My How Life Has Changed

I knew it would...in a way, but I guess I didn't really know what to expect. Sitting here this morning, looking at my students report cards helped me realize how my thought processes have turned. As TJ put it, I used to think about 23 little ones, and now my life is consumed by 1! It is true.

The other day we left the house and as we drove down the street and I saw all the cars and people and realized that life for other people has been continuing as normal, where as mine has seemed to stop.

I don't even know what I used to do, or think, or feel. But I know now that I want to check on my sweet baby while she naps, and I watch the time to make sure she is feed every few hours, and I wonder how many hours she will sleep at night, and I take tons of pictures of her cute outfits and the cute faces she makes.

The house doesn't feel different, just messier, and cozier. I don't get bored and feel the need to get out, but am content staying here. I don't get the few things completed that I want during the day and I can still sleep soundly (for a few hours) at night.

The days get easier and with each passing day my life prior to January 14th seems like more and more of a distant memory, but I wouldn't change it.

Worth the Wait

As many of you already know, we chose not to find out if we were having a boy or a girl. This is something I always wanted to do....I just never really cared. However, when we went to our 20 week appointment and they turned the ultrasound screen around so we couldn't see anything, it about killed me! The technician took a picture and wrote the gender and then sealed it in an envelope for us to take home. She suggested that if we found ourselves really wanting to know, that would could go out to dinner one night and open the envelope together. Well, we took it home and left it on the counter....yes...in plain sight, we actually looked at it, sitting there for a few days. Then it got moved to a drawer, and then locked in the lock box.

We rented What to Expect When You're Expecting...the movie. It was great, I loved how they represented so many different types of pregnancies, and symptoms, etc. But you know what? They didn't represent me and TJ...those people who are surprised by the gender when Baby is born. And they also only named one baby in the movie.....the name happened to be Emersyn. We both stopped still, and then watched the part again to make sure we were hearing things correctly. We knew we wanted to name our little girl Emersyn (if we ever had a little girl) and had never heard anyone with that name. We couldn't believe it. I was tempted....I got out the flashlight and the envelope and tried to figure out how to see through. Thankfully I stopped myself....I really did want to be surprised. That is how the envelope ended up in the lock box.

I was tempted a few more times in the following months but never touched the envelope again until we packed for the hospital. Yes, we took the still sealed envelope to the hospital and opened it after the Baby was born. Why? Yes, it does seem silly since by that point we knew we had a daughter. Well, because it was fun! We had resisted temptation for months, and even some pressure from others, but we did it, we had made it (plus an extra week:)

After we opened the envelope I asked TJ if he regretted not finding out. We both agreed...no. It was so worth the wait. I remember thinking as she came out and was placed on my belly. "What is it? What is it?" And then the emotions I felt when the doctor announced, "it's a girl!" TJ had his phone ready to text our parents and tell them simply..."it's a girl!"

I can only imagine how other family and close friends felt waiting to hear the news. It was so exciting. All the thoughts of "what will your baby wear? and how will you decorate the nursery? and how will you be ready?" didn't matter...and trust me, this little girl won't go naked anytime soon!!! To all you that waited patiently with us - thank you. We love her and that moment when she arrived will be forever etched in our hearts.

Stationery card

Sweet Pinstripes Girl Birth Announcement

Create beautiful birth announcements at Shutterfly.com.

View the entire collection of cards.

Week 42

Since I was so good at taking weekly pictures and posting them (until the blog ran out of space), I decided to continue for one last week.

First, here I am last week...week 41, like...hours before having precious girl.

 

And here we are at 42 weeks:)

My how things change so quickly! I love how Buster is looking up at her. He loves her and checks on her frequently. He doesn't like it when she cries and looks at us like, "what are you going to do to help her?" He sniffs her, but doesn't kiss (lick) her, so we like that. He still gets plenty of attention, daily walks, play time, etc, so all are happy in the Hall house!

Emersyn's Birth Story

Everyone has a birth story...here is Emersyn's.

Dear Emersyn,

Mommy and daddy woke up Sunday morning, January 13th knowing it was going to be our last day of a family of two. We knew in a few hours you would join our family. We woke up and went to church (where mommy heard lots of people saying "you haven't had that baby yet!") Because we were expecting you a week earlier. We came home and looked through the Sunday paper, mommy unpacked and repacked her hospital bag, we went to Target and looked at the baby clothes wondering if we would soon be buying pink or blue. Then we went to lunch with grammy and pop and went by Barnes and Noble and bought you the book "The Napping House." We took Buster for a long walk and then to grammy's house to stay while we were in the hospital. Mommy came home and took a shower and got ready. Before we knew it, it was time to head to the hospital (we were scheduled to be there at 7pm)

We arrived, and were the only people there to have a baby (for now) and the nurses got mommy started right away! The doctor came in at 8pm and told mommy she was having contractions (but mommy couldn't feel them). So they started a low dose of pitocin and gave mommy two sleeping pills so she could sleep all night and then get labor really started in the morning. Daddy made sure mommy was ready to go to sleep and then he went home to sleep. A few hours later mommy started to feel really uncomfortable and the nurse gave her some pain medicine. Then at about 1:30 in the morning her water broke and the nurse set her up for an epidural (best decision ever:). Mommy called daddy and told him to come on up to the hospital (surprise!). When he got there mommy was just finishing getting her epidural and then started to be a happy chatty person again. The nurse came in and checked her once her epidural kicked in and she was 6cm! Mommy and daddy dosed on and off for a few hours and then the nurse checked mommy again at 5:30am....she was 10cm and ready to have you! We gave you some time to move down a little more and for Dr. Anderson to come in at 7am.

Mommy started pushing at about 7:15 and you were born at 8:01am! We were so happy we both cried and asked the doctor, "is it a boy or a girl??" When we heard "girl" we knew we had our little Emersyn Rae.

The nurses took you to clean out your nose and mouth and check you. (Mommy had to get some attention from the doctor). Then daddy went over and got you from the nurses and brought you to mommy. We stared at your beautiful face and you ate a little for mommy.

Grammy and pop came in to meet you before your bath and then you had lots more visitors throughout the day. All of your family and mommy and daddy's friends were anxiously awaiting to hear the news of your arrival. As soon as were could we sent pictures to them on our phones.

Monday, January 14th 2013 was such a special day for us. We love you precious little girl!!

Love,
Mommy and Daddy