The realization that all this is true

I've had a rough night. Emotional.

I am ready for Maddy to be home. I am confused about my sudden influx of exhaustion and anxiety. I thought I had a pretty good grasp on all of this. I thought I was coping well. Then tonight, one little tiny thing set me off on a weeping fest. I felt like my chest would burst at any moment. I am praying, nay, grasping for peace and patience. I'm trying to plan out the next part of this adventure. Trying to figure out how to be all the things I need to be for all of the people who need me. I just don't know how i am going to do it.

I think about Maddy constantly. Everything points back to her. I can be laughing one minute, or sleeping even, and suddenly she is there....so completely filling up my heart that I feel short of breath...as though she was infinite in size and not just 4 pounds. I take Benadryl to sleep because I miss her so much at night that I just lay there, staring at the ceiling (or watching the Office), wondering when I will get to bond with her, be her mommy, spend more than a couple of hours with her.

Chris is exhausted. He has worked until 10 every night this week. He is dealing with this all in his own way. We are both sort of walking in slow motion, barely cognizant of all the things occuring around us.

I find that I cling to my Jesus so tightly right now. It isn't even a conscious effort. I grabbed onto him last monday night and just havent really let go. every thought of Maddy is a prayer. Every little tear and every smile is filled with the knowledge that He loves us and is in control.

I am trying. I really am. Doing as best as I can to "take care of myself" and "heal." It isn't easy. But I am worn out of it all. I want to feel normal again. i want to be able to walk for 10 minutes and not feel like I had just sprinted across the country. I want to see a sappy commercial and not cry. I want to be able to tell someone about Maddy for the first time and not hear that familiar crack in my voice. I want to know how to get everything done that has to be done and still learn to be a mom...and bond with my baby.

I am going to end this sad little entry with a song I sing to Maddy. It is by one of my fave Christian folk singers, JJ Heller. It is the song that I sang to her when she was still forming inside of me...and I will sing it for her all her life.

"Quiet your heart, it's just a dream. Go back to sleep.
I'll be right here, I'll stay awake, as long as you need me
to slay all the dragons and keep out the monsters.
I'm watching over you.

My love is a light driving away all of your fears.
So, don't be afraid, remember I made a promise to keep you safe.

You'll have your own battles to fight when you are older.
You'll find yourself frozen inside, but always remember-
When you feel alone, facing the giants, and you don't know what to do:

My love is a light driving away all of your fears.
So, don't be afraid, remember I made a promise to keep you safe."

And....I am crying. Sheesh. It is all for love.

Happy one week Bday to Maddy

In 20 minutes it will be exactly one week since Maddy came into the world. I am humbled to think of it all. I don't really comprehend all that has happened yet. I am not sure how it has already been one week. I went back on FB and read my mom's wall from the 48 hours of craziness from the beginning of last week and cried. So many people praying for us, and offering comfort and encouragement. I needed it. I tell you what...I needed the prayers. Chris sat down and read information about HELLP syndrome to me last night and both of us became emotional. I think it will be a while before we can even talk about it normally.

Chris and I are both pretty amazed at parenthood right now. We have come by the experience a little differently than a lot of people. We aren't actually "parenting" yet, but we are definitely parents. She is always on our minds. Chris had a few pictures printed for us to look at while at home or in the car. Last night we were laying on the couch with our heads smushed together looking at them for the 15th time. I was surprised at the physical reaction that her little picture can envoke in me. Every nerve ending in my body tingles and my heart lurches and my skin gets goose bumps and my eyes water. All at once. And i can barely stand to look at the pictures of her on the day they took off her Cpap for us to take pictures...the ones where her face is splotchy and red. It hurts to look at those pictures...hurts in some strange hidden place inside of me that i can't really name.

I look at her now, though, and she is like a different baby. So quickly she has improved!

Chris and I spent 3 hours with her yesterday. When we arrived she was without a feeding tube and Chris saw two empty bottles in the trash....so, we deduced that she is now being bottle fed (i know...sherlock and watson here.) The nurse came in to see us and she was actually the nurse who took care of Maddy seconds after she was born. I didn't remember this, but Chris recognized her right away.

