Our Baby Girl!

So, this is obviously a little late...but, Matt and I are proud to announce the arrival of our baby girl, Emerson Jo!!

Born April 11th, 2009 at 6:44pm, weighing 7lbs, 3oz, and measuring 19in long! She has a ton of dark brown hair and is just absolutely beautiful!

She's now 2 weeks and 1 day old and we've enjoyed absolutely every single moment with her! She's a wonderfully laid back little girl who enjoys eating lot, sleeping a lot and is already pooping at a 5th grade level!

Her big sister Wrigley just loves her awful and is very protective of her! Her favorite thing to do is watch over her and lick all of the baby lotion off of her hands and feet! But Emerson is always comforted by Wrigley's little nudges, letting her know that she's close. It's really very cute!

My labor was nice and easy going. My water broke around 930a on that Saturday morning - my theory is that Emerson was just waiting for her daddy to arrive in Pekin...he got there around 9p the night before! We got to the hospital (Methodist Medical Center in Peoria) and were admitted around 10a. I made it to about 6cm before my contractions got a little too uncomfortable and I got my epidural - this was around 2p. By 430-5pm, I was complete and pushing. According to mom, I was a great pusher...however, by 6pm, we realized that Emerson was asynclitic (crooked) and trying to come down a little cock-eyed...and it was then that Mom consulted the doc she has her practice with and it was decided that I would need a c-section. I cried - and cried. Not only was this not what I had hoped for or planned for - I was scared sh*tless. Never had I had surgery before...I'd watched about 50 cesareans over the course of my life, but never did I think I'd be the one on the table. I wanted my mom to deliver Emerson, and I wanted Matt to help her - that was the plan. Now I faced being stuck on an operating table, with a drape up so I couldn't see anything, and not being able to immediately hold my little girl...

Dr. Boyd was great. He really took every extra step to make sure that it was still special for me. The section started at 1842 and by 1844 our little girl had arrived. Before he pulled her out, he had the CRNA drop the drape and lift my head so that I could watch...and she was beautiful - and had the most amazing chubby cheeks ever! He held her over the top of the drape after they cut her free so that I could see her upclose and touch her. Then I just laid there and cried. Our little girl was finally here!

I was lucky enough to have both mom and Matt there in the OR with me. They video taped the entire thing - and I don't know how many times I've watched it - and every time I cry. Damn hormones ;o)

Matt was amazing. He immediately went over to Emerson and watched as they did everything. He got to cut what was left of her cord. However, I got to hold her first. She was crying and crying and proving to us that her lungs worked just fine - and they set her in my arms and I said "Hi baby girl" and she immediately stopped. That was the most amazing moment of my life thus far. Just incredible. We just stared at each other.

Matt and mom escorted her to the nursery - and on the way, stopped to see Grampy Dean, Grandma Dori and Grandpa Roger, all waiting in the waiting room. Matt got some pretty neat pictures of them taking her in. Once I was in recovery, after Matt had already rejoined me, mom brought Emerson back to us. That's when I got my first real chance to see her while sitting up and take her in completely. Of course, I'm biased, but she's just absolutely beautiful.

We spent 48 hours in the hospital, where, of course, we received excellent care - and should have - as we knew all of my nurses! We absolulely loved Jody, Pammy, Melanie, Mary, Janel, Kim and Karla! Jody even bought us dinner after the section!

We spent the following week at my parents - getting adjusted to life with a new baby. Luckily, mom had taken vacation time to stay at home and help us. Unfortunately, Emerson was a little jaundiced - so we had daily blood draws for her to check her bilirubin levels...by the end of the week, they were finally back down and we were cleared. The only upside to any of that, was that it got us out of the house at least once during the day...

We've now spent one week at our own home with Emerson. It's been an adjustment, especially with Matt back at work and me on a driving/lifting restriction. But thanks to good friends and a very laid back, sleepy baby, I was able to get plenty of rest and even out of the apartment for a little bit.

We spent this weekend back at my parents, as today was my 27th birthday. It was a nice laid back day, not a lot of hoopla and very relaxing. The best gift I got came 2 weeks and 1 day earlier...at 6:44pm :o)