Maddi Kay is now 2 months!!

Baby's Weight: Madison now weighs 11lbs and 4 oz. Up four lbs since birth :). Growing way tooo fast for mommy!

Baby's Length: Madison was measured at 22.5 inches at her check-up appointment yesterday. Grown three inches!! Craziness.

Baby's Routine: No real routine during the day.. we just go with the flow. Maddi sleeps and eats whenever she pleases throughout the day. However, we have established a bit of a nighttime routine. Around 8:30 or 9pm we give Maddi her bath, swaddle her in her swaddleme blanket, nurse her and she is out. My princess will sleep pretty consistently through the night after her last feed. Generally from about 10pm until 6am. Although, last night was rough...I blame the vaccinations for that though. 

Miss Maddi and her favorite--BATH TIME! :)

New Foods I Liked: Baby Maddi is still being breastfed. Will also have formula when needed. She is on the "strict milk" diet. haha. Couple more months before we can begin feeding other foods :)

New Discoveries I Made: Madison has discovered her hands! She loves to suck on them. Also a sign of hunger, so it can sometimes confuse momma! LOVES ceiling fans--I hear most babies do. But definitely a good babysitter when I need to get a few dishes done! :) She's still liking bright lights..sunshine, blue LED light coming from the fan, the color and movement on t.v., etc.

My Accomplishments: Maddi's head control is almost perfected :). Still doing her "mini push-ups" during tummy time and have her sitting in her bumbo a few minutes a day. She LOVES to sit up.

Places I Went: Madison went to Seattle with mommy and daddy and Auntie Amanda and Uncle Sam. We went to Pike's Place to the Farmer's Market. We also went to the Rainforest Cafe. Yummy. Madison also took her second trip to Cali. We spent a little over 2 weeks at Grandma and Grandpa's house. She visited her aunties and uncles.

Special Memories: Spending over two weeks in Cali with my parents and Maddi was amazing. We were able to see so many people and everyday brought a great memory. Maddi met some more aunties, great-great aunties, uncle timmy, and cousins. 

 

Sending Daddy a special birthday message--Daddy's birthday was August 14th.  

Madison Kay-Jean at 2 months old:

Madison at One Month

 

Baby's Weight: Madison now weighs 9lbs and 6 oz. Up two lbs since birth :). Love my chunky monkey.

Baby's Length: Madison was measured at 20.5 inches at birth, but at her doctors appt. 3 days later she was 19.5 inches. Today she is 21 inches.

Baby's Routine: No real routine yet for baby Maddi. While mommy would LOVE to set a routine and schedule, baby Maddi has other plans and sleeps and eats when she wants. ;) She generally eats every 3-4 hours and sleeping patterns are ALL over the place. She wakes at a different hour every night.. no set time. I can generally judge that she'll wake every 3 hours from the time she falls asleep at night.

New Foods I Liked: Baby Maddi is only eating breast milk every 3-4 hours and will be for her first six months as recommended by her pediatrician.

New Discoveries I Made: Madison notices sounds, but mainly voices and will turn her head in the direction of the voice. She also likes bright lights and will generally look in the direction of any light--LOVES the big living room windows and the sun shining through.

My Accomplishments: Maddi's little head is getting much stronger, and is able to control her head movements fairly well. She is doing her "mini push-ups" during tummy time.

Places I Went: Madison took her first trip to Cali at just 4 days old. She did so well on such a long 10 hour car ride--I contribute this to the fact that newborns SLEEP soooo much. ;) She also went on her first trip to the zoo on the 24th of July. We went with Auntie Amanda and Uncle Sam--she slept in her stroller for most of that trip as well. Mommy bought her 2 new books from the zoo. "Big Babies, Little Babies" and "First Animal Pictures". Can't wait to read them with you babygirl. 

Maddi in her zoo outfit from Auntie Amanda :) 

Polar Bear at the zoo! Loved it.

Chris, Maddi and I also took a quick trip to Mount Rainier. It was such a beautiful day. We hiked about a mile to one of the many waterfalls on the mountain and it was amazing!

Chris, Maddi and I.

