Emma: 1 Month

This first month went by so fast and I've already teared up many times how big she has gotten already and how she will never be this small ever again. All those cliche sayings of "they grow up so fast" or "you blink and then they are x age" are so true and we are only one month in!

Emma has become so much more alert and observant this last week and likes playing on the floor with daddy when he gets home from work. We are already starting to pick up on things that we know will probably carry on with her over the years. Since she was born, the nurses, doctors, family and friends have all said how strong her neck is and how she holds it up on her own so well for being this small and is always looking around. What do we think this means? She is strong willed and doesn't want to be missing out on any of the action (my mom says I was the exact same way). Or the fact that she hates to be dirty. If this girl has a poopy diaper, she expects to be changed immediately or if milk is running down her face, you better wipe it off instantly.

She is such a good cuddle buddy and it is hard to not put her in her crib for naps. Starting her off in her crib on night one has been one of the best decisions we have made so far. She loves her crib and gets the best sleep in there (as do we). She takes at least one good long, two to three hours, nap in there during the day. At night, she sleeps for four to seven hours before waking up for her nightly feeding and then it is back to bed for another two to four hours. God willing and knock on wood, I hope this great sleep continues. She does though have occasional night feedings once or twice a week where it takes a good 30-45 minutes to get back to sleep. Those nights seem like she will never fall asleep. 

Two weeks old - This is after a rough 24 hours of cluster feeding and crying.

The witching hour has hit our house as of last week. It hits about 6:00 and lasts until about 9/9:30, give or take 30 minutes when she fights going to sleep. During this time she feeds off and on the entire three hours and in between is one angry elf as we call her. The swing, rock-n-play and bouncer all last for about five minutes. The only thing she wants is to be held or be outside. Unfortunately, it is so hot this week that walks are limited and stepping outside is only for a few minutes. We hear we are lucky that it is during this time as opposed to the middle of the night.

 

While the witching hour is taking its toll on Matt and I, those huge grins she gives us outweighs it all. It absolutely melts our hearts and we could just watch her smile all day.  

Emma: Your daddy and I can't believe we get to call you our daughter and are so in love with you. You are such a sweet, strong girl already and we love our cuddling time with you. While we can't wait to watch you grow into a beautiful little girl and learn more about you and your personality, don't grow up too fast. Love, Mommy

A Promise for my Daughter

Since the moment she was born, I have always been in such awe of my little girl. I have only been her mommy for four short weeks and I love her so much, like I have loved her my whole life. I would do anything for this girl. Anything.

Emma was so upset over lunch and just would not calm down but after feeding she fell asleep so peacefully. I just held her and admiringly stared at her, telling myself how lucky I am to be her mom. All she needed was for me to hold her close, stroke her cheek and care for her. It then got me to thinking about all the moments in her life that she will need me as she grows up and how I hope that I will be there for her, like my mom has been there for me. Not two hours later, I found this blog post that someone shared on Facebook and I just sobbed. Please take a moment to read it, especially if you are a mother to a daughter.

A Promise for my Daughter

Emma,

I will come.

Tonight.

Tomorrow.

And the day after. And after.

And then some.

Our sweet girl earlier today after being so upset and eventually falling asleep. 

First Week Home

Let me start off by saying sorry for the delayed blog posts. Yes, Emma is three weeks old and this post is about her first week home. I don't know how moms do it and find the time to actually blog the first couple weeks. I feel like I finally have my bearings together to even think and somewhat function.

Our first night home threw us off a bit as I got an infection and had to make a trip to the ER with a 101.7 temperature and Tourette's-like shakes. Let's just say that there was a catheter involved. Yea, think about that after giving birth 48 hours prior.

Matt took the entire week off, which was absolutely wonderful and I was so sad to see the week come to an end. I am so glad he was able to take the time off and we were able to enjoy it just us three as a new family and get to know Emma. As exhausted as we were, it is a week I will always remember.

There isn't too much to tell you about during Emma's first week, other than she ate, slept (a lot), cried (a little) and peed/pooped. We didn't do much but hole ourselves up in our house and just tried to get by day to day. We cuddled our sweet girl....a lot, went on walks, doctor appointments, celebrated Matt's birthday, had a few visitors, had her newborn pictures in Des Moines and visited Matt's work. Matt and I even got to go out to dinner while my parents watched Emma when she was a week old. 

Emma with Laura, Coach Fennelly and Uncle Ben

First bath at home

Emma's first family dinner at grandma and grandpa's house

We started right away having Emma sleeping in her crib and it went great. I know some people would complain about having to get up and go to her room to feed, but I really don't mind. Her room is right across the hall and we would have to get up anyways to change her diaper. She started right off the bat sleeping three to four hour stretches at a time and we would either wake her to feed or she would wake us. I've been told we are lucky that she sleeps for such long stretches and she loves her crib (lets hope both continue going well). She is quite the little Houdini and no matter how tight we swaddle her, she somehow manages to get her arm(s) completely out or up near her face.

