And we are back online

Sorry that we have been absent for a few days, the cord that charges our laptop fell apart on us and we have been waiting on the replacement which is now here.

The important update, little Miss Madeline Mae :) She is still doing very well! Madeline has some fussy time at night so there have been a few sleepless nights that I think are the result of some gas issues. We have found that Gripewater seems to help so that is already becoming less of an issue. We had another check up yesterday and her Jaundice has improved along with (drumroll please) reaching her birth weight!!! Maddie Mae is back up the 4 lbs 13 oz :) We continue to feel so very blessed by this sweet baby girl and are learning more about her all the time, it is so much fun to see her have more awake time each day and watch her grow. We find ourselves already saying that we cannot believe how fast she is growing and do not want to miss a moment of it!

Jeff and I are also doing well. Jeff's work schedule is such a blessing! He works a split shift every day which means he is not gone more than 4 or 5 hours at a time and is home in the middle of the day. This schedule is not easy and has not always felt like a blessing but for this phase of our lives it is wonderful. My mother was here for the first 2 weeks after Madeline was born and was such a servant! Our home was cleaned from top to bottom, all the laundry was done and she cooked all of our meals during that time. With all of the time initially spent at the hospital this could have been such an overwhelming transition but she made it so easy for me! Our church has brought us one meal and will be bringing us two more this week along with some friends who have brought us food... it looks like next week is when I will be really getting into the new schedule but all of this help has made the transition so much easier than I expected.

Here are some pictures from the last few days:

Today we went to see the Pediatrician...

Today was a couple of firsts. Because Madeline was in the NICU for 9 days today was not her first bath but it was her first bath at home :) As you will see in the pictures below the bath itself was not her favorite thing but she loved getting her hair washed. Next task of the morning was her first appointment with a pediatrician since leaving the hospital. Everything is looking good, she has continued to gain weight since coming home. It was great to hear she was making progress in that area, a huge relief for Mom! The one thing we are having to watch is her jaundice, it had gotten a little worse the day we left the hospital and is a little worse than that today. We are still not in a bad range with it but if it does not show improvement in a week we will have to run extra tests. We continue to be so grateful to God that our little girl is healthy! The pediatrician was checking her chart today and went on and on about how a baby born 6 weeks premature always has more issues than our little Madeline, we appreciate your prayers more than we can say!! Hopefully you are not too tired of seeing her picture because here are a few more for you

My day today started at 4:00 a.m. just like any other work day. Nothing memorable or extraordinary about that. However, I know that today will be a day I remember for the rest of my life. Work this morning was normal, my trip to the coffee shop after work was normal. It wasn't until I got to the hospital for Madeline's 11 a.m. feeding that I knew today would be special. It was special enough that I was getting to feed Madeline a bottle for lunch, just my daughter and me, special indeed! As I was changing Maddie's diaper, her doctor came over and asked me if we wanted to take her home today. Of course we did. I promptly called LeeAnn with the good news and we set about completing all the last minute preparations. By 2 p.m. we were back at the hospital and after watching two movies on CPR and SIDS and receiving a thorough briefing from the nurse we were finally on our way home with Maddie in tow. 9 long days in the NICU that have both flown by and dragged on forever have finally come to a close and we have our little baby at home with us. What a blessing, what a good God we serve. Thank you all for your prayers!

The Latest on Madeline

Today was a big day for our little girl. The first news was that she had gained 28 grams at her weigh in, 30 is an ounce so she came close enough that we will just call it an ounce :) Once the doctor checked on her we received new orders for her care. She has been taken out of the isolette (YAY!!) and is now in a "crib". The quotation marks are there for a reason, once we get a picture of her in it we will post it but I did not have the camera today. This means she is maintaining her own temperature well enough that they do not think she needs assistance anymore, her first temperature check after she was put in the crib was great so we are hopeful that that will continue. We have been doing her care (diaper change, temperature check, feeding) at 5, 8, 11 and 2 a.m and p.m, she is now on ad lib feedings which means we are waiting until she tells us she is hungry to feed her... not as excited about this one because I am now in a really good rhythm with her schedule and do not know what the next couple of days might look like now. I have been doing all but the 11 p.m. and 2 a.m. feedings so I am hoping to still do 6 of her feedings per day... All of this is wonderful news because if it goes as well as everything else has she could be coming home on Saturday, very exciting!!! Please continue to keep us in your prayers: weight gain and maintaining temp are the two big things.

While I was writing this post I was call to the hospital because Madeline woke up to eat so now we have a pic of the "crib" hope you enjoy.

I just had to share this picture.

A Very Tardy Update

Madeline is now on her fourth day of life outside the womb! She is the most fascinating of all God's creations, at least in my completely unbiased opinion. So far all the news we hear from her doctors is good news or at worst normal news for a baby her age. From the very start, Madeline has been breathing on her own without the need for supplemental oxygen. For the first day her breathing rate was a little too high, but it has since slowed down and now all her vitals are right where they should be. She is eating voraciously every three hours and the breast feeding is going very well. To my dismay it is going so well that she is too full for a bottle after she nurses. I'm sure I'll get my fill of late night bottle feedings in the near future though. LeeAnn was discharged from the Hospital Thursday afternoon so she has to go back every three hours to feed Maddie. Obviously, the trek is getting a bit tiresome but we so enjoy getting to spend time with our little girl. Madeline also has a very minor and normal case of jaundice which is being treated with photo therapy, essentially she has her very own tiny tanning bed. We had a very happy moment yesterday when the nurse finally took her off of the IV ( one less cord to trip over). We're still not sure when she gets to come home, one doctor said they never get to come home before 35 weeks gestational age which will be Monday (tomorrow). What we do know is that she has to be able to simultaneously gain weight and maintain her temperature and vital signs before they will let her come home. It's always hard to leave the hospital without her, but we are very thankful that she is doing so well! Thank for your prayers past, present and future. I'm off to buy paint for Madeline's room.

