This litle piggy went to the market...

For Christmas, Santa gave me a macro lens! Nick and I have enjoyed playing around with it and taking pictures of Madeleine.

I'm starting to realize that I don't know many nursery rhymes including the "little piggy went to the market" but I'm doing a pretty good job at making things up when I'm singing to Madeleine.

Now there are 3 of us to fit in this shot. =)

We took about 25 shots of her and didn't get a good one of her looking at the camera.

Using the macro lens.

She's holding Nick's finger.

Dreaming of what she was going to ask Santa for this year.

The Jones family (Tim, Renee and kids) gave these awesome sunglasses to Madeleine for Christmas. Too cute!!

Nick and I are still working on getting Maddy's "internal clock" changed over to PST. ;-) She loves to be awake and fussy between midnight and 3:30-4:00 am. For the last couple of nights she has sleep from 3:30 until 7 or 7:15 which has been nice but I've been told by many parents that as soon as you get use to something or think you have a routine, things change!

I'm looking forward to her smiling back at me. We've already have noticed changes in her. Her newborn diapers are not as loose and she tracks our faces or a toy that I hold in front of her and move just a little. Everything (with the exception of crying) makes me melt.

Nick goes back to work on Monday and it's just Maddy and I hanging out after that. My return to work date is March 1st. =(

2 weeks old...

Here are some pictures from the last week.

Madeleine and I both had our 2 week check-ups and we're both doing well.

Madeleine weighed 8 pounds 11 ounces on Tuesday and had now is 21.75 inches!! The doctor commented on how strong she is and gave us a great recommendation on how to introduce the bottle to her. We're planning on introducing it after she is a month old to avoid any nipple confusion. The doctor recommended that I do not feed her with a bottle but leave that for Nick. That way she will know me as "the boob" and Nick for the bottle. Breastfeeding is going very well, it just takes a long time. Usually 1-2 hours including some time to pump.

That's it for now. Enjoy the pictures!

Grampy and Madeleine.

Dad, Madeleine and Grandma Sue

Madeleine's cousins on her dad's side.

Ethan (8), Esmee (7), Willa (6)

Snug as a bug!

We have this bear outfit in newborn size and 0-3 months. She loves it and it keeps her nice and warm.

After her bath.

Time with Dad

She likes to sleep like this when she's on Nick's chest

More pictures with a couple of side stories

Everything is going well with the Jones family.

Nick and I took Maddy in for a weight check on Thursday and she weighed 8 pounds 8 ounces. She weighed 8 pounds 3 ounces the prior Thursday.

Our next appointment is this coming Tuesday and she's going to get a couple of shots. I'm not looking forward to that appointment.

I weighed in this last Thursday as well. I'm down 20 pounds from when we first found out that I was pregnant and I still have some water weight. My feet and lower legs are still swollen.

Nick, Maddy and I are going to make a trip to my branch on Monday so that we can show Maddy off but also get my wedding ring out of our safe box! I haven't worn my ring for about 7 months and I'm SO excited to wear it again.

Maddy's socks say: Daddy's Princess

Grammy (my mom) came over and watched Maddy for an hour and half so that Nick and I could run some errands. I sent my mom a text about 5 minutes after leaving checking in on things. My mom just laughed at me and said she hadn't even moved! (Maddy slept the whole hour and a half).

Rockin' some baby uggs and the preemie pants that Nick and I had to get for Maddy since she doesn't fit into any of her 3 month clothes!

Sooo... Being new parents, Nick and I have learned that sometimes we need to try new things when the simple things like a diaper change or a feeding won't sooth her. Since we've brought Maddy home she hasn't slept well or at all in her crib. She'll last about 5-15 minutes in there, in a very good swaddle and is still super fussy. So after about 4 long nights, Nick thought it might be the crib and she might not feel "secure" enough (since she sleeps really well in a swing that is also in the shape of a car seat). So on night number 5, we tried putting her in her car seat (in her crib) to sleep and sleep she did!! We have been able to get 2 hours of sleep with her in that thing! We've been told that babies are always changing and we know this won't last long at all but are sure enjoying the 2 hours of sleep when we can!

Nick and Maddy after a long night. I came out to the living room to find this.

Melts my heart.

Nick, Maddy and I had a big day today. We walk around the mall for about an hour and a half! Because of the c-section, I need to get out and walk around and the mall seems like the best place to do it since it's so cold outside. We had a good time and Maddy slept through the whole thing.

