IT A GRIL!!!!

No...it's not a typo. Go to Cake Wrecks to get a good laugh.

So here it is...

THE BIG UPDATE: All the details that I am willing to share on Blogger and that you are (hopefully) wanting to know.

On the morning of December 5, 2008 we headed to the hospital for our 7.30 appointment to have a baby. Isn't that weird..we had to schedule it. It was definitely not the way we expected things to go, but realized that it was the first lesson in rolling with the punches. I actually woke up that morning having contractions. Not major painful, consistent ones, but contractions nonetheless.

So we checked in, met the nurses and began the process of inducing labor. I got hooked up to two different monitors- one for Emaline's heartbeat and one for contractions. The induction officially began at 8.30. I had to lay down for an hour and then get up and walk for 45 minutes. I went through 3 rounds of this process without much progress. As we were pacing up and down the halls of Labor and Delivery, the nurses were decorating for Christmas, so things were nice and festive. The contractions did increase, along with the pain, but not enough to get me to where I needed to be to actually have the baby. By this time it was around 3ish. By now, I was toying with the idea of getting the drugs. I probably went back and forth for 30 minutes or so and then realized that I did need/want them if I was going to have the strength/energy to make it all the way to delivery. So in comes the anethesologist- Dr. Marvel. No joke...his last name was actually Marvel. I think Andrew was jealous. I officially got the drugs at 4.30. It was Marvel-ous. I was able to relax and not fight against the pain and progressed much faster than before. And then we just waited...watched TV, Meet Me in St. Louis, checked email/facebook.....just waited. And then it was time to push, but first I threw up. Not fun! I really HATE throwing up. I started pushing at 8.40pm and Emaline was born at 9.21 pm. And now we have a beautiful, little girl, Emaline Acacia.

Oh and one thing I should mention. Andrew was amazing through this whole process. The nurses kept commenting on how attentive and supportive he was. One of the nurses asked "where did you find him?". I was definitely very proud to have other people recognize what a great husband he is. I love him so much! He was so encouraging and patient and loving....I say was, but he IS those things everyday..pregnant, delivery a baby or just a normal day.


About the names: I suggested Emaline to Andrew awhile ago and he immediately liked it. I liked it since I heard it in Anne of Avonlea....she's the character that Anne tutors- Emaline Harris- and buys her new "spectacles". Andrew liked it because it is a Ben Fold's song. Emaline means Eager.(Note: If a nickname is used, we will use Emmy, not Emma) We picked Acacia when I was reading Exodus earlier this year. It was the wood that God instructed the Israelites to use for the tabernacle and the Ark of the Covenant. We liked that the acacia wood had a holy use and believe/desire that our desire will also be used by God for just a noble/holy purpose. I also wanted to incorporate a bit of nature into her name since both my sister and I have "nature" middle names (Brook and Fern). Below is a picture of the Acacia Tree.

So after Emaline was born and I regained feeling in my legs, we were all moved to another floor for recovery and the room where we spent the remainder of our stay. Emaline never left our side. We didn't get to "sleep" until around 2.30 am.(we had been up since 6.30am). Emaline had to be accessed, I had to be accessed, she had her bath...... Nurses were coming in every few hours to check on everyone. Just when we had finally turned out the lights and were going to rest a bit, someone came in to draw some blood from me, to check my heart rate, and to check on Emaline. It was rather annoying. But everyone at the hospital was SO EXTREMELY nice that it was hard to really be upset.

Saturday came along and we were still trying to get some rest. I was still recovering. Emaline pretty much just slept. My mom got into town and came to the hospital. We had a few other guests stop by which was nice. We were discharged from the hospital that night. It was a rough night, but we got through it...with much help from my mom. Thanks again, Mom! It was great having you here to help out. Andrew and I were pretty much in a sleepy state for the rest of the weekend. On Monday, we went to the pediatrician for her checkup. It was a good visit, except for the fact that Emaline had lost a whole pound. Newborns usually lose some weight after birth, but a full pound is a bit too much. Also that night, Emaline slept through 2 feedings and still hadn't peed. (we were told to be on the lookout as she should have been peeing 3-4 times a day) We called the pediatrician's office and the on call nurse told us to give her some formula and call back if she didn't pee by 10pm. She didn't pee, and when we called we were told to take her to the ER. It was not a fun night and I cried a lot. It was not fun to hear ER and IV for your 3 day old baby. So we all bundled up and went to the ER. After waiting for 3 hours, we saw a doctor. Since everything else(color, movement, etc) on Emaline were fine, he said she was mildly dehydrated and gave her pedialyte. She peed immediately! Never have I been more excited over someone urinating!!! :-) Since then, things have been pretty good. We saw the pediatrician the next day, Emaline had gained a few ounces and had peed several more times. We got the "all clear" from the doc. Now she is a peeing and pooping machine!

Well, that's all I have time for today. More pictures to come.

Questions?