We were introduced to Madison Reese at 5:02 PM on December 5th, 2015.  Suzy woke up about 4:00 AM by 5:30 AM we realized it was time to go to the hospital.  We got ready and packed up our things to bring to the hospital.  By 7am we had arrived at the hospital and been checked into a room. Shortly after we arrived we realized it was the real deal and we were having our baby today. Preparations began and after a long waited afternoon Suzy started pushing at 2:50 pm. After about 2 hours of labor the delivery team sprang into action and soon the room went from 2 doctors and 1 nurse to about 12 members including a NICU team that was on call in the room if needed.  I was amazed at the response of everyone in the room and the care they gave to Madison and Suzy following the birth.  I was given the role of announcing the gender of the baby to the room and I was asked to trim the umbilical cord.

Once everything settled down we were transferred from the Birthing Unit to the Mother- Baby Unit.  It was here that we got to know our new role as parents.  Suzy and I changed Madison’s first diaper together, we worked together to calm Madison in what must have seemed like a cold room in the outside world.  We had a nice visit from Suzy’s sister Cindy and mom Peggy into the evening hours.

Overnight we took turns comforting Madison who kept us up for most of the night but we did catch a couple hours of sleep.  We have learned how to change a diaper (which we had some experience with), make a swaddle with a receiving blanket (the Doctors and Nurses make it look very easy) and calm Madison when she cries.  It is amazing to see the bond that we have created with this little girl in just a few short hours.  She is our daughter and we love her very much.