I start all of this talk to say that next week my first heart-stealing baby girl will be turning into a 3 year old "big girl" next week. I cannot believe this is happening already! It is wonderful to see her grow and learn and become her own person, but I'm also terrified that I will wake up one morning and she will be leaving for college. It goes that fast. I write this blog to have some kind of permanent record of this amazing and ephemeral experience of mothering these beautiful people. I want to remember every minute, every detail but sadly I know I will not. Still, I try. I realized the other day that I don't think I ever wrote Emmy's birth story and I want to. I've already forgotten many details, I'm sure but I want to remember as much as I can. Maybe I will write Lil's for her birthday in September.
The Story of E
We were so excited for your arrival, you just cannot imagine, but your parents are procrastinators at heart and we very late to get things ready for you. Because of your lack of nursery and my failure to organize all of the adorable baby things we had received for you from our baby showers, we were really hoping to make it the full 40 weeks. I also had an article I was trying to finish and some other things at work that made this scenario ideal. What I did not count on was that I should have been worried that you would be overdue instead of arriving early! At my 40 weeks appointment, there were no signs to indicate that you were coming any time soon other than my rather large and bloated appearance. I hadn't been able to wear shoes for a few weeks at this point and we finally had your nursery ready (little did I know, I would co-sleep with you for the first 8 months so this was not really necessary!), so we were more than anxious for your arrival. When I returned for my 41 week appointment and we still had no baby, my doctor set a date for the following Sunday night for me to come in for an induction if you had still not made an appearance. At 41 weeks, I finally stopped working and spent the rest of the week eating, sleeping, painting some pictures for your room and dreaming of my baby. I could hardly stand the wait any longer! I wanted to meet and hold you so badly.
On Sunday, March 8th, Daddy and I went to the hospital around 9pm. We told friends and family that we would call them the next day with an update as we were told to prepare for this to be a long wait. When we arrived, Aunt Rachel was there to welcome us and give me a few treats to help get me through the delivery. I was pretty nervous, so it was nice to see a friendly and familiar face. We got settled into our rather nice labor & delivery room, and they started the induction. Daddy and I brought our sattelite radio and hung out listening to the Grateful Dead channel and chatting away. We were excited, nervous and extremely happy all at once!
When I arrived, I was already having contractions but in no regular pattern and I could not feel them. The induction quickly caused me to have regular contractions every 4 minutes or so, which was uncomfortable though not very painful. This went on until about 9am the next morning when I finally conceded that an epidural would be nice so that I could maybe get some sleep. I knew I had a long road ahead of me as I still was not dialating at all. The epidural was lovely and I felt better than I had in months! I continued to labor all day and all evening, but made no progress. Finally, at 11pm my doctor came in and told me the news I had been dreading- I needed to have a c-section. Thankfully, all of our family had arrived by this point because it was clear that it was decision and action time. For some reason, I was very afraid of the c-section procedure and was pretty upset by the news that this was the plan. You and I both had been having some heart rate issues throughout the day, and when I finally consented to the c-section they literally ran me down the hall to the operating room. Daddy and I were separated for a bit, which was scary for us both. The procedure itself went well but I had adverse reactions to the anesthesia, which was also a bit frightening and they heavily sedated me and then put me to sleep as soon as you were delivered. But just before I went under, I saw you. You. You were here! My first view of you was hazy, but clear enough to see that you were perfect and just as I had imagined you with a head full of dark hair and big blue eyes. Unfortunately, we were separated for several hours while I recovered. Daddy helped give you your first bath, and he cared for you while I was waking up. Then, in the early morning hours of March 10th (you were born in the last minutes of March 9th at 11:56pm), I finally got to hold you, and nurse you and fall in love. We stayed in the hospital with you for 5 days because I needed some time to heal and you were a little slow on learning to feed and gain weight. This was a wonderful time for me, you, and Daddy. We had tons of help from fabulous nurses and friends and family. Every one was so excited to meet you and we loved showing you off! We hardly let you out of our sight because we were so happy to have you here. I know I can speak for Daddy when I say that we are even happier to have you now, and we are so proud of the amazing 3 year old person you are today. I love you, Emmy! Thanks for making me a mother and letting me share these 3 years with you. I look forward to our many adventures together in this life!
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