{Emmett: 9 months}

I really wish I was better at blogging things other than Emmett's month-to-month, but the reality is, I feel like there's not a whole lot to blog about and let's be honest, there is not much alone time to blog with a baby around the house!

Emmett at 9 months:

We haven't had his 9 month check-up yet but I'll add those stats when we do!

Emmett now:

-rolls around crazily! 

- scoots backward on tummy with his arms

- loves TV still

- eating more and more baby foods, trying some puffs and a couple solids

- still sleeping like a champ although he has been having little nightmares lately, breaks my heart

- makes noises with his mouth and then bats his hand back and forth on his lips to make more sounds

- gives long hugs (such a sweet boy we have!)

{Emmett: 6 & 7 Months}

Emmett has grown by leaps and bounds these last two months! I love this little boy so much, such a good baby and fun personality. I thought I would have to learn a ton of patience being a mom, but with Emmett, it's not tested very often! 

6 months stats:

- 18 lbs 1 oz (75%)

- 27.5 inches (90%)

- 90% for head circum.

(Emmett 6 months)

In 6 & 7 months, Emmett:

-started solids; loves everything we've tried

- moved into his highchair!

- practiced sitting up

-wears 9 month clothing for length

- still naps 2-3 times a day

-mastered sitting up
-got his two front bottom teeth & more coming

-loves toys and throwing them from his highchair

- cuddles his sock monkey

- uses the stroller forward facing now!

- rolls over constantly

-celebrated Thanksgiving, Christmas & New Year's!

(Emmett 7 months -sitting up all by himself!)

{Emmett: 5 Months}

My baby boy is 5 months old. It's so bittersweet. He is in such a good, easy & fun stage but I miss the newborn stage!

Emmett:

- tries to hold his own bottle

-learned how to put his binky in his mouth (most of the time)

- wants to sit up so badly! 

- rolls over both ways but only rolls to the right, is this normal?

- starting to get teeth, I think I can see some white

- eats Oatmeal or Rice Cereal & is loving it
- possibly starting an attachment phase, starts to cry if other people hold him...don't know if it's attachment or teething issues

He also celebrated his first Halloween! It was so fun to dress him up and take him around to show him off!

Love, you Bubba!

{Emmett Jeffrey: 3 Months}

Emmett has been growing by leaps and bounds this month!

He might be the perfect baby. I would like to think it's from my parenting skills but I know it's more his personality!

Emmett this month:

- Emmett NEEDS bath time and bedtime routines to function. Weird but true. We learned the hard way one time with skipping bath....

- After bath, bottle, book... we put him in his bassinet and he will lay there silent for 20 minutes and then fall asleep.

- He also sleeps for 10-11 hours at night now. Yes, you read correctly. Perfect baby, I'm telling ya. 8:30 pm- 7:30 am. It gives mom and dad much needed together time!

- He is officially teething. It might still be a while until we see any teeth actually break but he is loving gnawing on his fingers, his Sophie giraffe sometimes, and E's fave: mommy's fingers!

-He constantly squirms when he is awake. Arms and legs fly everywhere & he kicks his blanket and socks off constantly!

- He loves sleeping on his tummy-- now before any mommy's comment on how that is a no-no. He can lift his head enough to not suffocate and I only allow it for naps.

- He is recognizing mommy and daddy more and more and even smiles at other people now too. One of the happiest baby boys!

{Emmett: 2 Months}

Emmett is now 2 months old! I cannot believe how fast the time is flying. In his 2nd month, here are a few milestones he now does:

- drinks 3-4 ounces at a time, sometimes 5 if he is going through a growth spurt
- he sleeps 5-6 hours at night (mommy's favorite milestone)
- smiles!!! (mommy's real favorite milestone)
-babbles & I swear he laughed the other day!
- kicks and plays his piano toy for about 20 minutes
- falls asleep at night usually by himself

-his hair started to fall out so we ended up buzzing it so he didn't have the mullet you'll see below

At his 2 month appointment on July 30th, his stats were:

Weight: 12 lbs 6 oz (75% percentile)

Length: 23.5 in (75%)

Head Circ.: 15.9 (50%)

(this would be cuter if I could figure out how to rotate it....)

