Welcome to the world baby Emmalynn!

Michael and I welcomed our Little One, Emmalynn Jean Rose, on January 18th at 1:03 a.m. She weighed 6lbs. 15oz. and was 20 1/4 inches long. She is beautiful and perfect in every way! Including a full head of beautiful dark hair!

I was in labor for about 17 hours. They started the induction at about 8:30 a.m. on the 17th and I started pushing around midnight and our beautiful girl was born a hour later. Overall, I feel fortunate with the way my labor and delivery went.

Here are some pictures of Emmalynn's first hours of life.....

Emma unfortunately had to be taken and checked out by the NICU. Luckily she was only there for about an hour.

Me finally getting to hold my baby!

The happy little family!

Emma (or "baby lemonade" as Tom likes to call her.....for some reason!) meeting her grandparents.

Last minute projects

So part of my "nesting" apparently includes creating/making stuff! Here are some pictures of what I have been up to....

Making burp clothes....

A box to put all of her bows and flowers in....

One of the flowers that I made her....

37 Weeks

Emmalynn this week.....

Size:
Extra large! Your baby has likely hit the six-pound mark by now, and her length is approximately twenty-one inches. The weight on your abdomen probably feels like twice that.

Development:
Your baby is practicing her breathing, but she has increasingly less space to practice stretching and kicking.(no kidding!) Your baby's intestines are also building up meconium, a greenish-black substance made of baby by-products such as dead cells, shed lanugo, and amniotic fluid. It'll become your little darling's first bowel movement, hopefully after she is out of the womb.(Oh boy, can't wait for that!)


Me this week.....

At the doctor's appointment this week they had me doing a NST (Non-Stress Test) which consists of being hooked up to 2 monitors. One to monitor Emma's heartbeat and one to monitor my contractions. This machine also has a button I push every time she moves so they can track her movement. But she didn't want to move around...I think she was sleepy. :) So they had to give me sugary juice. (Yeah, that's good for my diabetes!) Well one can of juice didn't do anything, so they gave me another one. This time, she started going crazy and moving about every second! So that finally satisfied the doctor. Now on to the other monitor...apparently I was having regular contractions, but could only feel some of them. So now I know what "fake" contractions feel like. On top of that, I am dilated almost 2 cm and half way effaced.

We are on our way....

Me at 37 Weeks!

Oh boy...look at that belly grow!

Testing out baby gear

Michael and I were checking out our baby gear.....

Oddly enough, Benson actually didn't hate being a test subject

Michael putting the stroller together

Our test subject for the car seat is this adorable sock monkey
that Jenny made for Emma!

35 Weeks

Emmalynn this week......

Size:
At more than five pounds and between sixteen and twenty inches, baby is becoming more ready for birth with every passing hour. She's the size of a small roasting chicken.

Development:
Her nervous system and immune system are still maturing, and she's adding the fat that she'll need to regulate her body temperature. But everything else, from her toenails to the hair on her head, is fully formed. If she were born now, she'd have more than a ninety-nine percent chance of surviving.

Well it is good news that if my little girl decided to come early that she has a 99% chance of making it, because no one seems to think that I am going to make it to full term (40 weeks).
My doctor wants to induce me at 39 weeks (January 17th) if I haven't gone into labor before then, which she thinks I will. I just want my little girl to be healthy and it worries me that if she comes early that she will not be fully developed. Don't get me wrong, I want to have her here with me. Not only because I want to meet her, but I would get some relief from this "not so pleasant" pregnancy. But oh well....it will all be worth it soon! I just pray that she gets here safe and really close to January 24th! :)

Baby Shower

First off I have to thank my Mom and Sis for giving me such a wonderful Baby Shower! And thank you to everyone that came to support me and Michael with wonderful gifts for little Emmalynn! We Love you all!

Here are some pictures from the shower....

Me and my Mom

Jenny playing the "Guess what's in the dirty diaper" game

the Gifts

Everyone trying to guess how many squares of toilet paper around I am!

And it looks like the number is.......11 squares

Seeing who guessed right......

Opening presents

The cute bedding for Emmalynn

Opening presents with help from little miss Abby

Abby trying to figure out if the cute little princess outfit will fit her!

We got a cute little pink baby bath.....

Abby decorating me with ribbon

Aren't I lovely!

Abby after collecting all of the necklaces. She is such a cutie! I think she will train Emma well!