A Little Scare

Emily decided to give us a good scare on Thursday. First, her umbilial cord stump fell off (we noticed it when we were changing her diaper), and I thought it was way too early, but it didn't look red or infected, so we didn't put anything on it. I think it will be fine--I read online that if it got infected, it could cause a fever and the baby to be very sick, which worried me a little.

She'd had such a good day Thursday, but decided to make up for it last night. She was eating fine, but around 9:00 PM, she started crying and was just inconsolable. She went on for more than an hour. I rocked her in her room with some soft music playing, which seemed to calm her down for a little while, but not long. She felt really warm, so we decided to take her temperature and it was 100.2. The hospital had told us not to worry until she was above 100.4, but we decided to call the doctor just in case. We talked to the nurse, and she told us to play it safe and head to the Emergency Room since Emily was less than a week old. This sent us into panic mode, and we ran out of the house without her diaper bag. On the way to the hospital, I realized we had no food/bottle and no diapers for her, so we stopped at Kroger and I picked up the essentials.

We got to the ER and they took us right back (nice to know that if this had turned out to be a real emergency, they take situations with newborns very seriously). They checked her vital signs and said all looked good. They took her temperature and she no longer had a fever. The doctor came in and looked at her and said she looked perfect (we had fed her at this point, so she had stopped crying of course). We were there for a total of about 45 minutes, and felt a little like we had overreacted by the time we left, but were glad we went and felt better.

Home from the hospital

I know I'm a little late on saying thank you to everyone for the cards, flowers, balloons, calls and e-mails while we were in the hospital. We got home around 4:00 PM on Sunday, and it feels really good. It's a little intimidating knowing we're on our own now with no nurses or doctors to run into our room if we need help, but it's also nice not to always have someone checking blood pressure or taking our little Wiggles to the nursery for a 3:00 AM weigh in (really, is that necessary!?).

Thank you to everyone who sent beautiful congratulatory wishes! I have pictures posted on the photo website. We are very lucky to have such a supportive, loving family and group of friends surrounding us. We're especially thankful for Emily's grandparents--Mick's parents came to see her in the hospital, and stayed at our house until Sunday morning. When we got home, the house was clean and even decorated--there were pink balloons on the mailbox and throughout the house, and a cute "It's a Girl" banner over the fireplace! Then my parents came on Tuesday and brought us what we needed most by then--FOOD! They stayed a couple of days and made sure we were well fed and able to get some rest. Emily is so lucky to have four grandparents who love her so much already!

Pictures from the hospital

Northside has a professional photographer who comes around to everyone's room after new babies are born. She visited us on Saturday, and here's a preview of the pictures. Keep in mind as you look at these that we were working on absolutely no sleep, and neither of us had taken a shower yet, so we're looking a little rough. Obviously though, we aren't the star of this show :).

We knew they weren't the best pictures ever, but we bought the CD that will have them all on it so we can print what we want later. Check out the pictures here: Northside Photos

New Photo Website

I've posted all of our pictures on a new Shutterfly website, which I think will be easier than trying to e-mail attachments. Just click on the Emily Claire Jackson link to the right!

She's Here!

I woke up at 2:30 am yesterday with very irregular contractions, but they were fairly intense, so I knew they were different than all the Braxton Hicks contractions I'd been having. I stayed in bed and found that just changing positions during a contraction helped enough to manage through them. I decided around 6:00 am that I wasn't going into the office because they were beginning to get more painful. Mick went in to work but left his stop watch with me, and I kept track of contractions on and off.

By mid-morning, the contractions were coming about every 10-15 minutes, but still not consistent. Sitting on the birth ball or kneeling with my arms on it seemed to help me breathe through them and take some of the pressure off.

Around noon, I noticed they were about 8 minutes apart and lasting 80 to 90 seconds each. Mick kept calling to check on me, and it was around 1:00 pm that he could tell by my voice he needed to come home. He got home around 1:30 and made some scrambled eggs and toast for me. I ate them, but they didn't stay down long. I thought at that point I was probably farther along than I realized, but Dr. Graham had told me to call when I'd had contractions every 5 minutes for at least an hour, and I was afraid I'd get to the hospital and they would tell me I was 1-2 cm dilated and needed to go home.