Special Memories: Mommy's favorite holiday is the 4th of July--She took baby Maddi home to Cali to share with friends and family such a special holiday. Not only did many family and friends get to share a holiday with us, but they got to meet precious Madison. We went to the parade, had an amazing BBQ, watched the Red Bluff firework display, and of course watched and played with our own fireworks. It was a great day!

Madison Kay-Jean at One Month:

Madison's Birth Story

*This is a little over a month late, but definitely deserves a post.


On Friday, June 24th, I had my bi-weekly visit with Dr. Eun to check the usual blood pressure and weight gain and an NST to make sure everything was still well with baby. Dr. Eun said I was only dilated 1 cm and 80% effaced. He also assured me that if she was not here on her own, she would be here by the 4th of July. As I walked out the door, he said "Just don't have her on Sunday, I have a wedding to go to". I thought to myself, I doubt she will be here on her due date and I was hoping she'd at least come on her own. No induction please.


Friday night, Chris and I went to eat at BJ's Brewhouse so I could fulfill a Santa Fe Salad craving. Little did I know, that'd be my last meal before having my precious babygirl.


Later that evening, I began having a few contractions but nothing I was too concerned about. 1 am early Saturday morning (June 25th), I began having what seemed like consistent contractions and horrible back labor. I decided to head to the hospital around 11:30 am Saturday morning--The nurse checked me and I had progressed to 2 cm and was 100% effaced since my appointment the day before. However, my cervix was still high so the nurse went ahead and sent me home. I was devastated because I was in so much pain and was sooo exhausted. The nurse gave me a shot to help with sleep since I had been up for more than 24 hours at that point. As soon as we got home, I went straight to the bedroom to get some sleep. Annnnd FYI, sleep is nearly impossible to get while having contractions. I was able to relax and rest a little bit before contractions started getting really hard and painful.


About 8:30pm Saturday night, Chris ran a hot bath for me to help with the contractions and horrible back labor that I was having.


9:30 pm rolled around and my contractions were so painful that I was in tears. Chris and my mother in law thought I should head back to the hospital but, I thought I was just a wuss and did not tolerate pain well. I was only 2 cm the last time I went in..and I was in so much pain. I wanted to be sure when I went back to the hospital, I was going to stay!! I was not going back until I was going to be admitted.


Around 11pm, I got up to use the restroom and seen lots of blood. That FREAKED me out--so I figured, maybe it is time to go.


11:30pm: We arrived at the hospital. The nurse checked me and said "Oh no, you're 8 and a half cm--you're not going anywhere". Hooray! I was in shock. Excitement and nervousness set in. I was going to be a mommy to a babygirl soon! The nurse began putting an IV in my hand and asked if I'd like any pain medicine..Epidural or something to "knock the edge off". I declined at the moment and said we could play it by ear.


I progressed from 8 and a half cm to 10 cm in the next hour and around 12:30 a.m. I felt the urge to push. Everything progressed so quickly that I did not get any pain medicine. My doctor was not at the hospital yet, so "no pushing" was allowed. My body was naturally pushing--it is definitely difficult to try to hold a push when your body does it naturally. Doctor made it around 1 a.m. and after 45 mins of pushing at 1:45 a.m. on June 26th, my baby girl was born (ON HER DUE DATE--Doctor still made it to the wedding he had planned. haha!) Chris got to cut the cord and even got a little teary eyed. Madison Kay-Jean Monchamp weighed 7lbs 5 oz and was 20.5 inches long. She has a head full of black hair and is a spitting image of her daddy--she is beautiful. She does have mommy's long legs though. ;)

Here she is (just a few minutes old):

 

A special side story: My mom was here in Washington for 2 weeks prior to Madison's birth. She had to head back to California to take a test for a job. She was upset and stressed thinking she would not make it back to Washington before the birth of her granddaughter. She and my dad both made it right at 11:30pm when I was being admitted to the hospital. My mom later learned she did EXCELLENT on her test and was offered the job at the post office. My parents made it with 2 hours to spare, my mom passed the test and received the job offer--this could not have been planned by me or her--I have the big man upstairs to thank for that. God had this plan all along. I am so grateful for his plan. :)


The birth of my daughter was so surreal and has definitely left an imprint on my heart--the best day of my life. I am a mommy.. Wow! Loving every minute of it.. Here is to our future Maddi Kay! Mommy loves you sooo much.