A WEEK OF BLISS....OR WAS IT A BLUR?!

I can't believe it has already been a week since our little miracle arrived. She is absolutely perfect and we couldn't be more in love with her! To make a long story kind of short for those who haven't heard it yet...

My due date wasn't till the 27th (yesterday). Last Friday morning I woke up with a headache around 2am and didn't feel well. I laid on the couch awake for the next 3 hours. I started having contractions around 5am that were 5 min apart for an hour. They didn't hurt at all so I wasn't sure if it was the real deal. Brett woke up to get ready for school and I told him what was going on. We were unsure on what to do, but by this time it had been about 90 minutes of contractions regularly. We decided to go to the hospital just to be on the safe side. I was expecting to be sent home. When they checked me I hadn't progressed any further than what I was at my regular doctor appointment the day before, but my BP was high which is not normal for me...i'm usually around 110/65. So, I gave a urine sample (TMI??) and there were trace amounts of protein present, so they drew blood and asked if I'd had any headaches??? The blood came back positive as well...all of which i had were signs of

pre-eclampsia.

My doctor didn't want to chance any complications so he decided we were having a baby!! It really was a blessing we went in. Other than some mild contractions I wouldn't have guessed there were problems. It's crazy how much things changed in less than 24 hours of my last doctors visit. I was checked in to labor and delivery around 9:30am. They broke my water at 11am...wow, then i could feel the contractions! The epidural was placed around noon and baby Emri was born at 5:17 pm! There are lots more details, but I won't bore you! 

Just enjoy these pictures of our little peanut!

 Meeting Daddy for the first time!

Cute little button nose!

Now we are 3!

Sportin' her first item of Buckeye apparel....

at the OSU Medical Center, of course they get an OSU beanie!!

We called Momma Max when they admitted me and she caught the first flight out of SLC. She got to the hospital about an hour after Emri arrived! She is a pretty excited grandma!! AND, i don't think she cares one bit to be called that! She is loving every second with her!

Her cute little going home get-up! Funny how even though it's "newborn" size it still is too big!

All buckled up and ready to go home! It just love this pic!

She is already a daddy's girl! I love watching Brett with her! It's definitely brought out a very sweet side of him and he's a great daddy!

When he's not reading books for school he's reading them to her! So sweet! 

Momma Max loves her to pieces! We don't want her to leave! She has definitely kept me sane this week and has been such a HUGE help to our new little family! We're so glad she could come! Thanks everyone for all your calls, messages, prayers, love and support. We have amazing family and friends and we appreciate all you do for us!! We are definitely blessed by our Heavenly Father in so many ways! It's hard to express how grateful we are for all He has given us...especially this new little miracle in our home. We love you little E!

Welcome Little Emri

Just a few quick pictures from my phone of our new little girl!  Born at 5:15 pm on Feb. 20, 2009.  She came in at a whopping 7 lbs 9 oz  and 20 3/4" long.  What a girl!  And yes that is a "mullet" just don't tell Jami, she refuses to admit it although I think it's pretty rad.

OK BABY, YOUR ROOM IS READY....

So while we are all waiting for this little girl to arrive I thought I'd keep ya occupied with some pictures of her nursery! It's pretty much complete....minus the baby that needs to go in it!

The prep work started over Brett's Christmas break...oh, how I hate prep work!! When I start a project I just want to get painting...not filling in holes, priming, taping...It was necessary though to get rid of the green wall! Brett did all the hard stuff....I helped tape!

Meg helped me pick paint colors...we decided on a light pink wall with 3 other shades of pink dots and the other 3 walls are tannish-brown! Very fun, but I was sick of going back to the paint store! I'm sure the guys there thought I was crazy after 3 trips!

I bet you never would have guessed, but Brett is a pretty darn good PINK POLKA-DOT PAINTER!! He'll never admit it, but we really had fun seeing this wall transform! (Yes, I painted a pink heart on Brett's butt, obviously I was a big help)! 

AND HERE'S THE FINAL PRODUCT! I took these pics at night so the lighting really isn't that great...some of the dots look red to me, but they are a dark shade of pink!

And I think I'm a little tipsy, because 1/2 the pics are lopsided....just deal with it!

I bought these wood letters at JoAnn's. Some paper, modpodge and ribbon dressed them up pretty quick! I may end up hanging them over her changing table....

Once again, nice sideways picture with bad lighting!

So, that's it! Now we'll just keep waiting! At my appointment today I'd progressed another centimeter....we'll see what the final week brings!

VALENTINES COOKIES

MMMMMM.....SUGAR COOKIES!!! You just have to make and decorate sugar cookies for Valentines Day, it's a rule in my book! Amanda and her cute boys came over to help me! We had fun and I'm sure the boys were on a sugar high for days...okay, maybe us girls were too!

B loving the "dip" (frosting)

T being very generous with the sprinkles!!!

On Saturday morning I woke up not feeling well...AT ALL. Flu-like symptoms, a back-ache so bad I could hardly breathe, headache, ribs and lungs hurting....In our childbirth ed class we talked about flu-like symptoms as a sign of pre-labor. I took a warm bath and it didn't seem to do anything, then I sat on my massage pad/chair for 30 minutes and still felt like crap. I started to panic a little and Brett woke up to me packing my hospital bag (thanks for all the advice by the way from all you moms out there)! I wasn't having contractions at all, but was worried because this was really the worst I've felt in the past 9 months. After a full day of laying around and lots of naps I felt a lot better by about 4pm and we made it to our Valentine's Day dinner w/ Kara and Landon. I think I might have had just had some bad food on Friday night. Oh well, at least my bag is ready for the real deal now! 

For Valentine's Day, Brett gave me some gorgeous flowers and a Willow Tree figurine of a mom holding a new baby. He (well, "our little peanut") also gave me the sweetest card....it made me cry (which isn't hard these days)!

Yes, her name is Emri....in case some of you didn't know yet. Her middle name is Eleanor (after my grandmother). We are so excited to meet her!!!!!

AND.....38 WEEKS and growing.....still!

Today at church Brett said, "It looks like you swallowed a basketball....and not a small women's one...a full size NBA basketball!" I tried not to laugh outloud; it was right in the middle of Sacrament Meeting! We've made about a centimeter of progression in the last week as far as the "doctor checks" go, so I am happy we are still doing well!

Hope everyone had a super VALENTINE'S DAY!!!

Hospital Bag Essentials????

So, with a little less than 3 weeks till D-Day I need to get a hospital bag packed!

 I do have a list of things recommended to take so I'll start with that, but I know there are a lot of experienced mammas out there and I want your first hand advice! What can you not go without at the hospital....or what did you not pack that you wished you would have? Please share your expertise with this first-timer!! THANK YOU!!!