Maddie's Photo Shoot

Here are the many pictures from our "photo shoot" with Maddie for her birth announcement:

Maddie's Photo Shoot

More Pictures

Madeline meets Grandad

Maddie's First Bath

Tummy Time

Maddie's Birth Story

Meg here, finally.

I finally have time, energy, and a free hand - it must be time to blog! Here is Maddie's birth story, as I remember it - and it's quite possible that I'm a bit fuzzy on some details. At times I was more, uh, mentally present than others. And sorry if I'm long-winded. You know how women love to tell their labor stories.

Disclaimer: in retrospect, it's probably easy for someone who's gone through it before to see that on Sunday evening I was indeed in labor and would be having a baby very soon. But nothing - NOTHING! - was as I'd ever heard it would be. No books, classes, or personal recollections ever mentioned anything like what I felt. Everybody and every baby is different, clearly. At least I might know for next time (yes, I agreed to a next time. In the delivery room, actually).

Saturday I felt great, we went to Ikea and walked around like crazy, bought tables, and had a lovely day. I woke up Sunday feeling QUITE different. I thought that A) I'd completely overdone it the previous day or B) the baby was dropping further, and this was all part of the magic of pregnancy. MAJOR pressure, major pain. Ow.

I spent the majority of the morning and early afternoon in the one position that didn't make me want to scream, lying back on the couch. Again, I really thought that the pain was baby-head related. (Well, the little battering ram had begun its work, of course it hurt!) It really felt like an intense version of baby-head pressure.)

Around 4:45, I had been up and around, and the pain got much worse. It seemed to be related to movement, and we'd been told that true labor contractions weren't, so, again, I thought "not real". Bob started writing down when I felt these "not real" contractions. They were 15-20 minutes apart, sort of.

We went over to Bob's parents house for our usual Sunday night dinner. I was feeling somewhat less than ok, but it was manageable (at this point Bob was still timing, and I was still thinking he was probably wasting paper). As the evening went on, I really couldn't tell where one "contraction" started and one stopped, so our timing wasn't particularly accurate. They were, I guess, anywhere from 2 to 8 minutes apart, but again, it was very difficult to pinpoint. (A sign that we should have been driving to the hospital?) At 9:30 I called the doctor and explained what I felt, and she didn't seem really concerned. She said to take a shower, lie down, take a Benadryl, and call her when the contractions were regular.

We went home, I followed the doctor's instructions, but things went from bad to Oh-my-God by 11:00. We called, and the doctor said to come into the hospital to be checked. We got there a little before midnight. I told Bob to just leave the bags in the car. I still wasn't convinced that we'd be staying. The man working in the ER asked me if my water had broken and I told him I had no idea. He said I'd know - well, maybe, maybe not...

We got up to Labor & Delivery and got checked in. People kept asking me questions that I either didn't know the answers to or didn't quite have the ability to answer at the moment, so Bob had to most of the talking. When the L&D nurse checked, she announced happily that I was 5 cm dilated and 100% effaced (thinned) - and if you don't know what that means, keep yourself blissfully ignorant. The nurse was ridiculously excited for me, I remember, and went on and on about how lucky I was to come in so far along in my labor, when other women would sit for hours waiting to get that far. Being "so far along" did not amuse me. I just wanted my epidural. I had been set on that from the beginning. In the moments that I could speak, I asked "When do I get my epidural? When when when?"

We had to have tests (and wait years for the results from the lab), we had to get the I.V. in (didn't work well), we had to have the 100 cc's of some liquid through the I.V (dripped soooo slowly), and so on. Meanwhile I 'breathed through the pain', as the L&D nurse called it. I called it cursing every roadblock between me and that nice, big needle. At this point, I wasn't having contractions anymore. At this point in labor, as any mom will tell you, you are one BIG contraction.

