Home Sweet Home

Hi all!

Well, we are happy to say that our family of 3 is finally home. We were released from the hospital Friday afternoon and Pat insisted that we take back roads the entire way home. He said that he wasnt ready to drive 65mph just yet with such precious cargo! With last night being our first night home, we were not really sure what to think. Maddie ate like a trooper all night long! She did sleep in small bunches, but for the most part, it was a sleepless night for Pat and I. In an effort to get some rest, we took turns getting up with her. We make a great team!

This morning we had our first Dr Appt for Maddie. She did lose some weight, which we expected, and now tips the scales at 6lbs 3oz. I am determined to fatten this little one up a bit!! We also found out that she is slightly jaundice. So, this afternoon a home nurse came over with a phototherapy bed that we need to keep her on for the next 2 days. I feel terrible for her as she is in a diaper and strapped to the bed . . . . .she HATES it! The nurse told us that we can only take her off to change her diaper and feed her. Not being able to snuggle with this little peanut and soothe her is really starting to pull at our heartstrings. Pat is laying next to the bed as I write this quick to keep her calm. The plan for tonight will more than likely be a slumber party on the living room floor with her unless for some strange reason she starts to grow a liking to this bed!

All and all, things are going well. This is a minor bump that we will overcome and get past. I am feeling good and becoming quicker on my feet which is a great feeling. We have been snapping pictures of our angel, but have not had the time to upload them just yet. . . .we will as soon as we can. Monday we head back into the Dr to have her blood levels checked again and are hopefully told that we can stop using the phototherapy.

Madeline is excited to meet all of you very soon!

Have a good weekend!

Jamie

Drum Roll Please........................

ITS A GIRL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Today at 2:26pm we welcomed into the world Madeline Elizabeth Froh! She came into the world weighing 6lbs 11oz and 19.5inches. She has a little peach fuzz head and is adorable! Mom was a great trooper. With her water broke and the epidural in she went from 5cm to 10cm in less than 3 hours. She started the pushing and about an hour later out became the beautiful little girl that has her Dad wrapped around her finger already.

Mom and baby are doing great! Thank you all for your thoughts, prayers, and positive wishes. We appreciate all of them. We will keep you posted as the days progress. I will keep the blog updated as much as I can.

We love you all,

Dad

Today Tootsie Should Be Coming!!!!!!!

Well I know there are those of you out there checking the blog frantically looking for an update. Last night was a very long night. I figured that throughout the whole night Jamie and I got about 2.5 hours of sleep. We had the sweet sound of little tigers roaring next door. The neighbor in the room next to us was blessed with twins a couple days ago. It was a great sound that we wanted to hear in our room too. At about 7:00 Jamie had the medicine removed and was given the go ahead to eat and shower. After breakfast was done and she was all cleaned up our OB came in to examine Jamie.

They still had a hard time determining where we stood because the cervix was so far back and the baby's head is so low. But the Doctor found the cervix and they broke Jamie's water. WOOHOOO she was at 3cm. Let the party begin! It is now 11:40am Jamie just had the epidural administered and she is much more comfortable. She was fighting through back to back contractions and was a trooper. She is doing great.

AS I SIT AND WRITE THIS THE NURSE JUST CHECKED HER AGAIN!!!! SHE IS AT 5+CM. Things are moving along great. I will keep everyone posted as much as possible. But today should be the day that Tootsie meets the world!

Love,
Dad

Here We Go Again!!!!!

We are back in the hospital and starting to get this show on the road again. Here is Mom looking very dapper in her great flowing gown. She has been checked out tonight and we are at 1cm yet but the baby's head seems to be very low and in a great position ready for pushing. The nurse put the medicine in and Jamie has already started to feel some contractions. Now we just need those contractions to result in some dialation so the little critter comes out. Jamie will continue with the medication she is on currently until about 5am when she will be examined again and more than likely start with Pitocin.

