Welcome home, Madison Nicole Welch

Suddenly, all of the cheesy cliche things that people say begin to ring true. "Bundle of joy" "Precious Spirit" and "Our Little Angel" are just a few of the phrases I never thought I would use. We are going to take you through the details of the past few days while they are fresh in our minds:

Monday, July 26th - 9:30 am
After a week of high blood pressure and mind numbing bed rest, we made our way to Brittney's doctor visit. We prepared ourselves to hear our doctor say that Brittney might have to be induced a week or two earlier than her original due date (August 15th). After the doctor had seen Brittney's numbers, he said (in slow motion I believe) "How 'bout we have you come in tomorrow night and we can get things started." Sheer panic. In the 24 hours previous to this news, Brittney had said a dozen or more times, that she wished the baby was coming this week. She obviously didn't mean it, judging by the look on her face. We left the doctor's office in shock, and returned home to begin to make a list of all the things we had to do before the baby came. Danny's family helped set up the crib that he and all his sisters used, and Brittney received a much needed priesthood blessing from Danny's dad, Phil.
11:30 pm
Brittney gets Danny out of bed, and they go out and get a large pizza to celebrate their last night of freedom with a bang.

Tuesday, July 27th
With a list of necessities compiled, and two willing grandmothers-to-be, we gathered anything and everything than anyone could possibly need for a baby. Danny paced through the house at least 49 times, making sure that everything was absolutely perfect for the arrival of his princess. We played cards and wrote thank you notes to help pass the time.
6:00 pm
We went into the stake offices to renew our temple recommends which expire at the end of July. Some of the people there thought it was strange that we chose to worry about temple recommend interviews at a time like this. Whatever, get out of our faces.
Our final stop before the hospital was Danny's parent's house. We had dinner, washed our clothes, and watched parts of Sherlock Holmes to help calm our nervousness, which was becoming more and more palpable by the minute.
8:45 pm
We got into the car, looked at each other, sighed a very big sigh, and said a prayer together before leaving for the hospital. When we arrived the nurses were all very kind and personable. They took us to one of their nicer rooms (Danny made sure to request the absolute best). The nurse had Brittney change, and then prepared to take her blood and place her IV. Danny decided that he was going to be strong and watch all of the upcoming events. Before Danny knew it, the nurse whipped out a needle the size of a pencil and jammed it into his sweet wife's arm. Blood everywhere. Danny was this close to karate chopping the nurse in the back of her head. The next nurse entered and vigorously placed the cervidil in Brittney to soften the cervix. The room had a nice little fold-out couch for Danny, so we laid down to attempt sleep. Danny got a whole 5 hours of sleep in, while Brittney only got an hour of sleep.

Wednesday July 28th, 6:00 am
The nurse who had been monitoring Brittney's blood pressure and the baby's heart rate came in and began taking out the cervidil. Since Brittney didn't sleep very well, she knew what was going on. It took Danny a few minutes to rub his dry contacts into shape and try to swallow the fact that he would welcome his daughter into the world this day. Doctor Harward had told us to expect him around noon to come and break Brittney's water, but at around 7 am he walked in and, in his same slow motion voice, said, "Let's go ahead and break your water, which will be the point of no return." He then broke her water (a surprisingly simple task) and the nurse began Brittney's pitocin.
7:30 am
Brittney's contractions begin. They quickly morph from, "Oh wow, that is a hard contraction." to a "Are you kidding me?" and "Why did I decide to do this again?" type of contraction. We were told beforehand by experienced "birthers" that we should get Brittney the epidural right when she starts the pitocin. Whoops. Brittney finally buckles and decides to ask for her epidural before being told that the anesthesiologist is busy with a c-section happening a few rooms over. The next hour was by far the most stressful of the day. Danny speaking: I believe there are only two types of people that can understand labor pain, women who have given birth, and men who have had to watch their sweet wives go through that pain. I don't care what anybody says, I was right there hurting with her. Fin. We are pretty sure Danny walked a good sized crease into the hospital floor. Brittney's mom, Wendie, was already at the hospital, but Danny decided to call his mom, Julie, and she quickly came.
8:30 am
The anesthesiologist finally enters the room. Danny is tempted to kiss her right on the face because she is the bearer of comfort, but he restrains himself. She prepares quickly and sticks a needle the length of a baby down Brittney's spine. Almost instantly Brittney comes down from her mountain of pain, and she begins to want to cuddle with everybody and everything. She first asks Danny to come and hold her hand, then she asks for her mother to come and hug her. Then she makes eye contact with Danny again and makes him come give her a big hug. I'm not sure but I think I heard her ask to hug the lady who came in to change our garbage bags. Needless to say, she calmed right down. This-in turn- calmed Danny right down. So much, in fact, that he laid down and decided to take a nap. (He wasn't being negligent, we were told to expect many many hours in labor.)
10:30 am
"Danny, wake up! You better wake up, your wife is dilated to a 10. You are going to have a baby." Danny's mom Julie wakes him up. Oh goodness. After being informed of the amazingly quick progress Brittney has made, the doctor tells the nurse to have her wait for an hour or so, so that the delivery will be a quick one. We begin to, not so patiently, play the waiting game.
Noon
Dr. Harward enters the room and says he wants to see Brittney give a few pushes, just to see how she is doing. On the very first contraction, Brittney pushes with all her might, and Dr. Harward calls Danny over to look at the baby's head. After two contractions, the Doctor has seen enough. He tells the nurses to get Brittney all saddled up, and he has one nurse hold one leg, and Wendie hold the other leg. Dr. Harward stood right in front of Brittney (where else?) and Danny looked over his shoulder. Good thing he's tall. And Julie stood next to Danny.
12:30 pm
Nine pushes. That's all it took. Nine pushes later, Madison Nicole Welch was alive and kickin'. It was incredible to see how dependent she was on her mother for her life, and then, in an instant her entire body kicked into gear and knew exactly how to function all on its own. We will never forget holding her together for the first time. Incredible.
1:00 pm
We finally get a good look at her. We think she may have curly red hair. What the....
6:00 pm
She gets her first bath. Thank heavens, she has light brown (almost blonde) hair. Not that we have anything against red hair, Danny was just beginning to ask questions.
Later
After everyone had gone home and it was just Madi, Mommy, and Daddy. She opened her precious little eyes and look up at us. Brittney and I gave each other the rock (you know, we busted it) and said, "Yeah, we did pretty good. She can stay." After Brittney climbed into bed, Madi gave her Daddy a wink and said, "You did it, Dad." Nice, Madison.