The Mullet 

{bella baby photos: 1 day old}

{Meeting Emmett}

So we snapped pictures of everyone meeting Emmett for the first time and holding him. Obviously, I, Pierce, my mom and Liz got to meet him the moment he came out but I was the only one who got to hold him before they took him to the nursery & since it was the next morning and both our dads and my sister had been waiting all night long to meet him, they got to go in and see him before having to go to work and school. Troopers!

Here is everyone else (my brothers, Mindy & my grandparents) meeting him and everyone getting to hold him for the first time later that night!

{Birth Story: Part 2}

My night nurse, Rachel was awesome. She realized that the day nurse hadn't been making me switch sides every hour to help dilate me quicker so she started doing that & I started progressing much quicker so I was thankful.

Around 11 pm, I was getting so tired and was in hour 12 from the Pitocin and was stuck at an 8. I don't really remember what we were doing but from about 11 pm on, the hours started going so slow. By 12:30 the nurse told me that all that was left was a little rim around my cervix that we needed to break through to get part of the head out so we could call Dr. Smith.

We pushed for a couple hours (till about 2) and the contractions were so painful, that I begged for the anesthesiologist to come in and give me something more than the drip from the epidural. He did and it helped a ton, I asked for about 30 mins to just try and sleep so that I could continue on. Around 3:30 am, I was able to push for another hour before the pain came back worse. I just came to a point where I wasn't sure that I could push anymore. We hadn't called Dr. Smith yet and I was about to just ask for a C-Section because I was so tired and frustrated that I couldn't get that poor baby's head to pop out & Rachel talked to Pierce about preparing himself for a C-Section because she was worried I was just literally stuck.

The hours were all pretty blurry because I was just exhausted. Finally, I pushed enough for the nurse gave us the OK to call Dr. Smith. It was my birthday and it was 5 am. I quickly asked for some more meds at one point because the pain was so bad- I really have no idea how people have natural births! He came in right and drugged me with some great stuff right before Dr. Smith got there. With those meds, I went from just crying to a smile on my face and I was SO ready to push that baby out!

Once the Dr. got there, it felt like it went so quickly- Dr. Smith mentioned that we were shortly coming up on 24 hours since my water had been broken and that at that point they would need to do a C-Section because of the risk of infection. Dr. Smith asked them to get the forceps and vacuum out just in case. But the contractions were coming so quickly and strong and I was able to push about 4 times per contraction but the head was still so tough to get out. All of a sudden, the head was coming and Dr. Smith just grabbed a good hold on it and pulled Emmett out.

The nurse had told me earlier in the evening that they would hand me the baby & if they couldn't get the baby to cry within a few seconds, then she would give the baby over to the respiratory and nursery nurses. She meant it as a precaution but they handed me Emmett, I couldn't even get a glance at him, really because of the position that I was in but Rachel quickly took him away and I knew that he was struggling. Pierce stayed with me as they cleaned me up and Liz and Cheri went over to Emmett and they finally got him to cry. It was such a sweet sweet sound that he was going to be ok. Silent prayer answered. 

Surprisingly, I didn't need an episiotomy or the forceps or vacuum. It was another miracle that I didn't end up in a C-Section. Again, another silent prayer of mine answered.

I was so tired and Emmett was struggling a little bit with his lungs and had so many bruises. They needed to take him to the nursery to be looked at; they quickly let me hold him for a minute and then took him. Pierce didn't even get to hold him before that so I was worried but confident that they knew what they were doing.

 (right after labor- beauty, I know!)

He was born Wednesday May 30th at 6:15 am. 7 pounds 14 ounces, 21 inches of pure happiness and perfection. He had hair the color of Pierce's and big long hands and feet. We were in love instantly.

{Birth Story Part 1: Emmett Jeffrey Walker}

The past 2 weeks have been crazy! We thought that Sunday we would be induced, we got to the hospital and they did the ultrasound and my amniotic fluid levels had gone up which was awesome but the nurse took my blood pressure and it was really really high. I had been swollen for weeks during this pregnancy and my Dr. had just been waiting for high blood pressure or protein in my urine to show any other indication of preeclampsia but I always had "perfect" blood pressure. So the fact it was really high was shocking.... they took a urine sample and found a trace of protein in my urine. Second bad sign. I also had a headache that morning but I don't know if it was from being tired or what. My Dr wasn't on call on Sunday so they called the Dr who was and he said to send me home on bed rest and to see Dr. Smith on Tuesday when their offices were open. Needless to say, I was frustrated but it looked like they weren't going to induce me anyway and the Dr on call obviously didn't know my history of the swelling and that my mom had preeclampsia with all 4 of her pregnancies like my Dr. did. Pierce was pretty upset with the nurse and we both left frustrated and confused.