Around 3:00 pm, contractions were between 5-7 minutes apart and much stronger, so we called the doctor. The office is closer to us than the hospital, so they told us to come in and they'd check me before we went to the hospital in Friday afternoon rush hour. By the time we got to the office at around 4:00 pm, the contractions were much more painful, and about 3-4 minutes apart. The doctor looked at me and said I'd waited too long to call. Once she checked me, she said I was 6 cm dilated and needed to get to the hospital.

We got in the car and made it to the hospital in about 30 minutes. By the time we arrived at about 4:45 pm, the contractions were so intense I didn't think I could stand them anymore, and felt like she was going to be born in the car. I wasn't trying to push, but there was so much pressure, and since I was sitting up, gravity was working with her too. Mick and I were both panicking a little, and he parked in front of L&D and ran into the hospital. A minute later, he ran out with about 6 nurses behind him. They brought a wheelchair and got me inside and to a delivery room at 4:54 pm. I really wanted to have a natural childbirth, but I had lost confidence in myself by the time we got in the room and was asking for something for pain. The doctor checked me and told me I was fully dilated and ready to push, and there was no time for medication.

The first time I pushed, my water broke and there was meconiumin it, but they were monitoring her and said she was doing fine. The doctor said with a couple more pushes she would be out. I pushed again and he told me he could see her hair. The next push, her head came out and the umbilical cord was wrapped on the top of her head. The doctor moved it and went ahead and cut it so she could come out. One more push and she was out! I couldn't believe it when I saw her, and I think Mick felt the same way. All this time, and she was finally here.

They checked her out, dried her off, weighed and bathed her right in our room, so she never left our sight. Mick took lots of pictures, but the camera battery is dead right now, so I'll post them later. While the nurses were taking care of Emily, one was still taking care of me, massaging my uterus to get it to start contracting back down. There was a lot of bleeding because she came so fast, so they started an IV with pitocin to help with the bleeding and contracting after the placenta was delivered. We were in the L&D room for about 2 hours after she was born, and then were moved to a regular room in the Family Centered Care unit.

Emily Claire was born at 5:12 pm, 18 minutes after we got in the hospital. She's 19 inches long and weighs 6 lbs, 8 oz. We're all doing fine, and she's more beautiful than we ever imagined :).

Week 38 Checkup

I went to see Dr. Graham today for my checkup, and things are looking good. My blood pressure is still fine, and I haven't gained any more weight since last week, so I'm at 24 pounds total for the whole pregnancy. Emily's heartbeat was in the 140s, and Dr. Graham said she has definitely dropped and is much lower in my pelvis. I could already tell that, since my heartburn has almost completely disappeared, and when I sit down, it feels like she's in my lap now.

My cervix isn't dilated yet, and is still about 50% effaced, so I haven't changed much in the last couple of weeks. Dr. Graham is on call on Wednesday the 31st, so my homework assignment is to go to Scalini's on Tuesday night to have eggplant parmesan. There's a local legend that if a pregant woman eats this, she'll go into labor within the next couple of days. Their website has a page for Eggplant Parmigiana Babies that's really cute.

I also told Dr. Graham that I've been having a lot more Braxton Hicks contractions--sometimes more than 4-5 in an hour. He said that's good, but I still need to be having more before we're ready.

So we'll see if the eggplant works...if not, my follow up appointment is next Thursday, April 1.

Car Seat Check

We finally got an appointment scheduled with the Police Department to get Emily's car seat checked. It was a lot more difficult than we anticipated--because of the liability, there are a lot of places that won't do the inspections anymore. There's also nowhere we could find where you can just take it by without an appointment.

I got a call this afternoon from an officer who told me he had a one-hour window today if I could meet him. Since we didn't know when the next opportunity would be, we took it by this afternoon, and he did find a couple of things we needed to correct. We thought we were being extra safe by using the LATCH system and the seatbelt, but he said not to use both. He also showed Mick a different place to hold the base when he tightened it in the car--that made a huge difference and makes the seat feel a lot tighter and more secure.

I've always heard those statistics about 70% of carseats being incorrectly installed, and thought we were smart enough to be in the other 30%...I guess not :).

Belly Art

I had read and seen a lot about pregnant belly painting, and was hoping to do it a few weeks ago when there were people here to help me, but the weekend of the shower was so busy, we never got around to it. Since Emily could technically be born any day now, I decided to use a rainy Sunday afternoon to give it my best shot!
I chose a ladybug, thinking it would be easy to paint. It wasn't! I didn't plan very well, and I ran out of room at the top, so no antennae. The spots got a little out of control too.