Maddy actually took a bottle while Chris and I were there. It was demonstration time this go around and I watched her eat like a tiny little piglet. She even burped twice when her back was rubbed. Big burps that were like a chirping bird. She then cuddled on my chest for 45 minutes....I had to pee so badly almost the whole time. but I couldn't stand to give her back. Finally, when a moment of weakness almost caused an accident, I let Chris have her and ran to the restroom.

She curled up comfortably on his chest and resumed her nap. The whole two hours we held her she was unplugged from every wire except for her IV (which may come out today) and her little monitor leads. Even her nasal canula were unhooked for those two hours...meaning she was doing all her breathing completely unassisted. and her numbers stayed perfect. THE WHOLE TIME! Another little miracle.

The nurse was going to remove the canula last night, after the doc examined Maddy once more. they wanted to watch her numbers another 6 hours before removing it because it was a lot of taping on her face that needed to be removed and they didn't want to repeat it all.

We are heading that way here soon and I will have another update. Chris and I have not been told an estimated time of release for her....and we are trying to still focus on 2 more weeks...but it is very hard not to get a little excited. We went on a minor shopping trip yesterday. We were so unprepared for her early arrival, we needed things like diapers and a diaper bag...the 15 minutes I hobbled at snail's speed through Target took almost a day's worth of energy and I suffered later last night. But it was worth it to get some of that stuff that we needed.

So, we will have another update for you soon. love you all!

Our little Easter Bunny

Chris has been saying this whole week that Maddy is an Easter miracle. She is. I am constantly amazed at the determination of that little 5 day old cutie pie.

I haven't updated since Friday morning...so the last you know is that we changed a diaper and she took her vent out.

Friday afternoon we got to spend a lot of time with her. I was getting around a lot better and we made a few trips into just sit with her. I am having a lot of success pumping and she has only had to be supplemented with formula one time at the very beginning. I feel profoundly proud that I am at least getting that one part right!

Friday night was a rough night. My BP was way up and then all the storms blew through. We thought they would miss us...but we watched the weather and out of our window as the weather grew worse and worse. With that, my anxiety level rose. My baby was hooked up to a ton of wires and much needed oxygen and positioned not even 3 feet from two windows. I sat in the bed trying to remain calm...my pulse getting faster...when someone across the hall sneezed and I screamed a curse word while simultaneously bawling and laughing hysterically. We had visitors at the time and I was mortified by my outburst. I was strung so tightly that I had completely forgotten my manners. I didnt understand the reaction at all...the incessent crying and crazed laughter.

Once I had calmed down for a few minutes, the tornado sirens went off. We were shuffled into the hall. There i sat, barefeet and all, surrounded by 7 women holding their babies. Keeping them safe. I shook my leg to distract myself and tried not to cry. Chris and his dad left the ward to see if the NICU was open. (they close from 6:30-8:30 AM and PM for shift change and other duties) It wasn't. chris was able to see through a courtyard into her window and she was still all hooked up and in the same spot.

A few minutes later, they let us back into our rooms. I instantly sat on the bed and wept. Not 5 minutes later, I had another terrible reaction when Tammy's cell phone vibrated in her pocket, scaring her so much that she jumped. Her jumping caused me another jolt of uncontrolled panic and I ordered everyone to leave. At that same moment, chris took me by the arm and led me back to the hallway, 15 seconds before the sirens started. I sat there crying. My doctor came by and stood in the middle of all of us new moms and said "If you have a baby in the NICU, they are doing everything they can to move them away from the windows...but if they are hooked to O2, there is only so much we can do." I looked around...I was the only one not holding her baby. I wanted to ask "And are any of those people going to throw their body on top of my baby if they need to? I will if you just let me in there." But I just looked at the floor and prayed for the storm to pass quickly so that I could go lay eyes on her myself.

A few minutes passed and Chris told me to come back to the room. I put on my shoes and ate a bite of food before we headed in to see her. She was moved an extra 1/2 foot from the window, still sleeping soundly. Still, she was okay...totally oblivious to all the anxiety I had just experienced. I went to bed that night very agitated and didn't sleep well. I watched like 4 episodes of Golden Girls and 2 hours of infomercials.

