The First Couple Days...

These are some of the pictures from the first few days... us in the hospital and also right after we got home.  There are more that I took on my phone, so these are just the ones from my camera.  Hopefully I will keep up with adding pictures of our little Maclain... I hope you enjoyed these!! :)

Maclain Elizabeth Mundie

On Friday, November 25th our sweet little Maclain Elizabeth was born.  Our day started bright and early, at 4:00 am.  Daniel's parents were here to keep Maddox for us and so we headed to the hospital early that morning.  I was scheduled to be incuded at 6:00.  By the time I got back to a room, got changed and the nurses changed shifts, it was 7:45 until they started the pitocin.  I never had pitocin with my first labor, so I was not sure what to expect.  I was handling the contractions pretty well and by 10:45 or so they were still a little sporadic.  The doctor came in broke my water at about 10:50 and I got my epidural at 11:20.  Things really started taking off from there.  They had a little trouble placing my epidural at first and I am not convinced it was working exactly as it should b/c I could feel just about everything.  I could feel when each contraction was about to start and with each one I had a very strong urge to push.  I called the nurse in around 12:30 to make sure everything was ok and sure enough it was time to push.  I started pushing somewhere between 12:40-12:45 and our little Maclain was born at 12:58pm.  She weighed 5 pounds, 13 ounces and was 19 inches long.  She is perfect and we are so blessed to have her in our lives!  Maclain is such a laid-back, happy baby so far and for that I am thankful!  We love her to pieces and Maddox is starting to warm up to her too! :)  The first couple of days he was not so sure but I think he knows she is here to stay now.

She had her first doctor's appointment today and that went great.  She is back up to her birth weight now so that means she is nursing well!  She had lost 3 ounces in the hospital so I am glad she is back to where she should be.  She is one healthy, happy girl and we can't wait to see her little personality develop.  I think she looks just like Maddox did when he was born.  She has very little hair, but the hair she does have is very blonde.  She definitely has her brother's nose and we think she is cute as a button. 

The nights have gone well so far.  She loves to cuddle so that makes her sleeping anywhere other than on one of us very difficult, but at least she loves to sleep, right?  I am having to wake her up for night feedings right now just to make sure she gets what she needs, but the doctor said I only have to do that for another week or two.  I am hoping she will continue to sleep well. 

Well, that's about all for now.  I will add some pictures from her birthday a little later b/c right now I am going to take advantage of Maddox napping and go take one myself.  Check back later for pictures! :)

A Big Week Ahead...

We have a very BIG, busy, fun-filled week ahead for our growing family and we could not be more thrilled!  Tomorrow is mine and Daniel's anniversary and we will be celebrating 3 years of marriage.  These last 3 years have been such a joy and I am so blessed to be able to call Daniel my husband.  He is so kind and caring, and he works so hard to provide for our family! I am so thankful to be married to him!

On Wednesday, Maddox will be 20 months old!  I know my emotions are crazy right now, but I have found myself thinking so much lately about how much of a blessing it is to be a mom.  I love my job more than anything and am so thankful that Maddox is in our lives!

On Thursday, both of our families will be here and we will be celebrating Thanksgiving.  There are sooooo many things I am thankful for, but I have to put family right there towards the top of the list.  I am so grateful to have such a close family that supports me and is right there with me through everything.  I am also grateful to have married into an equally loving family.  I love my in-laws so much and appreciate how they have accepted me into their family as their own.

And last, but not least, Friday is the BIG DAY where we will be welcoming our baby girl into this world! We can not wait to meet her and to learn her little personality.  I am anxious to know who she will look like and who she will become.  We are ready to share her name with everyone and to know that she is healthy.  We are ready!

Saturday Swinging

Being silly with Daddy

Sweet boy!

Loving the outside!

