Baby Madeleine FAQ

F.A.Q.

What is her name?

Madeleine Adele Nielsen

How much did she weigh?

7 lbs 9 oz.

When was she born?

Noonish on December 26, 2012

Is she healthy?

Yep! She passed everything with flying colors.

How is Michele doing?

Great! There was no tearing or lasting pain from giving birth. She’s doing way better than she was pregnant. She is happy to report that her coat can now be buttoned, and she can sleep on her stomach again.

How was labor/birth story?

Short and painful.

Birth Story

We got to the hospital and Michele was only in mild pain and had only progressed to 4 cm (When giving birth, the cervix has to dilate to 10 cm. Michele had been having contractions for weeks but only opened up to a 3. So at this point, there had only been a little bit of a change). 10 minutes later she was shaking from pain on the bed, the nurse checked her again and she was a 5. They admitted her at this point and told her to walk to the room down the hall. By the time she got to the room, about 5 minutes later, she was a 7. Contractions were only about 45 seconds apart. Michele asked for epidural but she was shaking too much to get one. Didn’t matter anyway, she was at 10 cm – only 25 minutes after she arrived at the hospital.  

At this point, the nurse told her to practice pushing, but after 20 minutes Michele was exhausted. The contractions were coming too fast and she was in too much pain. She told the nurse that she had enough and pushing on her back like this was not going to get the baby out. She curled up in fetal position and had Matt rub her back. The nurse and Michele argued for the next 2 hours about pushing. Michele was stubborn, and nothing that nurse said or did could get her to push. (The nurse had some pretty interesting tactics.) Finally after demanding for a new doctor or a c-section, the nurse got the doctor, and he checked Michele. Baby’s head was at crowning! He told Michele that he could get the baby out without her help, but she should push. Madeleine was born about 10 minutes later.  

How did Matt do during labor?

He did fine and didn’t freak out at all. 

How is nursing?

Madeleine and Michele both aren’t the biggest fans of it, but they are managing.

Who does she look like?

When people were asking Michele this in the hospital she said, “She looks like the Russian mushrooms in Fantasia.” Matt said, “She looks like a baby.”  

Thanks everyone for all the love and support. We really appreciate it.

If you have more questions, leave them in the comment section, and we will get back to you.