Madelyn's first 2 weeks

After a smooth delivery and a nice quick stay in the hospital, we were on our way home! We had some anxiety about introducing Madelyn to Quigley but to our surprise, he was so gentle and sweet with her and continues to be a doting big brother!

I hesitate to comment on Madelyn and how she's doing because I dont want to jinx anything, but I certainly feel like things are going pretty well. She typically sleeps for 3 or 4 hours at a time, a few times we've even hit 5 at night, she has a hearty appetite and loves to be held upright on your chest! It's remarkable how much changed in just the first 2 weeks, for instance she grew 3/4 of an inch and gained another lb - putting her in the 95% for height and 90th for weight! I'm not too surprised that most of her newborn clothes don't fit anymore, yup, she's my daugheter :) We are really enjoying that she is awake more during the day, she's really so alert. She seems to love when there is music playing, and rides in the car!

Here are some photos of her meeting all of her family and friends in her first few weeks!

Little Miss M - Madelyn Jayne Gerges, 11/1/11

It's been (almost) 3 weeks since her arrival, we're long overdue for an offiical post and introduction of our little girl! 3 weeks ago today, on Halloween, we checked into the hospital - scared, anxious and very excited for the birth of Baby GG :) Some of the details are pretty fuzzy since I was in and out of sleep, and kept happy by the perfect cocktail of pain meds but here is my account of what happened:

Monday 10/31
6:15pm - Check in to Stamford Hospital - Labor and Delivery Room 11
- After 2 nurses with 3 failed attempts to get an IV in my hands/arms and LOTS of tears, a third nurse on her 2nd attempt was FINALLY able to get my IV in and we were ready to proceed.
9:00pm - I was induced with a dose of Cytotec

Tuesday, 11/1
Early morning hours - contractions started after midnight and kept us up in the early morning hours. I had back labor which was really painful so the nurses gave me some pain meds that helped me manage the contractions until I was able to get an epidural. Once I had the meds, we were both able to get some sleep!
6/7am - The good news was that I didn't need a 2nd dose of Cytotec, and I was ready for the pitocin
9am - 1 centimeter dilated... making very slow progress!
11am - I was 1 - 2 centimeters dilated and Dr. Turk agreed we were ready for the epidural
More sleep and rest as the epidural kicked in :)
2:30pm - I think I was woken up to be examined and we were excited to find out that I was 5 centimeters dilated! As the Dr. left the room he said something like "pretty sure we'll have this baby by the end of the day"
4:00pm - I woke up from a sound sleep, and woke Brian up too... I could feel a lot of pressure, and just felt different. We discussed pressing the call button to talk to nurse.
4:15pm - Upon being examined, the RN goes "oh my gosh.... your cervix is gone.... you are fully dilated! Wow... Are you ready? You are ready to push!"
4:30pm - They turned down my epidural so I could feel more of the contractions and we had a crash course in pushing... and then I started pushing!
6:01pm - Miss Madelyn Jayne was born and we were instantly filled with joy as she let out her first cry's on my chest :) She weighed 8lbs 9 oz and was 20 1/2 inches long.

The best day of our lives!!!!!