Andrew's Trip to Conway

Andrew went with my mom to Conway yesterday. We thought it would be the best thing for him to go and have fun with his grandparents, since I still can't lift him or anything yet. He is obviously enjoying himself!

We just hope he wants to come back home to us!

**All the pictures from Madelyn's birth are on the next post!**

And Finally...The Pictures!

Here are all the pictures from Madelyn's birth up to today! I am feeling 100% better. I had to go to the ER yesterday and get an epidural blood patch done to stop the headache, which is caused by a leakage of spinal fluid. The leaking fluid causes your brain to be pulled down and stretches out the nerves causing the headache. To do the blood patch, they have to give you an epidural (without the pain meds, just the needle) and then draw blood from your arm and insert it into the epidural in your back. This causes a clot which stops the fluid from leaking. I just have to take it easy for 48 hours, but I swear it was instant relief! My doctor told us it would be a good idea to go to the ER and he called a friend of his who is an anestesiologist and he came in and did the blood patch. So, here she is!

The Story of Madelyn

Just an apology from the beginning, I don't have any pictures on this post.  They are on our computer upstairs and I am using my mom's laptop downstairs.  Once I get the urge to climb the stairs I'll post a ton of pictures!  In the meantime, here is the story of Madelyn's birthday.  

Jason and I got to the hospital around 5:30 on Friday, November 13.  They got us into a room, started my IV and things were going well.  I apparently was having contractions every eight minutes at this point, but didn't realize it.  Around 6:30 the anestesiologist came in to explain the spinal procedure- I had this done with Andrew, but wasn't told about it in detail.  This totally freaked me out to the point that I was crying and shaking and explaining to Jason that Madelyn was just going to have to live in my stomach, because there was no way I was having this done.  My doctor came in about 7:00 and was very reassuring, so we went back for surgery and they had to do the spinal.  As he was putting it in, what felt like an electrical shock went all the way down my right side, they told me this could happen and just to let them know.  I did and they fixed it.  I felt absolutely awful even as the numbness kicked in, just totally nauseated and dizzy.  My blood pressure dropped very low and it was miserable.  Finally, I started feeling better and Madelyn was here.  She was absolutely perfect!  Screaming at the top of her lungs!  When they brought her to me she just stopped crying and looked right at me.  It was very sweet.  Jason was taken by her immediately!  That morning was tough, the anestesia made me sick and I couldn't keep anything down.  I finally started feeling better by the afternoon and was able to hold her and visit with everyone.  It was nice.  The next morning was good.  She just snuggled with me and was so sweet.  Then, I got the worst headache that you could even imagine.  I had two IV's of dimerol and that didn't make any difference and several other pain meds as well.  The next day they put me on IV fluids and a caffeine drip- caffeine is supposed to make it better.  They doctor determined it was a spinal headache caused from a leakage of spinal fluid.  By Monday I was able to go home, but the headache had come back and was so bad I couldn't even carry Madelyn to the car.  For the last couple of days it has started to improve, but it still is incredibly painful.  I've just been drinking a lot of starbuck's with extra caffeine. I am hoping that the headache will go away soon.  My doctor said it should by the weekend.  There is a procedure that can be done called a blood patch where they go back in your spine and insert your blood into it to form a patch, but the thought of that makes me really nervous.  I'm hoping it will just clear up on it's own.  

Thankfully, Madelyn is great!  The girl just eats and sleeps and snuggles!  She is a very easy baby!  Andrew is adjusting to her.  He tries to help take care of her and wants to make sure she is happy.  When I start feeling better I will post more pictures, I promise! 

Madelyn Claire

Madelyn Claire Horn

6lbs 6oz & 19 and 1/2inches long

Friday, November 13th 7:52am

Amy and I are so excited that Madelyn is finally here! She is doing so good. She is sleeping all of the time and is eating very well. She has had many visitors from all over the state of Arkansas and Oklahoma. She is a wonderful gift from God and we are so thankful that she is healthy. Andrew does not know what to think about Madelyn, but he is glad to have someone to help him vacuum. 

