Introducing.....

I would like to welcome to the world my new little nephew, William Smith Grimshawe! He was born on December 15, 2010 at 11:24pm and weighed in at a whopping 7 pounds 7ounces!

Mommy looking fantastic after the delivery!

Blonde hair just like Mommy and Daddy!

I love this little nugget already!

Proud papa! :)

Congratulations Brandon and Jenny! I am so proud of yall and I know yall will be amazing parents! Thank you for making me an aunt! I love yall!

That dreaded day

The day that every new mother dreads is finally here....

After 8 amazing weeks at home with my little angel, it's finally time to go back to work. I am pretty upset about this new "working mother" chapter in my life because nothing is better than being able to take care of my little Emery day-in and day-out. Starting this Wednesday, Emery will be spending her days at my moms house. I know she will be in great hands (my mom has almost as much baby stuff as I do!) and I know she will have so much fun! Playing with Prissy, going fishing, going swimming and riding around on the golf cart with Bill are just some of the things she will be able to do as she gets older there. I know that once I get back into the swing of things at work, everything will be OK, but the initial thought of leaving my baby 5 days a week sounds awful, especially in the middle of the Christmas holidays. I just hope that I don't miss all the 'firsts' like the first time she laughs or her first word (which will of course be MOMMY!)

Don't get me wrong, there are many perks to going back to work.
1. The money!
2. For the most part, I actually do like my job and my coworkers.
3. I cant complain about being bored anymore.
4. Running around all day should help me loose all this baby weight!

So there, Christen. It wont be that bad! I hope everyone has a great week and please remember to pray for me on Wednesday! :)

My Little Model

Last Week,Emery and I had the privilege of taking pictures with a very good friend of ours, Brittany Willis. She is an amazing photographer and so easy to work with! I am absolutely in love with how our pictures turned out! If you are looking to get professional pictures made, I HIGHLY recommend her!
Check out her blog: http://brittanywillisphotography.blogspot.com/

A Long Awaited Visit!

Monday, Emery got to meet her grandpa! My Dad came in town from Sapphire, North Carolina to visit his first grandchild and it was so great to see him! The 9 hour distance makes it hard to see each other often, but nothing could keep him from meeting this precious little girl! We visited at my apartment for a few hours, then packed Emery up and went to my sister's house where Dad had a photo session ready for our little model. Our goal was to take some "Anne Geddes" look-a-likes, but Emery was a little to awake for that!

One of my favorites! Obviously NOT one of Emery's! :)

That's better

Tiny little toes!

I should have taken that earring out, but I love her chubby cheeks in this one!

Little angel!

Dad, I'm so glad we got to visit and I cant wait to see you again! I'm a goose and you are a gander, I'm a princess and you are a king, I'm beautiful and you are handsome, and I'm yours. Forever! I love you! --(A little inside saying between my dad and me for those of you who don't know)

Prayers Answered

After 20 days in the NICU, Emery is finally where she should be... HOME! It is such a relief to have her here and I couldn't be happier! Surprisingly, I'm much more comfortable handling this little angel than I thought I would be. I guess the NICU was a blessing in disguise because I was able to get all the practice that I needed with things like bathing and feeding her, without the overwhelming feeling of all of the sudden being a first time mom with a premature baby. I'm so grateful to all of the nurses who helped care for her- those ladies are amazing with both babies and their families! She is doing great at home so far, and I LOVE being able to care for her around the clock. She has even already had her first doctors appointment weighing in at a whopping 5 pounds 6.4 ounces and Dr. Bob said she is developing "perfectly" which makes for a very happy momma!

Getting ready to leave the hospital!

