Landon Adrian

We were blessed with the arrival of baby Landon Adrian Friday morning! As many of you know, we scheduled an induction for that morning. Everything went exactly as planned, maybe even better (and faster) :) After a quick stop at McDonald's, we arrived at the hospital around 7:00 AM and began the process. Around 10:30 AM I got my epidural and by 11:54 AM we had a healthy little boy! Landon was 8 lbs. 11 oz. and 20 1/2 inches long.

So far, Madisyn seems to be mommy's little helper. She is SO sweet! She likes to help me pat his back when I'm burping him, look at his little fingers and toes, and today she was concerned that he didn't have socks on, so she went and got a pair for him.

Thanks for all the thoughts and prayers! Also thank you to everyone who came to visit us at the hospital and for all supportive calls. I apologize if we haven't gotten back to you yet, I promise we will!

For those interested... here's one last belly picture the morning of.

Madisyn's Birthday!

Madisyn turned two on Tuesday! That night we went to Chuck E. Cheese with Grandma and Grandpa Dykema, Aunt Kate, and cousin Joshua.


This week has been a crazy whirlwind of preparing for the party! Thankfully we had TONS of help and everything turned out great! Madisyn was looking forward to it all week :) We had a total of 30 people come, but enough cake to feed hundreds (I don't know that I'll attempt that undertaking again any time soon)! All the hard work was definitely worth it as Madisyn had the time of her life!



We asked for no gifts at the party, but she did get some really great gifts from friends and family. One was her HUGE lamb that was sent all the way from Council Bluffs, Iowa from my Aunt Darlene. We bought her a new bedroom set, which we also put money from the family towards.



As for us... I am actually glad that the party is over. The doctor put me on disability Tuesday, due to the back pain (not bed rest though, so that was fortunate). So I am done working, although I wasn't really prepared to stop so suddenly, so it was a little difficult to get everything organized. Finally by Thursday I was feeling better than I had since the week before, so I decided to do a few things around the house and paid for it Friday morning! I guess I learned my lesson the hard way. Since Friday my ankles and legs have been extremely swollen again and my back has been hurting, but I'm sure this week will be more low-key and provide some much needed relaxation. Maybe the baby will even come :) Thank you everyone for all of your love and support! I love you all!

To the hospital we went...

What a day! Last night I had tremendous back pain and got an hour of sleep from about 4-5 a.m. and another hour from about 6-7 a.m. I honestly was completely beside myself. I was SO exhausted from a week of not getting very much sleep and yet wanted to sleep so badly, but couldn't due to the pain... I just didn't know what to do!

Finally, this morning I called my OB. He wanted me to come in, just to make sure everything was okay (even though I didn't think I was in labor). We got in around 10, got put on all of the monitors, and waited until about noon for him to get there. Meanwhile my back was getting worse and I was having many contractions (although the contractions were my least concern). The doctor decided that he didn't want me going into labor this early, so he gave me a shot to stop the contractions and Tylenol with Codeine for my pain.

We thought we'd be going home shortly after that... needless to say, that was not the plan. The baby's heart rate was very high despite the numerous attempts we made at lowering it. I sent Rob back to my in laws (where Madisyn was) while I continued to wait it out. To make a long story short, we finally left around 6:00 after the baby's hear rate went down, with prescription in hand for more Tylenol with Codeine so that hopefully I will be able to get some relief and shut eye. They offered me a shot of Vicodin, but then I would have needed to be monitored for a couple of extra hours, and I was very ready to leave! Work this coming week is still up in the air, as I'm really not supposed to drive when I take the Tylenol and it hasn't been completely taking care of the pain.

I just can't believe how different two pregnancies can be! Madisyn's was truly a breeze, and this one seems to be getting more and more difficult, uncomfortable, and painful! Thank goodness for family that is so supportive, loving, and caring! I don't know what we'd do without them!