SHE'S ABSOLUTELY PERFECT!!!

I'm sure everyone knows the great news by now......the birth of Madelyn Grace Williams. We will be referring to her from now on as "Maddy" (with a "Y", I'm told).

I don't know how much you all know, so I'm prepared to give you MY version of the LONG story.

On Tuesday evening Steve had already turned out his light and was headed to dreamland, while I was in bed reading a few chapters until I was ready to go to sleep. (I have been carrying my phone EVERYWHERE with me these days, just in case.....) Anyway, I got a text message from Katie asking me if she had "this" and "this" and "this" symptom, could she possibly be in labor. After a couple of text messages back and forth, I decided I needed a "face to face" so to speak with her, so I called her back. After a short consultation I told her that she could, possibly be in labor, and if things continued the way they were, she should probably go on to the hospital. Of course I ended with "keep me posted". Needless to say, I wasn't able to think about going to sleep at this point. I turned out the light and just laid there......then I got another text message from Bryan at about 1:30 stating that they were at the hospital. Again, I asked him to keep me posted and he said he would. I spent the rest of the night with one eye on my phone and really didn't sleep too much.

On Wednesday morning, when Steve was ready to leave for work I told him that Bryan had taken Katie to the hospital over night. He looked at me like I was crazy and asked "How do you know that?". I told him I hadn't slept much because of phone calls and text messages over night. He chuckled and said he hadn't heard a thing!!! Any way, I decided to just get up because I wasn't sleeping anyway. I went downstairs and proceeded to keep myself busy for a couple of hours. At that point I couldn't stand it any more and I called Bryan's phone again. It was about 8:00 or 8:30 by this time (eastern time) and Bryan told me things were not progressing and he wasn't sure what would happen. Then at around 9:00 Katie called and told me they were sending her home because, even though she was in considerable pain, she wasn't progressing. So, they gave her a shot of demerol and some Ambien and told her to go home and sleep.

They went home and Katie went to bed, but she couldn't sleep. She said the pain was keeping her awake. Anyway, after about 3 hours of this she decided she needed to go back to the hospital for some better pain medication. Upon arrival, they checked her and said "This baby is coming now!!"......This was about 12:30 and Maddy arrived at 1:30. She was just plain ready to come into the world on Wednesday!!!

I never expected her to arrive early (first babies never do, right?!?!?!)......so my plane ticket was for Saturday. I checked with the airline and found that a ticket to Abilene on Thursday would be in excess of $1,200!!! Needless to say, NO ONE needs to go to Abilene Texas THAT BAD!!!! So I called the customer service office and "worked my magic" with them. They were able to get me a ticket for approximately TWICE the cost of my original ticket. That was worth it to me, so I left Charlotte for Abilene on a 7:05 AM flight on Thursday. I arrive in Abilene at 10:40 and Bryan picked me up and took me directly to the hospital. This is what I found when I got there:





They released my girls around 5:30 on Thursday afternoon and we all went home. We had dinner and waited for Chris and April to arrive. They had been worried that they would make the trip to Abilene and never meet Maddy, but she certainly cooperated with their plans this time!! They arrived very late (I believe it was around 11:30 pm). We all said our hellos and goodnights in one breath.

Today we just hung out. Bryan had to go to work and finalize some paperwork for his "paternity" leave. Later in the day Katie and Bryan's friends, Breezy and Mike came by for a visit. We're having a good time just hanging out together. We only wish "grandpop" Steve could be here to enjoy the sweet baby with us. Here are a couple of cute shots I took today.

Personally, I think she looks EXACTLY like Katie did as a newborn. I guess I must admit that I never saw Bryan at this age, but I'm not sure it would change my mind if I did!! As time goes on we'll see who she looks most like, but I think I'm a bit partial.... ;)

I'm sure I'll have plenty more to post in the next couple of days. I've been lucky enough to get a 2-week leave from my job, so I'll be here for a nice long visit with the new little family. I'm sure by the end of 2 weeks they will be ready to get into their own little pattern and schedule. It sure is fun to have the sweet little thing around. I think one of the closest things to being in heaven is having a sweet-smelling baby asleep in your arms. Katie and Bryan have been very generous with Maddy's time and I really appreciate it!!

Until next time.....

Love to all.......