Parenthood

So, wanna know our big plans for the weekend? Sleeping and taking care of our little munchkin. It might not sound that exciting, but how can I not love spending all day with this little peanut :)

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Emma Lynn Nelson

So, our baby girl, Emma, arrived on June 15 at 10:50pm. She was 6 lbs 14 oz and 181/4 inches long. It was a complete surprise to us when she came. My water broke at home at 8:10 pm. I wasn't completely sure my water had broke since I wasn't contracting, and this was my first time going through labor, so I called my Nurse Midwife and she told me to come to the hospital.

By the time I got to the hospital, my Nurse Midwife met me there and she checked my cervix and I was already 6 cm dilated and 100% effaced. Labor went really fast! There was no time to think about pain medications or anything other than pushing a couple hours later.

After a couple pushes, Emma was out. My labor was short, but it wasn't easy. It still hurt. But I was very fortunate to have such a fast labor!

Emma is almost 2 weeks old already! I don't know what I used to do with my time, because now my time is consumed with a newborn. I love being a mom, but holy smokes I wasn't completely prepared for the lack of sleep. So far, we are strictly breastfeeding her, and it is going pretty well, but breastfeeding takes a lot of time and energy!

Now time to brag with some pictures!!!! Welcome to the world Emma!

Preparing for the baby!

So, I am now 37 weeks pregnant! 3 weeks and counting! And actually it could be anytime now. I am trying to prepare as much as I can during this time.

My hospital bags are packed and we continue to buy items here and there that we still need for our daughter. We are getting so excited to meet her!

I, for one, cannot wait to stop feeling like a puffy balloon. I just want my body back. I would love to be able to sleep on my back or stomach, instead of just one side or the other. Also, the sore back and extra weight can go. Don't get me wrong, being pregnant is a beautiful, wonderful thing, but 40 weeks is a long time!

John and I attended a really good breastfeeding class a couple weeks ago. We learned a lot, and feel more comfortable with the idea of breastfeeding. However, it's still going to be quite a learning curve!

I have also been working on her baby book, trying to get as much of that done as I can before she comes. My goal is to keep a very accurate baby book. I also have started a scrapbook for her, I just want to be able to share these memories with her someday.

John and I are the typical excited-to-meet-our-baby parents. The waiting is just about killing us, but the due date is getting closer and closer. And hopefully I don't go too far past my due date. I can't wait to share some pictures of her soon! I will also try to get a new maternity picture posted soon, believe it or not, I am still expanding!!

Weekend Update

This past weekend has been pretty busy. First of all, on Thursday evening we went to Ribfest. It was my second year going to Ribfest, and it was good! The weather was perfect, the food was delicious, and we had some decent entertainment. We didn't stay for the headlining act Night Ranger, since we both had to work early in the morning. We still had a great time, and I can see this being an annual event for us.

On Saturday we went to a Childbirth Prep Class all day. It was okay. We definitely learned some things during the class, but I don't know if it was worth the money we paid for it. The class sure made it more real for us as we got to tour the Labor and Delivery Floor as well as the Postpartum floor. It makes me both nervous and excited for labor, and of course getting to meet our little girl!!!

The class also motivated me to pack our hospital bags. I am 35 weeks pregnant right now, so it's getting to that time where pretty soon labor could happen at any time. I have never had such a hard time packing for something. I am pretty sure I severely overpacked, but I have never had to go to the hospital to have a baby before, so I think I would rather be safe than sorry!

Saturday was a gorgeous day, so after our class we decided to have a campfire. We made little pizzas over the fire, which was fun. I hadn't done that in forever! We also had a couple smores and then just enjoyed the evening with a lovely fire.

My husband is a part-time photographer, and the Washington Pavillion has a Ansel Adams exhibit going on right now. Actually, the exhibit has been running since March 3, and today was the last day. Since John is such an Ansel Adams fan, we hurried over to the Pavillion and walked through the exhibit. It was fun to look at all the prints, and John was a good tour guide to explain some of the complexities to me.

After touring the entire exhibit, we decided to enjoy the beautiful day so we went and visited Falls Park. It was a perfect day to sit in the park and watch the falls for a while.

For the rest of the day, we are just doing typical Sunday things. John is editing some wedding photos, and I am cleaning up the house and catching up on our blog. Sorry for the wordy blog. Hope everyone has a great week!

John making his campfire pizza and enjoying the lovely weather :)