Emerson's Birth Story

WOW time flies when you have a newborn! My family has been after me to update my blog but I've just been too busy! I will post more pictures soon, but here is Emerson's birth story...

On Sunday, July 24th we went to my parent's house for brunch around 11am. I was having mild contractions that were about 10 minutes apart and my sister was helping me time them. They weren’t painful, but they definitely felt different than the Braxton Hix contractions I had been having.

Around 10:30pm, my contractions started getting stronger and closer together. Josh and I started timing them but assumed we wouldn’t have to make a trip to the hospital that night, because I was already scheduled to be induced the next day, Monday July 25th at 5pm. But Emerson had other plans...

I didn’t ever fall asleep that night, and around 2:30am, I woke Josh up and told him I thought we needed to go to the hospital since my contractions were 5 minutes apart. I assumed they would send us back home, but I wanted to go just to be sure. I took a shower and we packed a few final things in our hospital bag and headed to the hospital. It was almost a surreal feeling that we were actually headed to the hospital – after so many months of waiting and wondering what ‘the moment’ will be like – it was actually happening!

We parked and walked into the Emergency Entrance and checked in with the nurses, gave our insurance information, etc. and they hooked up monitors that monitored my contractions and the baby’s fetal heart tones. The nurse mentioned a few times that Emerson’s fetal heart tones were low, so I immediately became worried. She must have reassured me 10 times that everything was going to be fine, and said they would probably send us home in about an hour.

The next thing we knew, the nurse came in and said she had paged Dr. Duke and that he would just move my induction earlier so we didn’t have to go home just to return that night. I was admitted around 5:00am. We decided to wait to call our parents because we assumed it would be at least 12 hours until Emerson was born.


Soon after we were admitted, the nurses made it clear that the low fetal heart tones were a more serious problem, and told us they paged Dr. Duke to come to the hospital immediately. Of course, this scared us to death. We didn’t completely understand what was happening, we just knew everyone seemed concerned. They wouldn’t give me an epidural because they were concerned it would stress the baby. Dr. Duke arrived and placed several monitors on Emerson’s head and he even touched her head to see if she would respond. They put me on oxygen to try to improve Emerson’s fetal heart tones (basically, she wasn’t having any reactions to my contractions).

It was 7:30am when Dr. Duke came in and said he was going to bump his 8am scheduled c-section and that I would be having an emergency c-section at 8am. Emerson wouldn’t be able to withstand 8 hours of vaginal labor, so I had to have an emergency c-section. I immediately started bawling because I was so worried about my little girl. Josh called my parents and his mom and told them to hurry because they only had 30 minutes to get to the hospital!

Before we knew it, they were taking me into surgery, and I was crying all the way! My mother-in-law arrived at the hospital just as I went through the OR door, she kissed me on the head and I was gone! (My parents, sister, brother-in-law and nephew arrived just as Emmie was born!)
The anesthesiologist gave me a spinal block, they brought Josh into the OR, and surgery began. I was shaking like a leaf, and had a really bad pain in my right shoulder, which the anesthesiologist said this was very typical during c-sections.

After just a few minutes, Dr. Duke asked Josh if he wanted to peek over the curtain and see Emmie! All I heard Dr. Duke say was “the cord is wrapped around her neck” and I didn’t hear her cry! I was so scared. I asked Josh if everything was OK and he just looked at me with these terribly sad eyes and said “I don’t know.” After the longest 10 seconds of our lives, we heard her cry for the first time!! I once again had tears rolling down my face, but this time they were tears of joy!! Josh showed me pictures of her on our camera, and then finally brought her over to show me her sweet face!!



We later found out (when we got the bill in the mail!) that Emmie had to be resuscitated and intubated because she wasn’t breathing on her own. I read her medical records that said “the baby was limp and blue” and started bawling my eyes out. Just the thought makes me sick to my stomach. Luckily we had great doctors who were able to care for her. It only makes us realize even more what a true blessing it is to have a healthy baby girl!

She's now 11 weeks old and is the BEST baby! She has been sleeping through the night since she was 8 weeks old. Now she typically sleeps from 8:30pm - 5am, eats, and then sleeps until 8:30am. We are BLESSED!!!!

