Just a little more . . .

We had a great day yesterday with my cousin Katie and our college friend Ben stopped by too! Emily was awake ALL day and had a hard time falling asleep last night as she was overly tired. But she did finally fall asleep and woke up about every 3 hours -- not too bad! :)

She is such a joy and we enjoy having her with us! :) Nelson went back to work today and I'm home by myself and doing really well. My sister comes in tomorrow and I can't wait to have her meet her niece!

That's about it for now -- Until we take and post more pictures (which is about every 5 minutes) . . .

Happy Memorial Day!

Wishing you all a very Happy Memorial Day!

Just some pictures

Thought you'd like to see some more pictures . . .

First Sunday in Church!

That's right -- we made it to church this morning. She slept really well last night and we were up and feeling good, so we thought we'd try it! :) Emily was perfect (as always) and slept through the worship part and then woke up a little during the sermon. Luckily I had brought a bottle with us and she had a mid-morning snack. It was fun to get her all dressed up and start up some regular activity again. :)

We had her bilirubin tested again yesterday. She was down to 11.1 and the doctor said we can take her off the lighted blanket as she's all better. We were very glad to see that blanket go -- kind of hard to hold or feed her when there's a hose "sticking out" of her side!

We are having a bunch of people come visit this week (my best friend is here this weekend, my cousin Katie is coming in tomorrow, my sister is coming in on Wednesday for a week, and then my Aunt Faith and cousin Christie are coming in next weekend). We're looking forward to having everyone here and sharing in holding and watching Emily! We had no idea it would be so much fun just to watch her sleep! :)

Well, that's about it for us. Until next time . . .

Woops -- we forgot her stats! :)

A friend of ours pointed out to us that we forgot to post Emily's stats -- woops! She was 8 lbs 10 ozs and 20.5" long. Can't believe we forgot to share that! :)

Happy 4th Wedding Anniversary!

Yesterday was our 4th Wedding Anniversary and I have to say that it was not the most romantic -- but it was wonderful! Nelson took the day off of work and we just took care of Emily all day. She had her blood drawn to test her bilirubin count (it's going down but not very fast -- so they're having it tested again on Saturday morning) and I had an appointment at the doctor's as well. I haven't been healing as quickly as I should have been so they prescribed something to help. I'm already starting to feel better and moving around much more than before!

My parents left Wednesday afternoon and it was sad to see them go. We had a great time with them and they were a huge help to me and Emily! Thanks, Mom & Dad -- we love you! :)

Emily is doing really well. She's sleeping well at night (3-4 hour stints) and eating great too! She is absolutely adorable and we are loving just holding and taking care of her! Here are a few more pictures for ya'll to enjoy!

Until the next update . . .

Update on Emily

I forgot to comment on a few things yesterday, so I thought I'd update everyone.

Emily's bilirubin count was a little high when she was born (causing jaundice), so they had her under some special lights to lower her count. Because it didn't go down, they sent her home with a special blanket that glows blue lights -- kind of makes her look like a glow-worm! Her count is barely above normal so there doesn't seem to be anything to worry about. We're supposed to go to her doctor's office this week to have her count re-checked and will then go from there.

Here is a picture of the flowers sent to us -- thank you to all of you who called or sent flowers and cards. They really meant a lot!

As some of you know, we were kind of worried about Nora and how she would react to Emily when we brought her home. And thanks to God, Nora has been awesome the last few days! She has been really calm and gentle around Emily and really sweet! When we feed or change her at night, Nora comes in to watch and then goes back to the nursery to sleep on the loveseat. She hasn't been demanding any additional attention or lovin' and has been really cooperative. Yeah!!! :)

We went for our first walk today and had a great time. Emily seemed to enjoy being outside and it was nice for us to leave the house for a while! :)

Well, that's about it for now. Until next time . . .

Welcome to the World!

As most of you have heard, we had our little bundle of joy. We named her Emily Grace Lewis and she is the light of our world!

We went into the hospital on Wednesday at 6:30 and I was given some drugs to speed things along. By 11:00 I was given some pitocin and my contractions slowly started. They came to check on me around 1:15 and I was already 5 cm dilated! I was reluctant to get an epidural because of the side affects after the delivery -- I didn't like the idea of being numb from the waist down and not being able to walk on my own. But by 3:00 I was in too much pain to wait and went ahead with it! I was 10 cm by 3:45 and then started pushing shortly after. I only had to push for an hour and then Emily was born at 4:44 PM on Wednesday, May 17th. It was only 5 hours from the start of the contractions to the delivery and to my surprise it was remarkably not difficult. I'm sure the epidural was a big help in that!

The recovery is going as well as can be expected. Emily is adjusting really well to life and is feeding all the time! I'm pretty sore but am getting better with every day.

