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In Which We Meet!



Madilyn Rae Hilton. Born at 8:05 am on Friday June 22nd. 18 inches long, 7 lbs 11 oz. Absolutely beautiful. Absolutely perfect. 

I just knew we were going to go into labor early. I was ready, pretty much once June hit. We had so many contractions each night, and every day it seemed that I was in more and more pain from the pressure. I was also convinced that her head must be huge and that she was at least 8 lbs because she felt so much heavier than I remember the other two feeling! 

Thursday, 6/21, we had our pre-op appointments. I registered at the hospital and had the doctors and nurses all guess how big she was going to be. (Points to Dr. Alarcon who guessed mid-7's!) I did my best the remainder of the day to rest and soak up as much of Grayson and Brooklyn as I could. Isn't it amazing how knowing you have to stop eating at a certain point makes you that much more hungry? ;0) Funny. 

Four am came as early as it usually does. Ray and I gathered everything we needed, left our children in the care of Nana and Bob Bob, and headed to the hospital. It was about as surreal as an event can be. 

The hospital was quiet. We were the first scheduled c-section of the day. At about 6 am they took us back to the Prep and Recovery room to get, yes...prepped. We had fantastic nurses throughout our whole experience! The most frustrating part was the paperwork. Even though I pre-registered and signed everything I could, they had more for me to sign that morning (some duplicates!) and they ended up ignoring my pediatrician information! I felt nervous (as evidenced by my slightly higher blood pressure), excited, and very hungry. I threw up a little. Ick.

 By 7:30am we were back in the OR. Everything progressed smoothly, which helped to calm my nerves. Surgery itself moved slowly due to scar tissue left over from my first c-section. I was prepared, but it was still difficult to wait. And then she was out!
Meeting Mommy


I couldn't see her, so I was waiting desperately for a cry. It was such a delicate, beautiful sound! It's strange to describe, but she sounded exactly the way I felt she should. She sounded like one of mine. My first glimpses of Brooklyn and Grayson evoked strong resemblance to Jenna and Ryan. Madi looked just like...herself. This perfect little combination of us. A 100% Jaime-Ray Hilton original. 
The remainder of the surgery seemed to take forever. A large cyst on my ovary had to be drained, which took longer than a typical surgery. It was painful - not in the sense that it hurt, but in that it was uncomfortable and I was aching to hold Madi. I threw up again (which I do not recommend - very difficult!).

 Finally we moved back to recovery! We weren't in there for long, and thinking back on it my mind is a complete blank! Lots of congratulations and pictures and snuggles.





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