We survived ONE month

I can't believe it has already been one month since little Miss Emily joined our family!! I am not sure where the month has gone and I am now finally catching my breath (a little)! I am having a blast, completely exhausted, adjusting to this new craziness, busier then we have ever been, learning the newborn stage all over, sometimes so tired I can't function and I have NEVER been happier! Emily is a good baby, not as laid back as Blake was but she is doing really well. Her tummy troubles have started but we are all over it this time - seeing as Blake had a milk allergy and Kate had severe lactose intolerance/reflux. Emily is already on medicine for the reflux and we have all the other tricks we know of to use, not wasting our time with guessing anything this time. We checked her for Blake's milk allergy and so far it was negative. We go tomorrow for her one month check up and we will see how big she is getting. She is sleeping better, most nights now I just get up one time around 3 and then we make it till 7 which is perfect. The mornings that we get up to feed around 4am, kill me because I am typically then up for the day with school, getting everyone ready, etc. Blake and Kate are still loving baby Emily, Blake kisses her all the time and just loves her and Kate is completely my big helper, she is amazing with her! To add to our excitement over the past month, Kate got hurt on the trampoline, she chipped two ligaments off the bone in her ankle and is in a boot, we go back a week from tomorrow to check things but OH MY WORD, that day rocked my world and I was immediately thrown into the challenges of life with three - finally and for the first time in maybe forever, I had to call Jeff to come home from work and help me!!! She is healing well but is frustrated and ready to get the boot off, I don't blame her, it's no fun! I don't have much time to update but wanted to get something blogged and add some new pictures!

One month old 2/20/12

My favorite moments in the morning, snuggling in bed

Talking to Emily...they love her so much!

A little more alert each day!

Daddy/Daughter Dance, a little princess with her prince...LOVE!

Daddy's other princess...

Emily Alice

I have so much to update and say but to not leave anyone hanging...Emily Alice Gordon arrived at 2pm Friday, weighing 7lbs 4 oz, 20 1/4in long. She is absolutely perfect and the day was absolutely amazing!! We are SO in love...

Truly there are not words to describe what we are feeling...watching our kids with Emily has been amazing...truly a gift from God! I can't wait to update all about our amazing day and the amazing delivery and all that was to follow but for now, I must soak up these moments that are already going way too fast!!

THIS is the day the Lord has made...

Baby Emily will be joining us today, praise GOD!! Everything looks and is going perfect so far. I went to my appointment on Wednesday and I had made some progress but there was an area of scar tissue from the cerclage that wasn't moving out of the way. We decided to move forward with an induction to try and help ease that area away...I was about 2.5 centimeters dilated at the time. Well, Wednesday night/Thursday all day, I knew a lot was happening on it's own, we checked in last night and I was almost to 5 centimeters so we cancelled the meds we were going to use to help the scarring and we just tried to get a good night sleep so we could wait for our doctors to get here today. All is looking great, starting some antibiotics I need and then we are getting the party started!! Jeff and I are so excited, so peaceful, at a new hospital which is a breath of fresh air and nice to be somewhere totally different!! We can't wait to meet this new princess and the final completion to our incredible family!

Please pray for a peaceful day, an easy delivery and above all, a healthy baby Emily Alice to arrive!

Will keep you posted!

Katei

38 weeks & a room fit for another princess!

I am 38 weeks and still going...I am excited to be this far along but getting really excited to meet this sweet baby girl too! I go to the doctor in the morning so we will see what she says!

Here are some pictures of her nursery, I love love love the way it has turned out, so different and unique..it is like a breath of fresh air!

I never thought I would say this but we can now be praying that sweet Emily would come into the world soon...we are all ready for her to arrive:)!

I am a 'normal' pregnant person...

And loving it!!! Here I am 36 weeks, 2 days and headed to get my cerclage out!

Here are a few of the kiddos making their bears for Miss. Emily

I originally had the cerclage removal scheduled for Friday the 13th, for a few reasons but primarily because my sweet neighborhood friends were planning a 'sprinkle' for me to celebrate Emily! My friend Kate, the ultimate party planner and most amazingly talented friend I know has been talking about this since August when we found out we were having a girl (or close to that date:)!) I was so excited for this day for several reasons but mostly because when Tammie was pregnant with Katelyn, I attended showers but was not the pregnant one (so it made things a little different), we had what I know was a beautiful shower for the triplets two days before I delivered them but I can't for the life of me remember any of it, I either have completely blocked it out or was in labor already and can't remember the night. With Blake, I was too scared to do anything and waited till he was born to celebrate him! So not only was I so excited to be pregnant and feeling good at a baby shower, I have never celebrated a pregnancy with this group of girlfriends as we all became so close after the triplets and I was a hermit with Blake. Needless to say, I really wanted my labor to hold off and it DID and HAS!! We had the most amazing time and the details that went into this amazing shower were beyond words. I was not 'sprinkled' but showered with love from all of my friends and family, we received the most beautiful and unique gifts for Emily, it was amazing and SO much fun!! Here are a few pictures! I feel like I should post pictures of the nursery first but I will do that later, the theme was all around Emily's nursery which is all around this photo...