The next day, yesterday, I was scheduled for release. They told me we could stay as late as 9PM but I knew it was time for me to leave. I was in some pain but said no to meds for a couple of hours so that I could be alert...because I knew that this could be the day I would get to hold Maddy. Well, sure enough, Debbie the nurse called and told us to come right away. You have probably seen the pictures on facebook. She unhooked the monkey and laid her on my bare chest...skin to skin. I could feel her every breath and heartbeat. I could hear little puffs of air coming from her tiny mouth. even though she was reattached to all those wires...she was really just attached to me. I couldn't believe how little she weighed. I have held many newborns in my time...nothing has ever felt so weightless, so fragile, as this little girl I was holding. I found that i held my breath everytime she moved. Chris and I kept our eyes on the monitor to check her stats. She fell asleep...right on my chest...and it was a miracle.

Later that day, Debbie called again for Dad to come do Kangaroo Care. KC is skin to skin with baby...and dads get to do it too. So, we headed back. And Chris unbuttoned his shirt and sat down while Debbie unhooked Maddy again and laid her on his chest. She curled up sort of on her side and looked up at him...her little eyes still a little woozy. He would say something and she would search for his face. She looks for him so much more than she does me. I figure she knows my voice much more and his seems familiar enough to be curious. She wet her diaper while he was holding her and pitched a royal fit. Found out later it was 1 teaspoon of urine making her so mad.

We both were sort of on cloud nine...well, not sort of. absolutely floating on air. I cried when we left her because I knew we were being discharged in a few minutes. Debbie hugged me and told me she would see us Tuesday. I cried all the way back to my room. Chris went to get the car and i sat beside the door...crying. I wanted to be home...I wanted Chris to get to sleep in a bed. I wanted to feel carpet on my feet and take a shower in my own bathroom. But I wanted nothing to do with leaving my baby at the hospital. You just don't ever imagine having to do it. I came in on Monday pregnant and now I am not...so I should have a baby in a carrier, right? They wheeled me down to Chris, still crying. I got in the car and took a deep breath. Chris put his hand on my leg and held it there like an knot tying a boat to the dock.

I drifted by last night. looking at her picture every 5 minutes. Chris and i both had our moments of complete emotional distress. Nothing triggered it. It was just like a natural tide...sadness, peace, joy, anguish, love...back to sadness.

I had so much pain last night. Everyone kept telling me to be better at taking my meds...that being home was different that being in a hospital where you bed moves for you and where you walk maybe 10 feet at a time. I sort of thought it was all bull. I did too much and I suffered. I woke Chris up so much last night, crying in pain, barely able to get out of bed to pee. I felt like I had taken 12 giant steps backwards to the first day after surgery. I didn't sleep well. I woke up with adrenaline in my blood...ready to go see Maddy. I didn't feel tired at all. Still hurting, I got myself ready, pulled hair into a ponytail (surprise surprise), threw on some powder, brushed my teeth, packed our pumping bag, and we headed out. Chris and I enjoyed the ride to the hospital. we listened to good music and talked about Easter.

We walked into the NICU and a nurse I'd never seen said "Oh, Maddy's parents. Wait until you see your little girl today."

Well, what a sight it was. She was off of her Cpap machine...off of oxygen...just had a little nasal canula (spelling?) that was keeping pressure on her nose. Her entire face was visible. She was zonked out with a small grin on her face, like she was saying "Yeah...this is better." I stood there looking at my sweet girl and Chris was just goofy grinning all over the place. It was incredible. I instantly felt the adrenaline leave my body. I felt instantly exhausted. All the energy I had seeped right out of me. I realized i was relaxing...seeing her so contented, so self sufficient, it let my body relax.

We both held her again, this time in a little pink onesie we brought for her first Easter picture. it swallowed her up...we havent had a chance to get Preemie stuff yet and the little bit we have been given hadnt been washed. So she wore a big girl onesie today. She was still hooked to a few monitor leads and her canula, but there was no elephant hose coming off of her head. We both got to kiss her face and toes, cradle her and look into her eyes.

I told her about Easter...well, not the whole story. I told her that Easter was a day that represented how much God loves her...the He loves her more than mommy and daddy ever could and that she will one day learn to love him back.

Chris told her about her nursery. He told her it had a lot of pink and she made a mad face...That's my girl!