I rested the rest of Sunday with intentions of resting Monday as well for Memorial Day. I called my friend Tara and she was going to come and watch a movie with me in bed but that morning I got a call from an unknown number so I didn't answer it. They left a voicemail. Pierce and I listened to it before he went to work and it was Dr. Smith. He said that last night he realized that the hospital never called him with my results and he called them late last night and was really upset to hear that they sent me home with high blood pressure & that I needed to call Labor and Delivery immediately to schedule me to be induced Tuesday morning! What!?!?! I really wasn't planning on having my baby for another few weeks. But I called and they set me up for 7:30 am Tuesday May 29.

My Dr. said that I pretty much didn't need to worry about bed rest because I would be induced that next day, so Pierce didn't go to work so we could run a bunch of errands and clean the house to get ready for our baby! Part of me still thought that Tuesday morning would come and that they would end up sending us home again for some reason but we still prepared for baby Emmett.

Tuesday morning we got up early at like 6:30 (I don't think we slept very much the night before from anticipation) and I couldn't eat breakfast so Pierce said he would fast the whole time with me.... cute guy.

We got to the hospital, they took us to our delivery room and we said once we got the Pitocin started, we would call my mom, sister and Pierce's parents over to come hang out for the day. The nurse checked me and I was only effaced a little bit and dilated to a 1. They warned me it would be a long labor! Dr. Smith came in to break my water and as soon as he did, the baby's heart rate dropped so low and the machine started beeping that horrible beeping noise. The nurse asked me to turn on my side and she gave me some oxygen through a mask. A bunch of nurses came in and then the anesthesiologist came in and started asking me a couple questions. Panic struck in and I just looked at Pierce and his face was pretty scared as well. After a couple minutes, the heart rate went up and they said that they could clear the OR room and we didn't need to go do an emergency C-Section anymore. They can only let the baby go 10 minutes with low oxygen and we went about 5 minutes. A prayer was answered right then that our baby was ok.

We called our posse to come hang out and my mom, Bree & Pierce's parents got there and we let them know about the scare but that everything was ok now. They needed the baby to "recover" for a couple hours so they couldn't start the Pitocin until 11 am so we were guessing the baby would come right before midnight or Wednesday morning- which was my birthday.

(Bree- my personal hair stylist during Labor)

The rest of the day was hanging out, watching a couple movies, my dad and grandparents from Arizona came for a bit to say hi and I got an epidural. That was the majority of how I would describe 11 am to about 7 pm. I slowly was dilating but it was S.L.O.W. I think I was at a 5 by 7 pm when the nurses changed shifts.

{life as a preggers: update & to-do list}

I may or may not get a chance tomorrow to take a belly shot. We have a lot to do in order to prep for the possibility of our baby arriving THIS Sunday! 

My baby has been measuring pretty big (as I've posted) for the last who-knows-how-long.... So my Dr. yesterday ordered a Ultrasound to determine if the baby was actually gestationally big or I had a lot of fluid (he thought the latter). This morning, we got to go in at almost 37 weeks and had the ultrasound. Our baby has an average head, even though Pierce and I thought it looked huge haha! But our little guy is measuring at about 37w4days which is about 5 days sooner than my original due date- but this far along, they don't care to change the DD. But his body and legs are in the 90% and up percentile.

The concerning part of the ultrasound today, is that my placenta is starting to calcify. Meaning it's just getting old and growing older quicker than the baby is. The placenta (I know- gross) makes the amniotic fluid, which cushions the baby and is what the baby breaths. So if it's calcifying, it clearing will stop giving Emmett the fluid he needs for a few different functions.

So we go into Labor & Delivery on Sunday where we will have another US and then monitor the baby's heart rate. If the levels are still really low (I was a 6 on a scale of 5-24) then they will talk inducing us that day!! If everything is looking ok, then I go to my Dr. on Wednesday (also, my birthday) and just get checked on every few days. 

