February, 2010

Well a lot has happened since my last entry. We have a new babysitter while at work, her name is Ryanne and she is just awesome. She has two boys, Nathan who is 3 and Brayden who is about two weeks older than Emmery.

In December, while at the previous sitter's house, Emmery burned her palms on the glass of the fireplace. After many trips to the hospital and doctor, her hands have healed perfectly and she doesn't remember a thing.

Emmery began walking in January and now I think she prefers it over crawling. She is still constantly on the go, but overall she is a great baby. She is very easy-going and happy.

Hmmm, what else is new? Oh, I'm pregnant. Yep, wasn't really planning to make it this close together but I guess it's not really something we have total control over huh? We haven't told our families yet, we kinda thought it would be nice to keep it our little secret for a while.

Last weekend my parents and Kate came down to Jax. Our Alma mater was playing in a tournament in Deland so we thought we would go watch them play. I hadn't seen the coaches in EIGHT years!! Crazy. It was so nice to see them and introduce them to Mikey and Emmery. I learned so much from each of them and still apply much of it to this day.

Just one month from today my baby girl is going to be ONE. I am so sad that it has gone by so fast! It really does feel like yesterday that we were coming home from the hospital with our new bundle of joy. What a year it has been.

September, 2009

Well it’s September and Emmery is now 6 months old. Time is still obviously flying at mind blazing speed. I can’t believe she is half a year old. We had a wonderful summer full of traveling and visitors. Emmery has now been to Georgia, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont. While in Vermont she cut her first two teeth at less than four months old. We had no idea what was wrong with her, she would just cry and cry. Finally two teeth came through on the day of her baptism in Boston.

At around 3 months old she stopped sleeping through the night. She was waking almost every hour. I think part of that must have been that she was teething, and part of it was all of the developmental milestones she was reaching at the time. She can now roll over and is so very close to crawling. I would call it more of a scoot than a crawl, but she should get there any day now! Over this past weekend she cut some more teeth, I think she is trying to fill in all four of the top front teeth. So needless to say it’s been a rough couple of days.

We started feeding her solids at about 5 months. So far she has liked everything we’ve given her. We started with sweet potatoes and baby oatmeal. She has now eaten avocado, banana, apple, pear, and acorn squash. She loves her fruits, in the morning when I feed her she screams between each bite, like, give me MORE!!

November, 2009

This week I have started to give her larger pieces of food instead of purees. She is doing great, she has eight teeth so she has started to learn how to chew the food. We have given her puffs and little pieces of bread, rice, fruit, and the other night she had spaghetti for the first time and of course she loved it!

Her newest thing is to say “dada” repeatedly. It is so cute. Mikey goes, “I love to hear her say that! Just wish she knew she was talking about me!” Ha ha, she will soon enough. I keep saying mama but she’ll just look at me and laugh. The other thing she is doing now is playing. Mikey will get her all wrapped up in a blanket and she will just crack up and roll around. She giggles her head off when he tickles her.

We are loving being parents. I never thought I could love someone as much as I loved my husband. Every night when I rock her to sleep I just look down at her and am overcome with emotion and love. Time just goes by so fast and I want to remember every precious little moment. I want to freeze time.

Emmery is Here- Part 3

March 17th, 2009 (St. Patrick’s Day)

My parents arrived on Monday night and on Tuesday morning we drove to the hospital, Mikey and I in my car and my parents following behind us in theirs. We got there around 9:00 and were immediately shown to our room. I changed into a gown and was hooked up to the good ole fetal monitor. Then they drew some blood and gave me an IV.

At around 12:00, the nurses came in and put me in a wheelchair to bring me into the operating room. I gave Mikey and my parents a hug and a kiss and off I went. Mikey had to wait outside until they got the spinal administered. When I got into the operating room, I climbed up onto the table and sat on the edge while they gave me the spinal. It took her a long time, and she missed a few times, hitting my spine instead. Once it was in my legs instantly went warm, and they had me lay down. Before I knew it, I heard Dr. McGrath’s voice and he was cutting me open!

Mikey came in all dressed in his scrubs. He came over and kissed me, but couldn’t take his eyes off the action on the other side of the sheet. Next thing I know, Dr. McGrath said the baby was ready, but the pediatrician was scrubbing in so everyone just had to stand around and wait for about a minute. Then I heard the most glorious sound, my baby girl screaming her lungs out! Mikey didn’t know what to do, stay near me, go see the baby, continue watching major surgery… I said, “go see the baby honey.” So he went over and saw Emmery, his brand new baby girl. We got our first family picture and then Emmery was whisked away to the nursery while they finished stapling me up.

