EPL - Our Birth Story

The day Emerson came into this world, our lives immediately changed forever. From the first little scream I heard her let out, I knew that everyday from now on would be about making sure she knew how much she was loved. And she is, so so loved.

Emerson Page

Born Wednesday, December 11, 2013 at 05:18 am

7 pounds 13 ounces and 20 inches long

I woke up Monday morning, having just had yet another "false" labor and thought to myself that I was never going to meet our Little Luda. Although I knew that wasn't true, I was just so anxious to meet her that every day that passed felt like an eternity. Shawn was with me most of the day on Monday and then he left to go out of town for work for a few days. As he was leaving he made sure to tell our Nugget to stay put, or to at least give Mommy and Daddy enough notice of the arrival so that Daddy could make it back in time to see the big debut.

Later that evening, I started to have what I was thinking could be real contractions, but because of all the false alarms, I ignored them as much as I could. As midnight rolled around I was still up and having the same contractions, so I thought maybe these are real and I am in early labor, which can last 12 or more hours. We had started to get some snow that morning, so I did let my good friends the Edwards know what I was experiencing, just in case things started to pick up and I needed a little help getting to the hospital.

Since I didn't get much sleep on Monday night I tried to take naps throughout the day on Tuesday, all while still experiencing the same contractions every 15 to 20 minutes. At around 4:30 or 5:00 in the evening the contractions started coming closer together more like every 10 minutes or so, so  I talked with my friend Liz and made the executive decision to drive to their house to stay for the night. I figured that even if this wasn't the real deal, that I had a doctor's appointment in the morning, so staying with them meant I was close to the hospital and my doctor's office.

As I got packed and started driving to their house, my contractions started coming closer together between 6 and 8 minutes, so I went ahead and ate dinner, because I knew they would starve me once I got to the hospital. I made the phone call to my Doctor and was told to wait until they were closer together, so at around 11:00 Liz drove me to the hospital.

When I arrived around 11:45 pm, I was 4 cm dilated and contracting every 4-5 minutes. I called Shawn and said it was go time. He got in his car and started heading home to meet who we would later know was his baby girl. After about 2 hours they checked me and told me I was 7 cm dilated, fully effaced and that baby was down and ready. The last 3 cm were the worst. Shaw arrived at 2:30 in the morning and relieved Liz from her duty as labor coach. She was AMAZING and I am so thankful that I had her there with my through part of the labor process.

I continued to labor, making rounds in the hallway and breathing through the contractions. It is amazing how your body just knows what to do. Our families arrived and my Mom came back and labored with me and Shawn through the worst of the pain. My water broke spontaneously around 4:45 and I started pushing a little after 5:00 in the morning. I pushed through 3 contractions and Emerson was out. She made her debut at 5:18 in the morning and Daddy was the one to tell me that,  "we were right, we got our baby girl!"

She is amazing. Absolutely perfect and we are two very proud parents!

Here are a few photos from her birthday, I'll post more later:

Me and Liz...right after Shawn got there. So thankful for her.

Our Baby Girl!

First Family Photo : )

Love those feet!

 Some thoughts on Pregnancy and my labor:

1. I loved being pregnant. Carrying our baby girl in my belly was one of the most amazing experiences of my life, and Shawn and I are so blessed to be used by God to create a masterpiece.

2. Running and staying active during pregnancy was the best decision I ever made in terms of my pregnancy. It helped me through the labor process and I believe is the main reason I was able to have a natural delivery.

3. Shawn is simply amazing and I am so thankful for his love and support through our pregnancy with baby Emerson and labor. (He did amazing.)

4. Labor was hard, but I'm thankful that I was able to not have an epidural and deliver naturally. The doctor was right. Just when I thought I couldn't do it any longer, I was moments away from meeting my daughter.

Thank you Lord for giving us this child. For trusting us with your daughter. Help us to be parents after your heart, so that we can raise a beautiful baby girl who loves and serves You with all of hers.

Waiting on the Babe

If someone had told me how much I would anticipate and long for the day that I am to hold our precious baby in my arms, I don't think I would have believed them. With every movement I feel and with each passing day, I know that I am closer to that anticipated day. I wake up every morning thinking, "Maybe today is the day we will meet our son or daughter." As you can guess, with each day that passes there is a hint of disappointment. Okay, maybe more than a hint, but you get the picture. We can not wait to meet this baby and know that God has a perfect birthday picked out for our most precious gift. 