Feedings went well and was/is going roughly every three hours to eat. I am breastfeeding and it has a its moments of highs and lows. My biggest struggles are with having to use a breast shield. I have tried to try it without the shield, but she is absolutely not having it. The lactation consultant thinks she may end up using it as long as I breastfeed. I am having to pump two to three times a day since I am using the shield because I guess that hinders milk supply? At least that is what the consultant told me, I haven't looked too much into it. There was a day where she went through a cluster feeding/biting me and thank God for my cousins Emily, Jess and Stevi for talking me off that ledge and reassuring me that it was normal.

Hospital Stay

There was no way I could combine Emma's birth story along with everything else from our first few days with her. So I figured I would combine them in a separate blog post.

First few hours: We didn't have a birth plan (other than an epidural), but we did know that after Emma was born that we wanted a couple hours of just us three before we allowed visitors. I had heard from so many people how you will never get that moment back of meeting your child for the first time, so enjoy it and take as much time as you want. That's exactly what we did. After she was born, Matt and I enjoyed a solid three hours (or so it seems, my mom said it was two and a half hours) just staring and holding our little girl. I am so glad we took this time for us and our family.

First visitors: Emma's first visitors in the hospital were our parents and my brother, Blake, and sister, Alaina. These pictures below pretty much sum up the sheer joy of our families from seeing Emma for the first time. The ones of our parents seeing her are priceless. They were in such shock that they didn't even ask her name!

Nurses: We were blessed with absolutely wonderful nurses that always had smiles on their faces and were so unbelievably kind and patient. The around the clock (literally) care we got was top notch and so appreciated. Everyone from Beth, who was with us the entire day Emma was born. To Simone, who stepped in for Beth and got me to start pushing. That night, due to so many births, we had a shuffle of nurses, but that was okay because they were all so great. My favorite nurse was sweet Kristina who really helped Emma (and me) get the hang of breastfeeding. She worked really hard with Emma to get her to start sucking and taught her by using her finger. Jayme was our nurse during the ever fun times of cluster feedings, bless her heart.

Breastfeeding/Cluster feeding: Emma didn't latch on right away, or had difficulty doing so. They believe it is because she has a higher pallet and a strong lower jaw with a lip that always goes in. After many tried attempts and needing to get her eating, the nurses had to spoon feed or finger feed her the first 36 hours. So I would pump and then the nurses would feed her. Emma finally latched, with the help of a breast shield, in time for the night of cluster feeding. She fed for a good hour and a half the first time and then went to go do tests that night while Matt and I got a quick shut eye. She was returned to our room in time to do a round of constant feeding from 12:30-4:00. I could hardly stay awake and remember tears running down my face in just pure exhaustion. I told Matt during that time that I would rather go through contractions than do this, which tells you how not enjoyable it is.

Beth spoon feeding Emma for her first feeding

Going home: We didn't know for sure if we were going to be able to go home on Sunday due to Emma's lack of interest in eating and her weight loss. If she would have lost another ounce, we would have had to stay another day. Thankfully after seeing the pediatrician that morning, she said Emma was the healthiest baby she had seen all day and we could definitely go home. So after our parents came to visit and some lunch, we were finally able to go home around 2:30 that afternoon. There were quite a few others leaving that day too, so we had to wait a bit. It was nice to take advantage of having those nurses around all the time because the moment we leave......we are on our own! We got loaded up, Emma dressed in her going home outfit (which was worn by my mom, me and my sister when we left the hospital as babies too), in her car seat and we were on our way. It was so surreal to drive away with our little girl in the backseat and to be heading HOME as a new family of three.

Welcome home little Emma! We promise it isn't as bad as you may think it is in this picture :)

Emma's Birth Story

On Friday, July 26, 2013, our baby girl, Emma Grace, joined our family and we feel more complete than ever. 

I chose to be induced on this day because our doctor, Dr. Lines, was scheduled to be at the hospital all weekend and I really wanted her to deliver our little girl. At my 40 week appointment, I was still 80% effaced and 3 cm dilated. I wanted to go on my own, but knew Dr. Lines wouldn't induce me if she didn't think I was ready. 

We were scheduled to be at the hospital at 6:00 a.m. and so we set our alarms for 4:45 to get ready, have breakfast and get going to the hospital. We hardly slept the night before, maybe a couple hours, knowing that the next day our lives were going to be forever changed. The drive to the hospital was a short five minutes and we just talked about how this was really happening (a common theme that day). 

It was so bizarre going up the elevator and checking in at Birthways to say "We are here to have a baby". They put us in a smaller room temporarily until a large labor and delivery room was available. There we answered about 100 questions from a nurse, got blood drawn and met my nurse for the day, Beth. Beth was also the nurse that taught the childbirth class we went to, so we were relieved to see a familiar and friendly face. At 7:30 Dr. Lines came in to check me and I had dilated to 4 cm since Tuesday. She then broke my water, which she said was a bit more difficult to do because of how low her head was. There was thin meconium present, but nothing to worry about. She told us to walk around and hang out until we decide to start pitocin (which I got to decide when I wanted it). We did one lap around the floor and then got into our bigger room. 