Finally she said we were ready for the epidural, she just wanted to check me one more time. It had been about 20 minutes, which to my perception was about 20 years. The doctor checked, and I was now a lovely 8 cm. dilated! "You're not getting an epidural, honey! You're practically there!" OH they were SOOOO happy for me at this point, and I sooooo wanted to beg them to pretend that we were still at 5 cm. and I wouldn't tell if they wouldn't. I wondered if there was anything else I could have, because I was NOT prepared for this whole natural childbirth thing. Had no idea how you do it when you can actually feel what's going on.

The nurse told me that whenever I felt pressure, like I wanted to push, I should call her, and we'd try pushing. Ha. Ha. Um, felt that for hours. Let's go. Eviction time, baby.

Baby didn't seem to mind. I pushed for about 40 minutes. Pushing was my least favorite part, to say the least, but it was, as least, very productive pushing. Baby had no problem with getting evicted. I didn't believe the doctor at all when she said her head had been born. I kind of stopped and thought "wha?" and at that moment, there was a baby on my chest!

She cried right away - so did Bob and I - and she was impossibly gorgeous. You see newborns on baby shows on TV and they're often ugly little suckers with purple skin and weird heads and God-knows-what all over them. You see yours, and she's perfect. They wrapped her up right there and gave her a hat and put her on my chest again, and we got to say our hello's. It was an awesome combination of joy and relief. Then they let Bob hold her, and then put her under the heat lamps to do her tests. She got a 9 on both Apgar tests, we found out later.

...and we had this long list of people to call at different times during our labor. When we got to the hospital, when we thought we were close, afterwards, etc. Ha. We arrived at the hospital at midnight, not even sure we'd be staying, had been in the hospital an hour and 40 minutes, and had our baby at 1:38 AM. THEN we called our parents to tell them that they were grandparents.

Bob's parents came in and visited their new granddaughter, and we all got to go down to the nursery together to have her weighed and measured and washed up.

I found out afterwards that natural childbirth does have its advantages; because I didn't have an epidural or any other pain medications, I was allowed to walk around, stay in the nursery when they weighed and measured her, go to my room and get into my bed myself. They nurses kept telling me how incredibly lucky I was to have such a quick labor & birth. I'd been in real labor since about 9PM, so I'd had about 4 1/2 hours. Not too shabby. Redheads delivery quickly, the doctor said later. Cool...we'll remember that for next time, and actually go to the hospital a little earlier, hopefully.

Bob came back from the nursery, having watched them give her a bath, and told me all about it. Then they brought her to me and we got to spend a little more time together. Incredible. She's absolutely incredible.

After a parade of doctors and nurses, Maddie's nurse came in and took her back to the nursery and told me to get some sleep. It was about 5 AM at this point. Bob eventually went home too, to get some rest. I was too jazzed to really sleep, though. I may have gotten an hour that first night (morning) in the hospital.

So there's our story! We had our baby! What a surprise, too! I really was lucky, I hadn't even been sure I was in active labor when I got to the hospital, and the whole thing wasn't as painful as I had anticipated childbirth to be - especially natural childbirth. We are very truly fortunate, and so very very happy to have this amazing little person in our lives now. Every minute she gets cuter and sweeter, and she's quite entertaining. I'll take a chance, tempt fate, and say that she's really a good baby so far, too. I mean, hey! I got 7 (non-consecutive) hours of sleep last night. That's pretty darn good, I'd say!

Thanks for reading our (long) birth story. We love and adore our new baby daughter, and we're looking forward to sharing her many little milestones here, from time to time.

Now if you'll excuse me, somebody needs a diaper change.

