Tune In...: Introducing Madelyn Olivia!

She's here!! Madelyn Olivia Tune made her grand debut at 4:55am on July 12th at 6 pounds, 13 ounces and 19 1/2 inches long!

On Monday I had a doctor appointment and it turned out I was 3cm dilated and 60% effaced. That night I started feeling some light contractions at around 2am and thought I was going into labor, but after about 4 hours of contractions about 10 minutes apart, they went away completely. I never had Braxton Hicks contractions with Hailey so I was surprised and disappointed when it turned out we would not be meeting our daughter that day.

I spent the next two days walking around as much as possible (indoors, since it was 109 degrees outside!!) and waiting for something to happen. Finally, on Wednesday night, we were watching So You Think You Can Dance and I started feeling contractions. They went from 10 minutes apart to 7 minutes apart in an hour and a half so I decided it was time to go to the hospital. Luckily my mom was here so she stayed with Hailey while Bryan and I headed to the hospital. When we got there and got into the maternity triage, it turned out I had not progressed much since my doctor visit 2 days earlier. They had me walk the hallway for an hour(!!) to try to get things moving. After a long and very boring hour, my contractions had increased in intensity and were 5 minutes apart. I was deemed ready to be admitted and they took me to my room. Things progressed pretty quickly from there and within another 2 hours my contractions were 2 minutes apart and excruciatingly painful! I had asked for an epidural when we arrived but the hospital was slammed with laboring mothers and there was only one anesthesiologist on duty. I was last on the list to get my epidural and I was seriously starting to lose my ~~shit~~ good nature and was thisclose to screaming at Bryan to go get an anesthesia cart and put the epidural in himself when the anesthesiologist FINALLY came! (All you mommas out there who gave birth without an epidural, I bow down to you!!) After the epidural, my water broke and the nurse had me start pushing to get things going. Apparently Madelyn took this to heart because 5 pushes later, the nurse delivered her while the doctor was still putting his booties on! She came out perfectly healthy and we were so thrilled to meet our new baby girl!

Happy birthday Madelyn!

Brand new family of FOUR!

Madelyn's favorite spot...staring at the corduroy on the couch!

Madelyn is now 4 weeks old and I can't believe how fast time is flying!! Becoming a parent the second time around is both easier and harder than the first time. We are so much more RELAXED this time! We know more what to do and how to handle our new baby and are much more confident in ourselves. However, meeting the needs of a demanding newborn and a demanding 3 year old is much trickier than handling one. We are busy, busy, busy all the time (hence the one month delay in posting this blog!) but I am so enjoying getting to know this new little girl and watching Hailey become a big sister. She absolutely ADORES Madelyn and is being the best helper! She loves to bring me diapers, pat Madelyn's back when I'm burping her, and always wants to hold her on the couch and give her kisses. So far we have not seen any jealousy and she has been very understanding and patient when she wants something and I need her to wait because I'm feeding Madelyn. I'm so proud of her and I can't wait to see their relationship develop as they grow!