So it has definitely been too long. And I didn't leave on a good note. I apologize. I'm definitely going to be making up for all that lost time!
I should start with my Emery's birth story! She's 6 1/2 months old now.
She was born on Tuesday, November 16, at 10:30 am. I was scheduled for an induction on the morning of the 17th, but throughout Monday, I had been having irregular contractions, some being quite strong. I knew that if I made it to induction, it would be quick. Monday night, we watched a movie (Alice in Wonderland
) and made a quick list of what needed to be done the next day to prepare for Miss Emery. Got to bed at a decent time since Dusty had to work the next morning. I was having strong contractions through the night that I vaguely remember waking enough to count through, then falling back to sleep.When 4 am rolled around, I couldn't sleep between the contractions anymore, so I got up and tried several different things to get them to stop (peed, drank water, got a snack, sat on the birthing ball - life saver!), but nothing worked and the contractions were 9 minutes apart. I wanted to wait until they were closer together to wake Dusty, just in case they stopped. Now looking back, I shouldn't have second guessed how painful they were! After an hour they quickly went from 9 minutes to 7, 5, 4, 2-3:30! Dusty got up for work at 5:30 and found me still on the ball, and I told him he probably wouldn't be going to work. We called our moms so someone could come sit with Mischa. I was paranoid the whole time that the contractions would just stop and I'd be sent home. I was praying that I had made enough progress (from 3cm the Friday before) that they would have to keep me.
We got to the hospital around 7-7:30 and I was 6cm! My nurse left the room to get paperwork for my epidural and someone came in to draw my blood, and Emery kicked me during a contraction and broke my water. Within 10 minutes of my last check, I had progressed to 8cm already. By the time I got into a delivery room (which I walked to from the observation room) and my epidural was in place, I was 9cm and evidently Emery was about to come on her own! I'm glad I got the epidural, but I'm also quite proud of myself for going through so much of labor on my own, especially the transition phase. They said I made labor look easy lol.
After waiting in the delivery room for maybe an hour, it was time to push! Four contractions of pushing and not even 10 minutes later, Emery was born. No tearing, so no stitched, just what the doctor (my doctor wasn't on call) called a "skid mark, but nothing to stitch"! Emery got cleaned up and nursed great right away, and I got to eat. Then I walked to my recovery room and actually felt better being up moving around. I tore pretty badly with Mischa, so my recovery was quite painful. This experience was everything I hoped it would be, and better even. But now I know better for next time not to wait long at all before going to the hospital.
My doctor was disappointed that he wasn't the one to deliver her, but he said that he'd rather someone else do it than me delivering at home! My labor with Mischa was 5 hours from my water breaking to birth, and this time it was less than 3 hours... So I can only imagine next time! (Which we're hoping to wait a couple years)
At her 2 month check up in January, her doctor heard a murmur and sent her for an EKG, ECHO, and chest x-ray. She was diagnosed with a VSD, which basically is a hole in her heart that involves all 4 chambers. Thankfully, hers is small and she should grow out of it. She still had it at her 6 month check two weeks ago, and her next check with the cardiologist is Aug 1st. Once they can't hear it anymore, they'll do another ECHO to confirm that it's closed.
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| 2 weeks |
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| 1 month |
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| 2 months |
It obviously isn't affecting her growth! She is a chunky little monkey. She weighed 15.3 lbs at her last check. And I think she'd be perfectly happy to breast feed forever, but I'd really like my boobs back eventually. At 6 1/2 months, I am still her main source of food (patting myself on the back! With Meesh, I dried up before 4 months). She loves big people food (and will look at you like you're starving her if she catches you eating!). I have to force the oatmeal issue so she gets her iron. She also LOVES mandarin oranges. So I puree that into her oatmeal, and we're golden.
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| 3 months |
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| 4 months |
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| 5 months |
I've been doing a lot of things differently this time around. I make my own baby food, still breast feed, cloth diaper (LOVE!), baby wear (when she was smaller), don't co-sleep... Oh who am I kidding? She starts off in her crib, and when I get up for one of her night time feedings, we join Mischa in her full size bed and sleep there until morning. I'm just too tired to stay awake and lay Emmy in her crib when she's done. So she nurses laying down and we both get more sleep.
My Mischa is 3 years old. This freaks me out. When Emmy is her age, she'll be almost 6. Is that even allowed?? Surely not...
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| <3 |
She's been as good of a big sister as she can. There are jealousy issues, but they also love each other whole-heartedly, and are already buddies. I love to watch them play. Mischa "reads" her stories and sings to her and shows her how to do things (like crawl, because that's her main goal right now- be mobile and follow Mischa).
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| This cracks me up! |
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| She is all the way to the right. |
She just finished her first year of preschool. she'll do a second year in the fall because she isn't old enough for kindergarten yet, but it'll take into account what she already knows. She can sing almost all the books of the Bible, knows her ABCs, can count into the 70s, will randomly spout or sing verses and songs, says the Pledge of Allegiance, knows half the phonics... She's a brilliant little girl! Oh! And she can spell and write her own name! She's THREE!! Now she's working on spelling family members' names, learning to ride her bike, and she wanted to learn to read and tie her shoes. Ambitious!
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| 6 months |
I'll save an update on myself for another post when I've had a chance to think through and sort myself. It's been a roller coaster of a year already, and I'm not exactly sure where to start. But I will tell you this: pink hair, spilled ice coffee, matchy pajamas, forgiving shit starters, vacation planning, couponing, ants invasion, and my mom's birthday. And that's just the past two weeks! And here are the last of this post's pictures:
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| My parents got chickens. |
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| And the ducks. Two of them are my girls' Easter presents this year. Thankfully, they live with my parents! |
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| Mischa (and her dirty nose) with her Aunt Mary. |
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| Playing in the pool at Bousha's house! |
