Emma Live

Emma wanted to take a second and say hi to everyone she hasn't gotten to meet yet. I also thought this would be a good way to feed Mae's recent addiction :) Hope everyone is doing well, and as always there will be more to follow.

This is what happiness looks like...

Ihave finally found a few minutes to sit down and update the blog. As Kevin mentioned in a previous post, I had a last minute c-section due to a bad induction. Everything went perfectly and we were able to come home on Saturday. They are still monitoring my blood pressure because it has continued to rise. My doc started me on a short term dose of medicine today which will hopefully bring it down.
The last few days have went by in a blur. Having Emma home is more wonderful than we had imagined. I find myself just staring at her and falling in love with all her cute little facial expressions and grunts. So far, she has been an easy baby and we're not feeling too sleep deprived yet. Since she was so little, Kevin had to go buy a few premie sized outfits so we would have some clothes that fit her. I must say she looks just darling in the little outfits Kevin has picked out for her.
I can't wait to try and upload a little video we made of her yesterday; it's darling. We'll keep everyone posted and will put up more pictures. Thank you to everyone for all your prayers, support. Emma is lucky to have so many people love her.

Emma has arrived!!!

WE just wanted to let everyone know that Emma was born at 9:08 this morning by c-section. They tried inducing her but it did not really work. But both are doing well and the baby is a massive 5lbs. 14oz. Here are some pics, i;m sure more will follow soon.

Induction tomorrow morning

So they finally decided that enough is enough. Mandy went to her appointment on monday and not suprisingly they decided to keep her. After another day and a half of high blood pressures and headaches, they have decided to induce her. They will begin the pitocin at 0600 tomorrow morning, so hopefully miss emma will make her debut shortly after (8,10,15,20 hours or so....). There is some concern that Mandy may require a C-section because they are not sure if the cervix will be ready, she has a narrow pelvic arch, and the ever present high blood pressure. However, things will go as God (and medicine) has planned, and hopefully things will be well and both Mandy and Emma will stay well. All the tests show that Emma is head down and healthy, so now we just have to help her into the world. We will keep posted as we can and hopefully pictures will follow soon.

House Arrest

This past Wednesday I was placed on bed rest. Or, as I am referring to it, house arrest. I went in for a routine visit on Wed afternoon and my blood pressure was elevated a bit and I had some protein in my urine. My doctor sent me over to labor and delivery to have the baby checked and get some testing done. They then decided to keep me overnight for "observation" which turned into 2 nights. I got to come home this afternoon. I'm going back to the office Monday for some more tests and an exam. I am really really really hoping that I will either go into labor soon or will be induced. I'm full term so Emma should be able to be born safely. Also, I don't want things to get worse and start to feel more sick, which my doctor said will probably happen. And, I don't want to waste several weeks of my maternity leave lying on the couch.

According to my doctor, I can get up to shower and go to the bathroom and that's all. He said I can't do anything in the baby room, put away dishes, fold laundary, etc. Basically, that means poor Kevin is on his own for now. He has been totally awesome. In fact, right now he is at Price Cutter getting me some ice cream and snacks. He made some yummy dinner tonight and then picked up some around the house. It was so hard to just sit here on the couch and watch him do things. He has been totally accomodating and loving and I could not ask for anything more. I'll let everyone know how my visit on Monday goes. Maybe Emma's arrival won't be too far away. And, if it is, I'm open to suggestions for some good books to keep me occupied!

Emma's Nursery

Emma's nursery theme is called Tropical Punch. We thought it was really cute because it wasn't too pink and had lots of fun colors. We still need to hang her curtains and there's nothing on the walls. It will be several months before she ever sleeps in here since her room is upstairs and ours is downstairs. In the meantime, it will just sit and be pretty and we'll come up to visit it and change clothes.

We went to Toys R Us today and bought another carseat base to have put in Kevin's car. We also got some netting that can fit over her playard and the crib, hoping it will keep Jack out of there when she's sleeping. Kevin also got the Dr. Seuss book Hop on Pop which he says is an essential. We then went to Hannah Bananas (my new favorite place) and had some gourmet ice cream. Yum!

I feel like I should be productive and get some housework done but what I really want is a nap. I've been really sleepy lately. I guess I should take advantage of sleep while I can. I'm feeling good for the most part but it's become pretty uncomfortable to walk/stand. There's so much pressure on my bladder and pelvis, it kinda hurts. Oh well, not much longer.

I am praying that God will let me work up until I deliver. I really need to be at my job as much as I can for as long as I can. I'm trying to get someone up to speed on all my duties so that they can cover me while I'm gone. This past week I've really started to feel crummy, though, and I'm hoping this doesn't mean I'll have to go on leave early. That's all for now. I'm going to try to get some more pics up of some of our favorite things people have gotten us for Emma as well as a really cute Halloween outfit we found for her. Hope all is well with everyone, lots of love!

Happy Labor Day

Today is the first day Kevin and I have both had the entire day off together in a long time. So, we've taken advantage of the occassion by not getting out of bed and having breakfast until 11. It's now 4pm and I haven't changed out of my pajamas. Ah, the good life. We won't have too many more of these type of days with Emma coming so soon.

Things have been going really well. We decided to go with the nanny I had wrote about last week, Kim. It is such a huge burden lifted off our shoulders knowing that we have good childcare lined up for when I return to work. I'm taking the full 12 weeks off for maternity leave and have lots planned since it will fall during the holidays. I think all of our family is going to come to Springfield for Thanksgiving. This is good because we probably won't feel up to traveling away from home yet and everyone from out of town can meet Emma. For Christmas, the plan is to fly to Charlotte and visit Kev's sister and husband. I've had people tell me that flying with a baby isn't too big a deal as long as you're prepared. Then, I'll return back to work the first week of January.

We've made some finishing touches to the nursery (although she won't be using it for several months.) I still need to get the carseat installed and get our bag packed, but that will come soon.

On a sadder note, the house diagonal across the street from us caught on fire this afternoon. We're not sure of any of the details yet, but it appears that noone was hurt. The house looks pretty destroyed. I think every fire engine in Springfield showed up to help battle the blaze. The family living there hasn't been moved in for very long. We haven't got to meet them but Kevin is pretty sure they have children. Hopefully we'll be able to connect with them after things settle down and see what we can help them with.

That's all for now. I think I'm going to put some real clothes on and maybe run to the store for some veggies. Kevin is slow-cooking a pork-loin; yumm!