Happy Thanksgiving!

We have a lot to be thankful for this year! We wish all our loved ones a wonderful Thanksgiving!


Emmy's baptism is this weekend and we're also planning to get all decorated for Christmas, so surely there will be lots of photos to post soon! Check out Picasa for a few random photos of the last couple of weeks. Sorry I've been absent from blogging, but we've been spending lots of time getting ready for this week. We had friends here this afternoon for Thanksgiving dinner and lots of family and friends are arriving for the baptism this weekend. (Of course the five of you who read this blog are among those arriving, so you know this already!)

Fight For Preemies

Last month I missed blogging on October 15th in honor of Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness. This month I certainly don't want to miss mentioning that today, November 17th, is in honor of Prematurity Awareness.

I doubt I will ever be able to see a premature baby on TV or read another parent's story about their premature infant without getting tears in my eyes. I'm not sure six months later I can even put into words what it was like to see her hooked up to all those tubes. And we were so, so blessed that she did so well and never needed breathing support, never had any major complications. I cannot fathom the strength it takes a mother who has to watch her baby go through such ups and downs as some preemies do, to drive back and forth to the hospital for weeks and weeks and weeks.

But thanks to research and organizations like the March of Dimes these babies actually have a chance. When Emmy had her PICC line put in, someone (one of my nurses? Dr. L? I can't remember) noted how amazing it is that they can put PICC lines in such tiny babies. How far medicine has come that babies born so tiny and so sick can thrive!

I am still a bit sad about what I missed out on not giving birth to a full term baby. I missed out on bonding with her right away, we missed out on getting to breastfeed right away, which has contributed to all the difficulties, I missed out on those last few weeks of pregnancy and anticipation and preparation. I spent the last the last few weeks of my pregnancy in fear and frustration. But in the end I have this tiny, perfect miracle who is, so far as we know, completely complication free. How utterly amazing.

Premature birth rates continue to rise and we need to keep searching for answers and preventions. Today is dedicated to raising awareness about premature birth. Thank you, March of Dimes, for all you do to raise awareness and continue the search for answers.

6 month check up

Today was Emmy's 6 month check up. She is 11 lbs 7 oz and 22 inches long. She needed a nap so she was a little fussy, but when Dr. J came in to examine her she gave a few smiles for her. Dr. J was happy to see her smiling and "standing" and to hear that she's rolled over and is laughing, etc. All good things for her to be doing.

Unfortunately, Emmy fell off the growth curve this time. She did gain and grow longer, but she gained less than 2 lbs and grew only 1/2 an inch. The good news is that her head grew and is still in the 5%. I'm admittedly a little disappointed, but perhaps she just had a big growth spurt before our last visit and another one is on the way. Dr. J wasn't terribly concerned, but she does want us offering her a bottle after every feeding, which we are already doing. She does not want us starting any solid foods yet, which we're in agreement with, just a bit surprised with how emphatic she was about it. At her four month check up she said she prefer that we wait until she was at least six months old, but was pretty casual about it. This time I was really expecting her to say to start when we saw X,Y,Z signs and when we thought she was ready, but she wants us to wait until her next appointment at 9 months. She doesn't think she's ready developmentally, and we really don't think she's ready just yet now either, just surprised we may be waiting 3 more months. If we feel otherwise before 9 months, then we'll call her, but for now I'll keep nursing as much as I can and giving her formula. She's been getting very frustrated with nursing lately which is frustrating for me, but we keep plugging along. Until she's on solid foods I don't want to stop.

We did remember on the way home that we haven't been as good about giving her the vitamin supplement she's been on since birth. We were expecting to stop it by now, but we will keep giving it to her. I don't know that this has affected her weight gain, but it certainly can't hurt.

So, say a little prayer that Emmy keeps growing! She's done so well and hopefully she'll be back on track in March! Most of us gain a little weight during the holidays, so hopefully she will, too, she just won't be eating all the sweets and other delicious foods. Ha!