38 Weeks

Today I am 38 weeks... only 1 more week until we meet our little girl!  I am so incredibly excited and ready to meet her.  I have been trying to picture lately what she might look like, but all I see is Maddox!  I still can't grasp that she will actually be a GIRL (even though we have had 5 ultrasounds!).  We are ready to meet this little bundle and can not believe we are down to only 7 days.  I went for my last appointment yesterday and I have not made any progress since last week.  I have been feeling so much better, though, in the last few days!  I am still having a lot of pain later in the evening when she is most active, but other than that I am doing ok.  Family will start arriving next Wednesday, so we have that to look forward to as well! 

Some friends from church offered to keep Maddox for us tomorrow for Daniel and I to go on a date and enjoy some time just the two of us before she makes her arrival.  I am so excited about tomorrow and geting to hang out with Daniel alone for several hours.  Our anniversary is also next week so tomorrow will double as an anniversary celebration as well. 

The time is ticking!!

38 weeks!

Bein' Real

This last week has been hard!  When I was pregnant with Maddox I never felt this anxiety that I have developed in the last week.  It's not anxiety about the birth or anything like that... I am just getting so uncomfortable and am constantly wondering about Maddox and how he is going to handle everything.  I find myself wanting to take a break from him and have some "me" time, but then I feel guilty about that!  I have never obsessed about our house being super-duper clean and have not worried about having "everything" done until now.  Every night when I go to bed, I am worried about having to call someone in the middle of the night and ask them to come over to sit with Maddox until my family can get here.  I am also worried that I will be out in public when I go into labor and if this time is anything like last, that would be miserable. 

I am a fairly patient person, but this last little stretch is killing me for some reason.  I think already having a child at home has a lot to do with it.  I am not as much worried about myself, but I just want Maddox to be taken care of.  And I know that he will.  We have made great friends here that I would be totally comfortable calling and that I know would treat him as their own.  I think I am just nervous about how it all is going to happen.  Being induced is not something I am super excited about, but I feel like it is the best decision for us given all of our circumstances. 

I go back for my last appointment Thursday and I can't wait to hear what the doctor has to say.  I am ready for family to be here to make me feel more comfortable with everything.  Basically I think I am just ready.  I have things to look forward to each day until she arrives, but it is still hard not knowing when that will be.  I never wanted to be an impatient, complaining, pregnant person, but I feel like that's how I have been in the last week or so. 

So... I am determined now to try and have a good attitude about everything and to remember that I am not in control.  Our sweet little blessing will come when she comes, and there's nothing I can do to change that.  Hopefully I will have more to report soon... :)

37 Weeks and Counting

Tomorrow marks 37 weeks for us... hard to believe!  I will start by sharing my belly picture:

I took this one myself, hence the reason my arms are not showing... looks kinda funny.  Anyway, I went in today for my 37 week appointment.  They did another ultrasound (I am not used to so many ultrasounds) and everything looked really good.  She is weighing approximately 5 lbs., 13 oz. right now so she should be right on track to weigh around what Maddox did when he was born.  I have made some progress since they checked me last.... now 2 cm dilated, 70% effaced, and 0 station (head can't get any lower!).  I only have 1 more appointment... my last one is scheduled for next Thursday and if she has not come on her own yet, I am still planning to be induced on the 25th.  So while all of you avid shoppers are getting your Black Friday deals,you can think of me laboring away in the hospital! :)

I am feeling pretty good for this point in the pregnancy.  I had to take off my wedding rings a couple of days ago b/c they were getting uncomfortable to take on and off.  I am hoping not to gain any more weight with this pregnancy than I did with my first.  I am about 10 pounds shy of where I ended with Maddox so as long as I don't gain 10 pounds in 2 weeks I should be good!  Although I worked right up to the bitter end with Maddox, I guess I have been even more active this time around with keeping up with a 1 year old.  I have good nights and bad nights as far as sleeping goes, although lately I have had more good ones than bad (thank goodness!).  We still have not put her carseat in the car yet, but let's face it... that only takes about 10 minutes so I think we will be ok!  Some days I am feeling really productive and am wanting to get last minute things done, but others I am only wanting to rest.  I may have had a couple of Braxton Hicks contractions the other day, but nothing major to report on the labor front.