The amazing cake, the chicks represent our family and notice the three small butterflies, Kate even included the girlies on the cake - amazing!!

My awesome girls hosting the shower!

Of course, the bow station...the guests all made hair bows Emily, what an awesome idea!

There are so many more pictures that Kate took and much better pictures so check them out if you have time... http:andeverythingsweet.blogspot.com Kate is amazing and you will love looking through her blog!

I have been overwhelmed since Saturday with all the love and support from all of our friends and family...everyone who has been through all of this with us and the amount of excitement, love and prayers in which they all have towards our family is absolutely amazing. We are so blessed by our support system and how deeply everyone loves and cares for us.

Aside from that, I feel pretty good, I can't believe I am still pregnant! Tomorrow I am full term, 37 weeks and on Friday I am officially the most pregnant I have ever been!! Which is crazy exciting! What is exciting is that now I am filled with a calm and a peace that I have never experienced while pregnant. Now the cerclage is out, it is OK for my contractions to pick up and it is OK for labor to start and not stop...all my restrictions are gone, there are no more weekly shots in my bum muscles, there are no more nasty meds to keep things calm...it is just me and living life pregnant. I can pick my kids up for a quick snuggle, I can walk for some exercise, I can just be who I am and have peace and I am soaking it all up! Tomorrow morning I go to Dr G and I can't wait to see what happened since the cerclage has come out, have I dilated more, etc. I go in the morning and we will go from there...

Yeah for full term tomorrow!! For all who read this, thank you for your love, support and prayers - the messages, emails, facebook notes, etc. mean so much!

I can't wait to introduce the newest member of our family very soon!

Stitches are out...

Well, we are back home and the waiting game begins:)! I wish I could say it was a piece of cake but the removal was horrendous. I was so proud of myself for enduring what I did and in somewhat of a calm fashion. Dr. K was amazing and while the first stitch was fairly easy, he lost the second stitch and had a time getting to it and getting it out. After the first stitch he talked about doing an epidural and I was thinking no way, I have made it this far let's just get this done. So I squeezed Jeff with all my might and we finally got it out. He couldn't go back to check any dilation, he said it didn't matter at this point where I was, there is some scarring that needs to break away so that will help her not to come as fast. I had to lay there and recover for a little while and then got on the monitor and all looked good. I came home to a hot bath and some tylenol and I am going to lay low today. I am so relieved it is over with and now we can just play the waiting game like any other normal pregnant person! I wonder when she will make her debut...I am SO excited now that that horrific procedure is over with!

Thanks for all the love and prayers this morning, it meant so much to me!! I will keep everyone updated as we go

A little change in plans...

It is 3:30am and I can't sleep....

I went to the OB today and they decided to check on my cerclage, turns out I am dilating right through my stitches and they have to come out. I had everything scheduled a week from today (the 13th) but they have moved it to 8am in the morning. I told the doctor I wanted to wait another week to guarantee Emily another week but he said there is no difference in her coming tomorrow or next week. He said at this point the stitches have done their job and now they need to come out so it doesn't become an emergency needing to get them out. He did show me (on my belly!) where her head is and she is still not fully engaged but is head down. They called right from the office and Dr. K is meeting us early before his full day of appointments to get this cerclage out, we have to be there at 8am. I am anxious, scared, excited, ready and a whole lot more...I have no idea what to expect, they said labor could be anywhere from tomorrow to two weeks, there is no way of knowing how my body will respond to the removal. I am most anxious about the actual procedure itself as we are going to attempt this in his office with no epidural, he said if we couldn't do it, we will admit me and do the epidural but I would really like to put on my brave face and get it done in the office so I can be home. I remember thinking when he took it out with Blake that I would have died without my epidural but maybe this will be different. When he removed my cerclage with Blake I dilated to 1cm right away and in two hours I was 4 centimeters. I am already over 1cm now so we will see what happens, I am not even sure if he will check and tell me tomorrow or not. I know once this cerclage is out, I am going to feel so much relief from all the pain it causes and it will be fun to just be 'normal' and know if I start serious labor, it's actually OK. Right now my contractions still scare me as I fear going to long and my stitches tearing my cervix - so while I am anxious about the procedure itself, I know the relief will be sweet in many many ways!

Tonight we made a last minute trip to Build a Bear so Blake and Kate could make Emily a bear, they each picked one out and had a lot of fun, we did that with Kate before Blake came and she remembered and didn't want me to forget we had to do that. We thought just incase Miss. Em comes tomorrow we better get that done tonight! It was a fun night with the kids and we really have a fun weekend planned so we will see if our plans can hold up!

I appreciate any prayers tomorrow morning as we get through this procedure, that I am able to put on my game face and get through it unmedicated!! Also, that sweet Emily will come when she is totally ready and not a moment too soon for her!

AHHHH here we go..

Katie