Emma Lynn was born Friday March 7 at 8:27am. She was 6lbs 15oz 19 in. (so much for being really small and needing all that extra monitoring.) I'd never had a baby before my due date so I wasn't quite prepared. I still had cleaning and a few other things to get done but...
Wednesday night I started having contractions every 5-20 min from around midnight that lasted until about 6am. They weren't super painful but made getting a good night sleep impossible. I guess that should have been my clue she was coming soon.
Thursday I started having contractions again around 4pm. They were still pretty random so I figured it would just be like the night before. I went to bed around 10 hoping to get some sleep but got up around midnight and walked around the living room since contractions were too painful for sleep. I timed them and they were coming about every 5 min. Finally at 1:00 I woke up Jake and told him I was pretty sure I was in labor this time and wanted to get an epidural so I could sleep (since I hadn't slept the night before either.) We finished packing our hospital bag (nothing like waiting until the last minute) and called the hospital and my friend Marybeth. She was so nice to come over and sleep on our couch and get my kids off to school the next day. She also cleaned my house for me!
So we got to the hospital about 2 am. They told me I could bypass triage since it was my 4th. The nurse checked me and I was between 6 and 7 (I had still been at 1cm at my appt. on Monday.) I told the nurse I was ready for an epidural and some sleep. I think I got the epidural around 3:00 ( Jake had to sit down- I thought he was going to pass out and the nurses did too- they went and got him some juice.). I'm sure the epidural slowed down my labor but I felt so much better and got a few hours of sleep in.
Around 7:00 my doctor got there and they had me start to push. I tried and tried for 30 min or so and baby wasn't moving much. She was face up (just like Austin was) and not moving. Rather than wear me out with pushing or trying a vacuum they flipped me on my side and put a "peanut pillow" between my legs in hope that she would turn. I also think they turned down my epidural a bit so I could feel to push better. Jake was a little faint again so we sent him to get breakfast while we waited. A while later I felt a lot of pressure. I'm so glad I was still pretty much numb with the epidural - just the pressure was really uncomfortable I'm sure it would have been really painful! My doctor came back in and with one push Emma was out! What a relief that feeling is!! She cried right away and they put her on my chest. It is such an overwhelming feeling -the relief from the pressure, the happiness of a new baby. It's amazing!
Now for a picture overload...
With Dr. Hatton
Handsome husband with cute new baby
Jake picked up the kids after school and They were so excited to see their sister!
Austin was checking out her tiny hands and fingers.
The kids spent the night at another friends' house. (Thank you so much Rachel Ure!!) They were so excited to have a sleepover with friends.
We got to come home on Saturday. My mom flew in that day and I was so ready to be home. Nobody sleeps well in a hospital.
She sure is cute but she has some really good lungs and sure lets me know if she doesn't like something. I'm hoping she calms down a bit as she gets a little older. We are so happy to have her in our home though. All the kids have been great with her. Austin keeps saying "cute baby." He's been really nice to her. He does want me to hold him more and tells me sometime to put baby down but overall it has been a good adjustment. We'll see how it goes when my mom leaves on Tuesday though. It's been so nice to have her here. I haven't had to cook a whole meal or clean my house, and she has been such a great help playing with the kids or holding the baby. She also has helped finish a lot of projects I'll post about later. Thank you mom!!!
