Emery's Birth Story

Something about going into our 41 week appointment Monday May 13th and hearing I was still 3 cm and nothing had changed made me relax. I wasn't happy to agree to an induction Friday and I wasn't too excited about spending another week twiddling my thumbs but somehow in our minds it calmed things. Monday night came around and I went to bed per usual only to be woken around 2:30am with a contraction. I'd been feeling contractions for weeks but I knew immediately this lower ab cramp like contraction was labor. I waited and sure enough another then another came. I shut my eyes and tried desperately to get rest because if this was going to be anything like Moses' birth I needed rest. Every 7 min I was back to concentrated breathing and then the bathroom trips started. Contractions bounced from 5 to 3 min apart for most of the morning. Around 5am I was on all fours in the bed trying a new position to work through a contraction when Davy rolls over and noticed; very excitedly he asked "are you in labor?!" and I couldn't lie "yes, but go back to sleep and relax"....yeah right. I could see his mind wheeling and we hugged and giggled and tried to chill out. My goal was for Moses to wake up naturally for school, get him out the door, and then head to the hospital.

Things started to pick up and by the time Moses woke I was hiding during contractions so he wasn't alarmed. By 7:15am I was asking Davy how much longer before they got out of the house aka how much longer before we can go to the hospital. Before Moses left we got to sit him down and share with him today was the day Baby Brother was coming; to say he was excited was an understatement. To be able to understand that when he got picked up from school he would get to meet him was so much fun for him to think about and made our hearts swell. 

At 8am we were checking into triage and by 8:30am I was hearing the nurse's surprising voice as she couldn't believe I was already 6cm and extremely favorable. At that time she asked about pain management and after a slight waiver of pure fear of the unknown I told her I wanted nothing. She left and I cried; cried because 1. this just got real 2. I was actually attempting unmedicated birth 3. finally.

Once we got settled into our room our nurse Joanna walked us through some checks that needed to be done and once we shared I wanted to go unmedicated she turned on her crunchy side and was 100% supportive the entire time. For the next two hours I labored in the shower, walked around, and sat on the birth ball.

 

I was surprised to find that during contractions I didn't want anyone to speak a word and the only comfort I needed was Davy's hand to squeeze. Between contractions I came back to earth fully aware and able to hold conversations, laugh, and feel normal; such a difference between last time when I felt so much was out of my control. I even fell asleep on the birth ball leaning onto the bed at 8cm during a set of contractions which I didn't even know was possible.

Around 11:30am Jane, my midwife, checked to find I was 8cm with a very bulging bag; we decided we could wait until it broke naturally or she could break it and most likely I could start pushing so I went for the 2nd option because at this point a few more intense contractions were worth the few minuets her breaking it would shave off. Once waters were broken she said I was welcome to start pushing on the next contraction. Wait a minuet, is this a joke? I was so surprised that we were here; we were to the pushing stage and I'd come this far is such a short time and more importantly I wasn't freaking out! Jane sat on the side of the bed with Davy to my left and the nurse on my right and I started pushing.

The ring of fire is exactly how it sounds and ouch, it burned! Two contractions in they made it sound like he was practically out and I was able to feel the top of his head. Between the excitement, the adrenalin, and the burning I was able to push him out two contractions later.

At 11:52am our Emery Shepherd was here!
9 pounds 13 ounces 21 inches long!

 

It was surreal; he was here, perfectly healthy, sitting on my chest...all before lunchtime.

After we got settled into our room our first visitor was Big Brother Moses which is exactly how I wanted it. He came into the room and almost immediately wanted to know where the surprise was that Emery had mentioned in the letter "he wrote" to him that day. After opening his Big Brother present he started to become more interested and the rest is history. The touching, the kissing, the more kissing, the holding, the loving.

 

As first time parents there were lots of tears; fear of the unknown, fear he would die in his sleep, fear we weren't doing things right. This time around we were ol' pros and even found ourselves twiddling our thumbs Wednesday ready to go home. Here are a few more pictures of our hospital stay and our very chunky (who doesn't even look chunky today!) boy in his going home outfit.