Bella was very curious to see what in the world was going on. The food coloring has now stained my skin, so when I go to the doctor on Wednesday, Dr. Graham will probably be entertained :).

38 Weeks: What's Happening

Only two more weeks before your baby makes her appearance. And what an adorable appearance that will be! Your little one isn't so little anymore — weighing in at close to seven pounds and hitting the height charts at the 21-inch mark (or less). As you prepare (best you can) for baby's ETA, she is also getting ready, big time. Vernix and lanugo continue to shed from your baby's body into the amniotic fluid. Your baby swallows that amniotic fluid and some of it winds up in her intestines where it — along with other shed cells, bile, and other waste products — will turn into your baby's first bowel movement (meconium) and perhaps your first diaper change.

Your baby's lungs continue to mature as more and more surfactant is secreted (remember — it helps prevent the lungs from sticking to each other when your baby begins to breathe…definitely a good thing). At 38 weeks pregnant, all systems, almost go!

See what your baby looks like this week.

Week 37 Checkup

I had a checkup with Dr. Graham today, and Mick was able to go with me, which was nice. Things are still looking good--I've gained another 2 pounds, and my blood pressure is still where it should be. Emily's heartbeat was perfectly in the 150s.

We got the result from the Group B Strep test from last week, and it was negative. From what I've read, there's almost a 50% chance that a woman will have a positive test. So that was good news, since it means I won't need IV antibiotics during labor!

Probably the coolest part was that Dr. Graham felt on my belly for about three seconds and told us she was head down--when Mick asked him how he could tell that so quickly, he told him to come over and feel. So Mick felt her head, her back and her feet (which I have been feeling daily for the past couple of months--in my ribs!). It was pretty neat.

Ready to Ride!

We are officially ready to bring Emily home from the hospital now that her carseat is installed, and she even has a toy to look at during the ride! It has been cool driving around with this in the backseat--although not quite as cool as it will be once she's in it :).

We have a list of places locally that will check to make sure the installation is correct, so we're planning to do that this week. We should be okay, since we not only have it buckled in with the LATCH system in the car, but also used the seatbelt method too to make sure she's doubly safe!

37 Weeks (Full Term!): What's Happening

With just three more weeks to go and at about six and a half pounds (though weight and height vary from fetus to fetus), your baby is doing just fine. You can expect weight gain to be about half an ounce per day. Since your little one is considered full-term at 37 weeks pregnant, if your baby was to leave the wet nest this week, she would likely thrive. So what's keeping your little one busy while waiting it out until D-day? Practice, practice, practice. Your baby is simulating breathing by inhaling and exhaling amniotic fluid, sucking on her thumb, blinking, and pivoting from side to side (one day you feel the tushy on the left side, another day it has swung around to the right side). All these are skills needed for her next gig — starring as newborn.

Here's an interesting fact: Your baby's head (which, by the way, is still growing) will, at birth, be the same size circumference as her hips, abdomen, and shoulders. And guess what's making an impression (literally) these days on those shoulders and hips: fat — causing little dimples in those cute elbows and knees, shoulders and hip, and creases and folds in the neck and wrists.

More Entertainment for Emily!

I really don't know how we ever survived growing up without all the cool toys there are now! I got home yesterday and there was a box on the front porch--this adorable Musical Play Gym came from Anna, and I couldn't wait to take it out and put it together (partially because this was one of the few things I could assemble on my own)! Emily will be able to use this for tummy time and even when she's old enough to sit up. Thank you Anna!

One more shower gift

Mick's parents gave us this sweet little lamb swing at the shower a couple of weeks ago, but a picture of the box just didn't do it justice! Mick put it together and now we can hardly wait to use it. It turns so it will swing in three different directions, and it's just so soft and cuddly. I'm sure Emily will love it! Keeping it warm for her is a handmade bear from Mick's Aunt Beverly. She even cross-stitched a little purple "E" on the bear's outfit. Too cute!

Big Day!

Today was a very busy day for us! We started out with the first half of our Childbirth Class at Northside Hospital (it's a two-part class, so we'll finish it up next Saturday). In the other classes, I felt like we were a little early, since all the other couples were farther along in their pregnancies than us, but today it was just the opposite. I was closer to my delivery date than anyone else in the class!

