In honor of 9 months out of my belly, here’s a little “get to know Maddox” for those who don’t know how this journey started — his birth.

Maddox was supposed to be a planned induction on April 24th, 2025. That Monday, I started having extreme Braxton Hicks. And let me tell you… my stomach would not stop tightening. I was SO uncomfortable. I powered through teaching my 5th graders and decided to go home and put my feet up (lol with two toddlers still at the house 😅). 

 

Well, things didn’t get better, and his movements decreased, so we went in just to be safe. Maddox ended up being born on Tuesday, April 22nd, 2025 (Earth Day baby 🌎). It was the easiest labor by far, one contraction and three pushes and he was out. 

 

He came out totally fine. He nursed. The NICU team and doctors were actually quite impressed. They still wanted to monitor him just to be safe, but the first 24 hours were great. 

 

Shortly after, Thor and I went back to our room and got a call from the doctor. Maddox had started having seizures. 

 

We rushed back, and seeing him still seizing with all the doctors around him was the scariest moment of my life. I remember calling my sister and just telling her how scared I was. They bolused him with a lot of medication and he immediately went limp, another terrifying moment. My baby went from “normal” to mouth open, completely still. 

 

That’s when the neurologist told us that Maddox’s brain likely had more abnormalities than we were originally expecting. 

 

The next 19 days were challenging, to say the least. I know it could have been so much worse, and there were (and still are) so many other babies in there for far worse and much longer… but a NICU stay is no joke. 

 

The mom guilt of not being home with my other two girls, the countless hours just sitting in a room alone — it was hard. Really hard. 

 

We had to overcome obstacle after obstacle in the NICU and had some serious, heavy conversations with many doctors. 

 

It was exhausting. Emotional. And nothing can really prepare you for it. 

 

I’ll share more about his NICU stay and what makes Maddox so unique another day, this is just the beginning of his story. 🤍