 

God is so good and we are so blessed. To be given Moses to raise and love was enough to last a lifetime so to have Emery is like icing on the cake; our wonderful family of four.

He's here! {ESW}

And just like that, in His most perfect timing, he's here!

  

Emery Shepherd Waldman

Born at 11:52am Tuesday May 15th

9 lbs 13 oz 21 inches long

 

A birth story is to come but I wanted to get out a few things about the last 5 days before they start running together.

Overall it's been an incredible experience; after a picture perfect birth we had excellent care throughout our stay at the hospital and the adjustment at home has been kind to me.

Emery surprised us all with his dark hair and complexion! We still can't get over his long fingers and mirror image feet of his Daddy's. His nose is just like Moses' which is just like mine but his head shape and chin are all his own. He had lots of built up mucus the days following birth so there was lots of burping, choking, and congestion but on day 5 we are down to just a little snoring and heavy breathing. On thing to note about his complexion is the almost non existent jaundice this boy has; not 1 but 3 nurses and our pediatrician told us they've never seen someone with such low bilirubin levels!

Moses is handling things really well. We knew taking him to school Tuesday that he would have a baby brother by nightfall and we're able to share that with him before he left which made him very excited. I had a note written from Emery to Moses telling him how excited he was to meet him and that he had a surprise waiting when he got to the hospital so needless to stay after a brief hello to Emery he was looking for the special surprise! After that he warmed up to him, help him, and has given about 85 kisses since then.

I just heard poop from the swing so that's all for now!

PS. We are so head over heels crazy in love.

{hermit}

In hiding is what I’d like to call it. I have about 5 posts floating around (some even written out) but I can’t bring myself to publish. I’m officially sick of being around strangers because if my belly comes up one more time I may throat punch someone. I get it; it’s a way for people to connect, they are being friendly, they are making small talk, they want to talk about this experience, yadda yadda who cares I’m over it! I’d be happy as a clam if he came tonight or in 2 weeks but it’s being seeing by the public that’s killing me. I’ve completely hermit crabbed out and that includes leaving Aprils playlist, belly updates, or whatever else I wanted to talk about buried away.

nine.

This is why I would never call myself a “blogger”, I can’t even stay consistent with blogging once a month! It’s been way too long since I updated last and I hate myself for it because there are so many little details I wish I would have wrote down while still fresh in my mind.
Biggest thing going on, 5 more day’s until Moses’ due date! Five days, less than a week, ah! We went to the doctors yesterday and I have had the same progression for three weeks in a row now. 1 cm dilated, 70% effaced, and he’s sitting around -1 pelvis station. So he’s placed himself in a nice little spot, and 70% is a good number, but for three weeks in a row now…. Come on Moses’, give us a little progression forward! I want him to come when he’s ready, and I’m not going to have them induce labor (unless medically necessary), but it just seems so discouraging that he hasn’t budged in weeks! Most people say 1st babies come later than earlier, plus I’m content with him not coming on Christmas (TOMORROW), so I guess he can just hang in there until he’s ready. When mom was pregnant with Danyell she went to the doctors and they told her o you have a while don’t worry and then that weekend sitting on the toilet her water broke and Danyell was born three weeks early- so you really never know when they’re coming!
Tomorrow or two weeks away, he’s coming regardless and I’m so excited, and extremely nervous at the same time. Because I love to have a plan and control over most situations it makes me extremely anxious knowing I will have no idea what his birthday will consist of and have no way to put it on pause or go back and do it different. I feel a little better now that most of the stuff being packed in the hospital bags is sitting on the floor in piles ready to be put in the bag, and we have a birth plan and phone list typed up ready to go. His nursery is all set up (I love it and need to learn how to post pictures on here!) and the car seat is in my car (although Davy and I are convinced we did it wrongL).
I don’t know if the emotional side has really overwhelmed me yet because it hasn’t really registered, I’m going to be a mother to someone for the rest of their life. Davy and I will be parents and take care of someone else’s life every single day. It’s a responsibility that’s completely foreign to me and I think will stay that way until the day he’s born. Someone will call my mommy and I will be someone’s hero at one point in their life. It’s a roll that you can read up and practice only so much until its reality and I’m holding him in my arms. My friend Sarah Gray keeps telling me that moment when they put them on your stomach after their born is something she will never forget and advises me to feel take in that moment and treasure it.
I could go on forever but will wait until after Christmas to update again. I promise to keep more frequent with my thoughts and details.
Who knows….the next time I sign on Moses could be here!