Amy is still in the hospital. She has had some pain issues and the doctor is working to make her feel comfortable. Today is Amy's birthday and what a way to spend it in the hospital.  She is hoping to come home on Monday, but we are playing it day by day. 

This is the first time I have written anything on here. I will try to add a picture later. Hope you enjoy.

Thanks 

Jason Horn

Countdown...3 Days to Go!

Well, the countdown has officially begun and we're down to 3 days! We are getting excited! I had an ultrasound today, because I measured small...again, but it showed that everything is perfect. She's just going to be little. She weighed 6 lbs. 9 ozs. according to the ultrasound, and that is perfectly fine with us. Compared to Andrew's 4 lbs 3 ozs. she is going to be a big girl! I have her bag packed and bows ready to go! I've decided to take off work today and tomorrow, but try to go Thursday to say bye to the kids. I've just been doing some cleaning and organizing and relaxing to get ready for an early Friday morning. My c-section is scheduled for 7:30 am and we've got to be at the hospital at 5:30 am. Just pray that all goes well and she is healthy when she arrives! Oh, here are some pictures from the baby shower that my grade level team had for us at school a couple of weeks ago. Madelyn got a lot of cute outfits!

How-er-ween

We had a fun "how-er-ween," as Andrew says, this year! On Friday he dressed up for school and stayed in his "pumpin" costume all day! He loves his costume! Friday afternoon, I picked him up and we headed to Jason's office for their trick-or-treating.

The "pumpin" doesn't really know what to think about all these kiddos in costume.
He does like his treat bag- or purse as he calls it!

What does my child do as soon as he gets inside? He finds a vacuum and gets to work. He didn't need any candy, just the dirt devil!

Now, what can I do to plug this thing in?

Ok Dad, your cubicle looks a little dirty. I'll take care of that!

He finally discovered the candy dish and realized that he could get as much as he wanted! Surprisingly, a lot of it "disappeared" on Halloween night....

Settling down and finishing some work.

On Saturday afternoon, we decided it was time to carve our pumpkin. All Andrew has been saying since the pumpkin patch trip...in September...is "Daddy cut pumpin." So he was really excited when his daddy got a knife and carved a face in our pumpkin.

He would pull out the pumpkin goo and say "ewww"

Cheese!

What to do now?

Scooping out more goo. It's much cleaner with a spoon!

Saturday night we headed to our church for the Fall Festival. It was a good time!

Andrew was a little bit tired before we got started!

But he quickly perked up after eating a piece of chocolate cake...and then mine while I wasn't looking!

Playing games, oh yeah, the Hog had to come too.

So many things to do around here!

Choosing a sucker from the tree

Digging in the styrofoam was lots of fun. He didn't care that there was candy buried in there, he just enjoyed throwing styrofoam all over the place!

Tossing the balls was another fun game!

Back home! I wasn't a good mom, I didn't take him trick-or-treating, because my feet were swollen and I was not going to do any walking. I also was not going to let him go without me to capture it all on camera, so we didn't go. He did enjoy answering the door, although everytime it rang he yelled "pizza!"

**The truth behind the costume. Ok- I had good intentions of getting Andrew the adorable pumpkin costume from Pottery Barn Kids (to match his treat bag), but I waited to late and all the 2T-3T costumes were sold out. I was very disappointed. So, I waited until the last minute and Jason and I headed to Target on Thursday night (along with all the other procrastinators!) and looked for a costume. I looked and looked and all that were left were tacky costumes and none that were his size. Sooo, finally I came upon the perfect pumpkin costume. It was plush with a smiling pumpkin face and I picked it up and realized...it was for a dog. I couldn't let my child wear a dog costume, so I kept looking. After being ran into by everyone in the costume aisle, I decided that my child could in fact wear a dog's costume. So, seven dollars later I realized that this was in fact the best purchase I had made in a long time. Not only was it super cheap, but it was the easiest thing to get him into and out of. It velcros around his neck and back and fits perfectly! So, next year, I recommend skipping out on traditional costumes and heading to your local Pet Smart to purchase your toddlers costume! I plan to go early to get a good pick! Ha!