Our Doodlebug

Yesterday was Emmy's first professional shoot with Allison, of Doodlebug Photography. Allison's daughter was in Mom's class a couple of years ago (and one of Mom's favorites, even though she doesn't play favorites) and we asked her to take some 6 month pictures of Miss Emerson. She came over to Mom and Dad's and we had a great time with her! Emmy "performed" quite well, I think. For a sneak peak of the results, check out Allison's blog. Thanks for a great session, Allison!

If you'd like to see all of the photos when they are ready, shoot me an email or leave a comment and I'll send you the password once I have it.

Charles said I should title this post "She rolled over and screamed her head off." That has been today's theme. She has been VERY fussy today. If a tooth doesn't pop through soon, well, I don't know what I'll do, but it better because if this continues for weeks then we're all going to the insane asylum. She wants to be happy, there have been certainly moments of giggly fun, but overall you can tell she doesn't feel good and those gums are giving her fits.

In fun news, Emmy rolled over today! Three times from her tummy to her back! I don't know if she realized what she was doing and I wasn't able to catch it on camera yet, but hopefully she'll get the hang of it soon!

Birthdays

Saturday was my 30th birthday and Sunday Emmy was 6 months old. Her first half birthday!

We spent the weekend at our choir's retreat at Lake Logan in the mountains. It's such a beautiful place! Sadly, I did not take many photos, but Mary Ann took some lovely ones, far better than I could have, so I will "borrow" them and put them in Picasa. We love going there and her pictures do it justice!

Emmy didn't adjust very well this trip. She did not sleep well and just generally wasn't her usual happy self. It was a little frustrating and stressful trying to run back and forth with her and try and make rehearsals and we couldn't really both participate in any of the worship because she was fussy or "talking". Thankfully our friend Steph was willing to take care of her much of the time we rehearsed. Next year she will probably enjoy spending time with her grandparents and we'll probably be able to relax better as well! We did enjoy hanging out with everyone, especially all the folks in our little cabin, which included Timothy and his mom and dad. The babies got to play and we had others to hang out with at night while the babies were sleeping. Here's a picture of Emmy in her cute bonnet (a Lilly hand-me-down also made by Ma May, who made Emmy's coming home dress). Thanks for taking the cute shot, Mary Ann! Also, a family photo at retreat.

We went back to my mom and dad's Sunday afternoon and celebrated my birthday with them and a few family and friends. We had a good time and Emmy got to hang out with Will and Stella.

Today was Emmy's first professional photo shoot! We had fun with Allison and we can't wait to see the results! Fortunately, Emmy slept well last night and today our happy baby had returned!

P.S. Today is Emmy's Aunt Beth's birthday, too, and Uncle Awesome is 30 today.

Halloween Photos

Here are a couple of photos from Emmy and Rags getting ready for Halloween night!

A fabulous find

This blog was created to keep our friends and family informed of Emmy's progress when she was in the hospital, and we've kept it up to share with those near and far what a joy she is!

But, I interrupt this regularly scheduled blog to share about these wonderful light bulbs I have discovered. Yes, I said light bulbs.

We do our best to live as "green" as possible at this point in our lives. There's still a lot more we'd like to do but for now we recycle everything we can, compost, keep our thermostat set as high or low as possible (depending on the season), buy organic when we can, try to avoid using harmful chemicals, and other other little things I can't remember right now. We also use the compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulbs in most of the lamps in our home.

Nonetheless, I have never been a huge fan of the light put out by these curlique fluorescent bulbs. It's very yellow and just not very pretty light. Until now! I have discovered a glorious light bulb brand called Bright Effects. It is a fluorescent, and thus energy efficient, but it puts out a pretty, clean, white light! I love them! (I found them at Lowe's, by the way).

Using the compact fluorescent bulbs saves you money in energy costs, which is good for you and the environment! Plus, they last much longer than incandescent bulbs so there are less bulbs in the landfills. However, keep in mind that they do contain mercury, so you should not throw them in the regular garbage. Home Depots now collect them for recycling, and sites like lamprecycle.org can help you find out how to recycle them.

In case you can't tell, I'm really excited about these light bulbs. Thank you for indulging me. Perhaps next time I'll give you a diatribe on composting. Yay!

I now return you to Emmy updates. By the way, Emmy loves the wonderful light coming from the lamp by her changing table that now has one of these CFL blubs in it.