I have spoke to Tootsie today and explained that we need to make sure that this time Tootsie needs to come out and meet the wonderful woman who has been carrying him/her. I have been tickling Tootsie with some smooches on the belly and it makes her/him go crazy. It even makes Jamie squirm because the baby gets moving and then it tickles her in her belly. I will try to keep this updated as much as possible. Please keep Mom and Tootsie in your thoughts and prayers. Lets hope that we get to meet this little critter shortly.

Until Next Time,
Dad

Induction Day - Take 2!

Morning -

Here we are again on induction day! I am going to do everything I can to stay busy so that my mind can be on other things. I am feeling a variety of different emotions today! I am nervous, anxious, hopeful, excited, determined . . . . .and the list goes on. I keep telling myself that last week was part 1 and now we just need to get through this week (part 2). So, in other words, we are half way to meeting our little one! Pat and I have been having long conversations with little Tootise to inform him/her that this week is it!
We head into the hospital tonight around 6 to start our first round of medication. If all goes well, the contractions with jump start right away and hopefully help me dilate. Both Pat and I are eager to talk to the Dr tonight to see what the game plan is. We wont really know what is in store for us until after I am examined. I was thinking about doing the polka or using a hula hoop all afternoon to keep my hips moving in an effort to move past the 1cm mark!
Pat will have his "daddy-cam" with him at the hospital to take some stunning shots of me during the next few days. We will keep the blog updated as much as we possibly can!

We are so eager for you to meet this precious little baby!!

Stay Tuned. . . .

Love,

Jamie

What a beautiful sound. . . . .

I went to my Dr Appointment this afternoon hoping and praying that everything was going well with baby. . . .and my prayers were answered! I was hooked up to the monitors for a good 30 minutes and heard the most beautiful sound. . . .a healthy heartbeat!!! My Dr was not in the office today, but one of her partners reviewed everything and put my mind at east that everything is going well. She also did a physical exam and let me know that I am still at 1cm, so nothing has changed there.

Pat and I plan to lay low this weekend and relax in preparation for next weeks induction.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Jamie

Well Needed Rest

Good Morning -

We have been home for a few days now and getting the rest that we needed. As soon as we got home Wednesday morning Pat and I both crashed on the couch. We were both exhausted and in need of a few days of nothing but sleep. I can definately tell that I am feeling refreshed and ready for round 2!! I am still contracting, but they are not as severe or frequent as they were in the hospital. Pat and I made a decision to make an appointment this afternoon to get hooked up to the NST montiors. These monitors measure my contractions as well as the baby's heartbeat. We wanted to do this because since we have been home, there has not been as much baby movement as we would like. I am sure that everything is fine, but 30 minutes on these monitors will give me the piece of mind that I want and need over the weekend. I think that is all I know for now. I will update everyone later this afternoon once I am home from my appointment.

Again, thank you for all of your thoughts, prayers, emails, texts, etc. . . . .Pat and I are truly blessed to be surrounded by so much love.

XOXO
Jamie

A New Plan . . . .

Hi everyone -

Thank you all for your calls, texts, and emails eagerly awaiting baby's arrival. Unfortunately, I have to report that Pat and I are back at home right now. It has been a long few days for the both of us, but the Dr has decided to take a break from the induction and start fresh next week. I was started on medication the minute we got to the hospital Monday night and they have been very aggressive with increasing it or changing it over the past 36 hours. The medication did its job by getting my contractions started and appearing every 2 minutes, however, my cervix was unable to dilate. We did talk about continuing the same routine today/tonight, but there were a few reasons against that. 1) It would still take awhile for me to dilate to 10cm and then having to push would be a lot on my body under the lack of sleep I have had. 2) Baby was getting distressed this morning and they didn't want to continue to risk that.

So, what happens next? Well, we are going to spend the next few days resting and getting ready for round 2 of this induction! We are scheduled to go in on Tuesday night at 6 pm to get things started. I am continuing to have contractions (since you cant really turn them off when you leave the hospital - I wish), so there is always a chance that things could happen on their own over the weekend.