My thoughts on all this news are: excited and anxious. I still am not dilated and while that can change over a few hours, I really would hope that Emmett would be able to come when he is ready. He seems pretty content in there for now too which my Dr then said inducing me would just cause a longer labor and increase the chance of a C-Section. Obviously, I am ready for Emmett to be here, I am just not sure if Emmett is ready to come and I would hate to put him into stress. I want what's best for Emmett's health and hope that the fluid levels aren't putting him at risk. 

Fun and exciting to think that Sunday might be the day we could have our baby but anxious all at the same time.

More for me, this is the list I made at week 30 and it's nice to see that I have gotten a lot of it done, although new things continually seem to pop up onto the mini list as well!

1. Wash baby's clothes

2. organize nursery

3. buy a mattress 

4. attend baby showers (my favorite)

5. pack hospital bags

*still need a few treats for the hospital 

6. register at the hospital

7. clean the house/ get puppies groomed and ready to meet you

*puppies get groomed tomorrow and cleaning my house tomorrow- hopefully that can induce labor naturally if I scrub the house!

8. get pre-natal massage(s)

9. celebrate daddy's birthday, mother's day, my birthday and 2nd anniversary 

*well 2/4 is 50% so it's all we can ask of Emmett right now!

10. set up the porta-crib, put car seat in the car

I also have on a growing Saturday Errands List:

11. DI run

12. Ikea

13. Put some things into storage

14. Hang cork board/organize office space

15. Sew curtains & hang them in Emmett's room

{life as preggers: week 35}

Week 35:

A great joy is coming.

 No one told me that being pregnant was easy, in fact, people warned me how hard it truly is. Exhausting, emotional, challenging, overwhelming and yet, the most spiritual and empowering thing I've experienced in my 21 years of life. 

On the eve of our little one coming, I find myself scared to become a mother. It's all I've ever dreamt about in life, yet- could never picture it until, even now at 36 weeks. It still often feels surreal because you don't know what this tiny human looks like. I am terrified and it's ok. I know that I can thrive as a mother because of the love and support that I have from Pierce, he wants this just as much as I do and together we can do it. 

As I am sure we will learn more than ever in the next month: A great adventure is coming, the greatest adventure is coming.

{life as a preggers: week 34}

All my pregnancy posts are starting to become a lesser priority as we have busy weeks and I have less energy. Did anyone else feel like your energy levels plummeted in the last few weeks-- maybe it's preparing me to have a newborn and be tired, no? Anyway this week was super jam packed and fun but Saturday and Sunday all I wanted to do was nap!

We had 2 lacrosse games for Pierce's team this week. They played Bingham on Tuesday and lost by 3, the only loss for them this whole season. Bummer. However, it might work to their advantage in the playoffs, we will still have to see. Friday, they had their first playoff game up in Park City against Skyline- they won like 13-6 I believe. It was a great game and now they are playing Park City at Juan Diego on Tuesday this week. Can't wait!

Wednesday was Pierce's birthday, which I posted about already. As you can tell, he was super busy last week and I hardly even saw him on his birthday. It's ok though, once Lacrosse is done, he will be around more and I can get my time in :)

Thursday, Pierce's Lacrosse Team put on a team dinner/shower for Pierce, Emmett and I. I really like all the girls on his team and their moms are all awesome so it was pretty fun!! Here is a picture of the adorable and delicious cookies that someone made for them!

The team got us our super cool ExerSaucer. I love it! Also, they got Emmett a lacrosse stick and some fun clothes.

Friday, like I said, we had a lacrosse game. But Pierce gave me my mother's day gift early (he hates waiting to give things lol), this beautiful diamond pendant! My first mother's day, even though Emmett technically isn't here quite yet! I love it and he got one that mimics my wedding ring so that when my hands aren't as chubby, I can wear both! He also got me gifts from "Jack and Izzy"-- some books that I am looking forward to starting!

Saturday, we went over to my mom's house and saw my sister go to Prom. She looked great and her date looked awesome as well. I know they had a fun time!

Sunday, Pierce surprised me with breakfast in bed (chocolate chip waffles and eggs) and then later that night rubbed my back and feet for me. What a great guy!

So as you can see this week was BUSY- so fun but BUSY. We don't slow down for the next week or so either, so Emmett, June 15th is sounding ok with mommy at this point!