I keep reminding myself that God's timing has been more than perfect with every step of this pregnancy. From the day we found out that we were expecting, we knew that God was the one calling the shots. That He was the one who had blessed us so tremendously and who has continued to bless us and our growing baby. Every time I think something may be less than picture perfect, God reveals just how perfect His plan is. He has done this time and time again in our lives and it is because of this fact that I hold confident to the knowledge that God is in control and his timing for the debut of our Nugget is going to be perfect!

"But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength,; they shall mount up on wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint." - Isaiah 40:31

So we wait. Using the time as wisely as we can, knowing that are lives as we know them are about to change forever, and in the most amazing way that they can. We anticipate the day with excitement, knowing that the day will come when we meet our Nugget and what a glorious day it shall be! 

39 weeks!

Along: 39 weeks! We're the size of a mini-watermelon! And here I thought we would be getting to meet our sweet baby sooner, rather than later. I'm thinking this baby is hanging in there until the end!

Size: Our Nugget is weighing in at about 7.25 pounds and is roughly 20 inches long. Our baby is continuing to build a layer of fat, which I am sure I have been helping with due to ALL the holiday goodies I have been over-indulging in, and the vernix and lanugo are nearly completely gone. My placenta is working extra hard to provide antibodies to help protect our Nugget from infections in the outside world, which is good seeing as we are getting to the peak of the dreaded flu season! I hope you all got your flu shots!

Total Weight Gain/Loss: Up 29 pounds. If I am honest, this is more than I wanted to gain. I was hoping to be around 25 pounds, but at this point what can I do! I have a feeling all the sweets I have been eating may or may not be a factor. Ooops!

Maternity Clothes: Love them.

Gender: Seeing as we are getting to the final countdown I am going to make my last and final guess at the baby's gender and say girl. Shawn and I are both on the same page with this one, but either way we are going to so happy when we can hold our Little Luda in our arms for the first time!

Movement: I'm going to say that movement is slowing down a bit, but they say that is normal. Our poor Nugget must be running out of room in there...you'd think that would give the baby incentive to make his or her appearance! 

Sleep:  I wake up a lot, but thankfully I am able to fall back to sleep pretty easily.

Exercise: Mainly walking, but throwing in a jog here and there. Nothing crazy though.

Cravings: Food, especially sweet food like pie, fudge, cookies.

Symptoms: Whelp, there hasn't been much change in the labor progression. I was hoping to be have some change at my appointment yesterday, but I'm still about 60% effaced and only 2 cm dilated. I had the dreaded induction talk with my doctor and it looks like if Little Luda hasn't made his or her appearance by next week, then we will be setting up an induction for December 17th. Prayers that he or she makes the big debut naturally would be greatly appreciated!

Best Moment of the Week: We set up our Christmas tree! Yay! I kept thinking that since Shawn and I are so in love with everything Christmas that having the tree set up would make our Nugget come right on out, but no such luck! He or she really likes it on the inside! : )

 

Just over 38 weeks in this picture...getting ready to deck the halls!

Thanksgiving with Shawn's Family

Thanksgiving. The beginning of the Holiday season and the perfect opening act for Christmas! This year we were blessed to be able to spend the Holiday with Shawn's family. Because I had to work, they drove up to our home and brought all the goodies with them! Between my side of the family and the Shawn's side the of the family, we have so much to be thankful for. This year has brought us to celebrate Engagements, BIG 50th Birthdays, Adoptions, Weddings, the anticipated arrival of another Grandchild for both families, and so much more. We are beyond blessed and in happy times and sad times we have so much to be thankful for.

"Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." - 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

We didn't take many, but here are a few pictures from our holiday celebration:

Shawn decided that even though we don't have cable yet, we had to be able to watch football, so the an antena it was!

And here is where all the extra pounds are coming from...

Our Nephew, Ethan, after a big meal of turkey and tea...I mean formula! Love this little man!

Shawn and his siblings, Kim and Keith.

38 weeks Pregnant on Turkey Day!

Praying that everyone had a great kick off to the holiday season! Christmas is right around the corner!

37 weeks and 6 Days : )

My sweet pumpkin (or basketball, as most people seem to think I am smuggling some sort of sporting equipment these days)...you can come ANY day now. Your Mommy and Daddy are so excited to meet you and the anticipation is starting to drive us crazy!

I'm really going to miss my bump! It's my favorite accessory!

Along: 37 weeks and 6 days! We're just about the size of a leek. (Since I know we will be super busy tomorrow, I decided to go ahead and update today!)

