November 26th Update

Madison had a little set back on her weight today. She went from 4lbs 5.7 ounces to 4lbs 3.2 ounces. However, she's been using a lot more energy on practicing bottle feedings. The NICU nurses often remind us that its a "2 steps forward and 1 step backwards" process.But,overall, it was a good day for little Maddie. Mom & dad had a good day too as they got to hold little Maddie and love on her a little. Daddy got to put little Maddie in her crib and tuck her in. Mommy enjoyed watching as daddy smiled from ear to ear as he did it. It's amazing how much joy and happiness this little one brings.

November 25th Update

Happy 1st Thanksgiving to our little Madison! We can't think of anything we're more grateful for than you. And, we're so grateful to our wonderful Father in Heaven for blessing us with such a precious little girl. We're also grateful at this time for the wonderful nurses and doctors at St. Marks who have been so wonderful. And for sweet family and friends who have been praying for you and asking about your progress and who've been there all along the way offering their love and support. We are so blessed and truly recognize the hand of the Savior in helping our little family during this time. We are so humbled and so grateful.

Today mom, dad and grandma Barksdale spent their Thanksgiving with Madison. We spent time holding and loving her. It was such a special day. Madison is so adorable and sweet. We just love her. The nurses took Maddie's O2 off last night, and told us today that ironically her oxygen-saturation levels were better now with the O2 off than when it was on. She also ate 20 cc's from the bottle at 2am this morning, and then let mommy feed her 16 cc's from the bottle at 2pm, and then again at 8pm she ate another 16 cc's from the bottle. She is really pushing to get to the next level. She is continuously amazing mom and dad of her progress and with how strong willed she is. She is amazing to us. She is now up 36 cc's per feeding, and her weight today is now up to 4lbs 5.7 ounces. She's growing stronger..the nurses tell us also that she has strong legs. She is always kicking her legs and throwing her blanket off. We are thrilled with her progress and look forward every day to having her home soon.

November 24th Update

Maddie continues to grow like a weed. Her weight is now at 4lbs 4.7 ounces. Today she ate 12 cc's from the bottle. She is really trying to work on those sucking skills.Now to just regulate that body temperature so she can move from her glass condo, isolett, into the open crib. This will be soon if she keeps up her volume of eating and digesting. As Madison increases the volume of her food intake her body is more able to regulate it's body temperature.

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving and we're not thinking about cooking or eating till we're stuffed. All we can think about is our beautiful daughter and what a gift she is,and how grateful we are and how blessed we feel. She is our special little angel and we are so humbled to be her parents.

November 23rd Update

The day's visits with Maddie were cut short as a major storm threatened to hit Northern Utah. Daddy was rushing to get to the hospital from Tooele where he was working for the day and was only able to see her for a few minutes for the day as he was worried about the looming storm. But Mommy, Daddy, and Grandma were able to spend a little time with her and Kim held and fed her. She ate 10 cc's from the bottle which is the most thus far. We are really proud of her.

Maddie is growing consistently and she weighed in at 4lbs 3.1 ounces. She is growing so fast and one of the concerns we have is that she would be ready to leave the hospital before she hits 5 pds because our car seat is a min of 5 pds. But at the rate she is growing we may not have to worry about that.

The nurse tonight mentioned Maddie has really strong legs as she has been kicking her legs out of the blankets and up against the door of the isolet. We believe this as we have seen those little legs go when she is excited. :)

November 22nd Update

Baby Madison is GROWING... today she weighed in at 4 lbs 1 ounce, she gained 2.2 ounces in 1 day! She is still maintaining her feedings at 34 cc's with no residual; she is digesting it all. She was still in a slumber all day today, and has been really sleepy the past 3 days. We're told she grows when she sleeps... and this little girl must be dreaming about being BIGGER because the scale is showing just that. Mommy got to hold little Maddie up to her skin for todays visit and it was a special bonding moment. Baby Maddie seemed to like it too as she cuddled up to mom, and gave a big yawn and stretch when the nurse took her back to her little warm house. Daddy said today, that he thought it was just him, because he was definately bias, but everytime we go to visit Madison someone new is telling us how beautiful or how cute our sweet little Maddie is. We definately think so. We love her and can't wait to have her home.

November 21st Update

Madison is such a sweetheart. She continues to get bigger and cuter everyday. Today she weighed 3lbs 14.8 ounces and her feeding has gone up to 34 cc's. We learned that her recent setback on having to put her back on oxygen is due to her increased food she is being given. The nurse explained that as she is getting bigger and having to digest more food it requires more oxygen and her little lungs aren't able to pump as fast to keep her saturation levels up. Although we also found out that the oxygen they are giving her is very small she is averaging about 10-15cc's which is almost their lowest setting.

