Choir Practice

Hannah, Madison, and I get to go to choir practice together now. We sit in the back and listen while Daddy and the rest of the choir practice. Nathan and I are using this time as a good opportunity to teach Hannah how to sit quietly in "church."  I tried to get some pictures the first week we sat together:

 

Hannah and Mommy Day

Last Thursday I took some time to have a Hannah and Mommy day (with little sister tagging along). Hannah's done wonderfully with the transition to a new sister, but I wanted to make sure I still spent special time with her.

We started with extra time in bed talking. Hannah chose to talk with Madison some too:

After we dropped Daddy off at work so we could have the car that morning, we went to the library for their weekly kid's program. Hannah was in awe.

After the library, we stopped by the local playground. Hannah had a blast studying and playing on the equipment.

We finished our fun morning with a special treat from McD's and lunch with Daddy!  When I asked her after her nap if she had a fun morning, she gave me the biggest smile!

We ended the day much as we started. Hannah asked to hold Madison 

The result of our Mommy and Hannah day:

Two Week Checkup

I'm playing a little bit of catchup here...

Madison and I had our two week checkup last Tuesday, May 21. She weighed 11 pounds, 4 ounces. She's a big girl! Both Mommy and Madison are both doing great!

We got to see our midwife Melissa; we love her! 

We also got to see our birth assistant, Michelle. We had most of our checkups when Michelle was working, so we were happy she was on call when I went into labor.

Hannah loved to see Miss Melissa again. Super-woman Melissa picked up both of my girls...that's 40-45 pounds! Melissa was so good at including Hannah in all our check ups, having a stool to stand on when we listened to M's heartbeat; giving her "jobs" to do, etc.

A trip to Labor of Love/Celebrate Birth isn't complete without seeing Cathy!

Our life as of late...

I'm going to try my hand at blogging again since I'm not working again. No promises on how often it will be! My last day of teaching was Friday, April 19. This came six days after we moved into our new house! I had two weeks after school to unpack before our new baby came! 

One May 4th, Madison Elizabeth Ogden was born. My water broke at 1am, but with no contractions. Nathan and I decided to go back to sleep to reserve energy for the big moment. I couldn't go to sleep, so I got up and took a shower; low and behold my contractions started around 2:30. I decided to wake up Nathan around 3:30, and we called the midwife around 4 (contractions were still 9-10 minutes apart). After a few standard questions, she said to call again if anything changed. Nathan and I watched some TV to help the time pass, and I breathed and relaxed through the contractions. 

Nathan and I had planned on dropping Hannah off at Nathan's parents for the big day, but my contractions were progressing too quickly for the half hour drive to his parents, then a 45 minute drive to the midwife. Our back up plan was my good friend and a-block-away-neighbors.  We called her around 5:45, and since it was Saturday and her hubby was home with their kiddos, she was able to come over to our house until Hannah woke up. What a huge blessing. 

Nathan and I left for the birthing center shortly after. We called our midwife around 6am to let her know we were on our way. We were about 4-5 minutes away, when Madison decided it was time to start making her appearance. I was a little worried she would come too early; however, she waited until after we arrived at the birthing center. We got there at 6:30 (just after the midwife, and Madison was born at 6:45! I remember being so surprised she was coming because I was waiting for the contractions to get worse. They never got nearly as bad as Hannah's. In fact, the entire labor and delivery was so much easier than Hannah's.

After she was born we snuggled and bonded with her for an hour or so. Then we weighed her and discovered she was an amazing 10 lbs, 6 oz. 22 in long.  We had a few standard procedures to do before we left for home around 9:45 when Madison was a whopping 3 hours old!  I loved being home so soon after her birth.  It gave the the comforts of home, as well as privacy to bond as a new family. Our church ladies provided meals for an entire week, and Nathan was home until Thursday, so I was able to get a lot of rest those first few days too.

It's hard to believe that Madison is now 3 weeks old. She is thoroughly loved by all. She continues to grow strong (she was 11.4 at her 2 week checkup!) and we continue to enjoy her. Hannah is such a good and protective big sister I love them both!