PS For those of you who have read our previous posts, Isaac says that she is a Democrat. Sarah, it looks like she will need to come to your house to be straightened out.

PPS The Welch family blog is not affiliated with, and does not support, any particular party.

Too Much Rest?!

Yesterday I had my 36 week check up with the Doctor. My blood pressure is still generally high and approaching very closely to preeclampsia levels. Doc has me giving blood and "other" samples to test my body and make sure my other organs are working properly. He has me doing a stress test for the baby twice this week (which consists of sitting in a hospital bed for approx two hours with hockey puck monitors strapped to my baby bump) Just to make sure our little girl is still doing well on the inside. Everything turned out fine with the test yesterday, except that dang blood pressure. Baby is very very healthy. Wiggling a healthy amount with a perfect heart rate.... So Doc put me on bed rest (NO!!!) I know bed rest may seem a wonderful idea to many, although after my two hour confinement in that hospital bed I was ready to be moving around again. Only to be told I need to spend the next 3 weeks in bed. It feels as if I am going to turn out like Grandma and Grandpa off Willy Wonka. Never to be out of bed again - and it hasn't even been 24 hours!!

I honestly think I have rested TOO much. My body has woken me up 3 times so far this night and at about 4 am I gave up. Subconscious Brittney is done laying in that bed. Thus - two posts in one night (morning). Not sure when I will feel tired enough to go back to sleep.

I feel like I am having to talk my way through these last few weeks of pregnancy. "I can do anything for 4 weeks", "it's not really THAT much longer", "It will be worth it to have a healthy body and a healthy baby".... I'm running out of self encouraging thoughts. I am accepting all motivating sentences anyone can pass my way. As well as any good novels that can keep me in bed....and a foot massage is needed. Not to mention my poor toes need to be painted. (All of the things I can't seem to do myself ). Danny is in Chicago for the next 4 days and is not here to entertain me - therefore, I am also accepting invitations for most activities that can keep me sane, and keep me in bed.

Can't wait for Baby Welch to come!

Baby Shower!!

Who could be luckier? Baby Welch is coming into such an amazing family and I am so thankful for extended family and friends who have given us so much in preparation of this new baby. Grandma Bonnie flew in from Washington to co-host a baby shower with my Mom. I don't think I know anyone more thoughtful than my Grandma :) Or so generous as my Mamma. Grandma has spent many hours planning and preparing to throw me a fantastic shower. Thank you Grandma and Mom for such a special and memorable day!

This cake was made especially for the shower. We are so proud that Danny is going to be a Daddy.

Amazing food and amazing display!

Danny and I want to thank everyone for their amazing gifts and for celebrating the arrival of our little one with us! I can't wait to post pictures of Baby in all of the cute outfits she got! Spoiled already-- and not even born!! I seriously can't believe they make baby clothes so cute!... and just for the record, I want to wear feety pajamas that says "I love my Daddy". I'm not sure why they stop making those for people over age 3.

