Emma’s Birth

Name: Emma Nicole
We chose Emma 1- because we think it’s cute and 2- because we accidentally started a little pattern and decided to sort of keep it going. Joel, Kaylee, Logan, EMma. We tried to come up with “M” names, but Joel’s sister already has a bunch, so we came up with the “Em” sound instead.
Both Joel and I have sisters with the middle name of Nicole (Paige and Jenn) and since Emma Nicole sounds cute, we went with that.

Height: 21.5 inches

Weight: 7.9 lbs (one day after her due date)
Kaylee was 8.8 lbs on her due date and Logan was 8.3 lbs, 2 weeks early. Emma is my small baby.

Labor/delivery details:

Believe it or not, this is the quick version. If you’d like more details (especially if you’re interested in unmedicated childbirth) feel free to ask me.

I had my doctor strip the membranes during my appointment on my due date. I was barely dilated to a 3 at that point. I figured the cramping and contractions would start within a few hours, but they didn’t. Around 8:00 pm I started wondering if maybe I was having contractions, but I wasn’t sure. There were just a few an hour and it felt more like Emma was stretching out, causing my stomach to be firm from her pushing against it and causing a little pain that I figured was from her kicking an organ while she stretched.

Joel and I went to bed around midnight (not smart when a baby is coming, I know). I didn’t sleep great and then at 1:00 I woke up from a contraction. It wasn’t very painful, but it was enough to wake me up. I continued to have random contractions for the next hour. They weren’t painful, but I wasn’t able to get back to sleep.

At 2:00 they started to hurt more, so I searched for and downloaded a contraction tracker app for my phone. I started tracking the contractions at about 2:15 am. Each contraction was around 45 seconds and at first were between 3 and 5 minutes apart. I figured we needed to follow the 411 guide of contractions meaning they are 4 minutes apart, lasting at least 1 minute, for 1 hour (give or take on each of them). At 2:30ish I woke Joel up and told him we should probably call his mom since it would have been an hour of contraction tracking by the time she got here. He called and we started preparing to go to the hospital. By the time we left the contractions were between 2 and 2 1/2 minutes apart and were more painful.

We got to the hospital around 3:50 am. The contractions were worse, but still bearable. Turns out I talk a lot when I’m in pain. They got me up to triage to check me and monitor the contractions. I was at a 6 1/2.

They got me into the birthing room (I was so happy I got it – the hospital only has one) about 30 minutes after we got there. The birthing room is reserved for those hoping to do an unmedicated delivery and is really nice. It is very calming with dimmed lighting and has a big tub in it. I got in the tub for 30-40 minutes. As I laid back, eating a sucker (to help with nausea during contractions), Joel commented that it felt like we were at a spa (the lights were nicely dimmed too). In-between contractions I was actually really relaxed, so I agreed with him during those times. But then the contractions got closer together.

The nurse had me get out when I felt even a slight urge to push. I got on the bed and the contractions started coming one right after the other. I was not prepared for that pain. I’d read books and knew I needed to try to relax, but nothing I did helped. I’d think that maybe changing positions would help, but when I’d move the pain would intensify. Nurses were up on the bed massaging my back while Joel gave me ice chips and honey sticks. I quickly progressed to a 9 (20-30 minutes?) at which time my doctor came in and broke my water. I laid down after he did so and immediately needed to push. I yelled something about how I was going to push and I hoped I was at a 10 because I was pushing no matter what.

The doctor was calmly, but quickly trying to get all suited up and ready. He always had one hand ready to catch her in case he needed to. Luckily, he was ready in time. Then suddenly the contractions and the urge to push stopped. I was still in pain, but it was different. I did feel some burning (“ring of fire” for anyone who has heard of that). It took one or two more pushes and she was out. From water breaking to Emma’s birth it was maybe 3 minutes. Thankfully! I don’t know how anyone can do hours and hours of pushing without an epidural. Emma was born at 5:28 am. Less than 2 hours after we got to the hospital and less than 4 hours from the time I consider I was in active labor. Yay for fast (but not too fast)!

So, I was able to do unmedicated. I keep being asked if I’ll do it again. Here’s my answer. If I had to do it again this month then no. The memory of the transition period (the time I was on the bed) is still too vivid. If I was going to do it again in a year or two, then yes, I think so. I figure the memory will dull a lot by then.   Plus, I loved how alert I was during the pushing stage and right after (“alert,” not necessarily “with it”). 

 

I actually wrote this a week ago, but didn’t post it because I hadn’t loaded the pictures onto the computer yet. Here’s what I have to add now:

I for sure want to do unmedicated again next time. It was a really neat experience. Really painful, but cool too. I liked knowing what was going on and not being hooked up to any IV’s. One thing I’ll do differently next time is I’ll have the doctor break my water sooner. Probably right after I’m in transition. Transition was definitely the hardest part and hopefully having the water broken earlier will help that part go faster.

Emma is an amazing baby! She’s really calm and sweet and seriously beautiful! Joel was able to take the week following her birth off of work and it felt like a vacation. I was able to snuggle with Emma the whole time and have been really enjoying this newborn stage.

PICTURE TIME!

 
I realized I hadn’t taken any belly pictures the whole pregnancy, so we took this right before leaving for the hospital (in-between contractions, of course).

First pictures of Emma (this was after we were moved from labor/delivery (everything from right after birth is on video).