It was time for her to eat, so she was tube fed and I fell asleep by her bed, pumping. When we left, it somehow felt different. Still a little sadness...still a little anxiety...but also a lot of excitement. We both felt that peace again...the one that soothes all the achy parts.

we called tonight to check on her...still doing great. We will see her again tomorrow and the next day, and the next day...until she gets a little bigger, a little stronger, learns to "suck, swallow, breathe" and then, soon, she will be coming home with us.

She is such a dream come true. I look at this picture of her little face...smiling a little...and i cannot believe she is our daughter. That we made such a feisty and amazing little person. It is the most overwhelming feeling in the world. We are so blessed.

Thank you for your prayers. we still have a way to go....but God is able to do more than what we could ever ask for or imagine....And oh how He loves us!

Friday's update

Well, last night was exciting.

First, at 6PM, I got to change my first diaper with Maddy Paddy. Her tiny hiney was about 2 inches wide...not joking. my hands shook as I took her tiny legs in my hand and lifted that rearend up. she was fine but i kept looking at her to see that i wasnt crushing something. it was a sweet moment. Daddy put the new diaper on and folded it so gently below her little belly.

Second, at around 8:45 PM, i had an allergic reaction to some new Blood Pressure meds...i turned as red as a lobster and started to shake. my bp is still too high...so the meds are necessary...and they have now changed me to a different medication.

We were planning to change another diaper at 10PM and called ahead to see if that was still when they wanted us to come. Well, the nurse told us reluctantly that they had already had to change her diaper. Chris was about to be disappointed when she added, "Your little one took her ventilator tube out. She is no longer on a vent, but on the CPAP (which is SO great!). Come see her." Chris bounded out of his chair. "Thats my monkey!" he yelled! So, because i was still having my reaction, he plopped me into a wheelchair and took me to see her. she looked like a different baby! i could see her face so much better. She had on a pink cap with little swirls coming off the top. she was on her belly and had worked herself into the cutest position. Left arm up over her head, right arm straight out to the side, and she was passed out. she was breathing with very little assistance from the CPAP...it just applies pressure to keep her lungs pulling in enough oxygen.

the new nurse said she came in that night, thinking it was going to be a quiet evening...poured herself a cup of coffee and heard crying. she looked up and it was Maddy! Crying! Chris looked at her and said "I know she made your job a little difficult...and i am sorry...but i am so proud of her!" the nurse laughed and said "no way! its a great thing. she wanted the tube out and she took it out."

You would have thought that Maddy had just won the nobel peace prize. Chris and I floated around the rest of the night. I felt awful and shook until my back spasmed...but i couldn't take the smile off of my face. All night long i thought of her. and for the first time...i slept!

This morning was even better. I had some anxiety that she might deteriorate over night. well, i pumped and we took her food- i was walking (felt like running) and checked out my slowly flattening belly in the window...for the first time i really felt like i could jump or scream or cry or all of it. it is just almost too much joy to stand.

So, we get to the NICU this morning and she is on her back. We are washing our hands and she started crying because the tiny pacifier had fallen out of her mouth. I just stopped and turned around. I stared at her...hearing her make a noise for the first time since the minute she was delivered. Her jaw shook and her toes spread and we just beamed. The nurse put the paci back in her mouth and I was sad to not hear that noise anymore. She kicked both feet up in the air, crossed her legs, put her hand up by her face (like in every ultrasound) and fell asleep. Chris and I spent about 30 minutes touching her and wrapping our hands around her tiny body. We watched her chest expand and knew she was getting stronger each moment. We told her it was Good Friday and that she was an Easter miracle.

She loves to have her feet touched....like hers mama! of course, i cannot stand to not touch those tiny little toes. And now that i have been writing this, I am ready to go see her again. so we will have another update soon.

love to you all from us three!

Madelyn Eve Austin

The following was typed into my cell phone between the hours of 3 am and 5 am Thursday morning.- please forgive spelling and grammar.

I want you all to know the story of little Madelyn Eve Austin. It is a bit long at this point, as we have a lot for you to catch up on.