Name Guesses

First Name Guesses

• Abigail (Brenda)
• Adelaide (Nana)
• Alexandra (Caitlin, Gram)
• Alexis (Gram)
• Alison (Pop)
• Allison (Nana)
• Amelia (Julie G)
• Amy (Aunt Cyndee)
• Angela (Brenda)
• Anna (Aunt Cyndee, Julie G)
• Arianna (Gram)
• Bailey (Gram)
• Bertha (Gram)
• Beth (Aunt Cyndee, Gram)
• Burrita (Brenda)
• Carolyn (Brenda)
• Catherine (Julie G)
• Chalupa (Brenda)
• Christine (Julie G)
• Costanza (Gram)
• Cynthia (Aunt Cyndee)
• Daisy (Aunt Cyndee)
• Diana (Brenda)
• Dixie (Aunt Cyndee)
• Donna (Pappy)
• Elena (Gram)
• Eliose (Gram)
• Elise (Gram)
• Elizabeth (Gram, Julie G)
• Elliott (Julie G)
• Elma (Gram)
• Emily (Caitlin, Great Grandmom)
• Emma (Julie G)
• Errt (Sboy)
• Esmerelda (Gram)
• Ethel (Gram)
• Gertrude (Gram)
• Gordita (Brenda)
• Hailey (Gram)
• Hannah (Nana)
• Harper (Julie G)
• Hazel (Julie G)
• Helene (Gram)
• Isabelle (Julie G)
• Janet (Brenda)
• Jenine (Brenda)
• Jennifer (Nana)
• Jessamynn (Nana)
• Jo (Aunt Cyndee)
• Joanna (Julie G)
• Judith (Julie G)
• Julie (Julie G)
• Katherine (Brenda)
• Kathleen (Brenda)
• Lauren (Gram)
• Laurie (Aunt Cyndee)
• Lucy (Julie G, Aunt Cyndee)
• Madeleine/Madeline/Madelyn/Madelynne (Julie G, Nana, Gram)
• Mamie (Gram)
• Marissa (Gram)
• Meg (Aunt Cyndee)
• Michelle (Nana)
• Miranda (Julie G)
• Morgan (Gram)
• Natalie (Nana)
• New (Julie G)
• Nicole (Brenda)
• Nicole (Julie G)
• Null (Brenda)
• Paige (Gram)
• Pollyanna (Gram)
• Quesadilla (Brenda)
• Rebecca (Gram)
• Roberta (Pappy, Brenda, Aunt Cyndee)
• Sandra (Brenda)
• Sara (Gram)
• Sboy-ee-ee (Scottie Boy)
• Seven (Sboy)
• Stephanie (Gram)
• Susan (Julie G)
• Tuglas (Sboy)
• Winifred (Gram)
• xz
• Yar (Sboy)
• Zelda (Gram)

Middle Name Guesses So Far

• Anne (Aunt Cyndee)
• Marie (Nana, Aunt Cyndee)
• Rose (Nana)

Full Name Guesses

• Adelaide Rose (Nana)
• Cynthia Marie (Aunt Cyndee)
• Insufficient Information D'Errico (Brenda)
• Madeline Marie (Nana)
• Madeline Rose (Nana)
• Natalie Rose (Nana)
• No Answer D'Errico (Brenda)
• Not Applicable D'Errico (Brenda)
• Roberta "Bobbie" Anne (Aunt Cyndee)

We're Home! More Pictures

We are officially home now. Well actually, Meg and Maddie came home yesterday, but we were a little busy, as you can imagine!

We were discharged from the hospital around 4 yesterday. We came home, got organized, and managed to get a few hours of sleep last night.

Today was thanksgiving, hosted by Nana and Pop, with the help of Gram, but at OUR house, so that we didn't have to lug Maddie and all of her gear. Maddie got to meet two of her great-grand parents, Granny and Grandpop. Aunt Laura, Aunt Caitlin, and Uncle Nick were also there. Despite Meg and myself being a little sleepy, we all had a great time!

There are two more albums for you to check out. Enjoy!

Madeline comes home

Maddie's first thanksgiving

Baby Pool Results!

The results for the baby pool are in! Check 'em out below:

http://www.expectnet.com/game.php?babyid=1&tx=1152040220

Great Grandmom Uber won by a long-shot.

Day 1 Update

Dad here again, home from a day at the hospital.

