1 Month (4 weeks)

Thanks to February being 28 days, Emery is both 1 month and 4 weeks old today!!!

(I had fun using iron-on transfer paper to make this 1 month onesie!)

Her 4th week was pretty tame.  She was a little less fussy, so I hope that keeps up!

This week E really started liking her Little Lamb Swing.

She has used it since the day we brought her home, but until now, she wasn't really sold on it.  I've started putting her in the swing for naps, and she sleeps like a champ.  Nighttime sleeping is a different story, but hey, small steps!

Abraham decided that I needed to learn how to bathe her, so I gave it a shot, and I think I did a pretty good job.

And I think E was a satisfied customer!

On Thursday, I decided to venture out to Target with her to pick up a baby shower gift.  I got her all ready to go, and she looked so cute I just had to snap some pictures.

Just as soon as I grabbed my keys and purse to walk out the door, E projectile vomited all over herself.  It then ran down through the bottom of the carseat, to the couch below, between the couch cushions, and down to the carpet.  Nice.  Needless to say, it took us a little longer to get to Target.

We ended week 4 with a visit from Grandma and Grandpa D.  They watched E for us while we went to a baby shower and church.  We missed our girl, but it was nice to get out a bit.  We all went out to dinner Saturday night.  This was the second time we've taken E to a restaurant, and both times have been a success!

Emery, you amaze us each day.  Thank you for putting up with us as we figure this parenting thing out!

Emery's Newborn Portraits

I love newborn portraits, so it was very important to me to have good ones taken.  Life with a newborn can be hectic, but I made sure to schedule a session right away.  Kasey Marsh, of Monkey Tree Photography, came out to our house when Emery was 5 days old and spent 3 hours with us to make sure she got good pictures.

We have been anxiously waiting to see the results, and I was very pleased. 

Emery's Newborn Portraits

Hope you like them!

First 3 Weeks

Emery is 3 weeks old today!  The time has flown by and seemed like eternity at the same time. 

Week 1:

The first week flew by and remains somewhat of a blur!  Since E was born so early in the morning, we had plenty of time for visitors that first day.  Grandma and Grandpa K spent the night at the hospital, so they met E first, went home to get some rest, then came back later with Solomon and Delilah.  Grandma and Grandpa D drove in from SM just in time for E to come back from observation.  They stayed until that afternoon and then drove home so Grandma could work the next day.  Later that evening we got a visit from two of my coworkers - Lori and Dana.  All in all, the first day was exhausting but fun.

The next day was Valentine's Day (one of my favorite holidays) and was much more relaxed and quiet.  Joe and Ana came to visit, but other than that, it was just our new little family!

By Tuesday, I was itching to leave the hospital.  I was discharged much earlier than I had expected, but it took another couple of hours to get the baby's paperwork.  We finally left, and it was really nice to get home.

E had her first pediatrician appointment on Thursday.  Everything looked good, but she was down to 7 lbs. 5 oz., so we had to fatten her up!

Grandma D came to visit for the weekend and cooked us lots of good food (some of which we still have frozen)!

We spent most of that first week trying to figure out how to get E to sleep (the carseat worked wonders), how much to feed her, and how to change a diaper without getting poop everywhere.  

Week 2:

Things calmed down during the second week as we started to get the hang of things.  Abraham went back to work half way through the week, and while I was dreading that, it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.  

Emery had her second pediatrician appointment that Friday and she was up to 8 lbs. 3 oz. and 20.5", so we were given the ok to let her sleep as long as she wanted at night.  The pediatrician also said I could take her to stores and restaurants as long as I kept her covered which made me very happy!

Week 3:

The third week was more getting used to baby.  It was also a big week for excursions.  E made trips to Target, HEB, a chinese buffet, and Bank of America.  It was a little stressful at times, but overall it was nice to get out of the house.

Emery also lost her umbilical cord stump this week and got her first real bath.  Daddy has taken charge of bath time because he is better at it than me!

I've tried to introduce some new toys to E, but so far she isn't very interested.

I know she's only 3 weeks old, but I can already see such a difference in her size and appearance.  I'm trying to document all of this as much as I can because I know she won't slow down anytime soon!

Delivery - The Aftermath

So when you have a baby (at least at our hospital), the plan is as follows:

1.  Have baby.
2.  Baby and Mommy get cleaned up.
3.  Baby stays in room with Mommy and Daddy for 1 hour.
4.  Baby goes to nursery for bath/tests/etc. and Mommy goes to postpartum room.
5.  Happy family is reunited a few hours later.

That is not exactly what happened for us.  Pregnancy and labor had gone so smoothly that I guess I was due for something to go wrong.  Luckily, I usually don't set myself up for disappointment by having high/specific expectations, so I took it all in stride.

I'll spare you the gory details of why this happened, but basically I lost 4 times the amount of blood you are supposed to lose when you have a baby - a total of about 2000 mL.  Later, my dad pointed out that 2000 mL equals 2 liters.  That made it sound like even more, so I like to stick with milliliters since they sound small!

The delivery room was very chaotic during this ordeal, and as time went by, the doctor's voice sounded more and more concerned/alarmed/nervous.  After more than an hour of trying all kinds of techniques and drugs, they were finally able to stop the bleeding.  Unfortunately, that meant that my brand new baby girl was already sent to the nursery, and I hadn't even gotten to hold her.

Although this was not how I envisioned the moments after the delivery, in the end, everything turned out okay.  I got to hold my daughter about 4 1/2 hours after she was born, and it was incredibly emotional as you can see below.

Now I get to hold her whenever I want, and she is too cute for words!

Happy Birthday Emery

When my due date came and there was no sign of Emery, my doctor scheduled an induction for the following Tuesday.  Emery had other plans.

On Saturday, I started worrying that my water had broken.  I hadn't experienced the typical gush, so I wasn't sure.  I called the doctor and she wanted me to get checked out just in case, so we packed up and headed to the hospital.  Here is a picture right before we left.

My cousin Ginger works in labor and delivery, so she checked me out and told me that my water had indeed broken 2 1/2 days before.  This can cause a risk of infection, so they started me on pitocin right away.

Here is a timeline of my labor:

5:15 PM got to hospital
5:50 PM found out water broke
6:15 PM IV started
6:40 PM pitocin started
7:30 PM start feeling uncomfortable
9:00 PM threw up and was given meds for nausea
10:20 PM asked for epidural
10:40 PM got epidural
11:15 PM epidural kicked in  (great decision...see picture below)

11:30 PM catheter inserted and cervix checked (thin and 5cm)
1:00 - 3:00 AM tried to sleep
3:00 AM cervix checked (10 cm ready to push)
        call dr (20 min away)
        can already see long dark hair
3:30 AM start pushing
3:55 AM EMERY IS BORN!

Overall, I think my labor went really well.  It was what happened next that was kind of scary...

...TO BE CONTINUED

Due Date

Emery was due to be born February 10, 2011. 

What was I doing that day?

Having a baby?  No.

Relaxing with my feet up?  No.

Teaching a bunch of 6th graders?  Yes.

I actually taught the next day too!  I had one of my students take a picture so I'd have proof!

Baby Shower

I really thought I'd have a baby by now (thanks to the doctor telling me for 2 1/2 weeks that it would be any day now), but I don't, so I guess I should post something here.

Here are some pictures of the baby shower Abraham's mom threw me in January.

Diaper cake courtesy of my mom.

Abraham was really excited about his hat...

The aftermath...

Overall, we felt really blessed to have such great family and friends to celebrate with!