Another week

She is still looking pretty cute at 2 weeks.

This week...

She realized that eating is good. 

She likes cuddling with Matt while he reads chemistry textbooks out loud to her. 

She has learned crying gets our attention.

She likes to drastically change her sleep schedule. 3 hours here, 8 hours there. 

(We aren't complaining though.) 

She loves music and driving in the car.

She  probably thinks her mom is crazy, because of all the pictures I take of her.

Matt and I are doing great. We have both taken her out on our own and she's still alive. Matt checks in with me through out the day to make sure I haven't killed her. I'm way more relaxed now that she's born. Being pregnant was more stressful, since most of the pregnancy I couldn't poke her to make sure she was doing okay. Matt, on the other hand, worries about her all the time. It's really cute. I love how much he loves her. On another note, I'm fully recovered. I went running on Monday for the first time. I love my post pregnancy body. I feel awesome. :)

Today, my brother, Riley left on his mission to LA. It's pretty crazy that I only have one brother at home, and he might be leaving in April-ish! Anna is also probably leaving on a mission around then. That is pretty crazy that we'll have 4 missionaries out from our families! We are really excited for them even though we are going to miss them a lot. 

1 week

We survived the first 10 days! And we are still completely in love with her. 

A few big milestones this week:

• First shopping trip (Target)
• Gained all her weight back that she lost (Babies usually lose up to 8% of their body weight the first week)
• Learned to sleep in her crib
• Can flip herself like a fish (not flipping over, more like an inch worm. It's cute)
• Grew 2 whole inches!

As far as parenting goes, Matt and I are loving it. She's a really sweet baby and we have had so much fun as our own little family. Our apartment is so cold, so we all bundle up in our bedroom with our space heater. Matt has started calling it the inner sanctum. She loves sleeping on Matt's chest, so we have watched a lot of The Nanny while cuddling. Matt and I can't get over how cute she is. We both take turns saying "Hey, look at her, she is so adorable!" or "Can you believe we get to keep her?" This picture was one of those moments. Matt had been holding her after she ate, and I looked over and started giggling. Matt couldn't figure out what was so funny, so I grabbed the camera and took a picture so he could see. It's one of my favorites. 

We are both kind of sad that on Monday real life starts again. Matt starts school, and I signed up for a 3 credit sewing class that is twice a week. We really love being together. Matt has been so busy since we got married, and this break was really the only time since our honeymoon that we just got to hangout together without a long to-do list hanging over our heads. 

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.

Pregnancy :)

38 weeks people. Baby Offspring is still happily kicking away, which most days is fine with me. (I’m kind of hoping to go into labor tonight though so her birthday would be 12/12/12.)

Today was one of the more pathetic moments of being pregnant. I had just one final to take to graduate. I studied today, wrote out my note card, ate dinner, and was completely set to take my final. Matt had a final that would take just about the same amount of time, so we decided to take our finals at the same time. I got my test and found a spot right by Matt, and sat down.

I didn’t fit in the dumb testing center desk!! So I got back up and took off my coat, and then I could barely squeeze in. During the whole test, I had some issues breathing normally, but I managed to finish just fine. 

So since this whole pregnancy thing is almost done, here are my notes/advice for next time we decide we want a baby.

0. Don’t. (--courtesy of Matt)

1. Every pregnancy is different. Don’t judge the pregnant girl in your class who never stops eating or glare at the lady who loves being pregnant.

2. Babies come at 40 weeks (Not 24, 32, or 36.5 weeks) I’m really not good at this whole waiting thing.

3. Babies make your body hurt in really weird ways. Baby toes in the ribs hurt and feel really weird. Hips popping out of location hurts too.

4. You have to be a lot more comfortable with your body. Weird sounds coming from you? Totally normal. I didn’t even know pelvic bones could make sounds like that.

5. Baby kicks are cute. I think this is the best part about being pregnant. (unless it gets you in the ribs, see #3 – also Matt)

6. Drink lots of water.  Apparently camels can drink 80% of their body weight. I’m just aiming for 3%, like 4-5 lbs.  

7. Nurses can be stupid or really helpful. “Sorry sweetheart, I wish I could do something about your pain, but the only other option other than Tylenol is narcotics.”