9 More Weeks!

It's crazy to think that our little girl will be here in 9 WEEKS! The whole pregnancy has really flown by. I have to say I honestly LOVE being pregnant. Other than being sick from 7 - 12 weeks, I have been feeling amazing. I really love my little belly, I love feeling her kick and watching my tummy roll as she tosses and turns. Josh and I talk all the time about what she's going to look like. I think she'll look just like her Daddy, with dark hair (hence the severe heartburn?) and his eyes and lips. That would be okay with me, because he's quite handsome if I do say so myself :-) We just can't wait to see what combination of us she will be.

We chose her name quite a while ago...Emerson Brooks Emerson was really the only girl name we had picked out - we both fell in love with it because it's different and sounds strong but beautiful. Her middle name, Brooks, is after my sister. I don't think I could get through a single day without my sissy, so I thought it was a nice way to honor her.

I've been making 'To-Do' lists like crazy (poor husband)...I have recently started to panic that everything won't get done in time before she arrives. As if we don't have enough to do, we decided to strip and re-stain our Master Bathroom cabinets and add trim around the mirror. Josh has been working so hard every night to finish the project!

Her nursery is coming together as well. The bedding is being made...

Her furniture is setup...I ordered these AMAZING custom vintage letters from this Etsy store and got them last week...

Her chandelier will be here Thursday... Our fur babies are really enjoying Emmie's nursery as well. Here they are testing out her new rug...

And here's the cat using the bottom of her bassinet as a hammock...

We are all anxious to meet the new addition to our little family!

Pitter Patter...

...we're having a BABY!!!

Josh and I are SOOOOOOO excited to welcome a little one this summer! I am 16 weeks - due July 20th. I can't even begin to express how humbled we feel that the Lord blessed us with this baby. We are so incredibly grateful.

Since we got married, our plan (of course we had a plan - we're planners!) was to have a baby after we had been married about 2 years. We wanted to enjoy it just being the two of us for a while, develop a strong marriage and then welcome a baby into our world.

And we are right on schedule! Our 2 year anniversary was November 1st, and we found out we were pregnant on November 9th! We had actually been trying for about 4 months, and I had a taken a ZILLION pregnancy tests, ovulation tests, all the things that make us women feel insane...

So on November 9th, I woke up at 3am (couldn't sleep) and took a test, laid it on the counter and went back to bed. I had taken so many that were negative, I assumed this one would be, too - so I wasn't even going to bother looking. But a few minutes later, curiousity got the best of me and I went back to take a look. I saw a dark pink line and a VERY faint pink line. I ran into the bedroom and started shaking Josh, saying "Wake up! There's 2 lines! I think there's 2 lines!" He jumped up and ran to look at the test. I will NEVER forget the smile that came across his face, and the giant bear hug that swallowed me in his arms. I started crying...I don't think either of us believed it!

We find out in 2 weeks if it's a boy or girl! Then we can start spoiling this little baby rotten :-)

Halloween Rap!

Click on the image below

Bay Bales!!

Last Sunday my family loaded up and took Grayson to the Corn Maze! It was a gorgeous day and Grayson really enjoyed the tractors, farm animals and "bay bales" {also known as hay bales!}

(I realize this post and pictures look exactly like everyone else's last post, but I can't pass up an opportunity to post pics of our nephew!)

MULCH PILE!! Boys are so easily entertained!!

G with Sissy & Uncle Josh

The famously uncomfortable Cow Ride!

Gigi and Pappy

Playing with the farm animals

Sweet Boy :-) I just love kissing that face!

Grayson and Uncle J

at Sissy & Uncle Josh's house. I can't believe how big my little bean is getting!

15 WAYS TO CHARM HER

I came across this Southern Living post on another blog and just had to share. It's good to know that chivalry has infiltrated the modern world. I have always been a huge advocate of the things a man 'should do' to be a good southern man, but I'm admittedly pretty old-school. (The other day my sister sat at the head of the dinner table as her husband took the seat next to her. I looked at her in shock and said "WHAT are you doing? You can't sit there!") She just rolled her eyes and cut into her steak.

