Welcome, Baby Maggie!

Margaret (Maggie) Grace Donoghue was born on Monday December 3 at 10:50 PM!  She was 7 lb - 2 oz and 19.5 inches, and was born with a full head of hair!

I went into triage on Monday afternoon to get checked out because I thought I might have leaked water that morning.  I was pretty sure it was a waste of time and was anxious to get back to work when the doctor walked in and told me that my water had partially broken and I was going to have a baby that day (2 weeks early)!

Such a mix of emotions, mostly fear and excitement!  Jamie was still at work because I told him the visit was probably no big deal, so he went into panic daddy-to-be mode when I called with the news and rushed home to get our overnight bag and then headed to the hospital.  My mom also drove down in the afternoon to be with me. It was such  comfort to have them in the room during everything.  Jamie's whole family and my Dad were in the waiting room and were able to meet Maggie right after she was born.

I have to say, delivery was not nearly as difficult as I thought it would be.  The worst part was the contractions before the epidural; afterward I felt so much better!  Jamie held my hand and helped me breathe through everything.  When it was time to push, everyone cheered me on and she was born after about 20 minutes of pushing.  All in all it was a short process, a little over 4 hours of true labor.  I couldn't believe how fast everything progressed!

Here's our little darling in the hospital:

Daddy is getting the hang of burping her!

So tired... so happy

Grandma and Grandpa's first grandchild

Grammer and Pops holding grandkid #8

We were relieved to come home last Wednesday afternoon - no more nurses pricking our little girl or waking her up!

First car seat ride!

The first 2 or 3 days home were incredibly difficult for me, and I think Jamie too.  We knew there would be lack of sleep, but we had no idea how intense it would be!  My insane hormones turned me into a blubbering crybaby - wasn't expecting that either!  Thankfully I'm feeling a lot more like myself now.  Trying to feed was the hardest part for me because it took so much time and didn't seem to be going well.

As most of you probably already know, Maggie was expected to be born with clubbed feet.  This is a correctible condition that we'll be working on for the next few years.  On Thursday, Maggie got her first casts to begin correcting her clubbed feet.  I was sobbing in the doctor's office beforehand because I expected it to be a horrible experience for her.  The doctor brought in another couple that was just finishing with the club foot treatment for their daughter to tell us about their experience, and they reassured us that while it is a challenge, it really isn't a big deal in the grand scheme of things.

Maggie was a total trooper through everything, and I don't think the casts have bothered her since!  They were surprisingly light and quick to put on.  What a relief!  We'll probably have 9-12 weeks of casts, with a new cast every week, and then she'll wear special shoes with a brace between them for 24 hours a day.  Not sure how long the 24-hour wear will be required, but she'll have to at least sleep with the braces on until she's four.

On Friday we had to get her hips checked to make sure everything was normal (they are good!), and then we had our first pediatrician appointment.  Maggie was looking really orange to us, and I wasn't sure if she was getting enough to eat from breastfeeding.  The doctor sent us to Beaumont to get some labs done.  She called a couple hours later and it turned out that Maggie's jaundice level was too high and her blood sugar was too low.  So then we had to pack everything up and head back to Beaumont to do light therapy for the jaundice and to work on feeding.  This was a really difficult time for us - we were so worried about her and so sleep deprived that we felt like we were in a twilight zone.  I don't think I stopped crying until the middle of the night - people who saw me in the hallways probably thought I was crazy!  Jamie was so supportive and loving throughout everything, I'm so blessed to have such an amazing husband.

Here's Maggie, a.k.a. Robo-Baby, rocking her cool sunglasses and casts under the blue light.

Thankfully my milk was just coming in, so I was able to pump at the hospital and finally give her the nourishment she needed!  The jaundice treatment worked great and she was completed by early morning the following day.  Her blood sugar level was also back to normal.  We stayed at the hospital until late afternoon for follow-up checks and another visit from our pediatrician.  The whole experience turned out to be a blessing in disguise - I can now feed her by pumping and know that she is getting enough food.  She looks much better and is a happy, active baby!  Every day has gotten easier since Saturday!

Our parents have been a huge help, staying with her so that we can get some sleep, cooking us dinner, buying last-minute stuff that we hadn't bought yet, and just supporting us through this overwhelming and amazing experience.  Thank you!!

That was a pretty long spiel, sorry for that.  Here are some more pictures to reward you for reading everything, or being smart enough to scroll to the bottom!

Baby's first encounter with Spiderman - Jamie insisted that we document this!

"Not sure what to do here, Mom"

Go Blue!

All these doctor visits make me sleepy!

Gas smile