Wow...I can not believe that Emma Jo is 2 weeks old. Two weeks of being pregnant seems like an eternity, yet now she's here and time is flying like the wind. I better get to the updating.
Nate's mom (also known as my mother-in-law...or Mom-Diggity-Dawg) came out the day before we had Emma, and stayed a week to help out. I'm not the kind of person that usually likes to have help, but I HONESTLY would not have survived that week without her here.
She came with a mission...and she didn't stop cleaning, helping, nurturing, loving, etc.. until the minute she left. My emotions that 1st week were so up and down, and she helped out in so many ways. My girls bonded with her, and they were devastated when she left. (Who am I kidding..so was I! It was a cry-fest.) While she was here she cooked, cleaned, played with the girls, spoiled the girls, and helped in so many other ways.
A HUGE THANK-YOU to her for her Christlike and selfless help and love during the week she was here.
Mom-Diggity-Dawg left last Wednesday, and my mom was coming on Saturday evening. Saturday afternoon I finally called the on-call doc because I was still bleeding pretty bad. He had me run into the ER just to get checked, and probably get on antibiotics..thinking it was an infection. After bloodwork, exams, and an ultrasound, they decided it was some retained placenta tissue, and the admitted me to start an IV with antibiotics, and do a D&C in the morning. I called Nate, and the minute he opened the door to ask the neighbor to watch the girls my mom showed up. Now THAT was not just a coincidence, but a HUGE blessing. My mom stayed with Caitlin and Abby, and Nate and Emma stayed at the hospital with me. They did the D&C Sunday morning, and ended up needing to do a few other things because the bleeding didn't stop. Finally on Monday morning they released me...with the understanding that if the bleeding didn't stop by my follow up on Wed, they would have to put me on medication treatment...but that would mean I couldn't breastfeed. I was all torn up about that, and I pretty much sat around the next couple of days trying to get my body to stop bleeding. I got a blessing on Tuesday, and by Wednesday my bleeding had almost stopped completely. So I am on the mend, and I didn't have to go on that medication.
So amid all of the chaos, my mom (thank heavens) came on Saturday, and stayed until Thursday. She, of course, spoiled the girls, and played with them, helped me, ran errands, planned, baked, decorated, and did everything else for Caitlin's birthday, etc... It was such a blessing to have her here when I was once again recovering.
I couldn't have made it through this past week without her here, and I am so grateful she came, and that she did so much for us. I felt so bad not being able to do anything for Caitlin's birthday, but my mom made it so special for her. She bought decorations, a pinata, made a cute cake, presents, etc.. She stepped in when I couldn't do much, so Caitlin felt special for her birthday, which was much needed.
THANK YOU MOM for everything you did for us...I hope you are all rested up and recovered from the grunt work out here! The girls already miss you so much, but not as much as I do...it's going to be an adjustment without you here! I love you mom!
Everything else is going well. Nate is as stressed as ever with school and studying for the boards. I don't know how he manages everything, but he is amazing. He had a test this morning, and last night he was so stressed out. (As was I..it was rough night.) Yet when I woke up this morning the entire downstairs was clean..the kitchen was spotless...and there was about 3 days worth of STUFF to be cleaned down there. I don't know where he found the time in the middle of the night to do that for me, but it helped me so much. Then tonight he took Caitlin to the city Daddy Daughter Dance, which of course made her feel so special.
They had a blast...and Abby can't wait to go to one of these sometime when she's old enough.
Last but not least, Emma's 2-week Dr. appt was today, and she is now 8 lbs 4 ounces! When we left the hospital, she had dropped to 7 lbs 3 ounces, so she's gained over a pound in 2 weeks! She's still a little doll, but growing too fast already.
Thank you to everyone who has brought us dinners, taken the girls for me, run Caitlin to and from preschool, and all of the other acts of service that you have all done for us. We have truly been so blessed through the past 2 weeks, and we have been helped in countless ways by sweet friends and family.
Well, at least SHE was ready on time. I ended up about 20 minutes late...hopefully I'll get to church on time by the time she starts kindergarten. Emma is ONE MONTH OLD and growing like a weed, and such a sweet baby. She still has her 'naughty time' in the evenings, but she sleeps so well at night.
Caitlin and Abby are so glad that Spring is finally STARTING to come around...and they ride their bikes any chance they get.
Nate went to Washington D.C. for 3 days with some people from his school. It was for D.O. Day on the Hill...but to be completely honest I don't know exactly what they did. BUT...it was a free trip for him, and he loved hitting some fun tourist spots. I realized while he was gone that I can NOT do this '3 kid' thing on my own. One of the nights Emma screamed for 5 hours, and it was pretty rough. But he's back and all is well now.
Emma stayed the whole time at church for the 1st time yesterday. She did so good, and it was nice to stay the whole time. Our home teacher came yesterday and talked to us about finding 'Joy in the Journey', and not just looking for the end result in things. In med school, sometimes it's hard to focus on the now, and not think "When Med School is finally done...". It was a nice wake up call to remind me to enjoy the here and now....enjoy the little giggles from my girls, and enjoy the sweet moments when I pick Emma up and she falls asleep all snuggled into my neck. I've decided to make a huge effort to enjoy the 'todays' from now on. Our home teacher also read a quote (and I don't remember it exactly) but it was something like "if you focus on too many tomorrows, you'll have a lot of empty yesterdays". That hit home, because with a newborn it seems like it's all about trying to just get enough sleep and get the household chores done, etc... But I need to enjoy every little bit of every day because days slip by so fast.
