Visitors

Emmet has had lots of visitors since he made his appearance.

My mom was the first to get to see him. She came into town the day before the c-section, and stayed in the Inn at the hospital.
In the evening, Jason's family came by - his parents, brother Nathan and sister-in-law Amber, and their two kids.
Tuesday morning Kristy was able to pop in with her son, Josh, and that evening Steve and April came over. We're all having kids at approximately the same time, and it's fun to share our experiences.
On Wednesday, Jenn and Adam got to meet Emmet.
On Friday, Ken, Kristy and Josh stopped by so Ken could meet Emmet, and to bring us dinner!
We also got a visit and dinner from Larry and Lois from our Sunday School class.
Our friend Kristina stopped by, but I forgot to get a picture of her with Emmet.

When Emmet turned two weeks old, my dad got to meet him for the first time. (My family is coming in shifts to help me out.)

Emmet Ray

Our little baby boy was born May 3, 2010 via scheduled c-section. This is what happened:
On April 29 I had an appointment with the prenatal specialist. They determined that the baby weighed ~8 lbs 15 oz. Due to his size, the doctor suggested that, if my body was ready for it, I get induced soon. The doctor didn't want the baby to get much bigger.
On April 30 I met with my OB. She said that the prenatal doctor RARELY suggests getting the baby out, so she took it really seriously. And, since I've been fighting gestational diabetes, my OB was worried that the baby would have big shoulders (a common result). The problem with that is that the baby can get stuck in the birth canal, dislocate a shoulder, and lose the use of that arm for the rest of his life. Well, we didn't want that to happen. On top of all that, I hadn't dilated at all, so induction wasn't a great option. So we decided that a c-section was the best and safest choice.
So, on Monday morning I went to the hospital and got checked in and prepped for the surgery. I don't have very good veins, so it took 4 tries to get an IV in (not fun!). We were delayed a little bit while the drs debated between my c-section and someone else, but they finally decided I could go first.
I have to say that a spinal block feels really weird - especially when they started cutting me open. I could feel where the scalpel was cutting, because of the pressure, but it didn't hurt. Jason was able to sit by my head during the operation. He got some pictures when the baby first came out, and while they were cleaning him up. And he let me be the first to announce his name: Emmet Ray.
Jason suggested Emmet because he really liked the name. We had also been thinking about family names, so I said, "Actually, that's my great-grandfather's middle name, so I'm good with it". And then we chose Ray, which is Jason's grandpa's middle name.
So Emmet cried the whole time they were cleaning him up. Once they got him swaddled and back over next to me, he stopped crying. Jason held him right next to my head so I could see him. And when Emmet finally started to open his eyes, Jason turned him so that the first person he saw was me. =)
Emmet was 8 lbs 14 oz, 21 inches long. His shoulders were 16 3/4 inches around - the doctor said that 13-14 inches is normal. And he was lying inside me with his face down, instead of the top of his head. So it ended up being a very good decision to have the c-section.
And that's the story of Emmet's birth.

Cuddly Kitty

Well, Oscar seems to know that something's going on - he's been extra cuddly and lovey lately. He especially likes to cuddle up to my tummy.


We're trying to introduce him to some of the new things a baby brings. Here he is playing with some baby clothes getting ready for the wash.


And, just in case you're curious, here I am at 24 and 34 weeks, for comparison.

Nursery

The nursery is starting to come together. Here are some pictures.

You can see that it's transportation themed. Amber got me some road signs for the shower, and Jason had a bunch of old license plates from his grandpa. Plus he had some car signs floating around the house.

I still haven't figured out what to do with my pig collection - don't really have anywhere else in the house to put them. Any ideas, anyone?

Pretty excited how things are progressing =)

There's a Little Baby in There???

So my good friend Kristy had a baby yesterday (yay!) and Jason and I went up to visit them. Besides thinking that he's incredibly cute, I had an interesting thought while holding the new guy.

I've got one of these inside me! How? How do babies fit in there?

It really is a miracle.

I dunno, perhaps every mother thinks about these things. But it takes holding a newborn baby right next to your blossoming belly to really put things in perspective.

Baby Shower

So, I haven't said anything on here yet about the fact that I'm PREGNANT, but, well, I am. =)

We're expecting a little boy in early May, or possibly late April, and we're very excited about it.

My sister-in-law, Amber, and my friend Jenn, hosted a Baby Shower for me earlier this month. Since Amber did a great job describing it and showing pictures on her blog, I thought I'd just link to it... So click here!

Visit to Japan

In November Jason and I went to Tokyo for his brother's wedding. We had a wonderful trip.

On our first day, we took a bus tour of Tokyo. Some of the highlights were a short tea ceremony, a wonderful Japanese barbecue, and beautiful gardens.


The second day was the wedding. It was very nice. The ceremony was translated into Japanese so that Yuko's family and friends could understand everything. The reception was quite formal, and again everything was translated - either into Japanese or into English, depending on who was talking - which was great. We were able to learn a lot about Yuko from the wonderful descriptions and stories her friends told.

The third day, Jason and I went off to explore on our own. We ended up visiting the Museum of Science and Technology, which turned out to be a bit of a children's museum. It was tremendous fun. Because it was geared toward children, it didn't matter that we couldn't read most of the signs; there was so much to play with! After the museum, we went back to a shopping area we had visited on our tour, to get more souvenirs and gifts.

The fourth day we all went to Mt Fuji. It was a bit of a drive in a small van, but I could not believe how big Mt Fuji is when I saw it. We had been driving through mountains that are reminiscent of the Smokies. And then all of a sudden through the clouds peaked the side of Mt Fuji. It was so much higher than the other mountains around, and I couldn't even see the top of it - just a side! Wow!


The fifth day began the return trip. Jason and I had some time in the morning to explore around our hotel (and do more shopping) and then it was back on the plane for another long flight.

We had a great time. Here are some more pictures.