Introducing Madison Lidia Richards!

At 12:04 AM on Monday, January 30th, I told Dan I thought I had a "real" contraction. At 12:10 I had another one, followed again at 12:14. I kept having them 4 minutes apart for an hour longer, then 3 minutes, then by 1:45 the contractions were 2 minutes apart. I had never gone into labor before (I was previously induced), but I had not expected my very first contractions to be so close together!  We stayed home until about 5 AM, when I called the doctor and he said to meet him at the hospital. Despite the contractions being so close together for so long, I was only dilated to a 5 when we arrived. By 7 AM the contractions were back-to-back, often having 3 in a row before any kind of break. It was complete back labor; I never felt anything in my stomach. I took some pain medication via IV then, and was told it would wear off in 1 hour. The doctor checked me again at 8 and said the baby should be here in 30-45 minutes. I asked for an epidural. He and all the nurses tried their hardest to encourage me to just stay natural because I was so close and had made it through so much, but somehow I still chickened out. I got it at the same point last time with Hadley. For some reason the pushing scares me. Maybe next time I will toughen up and finish it! Our sweet baby girl was born at 8:47 AM after less than 5 minutes of pushing. She was perfect!

History of her name:
Madison: I picked out this name when I was about 6 years old. I had a doll named Madison, and I declared then that someday I would have a daughter and name her Madison.  Over the time of the pregnancy we went back and forth with whether or not to stick to it. We made list after list of names and did not make the final decision until I was having back-to-back contractions at the hospital.  When it came down to the wire, I knew I would regret it if I did not name my daughter the name I had been calling her my entire life.
Lidia: Our sweet girl has a very special middle name. She is named after her maternal (Linda) and paternal (Dianne) grandmothers.  These are phenomenal women who exemplify strength, compassion, and a deep commitment to family.  Also, a few months ago I was doing some family history work and discovered that my paternal grandmother had a sister named Lydia (spelled the traditional way), making the family name even more significant!

Welcome to the outside world!

Weighing in at 7lbs., 5 oz.

Measuring 20 inches

So precious!

First bath - no fun!

Clean and gorgeous

Meeting Mommy... She stole my heart.

Having my newborn baby placed in my arms is such a unique emotion.  I cry every single time.  I am overjoyed to finally meet my child face-to-face and overwhelmed with gratefulness that Heavenly Father has blessed me with one more of His precious children.  I love being a mother!!!