It has been an emotional morning as I was ready to meet and bring home this little peanut. Coming home with an empty car seat was tough, but I just need to keep telling myself that we will meet eventually! If I could have 2 things right now they would be 1) a camera to look into my belly to make sure that little stinker is ok, and then 2) a megaphone to tell him/her that we get the picture, "You are the boss!," now quit being so stubborn and get out here!!!!

Again, thank you for all of the well wishes and prayers. We will continue to keep everyone posted on what happens next!

Lots of Love,
Jamie

Baby Update

The latest update we received from the doctors are that the baby is doing great, Mom is doing great, the contractions look good. BUT we haven't got past 1cm since we were admitted into the hospital. In an effort to try to get things moving along now we have started a new medicine to see how things progress with this. As our Doctor says, its like football. You cant keep running the same play over and over. It just doesn't work. So we are going to be on the new medicine which is administered every 3 hours. We started out at 8:00pm and Jamie will get rechecked at 11:00 and we will see where things stand.

We are hoping that we will be able to go into active labor in the early hours or at some point tomorrow. We have been reassured by our Doctor that she has never committed to an induction that she hasn't delivered. So she is bound and determined to do so. We will keep everyone updated as much as possible. Hopefully the next time this blog gets updated we will have a birth announcement on here.

Until Next Time,
Patrick

What a Woman!

I can truly appreciate the woman that my wife has grown to become. She is an amazing fountain of strength and love. As we continue to crawl our way into parenthood I can say with 100% certainty that Jamie will be a fantastic mother. She is already proven to have the never ending stock pile of strength and we are still early in the game of labor. She is so anxious to meet our new baby. I know that in her head she is already thinking that if we have a girl she is going to be putting our daughter in all these poofy dresses. And if we have a son she will be dressing him up to be the most handsome little man in the world.

I have seen my wife in a whole new light through the last 8 months and especially in the last two days. She wants only the best for our child. She has prepared a beautiful home for the baby to grow in. She has been calm and collective the last couple days. She is taking each contraction as it comes knowing that each one gets us closer to the arrival of our bundle of joy. There are really no words that I can put down on this page that can describe the joy and love that I have in my heart by looking into Jamie's eyes. I am truly grateful and humbled by this whole experience. I am proud of Jamie. I love her more today than I did yesterday which makes tomorrow more exciting than ever.

You are my EVERYTHING and my ONLY thing!

I love you,
Patrick

Our First Night at the Hospital

We are all checked in to our suite for the next couple of days. The accommodations are great. The staff is wonderful. Even the food service sounds delicious. I have uploaded a picture of Mom in her very flattering hospital gown. She is doing great! She is so positive and excited for the little peanut. She is going to be a great Mom. Keep checking back as I will try to keep this updated as much as possible.







Until Nex time,

Patrick

Our Last Weekend as 2

What do you to pass the time when you are told you have a great present but you can't have it just yet? Well that is the question that we have been dealing with all weekend long. We have been enjoying it to the fullest extent. We also have been staying busy to keep our mind off the anticipated present we will be receiving in a few days.

We have enjoyed the relaxing weekend we have had, the last weekend of 2. On Friday night we celebrated Jamie's birthday downtown with a nice steak dinner. I knew that we wouldn't have the opportunity to dine at a fancy restaurant anytime soon!

The remainder of the weekend was spent running last minute errands, packing our bags, and relaxing!!

We just cleaned up dinner and got the call from the hospital. 6pm is our check in time tomorrow night! It is hard to believe that we will soon be announcing, "It's a Boy!" or "It's a Girl!"

Keep checking back. I will have my laptop with me so I can continually keep everyone up to date and upload a picture of the new bundle of joy!

We appreciate all the thoughts and prayers.

Until Next Time,
Pat

THE DATE IS SET!!!!!

Today was torture! It felt like we were little kids waiting to start heading to the airport to go to Disney. We were so excited to have our Doctor appointment today to find out when we get to start the party. So our Doctor comes into the room. Says hi. Says well I have a date for you. Jamie was so excited she said, "Well, when is it?". Our Doctor smiles and says well what are you doing MONDAY!!!!!!!!!! Jamie and I both looked at each other and said "MONDAY!". The Doctor then got nervous and said well do you have anything going on that day. We both smiled and said No, I guess we are having a baby! So the plan is to bring us into the hospital on Monday night to start the induction process and then Tuesday hopefully have a baby.

