Update on Madison

Just wanted to thank everyone who has emailed me or called. It's been great catching up with everyone! Madison is doing well. Just like her big brother, her bilirubin count got pretty high on day 4 of life. So she spent yesterday and last night on a light table. After taking her back to the dr today, everything looks great and her jaundice is dimenishing.

She is nursing so well. She LOVES to eat. It was great to see that she had gained two ounces from yesterday to today's doctor's visit.

Some of you know that the hospital pediatrician thought that Madison had a heart murmur. We took her to Children's Hospital on Tuesday for an echocardiogram. Turns out that she has a bicuspid chambered valve instead of a tricuspid valve (an aortic valve that only has two leaflets instead of three). Her doctor reassured us that this is common and nothing to worry about. We will still meet with the cardiologist in August to discuss her results. So we are praying that everything will be fine with this issue.

A little bit of gardening

Andy and I decided to try and grow a few veggies on our deck this summer. The plants haven't produced alot of veggies, but we are excited about the ones that have. Hopefully we will have some raised beds next summer.

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Welcome Baby Girl Sproles

On Friday, July 25th at 1:08 p.m., Madison ("Maddie") Emma Sproles was born. I went in for the induction around 7 a.m. My pitocin was started around 9 a.m. When Dr. Shirk checked me around noon, I had not dialated past the 4 cm that I have been for 3-4 weeks. So, he broke my water. I knew the contractions would get intense, but what happened next was not expected. My contractions came on so hard that I dialated from 4 to 9 cm in about 30-40 minutes!!! The main nurse was yelling for the other nurses to get in the room. They were also frantically paging my doctor. He got there just in time.

With Riley, I had time to get an epidural. Not with this one. Yes, I HAD NATURAL CHILDBIRTH!!! Although it was the most painful experience of my life, the results were well worth it. We have a beautiful baby girl that weighs in at 9 lbs and 3 oz!!! She is 21.5 inches long and has beautiful brown hair. Here are a few picts. I will update as time allows.

Induction Set

I went to the OBGYN today. I'm still at 4 cm so the doctor has set my induction for this Friday at 7am-Baptist West. Please say a prayer that all goes well!!!

Hanging Out & Waiting

While still awaiting the arrival of baby girl Sproles, we are trying to find some fun things for Riley to do. A couple of weeks ago, we took Riley to the UT Gardens for Blooms Day Festival. He really enjoyed running around and watching all the people. Riley has also really enjoyed mamaw Harris' company...she is helping out since I'm still on bedrest. He loves to sit and jump on her!

Riley LOVES his GeoTrax train set that he received for his birthday. Our living room is shrinking due to the ever expanding track system!!!

Lastly, one of my high school/college friends, Alice, made a beautiful lap quilt for our baby girl. As soon as I received it, Riley took a great interest in it. He loves the bright colors and softness. I'm not sure how I'm going to convince him that this belongs to his sister...hummmm.

Hospital Trip

On Sunday, I wasn't feeling well...more contractions and other symptoms of pre-term labor. I called my doctor and they told me to come in to the hospital. The baby's heart rate was a little high and they determined I was dehydrated. I don't know how because I drink water all the time. The doctor did an ultrasound and said everything looked fine from that standpoint. She checked me and said I was dialated to 4 cm. So, they admitted me for the night and kept me on an IV drip and monitor. I was released to go home Monday around 11 am. Now, I am just laying around since I'm still on bedrest and waiting for her arrival!