Size: Our Nugget is weighing in at about 6.8 pounds and is roughly 19.75 inches long. He or she has mature organs that are ready for life outside the womb! Yay! 38 weeks, was the goal after our little stint at the Birthing Inn a week and half ago, so we have made it and I'm pretty sure we are going to pass it!

Total Weight Gain/Loss: Up 26 pounds.

Maternity Clothes: Most days I am wearing maternity jeans and a maternity top. I figure I only have a few more weeks to rock the maternity wardrobe. 

Gender: We are literally DYING to find out! 2 weeks give or take!

Movement: Enjoying every bit of it, because I know I am going to miss it once it's gone. 

Sleep:  Sleep has bee pretty bad which means I am officially preparing for sleepless nights with the babe. 

Exercise: I was being a good patient and not running as to make it to 38 weeks, but since that is tomorrow, I think I may bring out my running/walking/jogging shoes so we can get this show on the road! ; )

Cravings: I'm eating smaller meals, but much more frequently. As of late I have been craving all things cinnamon which explains the cinnamon sugar pretzel and homemade snicker doodles we baked last night!

Symptoms: I'm definitely nesting. We went crazy in the kitchen yesterday baking and I have been going around the house making sure everything is just right for when Little Luda arrives. I even jumped the gun and put out our Christmas decorations, which I think is justified since Thanksgiving seems to be a little later than normal this year. I've also been have "contractions." Not sure if they are real or braxton hicks, but based on the fact that I was still only 1 cm dilated and 60% effaced on Monday, I'm going to go with braxton hicks. 

Best Moment of the Week: On Saturday Shawn and I did a little shopping and went to see the Hunger Games: Catching Fire. We had such a good day together. Just enjoying the two of us. As each day passes we get more and more excited to meet our little blessing, which makes us cherish each day even more, because we know that things will never be the same and that are lives will forever change, in a good way, once we hold our precious baby for the first time!

37 weeks!

So I figure I should start with what really matters...has there been any labor progression. And the answer is, yes. However, it was a little too much for my OB. On Tuesday afternoon I took advantage of the semi nice weather and went for a run/walk. I ran a little over a mile and half and walked 2 more miles. When I got back, sorry if this is TMI for some, I noticed a little spotting, so I did what I was supposed to do and called the OB because I was having some cramping as well. Little Luda was still bouncing around in my belly as usual, so I wasn't too concerned, but the OB did want me to go to the Birthing Inn, to be monitored. Shawn had just gotten home, so I took a shower, got ready, grabbed a snack and we headed to the hospital. When I got there, the nurse, like me wasn't too concerned and thought we would just monitor the baby for 30 minutes or so and then I'd get to head home. Well after 30 minutes the nurse came back and asked me if I was feeling anything. Turns out I was contracting every 3-4 minutes with a moderate intensity. Who knew that belly tightness and twinge in my back was a contraction...not this first time mom! Anyways, they had be down lots of fluid in hopes that a little hydration would slow the contractions, which it did not. The end result was a subcutaneous injection of Terbutaline, basically an anti-contraction medication. I'm still up in the air about the whole scenario, but Little Luda has handled everything like a champ, so that is all I am worried about. I went back to the OB yesterday and as of then I was 1 cm dilated and 20% effaced. Still a long ways to go, but hopefully we'll be meeting our Little Miss or Mister sooner rather than later!

 

Here we are hanging out getting monitored.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And now, our usual stats:

Along: 37 weeks...Little Luda is the size of a swiss chard.

Size: Our Nugget is weighing in at about 6.3 lb and measuring roughly 19.25 inches. At this time our baby's organs should be fully developed and prepared for the outside world. Yay!

Total Weight Gain/Loss: 25 pounds as of yesterday. 

Maternity Clothes: Loving all my stretchy, comfy clothes! Thanks mom for spoiling me!

Gender: I had a baby boy dream last night, but in my dream Shawn and I each had a different name picked out for the baby. I can't wait to know if I am going to have a son or daughter...any hour/day/week would be fine by me!

Movement: We're still having lots of movements, although I am noticing that our Nugget seems to be super active and then rest for a while...maybe he or she is forming sleep patterns already? I'm just going to plan for no sleep and be super excited if I get any!

Sleep:  I've had a few bad nights this week with lots of hip pain and cramping (which I now know are contractions). However, I've had time for naps in between getting everything ready for the baby, so I still feel pretty rested throughout the day.

Exercise: I was still running up until Tuesday, but I think I am going to stick to walking from here on out with a little pre-natal yoga thrown in there just for kicks.