8. Say “no” if you don’t want to do anything. I seem to forget this a lot, and then I would feel overwhelmed and Matt would find me in a puddle of overwhelmed-ness. It was sad.

9. If you can eat something, eat it. Don’t worry about how healthy it is. I remember going shopping with a friend in my first trimester. I grabbed for the oreos and she pointed out all the healthier options that I could be eating. I gave her a look and told her that while eating healthy was a good theory, I was just looking for stuff I wouldn’t throw up. I feel the same way now when people pin workout routines on pinterest. Nice in theory, totally a different story when there is a baby in your ribs.

10. It’s okay to cry on the bed and eat lots of mint Milano’s while reading mommy blogs. I love mommy blogs. They are the best.

11. Leave the house once a day.

12. Baths are divine. Though your husband might get mad that there is never hot water and threaten to get his own water heater. (Which is a good idea: “His” and “Hers” -- Matt.)

13. Prenatal vitamins are worth taking even if you throw them up. I’m really bad at remembering the health benefits of these.

14. The last few months I should probably not talk to anyone outside of my family (or in – Matt) in case people think I’m crazier than normal. Matt should have kept track of all the crazy things I’ve said. They are pretty awesome.

15. People feel entitled to give their opinion about your baby, your body, your parenting styles, etc. Figure out what you want beforehand and then tell them to go to a fiery afterlife.

16. Google can answer almost any question and is easier to use at 1:00 A.M. than a 300+ page baby advice book.  (Imagine making money off convincing pregnant ladies they need to do even more. – Matt)

17. 8:00 P.M. is a totally acceptable time to go to bed. And several naps are nice too.

I’m excited for Baby Offspring to come. We are ready as we know how to be with her, and the roads are clear.

Thanksgiving

Things we are grateful for...

1. Having an apartment that can be heated up with our oven alone.
2. Leftovers (Thanks mom)
3. Teddy bears to model baby clothes in

4. Kit-Kat bars and chocolate cake (Both of us love eating those)
5. That NSF GRFP is finished
6. That Creature (baby Madeleine) is healthy and is fun to poke. She has random limbs that poke out and if we poke them, she starts wiggling. We are kind of addicted to it.

Baby getting bigger.
(My face is all swollen from an allergic reaction.)

7. Big fluffy comforters

8. For places like DI and Goodwill that we can drop off stuff that we don't need anymore. 

9. That 2 years ago Matt fell in love with me! We went on a date this week and read through our old journals to celebrate. It's been a wonderful two years, especially the last year and three months that we have been married.  

2 weeks after Thanksgiving 2010

We are grown ups

Dirt Mixing Bowl

I asked Matt what he felt like for dessert tonight. We ended up making this beast. Over 50 cookies, 5 cups of pudding, and a few cups of whipped cream. Now we just have to figure out the best way to serve it...

Sour Cream and PJs

Isn't it beautiful?

I bought this a few days ago at Macey's. Totally made my week.

This sour cream will still be good when offspring is born!!! Excited absolutely. I'm so ready for school to be done, and Christmas to be here. Oh and baby to come too. :)

My siblings got their mission calls too, so they'll be leaving around the same time.

Mollie is leaving Dec. 19 to Concepcion South Chile mission, and Riley is going to LA on Jan 9, speaking Mandarin.

  

On another note, Matt bought me my Victoria Secret pajamas for this winter. 

(By the way, I love the bag too.)

I'm not the only one to have them...

I must admit, I'm falling out of love with this show, BUT we still have matching pjs. Just for the record though, I wanted them way before she got them. (And I totally have them in cotton and satin.)

Farmer's Market

Every once in a while, Matt and I actually do something out of our everyday routine. It's becoming more and more rare as the weather gets colder.

"Michele, what do you want to do for our date tonight?"
"Watch a movie from Redbox and huddle under the blankets."
"Good plan! And move your freezing toes!"

I have this weird thing that I hate having the heater on, because it gets all stuffy and warm, but if we don't, we both freeze. Matt freezes way more than me since baby makes a lot of body heat for me. (Perk of being pregnant.) It's really pathetic at night, because when I get up in the middle of the night, he'll move to my warm body spot, and then when I get back, he'll wiggle over to where ever I am in bed. It's really hopelessly cute.

