And the Award Goes To...

While I was hanging out at the hospital, calling for room service and getting my toenails painted (seriously gals, I know the hospital to deliver at), I was tumbling blog post ideas through my head. Then I came home and reality hit, so it hasn't exactly been top priority. Almost a week ago I was told it was high time my new little friend was introduced on my blog, so here she is!


Madeleine Anne was born March 11 at 12:59pm. She weighed in at a perfectly average 7 lbs. 5 oz. and 20 inches long. Her family all thinks she is above averagely beautiful.

During my hospital stay I had several favorites I wanted to give kudos to, so here they are.

Favorite Doctor: The lovely and talented Dr. Sharon Fillerup (yes, you read that right). She delivered all four of the girls, and has even changed some of their nasty first diapers and attended blessings and birthday parties. The kids call her Aunt Sharon. We love you!


Favorite Visitors: Most definitely the other kids! They were so excited to meet the new baby, and they found out it was a girl when they arrived at the hospital. Those who wanted a brother quickly forgot about that and fell fiercely in love with her.


Favorite Picture: This is what I meant by that last comment.


Favorite Compliment: From the anesthesiologist after the epidural, "You have a really skinny back!" After all, he sees a lot of backs, right? Speaking of which...

Favorite Drug: I love you Epidural. Labor is such a beautiful thing as soon as you arrive.

Favorite Movie: "Pure Luck" with Martin Short and Danny Glover. Thank you for coming out on DVD just in time!

Favorite Dodge: Not going to the "How to Take Care of Your New Baby" class. Hello, I've done this already. Scrub the head, take care of the cord, feed them, change them. Did I miss anything?

Favorite Hospital Service: Our hospital now has a salon inside, and offers a free spa service to all new moms! The choices included a haircut, style, manicure, pedicure, and facial. For the facial and pedicure they do it right in your room, so I chose the pedicure. Wonderful, wonderful!

Favorite Meal: The "candlelight" dinner (with no candlelight) with Jamie, provided by the hospital for the new parents.

Favorite Support Person: My wonderful husband, before, during, and after. Before baby when my body needed a break on the couch, he would take over. During labor he would constantly check to make sure I was okay and had what I needed. Since Madeleine was born he's made pretty much every meal, done the dishes, ran kids where they needed to be... and is the cutest daddy ever with his new little girl.

10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1....

Time is running short for this bout of baby creation. The doc is back in town (she took a couple weeks "off" to do humanitarian surgeries in Africa), so at 39 weeks tomorrow, anytime baby decides he/she is ready, I'm more than ready to oblige.

Loving the little kicks and love taps (and yes, even the future soccer/football player ones) while I can. That's something I always miss - having a little friend rolling around inside, giving me secret hellos everywhere I go. All the aches, pains, and fatigue are worth it in the end.

Can't wait to be done with maternity clothes, though. Still repairing, though I decided some are beyond that and are already retired. Jamie suggested using the pants for a jean quilt sometime. I think that will be a worthy tribute. About anytime I'm home anymore I'm in pajama pants, both for comfort and to slow wear and tear on the jeans.

Looking forward to being able to think clearly and in complete thoughts again one of these days. Really looking forward to sleeping on my tummy again. Every time I see Jamie reading that way I send him a glare even if he doesn't see it. So rude.

He does redeem himself, though. I'm so grateful for my wonderful husband. He takes care of things when I need to love the couch for a while, taking over dinner, making sure dishes are done, and letting the other littles watch videos next to him while he's trying to work. He hasn't even made any wisecracks about my size for a while. I'm excited to be sharing the special time at the hospital with him for the sixth time. I love that those are memories only he and I share. (Along with the doctor and however many nurses, med students, etc. that happen to show up.)

Our favorite labor and delivery flick, "Pure Luck," even finally came out on DVD, just in time! I hadn't seen it before, but when I was in labor with Adam either the hospital had it or Jamie went and rented it. After that it became a tradition when we could find it.

My body is having fun practicing for all the excitement. I keep telling it it's fine to go into labor on its own, sending lots of happy labor inducing vibes. It hasn't worked for any of the other kids, so I'm not holding out too much hope.

One final thought - I need to write things down more. I don't have a lot written about the different deliveries, but it's definitely a topic that comes up quite often when a bunch of women get together. As soon as it starts I need to pull out pencil and paper, because all of their memories get mine going, and pretty soon I would have quite a bit written down. I thought of that all on my own just last night - preggo brain and all.

Come on baby! We're ready to get to know you!