Sleeping soundly :)

Along with getting Emery home, I also got a new ride! The Solara was such a fun car, but with it being only a two-door, I desperately needed something more suitable for baby Emery. I'm absolutely in LOVE with my new car, a Toyota Avalon XLS. :)

Mitch and I are incredibly blessed right now and I give full credit to the power of prayer (and selfless, wonderful family members!) I would be completely lost without my amazing parents, family and friends and I wanted to thank everyone so much for all of their prayers and warm wishes for Emery and her homecoming :)

A Little More Time

Last night, Mitch and I got to "room-in" at the hospital with little Emery. This was kind-of like our final exam where we spend the night with all of the monitors turned off and take care of her by ourselves. In most cases, this means that the baby is ready to come home the following day- not in our case. Of course I was super excited and spent the whole day getting ready for her to come home! When we got there, everything went great, up until her 2am feeding. Emery started having the same problem that she has been having- tiring out after only half of her bottle. She is required to have 45-50 ml. of milk or formula per feeding in order to gain enough weight to go home (an ounce a day). At first, she did great but once she took in 25 ml. she pooped out and went to sleep. I did every trick in the book to get her to eat but nothing worked. It was so disappointing to have to call the nurse and tell her that we needed help. Even the nurse couldn't wake up sleeping beauty so we let her sleep and waited until her 5am feeding to try again. At that feeding, she did a little better. It took her about 40 minutes (which is not ideal) to eat but she finally took in the bare minimum amount. At the 8am feeding, things went downhill. Once again, she would only take in about 25 ml. before she was out of breath and drifting to sleep.

Needless to say, we did not get to bring home our baby today. She is back in the NICU and has feeding tube #3 in her tiny little nose. I know that it would be bad if she came home and I couldn't get her to eat here, but I'm still so sad about it. This was the 2nd time that my hopes were up for her to come home and it didn't happen, but I also know that everything happens for a reason. She's only 4 pounds 14 ounces and technically she should still be in my belly for another 4 weeks. I'm very proud of the progress that she has made in the 2 weeks that she has been alive and from now on, I'm giving it up to God because this stress and worry is driving me crazy.

a NATURAL labor of love :)

Wow... Where do I even begin? Lets start from the beginning :) My last post was last Thursday- about how well my doctor's appointment went. Like I said, I was "right on track". When I got home from work that day I was super excited because Project Runway and Jersey Shore were coming on TV that night, but I guess my body knew something was up, because I fell asleep at around 6:30pm (which I usually never do).

At around 2:15am my water broke. It was like I woke up just for that because despite being asleep, I remember exactly what it felt like. I instantly knew what had happened and screamed at Mitch as I ran into the bathroom. It was a whirlwind of emotions- at first happy and excited... but then the concern set in when I calmed down enough to realize "Wait a minute.... I'm 7 weeks early..... this is NOT good!" I don't think I have ever been that nervous in my life. I called my mom and told her what happened and she reassured me that everything was OK and told me to call my doctor and get ready to go to the hospital. Mitch helped me pack my hospital bag and off we went to Baptist East.

When we arrived, I was 2 cm dilated and 75 effaced. The doctors told me that the plan was to keep me pregnant for 2 more days. Their main concern was the development of Emery's lungs. They planned to give me progesterone shots to hold off on the contractions and steroids to quickly develop Emery's lungs. Emery had other plans! I was in so much pain that they changed the progesterone treatment to a magnesium sulfate drip, which is a little more harsh. The purpose of this was the same- it keeps women from going into labor. Well, most women. It turned my contractions from 'stop and go' to one long continuous very painful episode. Since the machine wasn't reading that I was having contractions, the nurses didn't feel that it was necessary to give me much pain medication- even though I was tearfully begging for an epidural. The magnesium drip made me very drowsy, and very HOT! I was absolutely miserable!!!

After a nap, I woke up with the strongest urge to push. I hit the call button for a nurse and when she came into the room she said that she wasn't going to check me because it wasn't near time but she was just going to 'take a look'. I guess in her mind, I was given the medicine to stop labor, and it wasn't reading that I was having contractions so why in the world was I complaining so much and begging for an epidural already?? She took one look under that sheet, saw the top of Emery's head, and bolted out the door for a doctor. Within seconds, the room filled with nurses who kept telling me not to push. I don't know if they have ever been in labor before, but that was not an option. I was in so much pain and straining so hard to keep Emery in, that I couldn't even speak. Dr. Newman quickly arrived and after a few VERY PAINFUL pushes, Emery Lynn Lavecchia made her debut into this world. (My mom and I now joke around by saying it sounded like we were performing an exorcism in that room because I have never sounded like that before!) The nurses gave me a few warnings beforehand that she may not cry right away, so it was very unexpected to hear the sweetest little screams that I have ever heard in my life as they took her away from me. It made the terrifying natural childbirth all worth it!

