Emma is almost 4 weeks old and I can't believe how fast time is going! She changes daily in so many small ways. This week has brought more smiles and adorable noises. Her personality is coming out more and she is starting to fill out a bit.
Motherhood is better than I imagined and it's harder at the same time. It's so hard to know what is "normal". Just when I think we've conquered a challenge, things change again. I struggle to trust my instincts because it is all so new and unfamiliar. The physical demands of mothering pale in comparison to the emotional weight of responsibility that I feel. In my moments of doubt and fear I am reminded of God's faithfulness. He loves her more than I do. Every day I pray for wisdom to care for her needs properly.
Aarron's parents and his sister and brother-in-law came to visit last weekend. I'm glad they got to see her as a newborn! We're going to Oregon over Labor Day weekend to visit all our friends and family there. We're looking forward to it! I'm posting from my phone, so I can't post pictures right now. I'll try to get some up this weekend.
May your week be blessed and may all you do be to God's glory.
Yeah! Motherhood is soooo rewarding and babies are so very precious. Each success brings new confidence in your skills as mom...you'll do fine...just continue to trust yourself and place the ultimate trust in God.
Hi Kristin! She's wonderful! We are having a potluck at our house on Sunday-- David is back and will be sharing his trip photos--- would love for you to join us!
I can't believe she's already over a week old. We're getting used to having her around and I'm getting used to very broken sleep. We were able to go to Bible study last night...she did better than I expected and it was nice to get out of the house.
Tomorrow we're meeting with a lactation consultant to work out a few wrinkles in our nursing techniques.Hopefully it will help make that area a little easier.
Emma had a checkup on Tuesday and is doing great. God has been so good!
Her Grand Entrance:
Emma’s entrance began with a stop and start early labor that was from Saturday through Monday morning. Finally Monday morning at around 3am, my contractions were 2-3 minutes apart. Michelle (our midwife) came over around 7:30am and I was excited to find out I was already 5 1/2 cm dilated. Woohoo! By 2pm, however, my labor had started to stall as my contractions spaced out. Excitement turned to disappointment to find after so many hours of labor, I was only at 6cm. Michelle felt that we needed to rest and then decide what to do. She and Jess (her assistant) left for 2 hours and we tried to nap. After about an hour, my contractions had intensified back to 2 minutes apart. At around 7pm I was checked again and was still only at 6cm. We decided to break my water in an attempt to get things moving effectively. It worked! After that, the contractions intensified and seemed to be coming in waves one after another. These contractions were obviously doing their job!!
At 9pm, I was 8cm dilated and trying to keep on top of the pain. I had labored for a while in the birthing tub at earlier points, but it became my lifeline during the next two hours. Aarron was an incredible coach and I leaned heavily on his love and support throughout the whole process. I couldn’t have done it without him. At 11pm I was fully dilated and had an overwhelming urge to push. Just 55 minutes later, I was holding our darling baby in my arms. She was so beautiful, and I could hardly believe that our daughter had finally arrived.
The Rest of the Story:
Unfortunately our experience did not stop there. After I delivered the placenta, I began to hemorrhage pretty seriously. Michelle had to perform some incredibly painful steps to try and get me to stop, but I’d rather not dwell on that memory. We had a very scary few moments there, and I thank God that I was in capable hands. My veins are small anyway, so the added blood loss made it impossible for her to get an IV in me. I had also torn significantly enough to warrant a trip to the hospital for repair. Due to the blood loss, the lack of IV, and the tear, Michelle decided that it was best for me to be taken there by ambulance. I was pretty stable at this point, thankfully.
It was quite embarrassing to have 2 ambulances and a first responder unit parked in our driveway with their lights on. Our teeny place seemed to teem with EMTs as I was transferred on to the stretcher. They took their time loading me in the ambulance and getting me on an IV. Since Emma was doing great, Michelle stayed back with her and did all the newborn checks while Jess accompanied us to the hospital. My parents, sister, and Michelle came shorty after and brought her to me.
Aside from having an OB/GYN that was both arrogant and condescending in the extreme, the hospital trip was uneventful. They got me on IV, repaired the tear, and we were released around 8am. We've spent the last few days peacefully at home, getting used to this wonderful new blessing in our lives.
We appreciate all of your thoughts, prayers, and good wishes throughout this journey. We feel so blessed to have Emma in our lives, and are overwhelmed with the joys and responsibilities of parenting such a precious little soul.
(sigh) sounds like it was all you hoped for (well, except the ER part) but, even that sounds like it went as well as it could have and didn't dampen your experience. Bravo!! Your little girl is wonderful! I know you two will care for her well. Enjoy!!
Our precious baby girl was born Monday, July 28th at 11:55pm. She was 8lbs, 12oz and a long 22 1/4 inches.
I will post the whole story later, but the summary is that we had a fantastic home birth experience. Aarron was an incredible coach, and we had a fantastic midwife/doctor. Emma was born safe and healthy. Unfortunately, I had some serious postpartum hemmorhaging and a 3rd degree tear that my midwife felt needed to be dealt with at the hospital, where I was taken by ambulance.
I am so tired right now. There is much to say, but it will have to wait until tomorrow. I'm going to join my sleepy husband and baby in bed....
Hey, I wonder if you kept the baby ticker going on the left, what would it say a few weeks or months from now!!! :-) (Don't mind me. I'm am just being a typical guy!)
So thankful for answered prayers! Glad you had a great home birth. Get as much rest as you can to heal well. Enjoy that precious baby! Congratulations!