I am going to be very honest...although not graphic...with you. I had a plan. It didn’t include a c-section or a 4-lb baby whose head is smaller than my own palm. It didn’t include medicine at all. My pan was to have Maddy between her due date and 42 weeks. I planned to go into labor and for Chris to be the incredible coach he was on his way to being. In fact, I had been caught saying to maddy “you can’t come out any earlier than May 23rd because Mama has to get the May June issue of hall county magazine to the printer and have most of July august finished so Mama can focus on you after you are born.” It all seems a bit indulgent and childish now and those expectations have probably made this experience a little harder to deal with. However, it does remind me why God is in charge and I am not. So we have to revise the plan somehow. So I can heal from the story you are about to read. So I can live between a hospital NICU and my house for the next couple of weeks. So I can get a magazine to press..so that when my baby does come home finally, I can finally bond with her. That is the new goal. This time I am leaving room for God’s adjustments where necessary.

So here is our story:
I had the sweetest little pregnancy. I wasn’t too sick in the beginning, my midwife appointments went smoothly, my vitals were good...I was surrounded by love and so was maddy- right from the start! You may remember that I really popped out around 26 weeks. Suddenly people wanted to know if I was “Due any moment” or “possibly having twins.” (Just some friendly advice- just because these thoughts enter your mind...they may not be helpful to an expectant mom who is already nervous about all things.) The reason I popped out was that God was making me a long skinny little baby who only had one direction to grow in my short torso- straight out.

Around the beginning of March, people very close to me started to really notice I was swelling up...especially around the feet and ankles. Some of which was to be expected. At first, my midwives weren’t very concerned because my blood pressure still looked fine.
Chris and started to take childbirth classes with Teresa Howard, who is A Labor of Love doula. Teresa helped to shape a new part of who I am. She has loved on me and Chris for about 4 weeks now and I have already grown to be a bit of a better person just in knowing her. She taught me so many things about myself and my relationship with Chris. She showed us how to find the beautiful and secret places in our marriage. So sweet are these places that it makes me ache a little to think of them. They are the connecting threads of a marriage that remind me that God intends marriage for a very special purpose...and He brought me and Chris together for reasons that are uniquely ours. Yes, a birthing class helped teach me this...it is amazing what you can learn when you open your eyes and ears to new things.

Well...the week of the Hooked UP event at Chestnut Mtn... things changed. I went non-stop from work at 8:30 am to almost 10pm those nights on feet that were so swollen, my shoes would be stuck. I didn’t sleep well that week...my face puffed up in places that only people closest to me could notice. I couldn’t bend my toes or ankles, couldn’t wear but one pair of flip-flops, couldn’t sit on the floor. I had a baby shower that Saturday- one I look back on in shock. I was terribly swollen and the following Monday, I found out why.

Monday, March 30- my midwife did a few routine checks on Maddy and said she was doing beautifully. I, however, was not. My blood pressure was around 150/99 when it needed to be its normal range of 130/78. She saw my feet and rolled my jeans up to reveal my swollen legs that had “pitted edema.” She pressed four firm fingers into the flesh below my knee and there remained 4 finger marks when she moved her hand. She put me on partial bed rest until my labs came back. I was told:
1- Work until 1pm each day and then work from bed.
2- Eat lots of protein because I was spilling lots of protein into my urine (an indication that my organs weren’t filtering correctly.)
3- Lay on my left side only when home.
4- Take blood pressure and keep an eye on it.

So we headed out. Scared. I was told to take the rest of that Monday off. So, Chris and I took that day to get adjusted to what I thought would be merely a week of inconvenience. I worked Tuesday until 1PM. When I got home and checked my blood pressure, it was 176/116. I called the doctor’s office immediately and was put on complete bed rest, 250 mg Methyldopa (spelling?) for blood pressure. Chris’ mom, Tammy, came down from Charlotte to help me. I set up a workstation downstairs. Computer and files by the couch, printer and fax nearby...after all, I had important work to do.

Come Saturday and Sunday, my BP was doing better- not great. I had a tough time with bed rest. I will admit that I tried to do too much. Chris and Tammy had to practically sit on my at times. But, in the end, I paid a pretty big price for my stubbornness.

Monday, April 6th- Chris and I went in for an ultrasound- which Maddy passed with flying colors. When we met with the midwife- my blood pressure was up, even though my feet and ankles looked better. But, my urine protein levels were up at 5+ (the week before they were 4+) and my platelets had been borderline. So, Chris and I were sent 1 mile down the road to North Fulton Regional Hospital for a 24 urine test and some more extensive blood work. Monday afternoon, I was admitted into Labor and Delivery and met a wonderful group of women that I have grown to love dearly. The first was Linda, the charge nurse- who made the best ice packs for my neck and made me laugh despite myself. The second was Katie, who was just IN CHARGE. She was there for me the first night...the night I became so sick.
Around 5PM Monday, I started to deteriorate. I have had to get help from Chris and his mom to remember some of this part. I only realized when I started going detail by detail, how serious this all really got.