Maddie and Meggie are doing very well. We had a very exciting day, as Maddie got to meet almost everyone in her new family. Nana, Pop, Gram, Aunt Caitlin, Uncle Nick, and Aunt Laura all paid a visit. I was also busy making phone calls and sharing the happy news with everyone.

There isn't a whole lot more to report on right now. We should be finding out soon when Meg and Maddie will get to come home. I am sure Meg is looking forward to getting on here and telling the story, as she is a better writer than I am.

As for the baby pool, I can't figure out how to log in and enter the stats. It looks though, as if the unofficial winner is her great-grandmother Mommom, with all stats except for the sex being very close.

Nana, Julie G, and Gram, and Aunt Cyndee all won the name game, guessing Madeline. However, Nana wins the grand prize for guessing her first AND middle name.

I will be going to school tomorrow to do report cards and get things ready for the sub. Then I plan on taking off on Wednesday, and Monday, giving me a full 6 days home with Maddie and mom. That said, I need to get some sleep.

(Just a reminder to check out the Maddie's photo album frequently, as I will be uploading new pictures whenever I get the chance)

Pictures, etc.

Dad here. Sorry about the typo in this morning's very sleepy entry. As Nana points out, Madeline's birthday is November 20.

I've uploaded the pictures from last night (I mean, early this morning), and you can check them out below.

I called the hospital, and Meggie and Maddie are both doing well after a little shut-eye. I will be leaving for the hospital soon.

I will eventually tell the whole exciting story, but I want to get up to the hospital to see my wife and my daugter. All I can say is that, boy, it all happened really fast!

For those who are on our 'call' list, you will hear from me later today. Otherwise, you can check out the pictures.

More later, I gotta go be with my family (that sounds so cool!)

Madeline's First Night

Announcing the birth of our beautiful baby, Madeline Rose

At 1:38 AM on Monday, November 20, 2006, our daughter Madeline Rose was born!

She is 8 pounds 1 ounce and is 20.5 inches long.

She has lots of wavy blondish-brownish hair, and is adorable.

Mom is doing well and is catching up on some sleep at the hospital. Dad will be going to bed as soon as he is done with this post. I promise I'll put up some pictures soon, but right now, I am too tired.

Name Game Clue 11 - Week 39

Okay, okay, we get it. Our adoring fans don't like middle name clues. So here's one to make you happy:

Baby D's first name ALSO appears on the lists.

This week's sarcasm, I mean, ticker! 39 weeks!

Heh. This kid isn't getting a choice. As of right now, we're on for 10 AM Friday, November 24th. Don't go hopping on the baby pool trying to change your guesses, though. These things are supposed to take time. And things can change. Hospital schedules, for one.

NST, AFI, appointment, & further induction news

Baby was reluctant to get going today, probably asleep or something, so the non-stress test took longer than usual. The ultra-sound technician actually came in to see what was taking so long. The nurse who runs the NST's said that if she didn't perk up and get reactive soon, I'd have to have a bio-something-or-other ultrasound where they check the baby's practice breathing and other things, to see if anything major's wrong. I asked what would happen if she didn't look active on THAT test -
"Then you're having a baby today."

(AAAAAAAHHHHH!)

Baby perked up after getting the tummy buzzer (noisemaker that's supposed to initiate the startle reflex), and eventually she had a reactive heartrate and looked good again. Messing with us.

Fluid looked good, measuring the same as last time. We got one more ultrasound picture of her face, although it's hard to distinguish what's what, she's grown so much. We do have a nice outline of a chubby little right cheek.

She was still head-down, turned to the left at the moment, and looking good.

The doctor discussed the upcoming induction a little bit, and explained that Meg would have to come in on Monday and be checked to see how 'ready' things are. How that examination goes decides exactly when we'll go in on Friday, and whether they'll start the Pitocin right away or not. But either way, we've been assured that FRIDAY 11/24 is officially the day we'll go to the hospital to have our baby. We may have her that day, Saturday, or *gulp* even, dare we say it, have things last till Sunday. (Very rare that it takes that long. They usually give you a C-section before they let you go 3 days. But man, wouldn't that be nice for inspiring a little guilt: "I was in labor with you for 3 DAYS!") ...on second thought, um, NO.