Nick dressed Maddy for the occasion and he's color blind. Both he and his older brother, Tim are. His other brother, Mitch is not. It's from a gene that his mom carries. Maddy could have the gene from Nick and pass it on to her son(s).

Notice the gloves that she has on? Both colors matched the onesie that she had on so we just went with it. Nobody noticed at the mall. ;-)

Madeleine Ryan Jones

Here are some pictures from the last week. It's been an amazing experience and Nick and I are enjoying every moment with Madeleine. I will post the birth story some other time because it's a long one. The short version is that I was induced at 9:30 am on 12/7, everything went pretty fast and I started pushing at 7:25 pm. By 11:15 the decision was made for us to have a c-section. Maddy's head was not moving past +2. It's a very good thing that with the advice from the doctors, Nick and I decided to go with the c-section because Maddy's head was either too large, or my pelvic inlet was too small for her to pass through.

Madeleine, Nick and I have been home since Thursday evening and we are healthy, happy and doing well.

Birthday: 12/7
Time: 11:59 pm
Weight: 8 pounds, 13 ounces (when we left the hospital she was down to 8 lbs, 3 oz).
Length: 20 inches

Here's just a few pictures to hold you over until the next post. ;-) Oh.. and they are NOT in order.

Milkstache

Chest-time with daddy

Back in the hospital room with mom and dad

2nd family photo - back in the hospital room

1st time I was able to hold Maddy

1st family photo!!

1st time I was able to say hello to Maddy

Getting ready to go home

Carseat, check!

Ready to go home!!

After Maddy's 1st bath (at home)

1st picture

1st time parent giving her first bath... Eeek.

Everything turned out fine. I was SO nervous.

At home, chillaxin'

Lovin' it

2nd photo

2nd day at home

Since she was born, Maddy does this thing with her pinky toes.. she can stretch them out to the side. Looks funny. Her toes are SO long. We don't know where she got them from.. since Nick and I both have very short, stubby toes.

This was me.. ready for the day. The smile only lasted until about 1:30 when I started having "real" contractions.

Chester checkin' Maddy out. He's been great with her and won't leave the room she's in.

Gimzo could care less but Nick and I have noticed that he wants to cuddle a lot more while we are in bed.. maybe it's because we're hardly in bed now for more than an hour or two tops.

Update and reflecting on this pregnancy

Here's a quick update on what has happened during this last week:

I'm still dilated 2 cm and now effaced 80%. I can feel things are changing with my body but mostly my pelvis. It use to be just my hips that bothered me while sleeping or laying down but during the last few weeks it's also been my pelvis. It's not a comfortable feeling but hey, what is these days?

I'm having contractions or what feels like cramps on and off. I have more when I'm up and about too much.

I lost 2 pounds over the last week so am now at a total weight gain of 1 pound from my starting weight.

While the doctor was examining me this week, he could feel her skull and soft spot. Talk about a huge reality check. She's pretty low and everyone is noticing how much I've "dropped" during the last few weeks, including me. The doctor also checked on the aminotic fluid and it all looks good. Even though she is running out of room, she still has a safe amount of fluid in there with her which was great to hear.

We had a non-stress test today and she once again was a very active baby and passed within the first 5 minutes. It's always reassuring to go to the child birth center and have everything go well.

We have a ultrasound scheduled for Monday morning to determine her weight and size. We have an appointment with the doctor next Wednesday to discuss c-section or induction on Saturday the 11th. We've also heard from the doctor and the nurses this week they think she'll decide to come earlier than the 11th. We're ready but are also happy to wait until the 11th. The question is.. can she?

Here's a picture from today after we left the non-stress test.

37 weeks and 5 days. My belly is still measuring 41 cm.

This week we were in the "old wing" of the delivery center. The rooms have a couch instead of a chair for the spouse/partner to sleep on which is better than the chair that are in the other rooms but the wing that we were in today does not have tubs in the rooms. I've been told that they have c-section patients stay in the old wing since they can't use a tub.