First bath. They did it the next day and it was in my room. I loved that!

She loved getting her hair washed!

Being held by Great-Grandma Wilkey. Emma is her 92nd great-grandbaby!

This one is blurry, but I have to post it because it shows how Logan looked most of the time he was at the hospital meeting Emma. The kids were really cute with her and kept commenting on how little she was.

First family picture

Holding her little sister for the first time.  

Logan wanted to touch her and give her kisses, but he wouldn’t actually hold her because her belly button was “gross.” He was asking to see her hands, feet, and then tummy. He was grossed out by the umbilical cord. (Don’t worry, now that it’s fallen off he loves to hold her.)

Ready to go home!

She is seriously so beautiful!

Whose Kid is This?

I’ve got to do some bragging about Kaylee for a bit.

Kaylee is 4 1/2 years old. She’ll be 5 on November 14.

This is her “journal.”

She’ll spend a few hours each day writing and drawing in it. It’s quite adorable.

Today she wrote this (don’t worry… I asked her permission to share it with you. It is her journal after all ):

In case you can’t tell what that says, here it is (it goes from the left page to right for three lines then just down the right page. Then it switches back to the left page):

TTODAY I EM FFRITTIN BBI A SPIDDR SO I EM RITEG (stay on right page and go down) BEECUS THAT IS NNOT SCAREE (go back to left page) AND THAT SPIDR IS BLACK AND YELO

Translation:

T-today I am f-frightened b-by a spi-d-der so I am writing because that is n-not scary. And that spider is black and yellow.

(She purposefully put double letters on some words to make it sound like she was stuttering since she was “f-frightened.”)

How adorable is that?! She’s self-taught, too. She just started writing on her own. I don’t practice with her or anything. For someone who hasn’t done any schooling (not even preschool), that’s impressive to Joel and I!

The only things I helped her with was when she asked me if ‘scary’ had a ‘c’ or ‘k’ in it, except she asked it like this: “does ‘scary’ have a ‘c’ like in ‘cat’ or a ‘k’ like in ‘kite’?” And whether ‘black’ had a “c, k, or both?”

Yeah. She’s a smart one. And she still has a full year before kindergarten. I have the feeling she’s going to get bored.

Ok, I’m done bragging now.

Quick Update from Past 4 Months

Edited to add: all of the pictures were formatted nicely before I hit publish. I don't know what happened after that. It'll be too hard to fix, so please forgive the awful picture layout.

Life has been so busy, so I’ve completely neglected blogging and since life is only going to get busier (#3 is due Sept. 26… it’s a girl, btw. I don’t think I ever announced that) I figured I’d do a real quick update of some highlights from the past few months. This is going to be long, so don’t feel bad if you don’t look at it. Except immediate family. I expect you to look at it all .
In May we drove to Minnesota to visit my sister, Kim, and her family. It was a ton of driving, but it went really smoothly! On the way there we visited Mt. Rushmore. On the way back we visited my cousin, Heidi, and her adorable new baby in North Dakota. It was all so fun and really deserves multiple posts of its own, but this’ll have to do.

The morning after we got back from Minnesota (where I’d love to live, btw!) the kids started two weeks of swimming lessons. They loved it!

Kaylee had her Joy School graduation.
Then Kim and Dave came to Utah to visit, so we did a lot of partying with family.
Which included a Wilkey Family Reunion (camping at Payson Lakes). Joel wasn’t able to take off work, so I took the kids up. Even with cleaning Logan up every 20 minutes or so, he still looked like this the majority of the time:

We had cousins Connor and Cambree stay with us for a few days.

We (well, Joel and the kids) dressed up in Spider-man outfits to get some free food from Carl’s Jr.
 
We had the 4th of July party at the Burgener’s.

And then another one with the Hilton’s.

And the Hilton 4th party meant Joel’s sister, Jenn, and her family were visiting!
Since we like free food, we again dressed up for some. This time as cows for free meals at Chic-fil-A. I even participated this time.

We did a fireworks show on the 24th. I have to add, I HATE the newly legal fireworks!!!  Of the 3 different times I’ve watched them there has been one that has malfunctioned and shot into the crowd. SCARY! The kids liked them, but thought they were a bit loud.
Joel took me and the kids to our first ever drive-in! We saw Ice Age 4 and Brave. Both mediocre movies, but we had a blast, nonetheless. Seriously. I loved it (for some reason I didn’t think I would).
We went with friends to visit the Brigham City Temple and have a little family home evening up there. Our stake wants each family to have a picture in front of the temple and to do a bunch of other things in preparation for the dedication.

We celebrated Logan’s 3rd birthday with a big superhero party. He’s obsessed (even more so since the party). That took a ton of my time to plan, but I loved doing it.

On Logan’s actual birthday he chose to go to Chic-fil-A for dinner and then bowling/arcading (because we went bowling for Kaylee’s bday). He also got a fun rollercoaster that he’s enjoying.
I’ve also been working on projects, running a produce co-op every other week, and trying to get the nursery ready for our sweet girl. Joel’s been working hard on the yard (man it’s been hot outside!), with work (he got a promotion and is an editor!) and with young men/scouts. The kids have been playing hard and relaxing a lot.

Wow. And life is just going to get busier here in a few weeks with both kids doing Joy School and a new baby coming. Phew! I’m tired just thinking about it.