So Friday is it. Unless we have to go earlier than that. But that we won't know about ahead of time, will we?

38w4d - Non-Stress Test & Good News!

Relax, no, we're not in labor here.

Every person we call just seems disappointed that we're not making 'the call'. Sorry to disappoint you all, we usually just want to get Christmas Gift planning done.

Having bi-weekly non-stress tests now, which is nice. It's so nice to just lie back and concentrate on baby's movements and heartbeat for a while. Her heartrate and movements looked great. "Gorgeous" was the word, actually.

And we got some great news too! The nurse midwife Meg saw after the test said that they would absolutely not let her go past the baby's due date of November 24th. Her size is good, her health is good, and they want to keep it that way. So when Meg goes in on Thursday for another round of tests, they'll sit down and schedule an induction for the day after Thanksgiving. So at least we know that now! That all assumes that we don't go into labor before the 24th, of course, and that everything else keeps looking good, health-wise.

But we're THRILLED to know that the end is indeed in sight and that we'll have our little girl soon! 10 days left, maximum!!!!!!

Name Game Clue 10 - Week 38

We realize that we have quite a few blog-checkers, but very few guessers left. Well to those of you who have stopped guessing, we say:

HEY! No fair! That was some good weekly entertainment! Let's go!


Here's your name game clue for week 38:

All these names that people have guessed, sincerely or in jest, have accumulated into quite a nice set of lists. Good for you, guessers, because her middle name already appears on one of the lists here.


Can't be long now (at least that's what we keep telling ourselves)!

NST & AFI & Growth Scan oh my! 38 Weeks

Update from Meg. Lots of appointments and tests, all good news.

Non-Stress Test: Very good, Baby D. was active & reactive as usual. She's looking good. Cute little heartbeat!

AFI (Fluid Check Ultrasound): Again, she's looking good. The ultrasound technician joked that around 38 weeks women start bringing in extra cash to bribe her to say that their fluid is low, so they can be induced...darn, you can do that? Baby D.'s fluid measured very well, and she's still head-down and getting ever-lower. (Didn't need an ultrasound to know that, though, lemme tell ya.)

Growth Scan: Good good good. Baby is measuring in the 49 percentile for growth, which is excellent. The doctor was very happy with both of us, actually. She said with all diabetic patients, gestational or otherwise, the babies are usually significantly bigger by this point. She said that means we've been taking care of this diabetic business and controlling my blood sugar very well. So that was a happy little pat on the back. Of course, I'd preferred those congratulations came with a large stack of pancakes, but whatever...

We also visited Baby D.'s future pediatrician this week for an 'expectant parents' visit. That was very imformative, and we really liked the practice. They're right nearby in Laurel Springs, and they have night hours (very important!)

Meg is happily on maternity leave now, since last Monday, and trying to strike a nice balance between getting necessary stuff done, and getting some R&R. And not falling down.

We finished up our pre-baby classes on Saturday with the Breastfeeding class, so now we're all educated (ha ha) and ready for baby.
Whether she's ready for us is another story. But unfortunately, impatience doesn't do much to start labor. So now we're just playing the waiting game...

This week's sarcasm, I mean, ticker! 38 Weeks! (Gross!)

Ok, this one is a bit gross, and pretty much false. Except for the legal action part. But whatever.

...actually, we were going to promise her a Power Wheels Jeep if she'd come out this week. Hmmm...

Have a nice trip, see you next fall...

Hello, Meg here, with a little update:

Ok, we've learned in the past 24 hours to start the story with this phrase:

"Everything's ok, we just wanted you to know..."