During the last week I've been working on a 2010 photo book and looking through all of our pictures from the year. It's brought back all of the memories from this pregnancy, the good and the bad so here's a little reflection on my last 9 months of my first pregnancy and what I've learned or discovered:

• Morning sickness doesn't always go away after the 1st trimester. Mine lasted well into the 6th month.
• My feet started to swell around week 20 and I had to buy new shoes for my feet to fit into.
• The rumors were true about the 2nd trimester being the best. I couldn't get enough sleep in my 1st and 3rd trimester and was either sick to my stomach or uncomfortable.
• Comfortable sleeping or sleeping well goes away after about the 30th week.
• Acne and having a stuffy nose all of the time are normal for a pregnancy. Actually, I have learned that everything I've experienced with this pregnancy all fall under the 'normal' catagory.
• Pregnancy brain REALLY does exsist!! I never thought it was true until now. My mind is not the same right now including adding numbers, remembering names or simple things I need from the store to repeating myself or asking the same question about 4 times before I felt like I had already asked it.
• I was lucky to only have a few breakdowns during the pregnancy and one of them was in a grocery store looking for water chestnuts. Who would have thought they would be in the 'Asian' foods asile.
• As hard as Gestational Diabetes may have been for me to accept at first, I am now looking at it as a blessing in disguise. Not only have I been able to help keep my baby growing at a healthy rate with a well balanced diet, I've been able to keep my weight gain down to a total of 1 pound as of right now (37w5d). It hasn't been easy but well worth it and I've learned so much about maintaining a healthy diet that I will continue to use the information learned after I have the baby.
• I didn't think I would be able to handle bed rest well and never thought I would be placed on it. Again, it's something that has not been easy but well worth it. Lots of small projects, watching the Sopranos and the love and support from friends and family have made a huge difference.
• Favorite foods during this pregnancy: Fresh fruit including strawberries, apples and grapes. Veggies including zucchini, yellow squash, eggplant, sweet potatoes and especially baby tomatoes. During the 1st trimester my staple was Mac & Cheese. Since then it's been: eggos with peanut better, eggs, Skinny Cow ice cream, string cheese, taco salad or cobb salad. Oh.. and how could I forget the cupcakes!! (I have not had a single cupcake since I was 29 weeks along. My favorite is/was a triple coconut cupcake from Trophy Cupcakes).
  
• Books I have read during this pregnancy: The Mayo Clinc Guide To A Healthy Pregnancy and Your Pregnancy Week By Week.
• Books I am now reading: The Baby Book by William and Martha Sears and Your Baby's First Year Week By Week.
• I scored on a lot of my maternity clothing from Vallue Village. They were all in great condition.
• Things I wore all of the time: belly band up until around 32 weeks. Maternity tank tops that are form fitting and I wore them under everything! Nursing bras around week 30 because my normal bras would no longer fit or were no longer comfortable.

That's all that I can think of right now. Hope you all have enjoyed this. If we make it to next Wednesday, I'll have an update then on our delivery and how we're going to approach it.. c-section or induction. But another thing I have learned with this pregnancy is you CAN'T plan everything!! We tried to plan around the month of December.. and that didn't work out so well. Birth plan? Not really! We'll just wait and see what happens.

Giraffes, Monkeys, Elephants and Tigers - Oh My!

My wonderful husband, Nick finished the boarder in the nursery this weekend! He's been very busy. I thought I would be helping with everything to prepare for our little girl's arrival but Nick has been doing all of it! He even went out on Black Friday to 4 different stores with a list I helped him with! Thank you, Nick!

Back in June, Nick and I decided to go with a gender neutral theme with most of our baby stuff including the nursery, car set, stroller.. etc. We plan on having more children and wanted something that could go with a boy or a girl!

Here's a funny story about the border: Nick and I ordered a border from Babies R Us that we liked. A few weeks ago we tried putting it up with some paste/glue that Nick had discovered online and the reviews were great. We thought it would be an easy task. How hard could it really be to put up a border? Well about 18" into putting it up, we were both pretty frusterated and decided to bag it. (It took all of 5 mins. for us to get to that point). So I suggested that I should cut out all of the animals individually. Nick thought it was a crazy idea.. but since I've been on bed rest, I've been looking for project that I can do while relaxing in my recliner. It only took about 6 days, on and off.. and all of the animals were cut out! And there you have it.. our "make-shift" border. Paint and some animals cut out from the border.

There's tigers in the border up above. We had to go with the lion on the wall.

I LOVE it!!

Nick hard at work!

Cookies for our troops!!

This is just a snapshot of all of the cookies that my friend, Anna and I made yesterday. We made over 20 dozen cookies for my little sister Ashely who is currently in Afghanistan until March. Anna was the baker and I was the roller. While I rolled the dough into balls, Anna was manning the oven and the process in the kitchen. Thank you Anna for all of your help. The cookies look amazing and I'm sure the troops will LOVE them! We made enough to ship 2 large 'Flat Rate' boxes! It feels SO good to ship stuff over there. A little bit goes a long way.

(Peanut Butter, Snickerdoodles and Chocolate Chip cookies!!).