Anyway, our house is constantly around 60 degrees, and it gets even colder when I open the window. So therefore we never leave (except for school).

But last Friday, we actually went and did something for thirty minutes before jumping in bed and drinking hot chocolate.

We went to the Farmer's Market at the Riverwoods! The Riverwoods is my favorite place in Provo. It has a Williams-Sonoma and a Victoria's Secret (which no one ever shops at and has the best selection for sales). It also has a Gymboree, which has recently been added to my list of favorite stores to lust in.

This week was their last farmer's market of the year, so they mixed it with a Halloween festival. Minus the live music, it was great!

They had a petting zoo. The best part were the cute toddlers in the petting zoo, but Matt kept reminding me that it was not a kid-petting zoo.  The next best part were the tiny 2 1/2 ft. ponies. They looked so pathetic standing there.

Pumpkin display #1
Matt is not a big Tim Burton fan, but I am!
I loved this display!

This is the Alice in Wonderland pumpkin display. Matt totally didn't recognize it.
I couldn't believe it. He said that only a few people probably knew what it was.
Just as he said this, a group of 8 yr old-ish boys came up and said "Hey! It's Alice in Wonderland."

Cat!

Anyway, after that we very quickly looked through the booths. Everything was so expensive! We have our local grocery store prices memorized, and everything cost more at the farmers market. :( I was quite sad. By then, Matt was freezing so we ate at 5 Guys, before going home.

When we got home, we quickly changed into our warm pjs. Matt grabbed hot chocolate in our giant teacups. (I ended up spilling half of mine all over the sheet.) And we watched Avengers under our wonderful Ralph Lauren comforter for the rest of our date, while poking baby to make sure she was still alive. 

I must confess, cuddling and drinking hot chocolate was way more fun than going out. 

Fall!

On Sunday, Matt and I went on a hike. Although Utah is not my favorite place to live, Fall makes up for the rest of the year. Everything around here looks beautiful, and I absolutely love the weather. 

Matt had to position me in front of the porta-potty that was ruining our view.
Also a great time for a quick pregnancy shot, 29 weeks. (I was totally didn't know he was taking a picture.)

At this point, it's a small miracle that I made it up that far. But the view was beautiful.

A random guy that was trying to impress his date, asked us to take a picture of them.
Thankfully they returned the favor.

Other random things:
1) I had to do a commercial for my media class. The idea my group picked was why having a baby was cool. So for my part, I had to push a stroller around campus. I was so bad at it! I hit so many things, and people kept thinking I was abusing my kid. (At one point I almost tipped over the stroller.) They gave me even stranger looks when they realized there was no kid. Finally I met up with Matt, and he pointed out the front wheel was broken. Hopefully that will fix the problem, but if not, I need to practice my stroller driving skills.

2) Matt is almost done with his grad school applications!!

3) Baby is terrified of flashlights. Back when I was taking Infancy for my major, my teacher mentioned a fetus would move with a flashlight that was put on the mother's stomach. Matt and I were so excited to try this out. At 28ish weeks, baby's eyes apparently open back up, so we tried it. She usually moves like crazy, but as soon as that flashlight was turned on, she freezes. We have tried a few more times since then and she still stops moving. I have found that it is an excellent way to get her to stop kicking my ribs.

4) Matt and I need a new book to read out loud together. Any suggestions? So far we have read, Stargirl, Howl's Moving Castle,  Have a Little Faith, Winnie the Pooh, and The Princess Bride. Basically, we need a book that I won't finish behind Matt's back while he is doing homework but is still fun to read. 

Lance

"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."

We decided to put a sticker on Lance, so I could find him in big parking lots. 

I'm pretty sure this was the perfect one.

Happy 10/11/12

Life is still busy, and it doesn't look like it will be slowing down anytime soon.

We just about finished up midterms (I have one left tomorrow) and we are getting in the full swing of school. I am already counting down how many class periods I have left until graduation. (While I like school, walking up to campus lately has not been the most comfortable thing.) Matt has been doing awesome in school like usual, and even got his first graduate school application in!!!

