Picture Day!

I searched for quite sometime for a photographer that 1) I liked their style, 2) was affordable, and 3) gave a digital copy of the pictures. After asking around and searching on local message boards for recommendations I came across HauteShotPhotography. After looking over the pictures on her website I knew this was our photographer! I booked our session back in June and it's a good thing I did because she fills up quick (she's booked through December).

So Sunday morning we all got ready and drove to Wylie (about 1 hour away) for pictures. Emily was NOT a happy baby in the car and I was so worried that she wouldn't cooperate for the pictures. But once we arrived at Jennifer's home studio Emily was on her best behavior. She was wide awake for a while, cuddled with us, made cute faces and then let us put her in any position necessary while she slept.

This morning Jennifer posted some sneak preview pictures on her blog, http://hauteshotphotography.blogspot.com/2009/08/carrie-co.html.

Aren't they just adorable? I can't wait to get the rest of the pictures.

If anyone is looking for a photographer in the DFW area - I recommend HauteShot Photography. She was easy to work with, I love all of the pictures I've seen so far and very afforable!

Wordless Wednesday - Daddy Gave Me a Bath!

Week 1 At Home

Emily has now been home for a week and that week has been a blur. A good blur, but a blur.

Before Emily was born people loved to ask us, "are you ready?" My answer, "are you ever really ready?" We prepared as much as we could but I don't think anyone is ever really ready for everything that comes with having a baby. There are so many things that you can't prepare for and so many unknowns.

I knew there would be a lot of hormonal changes once I got home. But I was not prepared to cry for no reason. And when I say no reason - I mean no reason. The other night nothing was going on and I just started crying. Brad asked me what was wrong and all I could say was nothing. There was nothing wrong and there wasn't any reason I should be crying. After the tears went away all I could do was laugh at myself.

I knew that sleep would be hard to come by and we've actually been very lucky so far. One would think after 4 days in the hospital I would have come home rested - not so much! Forget about sleeping in the hospital, someone is coming into your room every 1-2 hours to check something. It only means you come home really, really worn out. I was so tired when we went to sleep last night that my legs feel asleep before I did. It was such a strange feeling.

I wasn't prepared for so many people to feel like they have free reign over my body. Seriously, by the time you leave the hospital there is no modesty left. It felt like anyone that walked into my room was there to poke, prod or squeeze on me for something. My boobs were touched by more people than I care to think about.

I also wasn't prepared for the number of people that love to talk about our feeding choices. I know that breast feeding is a very natural thing - but why does everyone and their mother care. And seriously, lactation consultants are annoying! And I'm not sure why it was necessary to compare a nursing mother to a dog that has just had puppies.

I wasn't prepared to feel so overwhelmed but determined to figure it out on our own and helpless at the same time. Due to the c-section I was confined to bed for the first 24 hours of Emily's life. That was hard. I wanted to be up and helping Brad change diapers and walking around holding her- but it just wasn't something I could do.

I wasn't prepared to look at my husband holding our baby girl and fall even more in love with him.

Emily Kate!

Emily Kate is here! She was born on Thursday, August 13 at 7:31pm via c-section. She was 8lbs, 3oz and 20.5" long. And she's just perfect.

Birth Story (the short version):

We check into the hospital about 8pm Wednesday night. I was hooked up the monitors, given something to start the induction process and a sleeping pill. I slept great Wednesday night. Thursday morning I learned I had contractions throughout the night (I never felt anything), the pitocin was started and the longest day of my life began. I had regular contractions all day long - but wasn't feeling anything. As they checked me throughout the day and continued to up the pitocin - nothing. Still not feeling the contractions and I wasn't making any progress. About 3pm I started to feel some contractions but still wasn't making much progress and Emily still hadn't dropped. About 5pm I was hurting (finally!) - time for the good drugs :) About 30 minutes later I couldn't feel anything and was much happier. Over the next hour I made very little progress and Emily was being stubborn - she wouldn't drop. The decision was made a little after 6pm to move forward with a c-section.