With a GD mom, it is protocol to test the baby’s blood sugar. It can drop dangerously low after delivery, which Emmery’s did. So the nurses had to give her a small bottle of sugar water to get her blood sugar back into the normal range. After that they continued to test her and she was fine. I headed to rcovery for about an hour, and then they brought me back to my room where my parents and Mikey were waiting. The nurses brought Emmery into the room and I got to finally hold my daughter for the first time.

We spent two nights in the hospital and went home on the third day. Everything went very smooth, I was still quite sore, but the painkillers helped!

May, 2009

So did I mention that time is flying? Wow, I can’t believe Emmery is already 11 weeks old. Everyone tells you to enjoy it because it goes by quick, but I just didn’t realize how true that was until I had my own.

Emmery has recently started smiling and cooing, and I feel like I better get this stuff written down or it could be forgotten. Not that I would actually forget that she did these things, its just that I want to remember how exciting it all was and how we felt during this time in her life.

Since bringing her home, Em has been an easy-going baby. She only really cries when she’s hungry, which is often! She eats about every two hours, on the dot. She sleeps very well at night, usually only waking once to be changed and fed.

As far as her looks, right now it is up in the air. I look at her I see myself, and two seconds later I look at her and see Michel. It’s pretty funny because we hear, “oh she looks like Mikey,” and “oh she looks like Sarah” almost every day. Mikey and I have been told we look alike, so that could have something to do with it. But I think as she gets older she will favor one of us more than the other. Only time will tell.

Lately, Em has been smiling, laughing, and cooing more and more. It is the cutest thing. And just about everytime she smiles it brings tears to my eyes. I feel like such a sappy mother to be saying that, but its true. It is just such an amazing thing to see her happy and to know that we are making her happy.

I started back to work on May 13th. The first day was pretty tough, but I made it. Our neighbor Michelle is watching her. She has 19-month old twin boys, so she has her hands full. But she does a great job and I know that Emmery is getting her needs met while I am away. I am just so glad that she is not in a daycare at this young age.

Emmery is Here- Part 2

Since I was a high-risk pregnancy, I had weekly appointments since week 28. Mikey came to every single one, so he became close with Dr. McGrath. He even talked him into setting an induction date for March 17th, St. Patty’s Day. Dr. McGrath said that he did not want me to go past 39 weeks because of the GD. He had been monitoring her size throughout the pregnancy, and she always measured perfect, not too big, not too small. Since my due date was the 21st, we figured the 17th would be great timing.

So the plan was, if I made it (ie. didn’t go into labor) to the 17th, he would induce me that day. But of course, things didn’t go according to plan, as they rarely do…

Starting at week 36, the doctor checked to see if I was making any progress towards labor. I had to at least be making some sort of progress in order to induce. I had been having Braxton Hicks contractions, but that was about it. Each week he checked, there was no progess, meaning I was not dilating. So at my 39 week appointment on March 16th, I was so nervous because I really wanted to be induced the next day. He checked me and said not only was I not dilated, but the baby had moved a bit and was now laying diagonally. My blood pressure had crept up too. So Dr. McGrath thought the best option was to do a C-section the next day! I completely understood why, but I was still heartbroken. I was actually looking forward to labor and delivery. I wanted to experience the excitement (and maybe a little pain) of the contractions and the difficult but gratifying work of delivering my baby. So coping with the realization that things were not going to happen the way I envisioned them was tough. I cried right there in his office. Mikey felt horrible, he knew how much it meant to me and he also knew there was nothing he could do to help. I called my parents to tell them the news. So they drove down from Atlanta that night so they could be there for the “birth.”

The doctor wanted me to go over to the hospital to do some bloodwork, and do one last non-stress test, just to make sure I didn’t have pre-eclampsia. All was fine at the hospital, and we scheduled surgery for the next day at noon. Once we left the hospital I was feeling a little better. I knew that this was the best thing for the baby and for me, and that was reassuring. After all, really the only thing that mattered was having a healthy baby girl in the end.

December, 2008

Well we had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We left on Tuesday and got into Boston late Tuesday night. On Wednesday we hung out, did some shopping, and then went over to Donna and Judy’s to hang out with some friends of the Nantels. It was good to see everyone.

