Recently Arrived: Joel Emerson

Nothing like the birth of your first-born child to get you blogging again...

I was pretty confident that May 31st was my due date, but officially (aka according to my doctor) it was May 28th. Either way, I figured baby wasn't coming until June because I had heard most first-time moms go past their due date.  I'm not sure of the validity of that rumor, but it turned out not to apply to me.

On Monday, May 21st, I subbed for a math teacher at Coffman High School. It was a relatively easy day of work, and when I finished I stopped at a friend's house to chat before heading to my 39 week OB appointment. After the typical blood pressure/weight check and an extremely uncomfortable cervical check, the doctor determined that I was not dilated yet and sent me on my way. I made my 40 week appointment with the receptionist who said, "If I see you next week..." I replied, "Don't worry. I have a feeling you'll definitely be seeing me." From there I went straight to the gym for my Monday BodyVive class, a low-impact whole body group fitness class. That evening I was feeling especially uncomfortable, but I attributed it to that lovely cervical check and possibly my workout. As I crawled into bed at the end of the day:


Michael: "You're going to have the baby tomorrow."

Me: "Don't do that. Don't do one of your prophecy things where you say something and then it happens."

At 5:15 a.m., I woke up to go to the bathroom and discovered that my water had broken. At least I was pretty sure, but since the nurse at our birthing class told us that it is common for women to mistake the baby squeezing your bladder and causing you to leak with the bag of waters breaking, I thought I'd wait a while. I fed the dog, let him out, and picked up around the house just in case, and then, sure enough, I experienced a mini gush of "water." After waking Michael up with the news, I finished packing our hospital bag. We ate a quick breakfast, got ready, and quickly headed to Dublin Methodist Hospital.

In triage, the nurse was getting ready to run a test to confirm my water had broken when there was a big gush, and she said, "Yep, that's your water. Let's get you up to labor and delivery." We had arrived at the hospital shortly before 7:00am, which meant the nurses were just going through a shift change.  I was very encouraged when my labor and delivery nurse, Kristy, told me it was her goal to get the baby delivered before the end of her shift. 

shortly after arriving in L&D

sitting on a birthing ball, breathing through a contraction

 The doctor started me on pitocin around 9:00am because my contractions were not getting regular or very strong. That seemed to do the trick and moved things along quickly. When the midwife checked in on me around 10:00 and I was at 4cm, she said I could get an epidural anytime and should not be concerned with it interfering with my progress. I held out a little while longer but called the anesthesiologist in by 10:40. While I am impressed by women who want a natural birth and have to give them props, I am SO glad I went for the epidural. Just watching those contractions on the monitor and not feeling them was ah-mazing :D  Each time the nurse came by, she helped me move into a new pose to try and get the baby moved into the optimum birthing position.

checking my email while sitting in one of the various poses

The next several hours passed by without much ado thanks to the drugs; it was actually quite boring. Unfortunately, I did not get cell service so I couldn't really text or call anyone unless I had Michael take my phone over to the window. We mostly passed the time just chatting and hanging out.


By 2:45, the nurse said I was 10cm and ready to push. An hour and fifteen minutes later, at 4:00pm, Joel Emerson was born weighing 8lbs. 3oz. and measuring 21in. - absolutely perfect in my eyes. 

love at first sight

Except for happening a week early, the whole labor and birth process were about what I expected. In fact, it was probably easier and less hectic than I anticipated. Michael was incredibly supportive. We both fell in love immediately. I was amazed at how much I wanted to cuddle and kiss this little person I just met and who still had residue all over his head and body and was screaming in my face.

The following day was our three year wedding anniversary. Even though the hospital food was pretty good, Michael ran out to get us Chinese food to celebrate. He brought back three fortune cookies, so Joel got his very first fortune at only a day old:

After two nights in the hospital, on May 24th, we took our new little bundle of joy home. We feel so blessed and thank God for His goodness and provision.