I can't believe how happy Nelson and I are. We never knew how much we could love someone until we had Emily -- it's amazing! She is so wonderful! For example, I was telling Nelson last night during one of her late-night feedings how exhausted I was. Everytime she cries out for food or diaper changings and we see her beautiful little face, we totally forget about how tired we are or what we're doing at 2:30 AM. It's unbelievable!

Here are some pictures of her with us and with my parents. You should see my parents too -- they are so happy and giddy! It's like Christmas for them, they are so happy! :)

We'll keep posting more pictures as the days go by. Thank you all for your prayers & support through the whole pregnancy and delivery. We could not have done it without you -- we love you all!

Latest Appointment

I managed to change my Wednesday appointment to today at 1:45 -- yeah!! Unfortunately, I had to meet with the not-so-nice doctor. But they did tell me that I'm still not dilated and that we could schedule inducing. It's scheduled for this Wednesday, May 17th at 6:30 AM at Aultman Hospital in Canton. This really isn't the way I had intended or imagined it would happen but at least it will all be finally over and we'll have our sweet little daugther. We're excited and scared but we know that God is in control and He'll take care of everything! :)

As requested by my sister Tracie, here is the latest "belly progression" shot -- it was taken this morning. I am looking forward to losing that -- let me tell you! :)

So, until Wednesday or Thursday (depending on how we're feeling) . . .

It's Sunday and we're still waiting!

Yep, nothing happening yet! I had a load of contractions yesterday but nothing going on today. And let me tell you, we've tried everything! I've eaten more spicy and Mexican food in the last week than I have in the last month! We walked the President McKinley Monument (about 200 steps in all) a few times and then walked through the park for a while too. It seemed to prompt some movement & contractions yesterday but like I said, nothing today! Hopefully tomorrow?! :)

My best friend Laura was down this past week and my parents got here Thursday as well. It has been nice to have the additional company to help pass the time and not focus so much on the lack of contractions! :)

Also want to give all of you an update on the nursery. I changed my mind this past week and decided to decorate it afterall. Laura helped me re-paint the walls and make a mural around the room. It turned out exactly as I had imagined and it looks amazing with the crib!

My appointment is scheduled for Wednesday but I'm hoping to move it up so that we can maybe get somewhere with this baby of ours! So, until something else happens . . .

40 Weeks today -- and still nothing!

Yes, today is the due date -- at least it's supposed to be the due date. They always tell you these things are estimates so that you're prepared to go over, but you never realize how annoying it is to go past it until you do just that.

The doctor today was very friendly and asked if I wanted the truth or to be lied to. I said I preferred the truth -- I think that might have been the wrong choice! ;) He said I'm barely effaced and not dilated at all. And because of the lack of signs of labor in the near future, he recommended I eat some spicy Mexican food and get a foot rub from Nelson -- apparently those are two old wives tales that he thinks might help speed things along. And if all else fails, at least I got a good meal and massage out of it! :)

I'm still feeling great (minus the extreme swelling and anxiousness to get this over with) and really could not have asked for a better pregnancy. God has been so good to us!

I have another appointment scheduled for next Wednesday where they'll do a non-stress test and then schedule inducing -- that's all assuming I haven't had the baby by then. Let's hope I don't make it to that appointment! :)

So, until next Wednesday, but hopefully before then . . .

Nothing Yet . . .

Just wanted to let you guys know that nothing has changed since the last blog a few days ago. My contractions haven't changed at all and there's no sign of me going into labor today or tomorrow. But I'll let you know if that changes. Until then . . .

39 Weeks and hopefully only 1 more to go!

Yep -- I'm ready for this baby to be here! I keep telling myself that she's going to be late and I should plan on seeing her around May 20th instead of May 10th -- but it's so hard to do that!

We met with yet another doctor this morning. She was very pleasant and much better than last week's doctor! She said the heartbeat was strong but she couldn't tell if the baby's head was down or up, so she quickly did another ultrasound to be sure. The head is still down and everything looks to be ok. The baby has still not dropped and my contractions are getting stronger and more often -- although not very consistent. So, I'm scheduled to come back again next Wednesday assuming I don't go before then -- keep your fingers crossed!! :)

Other than that, not much is going on here. Nelson is working at the rental every spare chance he gets and we're hoping to maybe start painting the interior this weekend -- and when I say "we" I mean Nelson -- because I'm obviously not able to do too much over there anymore! But it is coming along.

We are still adjusting to the new car. Nelson is missing his diesel and manual engine but we have so much more room in the Altima -- it's quite amazing! It will be nice once the baby is here not to worry about fitting the stroller and 2+ bags of groceries in the trunk -- that would have been a tight fit in the Jetta. I think it will be a good car for us! :)

Well, that's about it. Hope you're all doing well and I'll keep you posted if anything happens -- and if nothing does happen, I'll give you another update next week . . .