That is right Monday the 16th. Monday 5 days from today! Monday!
So Ladies and Gentlemen, boys and girls, Get Ready!
Because we go in on Monday!
Stay Tuned for the ever anticipated announcement of Boy or Girl!

Until Then,
Patrick

37 Week Dr Appt

**Head shot of baby face up. The bumps are the lips and nose!**


Wow, another weekend has come and gone for us. Where is all of this time going? Pat and I had a very successful weekend! I am a big fan of “to-do” lists, and we were able to check off quite a few things on our list. Pat and I ran a few last minute errands, packed the diaper bag, packed the hospital bag, finished cleaning the house, unpacked some last minute items in the nursery, made some meals to freeze, and managed to flop ourselves on the couch to catch a few shows we missed out on watching last week. It was an eventful weekend, but we had such a good time doing it all. Can you picture Pat hiding in the house testing the baby monitor while I am in the living room watching TV and listening to his whispers? I can already tell that he is going to have a blast playing with all of the baby toys!

Yesterday we had our very last ultrasound at Children’s Hospital! We made sure to tell the tech that we didn’t know the sex of the baby hoping that she wouldn’t slip up at all. She was awesome and did a great job referring to this baby as “kid!” She did make a comment on how active our little one is – hmmm, who does he/she get that from???? We got quite a bit of information on Baby Froh yesterday:

Weight – 6lbs 4oz
Heartbeat – 167bpm
Head – 9.2cm (That is going to be a tight squeeze!!)
Belly – 10.5cm
40th percentile for weight
Twinkie/No Twinkie? – We are unsure; we turned our head when she measured the legs!
Lodged under right rib – a baby butt
Lodged under left rib – baby feet
Head – VERY low and in place

It was fun to see our little one moving all over the place in there!!! Before we know it, that little peanut will be in our arms moving all over the place! My blood specialist told us yesterday that he wants the baby out at 38 weeks. . . ..well folks, that is next week! Tomorrow we have an appointment scheduled with our OB to determine the official induction date! A part of me wants to bump the appointment up earlier in the day because I am so excited . . . . .but I wont!!

Tonight’s activity – installation of the car seat at the Wauwatosa Fire Department! I am sure that we will drive around for a little bit in shock that there is a BABY CAR SEAT in our vehicle! Just one more thing getting us closer to D-Day!
We will be posting our induction information as soon we know it on Wednesday. . . .stay tuned!

Thank you for all of the continuous love and support – we REALLY appreciate it!
XOXO

THANK YOU!!!!!

To all the wonderful people who made the special trip to celebrate Jamie's Baby Shower. For those that were not able to attend but sent their love and well wishes Thank you as well. I was astounded with how much we had to try and fit into our house. I am still trying to figure out where to put all the stuff. I have taken some pictures to give people an idea of what the room looks like and what some of the items look like now that they are put together. Again thank you again to all. A special THANK YOU goes out to all those who had a hand in putting together Jamie's special day!

The SUV Stroller All the Stuffed Animals etc

The Bedding on the crib

The "lil" Lamb Swing

The Baby Bouncer

Belly Shots!!!

And these do not involve a shot glass, salt, and a lime! A few short weeks ago, Pat and I had some maternity shots taken. I was a little hesitant to do it as my belly looks like WW2 from the daily injections, but Sarah (photographer) insisted that she could take care of all of that for us! Boy was she right!!!! Pat and I really had a wonderful time as Sarah and Steve snapped shots left and right. I must admit, when I am having a bad day, I go to their website and take a look at our pictures because they bring such a smile to my face.

Take a look at the pictures:
http://www.spottswoodphotography.com/wordpress/?cat=11

I am looking forward to this couple capturing our little one when he/she is born!