She's here! She's here!
Madeline Reis was born via c-section at 8:02 a.m. on Friday, June 6, 2008. She's a very healthy 6 lbs. 15 oz. and 20 1/4 inches long. She has a head full of dark hair and is already starting to sprout dark eyelashes. She has long fingers and toes, Mommy's lips and Daddy's eyes and nose. She's perfect in every way and we feel beyond blessed!
Both sets of grandparents arrived on Thursday. Christopher and I had a nice lunch with Boss and Nanna Thursday afternoon, followed by a little bit of shopping on the square in Liberty. Grammy and Papa arrived just in time for dinner, which we enjoyed at the Olive Garden in Liberty. We had a nice, festive meal and everyone was definitely charged and excited about what was coming the next day. I ran around most of the evening of course, making sure everything was in order since I'd be gone for the next four days.
We woke up around 4 a.m. Friday morning and were on our way to the hospital by 5. After a very quick check in, we were led to our room and the nurses began prepping me for the surgery. I felt pretty calm and relaxed right up until the moment they were ready to take me down to the OR. Grammy and Papa arrived around 7 a.m. and Dr. Saunders stopped in to greet us as well. When I put on the hairnet and saw Christopher suited up in his paper scrubs, the adrenaline rush began. By the time I was in the OR, I was shaking uncontrollably but the anesthesioligists were amazingly calming and understanding. I was able to do some deep breathing and stop the shaking long enough for them to get the spinal block in and felt an immediate warming and numbing in my legs.
The surgery was quick and amazingly uneventful with no side effects or discomfort whatsoever. Soon, we heard Madeline's first screams (which I understand happened as soon as her head was out!). I was immediately overcome with emotion, so happy that she was healthy and strong and so excited to see her. They finished the delivery and held her up over the curtain so I could get my first glimpse of my little girl. I immdiately noticed the dark hair and how much she reminded me of Andrew. They quickly moved her to the warmer for her first Apgar tests. She pinked up right away and scored a 9 then a 10. The nurses were amazed at how quickly she pinked up and how strong her lungs were!
She continued to scream the entire time she was in the OR with us which was surprisingly reassuring! I saw her one more time after she was wrapped up, then she and Daddy went to the nursery for her first bath.
I was only in recovery for 10 minutes or so (it seemed) before they brought Maddy to me for her first feeding. She was a pro right from the start and everything came back to me immediately so we were off to a great start! Nanna and Boss arrived soon after with Thomas and his face absolutely lit up when he saw Madeline. We finally were transferred to our extended stay room and the rest of the family had their chance to hold Maddy for the first time.
We had a few more guests throughout the day, including several friends of mine from work and Andrew came in later in the afternoon with Christopher. He was initially interested in seeing Madeline, but once he got his first look, kept his distance. He would wave hello and goodbye to her, but from at least several feet away.
I was up and out of bed for the first time before Andrew arrived and gave Madeline a feeding from the chair in my room. The nurses were amazed at how quickly I was ready for that, but my motivation was primarily to get rid of the nasty cathedar!
We had a great first day, and Christopher and I finally settled in to get some much needed rest around 9 or 10 p.m. Maddy went to the nursery between feedings and continued to nurse well through the night.
We feel so incredibly blessed and thankful for a healthy, strong baby girl. That was my only prayer throughout my entire pregnancy and I'm so thankful that God had the same thing in mind!
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