She was really lethargic when we visited her today and we tried to feed her but she only took in 4 cc's. I guess she just wanted to sleep she only opened her eyes a few times to make sure we were still there watching her.

November 20th Update

Today was Madison's baby shower. We're so grateful for so many wonderful friends and family who came in honor of little Maddie. Thank you to our dear friends for your beautiful gifts. We so love and appreciate you. Maddie will be looking so cute with her new wardrobe. And, thank you to our sweet friends who planned and hosted the shower. We appreciate your kindness and generousity.

While mommy was at Maddie's shower, daddy took grandpa Mortensen to the hospital where he had fun taking some pictures of his 'Princess Madison'. Today Madison went up 50 grams in weight; she is now at 3lbs 13.7 ounces. She did have a tiny set back and was put back on oxygen for the evening to help increase her saturation level. But, this is pretty normal because she's so little still. We love our little Maddie, and know she's a fighter so she'll be off the oxygen again, in no time.

November 19th Update

Maddies greatest highlight of the day was to be able to see her Grandma and Grandpa Mortensen as they came to visit her from Wyoming. It was a special night as Grandpa was able to see her for the first time and has already nicknamed her "Princess Madison." Grandma was excited as she was able to hold her for the first time. Maddie had so much fun that she slept right through it, but she made sure she kept one eye open so she could see what was going on.

Maddie's doing well as she is up to her full minimum feedings of 30 CC's, until she gets a little bigger. She had gained only a few tenths of an ounce during her weigh in today.

November 18th Update

Madison is now up to 3lbs 12.3 ounces. She continues to grow and lengthen her stride. She is now up to 30 cc's, the minimum feeding to keep out her IV. She has progressed so much in such a short time.
The next steps for Madison is to continue working on maintaining her body temperature so she can be taken out of the isolett unit. She will then move into an open crib. Once there, she will continue to work at increasing her food intake while working on eating without the use of the feeding tube. After she is able to maintain in these areas all she has left to do is eat her way out of the NICU. Our sweet little girl is such a fighter and anxious to come home. We love her and are so proud of her.
Lance and Kim were able to spend some time with Maddie last night. Mommy got to hold her precious baby. What a sweet moment. She's so pure and innocent. Straight from heaven. It's so easy to feel peace and love from our Heavenly Father just looking at her.

November 17th Update

Madison is consistent in her progress. She is a super star!!! By this morning she was up to 24 cc's of food per feeding and is not being fed fluids thru her IV anymore. Mommy has been home 2 days now and is still battling high blood pressure numbers, but is so glad to be out of the hospital and in her own bed.
By evening Madison had made some new impressive progress. She had reached 27 cc's and gained 2 ounces from the day before. She is now weighing 3lbs 10.8 ounces. The nurses also took out Maddies IV and the only thing she has in now is her feeding tube. The suck, swallow, breathe skill is something babies are stronger at by their 34th week, but already little Madison is showing off this skill. The nurses try to bottle feed once a day to give her the opportunity to practice this, and she is already proving to have it down. However, because it takes so much energy she usually falls asleep before she's eaten her serving. Both Lance and Kim were able to hold Maddie for about 10 minutes yesterday. It was worth every second! She's such a little sweetie and we love her so much. Seeing her is all we think about now.

November 16 Update

Our sweet baby Madison continues to be such an inspiration to us as she makes diligent strides forward in the NICU. She is now up to 20 cc's per feeding. Each time her feeding increases she's that much closer to having her IV removed. And, her weight is almost back up to her birth weight again. She's up to 3.69lbs!
Mommy is now home and on bed rest trying to stabilize her blood pressure. Today it was too high, so daddy made the visits alone to see Madison. By his evening visit, Maddie's feeding was up to 23 cc's and her weight had gone up to 3.9lbs. She is now past her birth weight!!! We are so proud of her!!! She'll be off her IV before we know it.
We look forward daily to seeing her and hearing an update on her progress. She continues to amaze us daily with her constant improvement. We love to visit her and just watch her. Looking at her it is evident that our Heavenly Father loves his children. And, the way we feel for her it's so easy to have a glimpse of understanding how precious each one of us is in his sight.
We want to take the opportunity today to express deep appreciation for our family and our wonderful friends that have been such a support to us during this time. We love and so appreciate you more than words can express.

November 15 Update

We caught some more footage of Maddie today as the nurse was taking her out to weigh her which hopefully is not an indication at her future tantrums, she was not happy at all being woken up from her slumber, we will have this on the website soon. She is weighed 3.67 pounds which is almost her birth weight.

