The First Week Home

Well we have survived the first week with Emmabelle in our home. Things are going really well actually. Dave and I are taking turns getting up with her at night and that has made all the difference I think. We each get a little more sleep that way. We go to bed between 9 and 10, she wakes up between 12 and 1 and then again around 5. Most the time she will go right back to sleep but occasionally it will take a couple of hours to get her back to sleep. Those are the hard nights. She is eating very well. Dave and I both think we are going to have a chunky baby on our hands. We went to her newborn checkup on Monday and she has gained back her birth weight plus five more ounces. That is right she is now 7lbs 7oz.

Avery is adjusting pretty well. She lets us know when she isn't getting enough attention though. The hard part is that it is usually when Dave has just started holding Emmabelle or I am getting ready to feed her. Avery just doesn't want those things to happen. We work it out though. Most the time it results in Avery getting upset and deciding that she needs to go to her room and go night night. Yes that is correct she sends herself to her room. When her feelings get hurt or she gets upset she tells me she wants to go night night and I take her back to her bed. She stays in there for a few minutes until she calms down and then calls me to come and get her. At least I don't have to hear the whining and crying.

Yesterday morning she asked to hold Emmabelle which was something new. She did hold her in the hospital, but it was the first time she had actually asked to hold her. Both girls did really well. She actually held her for about 10 mins. I was very surprised. She wouldn't even let me help her so I had to prop Emmabelle up on a pillow and she just laid there while Avery held her. It was very cute. It is times like this when I know that Avery really does love her little sister, even if it is hard for her to share the attention. Here are some pictures I got of them together.

Here is a picture of the proud Daddy. He just loves both of his girls so much. I am so lucky to have such a good husband who is such an amazing Dad.

Announcing the Arrival...

The time has finally come. Emmabelle Hartman has finally made her way into the world. She decided that she wanted to give her mom the best Mother's Day ever. That is correct she was born on Mother's Day May 11, 2008 at 6:12 pm.

Sunday morning I woke up and realized that my water had broke. So after a filling breakfast Dave, Nicole (my sister-in-law) and I headed for the hospital. The morning went pretty slowly, I am postive for Group B Strep so they needed to get two doses of anitbiotics in me before the baby was born. Around 3:00 I got my epidural and at this time I was dialated to a 4. The family decided that it was time to come and visit us and bring Nicole and Dave their dinner around 4:30 or 5:00. They left around 5:30 thinking that it would be a few more hours until the baby was born since I was averaging 1cm per hour. Little did we know what was coming. When they left I was at 7cm and I just took off like a rocket. I ended up going from 7 to delivery in about 45 mins. They decided it would be a good idea to call the doctor at 9cm. He arrived at the hospital at 9 1/2cm and was barely getting his gloves on when Emmabelle decided to come out. Nicole and the nurses kept telling me to wait and hold on and wait for the next contraction. I very nicely told them that I was not waiting and that I was pushing this baby out. It took about 5 mins total from when I told them I had to push to when Emmabelle came out. It was quite a shock to everyone how fast it all came. Dave was able to cut the cord and I was able to hold her right away which was different from Avery's delivery. She was 7lbs 2oz and 19in long.

We stayed in the hospital until Tuesday afternoon. We would have been home sooner in the day, but the doctors were a little slow getting over to see us and give the discharge orders.

We are all doing very well. Avery likes her little sister most of the time. She has some trouble with Dave giving Emmabelle too much attention and has started getting a little irritated when it comes time for me to feed Emmabelle. But all in all she really is doing good at adjusting to another baby in the house. I have been amazed at how big Avery seems with Emmabelle in the house. She is still very petite, but she is most definately a little girl not a baby.
I hope you enjoy the pictures and I will continue to keep you updated as often as possible.

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