Happy Birthday

Today my sweet Emma is 6 years old. I can hardly believe that it's been 6 years since she was born.

I have decided to share her birth with you all today on this special day. I wrote this just days after she was born. It is always fun to go back and read it.

We miss her and we love her more than words can say. Today we remember our girl, we will cry and we will laugh and we will do things just for her to celebrate her short life.

Happy birthday Angel. I can't wait until we can celebrate together.

Love,
Mama

December 15, 2002…

It was a Sunday, and I wasn’t feeling very good. I stayed home from church because I was a little queasy and VERY tired. I slept a lot of the day. Jeremy made me dinner, and I didn’t eat much because things just weren’t sitting right in my tummy. That evening Bishop Egbert came over to home teach us, and he and Jeremy gave me a blessing. Emma was still breech and I really didn’t want to have a c-section. We had tried so many different things to get her to move. We tried acupressure, Chinese herbs, laying upside down, going to the Chiropractor, playing music, talking to her, and basically trying anything to coerce her into moving. After the blessing I felt really good that whatever happened was supposed to. Bishop Egbert left; I went to the bathroom and had a contraction. I’d been having braxton-hicks contractions for a while, so I wasn’t concerned. Jeremy and I were getting ready to sit down to watch “Alias” at 8:00 when I felt and heard a POP and felt a gush of warm fluid. First I thought, “Am I peeing my pants?” But, it was so much and so fast that I knew it was my bag of waters. I told Jeremy that my water had broken, he looked at me and said, “You’re kidding!” No, I wasn’t kidding! Every time I moved more fluid would gush out. Luckily one of my friends, Kelly Beal, had brought over a big hospital pad to use when my water broke. So, Jeremy got that and put it on a wooden chair. I sat down, and soaked through that and some towels. We called the midwife on call and told her that I was 37 ½ weeks pregnant, my water had broken and the baby was still breech. She told us to go to the hospital, she would call and let them know I was coming and to get ready for a c-section. I was upset because I didn’t want a c-section, but knew that whatever happened, was supposed to. We then called Stephanie, Melissa, Greg and Marge, Cristin, and my mom and dad (they were no where to be found!). We called Kelly because she lives down the street, to see if she had any more of those big hospital pads. She brought some over and helped us get everything into the car to go, and then we headed to the hospital.

The Hospital…

We arrived at the hospital at 9:00, and Melissa and Marge were there to meet us, and Stephanie came shortly after. I was having contractions, not very regularly, but about 1 minute apart. They were strong, but nothing I couldn’t handle. We had taken Bradley birth classes to help us prepare for a natural, drug-free birth, so I was using those techniques to help me relax during contractions. We went up to the labor and delivery floor and checked in. They did a sonogram to confirm that she was still breech…and she was. What a stubborn girl!  The midwife came and checked me. I was dilated to 3 cm. and had a foot presenting. We needed to get this show on the road. I had lost a lot of amniotic fluid, and they needed to get her out quickly. So, they got me prepped and took me into the c-section room. I was given a spinal and they started to cut. There was a lot of pressure, and I got a little sick, but at 10:35 p.m. Emma Joyce was brought into the world, KICKING!! I couldn’t see her but Jeremy stayed with her the whole time. The nurse was telling me everything…”She’s so pink”, “Oh look she is kicking”. My biggest question is, “How much does she weigh?” I was worried that she was early and would be so little. But, she was 7 lbs. 8.4 oz, and 19 inches long. Everyone commented on how big she was for being so early, and it is a good thing she came now or she would have been HUGE! They stitched me up and Jeremy brought over this sweet bundle of pink baby for me to see. WOW! She was so beautiful! They took me to recovery and Grama Borchert, Aunt Stephanie and Aunt Melissa came to visit one at a time.

Recovery…

This was the beginning of finals week for Jeremy, so we tried to get as much sleep as possible while at the hospital. It was hard because they wanted to come wake me up every hour to check my vitals and Emma’s. She also wanted to eat all night, or play all night. But, Jeremy did well on his finals, and soon we got to go home. We stayed at the hospital until Wednesday afternoon. What an eventful few days, for Mommy, Daddy, and baby Emma. She is the best Christmas present we could have ever gotten!!