Visitors Have Started!!!

Maci is quite the popular lady and we are excited to start having visitors!  Lots of fun things have also happened since I posted last.  I never realized how fast these days will fly and how many fun things happen in every day life with a newborn :-)

Tuesday, January 29th 2013
Today was a busy day for Miss Maci.  She had her first in home visitor, Lori Brubacher a good friend of both mommy and daddy came by to bring us some yummy chicken salad and mac n cheese.  Mommy and Lori have a close bond over their love for mac n cheese so this was a huge treat for mommy!  Maci slept the entire visit but it was fun to show off our little lady in her kitty cat outfit.

Later that night, Miss Maci had her newborn photo shoot.  We are working with Aleah who owns Created By Me Photography here in the Minneapolis area.  She is seriously the most talented newborn photographer we have ever seen.  We had a wonderful 2 hour session with her but like she assured us ahead of time, a good portion of the 2 hours was spent changing Maci's diaper, comforting her cries and feeding her :)  However, Maci was so cute in her poses no matter if she was fully naked or in just a little diaper and hair bow.  Mommy started to tear up at the session just seeing how beautiful our lil lady is.  The best part is that through Aleah we get the rites to all our pictures so we dont have to just pick one or two images.  All pictures will be ready within 2 weeks and I will share the link here so you can all see them.  If there is one you would like to order, just let me know vs ordering on the website vendor she uses because again we have the rites to the pics and could most likely print them for you at a more affordable price. . . be ready to swoon over this lil peanut!

Wednesday, January 30th 2013

Grandma Gilroy arrived at 9p from Cincinnati!!!  We spent the entire day anxiously awaiting her arrival and completing some laundry and tidying up the house so we were ready for our fun 10 day visit with Grandma!  Maci is in awe of her Grandma!!

Thursday, January 31st 2013

This was daddy's first day back to work :-(  Daddy was ready to get back to the swing of things but like mommy and Maci, he missed his family all day!  Although, Mommy, Grandma and Maci had a great first day together.  Mommy and Grandma watched HGTV most of the day while Miss Maci slept and in the afternoon we went to Maci's 2nd follow up Dr appt.  Maci lost some weight but they weren't very concerned at this point and we have a good plan in place to plump her up by her Monday check up.  Like last time, she couldnt visit the Dr without making a memory, last time she peed on the scale and this time she pooped all over her onesie - takes after Daddy ;-)  Mommy loves taking her out, even if only to the Dr office, because everyone comments on how cute she is!!

We are so excited that tomorrow is already Friday so we can have a fun weekend with Grandma, Mommy, Daddy and Maci!  Tomorrow night, Mommy and Daddy are going to get out to the grocery together while Grandma watches Maci - Wahoo Date Night ha ha!!  On Saturday, Mommy is going to go shopping for more newborn clothes with Grandma since Maci is such a lil peanut, she is going to be in these for quite a while and neither mommy or grandma pass up a chance to shop!!  We are also going to pack up Mommy's maternity clothes (except the pants) and re-organize her closets. Those that know mommy well realize this is one of her favorite OCD hobbies :-)  Lastly on Sunday we will introduce Maci to what we are sure will be her favorite American past time, FOOTBALL!!!  Maci is going to be cheering on the Ravens because mommy has all sorts of crazy reasons as to why they need to win and it is all based around how she believes this could benefit the Bengals next season!!!  WHO-DEY?! 

Lots of Love,

C, K & M

Maci's First Dr Appt

I wasn't planning on posting this often but Maci is having so many fun firsts that we want to be sure to document for us and to share with all our friends and family! :)  We hope you enjoy all the pics as much as we do!

Last night before we all began attempting bed time at midnight HA HA we gave Maci her first bath at home.  I think like many families we decided our kitchen sink is the best option for the time being vs a full bath tub etc.  Maci doesn't care for the bath itself too much but she sure loves her hooded towels (Thanks Rachelle) and she is in love with having her thick hair washed - just like mommy!  Daddy and I were exhausted by bath time (poor Clint picked up a cold in the hospital too) but nothing makes us happier than enjoying these first with our cutie!

Today we had another first with Maci's first Dr apt.  We went into our Southlake Pediatric location to meet with the nurse practitioner who is also a lactation consultant for a standard post hospital/birth follow up.  Both Clint and I were very happy with how well we worked together to dress ourselves and Maci, pack the diaper bag for the first time and get her in the car seat all while making it to the apt with 5 mins to spare :) WAHOO At the appointment, Clint took the lead on changing the lil lady down to her birthday suit and she proceeded to pee all over the scale and Clint but decided not to stop once she was on the exam table and continued to pee there as well :)  It was quite a fun story.  She was so alert, cute and non argumentative with the whole visit that Mommy/Daddy took some extra time taking silly pictures afterward *ENJOY*  The best news is that she is oz up from her hospital discharge weight, now 5 lbs 11oz and the jaundice is totally gone.  The nurse said she was so healthy and just looked amazing - YAY!!!

Love,
C, K & M

THE MONDELLS ARE HOME!!!