All day, we had been told that I would have the results of all my tests back on Tuesday evening. So far, though, things didn’t look so great. I was put on IV meds for my blood pressure and started on Magnesium to avoid seizures due to the high pressure. The magnesium was wretched. My body felt like it was on fire. I ached like I had the flu and could never get comfortable. Maddy was mad as a hornet inside of me and kicked and kicked (what a strong and feisty baby- the nurses said) until I thought I was bruised. As the night progressed, I developed severe abdominal pain on my right side. Excruciating pain. I would liken it to hellacious indigestion that doesn’t relent, doesn’t lessen, no matter what meds you get, no matter what you do. I had headaches and began to sweat, all while knowing my BP was still too high. At the time, we didn’t know this, though it had been mentioned quietly, I was not only pre-eclamptic, but quite possibly developing HELLP syndrome.

A note on HELLP syndrome: What is HELLP Syndrome?
HELLP is the medical term for one of the most serious complications of pre-eclampsia, in which there is a combined liver and blood clotting disorder.
H stands for Haemolysis (rupture of the red blood cells);
EL stands for Elevated Liver enzymes in the blood (reflecting liver damage);
LP stands for Low blood levels of Platelets (specialised cells which are vital for normal clotting).
HELLP is as dangerous as eclampsia (convulsions) and probably more common, although it is less easy to diagnose.
Some specialists believe that HELLP may be on the increase for reasons which are not known.
What are the signs and symptoms?
HELLP syndrome may be preceded by clear signs of pre-eclampsia - most typically high blood pressure, protein in the urine and swelling of hands, feet or face. But, like eclampsia, it can also arise out of the blue without any of the classic warning signs. The typical presenting symptom is pain just below the ribs ('epigastric pain'), sometimes accompanied by vomiting and headaches. This pain is sometimes confused with the discomfort of heartburn, a very common problem during pregnancy. But, unlike heartburn, the pain of HELLP syndrome is not burning, does not spread upwards towards the throat and is not relieved by antacid. The pain is often very severe and is associated with tenderness over the liver.
We didn’t really know all the details...we just knew we could possibly have a baby this week. So, I sent Chris home...he was not a happy camper...to sleep and go to work because I truly thought I was going to be better and we would have more time. I was apparently living in a dream world. His mom and I experienced on horrific night together. I was checked on constantly. Tammy was either fanning me or fetching me things since I wasn’t allowed out of bed and nurses came and went frequently. At 5 AM they drew new blood and Tammy decided to call my parents in just in case. We called chris at 5:30 and called in to work to say he wouldn’t be there and headed back to the hospital. Word came to me and at 6:30 Chris received the text message from me that read : they are delivering me by c section at 8 this morning. He walked in 6:40 and at 7:30 I was begging the nurses and doctors to let me wait to see my parents. I received an epidural. The one thing I wanted the least was the one thing I couldn’t live without. Chris held me as I listened to David Crowder sing “You Never Let Go.” I remembver that I got through the whole song before the epidural was done... “Oh my soul, overflows. Oh what love! OH what love!”- the words that carried me through. My doctor postponed the section until 8:30 and I got to see and love on my parents just before they took me back.

For the previous 24 hours, Chris and I had been told all of the risks of having a 33 week old baby. Lung and heart issues...weeks on a ventilator, etc. We were told she probably wouldn’t cry right when she came out. Well, laying on that table, I was trying to be so brave and composed until I heard the loudest scream reach out to me from the other side of the curtain. I wept as my tiny little girl screamed for me: “Mama, I am okay. I am so strong. I was ready to meet you.” The surgeons tended to me while Chris watched the neo natal specialist tend to Maddy. He snapped her first picture and brought it over to show me. They brought her around and Chris and I kissed her little cap.