Yesterday I was enjoying my first official day of maternity leave. I did some shopping, puttered around the kitchen, etc. Well I apparently puttered a bit to quickly around the slippery kitchen floor in my socks, because I turned the corner into the wood-floor hallway, slipped, and fell forward. You know how, mid-fall, you always have a very vivid thought? Like, "This is going to hurt!", that kind of thing? I thought, "Thank God I'll fall forward and land on my hands & knees!" Well, sort of. My knees hit and just kept right on slipping backward, and I landed flat as a pancake on my face - and my tummy. OW.

Bob was on his way home. I waited a while to see if I felt the baby moving, to make sure everything was ok. And wouldn't you know it, our over-active, wiggly-jiggly kid was completely still. And to make matters more worrysome, she was all bunched up way up high in my tummy (ribs, whatever, she doesn't care) and wasn't responding to anything that usually gets her moving.

I called the doctor's office, to find out what they wanted me to do - I figured I'd have to do a special kick-count or drink a lot of water or something. Nope. The doctor wanted me to go to the hospital and be monitored. They told me to wait until Bob got home because I shouldn't drive myself, and then go right to Virtua.

We went, pretty darn scared, and baby still wasn't moving. We got checked in and we were put in what we found out later was a high-risk labor & delivery room. The doctor explained that they had to do bloodwork to make sure her placenta was still intact, and then monitor baby's heartrate and my contractions for 4 hours and make sure we both were having normal patterns. If we were, we'd be discharged. If not, we'd be induced! ACK!

They hooked me up to the monitors and after a few tense minutes of trying, we found Baby D.'s heartbeat, and she sounded good. Her activity level picked up a little while later, and from then on she looked great on the monitor. She was very responsive, and looked neurologically very good. I was having mild contractions, some I didn't feel at all, and some which were, uh, quite "noticeable". We're getting close now, so that's totally normal. The bloodwork came back fine from the lab, and we were cleared to go home after the 4 hours were up.

We were discharged around 9PM with instructions and an 'everybody's ok'. And strict orders to stay off slippery floors in socks.

So Bob and I got a nice little dress rehearsal for the real deal. Once we knew we were fine, it was actually nice to hear her heartbeat, see all the equipment, and get comfortable with the whole hospital environment.

And that was our eventful evening. All's well, just wanted to update. Today I plan to take it easy and couch it a good bit - still pretty sore.

Name Game Clue 9 - Week 37

"I'd like to buy a..."

Her first name either begins or ends with a vowel.

This week's sarcasm, I mean, ticker! 37 Weeks!

Week 36 NST, AFI, Dr. Appointment, and Bob's Shower!

Long title, lots done lately.

We're just hours away from officially have a full-term baby on our hands (and stomach) here!

We had our usual round of tests today, and everything's looking good. Baby was actually a little sleepy, and had to be 'buzzed' twice, to wake her up during the non-stress test. She reacted well, though. And we're definitely having some 'false labor' contractions - they showed up really well this week on the monitor. So that's a good sign.

Fluid looks good. Baby is lower still, and head-down. ("Smart baby!" says the doctor.)

We were a little concerned about the fact that Meg's blood sugar numbers have been a little higher these last few weeks. The doctor actually said that was totally expected, and pretty much a sign of a healthy pregnancy - so that's kind of a relief.

...and then the doctor said, "See you next week, if you don't go into labor before then!"

EEP! That was a bit strange to hear!

****

Bob's faculty gave him a shower today! How cool is it that they give showers for men now? We got a toddler carseat, a Jumperoo, an activity gym, and some really cute clothes. Bob was totally surprised, and we're very grateful! (Good cake, too!)

****

Tomorrow is Meg's last day working for QUITE a while. And yes, they did finally find a long-term substitute music teacher. Of course, they found her the last possible week, but hey, at least there's somebody there to teach next week! Meg is very relieved, and despite the fact that tomorrow is looking quite busy, she's thrilled. (And even happier to be getting a break!) Her goals for any time off before baby-time include (but are not limited to):

1. Decompressing after a stressful last few weeks at school
2. Hopefully getting the Christmas cards started
3. Having time to go to the bathroom whenever she feels like it for a change