep. But she fussed and fussed off and on until 1:30, when I offered to nurse her again (since Aaron was taking care of her). Nursing was very easy that first day. So, he put her beside me on the bed and we nursed together, falling asleep. I woke again at 6:30 to nurse her, but Maddy and I both fell asleep before we could, and all three of us woke up at 9:00, surprised by some nice sleep.

She didn't change much on Sunday either, being very sleepy and nursing only sometimes. I didn't mind. I took a nap as well and thanked God that she was resting for me and that Lortab and ContractEase was making nursing doable this time around. By Sunday, the sore nipples made their appearance, and Sunday night was the first night that I had to work myself up to nursing, the pain was so bad. This happens every time, despite my best tries to latch on correctly. I also always use breastmilk on the nipples, letting them air-dry, and Lansinoh, and cooled tea bags. Either they don't work, OR perhaps it would be 10x worse without them? Yvonne said that it was the misfortune of red-heads to have sensitive skin. Great. At least experience from two other children brought comforting hope of it all passing soon.

That Sunday night, we went to sleep at 10:30, after nursing her, and didn't wake again until 2:30, when she nursed (after trying to rouse her!), and went back to sleep until 9:00! My body was so thankful for the rest, but she needed to nurse more.

Yvonne came for the check up on Monday and Maddy was still wonderfully healthy, although she hadn't had a bowel movement. Yvonne warned that Lortab can constipate both Mama and baby, so that I needed to wean off of it as soon as I could. By this time, I was feeling much better. Aaron had gone to Akin's to get arnica for me Sunday night, and within hours was able to walk to the bathroom, which I hadn't been able to do before! So I welcomed Yvonne's advice.

I took the Lortab Monday night and sure enough, Maddy slept a lot that night as well. We went to bed at 10:00, nursed her at 3:30, then woke at 9:00 Tuesday morning. Dr. Glinsky came to the house to adjust the family, and found that Maddy needed one of her cranials adjusted, her pelvis, her IC valve, a spot in her neck, and of course, her left shoulder, where Yvonne had to pull. I didn't take any more Lortab after Monday night, relying only on ContractEase, which worked fine by the third day.

After that, we left our wonderful nest to head for Tulsa, to be joined with the rest of the Trifecta, as Aaron calls our children. :) She slept in the carseat (which she loves - a first for my children!), and was "herself" until we hit the loudness of the children. Poor baby. She became unsettled as the night went on, and although she slept from 10:30 to 1:30, it was difficult to get her to sleep, and we knew something was wrong. She woke at 1:30 to nurse and did not end up sleeping again until 6:00. I'm exhausted.

We ended up trying a warm bath, massage and finally glycerin suppositories to get her to have a bm. The glycerin worked and she finally slept. She's fussy again today, so I'm hoping the constipation stops soon. No matter what kind of baby you have, there will be something that is not what you expect. Sin is here, you know.

It's Wednesday now, and the nursing is more manageable. The scabs are beginning to heal (yikes), the inflammation is a bit better, and I'm more in the habit of having her latch on, experience great pain for 5-10 seconds, and then have it subside as nursing continues. This is good news for me. Once nursing pain goes away, I feel much better about life in general.

The children love Maddy dearly. Joseph kept his distance at first, only handing her things (like a doll), or helping Daddy. He's getting more and more excited, now that he's becoming more familiar with her crying. Emma was elated from the beginning, and we've had fits from her when we ask her to leave her alone. She wants to carry "Baby Sistah", hold her, feed her, give her blankets, kiss her, hold her fingers. She says she will take care of her.

May God continue to grant me thankfulness! And rest.