Sleep Eating?

Waking up for Dinner

Wow she does more than sleep!

Look how Tiny

Our football sized daughter.

Mom Holding Madeline for the First Time

Mom Holding Madeline for the First Time

Meet Madeline Mae

We are so pleased to announce the birth of our daughter Madeline Mae! What an incredible 24 hours! What an incredible little person! She arrived on 09/09/09 at 18:00 she weighs 4 pounds 13 ounces and is 17 inches long. LeeAnn was a champ. . . a Ninja actually. We'll leave it at that for now more details to come. Thank you all for your prayers things seem to be going very well. Thank you Jesus.

And We Wait. . .

Wednesday 1:52 PM. The epidural is in and LeeAnn is finally resting comfortably. Obviously, hospitals are terrible places to sleep, so resting is about all she can manage. The contractions seem to have slowed, but they are still happening at regular intervals except now LeeAnn barely notices them (Nice!). It sounds like we are in a holding pattern for a few more hours then the DR. may consider getting things moving with pitocin. I'm really hoping she is born today because I can't wait to meet her but also because 09/09/09 would be a really cool birthdate! And we wait. . .

Post Script 2:09PM. the nurse just checked LeeAnn is at 7 cm, getting close!!

Update

It's 11:07 AM, LeeAnn is 5 cm dilated and still having regular contractions. She has opted for an epidural so she can get some rest as we've both been awake all night. Little Madeline's heart is ticking along perfectly and we both can't wait to meet her. The anesthesiologist is on his way up so LeeAnn should be getting some much needed rest soon.

Totally by Surprise!

We had just finished a delicious dinner that LeeAnn prepared and were sitting on the couch when all of a sudden LeeAnn ran to the bathroom around 7:30 last night. Her water had broken. After consulting with friends and doctors we were told to come to the hospital. And here we are. LeeAnn is about three minutes between contractions and at last check 4 cm. We have been told by the doctors and nurses that today is probably the day. We'll keep you posted as we have time. Also Madeline is going to be arriving 5 weeks early so please pray for her. Thanks.

Recipe 9 Alder Planked Salmon

It has been so long since I have posted a recipe that I could not even remember what number to put on this... I have got to keep up with this a little better.

This is a recipe we tried out when Jeff's parents were here and really enjoyed so we repeated it last night. We were not able to find alder planks when we were looking so we used cedar... since I have not had it on alder I can not give you a preference but I can say that so far it has been very good the way we have made it.

Alder Planked Salmon in Asian Style Marinade

1 (15 x 6 1/2 x 3/8-inch) alder grilling plank
1/2 cup rice vinegar
1/2 cup low-sodium soy sauce
2 tablespoons honey
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 lemon, thinly sliced
1 (3 1/2-pound) salmon fillet
1/4 cup chopped green onions
1 tablespoon sesame seeds, toasted
Preparation
Immerse and soak the plank in water 1 hour; drain.

To prepare grill for indirect grilling, heat one side of the grill to high heat.

Combine vinegar and the next 6 ingredients (vinegar through lemon) in a large zip-top plastic bag; seal. Shake to combine. Add fish; seal. Marinate in refrigerator 30 minutes, turning once.

Place plank on grill rack over high heat; grill 5 minutes or until lightly charred. Carefully turn plank over; move to cool side of grill. Remove fish from marinade; discard marinade. Place fish, skin side down, on charred side of plank. Cover and grill 15 minutes or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork. Sprinkle with onions and sesame seeds.

LeeAnn's Note: When we pull the salmon out of the marinade we take the lemon slices out as well and top the salmon with them while it is grilling. Makes the end product very pretty and, I think, adds a little extra flavor as well.



Today I made sandwiches out of the leftovers and they turned out well enough that I am adding that recipe here:

The spread was equal parts cream cheese to sour cream with diced green onion, a little bit of salt and liberal black pepper. That went on one side of bread, on the other I spread mashed avocado. I shredded the salmon on top of the avocado and added thin slices of cucumber and tomato... even my husband liked it (leftovers are not his thing so I have to get creative for him to eat them). No picture of this one, sorry :)

The Belly

Today we had yet another appointment to check on our little girl. I say "yet another one" because we are going every 2 weeks and it seems like we are there all the time. I only have one more 2 week visit and then they will be weekly... that is how soon we are expecting to meet our little girl :) Today's visit was good, I never tire of getting to hear her heartbeat. I have been a little bit of a nervous mother lately, I just have not felt her move around as much and it makes me a little anxious (been quoting Phil 4:6-7 alot). I brought this up with my doctor today and, fortunately for me, she takes these things seriously. I was hooked up to a monitor for 20 minutes checking her heart rate and movements... when the doctor checked the results I was told that it was a textbook example of how a baby should look (thank you Lord for setting my mind at ease, huge smile on my face). So, I learned today that at this point she is running out of room and just does not have the space to make the big movements she was once making. She is still measuring big, I am almost 34 weeks along but she measures at 35 weeks right now so it looks like she is nice and healthy right now.

By the way, we have decided that her name is Madeline Mae Grissom, she could be Maddie, Maddie Mae or may end up being called Madeline... we'll see once we get to know her a little better.

Here are a few "belly shots" for those of you who have not seen me. I am getting bigger every day!