Last night I got to looking back at my first few months of blog posts from when Maddox was born and it made me so much more excited about giving birth a 2nd time. Now, I am not crazy enough to think it is not going to be hard this time, too.  But I do think I am going to adjust to life with 2 better than I did with 1.  Going from no babies to 1 was super hard for me, and now I feel like I am in the groove of tending to someone else's needs 24/7.  I truly think Maddox is going to be a great big brother and I can't wait to see what he thinks of his sister once she is actually here. 

My mom is coming in town tomorrow to be here for my church shower this weekend, and then a week and a half later Daniel's family will be here to stay for a while.  I am looking forward to having so much help this time and I am thankful our families are able to spend so much time with us!

Home

This past weekend Maddox and I traveled home for the last time until our sweet girl arrives.  Daniel was planning to go with us, but ended up having to work, so we made the trip by ourselves.  Maddox did great on the way there and slept most of the way home.  I had a baby shower that was thrown by some super sweet ladies from the church I grew up in.  We got some very nice, practical gifts for our baby girl and can't wait until she gets here to enjoy them!  It was a busy, packed weekend and I am so glad I was able to go.  I was not sure at first if my doctor was going to let me travel so close to my due date, but he assured me it was ok and it really helped to take my mind off of the waiting.  We were able to eat out a lot, enjoy time with family, go to a cookout and bonfire, and catch up with friends.  I always enjoy going back home and I know Maddox does too!

19 Months Old

I never got around to doing an 18 month post, so I will tell you what is going on with Maddox at 19 months.  He is the biggest joy and blessing and we love him so much!
-Wearing 18-24 month clothes... although some shirts are 2T
-Has 10 teeth... including 3 molars
-Still in size 5 diaper
-Not a great traveler, unless we use the DVD player
-Only uses paci at nap time now... we weaned him from it at night around 18 months
-Can/will say anything... he repeats everything and remembers things I never dreamed he would be able to remember at this age
-Pretty shy in general, and it takes him a little bit to warm up to new people
-Has to wear extra wide shoes... he does not have very many pairs of shoes for this reason... the ones that come in extra wide are generally pretty expensive and I have to order them
-Transitioned to 1 nap at 18 months old.  I think he would have taken 2 naps for longer, but it just made us getting out and doing things much easier with 1 nap.  He usually naps for around 2-3 hours.
-Sleeps 10-11 hours at night.
-Still likes to be entertained... does not play very well by himself for long periods of time.  He usually wants me right there with him, making it hard for me to get things done other than during his nap time
-Is a very sensitive child... especially if he feels like someone other than me is getting on to him.  He gets so sad and it hurts his feelings pretty badly!
-Is pretty cautious in general.  He checks things out first before he just dives right in to something new. 
-Wants momma for comfort and daddy for rough-housing and lots of fun playtime!
-Repeats things over and over until he feels like you are listening, "I draw, I draw, I draw, I draw...I play, I play, I play, I play..."
-Loves being outside but not super interested in outside toys... mostly wants to play in the dirt with sticks :)
-Obsessed with Baby Einstein "Numbers" DVD right now and he can count to 3 (if we get him started by saying 1)
-Knows most animal sounds and names... really likes owls, bulls and donkeys at the moment.

And finally, Maddox will become a BIG BROTHER this month!  We have talked to him a lot about his baby sister and he really seems to get it more than we expected.  He will point to her things and say, "baby" and will kiss my stomach a lot, too!  We went to a music class at the hospital a couple of weeks ago and this new mom came around the corner with her newborn and he looked at the baby, then at me, and said, "sister?" I think he will do really well as far as being gentle goes.  I am a little worried about him learning to share his mommy but we will get there.  I am excited to see what this month brings! :)