At 9:30 I decided to have the pitocin because I wasn't really feeling any contractions and didn't want to wait much longer. Around 10:15 my mom came by and brought Matt a fountain pop and sat and talked to us for about 30 minutes. During that time is when I started to feel some, but it wasn't anything crazy, just uncomfortable. Once my mom left is when they started to pick up. Beth came in at 11:00 to ask if I wanted an epidural yet and I said no, I was fine for now. She also said that she had to step in to assist in a c-section delivery, so Simone was going to be my nurse for a couple hours. About 10 minutes later, the contractions were painful and I was crying to Matt that I wished I would have told her I wanted it then because I knew that it could take up to an hour for them to administer it. When Simone came back at 11:30, I was in so much pain and couldn't take it any longer so I asked for the epidural. Side note: People ask if I ever got mad at Matt or if he ever annoyed me during labor and he really didn't. I only got annoyed when I saw he was playing Words with Friends on his iPhone during a contraction while holding my hand and then another time when he told me to "Ssshhhhh". Other than those two small instances, he was my saving grace (other than that epidural) and was so calm and collected. He said and did all the right things. I just needed to look at him and then I knew it was going to be okay and almost over.

At 12:20 the anesthesiologist came in and I literally cried out "Thank God". While he was administering the epidural I was having contraction right on top of each other and I remember him and Simone trying to get me to relax so he can put it in. Yes, because relaxing is what I was really thinking during contractions. Much easier said than done. The epidural was in and as he left, I couldn't stop thanking him. It kicked in right away and I was much more comfortable. They said that epidurals hit everyone differently, some feel nothing and some will feel the pressure. I felt all the pressure which was good because I knew then when I was having a contraction and when I would need to start pushing. Dr. Lines then came to check on me right after that and said I had dilated to 7 cm already. I was really hoping for a number like that because I told Matt that based on that pain, I better have progressed. Dr. Lines also had to insert an internal heart monitor at this time because with all the contractions she wasn't staying still enough to monitor externally. As Dr. Lines left, she said she would come back at around 5:00 to check me and hopefully I would be ready to go. Then before Simone left the room she flipped me to my side and told me that if I felt really heavy pressure like I needed to push, then to call for her, otherwise she would be back in 30 minutes. At this time, my mom and Blake went to get Matt lunch since it didn't look like I would be having her any time before dinner.

By 1:10 I told Matt that I really felt a lot of pressure like I needed to push. He asked if he needed to get Simone and I was hesitant because I didn't know if it was something that I had just been thinking since she just told us this 20 minutes prior. I didn't want to tell her that I needed to push and that really wasn't the case. But we decided to call her anyways to have her check. She checked me and said "I think you are complete". I remember that moment looking at Matt and us both looking at each other like "What?!?". Like a "This is really happening" moment. You know, because the last nine months and leading up to that moment wasn't proof enough. Simone wanted to be sure and asked another nurse to check and she confirmed too that I was fully dilated and ready to start pushing. It was then that my mom showed up with Matt's lunch and he told her it was time to push and had to put it in the fridge for after.

I started to push at 1:20 while Simone paged Dr. Lines and Beth. Beth came in around 1:45 and stayed with me the rest of the time. By about 2:00 they still couldn't reach Dr. Lines and learned that her pager wasn't working. During the pushing, all Simone and Beth would keep saying is how much hair she had. At one point, Beth asked Matt if he wanted to see. He did and his reaction to all the hair was "Oh, yea". I laughed and he said "What did you want me to say, looks good?". Dr. Lines ended up getting there just in time for her to deliver our little girl. I don't remember how many pushes it took to get her out, I just remember her saying one more good push on the next contraction and she would be here. Sure enough, it was that push that our girl arrived. 

 

At 2:52 p.m. our Emma Grace was born. The best moment of our lives. Seeing Dr. Lines hold her up and place her in my arms and looking at Matt with tears streaming down both of our faces is something I will never forget. I kept saying "Oh my gosh", like I was in complete shock. I was in shock. Emma was finally here and she was healthy, perfect and so beautiful.

Matt and I spent the next three hours as a new family of three, reveling in our new daughter. We couldn't stop staring and smiling. She is everything we wanted and more.

Introducing Emma Grace

Our sweet little girl has arrived and we are so excited to introduce everyone to:

Emma Grace Shoultz

Birthday: July 26, 2013 at 2:52 p.m.

Weight: 7 lbs 13 oz

Length: 22 inches

Emma at only five hours old with her first bow :)

We are enjoying this time getting to know her and our time as a new family of three. As soon as things slow down a bit (and momma has more energy), I will share with everyone Emma's birth story. Thank you to everyone for all the congrats, words of encouragement and check ins on us. We are truly blessed.