She is up to 18 cc's of food per feeding now and her IV is being turned down each time at feeding. The nurses think that by Tuesday she may be off her IV completely only leaving the feeding tube and her monitor lines that will be attached going forward. We were really excited to hear this.

Kim was discharged tonight at around 7pm. And is on bed rest at home, and the Doctors think it will be several weeks before her blood pressure will return to normal levels. We will keep monitoring her and she has promised to take it easy for a few weeks to get ready for Maddie to come home.

November 14 Update

Maddie our little sweetheart has been doing so well. The nurses have said that with preemies they will usually take two steps forward and one step back, but in Madison's case she has just been making strides forward. We are so proud that she has been doing so well.

Sunday was a day behind the camera for her as we were able to take some good footage of her awake, waving and smiling at the camera, look for the footage soon on the site. Andrea and Ryan also came on Sunday and she had a photo shoot for Mommies baby shower this weekend.

Kim is still in the hospital and we are hoping she comes home Monday. We learned that her case was the worse case of preeclamsia this week at St Marks. She has been still struggling to get her blood pressure down.

November 13 Update

Today has been another good day and Madison continues to improve. The nurses tell us she's a "Rock Star" down in the NICU, and we believe it! She's so amazing to us as she makes such quick progress. Today she came off her oxygen completely-she is now breathing entirely on her own. She is also up to (11) cc's of food, and continues to digest it all. Today she is also improving on regulating her own body temperature. Before we know it she'll be out of her isolette and in a crib.
Grandma Barksdale got to visit with Madison for about an hour today. She was also told by the NICU nurses what a "fiesty" little girl Maddie is. We are thrilled to know we've got such a fighter. She is so beautiful. Mommy and daddy can't get enough of her. We love spending every minute we can just watching her. She's a beautiful little girl. It's neat to think that she recognizes our voices. The nurses tell us her oxygen level and heart rate both go up when we are there because she's excited. That always makes us feel good to know that she can improve just because we're present.
She is such a precious and special little girl. We are so grateful for her. We feel so humbled and blessed to have her in our lives.

November 12 Update

We learned from the nurses yesterday that Maddie is now taking in 7 cc's of milk now during her feedings. And Mom was able to feed her for her first time with a bottle in which Maddie did really well at feeding but she was a bit slow, (I think she was just savoring every drop of milk).

Mom and Dad were able to hold her yesterday and after they put her in her bed she performed for us by smiling and waving for us in which you can see in the video footage that we have uploaded.

The nurses also mentioned that they perform a test to determine if she is digesting all of the food they have been giving her called a residual test. It appears that everything is looking good as she has been digesting her food well. The nurses have also mentioned that they have backed off the amount of oxygen they are giving her which is a sign that her lungs are working a lot better. All in all little Maddie is working really hard right now to get better and is doing really well.

Kim on the other hand has been having some continued problems with her blood pressure and on Thursday the doctors moved her back on the Labor and Delivery floor for 24 hr observation and help in flushing out some of her fluids. She is also struggling with keeping her oxygen levels in tact. However after this short stint in Labor and Delivery she is now back on the Maternity floor and it appears her body is finally on the road to recovery.

Thanks again all for your prayers and blessings... We really appreciate all of you.

November 11 Update

Many of you are aware we welcomed our little angel into this world on Monday, November 8, 2010 at approx 9:54 pm. Kim had gone to the hospital that morning for tests. She had been placed on bed rest the week before due to complications related to high blood pressure. Monday night the doctors decided to deliver her as her blood pressure was rising and they were not able to control it.

Maddie was born at the 32 week 2 day mark in the pregnancy which means she will be in the NICU until sometime close to Christmas. However she is doing really well. On the first day the doctors in the NICU put her on a ventilator but that was only in her for approx 5 hours while they coated her lungs with a steroid that helped fill in the tiny holes in her lungs so that she is able to breathe on her own. Since then she has had a little trouble with her breathing but she is doing really well.

On Wednesday night the doctors started feeding her and she has responded really well to feedings. By Thursday night she was up to 3 cc's of food every 3 hours and the doctors will up the amount every day.

Thursday they also put her into an isolet which will keep her temperature regulated. Her little body is doing what it can to keep warm but this will ensure she is kept at the right temperature to survive this ordeal.

Thursday she received a priesthood blessing by Lance and the Bishop and the most amazing thing happened during the blessing she reached up and grabbed onto the Bishop's pinky finger. She must have really loved the blessing she received.

We would like to thank you all for the support and blessings you have poured out on little Maddie and Kim. Please keep them coming and we will try to update the site daily so all of you can know of her progress.