WE ARE HOME!!!!  We can not express enough how excited we are to begin our lives as a family of 3, plus 2 fur babies, especially after 4 days in a hospital.  Today was a super special day that will not soon be forgotten.

The day started with Maci arriving back from the nursery just around the same time that her Pediatrician was making rounds.  He made sure to come to us first since he knew we were quite eager especially after yesterday's late change of plans on leaving!  He came in to tell us that Maci's Belliruben score was down to 11 which means her jaundice is of no concern at this point and she didn't have to go home with ANY lighting therapy!!!  Plus her weight hasn't dropped since day 2 so her eating is going well and she is looking awesome!!!  This was especially exciting for Mommy since she hated the thought of not being able to put lil Maci in cute clothes all day everyday once we were home :) Yay for Healthy Maci!!!

We then started packing right away as we knew I (Kellie) was already cleared through my Ob practice the day prior.  In addition, we wanted to beat an ice/snow storm that was coming through Minneapolis around 11a.  We have probably never packed so quickly in our lives since we were so excited to get home, see our pets and introduce Maci to her life on Cedar Lake Rd :)  The last to do before leaving was to have Mommy's staples removed from the C Section and thankfully that was a really easy and pain free process!!

Daddy and Mommy had so much fun dressing Maci in "real" clothes for the first time, pretty cute, don't you think?  Thanks Grandma Gilroy for picking out such a great "go home" outfit!

And with that, we were off on our 10 min drive back to our HOME!!

Once we got home, we had Boomer about tackle us when our neighbor Karoline, who had so KINDLY watched both Boomer and Milo for the past 4 1/2 days, brought him up the drive from a walk!!  We have been anxiously awaiting the pets' reaction to Maci and so far so good!  Milo is quite intrigued and whenever she is laying in her pack n play, he sneaks up and just stands on the ledge staring in awe at her. . . so do we Milo!  As for Boomer, he wants to smell everything.  He is quite curious about this baby and has already shown a few signs of feeling "left out" but we are trying to give him some attention too.  Clint took the time today to give him a bath so he is in top shape to cuddle with our Maci and we think he enjoyed the 1:1 time!  Any time Maci makes a peep, he runs across the room with his large tushy wagging behind him and stares at her and frantically looks around the room as if to say "someone do something!!!"  We are sure this lil girl will have 2 best fur buddies in no time at all!!!  Our next post will most likely have pics of them both with Maci Lou!!

Well, we are going to get a bath complete and put Maci down before her next feeding - this is so fun and every moment so special!!  Before we go, we wanted to share two more pictures.  The first is a great picture of just how gorgeous our daughter is in her lovely clothes and eyes wide open.  The other is a picture of Maci's home after what was a quick Minneapolis snow storm  :-)

Love to All,

C, K & M

Maci's Birth Story Continued

Well since we are all now adjusted to the news that we are staying in the hospital for a full 4th day, mommy figured it would be a good time to update all our friends/family on our stay thus far!

Day 3

Miss Maci had a GREAT day 3!!  Maci has finally adjusted to her lil light bed thanks to her darn jaundice condition.  The pediatrician we are working with is AWESOME and he says this will all be a memory real soon :)  This was also the day that mommy and daddy realized they are going to be an a OK team!  Daddy helps get the pump ready while mommy nurses and then while mommy pumps, daddy is the formula feeder.  We weren't planning on using any formula but you do what you got to do when lil baby girl only weighs 5lbs 10oz at this point and we don't want to lose any more weight!  Mommy is by far the better burper but daddy is heads and tails above mommy in the diaper changing department which is quite the happy surprise to mommy!  This lil peanut is by far the cutest baby we have ever seen but we may be slightly partial :)  In all seriousness, she proving to be a great baby and just rolls with the punches that have come with her jaundice thus far!

Day 4

This has been a day of mixed emotions!  Mommy and Daddy woke up fully preparing to leave the hospital today and even started figuring out how we would help Boomer adjust this afternoon.  When Maci came back from the nursery for her final feeding of the morning, we heard some bummer news - her blood work for her jaundice showed at the same darn level as Day 3.  We weren't sure what this was going to mean until we saw the pediatrician.  Once we saw him we were super elated as he said there was no reason not to leave today at 2p around her birth time and we would just have someone visit our home tomorrow to check in on the remaining jaundice.  No sooner did mommy text Grandma Gilroy the great news, the pediatrician came back in to grab daddy.  It turns out insurance covers mommy to be in the hospital for 4 full days with a C Section.  Since we had lil girl at 2p on Wed, Sunday at 2p is the end of our 4 days.  Due to all the darn Influenza and her size, he feels we should milk all the time we can get in the hospital with her advanced lighting technology so that we have the best odds of not rebounding or having to bring her to Children's.  While this makes total sense, mommy had to cry over several total superficial items like : wanting to put her in her go home outfit today and not tomorrow, Boomer wasn't meeting his best buddy today and mommy couldn't start on her to do list at the house :)  Silly Mommy!  To cheer mommy up, Daddy encouraged her to go to her favorite Etsy site and order a few gifts for our daughter with her monogram and birth details!!  Only daddy knows how to cheer mommy up like this.

