Baby Books

I have gotten several books for myself and for the baby, so I thought I would share some of my favorites.

My sister gave me this one line a day journal and I love it. It is a five-year memory book where I record just a little snippet of our day. I think it will be so fun to look back over the years to see what we were doing on this day in 2012. I am sure things will be so different a year from now and to see how far we have come :).

 

Both my mom and sister gave me this book on the night I went into labor with Emmy. Oh my goodness….I read it and was crying my eyes out. (Hormones much???) But it is such a sweet book and would make a perfect gift to bring to the hospital for someone.

Prior to Emmy being born, Tommy and I watched this video. It is also in book form, but I am so glad we watched it! I would highly recommend it to any new parents to be. Obviously, we don’t have this down yet by any stretch of the imagination, but it really is super helpful.

I wanted to get an actual baby book for Emmy and I bought this one. It is super cute, has great pages and I think it will grow with her…if I ever get around to adding information. (I thought I would have so much more free time. Ha!!!!) Also, strangely enough, the designer of this book is also the person who designed the fabric for the baby bedding.

My sister-in-law let me borrow this book this weekend and I have already found it to be a life saver. I am sure this may save SEVERAL calls to the doctor!

I am sure one day I will have a post that is not baby related :)!

All Dolled Up

Yesterday someone commented on my post about where I have gotten all of Emmy’s bows. I am lucky enough to work with a talented bow designer and she created each of them for me. And I have a lot :). Emmy has to look her cutest!

If you are interested in purchasing bows similar to Emmy’s, my coworker’s shop, Teal & Co., does custom bows (you can contact them for any of the bows you have seen Emmy wear or design your own) or you can order bows directly from her shop. They also sell super cute bow ties for the little men in your life! Click here to view her shop or here to view her Facebook page!

My Baby Must-Haves

So I am be no means an expert on babies. Actually, quite the opposite (obvs – see yesterday’s post), but I did always love to read what mom’s loved for their babies. Here are my favorite things thus far.

If you are nursing/pumping, you MUST get this bra. I used to laugh when I saw the photos of the ladies typing on their computer while pumping. I thought that was just ridiculous. Well, those ladies are smart. It is sometimes the only time I can get anything done and it has been probably my favorite purchase so far.

I have saved my changing pad cover so many times with these Boppy Pad Liners. Instead of changing your entire changing pad when it gets dirty, you can just change out these liners. I love them.

The Summer Infant Swaddle Me blankets work best for us. I love my Aden and Anais blankets for using to cover her up, but cannot for the life of me figure out how to get those to swaddle. These are for parents like myself who need the swaddle made as simple as possible due to lack of coordination.

When Emmy still had her umbilical cord, this foam pad was such a great way to give her a sponge bath. I am still using it since we don’t bathe her every day, but I do try to wash her hair daily. I lay her on it and wash her face and lay her back on it once her hair is washed without getting everything else all wet.

The Baby Connect App is another must-have. I use this all the time to keep track of how many diapers she has had and when she last ate. It actually keeps track of the totals of everything. In three weeks (just since we have been home from the hospital since they tracked everything there), she has had 228 dirty diapers, nursed for 60 + hours and had 31 bottles. That’s a lot of stats. And a lot of time spent feeding her. Wow. I couldn’t live without it!

My other go-to app is my white noise app on my phone. It will calm her pretty quickly. I also put an old radio in her room and put it on the static station and that works, too. We are white noise lovers around this house.

And last, but not least, my number one major must-have is Grandmas! Our moms have been the biggest help ever. They have spent the night, fed her, babysat, shushed her, walked with her, given baths, let mommy get a nap, cleaned our house, cooked for us and the list goes on and on.  We heart our grandmas (and Bop!) around here!

I will continue to add to my favorites, but these are the things I cannot live without for our first three weeks!

Three Weeks

Sooooo…everyone said babies are hard work. They weren’t lying. Our first few weeks have been full of ups and downs. My prayers have changed dramatically. I got this bible verse today and it is definitely how I feel. I am so grateful for her, but definitely need God’s help more than ever. Ha! I was warned :), but certainly thought I would have an easy baby. HA!!!!!

“Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:4-7

Luckily she is super cute. The pictures below are from our photo shoot with Addie. She did a beautiful job. Of course, the subject is just precious!

