My Favorite Birthday

On Wednesday March 6th, 2013 at 7:09 PM Ryan and I learned the true meaning of love when Miss Emery Katherine finally made her world debut.  After that experience I can now say with certainty that love at first sight is a term tailor-made for the birth of your children.  I don't think that any other moment would truly do it justice.  As soon as they put her on my chest I knew that life was about to really start for Ryan & I. That's sure not how I would describe the first moment I laid eyes on my dear husband- as he confessed his love of Saved by the Bell during an icebreaker game in our intern class.  :c) 

Ryan & I's pride and joy.

Pictures of baby Amy (left) & baby Ryan (right) for comparison purposes.  I think she is a mini-Ryan, heaven help us all.

First and foremost- I meant to get this posted quite some time ago and I apologize for the delay.  Trust me it's not for lack of excitement or the deepest sense of pride I've ever felt... It just turns out that newborns really ARE that much work.  Particularly when yours refuses to sleep anywhere but on your chest and/or won't eat for the first week of her life.  Thank the stars above she's as cute as she is or we may have sent her back. 

So let's back up a moment to the beginning, shall we?  Here are the last few belly pics.  It's a little bit weird to look back at these.  This was how I felt and looked for 9 months and now it feels like a lifetime ago. 

37 weeks.  Please note how lazy I have become with drying and straightening my hair.  This trend persists through the current day.  :c)

38 weeks.

39 weeks & 3 days right before we headed to the hospital to meet our little ladybug.  It was 5 AM, and I'd been having contractions for days.  So yes, I DO look tired.

On February 27th at my weekly doctor's appointment, Ryan and I broached the subject of induction for the first time.  We fully expected to set an induction date that was sometime the week after Emery's due date.  Doing so would have fit perfectly in Ryan's schedule and it would have given my hard-headed angel time to make her grand entrance as she saw fit.  I was completely thrown off guard when our doctor told us she would be out on vacation for Spring Break the entire week after my due date.  She suggested that given my stats, Emery's size and that I would be 39 weeks and some change that I was an ideal candidate for a slightly early induction.  After experiencing a 40 week journey with a doctor the idea of having a different one doesn't sound very enticing.  So after a few shock tears and some discussion, Ryan and I decided that March 6th would be the day we officially became knighted as Mama and Daddy.  It happened to be perfect timing as my Dad had to go out of town on March 9th and if we had waited, he likely would have missed the birth of his first grandchild which would have made me so sad.

I did my very best to force my little ladybug out the weekend and couple of days beforehand.  I went on long walks.  I climbed stairs.  I ate pineapple.  I talked to her sternly.  Nothing seemed to work.  My contractions remained not terribly strong and totally irregular.  They were strong enough to wake me up the Monday beforehand so I worked from home the last 2 days.  That proved to be yet another tease tactic Emery thought up.  This entire pregnancy I've known she was stubborn.  Very few people ever got to feel her kick because every time I would point it out to someone she would IMMEDIATELY stop. 

So, at 5:10 AM on March 6th, Ryan and I loaded up the car and headed to the hospital as scheduled.  I was easily the most terrified I've ever been in my life.  The nurses started pitocin at approximately 6:00 AM.  At about 8:30 AM, the doctor came by and broke my water.  Things seemed to be picking up and my contractions were more or less 4 minutes apart around 10 AM or so.  Yet another tease tactic by Princess Em.  You may be wondering how my beloved husband was doing.  He was performing helpful tasks such as photographing traffic from our window so we could "remember".  He was also asking the nurse how to read the monitors and pretending he was in an episode of ER.  Thankfully around this time contractions weren't strong enough that belly laughs hurt too badly.

Just in case you were worried that I was lying about the traffic photos.  I'm sure Emery will be very glad to know what I-10 looked like on the morning of her birth.

Each time I was checked we learned that noooo progress was being made and I was becoming increasingly frustrated as the threat of C-section loomed.  Around 1:30 PM, despite not making much dialation progress, my contractions were strong enough to warrant me getting an epidural.  Around that time my awesome nurse, who knew how much I did NOT want to get a C-section, started putting me in all kinds of crazy positions to try to coax this child out.  Thankfully she did not listen to Ryan's suggestion of using Fritos to entice her out. 