15 Ways to Charm Her
Southern Living, July 2009 By Amy Bickers

“Want to impress a Southern girl? Just think “What would my grandfather have done?”

Number one: We still expect you to give up your seat for a lady. On a bus, at a bar, on a train. . . we don’t care where you are. Unless you are at a restaurant and the only lady in sight is the one taking your order, stand up. Now.

On a recent Friday night at a bustling restaurant bar, two friends and I waited for our table to be called. The barstools were occupied so we stood patiently, sipping wine and chatting about the workweek. When a couple nearby stood up, another woman – who had been there less time than we had – swooped in, reaching across us to put her purse on the stool. This isn’t the worst part. It’s what happened next: Her male companion then slid onto the other barstool.

Hang on while I do a geography check. Are we not in the South? If ladies are waiting for a seat and you have a Y chromosome, do you sit down? No, sir. No, you do not.

We know modern life is confusing. The roles of men and women have evolved over the years. As Pink once sang, “Shorty got a job, Shorty got a car, Shorty can pay her own rent.”
But come on, let’s keep some things old-school. My late grandfather- he of the East Texas upbringing, U.S. Navy captain status, and Cary Grant good looks – would never have allowed a woman to stand while he sat. And if you want a Southern woman to love you, neither will you. So, men, here’s a short list of things Southern girls still expect from you.

We still expect you to…

1. Stand up for a lady. Actually, this doesn’t just involve chairs.
2. Know that the SEC has the best football TEAMS IN THE NATION. Big 12 fan? Hmm, perhaps you should keep walking.
3. Kill bugs. Delta Burke as Southern belle Suzanne Sugarbaker on Designing Women said, “. . .Ya know, when men use Women’s Liberation as an excuse not to kill bugs for you. Oh, I just hate that! I don’t care what anybody says, I think the man should have to kill the bug!”
4. Hold doors open. This goes for elevator doors too.
5. Fix things or build stuff. I once watched in awe as my stepfather built a front porch on the house he shares with my mother. He knew just what to do, cutting every notch, hammering every nail. The project was complete by sunset.
6. Wear boots occasionally. Not the fancy, I-paid-$l,000-for-these kind. We’re talking about slightly mud-crusted, I-could-have-just-come-in-from-the-field boots.
7. Take off your hat inside.
8. Grill stuff.
9. Call us. If you want to ask us out, don’t text and don’t e-mail. Pick up the phone and use your voice.
10. Stand when we come back to the dinner table. ”Just a little half-stand is enough to make me melt,” my friend Stephanie says.
11. Pull out chairs. Wait, that’s not all. Scoot them back in before we hit the floor.
12. Pay the tab on the first few dates. ”If you ask me out, you pay,” Stephanie says. “If I ask you out, you should still pay.” Listen, guys, it’s just simpler this way.
13. Don’t show up in a wrinkled, untucked shirt. Care about your appearance but not too much. Don’t smell better than we do. Don’t use mousse or gel. You shouldn’t look like you spend more time in front of the mirror than we do.
14. Never get in bar fights. Patrick Swayze might look cool in Road House, but in reality, bar fights are stupid and embarrassing. You don’t look tough. You look like an idiot.
15. Know how to mix our favorite cocktail JUST THE WAY WE LIKE IT. Fix your favorite too. Sit down on the porch (it’s okay if you didn’t build it), tell us how your day went, and we’ll tell you about ours.

We'll leave the long list to the girl who falls in love with you. Copyright Southern Progress Corporation Jul 2009

I'm proud that my husband knows how to rock his cowboy boots, always gives me his seat, opens doors and irons his shirts. But I can kill my own bugs, thank you :-)

The Will...

I have always LOVED quotes, OK maybe I'm a little obsessed as you can see by the right hand side of my blog. I am always on the lookout for a great quote. I take pictures of signs in stores, I type them into the note pad in my phone, I keep them everywhere. Quotes are comforting to me, they speak to me, encourage me, and today this one spoke to me...

The Will of God will never take you where the
Grace of God will not protect you.