November 4th, Day 5

Happy birthday Grandma Freise! Uncle Rob came over and made us dinner - thank you! We fired up the grill since it was in the 70's again today. Maddie had a marathon "cluster" feeding session that made Mommy consider bottle feeding. Today we started to get familiar with Maddie's noises and expressions. She continues to get more cuteness as the hours pass. Daddy captured some of her new expressions in the morning sunlight. She is starting to figure out light and hopefully soon the difference between day and night.

We watched the special election coverage by John Stewart and Stephen Colbert. Maddie was very pleased that Barack Obama will be our new president (as were Mommy and Daddy).

President-elect Barack Obama and his wife Michelle and Vice president-elect Joe Biden and his wife Jill take the stage after Obama delivered his victory speech at the election night party at Grant Park in Chicago, Tuesday night, Nov. 4, 2008.

Daddy's New Look

Daddy decided to shave to be able to snuggle and kiss without his whiskers scratching.
Rare Look: this look happens once every few years and only last a couple days! And now there is a picture of it.

Bilirubin is being tamed!

We got back from our long day on the road but were happy with the results of Maddie's blood test. Her bilirubin counts went down to ~13 which is still a little high but we're headed in the right direction! She also weighed in at 6 lbs 7 oz - higher than her birth weight in only 3 days. We don't have to go back to the Highland Park Hospital tomorrow - yea!
Thank you Cindy & Nancy for bringing over so much delicious food. It is so nice to not have to worry about making ourselves dinner these days.

Here's Uncle Rob holding Maddie. She's so tiny in his big, P90X arms!

The girl startles easily.

Maddie does this funny startle reflex when she throws her hand in the air with hands wide open like she is trying to grasp something before falling. The What to Expect the First Year book describes this Moro reflex as, "a built-in survival mechanism designed to protect the vulnerable newborn; in this case, it's likely a primitive attempt to regain perceived loss of equilibrium." She had some really wild startles that had us almost in tears (laughing). Then, while on Mommy's lap, we discovered we could induce them to an certain extent when Mommy giggled.

Day 4

At 1:58pm today, Maddie turns 4 days old. It was a tough weekend, but we made it through and have begun to figure some things out. We feel we all got sleep last night, so that is a sign of progress. We go to the hospital again today to check the bilirubin levels. Maddie doesn't have as much yellow pigment so we think she is managing the jaundice. She started out at 13 (ppm) and the blood test showed 11.6. Sunday morning they read a 14 so that's why we have to back again today. They won't start treatments until a 20 is reached, so we have time to beat this without treatments.
Sunday, Mommy caught Daddy sleeping on the job. Mommy got her cold sweats last night, which didn't scare us since Aunt Julie had just mentioned it over Skype. We'll post Maddie's first video once we figure out how to do that.

Introducing Madeline Victoria Freise!

Welcome Madeline Victoria Freise!
Born 10/30/2008 @ 1:58pm
6 lbs. 5 oz.
19 inches long


Here's Mom & Maddie 20 minutes after being born.

Sooo. tiny.Visit from Uncle Joel, Aunt Jean, and Aunt LorrieGrandma & Grandpa with Maddie
Maddie's first Halloween costume - Fancy Nancy

We made it home and it is Saturday November 1st. Certainly not your typical weekend for Mommy and Daddy. Maddie slept the whole way home from the hospital. She lost a little weight and is a tiny 6 lbs here. One more week and she'll start gaining an ounce a day!