Last time I wrote it was only four days before my due date. My mom was flying out that day, and Nathan was heading down to Orange county to welcome his twin sisters home from their missions. We decided that I shouldn't go down, so just in case I did go into labor I wouldn't be stuck 2 hours away from my hospital.
So even though it was fun hanging out with my mom that weekend it was a little sad, because no baby seemed to be coming, and me staying behind felt a little pointless. So on Sunday I decided to throw caution to the wind and headed down to see the girls homecoming talks. I was glad I did. It was wonderful to see the girls after so long. I'm glad they are home. Here are some pictures Nathan took of when Miranda came home.
This is Wrenn looking fly at the girls homecoming talks.
Now lets get in to Emmy's birth story. I think she knew how much we wanted her to come early, so she decided to mess with us a little bit. So as I said the weekend the girls came home was just a few days before my due date (my due date was the Monday following). That Friday when my mom flew in and Nathan left I was having really weak braxton hicks type contractions about an hour apart. I was hopeful because that was how it was the day before I went into labor with Wrenn.
Throughout the day they got closer and closer till they were about 20 minutes apart. I went to bed that night fully expecting to not sleep well because the contractions would get stronger, but no, they disappeared while I was sleeping. The next morning they had to get going again and were like 40 minutes apart and had a little more oomph to them. That night they were like 15 minutes apart, and once again I went to bed hopeful, and once again they disappeared.
Then it was Sunday and even though I was having contractions every hour or so; I decided I couldn't stand it and needed a distraction so I went down to Orange County. That night they were like 15 minutes apart, again and disappeared while I slept again. A similar pattern happened Monday, my due date as well. However Monday night I could feel the contractions wake me every hour or so throughout the night. This was the first time the contractions messed up my sleep.
So then it was Tuesday and I woke up with regular painful contractions about 15 minutes apart. Finally! I had a doctors appointment that my mom drove me to as I didn't think it would be safe if I had a contraction while I was driving. While there I was really sad to learn that I was only dilated 1 centimeter, We drove home a little frustrated with the progress baby Emmy was making.
I don't remember that day much I know I was at 15 minutes apart then it would drop down to 10 if I was up on my feet walking around. Nathan and I went on multiple walks. Even though I was in pain we were all pretty skeptical that these contractions would stick around because of our experience the last few days.
Then that evening my skepticism went away. The contractions were every ten minutes, but the difference was I started wanting comfort during the contractions, and nothing previous hurt enough to make me feel that way. So that night Nathan and I settled in ready to get these contractions to 5 minutes apart and a minute long for an hour.
My contractions were weird. They were always a minute long and very painful, but if I was sitting, or lying down they were ten minutes apart. If I was up on my feet they were 4 to 5 minutes apart. Finally we decided to try to keep me up on my feet for an hour, so we could get down to the right range to go to the hospital. This was rough for me, and as usual Nathan was an awesome help. I didn't make it the full hour though. After about 40 minutes of contractions coming every 4 minutes while on my feet. I started to panic a little. These were more painful than I remembered and I was terrified we would get to the hospital and I would be too far along for an epidural.
Nathan was more worried that we wouldn't be far along at all, but was willing to take me to the hospital that 20 minutes early. So we packed up and headed out saying goodbye to my mom on the way out. It was about 1am at this point.
We made it to the hospital and got settled in, and then we found out I was dilated all the way to 7cm. I was once again panicked, but they assured me I could still have an epidural. They were very good about it and got me one within the hour.
So it was about 3 AM at this point. Nathan knowing I was being more comforted by my epidural than him at this point decided to take a nap. I tried to, but my epidural wasn't quite working right. I could still feel the contractions decently well on my left side. I asked the nurses what to do about it, and they gave me a button that I could push every ten minutes and it would give me another dosage. They said to just keep pushing it till I couldn't feel it on my left side, so I did. It was still there after about an hour so they had the epidural guy come in and he gave me even more of a dosage. Anyways, the point of the story I was incredibly numb by this point.
It was bout 4 AM and I was really excited to just sleep. The doctor came and checked me and I was dilated to about 9cm. They told me that when I felt the urge to push to call them in. I told them ok, but I really just felt the urge to sleep. So I slept for a little bit then about 4:50 AM a nurse came to check on me and the baby. She was feeling around on my belly trying to get a better reading on the heart beat, and she was a little weirded out. She was like where is the baby? Then she lifted up the blanket and was like there you are! Emmy was already crowning, and I had no idea!