The paper that is dominating my life at the moment is about this painting by Andy Warhol.
I'm totally in love with it, and the more I learn about it, the more I like it.

We are loving the fall weather too. Matt bought hot chocolate today, and this weekend we pulled out our winter bedding. We put the quilt and comforter on, and Matt looked at me and said, "I really like comforters." (Thank goodness too...since we have 2...Small confession: When we took out the comforter, I realized we now own enough bedding that we have a different set for each season. Luckily, Matt doesn't seem to mind.)  Tonight for dinner we made this recipe with bread bowls. (We don't have a blender, so ours doesn't look pretty enough to take a picture of) Now if the tree in front of our window would start turning colors then fall would be perfect.

Also, this Ted talk is amazing. Everyone should watch it. I think this might be my favorite one to date. Really you should watch it. 

This week

This week has been pretty busy around here. Matt took his first test and graduate school applications opened up. I had my first assignment to turn in, and since Matt has been so busy, a lot of time to do crafts. :). 

Ward Activity

Saturday, we went to our ward 5 k. My hip has been popping out of joint, so I wasn't allowed to run it. Matt did though.

Matt before the run. He wasn't super thrilled about it.

Both of us, after the run (and walk for me). By then happy endorphins were kicking in and Matt was more awake. 

 Books

Matt and I had been reading this together for the last month or so. We both really enjoyed the whole book  minus the ending.  It kept us laughing and it wasn't a super long read. 

These are the two books I read this week. A Change of Heart was an interesting read. It was about cell memory in transplant organs. It was a bit strange, but I enjoyed it. 

This book has been Matt's mistress all week. ::shakes fist::

Crafts/Baby

 Baby is now in 3rd trimester! Woot! Less than 100 days until Christmas and baby!!!! (93 to be exact). She moves a lot, which is a lot of fun for us. Matt likes to watch my stomach move and we both like poking it. It's neat when you poke your stomach and it pokes back at you.

I have been working on baby's quilt for the last month or two and this week I finished it! We also made her mobile and stuff. So her corner of the room is done.

Her corner of room 

Close up of baby mobile

Matt is really proud of the origami pteranodons. 

I know you can't really see it, but the clouds are totally covered in glitter.

We also have stars on the ceiling in different constellations.
So when we turn off the lights, our ceiling still looks cool.
(Also great for me when Matt explains what he is learning in Astronomy.)

Closer up picture of the quilt. I'm really happy with quilts when I finish them .
Since they take 40+ hrs to make. 

 Matt says that's all that we have done that is interesting this week. So that's all folks. Til next time.

Quilts

I’ve been quilting in my spare time, and today we (Matt has probably done at least a third of this quilt) finished one!!! I’m so excited. We did the whole thing, from the appliqué to the quilting to hand binding this thing. It took us around two months to finish it!

Matt said it should have said "poop" too. But I didn't think that was very lady or gentleman like.

I really like the diamond quilting and the polka dot binding.

Of course, this isn’t the first quilt that I’ve done. This summer I’ve been finishing up quilts that I made forever ago (maybe 6 years ago?), and I’m currently working on baby’s crib quilt. (I’ll put pictures up when I’m done. It’s probably my favorite of the 4.)

The binding isn't finished on this one yet. 

And last and not least, I made crib fitted sheets last night. They were really easy, and they match the crib quilt. :)

Matt is slightly worried, since I'm running out of projects to do. A baby only needs so many quilts, receiving blankets, sheets, and burp pads, and we are pretty sure we've reached the limit. So we'll see what I end up doing next.  

What will Offspring look like?

Matt and I were pretty cute kids.

Matt at 5ish

Me at 5ish

I don't think we look to similar, so we keep trying to guess what in the world offspring is going to look like.

I used a two online generators to get a guess.

This one totally freaked me out! Matt and I just laughed over it. She looks like a man!!!
(We had about the same reaction as Lily did when Mitch and Cam from Modern Family  got bored and decided to do this. (I couldn't find the clip. :( ))

This one is a lot better...she at least looks like a kid.

So according to the internet, offspring with have brown hair and hazel or green eyes. The nice thing about the first one has thick hair. So anyone else have any guesses what she really will look like?