Presenting Emery Eden Elkins

Introducing Emery Eden Elkins

 We FINALLY got to meet our baby girl!
Maybe things didn't go exactly as we planned, but they went exactly the way that God planned and turned out perfectly :)
We simply adore her!

Some people love to hear birth stories...so if you're not one of them you can just look at her cute pictures and skip all this reading!
First of all, Emery was born ON her due date, without any chemical motivation at all!
She just came all on her own, right on time!
Although to us, it felt like she was WAY late because everyone expected her to be here early - including our doctor.

The early labor begins...

Saturday afternoon we made all the final purchases that we needed before the big day.
The first contractions of the day were felt in the baby section at target - but they were still few and far between.
Hoping to speed up the process (and avoid having to face the "YOU'RE STILL PREGNANT"s that we were sure to meet at church the next day) we spent the evening walking the mall.
By 2:00 a.m. Sunday, I was up with contractions every 7-10 minutes - making it impossible to sleep at all.
Around 5:00 Ethan got up with me to keep me company and we were sure we'd be at the hospital by noon....
but it didn't progress at all.
Contractions were often 3 minutes apart, but the next several would be up to 12 minutes apart, and every number in between.
I just wanted to cry from frustration.
So I did.

The internet claims that the first stage of labor will pause to give you a break...
never did that for me.  every 10 minutes or less from 2:00 a.m. I had a painful contraction.
At 7:00 (once I had decided to stop trying to convince her to come) they began to be a consistent 2 - 3 minutes apart and Ethan began frantically throwing things into the car...
the doctor told us that chances were extremely slim that I was actually in labor and that we should expect the hospital to send us right home.
Feeling a little discouraged, we made our way up to Nashville...

By the time they checked me, I was dilated 5 centimeters and the nurse was afraid that if I moved, my water would break in her hand.
Once I was admitted into labor and delivery, it only took about two hours for me to be fully dilated and ready to push.

I filled tub after tub with puke because I was pushing so hard.
Emery's heart rate began to drop with every attempt, so after the first hour of pushing the doctor decided that we needed to give her a break - I was glad to be able to get a minute of sleep (thanks to the angel who invented the epidural).
I woke up to six nurses crowded around me frantically poking and putting new meds into my IV...I guess little Emery's heart rate had dropped again while I was sleeping.  Apparently she was not a fan of being squished by those contractions.
Once Dr. Martin was confident that she was ok, he let me go ahead and begin pushing again.
They could see her head, but she was just too big, and no amount of pushing was getting her to budge any further.

We tried several positions, but not one of them kept her heart rate from dropping. 
After another hour of pushing, Dr. Martin said that it was time for us to talk about getting her out another way.
He explained to us exactly what the rest of the night would look like and what we needed to do to prepare for a c-section.
Once he stepped out, Ethan and I just looked at each other and cried.
The idea of having an unplanned c-section was absolutely horrifying to both of us.

Thankfully, I was blessed with an incredible doctor who made the process as simple and comfortable as possible.
I even fell asleep on the operating table!
At 4:55 a.m. on February 18th, we met our baby girl!

20 inches long
8 pounds 7 ounces

I was heart broken that I wasn't allowed to hold her immediately after they pulled her out.
That was something that I had been dreaming of since the second I knew that she was coming.

And Ethan didn't get to cut the cord, but I don't think he minded too much...he didn't love the idea to begin with :)
They did let him help them clean her up while the doctor sewed me up.
By the time they placed her in my arms, I was too drugged to remember much.
In fact, most of that day is just a jumbled mess.
They just kept pumping me full of awful meds so that I wouldn't throw up or feel the pain -
but I feel like I missed a lot of my baby girl's birthday.
Once I convinced them to stop giving me the meds (ok so actually my IV was making my hand and arm swell up and they had to take it out) I loved learning about my little girl!

Her dad's favorite picture...flipping off the camera already.

She was a daddy's girl from the start.

We love this cocoon that grandma made!

Little gas grins in her sleep are my favorite things!

Daddy saying goodbye to his baby girl.

After our four and a half day stay in the hospital, we are finally home and getting settled in.
Ethan got to spend two days with her at home before he left for West Virginia this afternoon :(
Its a hard day but I'm so glad that she came before he left and that he got some time with her.
And I'm so grateful for the support system that I have so close to help me as I learn to be a mom to this perfect little spirit.