I'm not sure if I love the little baby clothes more, or if Danny does.

Left: Brittney 36 weeks. Right: Roxy 32 weeks
Not sure, but it looks like Baby Baldwin has Baby Welch beat - either I have a small baby, or Roxy has a big baby...I'll let you judge, and be sure to thank my baby later :)

I have to make a special thanks to Aunt Melynda - She has given Danny and I so much to prepare for our baby, we would not be near as ready for this little one without her. Not to mention all of the advice and suggestions of baby products. You are the BEST!! Thank you SO much for being wonderful!

Brittney

Emotional Roller Coaster

Last night as Danny and I were making a checklist of everything we needed for the coming of our new bundle of joy - I experienced what all the pregnancy books call the
"roller coaster of emotions"... I wasn't expecting this because my own mother has prepared me so well to one day take on the roll of "Mom". Nonetheless, when the iphone app suggested that newborns can go through up to 10 diapers a day I had a vision of having to change every single one of those diapers. Which led to another vision of me trying to change a diaper at 3 in the morning, which led to another vision of waking up at 12, 3 and 5 am every night for the next few months. As we continued down the list I realized that I have no idea what I'm supposed to need for this baby, when earlier I was thinking that we could have the baby today and be ready with only a car seat, stroller, bassinet and baby clothes.
As the list got longer I had to re-focus my emotions and direct my visions. We are so excited to have a baby. Half Brittney and half Danny. (hopefully my baby girl will resemble me though) We might have to settle into this whole "parent" thing, but I am happy that I get to have my own baby that I don't have to give back. I can't wait for the post-bath baby smell, the cooing and the kisses. I can't wait for Daddy Danny to teach his baby girl all his cool tricks, and for those first words to be "Mamma, I love you".
This morning, after a nice and long uninterrupted night of sleep I am thankful that I have four weeks left to spend with my favorite person in the whole world (Danny). Although, whenever Baby Welch wants to join our little family we will be happy to have her here with us.

Babies, BYU, Battlestar Galactica

Greetings from the deepest trenches of BYU's rabbit-hole apartments!

We've been asked to start a blog by so many different people that we have finally caved in. We see it as the lazy man's journal, so we will try to be diligent...for our posterity. (Although I'm sure in the future the internet will not exist, something far more sophisticated will take its place).

Brittney is nearly 36 weeks pregnant, and she is feeling the heat! It seems there is not enough ice to go around to keep her happy. We had a doctor's appointment this morning, and he cautioned her to take it easy for the next few weeks. She is thrilled that the doctor specifically prohibited doing household chores such as dishes and vacuuming. Other than that, our baby girl looks very healthy, and everything is just as it should be at this point. We are both on a constant roller coaster ride of emotions preparing for this baby. We are usually either filled to the brim with excitement, or terrified at the thought of bringing a baby home. Either way, it's interesting to notice the great amount of love we already feel for our baby girl.

2 weeks ago we had an awesome vacation in Island Park, Idaho. If anyone can explain why it is called Island Park, we would love to hear it. As far as we know, there is only one island. That is like naming Rexburg "the adventure city" even though the only true adventure in Rexburg would be to try and cross campus without receiving a cheesy smile and wave from at least one person. Anyway, we spent the entire week basically lounging around the cabin and enjoying the great company. Bohnanza turned out to be the favorite card game of the week, if you haven't heard of it, look it up. You won't regret it. Yes, we realize that it is a game that has to do with counting beans, and Danny is in the accounting program. Nerd.

We also hauled the Sorber's canoes all the way up from Orem, so we had to take advantage. Two years ago Brittney and I were canoeing down the river, and as we came around the bend there stood a giant moose in the middle of the river. It was the first time we ever yelled at each other. (And of course, the last). Luckily we were able to row to the opposite side of the river, and we weren't trampled to death. The highlight of the trip might have been spending a day in west Yellowstone with Julie, Phil, Meagan, and Spencer. We had great food, and saw a performance of "The Foreigner". At the start of the show, it looked as though it was going to be a disaster, but the star of the show pulled the rest through. Also, we found out Meagan and Spencer are having a little GIRL for ours to play with, and bully on occasion. Our nephew Isaac, who was just baptized by Danny a few months ago, also came along for the ride. He had some pretty memorable quotes, such as: "Much applied" instead of much obliged, "No defense, but" instead of no offense, but, "We're on a mission to save my pants!", and he believes that every delivery room has a judge that is waiting for the baby to come out so he can proclaim, "This baby will be a Democrat!". He is comedic beyond his years.

Enjoy