Excited and Sad at the Same Time

Yesterday, Sunday the 28th was the last day that I nursed Emma. I can't believe I made it to my 1 year goal of breastfeeding her. I'm so proud of both me and her for sticking with it for so long. Of course like anything, there were times I wanted to give up and say screw it, but I hung in there and I'm so glad I did. I really appreciate all the support Andrew gave me. I really couldn't have done it without him, especially in the beginning. He was my biggest fan and I can't thank him enough. I'm a little sad that she's big enough now not to need me anymore, but I know this is only the beginning of her not needing me. On the other hand I'm excited too because this means I'm not the milk factory anymore and I can wear a regular bra (yea!) and be gone all day, overnight and not have to worry about all the BFing stuff. Wohoo!!!
So now Emma is drinking whole milk, and like a champ! She really seems to like it and is getting much better at drinking out of a sippy cup. My baby girl is growing WAY too fast!

12 Month Pictures

Emma walking

Emma has been walking for the last few weeks. She took her first unsteady steps 2 weeks before her birthday and then really started walking better each day the week leading up to her birthday. It's amazing how everyday she gets better and better. She is a little unsteady still, and there are plenty of falls each day, but for the most part she's zooming around. We also got her first pair of "real" shoes. We had to take a 2nd mortgage out on the house to pay for them, but at least we know her feet are in good hands :)

Going for a stroll in the new kicks
Here's that magazine you wanted Mommy
Emma loves carrying around her new purse

Learning to walk is pretty rough sometimes

Birthday Party Pictures

Our FamilyDaddy made 2 birthday cakes
Emma digging in The damage

Opening presents
Our good friends Joe and Jill
My college friend Jaime
Payton and Emma playing in the tent from Grandpa Al
Opening Aunt Sarah's gift

Birthday girl on her actual birthday

Cake=Yummy!

Mommy and Daddy singing happy birthday on the big day!

Happy 1st Birthday Emma!!!!

Then....

Now

I can't believe that Emma is already one year old! It seems like yesterday we were in the hospital having her and now she is walking and talking! It is amazing how fast life has moved in the last year.

Emma's Birth Story

I was admitted to the hospital around 5pm on the 6th to be induced. At about 7pm the nurse put in a suppository like thing that is supposed to soften the cervix. It can sometimes start labor, but for the most part is not supposed to do anything other than soften the cervix. Almost immediately I started to get crampy and a back ache. As the night went on the back ache progressively got worse and I couldn't sleep, get comfortable or do anything. It was the most miserable pain ever, and it was a constant pain. There was never any relief. At 3am the nurse came in and said she was going to give me a shot to stop the contractions I was having. I didn't know it at the time but the back pain was actually contractions. She said Emma wasn't reacting well to the medicine and that I was having one contraction on top of another. Almost immediately the back pain stopped and I was able to get some sleep. That was the best shot I have ever gotten! At 545am they started the pitocin. I started to get some nice contractions around 8am, but once again they were one right on top of the other and Emma's heart didn't like it. So they turned back the amount of pitocin I was getting. That's when things came to a screeching halt. From that moment until 6pm NOTHING happened. I slept most of the day, because I lost a lot of sleep that night. Plus I couldn't have anything to eat :( At about 1030am Dr. Wang came in to check me and I was 3-4 cm dilated but that was it. I wasn't checked again until 6pm when the nurse practitioner Sherry came to check me and I was still 3-4 cm. At this time, Sherry broke my water and then things started really going. Right away I started having strong contractions, but once again they were one right after the other. I think there was only like 30 seconds to a minute between each contraction. At 630pm Sherry came in and said she didn't like the way my contractions were going, that they weren't effective. And she was concerned about Emma's heart rate, because it was being affected with each contraction. At this time she said the best thing to do was have a C-section. Andrew and I both said ok, cried a few tears, because this isn't the way we had wanted things to go, but knew it was the best decision. Then like 30 people showed up in the room to get me ready. Before I knew it they were wheeling me down the hallway to the surgery room. I was very nervous about getting the spinal epidural, but it was very quick and almost completely painless. Next thing I knew, Andrew was in the room with me and the doctors were saying "ok about a minute until you're a mommy" then I heard the most beautiful cry in the world! Once Emma was out they told us she had the cord around her neck, so it was a good thing we did the c-section.