Her Story

 So, how did she get here so quickly?

As you know, Em was scheduled to be born May 7th, a week early of her due date.  That would put her at 39 weeks.  So the last thing I expected on Sunday, April 25th, was to be heading to the hospital alone, and the very last thing I would have imagined was to be told I was in labor.

But, before I get ahead of myself, remember that I have been having pretty intense Braxton-Hicks contractions for a while, which I had thought were pretty significant, but my doctors did not.  On Sunday afternoon, I began to have some slight but alarming bleeding and wasn't really feeling Em with her usual vim and vigor.  Those two issues were enough to make any parents-to-be nervous, and by Sunday night I decided (along with my less-than-sympathetic doctors) to come in to be reassured that Em was fine.  JDubbs stayed home with Jax because we both were hoping that our fears would be unfounded and that we were worrying for nothing.   I didn't want them to find anything wrong.  I wanted to be sent home.

When I arrived, the nurse put me on a fetal monitor, and the first thing she said to me was, "Do you feel those contractions?" to which I replied dumbly, "No."  I didn't even know I was having contractions, and since I have already done the labor and delivery thing, I figured I would know what they felt like.  So, no, I wasn't aware of any contractions, and therefore figured these ones were too little to matter.  Then the doctor did her examination, determined that yes, there was some bleeding, but more importantly, I was 4 centimeters dilated and likely to progress into serious labor very fast.  Her words were, "I think you better call your husband and have him come in.  You're having this baby tonight."

What???

Surprise.  Shock.  Fear.  Anxiety.  More surprise.

Off I went to pre-op, and JDubbs came in (after his mom arrived to spend the night at our house) to meet me in the operating room.  Literally.  I was anesthetized, on the operating table, about to be cut open when he walked in.  They said they would have waited for him, but I'm not so sure.  They seemd to be in a bit of a rush.  Maybe because I had dilated another centimeter (still no pain) in the past half hour. 

As unprepared as we were, there was no stopping Em.  In the OR we met our little bundle of baby girl, who screamed at us in greeting before being cleaned off and weighed.  She's very vocal.

Miss Em

7 lbs. 11 oz.  Monday, April 26, 2010.  12.59 a.m. 18 days early.

And I have to say, as much as we loved having our families there when Jax was born, it was pretty amazing to be alone with Em the first few hours of her life.  I got started on the interesting road to breastfeeding, and JDubbs and I got her all to ourselves for a few hours before her fan club arrived, including her big brother, Jax.

Oh, Jax.  He doesn't quite know what to make of her yet, but every day he warms up to her a bit more.  Today he was sitting on the couch next to her and spontaneously leaned over to kiss her with a big, "Mwah!"  The love is there; it's just hiding behind uncertainty and maybe a bit of irritation.  Who are you and why are you monopolizing our parents?

JDubbs and I are in love, of course.  So is everyone else who meets her.  How could we not be?  She is so super snuggly, sleeps well, eats great, and generally exists on this planet to make us smile.

So far she is proving to be exactly what we thought: demanding, knows what she wants, and adorable.  Who else makes an entrance like that?  She's sweet and perfect; healthy, happy, and vibrant.  She may be a bit more of a handful than her brother, but we like to think that their unique personalities are going to complement each other beautifully.

Welcome to the world, Baby Em!  We love you! :)