The whole family was able to see me after recovery. Just a few at a time. My sister fed me chicken broth and my brother came in from a snowy and fast-paced drive home from a camping trip. All Maddy’s closest family was able to be near us in some way. I was loved on and loved on. Chris got to see Maddy in the NICU and took family back one by one to see her. That night, Chris and I met Carol- the nurse who will always have a special place in my heart. She became a stronghold for both of us. She even watched a few minutes of Idol with me while Chris ran out to get a drink.

Still sick Tuesday night, I needed help sleeping. I was still on the epidural for pain and the magnesium for seizures. Chris checked on Maddy before bedtime. She had been breathing with only a little CPAP machine for a while that day, but had needed to be placed on a ventilator to give her lungs a break. He told me she was beautiful and showed me the pictures that you have all seen on facebook. I never thought I would see my baby’s first pictures the same way all of my friends would- on a computer screen.

Wednesday morning, I said goodbye to Carol and moved to a post-partum room. I was able to start to provide about 3cc’s of colostrum for Maddy- which helped me to feel I had really become a mom and wasn’t just recovering from surgery. I began to get agitated and emotional around 11. I wanted my meds off and to see my baby. I finally came off the magnesium, epidural, and some other wires around 3. I shook occasionally from pain and adrenaline. I cried uncontrollably and my left leg was very slow to regain mobility and I stumbled twice trying to get into the wheelchair. But I got in and Chris wheeled me down the hall to see Maddy for the first time.

The NICU is a peaceful place. It smells like caramel coffee creamer and there is a sense of peace and anticipation...as though something miraculous is always happening. We wheeled up to the tiniest little baby in an open bed. She was under bilirubin lights because she had become a bit jaundiced. They turned of the bili light and took off the little goggles on her eyes. I was in a wheelchair so I could only see her from her feet up. They were tiny, papery, and purple. She squirmed. She had tubes all over. Her legs looked like they were made of parchment paper. She is so sensitive to everything that I could only apply light constant pressure to her skin. I pressed my thumb into her foot a little and she pushed back. I whispered so as not to set off her alarms. And I cried. All the emotions you expect to feel the first time you see your baby...love, awe, passion...I felt them. But I also felt crushing guilt and fear. She wasn’t supposed to be out yet. She wasn’t meant to be hooked up to tubes and laying topless on a table. She was still supposed to be beneath my heart. Yet, there she was. Less than 4 pounds, only 30 hours old. I prayed for her lungs to grow strong. I prayed for her to please still love me even though I got her here too early and couldn’t hold her or kiss her.

I got to see her once more yesterday. I started to feel and look like Eryn again at 4 or so...after I took a sponge bath and had my hair washed. I hugged and kissed my sweet husband and spent time with my family. And I started to walk! My left leg decided to join the party.

At 9 last night, I pumped and walked my baby’s food down to her...slowly...tearfully...clinging to Chris for support. She seemed smaller. I stood beside her and looked in her face for the first time. She had on little soft goggles to protect her eyes from the bili lights. I cried more and then composed myself and washed up really well. Then I walked up and put one hand on her feet and the other hand on her head. I applied the tiniest bit of pressure to both ends. In the span of my two hands, I held my Maddy. I looked at the tiny shell of her ear...the fuzzy head of hair that we still think could be a little red. I looked at her sinewy arms, long fingers, her long legs...her tiny chest and that belly working so hard to bring in air. I told her things. That I loved her more than she would ever know. That God had made her just for me and Daddy. That there would never be another Maddy Austin. That she was so strong. That we would keep her safe. That she was the story God wanted me to write the most.

She began to squirm and I could feel she wanted to cry, though the tubes kept any sound from escaping. I grew upset that I couldn’t do anything...so chris collected me and we slowly came back to our room where I was given the meds that I had put off to go see her. Chris and I sat and talked about when we were dating...we listened to songs we had loved back then. We laughed. I got to look at my husband and see a totally new man. As if he could get any better, he is forever changed. And sitting with him last night, I realized that this wasn’t either of our plans. We couldn’t have forseen or changed it...we don’t know why it happened. But we are special family with a special and unique story. Chris and I will never be the same after the trials of this week. I will never doubt his courage, faith, or incredible love for me.

It is 5 AM and I am typing this into my phone. Long as this story seems, I beg you to stay tuned. Maddy has only started to tell her story.