The day in pictures...

I am not really sure if I could tell you about our day any better way than to just show you in pictures. So here it goes...Madelyn's big day in pictures...Luke and I before we head back to the operating room
Madelyn arrived at 8am on the dot! She weighed 6lbs 11oz and is 19 inches long! Shortly after she was born they determined that she was going to need some extra attention because she was struggling to breath. Before they took her to the nursery, the nurse brought her over to Luke and I to take a look at her!
Mommy's first kiss...Not long after I went to the recovery room, Luke was able to go check on Madelyn. They had a little hood on her and she was on almost 50% oxygen at this point. Although at this point I felt like I would never get to see my baby girl, I was glad that her daddy was able to be there with her.When I arrived this morning, the doctors told me it might be 7 or 8pm before I would be able to get out of bed. Nothing motivates a woman to get out of bed and move around like keeping her baby from her!! I was in there by noon!! Although it was extremely tough to watch her little chest retract and see her hooked up to all those monitors, my heart was so full just to lay eyes on her.Madelyn and her daddy! She is so blessed to have such an awesome man in her life!Checking her out. If you look close, you can see her little chest retracting. This was not something that I could stand to watch for too long. Her little chest was working so hard and going so fast.The nurse took the hood off for a few pictures. Look at that little beauty!Birthday buddies meeting for the first time. Emily was so anxious to meet her cousin!Madelyn eventually had to have her IV put in her head after having one in each arm and then failed attempts to get one started in her legs and feet. The sweet nurses put a little bow on the end of her IV. The long awaited moment for this first time mom...I was about to hold Madelyn for the first time! Just a few minutes before this picture was taken the pediatrician came in to update us on Madelyn's status. I was so nervous when he walked in the door, because we were not sure what he was going to say! He was so impressed with her improvements. She was down to 33% oxygen and continuing to make progress. He told us that he thought it would be OK if we went down to hold her. My heart was bursting. Then, as I sat there taking deep breaths, and trying to listen to what he was saying, I heard something in the background that told me God was trying to make his presence known. I mentioned before that Madelyn loves to listen to Kari Jobe and I have even shared with you about the song Healer in a previous post. Luke had turned the ipod on shuffle earlier in the day and that very moment Healer was the song coming through the speakers. God is so good and faithful.Our first family photo. For now she is resting in the nursery. She has improved so much and is now OFF the oxygen!! Praise the Lord!! Hopefully tomorrow she will be in the room with us...

Until then we are going to rest (in between visits to the nursery of course). I will keep you updated on her progress as we know more, but as of now she is doing GREAT!

We are beyond blessed...
Kathryn