On Thursday, everyone came over to Marc and Kathy’s, so we got to see almost the whole family. It was a great time, Marc set up the Wii for the kids (and adults) outside and of course the food was absolutely wonderful. Everyone kept telling me how big I was, which I didn’t really agree with. I think I am still in denial that I am even showing, even though random strangers have started to ask me about being pregnant. We had deep fried turkey, traditional turkey ham and crown pork roast. The twice baked potatoes were outta this world.

On Friday we layed low, and then went out to dinner with Marco, Stacey, Michel, Max, and Marc and Kathy. Marc announced that for our Christmas present this year, they would buy tickets for us to fly out to Boston next summer, and for Marco and Stacey to fly down to Jacksonville in May. So we are super excited. In May, Marc & Kathy, Marco & Stacey and the boys will be coming down to visit us, and see the new baby for the first time.

On Saturday, the Nantels threw us a surprise baby shower! It was so much fun, not your traditional boring tea party baby shower, it was an all-out party! We got a ton of gifts and gift cards. It’s so exciting to see that we’re getting so close to welcoming our baby girl.

Sadly on Sunday we had to come back to Jacksonville. This Thursday we have our 24 week appointment. I have started taking medicine for the Gestational Diabetes, and it seems to be working, my blood sugars have been under control, even over the Thanksgiving holiday, thanks to Marc’s careful attention to my diet and eating schedule.

15 weeks and 5 days ’til she drops!

Emmery is Here-Part 1

Well it has been a while, time seemed to fly by towards the end of my pregnancy. We were so busy with doctor appointments and getting everything ready for the baby, I didn’t have time to just sit down and write.

Starting at week 34, Dr. McGrath had me doing non-stress tests and biophysical profiles twice a week. So we would go down to Jacksonville for the biophysical on Monday mornings. A biophysical profile is basically an ultrasound, but the technician has to look for specific things… 1. Movement, both fine and gross, meaning moving limbs as well as like fingers and toes. 2. Breathing. Babies actually practice breathing in the womb. You can see this in the ultrasound, the diaphragm will move up and down. This usually takes the longest to see, because it is not something they do constantly. 3. Amniotic Fluid. This is just done by measuring pockets of amniotic fluid. You don’t want too much and you don’t want too little. If any of these things were not seen in the ultrasound, she basically doesn’t pass the test, and most likely the doctor would deliver her by C-section. But she passed the test each time.

The non-stress test was done at the hospital where I eventually delivered. I would just call Labor and Delivery to tell them I was coming by. They would hook me up to a fetal monitor and listen to the baby’s heartbeat. When the baby moves, their heart rate should accelerate. So the nurse is looking for fluctuations in the baby’s heart rate. If it stays at the same rate for an extended period of time, that’s an issue.

October, 2008

I stumbled onto a blog from this web site so I thought I’d give it a try. It seems that things are so easily forgotten these days so maybe if I get some of our life written down we will remember more before and after this baby comes. Right now I am 19 weeks pregnant and Mikey and I are both taking classes with University of Phoenix for our master’s degrees. Time has seemed to go pretty slowly since we found out we were pregnant. The first few weeks crawled by, but started to pick up a bit when school started in August. So far we have had two ultrasounds, one at about 16 weeks and one at 18 weeks. We found out that it was a girl at the first ultrasound. Mikey was really hoping for a boy so it has taken him some time to get used to the idea, but he is coming around. At the second ultrasound, he asked the tech to check one more time, just to make sure.

The pregnancy has gone very well for me. Although with high blood pressure and Gestational Diabetes, I am considered “high risk.” I was diagnosed with GD at seven weeks, and have been testing my blood sugar 4 times a day since. The biggest issue that they see with GD is basically fat babies. So I have to really watch what I eat and keep my blood sugar low. I have been doing well so far, at each checkup my doctor says that I am doing a good job with my diet. If my sugars start to get out of control, I will have to do insulin injections.

I have only gained about 2-3 pounds, at least that is what my scale at home says. I think the scale at the doctor’s office says the same thing. I go back to the doc on November 5th. The belly is starting to show a bit more and people at work have been commenting on that fact. Although I still don’t think I “look” pregnant.

I have finally started to feel some real baby movement! Yay! I’ve felt some flutters here and there, but today she has really made her presence known. While Mikey was setting up our new bookcase, I went into the bedroom and laid down on my back to see if I could feel anything. Nothing… and then it was like my whole stomach did a flip. She must have been repositioning herself because it was the strangest feeling. Then later I laid down on the couch with my hands on my belly, and I felt a jab from the inside and actually felt a little something on the outside! It was so exciting. I just can’t wait until Mikey can feel her.