Emery Lynn Lavecchia was born October 1, 2010 at 1:51 pm. She weighed only 4 pounds 11 ounces and was 18.4 inches long. (And has the most beautiful head of hair that I have ever seen!)

Being 7 weeks early, I was prepared for a stay in the NICU. Her first night was a scary one. At one point, she stopped breathing but the nurses assured me that this was "normal" for preemies. Sometimes they just forget and need a little help remembering to breathe with an oxygen tube. She also had high bilirubin levels, which just means shes Jaundice and needed photo therapy light treatments. Of course, she had a feeding tube for her first few days, which didn't do so well down her throat so they moved it to her nose.

She has now been in the NICU for a week and she is doing so well! Her feeding and oxygen tubes have been removed, and she stopped her light treatments. We are waiting on more tests to determine if she can officially scratch Jaundice off her list! She's learning to take a bottle like a champ and tonight at 11, Mitch and I are going to the hospital to try to nurse her for the first time! I'm such a proud momma!

Besties & Babies

Wednesday night I had my last girls night before Emery's arrival. After sulking around for a week or two over too much gained weight, awful baby pains and all kinds of other stresses, I was in DESPERATE need of seeing these sweet ladies! We ate pizza and cupcakes, and did what we do best- gossip. I even ended the night with some good ole fashioned mischief! (Which despite our best efforts, did not induce labor!)

Thursday I had another doctor's appointment and just like I thought, everything is right on track. My complaint list is through the roof with my suspected broken rib, "lumpy belly", and the fact that I could be the Kankle Contest Champion of 2010, but Dr. G reassured me that all those complaints are "normal". Normal-smormal..... I feel awful! I have come to the conclusion that I couldn't be more ready to push this little booger out so from now on, I'm thinking labory thoughts :)

Picture Time!

As promised, here are a few pictures from the baby shower and her nursery. Of course my camera died right after the shower started so I don't have many.


My awesome belly cake!


Yumm!


Sign the guest book please!


Aunt Kayla writing a note to Emery!


Mrs. Cat, Brittany, Emily Anne, Mally, and Lindsay writing notes to Emery!


Mommy and Emery


Needs no explanation :)

I wish I would have gotten more pictures of everyone who was there but maybe someone will post some soon that I can see!

Here are some pictures of the nursery so far! First, let me tell you the horrible story of her crib bedding. Last Sunday, my mom and my sister decided to surprise me and order her crib bedding as a gift. (This is AFTER I had already gotten all the matching accessories and decor for her room at the shower). Tuesday, my sister received an e-mail from Storkland saying that my pattern was...... DAHH DAHH DAHH (scary voice) DISCONTINUED. Naturally, she has a mild stroke before calling my mom and giving her the bad news. They both agreed (thankfully) not to tell me because they knew that I would have the same reaction. I would have DIED!! So, for about 2 full days they could do nothing but sweat bullets over it because they couldn't find it anywhere else! In the mean time, the lady at Storkland went online and finally found a seller on Amazon who only had 4 left, so guess what came in the mail today?! MY BEDDING!! We narrowly missed what could have been a huge disaster! Lesson learned-the FIRST thing that you do when you start decorating a nursery- buy the crib bedding :)












That sparkly thing on top of the hamper is the wreath of bows from the baby shower that's going on the hospital door!




She's definitely going to know her name! :)

I still have A LOT to do but I think it's coming together nicely! I really wish I could paint the walls but I guess that's what I get for living in an apartment. Not for long, though :)