the doctor and a delivery

Yesterday Madelyn had her 9 month check up. I forgot that she was not due for any shots so I was pretty excited when the nurse said that it was a shot free visit. I think I hate the shots more than Madelyn does. She just cries for all of 30 seconds and is over it. Me...I am a nervous wreck all day about it.

We waited in the room for nearly an hour (after a 30 minute wait in the waiting room). The waits are getting harder and harder the older she gets. I thought about what all we do at the house over the span of an hour and a half and realized exactly why they are getting so hard. Nine month old babies do not sit still for long and are not entertained by any one thing for much longer than that.

At first she was fascinated by all the equipment hanging on the wall. That lasted for all of 47 seconds.Then she moved on to making faces and blow noises with her mouth. That lasted about 24 seconds.

Then she moved on to throwing her clothes around. Surprisingly, that lasted about 3 minutes. Probably because she kept throwing her bloomers on the ground and watching me fetch them over and over and over again.

Then more faces and noises.

And bloomer throwing.

After about 25 minutes I pulled out my reserves. First her duck. Then her books. Then a bottle. Then my keys. Then I just stood there letting her pull out my hair (what little is left after the post baby shed...too bad the gorgeous locks I grew while I was pregnant have all started to fall out since I stopped breast feeding).

Then the doctor came in. I was so happy I think I squealed.

The good news...she's doing great.

The apnea monitor stays at least until her next visit at 12 months (really?? our next scheduled visit she will be one year old??) when we will see if she has outgrown the reflux and has continued to do so well.

She weighed in at 17 pounds 12 ounces (31%) and measured 27 inches long (or short as the doctor said) (also 31%).

After her appointment, we made a special delivery.

Remember when my sister and I got the crazy idea to set up shop at a craft fair?? (If not click here to take a look.) And how out of that "The Madelyn Project" was born? (Click "The Madelyn Project" to read more.) And then how so many of you showed up and bought bows and put one in the jar?? 156 to be exact? (If not click here to see.)

Well, one day shy of exactly two months later, it was time to deliver.

I wanted to get them there sooner, but I also wanted to find a way to not just make bows. I wanted to make some flowers like the one that the nurse put on Madelyn's cap (click here to see my blog post from that day). When we made our delivery in December, it was just bows. This time I really wanted to do bows and flowers.

I finally found some that I could layer, hold together with a cute brad in the middle and hot glue to alligator clips. I love how they turned out.

I even tried a few of them on Madelyn's cap from the NICU just to see how they would look.

So with a jar full of bows...

and a hefty pile of flowers, we were ready to make our delivery.

We made plans to go a few different times throughout the week but for some reason or another it did not work out. Then one night I was talking via email with an old coworker and we discovered that her precious daughter, Samantha, was given one of the bows that I made during her stay in the NICU. It blessed my heart so much to see this picture.

There are several people who read this blog (or at least who I think read the blog) that made a point to come out to the craft fair or place an order to support this simple effort in Madelyn's name to bring a smile and a sense of normalcy to families who find themselves in the NICU. Your acts of kindness have blessed so many...especially this proud mommy.

After yesterday's delivery, 156 more families will be blessed. To some, they may not notice. To others like our family, it may be the bright spot in their day.

The neatest thing about our visit, they had used their last bow that morning.

Madelyn was in such a playful mood while we were there.

She loved seeing nurse Erica and all the other nurses that were at the front when we dropped them off.

We still have more to make. I have sold 30 bows here and there since then so I have at least 3o more to make from my "buy a bow, give a bow" promise (which is something I will still do-for every bow bought, one is donated). Even if I don't sell one more bow, making bows and flowers for the NICU will be something that we will continue to do.

I felt big huge crocodile tears well up in my eyes when I witnessed this moment.

Madelyn was riding on her Daddy's shoulders, grinning and babbling the whole way, out the front doors of the very same hospital that she arrived at in an ambulance inside an isolette struggling to breath. God is good.