Cravings: I have loved PB and Banana bagels this week and have started making a weekly visit to Panera Bread for a Cinnamon Crunch Bagel and Decaf Pumpkin Spice Latte. Definitely one of my favorite moments of the week!

Symptoms: Looks like I can officially put contractions on here as well as the hip and sciatic nerve pain. Heartburn has been it's usual...we totally should have invested stock in Tums!

Best Moment of the Week: On Saturday my parents came up for the evening to bring us our glider for the nursery and to help install ceiling fans in all the rooms. We had our blinds installed that day as well, so there were a lot of items checked off our list of to do's before Little Luda arrives and it felt great! The nursery is 95% finished with just a few things to hang and of course a Nugget to arrive! I'm so happy with how it turned out! Here are few pictures:

 

Don't worry, the Teddy Bear (aka Georgia), will not be sleeping with the Nugget!

 

 

 

Where have the past 9 months gone?!? 36 weeks today!

My precious Little Luda, I can not believe that you have been growing in my belly for 9 months. It seems like only yesterday that I was telling your Daddy that you'd be arriving in December and now we are just weeks away from your big debut! We love you so much already and can't wait to hold you in our arms for the first time! And as always, bake baby, bake!

(Sorry for the cheesy mirror pictures, it was the best I could do this evening.)

Along: 36 weeks...Little Luda is the size of a head of romaine lettuce!

Size: Our Nugget is continuing to pack on the chub at a rate of about an ounce a day. He or she now weighs nearly 6 pounds and could be more than 18.5 inches long. All of these weights and lengths are estimated based on the average weights/heights of babies, but I'm thinking they may be pretty accurate. Only time will tell! Little Luda is also starting to shed the downy covering of hair that has been on his or her body as well as the vernix caseosa, the waxy substance that has been protecting our Nugget's skin for the last 9 months from the amniotic fluid. At this point our Nugget is estimated to be head down, yay! We start weekly appointments next week and we will know more about Little Luda's position and labor progression then.

Total Weight Gain/Loss: My guess is between 24 and 26 pounds, maybe more. Little Luda and I are definitely packing on the pounds here towards the end. Again we will have an official number next week after our appointment on Wednesday.

Maternity Clothes: Mostly maternity clothes with a few sweaters and such that still work from pre-pregnancy.

Gender: We may be on the boy train...Shawn had the first baby boy dream that either of us have had throughout the pregnancy last night. Up until now we have both only had baby girl dreams and can I just say, I LOVE that he dreams about our Baby too!

Movement: Still staying super active. I know that it is normal for movement to slow down as our little one runs out of room in my belly, but I'm hoping that he or she keeps on kicking and rolling until the very end. I love every movement I feel and think that it is definitely going to be something I miss once Little Luda arrives.

Sleep: We had a really busy weekend, so sleep was minimal, but I still have felt pretty rested, which is all that I can ask for.

Exercise: We ran the FCA 5k this past Sunday with my family. Little Luda and I finished in just over 36 minutes, we did a combination of walk/running, and I ended up placing third in my age group. I was pretty proud of myself to have been able to do that at nearly 9 months pregnant. Since then I have doing my normal walks/jogs and prenatal yoga to keep me feeling active without over doing it.

Cravings: Carbs, coffee and chocolate. I have allowed myself more decaffeinated drinks this week. I was originally avoiding coffee all together, but I have definitely enjoyed indulging.

Symptoms: Heart burn, back pain, legs cramps and PREGNANCY BRAIN. I seem to be forgetting everything. I left my glasses and phone charger at my parents house and forgot to close the garage all in one day. At least I remember to lock to the door to the house, right?!

Best Moment of the Week: We have had quite the week. Last Thursday I left for North Carolina and spent the weekend celebrating my cousin Jennifer and her now husband, Casey! We had such a fun weekend. Nails, bridesmaid luncheon and rehearsal dinner on Friday and of course the big celebration on Saturday. Everything was absolutely beautiful and I love that all the hard work Jen put into making her wedding one of a kind came together beautifully!

AND THEN, on Sunday I was blown away, by my cousin/friend Laura as she asked me to stand beside her on her big day in March! Laura and I grew up together, our Dad's are first cousins making us third cousins, and she has remained someone that I know I can count on at anytime in my life. I have loved seeing her relationship with her soon to be Hubby, Mike, develop and look forward to sharing with them in celebrating their love for one another. Let the party planning and bridesmaid fun begin!