After that was over, we had lunch and spent the rest of the day checking off our list of essentials for Emily. The weather was perfect and spring-like, so it was nice to be out of the house and not have to deal with rain and cold, which has been almost every weekend lately. There were a few things we wanted to make sure we had before she's born, so we went shopping and bought things like the monitor, diaper genie, changing pad, wipes warmer and diaper bag. It was a fun afternoon, and we felt much better prepared when we were all done!

36 Weeks: What's Happening

Your baby is still packing on the pounds — at the rate of about an ounce a day. She now weighs almost 6 pounds and is more than 18 1/2 inches long. She's shedding most of the downy covering of hair that covered her body as well as the vernix caseosa, the waxy substance that covered and protected her skin during her nine-month amniotic bath. Your baby swallows both of these substances, along with other secretions, resulting in a blackish mixture, called meconium, will form the contents of her first bowel movement. At the end of this week, your baby will be considered full-term (full-term is 37 to 42 weeks; babies born before 37 weeks are pre-term and those born after 42 are post-term)!

Checkup with Dr. Graham

Almost, but not quite 36 weeks, and I had a visit with Dr. Graham today. He did the Group B Strep test, which I'll have results for at the next visit. Emily's heartbeat was in the 140s, and my blood pressure is still good. I'm embarrassed to say I gained 3 pounds in less than two weeks (two on top of the one I had lost on my last visit--must have been all the baby shower food!).

Dr. Graham said my cervix is about 50% effaced, which is good, but doesn't necessarily mean she'll be coming soon. Still, he said we need to get ready, and make sure our hospital bags are packed. Emily is positioned head down, and has already begun to descend into my pelvis (the reason I'm so sore when I get up to walk).

We reviewed my birth plan, and Dr. Graham said everything was realistic and my preferences are completely reasonable, which made me feel good. No more travel outside of Atlanta for me now either, so I'll be sticking close to home!

More Baby Shower Pics!

My pictures are all completely out of order, so we'll start with the end. We received so many nice gifts for little Emily--here are just a few!
My sister, brother and sister-in-law gave us the stroller and infant car seat (very important, since we have to have the car seat installed in order to bring Emily home from the hospital!

This was toward the end of the shower, when my nephew Cody came in to help open gifts. I think he was a little disappointed to only find girly stuff!

My brother and sister-in-law gave us this adorable "baby things" basket, filled with cute toys, clothes, and even a handmade lavender and white afghan from Jenn's mom, which is just beautiful in the nursery.

My sister gave us a bag of goodies, including some very sweet clothes for Emily that will remind her how much she loves her Auntie :).

This pretty handmade afghan is from Lala, Mick's grandma (and Emily's great-grandma).

My mom made this sweet little outfit and hat with white rosebuds on it.

Emily was given more clothes than she'll ever be able to wear! She will be a very well-dressed little girl!

Tennille, Jenn, Julie and me. Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures during the shower and have none of any of the guests! Hopefully someone else did and will send them my way.

My Favorite Baby Shower Decorations

You can't quite tell how cute this was from the picture, but there was a clothesline hung on the staircase with sweet little baby clothes all the way down.

The favor bags and flowers on the entry table. I didn't realize our clock wasn't hanging straight until seeing this picture!

Jenn made this awesome diaper wreath, which we hung on the back door during the shower. I appreciate it even more after hearing from Jason how hard she worked on it!

My mom made this beautiful diaper cake. As much as I love the fact that everything in it is useful and handy for Emily, I really hate to take it apart!

The Best Sisters EVER!

I've known my entire life how lucky I am to have a sister who is almost like an extension of myself. I realize more every day that I'm equally as lucky to have such a wonderful brother too--only partially because he did such a great job choosing the woman he married (who is now my sister too). I'm not even sure when my sisters began planning my baby shower, but this weekend is when it all happened! I've been so excited about February 27 for months, most of all because I knew I'd get to spend some time with my family and closest friends.

Saturday night turned out to be all I had imagined and more. Julie and Jenn worked so hard, thought of everything, and planned each tiny detail so that nothing was overlooked. The decorations were simple and beautiful, the food was delicious, and the flow of the night was perfect--not too many games, but enough so people were entertained. There are no words to express how much I appreciate all they put into this shower.

I truly do have the best sisters EVER! If Emily is an only child, my only regret is that she won't know how awesome it is to have siblings.