Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Emma's Birth Story

I can't believe Emma is 6 months old and I still haven't written down her birth story!

On Tuesday around 4pm I suddenly felt very strange, pretty sick and uncomfortable, I was also having pretty consistent contractions about 3 minutes apart. I had been having tons of contractions before so I didn't think too much of it but along with the strange feeling and a slight increase in intensity I was getting nervous that this was the real thing. I called Peter at work. He said he would come home right away but I really didn't want him to come for a false alarm so I said I would call him back in about 15 minutes too let him know if things were still the same. They were, so Peter headed home and my mother in law came over to help watch the kids. The contractions were getting stronger and still consistently about 3 minutes apart. We started getting a few last minute things ready for the hospital. Peter's Dad was concerned that we were not headed to he hospital straight away but I just didn't feel that we needed to go just yet and I wanted to labor as much as possible at home.

And then everything stopped! I was feel so foolish for getting everyone worked up for nothing. We decided to go on a walk around the neighbourhood and I had some very painful contractions while we were walking but that was it! I went to bed so frustrated and confused about what was going on. Peters mom stayed the night just in case. The next morning Lyn went home and I started having some contractions again! So I ended up calling my doctors office. I kept feeling like this was labor but couldn't figure out why things weren't progressing. They told me to come in and be checked. We went to my doctors office but they told us we needed to go to the other office up at Mckay Dee hospital. So we dropped the boys off at Peter's parents and headed up to the hospital. When we got there they hooked me up to a monitor for 20 minutes. I was really frustrated with this because it wasn't really reading what was going on and the nurse and I could see and feel how tight my stomach was getting and knew I was having serious contractions. I really wanted to be checked to see what was going on. Finally we were done with the monitor and the nurse checked me. I was only at a 3. She told us to go and walk around for a while and then come back.

We went over to the mall and walked around for a while then went to Chili's for lunch. I ordered steak, its always the right time to eat steak, and it was amazing. Then we headed back to the hospital. This time I was at a 4 and officially in labor, so we were finally admitted. I called my mom at this point and she said she was going to fly in the next day. I was really nervous about that plan because even though we were admitted I still didn't feel like this baby was really going to come. We hung out and things were pretty mild. We started talking about breaking my water when I was at a 5 because things had stopped again! Our Dr was about to go do a C-section so we decided to wait until after that to do anything. Right after we decided that things started to pick and get pretty intense. I was really nervous. I hadn't had an epidural with the boys and didn't regret that at all but this time i just didn't feel strong enough. The whole pregnancy I had been practicing relaxation techniques, reading books on hypnobirthing etc. I still felt like trying to have a natural birth was the right thing to do but my head wasn't quite there. I just felt so exhausted it was hard to muster up the energy physically and mentally that I needed. Things started getting hard and I was handling it, better than I had before with previous labors but I just kept thinking about how bad it could get and decided to get an epidural. Once I made that decision I felt so much better.

The anesthesiologist was amazing and the whole experience was much less uncomfortable than I had anticipated. My left side went numb super fast and with a little maneuvering I was completely comfortable. It was such a strange sensation. I was a 7 at this point. About an hour later we noticed Emma's heart rate drop down to the 60's. I tried adjusting the monitor but that didn't help so we called the nurse. We were so anxious when our Dr walked inr all decked out for a delivery a couple nurses and a tray of equipment. We thought something was really wrong. My doctor checked me and said, ok she is coming right now. Peter and I looked at each other...really?! It was so strange to be at a point where I knew I should be in a lot of pain but to feel nothing. I double checked with the dr that nothing was wrong and she said that the heart rate can drop when the baby starts to crown. I only had to push 3 times and our baby girl was born.

 Getting to hold her for the first time was so wonderful, I felt like I had known her forever. We had struggled coming up with a middle name for her and had a few ideas in mind but as I was holding her I knew that we should name her Emma Rachel. We had never even thought of the name Rachel but it fit her perfectly. Though I have to admit, it took me a while to finally make it official because I had been really set on some of the other middle names but nothing fit her as well. We are so glad everything went so well and that we have such a beautiful and healthy little girl :-)

All the pictures from the hospital I took on my phone and I can't get them off since I can't find my memory card. Anyways here are a few we took right after we got home :-)
 Quinn and his new baby sister
 Big stretch!
 Me and my little girl. She was all over the place so the pic is a little blurry, sorry.
 Grandma and Lil' Em
 Another blurry pic...Me, Quinn and Emma
Taking a nap with a newborn is seriously the best. I love snuggling with such a tiny little person :-)

Tuesday, May 28, 2013

6 months

 This sweet beautiful girl is 6 months old today! Its gone by so fast but at the same time it feels like she has always been a part of our family. She is our sunshine and I love how happy she makes everyone around her.
 Em loves to see what is going on. She loves to watch people and I often see her straining to get a better look. She also loves to stand and will take some steps when you are holding her hands. Her favorite toys are her keys, a stuffed pig, taggy blanket and balls. She loves to pass a ball back and forth and of course chew on it. Whenever I try to read she hits the pages and starts talking so loudly its a struggle to keep reading so mostly we just look at the pictures and she tells me the story :-) She loves to 'sing' especially in church and when I sing to her. When I put her down for naps she will sing and coo so sweetly as I sing to her, even when she has her binky (which she pretty much just chews on and doesn't suck), she lets it just sit in her mouth so she can sing. I love it! She gives the best snuggles, gets sad when I leave the room and has lots big smiles especially first thing in the morning. She loves her toes and sucking on them and rolling all over the floor. She rarely will sleep on her back and usually rolls onto her side but still likes to be swaddled. She sticks her legs straight into the air and then flips over, its so funny to watch. She doesn't laugh a whole lot, even with all her smiles but when she does it is awesome! Quinn is the best getting her to laugh, apparently him jumping up and down is funny :-) She also chuckles a lot when tickle her belly. We started giving her oatmeal last week and this girl can not get enough! She was grabbing the spoon out of my hand in an attempt to get more, ate everything I made and barely dribbled. Clearly eating is fun!
We love you Em!

Sunday, May 19, 2013

random pics

So definitely way behind on blogging but thought I would share a few pictures  :-)
 My 3 cuties. Quinn is so good at playing with Emma and was playing ball with her here :-)
 James ate all of the muffin tops...yep they really are the best part
 I really wanted a picture with me and all the kids...two out of three looking isn't bad right?
 James is very intense about firetrucks. He makes the best siren noises and always has us kiss them goodnight
This little girl loves baths! Can you believe she is almost 6 months already?!