It all happened really fast from there. In no time they had the doctor in and Nathan up. The doctor told me to push, and I was like I will try (I couldn't feel much of anything). Then after like 2 pushes Emmy was here! It was such an easy birthing experience that I basically feel like she fell out of me.
Here is Emberlyn Jean Tate, or Emmy as we like to call her! We gave her the middle name Jean to honor my mom, whose middle name is also Jean. Love you mom. Emmy was born at 4:53am on March 16th. She was 7 lbs & 1 ounce and 20 inches long with 14 inch head circumference.
Skin to skin time with Mommy.
Getting examined by the nurse. It was sweet she wouldn't stop crying, then Nathan started talking to her and she calmed down. She still likes Nathan's voice.
Skin to skin time with Daddy now.
All swaddled and warm.
Nathan conked out like the whole time we were at the hospital. I had more energy than him, weird huh?
The first girly thing she wore. I loved the bow hat when they put it on her.
Big brother Wrenn and Grandma Tyler came to visit.
Then after brief stay at the hospital that seemed like it would never end; we brought our little girl home. It has been a wonderful couple weeks, though tiring. I forgot how much babies nurse, and keep you up at night. She is totally worth it though, she has been a lot of fun.
Wrenn loves her which has been really nice, and has relieved a worry I had. He thinks she is fascinating. He likes to rub her hair and gently pat our tummy and he puts his finger to his mouth and says shhh when she is sleeping. He even gives her Diego (his teddy bear) to play with. He is a good older brother who loves his little sister.
Emmy has been fun too. Its funny already seeing differences in personality from Wrenn. For one Emmy is a cuddle bunny. She really likes being held and has trouble falling asleep unless she is being held or cuddled in some way. She also is like instantly comforted once we pick her up. She also really likes her pacifier and doesn't care for the swing or swaddle; Wrenn was the opposite. It will be fun to see more personality differences as they get older.
On a different note; my recovery has been great. I feel like I have healed up a lot faster with Emmy than I did with Wrenn. Still not quite a 100% but that could probably be attributed to lack of sleep.
Anyways now I flood you with adorable photos :)
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Oh I forgot to mention Wrenn likes to give Emmy kisses.
Well now this blog is shifting gears, because there has been other fun stuff going on in our lives in addition to a new baby. Well I guess one thing that isn't so fun is that like two days after Emmy was born Nathan got rear ended on the freeway. Our brand new minivan took a bit of a beating unfortunately. Fortunately though Nathan wasn't at fault at all and the other persons insurance is taking care of it.
Now a legitimately fun thing is that Nathan's stand up class had their showcase like four days after Emmy was born. It was a good thing that both our moms (thank you guys!) were helping out those few days because Nathan went to a lot of open mics to get ready. He practiced at home as well, and Wrenn improved his skills too...
This is Nathan at his show. He did a really good job. A thanks to Miranda who watched the kids so I could go support Nathan.
Another fun thing that has happened in the last couple weeks is that we had Easter! I tried to make sure we did something for Easter even though I was still recovering. So one afternoon Wrenn and I tried dying eggs. An activity I have decided just isn't that thrilling for a two year old. He did like playing with the dyed eggs afterward.
The Saturday before Easter during my baby shower (thank you to the wonderful Tate women in my life that threw that for me, you ladies are amazing!) I had Nathan take Wrenn to our city sponsored Easter hunt. I didn't really feel up for putting one together myself, so it seemed like a good plan. They had a bounce house too; which Nathan said Wrenn enjoyed.
For actual Easter we went down to visit Nathan's family. Which was a lot of fun because everyone was there. With the girls having been on their missions it had been awhile since we all got together. We had a lot of fun and the Barnettes were really sweet and let Wrenn join in on their Easter egg hunt. Thank you guys!
Now that the comedy showcase and Easter are over it feels like we are getting a chance to settle in to this new normal. Even though a new baby is in our home it still feels the same in a lot of ways.
Wrenn is still a crazy, lovable toddler...
drawing on doors with oil pastels,
And pillow fighting with Daddy.
We are still trying to get out a do things. This is Wrenn at a friend in the ward birthday party at Chuck E Cheese.
And most recently we still tried to watch general conference as a family. It think Wrenn thought our show was pretty boring haha.
Like I said we are settling in. We love our family. We love all the wonderful changes, and fun adventures. This is life with all its beautiful craziness. I will end with this picture I took of my kiddos only like an hour ago. Isn't that crazy? Kiddos as in multiple kids? Still getting used to it, but we love them both so much.
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