Here is Emery's overdue birth story. I have rarely had the chance to get to the computer and actually use two hands to type as usually I only have one free hand :) It is very long so feel free to skip it and just look at her cute photos instead!
Emery was born on February 10th, a few days before her due date on the 15th. I was having some pre-labor signs starting around the 7th so I was hoping I wouldn't have to wait until the 15th or later for her to arrive. I had an appointment with my doctor late in the day on the 9th and I had a little progress, I was 2 cm dilated. That evening I continued to have some irregular contractions but I had no idea if they would turn into anything else, since it was so different from my labor with Adalyn. Early in the morning on the 10th, the contractions were getting uncomfortable at times and my mind was going so I could not sleep any more and got up to take a shower. I got dressed and sat on the couch to watch TV and time contractions. I didn't want to wake Jamey up until I was sure. He had been working on sealing the tile on the bathroom floor that night and we went to bed very late, around 2 a.m. So, I only got about 2 hours of sleep. When I was sure the contractions were close enough, I woke Jamey up and we got final things ready to head to the hospital. I called my mom to come over to stay at our house and watch Adalyn. I was excited and nervous that it was time to go. It was still very early in the morning and Adalyn was sound asleep and I went in to her room to check on her and admire her darling face for a second, and I thought about how everything was about to change. The next time Adalyn saw me, I was holding her baby sister!
We checked in to the hospital and it was probably around 7:15 or 7:30. It was quite busy in the labor area and I think the nurses had just changed shifts. We got settled in a room and I was hooked up to monitors tracking my contractions and the baby's heartbeat. When they checked me, I was about 3-4 cm dilated. I was actually disappointed I was only 3-4 cm since I had been feeling contractions for a few hours and Adalyn's birth was very fast so I thought I would be there all day. Again, I only felt the contractions in my back. My doctor was performing a c-section that morning so the plan was for him to come in and break my water when he was finished. Jamey and I just kind of hung out for awhile and watched TV. We hadn't packed any activities to pass the time and we were a little bored and anxious. The hospital lost all of my registration paperwork I had filled out weeks before so I had to fill everything out again so that helped pass the time I guess. I asked for some food and ate a bagel and some fruit. After awhile, I stopped feeling the contractions although they were still showing up on the monitor. We walked around the labor and recovery areas to see if things would pick up. When they picked up again, I sat on the birth ball for awhile and if I sat just right, I didn't feel any contractions although they were still regular. We decided Jamey should leave to get something to eat and to run home to see Adalyn and get a pack of cards or some activity for us to do while we waited. So, Jamey left so he could get back before the doctor came, as we weren't quite sure when he would be in. The doctor came in to check me and broke my water at about 10:45. I was 5 cm at that time. I called Jamey and told him the status and he finished eating and said goodbye to Adalyn and came back. We are only about a 5-10 minute drive to the hospital from our house so he wasn't long. The contractions were starting to get uncomfortable and really hurt after that. By the time he got back, things were starting to get pretty serious. We got the cards out but it was too late, I couldn't concentrate on them anymore. I worked on my breathing but the pain was different this time. It got really intense really fast. I tried the birthing ball again but it just wasn't working as well. I didn't have an epidural with Adalyn as it was such a fast labor so I really didn't want one with this baby and fortunately by the time I was in a lot of pain and really considered one, it was transition time and too late. I was feeling pressure for a while and I think I was fully dilated and ready to push but since it felt different from before I didn't think it was time. The nurse, who was really great, finally convinced me to let her check and I was in fact ready to start pushing. They got the doctor and a nurse for the baby and at 12:55 p.m. we met our little baby girl!
Emery was born with quite a lot of dark, almost black, hair and we were very surprised! She weighed 7 lbs. 11 oz. and was 20 inches long. It was just as amazing to see her for the first time as it was to see Adalyn! She was so beautiful. Finally I was able to meet the little girl whom I had felt kicking around in my tummy since 15 weeks. She was such a strong little kicker and squirmer and it is evident now by the way she straightens out those arms and kicks out those legs. Our sweet little daughter had arrived to join our family and we fell in love with her the second we saw her! We are truly so fortunate to have our healthy, beautiful daughters in our life and I feel so much love when I look at them.
We had kind of decided on her name just a few days before she was born. We had narrowed it down to two names and although we had both decided Emery was most likely the name for our baby girl, we looked at her when she was born and it definitely fit her! We had liked the name Emery for a few years. We heard it just a few weeks before Adalyn was born and thought, oh, we like that name, well, maybe next time... There was actually a baby girl born in the hospital the day after Adalyn and she was named Emery as well. We chose the middle name Jillian, which is an "elaborated" version of Jill, which is my mom's name and my middle name. It was also chosen to honor my late Grandma "Moe" Bernice. Although her name was not Jillian, she chose Jill to name my mom so we liked that the name she chose was getting passed on in a new version to a new generation. Emery already has a nickname, Emmy or Emmy J. which we think is really cute with Adalyn's nickname Addy :)
A few funny things happened during Emery's birth and our hospital stay. The 10th of February was a very popular day for births at Community Medical Center. I believe there were at least nine births that day. Usually, there are just a few births a day. The recovery rooms were quite full from a lot of previous births in the days before as well. After Emery was born I was told we would probably have to share a room. I was really dreading that but thankfully just a short time later my nurse told me that there was one open single room and it went to the mom and baby who delivered first. We beat out the room next door by only five minutes but that was enough to get our own room!
Another funny thing was when Emery was born, my doctor said that she bit him as he was delivering her!
Emery and I stayed in the hospital one night and we brought her home around five the next evening. We decided to have Jamey go home and stay with Adalyn but I wished we had made arrangements to have someone stay over at our house with her because it was really difficult for me to stay by myself. I only got about 2 hours of sleep that night so I was very glad to be going home the next day.
It is crazy to think that she is already 5 weeks old! The time has gone by so fast and we are really enjoying watching her grow and change.
Emery at one month old, she's tutu cute!
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