You can tell this was earlier in the day because I'm still mustering a smile.

At about 5:00 PM my doctor came by after finishing up with her patients for the day.  This sent me into a real panic as I figured that meant that a C-section was almost imminent as I had only made it to 4 cm.  We also learned that part of the reason progress wasn't being made was because my darling mule-headed child was positioned with her face up rather than face down so she couldn't really move. My doctor tried to manually turn her head and Emery politely kept turning herself back to her desired location.  (Two weeks later as we pace the floors with her at 2 AM, I realize that not much has changed).  After my doctor disappeared my nurse told me that she had one more idea and that if it didn't work, we would have to do a C-section. 

We're waaaaaiting.  (P.S. Word to the wise- get a manicure before the birth of your kiddo. You'd be surprised how many photos your fingers make it into).

Apparently we were waiting in the dark?  Ryan's Dad & my Mamacita.

For the next hour and a half I laid in the most awkwardly uncomfortable position not saying anything to anyone and just willing Emery to puh-lease flip over and save her mama from a more painful recovery.  At 6:30 PM the nurse came back in to check me and I had miraculously made it to 10 cm.  Ryan had to frantically call my Mom, who had gone to dinner, to come back as we both knew how badly she wanted to be there.  At 7:09 PM (which is our anniversary and the day Ryan found out we were pregnant), after 13 hours of labor, our little screaming mess made her mama's wishes come true.  She was an absolutely perfect 8.0 lbs and 21.5" long with dark hair and dark eyes.

I really didn't think I'd be that mom who posts pictures of their kid before they are even bathed for the first time... but we're all wrong at least once in our lives, aren't we?

I also didn't think I'd ever post a picture of myself looking this awful in a public forum.  So maybe we're all wrong at least twice?

Nothing melts my heart the way watching these two together does.

Not the last time she'll be kiss attacked.

After a little bonding with her parents, Miss Emery got to meet her mini fan club - my Mom, Dad, Julie, Matt, Ryan's Mom, Ryan's Dad, Tiffany, Kylie, Jen and Brendan all came to meet our little nugget for the first time.  I don't think my heart has ever been as full as it was in that first hour and a half or so after she was born.  Its an indescribable experience to finally meet the tiny human you've been creating for 9 months and to get to see and feel how overwhelmingly loved she already is. 

More fans than a Bieber concert.

Kylie FINALLY got to meet baby cousin.

Proud Grandparents, part 1.

Proud Grandparents, part 2.

Around 10 PM or so we were transferred to our post-partum room and we got to relax and enjoy some of our first few moments of being a family of 3.  We stayed in the hospital through Friday March 8th.  Those first couple of days are a total blur of sleeplessness and elation with a healthy dose of screaming/crying.

She may appear to be all Martin, but sleeping with your mouth open like that is a total Boarman trait. 

 

Sweet little sleepyhead.

Not a fan of her first wardrobe change.  I tried to tell her that some day she would enjoy clothes but she wasn't falling for it.

My precious angel giving me a hug.  You know it's love if you'll embrace me when I'm rocking hair like that.

All loaded up for the lengthy 8 minute ride home.  She was poised to punch your lights out if you tried to change her clothes again.

Lola meeting baby sis for the first time.

Overall, March 6th was the greatest day of my life.  I can't thank everyone who played a part in it enough.  It was life-altering and I'm forever indebted to you.  For whatever role you may have played- whether it was brightening my day with texts, commiserating with me during labor while I wasn't making any progress, putting a smile on my face with beautiful flowers or just offering your love, support and commitment- thank you from the very bottom of my heart.  A very special thank you to my husband for your support.  You knew when to make me laugh and when to just hold my hand and I can't thank you enough for that.  Thank you also especially to my Mom who stood by my side and offered more support than I ever could have asked for.  Emery could not have a better middle namesake!

Ohhh, that's it for today?!  I have no less than a million more I'm dying to post but I recognize that I should split them into another entry.  Here's a teaser to keep you coming back for more.