Welcome Emmie Grace!

We have a baby girl! Sunday morning, bright and early at 4:30 little Emmie Grace joined us. She weighed in at 6 lbs 10 oz, 20" long. We had the best birthing experience and really feel blessed. She is beautiful and healthy. I'm a little sore, but really can't complain much - epidurals are miracles!



Now for those of you who would like the whole story keep on reading...



Saturday morning around 7:00 I thought my water broke, but because I didn't really know what it was suppose to feel like I wasn't 100% sure it was my water. I was so anxious to go into labor, I thought I might just be making it up, PLUS I had a baby shower to go to that I had been hoping and praying that little girl would just stay inside so I could go! I made it this far so I was going! Well, as the hours went on I began to realize that what I was experiencing could only be caused by my water breaking. So I had a great time at the shower and made it through the without any contraction (which was awesome! A great big thanks to Sister Jameson who threw it for me and to all the generous Shalimar ladies for really setting us up well for the baby!) and off we went to the hospital.

When we got to the hospital I went into OB triage and sure enough my water had broken! YEAH! My cousin, Dana, a labor and delivery nurse at Banner Desert, took over once I was admitted. She scored me a great room with a window! Some people have asked me if it was awkward having my cousin as my nurse...honestly it's awkward to think about, but once I was in the hospital room and in delivery mode it didn't really phase me. It was actually really comforting to know she was there and I could ask her anything and not feel silly (thanks Dana, I love you!). I started having contractions around 2:00pm and got the epidural around 10:45. I got myself dilated to a 5 or 6 and when I couldn't hardly make my self breath through the pain I figured it was about time for the drugs. I slept on and off for the rest of my labor time. Around 2:00am my Dr. came in and broke my 2nd bag of water (I didn't even know it was possible to have two!) Again, I cannot believe how amazing epidurals are! Dana woke me up around 4:00am and told me I was dilated to a 10 and she could already see the baby's head. She brought in the gear, called the doctor and I started to push. 20 minutes later baby girl was here! Matt was an awesome coach. He stayed with me the whole time and was so encouraging and supportive. He cut the cored and everything! He's completely over the moon in love with this little one. All my family was waiting in the waiting room and rushed in when Matt gave them the thumbs up. Later in the morning we were transported to the recovery floor were we spent 48 hours. (Because it was over 12 hours between the time my water broke and when Emmie was delivered they had to put an antibiotic in my IV. And because of this they had to monitor Emmie an extra day.) Luckily we had lots of family to keep us company in the evenings - otherwise I think we would have gone mad in that little room! It took us a little while to decide on a name. We really liked "Emmie" but had a hard time deciding on the spelling and then didn't know what to do for a middle name. During labor, Dana's nurse friend, Grace, helped us out for a few hours while Dana rested and I thought that she had a beautiful name and thought it would go good with "Emmie" so that's how we got Emmie Grace. On Tuesday we were happy to get discharged and go home. Emmie loves to eat and sleep. Everyday she's a little bit more alert and makes Matt and I laugh and smile. We love our little girl!