Welcome to the chaos Madeline!

Our sweet little Madeline was born on May 17th. It was a scheduled c-section and it seemed so surreal the day before that we were going to meet our baby in the morning and  it would be under a 20 hour labor unlike the other two! We dropped McKinley and Molly off at my parents' house the night before, because we had to leave our house at 5:00 to get to the hospital and be prepped. It was really nice to have one quiet night before the baby came.

The morning came quick and I wasn't really nervous until I had to walk into the operating room without Robbie. They do all the prep in there without him and then he comes in when the cutting begins. 

I know maybe it sounds pessimistic, which isn't typically like me, but with the way the last two deliveries went I was just sort of waiting for something to go wrong this time. I got a little teary as I walked out of my room toward the OR and had to leave Robbie behind, but I pretty much have the best (and happiest) doctor in the world and when I saw her I felt much more calm.

Robbie came in the room just as they were making the first incision and just a few minutes later I felt the pressure in my stomach release and heard the cry of our beautiful little girl. She grabbed the scissors from one of the doctors after they cut her umbilical cord and all the doctors were laughing and saying "take the scissors from the baby" because she apparently stole them. After they got scissors out of "strong grip" they held her over the curtain and I saw her for the first time. Even right now it brings a little tear to my eye, she was finally here and we were both perfectly fine this time. What a relief and a huge blessing.

She was born at 7:45 am and weighed in right in between her sisters at 8lbs and 2 ounces and 20.5 inches long with dark hair. One of the nurses in the room took this picture of the three of us and I know it's sort of an unconventional photo to love, but it's one of my favorites!

 

We didn't decide on her first name until later that day, it was between two names and we ended up letting the girls vote. Madeline Ann (after her Nana, who she also now shares a birthday with) Loomis is what we decided to call her and her sisters love her like crazy!

We were super horrible at taking pictures in the hospital this time of just the new little one, so this is all we have haha! The hospital stay was my shortest ever, only 4 days...it was so nice to go home that soon and not have people in my room checking me every half hour the whole time I was there and have MRIs and all sorts of other tests! When the time came to go, Robbie was in a hurry (I'm still not sure why :) ), so this is the only picture we got of her ready to come home and face her new reality. So far she is a sweet, beautiful little girl and I am enjoying all of her snuggles. I forgot how warm and cuddly newborns are. :) We love you Madeline...welcome to the chaos!