eight.

I looked at the baby counter and 46 days left seems to have come so quick. Maybe because so much has changed since I last blogged that I feel like it’s all coming to an end (and well beginning at the same time) so soon!
First, we signed the lease and started moving into our new place! I love it and wish I could start living there now, just half the house is still in boxes and the bed is currently an air mattress. My nesting is now stronger than ever so even if I just go over for a little bit each day and unload a box or clean up an area it makes me feel good. Thankfully, we already have most of the big furniture or the stuff we don’t have people have given us. The only big thing we’re missing right now is a TV stand for our new massive TV and a dresser for Moses’ room. I can’t wait to walk in the house with it all set up and decorated and it finally feel like home.
Second, we got engaged! It happened on Wednesday the 29th, I’ve just been too busy to blog the details. Lets just say I was completely surprised and Davy did an amazing job planning it all out. He had me in tears, and laughing, and overwhelmed with happiness.
Third, and currently happening in less than three hours is, my work baby shower! Today is going by so slow anticipating the excitement of this afternoon. It still baffles me how people I work with would put effort and money into someone they barely know! Everyone is walking around so bubbly today just as excited for me to open all the gifts, and see the cake and decorations as I am! I can’t wait to blog about how great the shower was, but I already know it’s going to exceed my expectations!
Just an update on the birthing class, it’s amazing and also exceeding my expectations. The class is just for informative and Vikki is teaching us things I never even knew about during delivery and has just completely calmed our nerves about the big day. Davy also loves the class and that has made it a total bonding experience; I know that on the big day he is going to be the best coach! I feel so relaxed and call me crazy, but have even considered not getting an epidural!

seven.

62 days left seems like an eternity…..
I have nothing but good news to share. The biggest thing is we found a place to live! Well, hopefully. It’s this great 2/1 in Killearn that has a big carport and screened in back porch. It’s higher than we would have liked to pay, but still within out budget. The reason I say hopefully is because it’s not ours yet, we have to submit our application today and hope it gets approved! We really want the place, and the renters would love for us to move there, it’s just a matter of our application going through. Keep your fingers crossed and pray that it’s ours by the first of the month!
Another exciting thing is I started a completely new project at work. I won’t bore with all the details, but it’s a much needed change of pace and work the past two days has actually been enjoyable!
Finally, we started our birthing class last night (or as Davy likes to call it, our “breathing” class)! I was a bit nervous/ anxious driving to the class because I didn’t know what to expect. What the teacher would be like, what the other people in the class would be like, and just overall if it would freak me out even more about d-day (or b-day). Thankfully, it was better than I expected. There is only four other couples in the class with us and most of them seem pretty normal and have the same kind of fears I do about labor. The teach is my good friend Lauren’s mother who I’ve already heard is a good teacher, but never knew how knowledgeable she was! The first class we just introduced ourselves and talked about discomforts of pregnancy and ways to prevent/help them. The class is 2 ½ hours long each week, which seemed like a long time to learn about birthing, but in actuality there is so much she wants to tell us, she had to cut herself off. And another I thought was funny is we have snack time halfway through class- I feel that’s only appropriate with a room full of pregnant women! I hope we get a lot out of the class and when the actual day comes we can practice some of the moves and not just lay there and freak out!