We cant wait to give our next update with us at home and Maci meeting her fur brothers and seeing her room!  In the meantime, enjoy some more pics of our angel.

Much Love,
C, K & M

Welcome Maci Louise Mondell

Clint and I are so proud and honored to announce the arrival of our baby girl, Maci Louise Mondell who arrived in downtown Minneapolis on 1/23/13 at 205p CST via c section delivery.  She topped the scales at a tiny 5lbs 15oz and 19 1/2 inches long. 

Maci's Birth Story

Mommy was one day away from being 38 weeks pregnant when I felt quite funny around 11p on 1/22/13.  Thanks to our loving pets, Boomer and Milo, I was able to lay in our living room, cuddle, watch TV and fell back asleep only to wake up around 2a thinking "I just tinkled. . . "  When I went to the bathroom I didnt have any more liquid so I thought it may be a fluke but no sooner did I lay down again, more liquid came.  I went upstairs to let daddy know my water had broke and we called the on call Dr who told us to head on in to the hospital, we were "keepers!"  We left to the hospital after mommy fixed her hair and had daddy re-check her detailed packing list for the 3rd time :)

Once we were at the hospital we were told everything was going great but mommy needed to dilate quicker since after your water breaks they want baby out in 24 hours.  So after a few different types of medicine and "the pit" mommy was starting to have very regular contractions and even used some bad four letter words!!  That was the time daddy new mommy needed her epidural.  Unfortunately for mommy, her body didnt take to epidurals right away and felt all of the contractions right up until 8 centimeters.  However, once mommy got to 8 centimeters and her wonderful nurse Jan checked her she made a CRAZY discovery - Miss Maci was not head down after all!!!!  We did a quick ultrasound to confirm and to this day the Drs/Nurses are sure if she flipped during intense labor or if for 3 weeks 4 different medical professionals felt a butt and not a head!!!  At that point, mommy and daddy were told a c section in the next 30 mins was our only option . . . this was very scary for all us, especially mommy who thought she would never get numb!!  The c section ended up going great and at 205p mommy and daddy heard the best crying noise of their lives - our Maci!!!  Daddy and mommy were both teary eyed messes and so blessed that it was over and all were healthy.

Day 2

Maci is doing great!!  All the key bodily functions are rocking!!  She is quite tiny and so there are some concerns around her not latching but we have wonderful nurses who have all sorts of tricks up their sleeves!!  Also, poor peanut was diagnosed with some jaundice today so now she is hanging out in a tanning bed and daddy does all he can to keep her comfortable.  Mommy is getting up and around but moves at the speed of a senior citizen - heck they may move faster!  Mommy got to take a shower today and that was heaven :-)  We get to go home on Saturday as a family of 3, plus our wonderful pets, assuming all continues to go well.  I will try to provide lots of updates on these first few days since we want the documentation as well!!!  Much love to all our family and friends that have shared their prayers and well wishes with us way up North!!! 

Love, C, K & M

Baby Mondell's New Room

Welcome to Baby Girl Mondell's Room!!

Thanks to Lori's wonderful suggestion, I decided to use some of this FREEZING cold MN Sunday documenting pictures of our hard work in the nursery.  There is one wall you still can’t see pictures of as it is the wall with Lil Miss Mondell's Name hanging SSsshhhh  I can assure you though that the name is in lovely purple letters and giraffe print ribbons which hang the letters to the wall - thanks to her Daddy for spending some evening time painting them a few weeks ago.  Oh and contrary to popular belief, her name is not BGM (Baby Girl Mondell)!!

Our theme for her room is Purple (not the biggest Pepto Pink fan) and Giraffes since the Ultrasound tech said she had some really long limbs, wonder if that is a Gilroy Girl trait ;-)  A special thanks to Grandma Gilroy who put the finishing touches on the nursery by making the giraffe print curtain tie backs, check out the windows to see what I am talking about. 

The only thing missing at this point is Lil Miss Mondell.  I am starting to spend a lot of time in the room organizing baby socks, rearranging the closet for the 100th time and rocking in the rocking chair while Boomer attempts to jump in my lap and the cat is asleep in her bouncy chair, this is something we will have to work on!! 

Let us know what you think!!

Love, C & K

Welcome to Our Attempt at Blogging

I have quite a few friends who are expert bloggers and I am not one of them :) However, I thought it would be a fun New Year’s Resolution to try and keep friends and family more up to date on our lives in Minneapolis, especially with the little one on the way. My goal will be to post at least once a week so check back often and with most things Clint and I do, we hope to have some fun and keep these pretty easy/breezy posts!

Today we are officially at "FULL TERM" AKA 37 weeks which is scary and exciting at the same time! Mommy to be can’t wait for baby to get here already and Daddy to be is ready to stop hearing about how ready Mommy to be is HA-HA. We have our bags packed and contact lists ready and yes this involved several to do lists and excel spreadsheets thanks to Mommy.

We can’t wait to share pictures of our lil bundle with all of you and to hopefully do a better job of keeping you in tune with our lives here in the great white north. Until next time. . . K & C