When Tommy was little his grandmother would buy him Steiff bears. We won this one at an auction and I thought it would be fun to watch her grow with it. And she has her eyes open! I think she might be a brown-eyed girl like her mommy and daddy.

This picture is also really special to me. My aunt sent some maternity clothes up from my cousin and included this blanket. To be honest, I wasn’t really sure why she sent it. Later I found out it was my dad’s blanket from when he was a baby, so I definitely wanted to include it in our photo shoot.

Emmy’s three week likes:

- Eating

- Sleeping

- Cuddling

- Taking walks in her stroller and riding in her car seat

- White noise and shushing

We do call her our little Princess and the Pea. She is particular! :) For example, when we walk she prefers to be on the street rather than the sidewalk…the bumps wake her up! Ha!

We are hoping to hit our stride with her soon, but do love our little blessing so much!

Emmy’s Birth Story

So I thought I would document Emmy’s entry into the world. Starting on Friday evening, I had a really bad back ache and had contractions on and off in my back throughout the weekend. On Monday, October 1st I was woken up with contractions. They were every 30 minutes to an hour. I decided to go into work, which was closer to the hospital than my house.

My contractions weren’t super consistent and would range between every 15 minutes to every 4-5 minutes. Contractions are so weird. While I had them, I was like I need to go to the hospital NOW. Then when they were over, I was like, “oh, I’m fine.” At the end of the day, I decided (after much coercing from my family and friends) to go to the hospital to get checked before going home.

I snapped this picture of my bump before I went. (I was 39 weeks.)

I got to the hospital and the nurse checked me and I was dilated to a five and a 100% effaced. This baby was coming sooner, rather than later!

I got checked in and got my epidural. My mom, sister, mother-in-law and Megan came up and I felt awesome after the epidural.

Ah, these were happy times.

At about 11:30 they checked me and I was dilated to a 9.5. They stopped the pitocin and everyone left except for Tommy. We all knew the baby and I would share a birthday at this point.

Also, at this point is when I started being able to feel my toes, which the nurse assured me was normal. I kept getting checked and by 2:30 there was still no progress, so they decided to turn back on the pitocin. I was able to feel pressure from the contractions, but still no pain. However, I could feel my legs at this point. (Can you see where this is going?)

I started pushing around 3 in the morning. And pushed, and pushed, and pushed. At about 4:00 I was getting to the point where I could push no more, so they brought in the doctor. And I continued to push, and push, and push, but now I could feel everything “down there.”  Um, yeah. I would not recommend this to anyone. I thought I was going to DIE.

After pushing for 2 hours (and at this point telling everyone who would listen that there would never be another baby coming from me…and a few choice words), I told the doctor she was going to have to get this baby out and I didn’t care how. Unfortunately, we had to enlist the help of the “vaccuum,” but seriously, I was so exhausted and I thought I was GOING TO DIE.

After one more contraction and a little assistance sweet Emmy was born. I have to admit it was one of the best feelings in the world…physically. When they put her on me, they said they guessed she weighed 8 pounds. Honestly, how in the world could I have been carrying close to an 8 pound baby??? Prior to her being born we were all taking guesses on her size. The nurse and my mom thought she’d be at least a 7 pounder, but I was just sure she’d be around 6.5 pounds. I guess the nurse sees a lot more babies being born than I do.

Emmy had some stress getting out (she and I both), so she had to go special care for about an hour for them to regulate her breathing, but I was able to hold her before she went.

She was quite a birthday gift and is so precious! Still not sure if I can have another, though ; ).

And as any proud mama, here are some pictures my sweet friend Addie took of Emmy yesterday. I am in love!

Baby’s got some hair! :) And I never had heartburn once during pregnancy!

My little pumpkin!

More pics soon!

Welcome Emmy Leighton!

Introducing sweet Emmy Leighton – born Tuesday, October 2nd at 4:52 a.m.

I happened to be carrying a giant baby – 7 pounds, 13 ounces and 20.25 inches long!

We are in love!

Some fun facts about her birth:

Mommy and baby share a birthday!

We were both born on Tuesdays.

I weighed 7 pounds, 14 ounces and she was only 1 ounce smaller!

Another fun fact is that my sweet friend Ann who helped throw my shower also had a baby the same day in the same hospital! Oddly,the babies also weighed EXACTLY the same. They are destined to be baby bffs!

We love you Emmy!

I will post more soon – including her birth story…it was a little rough on both of us, but luckily she is worth it!