I got more drugs and was wheeled off to surgery. Brad put his "scrubs" on and was in the OR a few minutes later. From the time I was first cut open to the time Emily was born it was 5-7 minutes. And I was out of surgery about 15 minutes later. Emily and Brad went back to our labor and delivery room so she could be cleaned off and checked out. Everything looked great! Finally we were able to spend some time alone with our little girl.

I wasn't allowed out of bed until about 2pm on Friday. Getting out of bed for the first time was hard and hurt, A LOT! But everyday I'm feeling a little bit better. I'm still very sore but like I said, each day is a little bit better.

We stay in the hospital until Sunday afternoon. Let me just say - a hospital is no place to get rest! Someone is coming in every couple hours to do something. It's just annoying. We are so glad to be home.

Here are some pictures of our little girl!

A Letter From Brad

Friends:

We are about 24 hrs. from being introduced to baby Emily! A very exciting time for Carrie and me. As the time nears, there is a lot of planning and information that needs to be communicated. I thought an open letter to friends and acquaintances would be a good way to broadcast information.

For me it is hard to accept help and harder to ask for it. I know that many people have offered many things. Food, support, babysitting, etc. I also read that it is advisable to accept all help offered. I would like to organize the help. I will be taking the next week off of work and will be able to spend 24 hrs. with my wife and baby. Then, I go back to work. She is taking 12 weeks off from work. Quick math. There will be 11 weeks where I am at work and Carrie is home. These weeks would be a great time to come visit, especially during the day if possible as Carrie will be alone.

Hospital visits: Carrie will be induced on Thursday morning. I think it is reasonable to expect the baby to be delivered Thursday afternoon/evening. After delivery, Carrie and I are going to want some time to bond with Emily. We will take at least an hour with just us and the baby. After that, we will start letting folks in the room. I expect Thursday to be a full day. We would prefer friends, if they want, to visit on Friday, or just come to the house Saturday or Sunday.

Finally, not to be too rude, but let's all be sensitive to Carrie and Emily's rest time, feeding time, etc. I think I'd like to keep the visits fairly short or as a minimum be understanding with mom and baby, if they leave the room for a while and you are stuck with just me!

Stay tuned to Facebook or the blog for updates, we will attempt to get pictures up as soon as possible.

Thanks,
BW

Week 39 - The Final Days

This is the last Monday update before Emily Kate. Wednesday night/Thursday morning will be here so soon. Yes, I'm scared, nervous, excited and ready for Emily to be here. I know that Brad is too. I'm a little freaked out about the actual labor and delivery - but I'll get through it.

To answer your questions:
Yes, we are excited and ready for Emily to be here.
Are we prepared? Yes and No. We've prepared for everything that we can think of but I know there are plenty of things we've forgotten about.
Brad will be in the delivery room with me (he's the only one).
Brad is in charge of sending out updates - we have a call list and various people "in charge" of spreading the news.
I realize our life is about to change and sleep will be a luxury.
Banjo will be well taken care of while we are in the hospital.
Visitors are welcome at the hospital and at home.

Just two more nights in my bed - with the possibility of a full nights sleep! Let's hope I can get one tonight.

This weekend was spent putting in the new floor in the living room. The floor looks great! All that's left is to fix the steps (we have a sunken living room) and re-do the baseboards. Brad's plan is to finish it up on Wednesday before we head to the hospital. We both are really, really happy with the way it turned out. We have some awesome friends who volunteered to help and there's no way the floor could have been done without them. I'll post a picture once the baseboards are done.

The house is mess from all of the work - which doesn't mix well with my current desire for the house to be all clean when we come home from the hospital. Oh well, I'll have to get over that. I'm trying to keep it as clean as possible, but that's just not practical right now.

Tomorrow is my last day of work until sometime in November. Crazy. Wednesday I'm going to try and sleep in, chill out, run a few errands and just enjoy the last few hours of just the two of us before heading to the hospital.

