Beautiful Girl

Now that I have finally finished Matthew's birthday post (almost 4 months too late!), I can move on to our first beautiful baby....who is definitely NOT a baby anymore! Our sweet Emma is eight years old today, and we're left wondering where the time has gone, and willing it to slow down just a bit! I can't believe we've had Emma for eight years already, and yet, could never imagine how we lived without her! She is the most sensitive, compassionate, thoughtful, intelligent little girl, and we simply couldn't ask for anything more in a daughter.

In lieu of a party with friends this year, Daddy and I took her out for dinner and a movie...just the three of us (thank you Nana!). We had a wonderful time tonight, and could even (barely) remember what it was like to just have our sweet Emma for those five years before any siblings came along. We love you so much, Emma. Just do us a favor, and stop growing up so fast!

15 months and 20 days ago today....

I know, I know....I'm a little tardy finishing that last post. Sorry!! Maybe it's silly to finish it now, but it's a story that deserves telling...even if I'm the only one who will read it! : )

Where did I leave off...oh, right....I went to bed knowing that I would see Mom the next day (June 5th) and have some time with her before the baby came. By 11:30pm, I knew it just wasn't going to happen that way. Even though I was 2 and a half weeks before my due date, I told Darrin I needed to go to the hospital. We called Trev and Missi, and Trev came over to be at the house with Nathan and Emma who were sound asleep....oblivious to the fact that by the time they woke up in the morning, they would have a baby brother!

We got to the hospital around midnight, and I was SHOCKED to learn that I was already 5 cm! We got settled in, and I called Mom to let her know that the baby was coming, and she was going to miss it by just a few hours.....I couldn't believe it. So close! Right when we got there, I asked the nurse to do the preliminary bloodwork which would give us a platelet count. With Emma I was unable to have an epidural due to low platelets. With Nathan, I chose not to have one, though my platelets were just above the cut-off point. (Still kicking myself for THAT one!) Even though Matthew's labor so far had been great, Nathan's delivery was still too fresh in my mind, and I wanted to experience an epidural. When the nurse came back in with the numbers, I literally held my breath. My platelets were at 104.....anything above 100 and you can have an epidural. The relief I feld is positively impossible to describe. I felt like at that moment, I could finally relax, and celebrate the fact that we were welcoming another baby!

Epidural in by 2am....Darrin and Katie asleep by 2:05am. : ) I tried to get some rest, but couldn't help watching that monitor...seeing those mountainous contractions....knowing that I was getting closer to seeing my baby with each one. BUT I COULDN'T FEEL A THING!!! It was positively amazing! By 6am, it was show time. Darrin and Katie stumbled awake, and the nurse told me to go ahead and push.....WAIT.....DON'T PUSH! He's right there! You're kidding me...right? There is NO way it can be this easy! I didn't even push one time, and then we had to just sit there and wait for 10 minutes until the doctor got there. Okay, NOW it's show time. One contraction....two pushes....and we have a perfect, beautiful little boy with tons of platinum blond hair! I was able to feel so much emotion, and enjoy that moment so fully because the entire experience had been so incredible. Our beautiful boy then:

And our beautiful boy on his first birthday (which is when I SHOULD have finished this post!):

Matthew has brought so much joy and laughter to our home....we love you so much!
(And he's so darn cute, that it just isn't right!)