Please keep us in your prayers these last few days. I'm sure the anxiety levels will rise between now and then :)

A Date Is Set!

Yesterday was our sonogram and last doctor's appointment! The sonogram showed that Emily gained about 1lb in the last 2 weeks - which is right on track. Her estimated weight is now 8.5 lbs. We saw the doctor and her recommendation is to go ahead with an induction.

So the plan is.... I'll go into the hospital Wednesday night, Aug 12 and they'll begin the induction Thursday morning, Aug 13. Little Emily will be here in less than 1 week! There is a chance that this date will be moved up if the hospital gets an opening between now and then (which Brad is really hoping for).

After the appointment we ordered the new floor for the living room. We'll pick it up tomorrow and plan to spend the weekend pulling up carpet and installing the new floor. It's going to be a crazy weekend but I'm excited the floors will be done!

Wordless Wednesday - Just Us

Week 38...Could it be the last?

Just a warning - this post might be all over the place (worse than normal).

This could be my last weekly update pre-Emily. Strange, huh? We go back to the doctor on Thursday afternoon for another sonogram and visit with the doctor. We'll know a lot more after that - all depending on how much Emily has grown and if I'm showing any signs of going into labor. We are preparing for an induction or c-section at the end of this week or early next until we know something different.

The updates from BabyCenter.com don't really say much besides, your baby is getting bigger. I still look forward to the random food item (this week she's the length of a leek). Here's the update directly from the website:
Your baby has really plumped up. She weighs about 6.8 pounds and she's over 19 1/2 inches long (like a leek). She has a firm grasp, which you'll soon be able to test when you hold her hand for the first time! Her organs have matured and are ready for life outside the womb.

Wondering what color your baby's eyes will be? You may not be able to tell right away. If she's born with brown eyes, they'll likely stay brown. If she's born with steel gray or dark blue eyes, they may stay gray or blue or turn green, hazel, or brown by the time she's 9 months old. That's because a child's irises (the colored part of the eye) may gain more pigment in the months after she's born, but they usually won't get "lighter" or more blue. (Green, hazel, and brown eyes have more pigment than gray or blue eyes.)


It is sad that next to meeting Emily the thing I'm looking forward to the most is a break from work? I've already told myself that this will be last week for at least 12 weeks. If it's not, I'm going to be really disappointed. Last week was rough for a lot of reasons, reasons I don't want to go into. But I'm ready for some time off. Ever since I found out I was pregnant I've been stocking up my vacation, sick and comp time. I have enough time saved to cover my maternity leave and still have some time when I return (yay). But I think it's finally catching up with me. I need time away. I've taken a few random 1/2 days off here and there but most of those have been for an appointment. Sure, I have Fridays off but I still work 40+ hours each week. I know that the 12 weeks I'll spend at home with Emily won't be a vacation - but it will be different. Don't get me wrong - I like my job and I really like the people I work with. But just like with everything - sometimes I just need a break. That's what vacation time is for and I haven't used any in about 8 months.

Our house has returned to semi-normal. We have running water and our living room has kind of been put back together. We are waiting to hear from the insurance company about replacing the carpet. We'd like to put laminate in the living room instead of new carpet. We priced laminate this weekend and picked out some stuff that we liked. But once again, we play the waiting game. Hopefully we'll have it ordered by this weekend. Who wants to volunteer to replace our floors for us? ;)

So....what should we do with what might be, our last few days as just the two of us? Any ideas?

And Now For Something Random!

I know some of you have already seen this, but I just had to post it. I've watched the video several times this morning and could not stop laughing. This is one wedding no one will forget. I can only imagine how much fun they had at the reception.

You'll need to turn off the music at the bottom of my page before you play the video.

You can also visit their website, http://www.jkweddingdance.com/

Enjoy!

ps - as of about 10pm last night - we have water! YAY!