Welcome, Emma!

Emma Joy Paradee was born on May 12th, 2009 at 12:26am!

She weighed 6 pounds 13 ounces and was 19 1/2 inches long :)

Birth story:

I was scheduled to be induced Monday morning at 7am, although my OB did mention that if the hospital was super busy, there was a possibility of me getting bumped. I called the hospital at 6am and they told me that they were full and to call back around 7:30. When I called back at 7:30, I was told the same thing and that if I hadn't heard from them by 9:30am to call back for an update. When I called back at 9:30 (do you know how long 2 hours is when you're waiting to be induced?!) they told me they were very, very busy and it didn't look like they would be able to get me in that day. I hung up the phone and was pretty upset :( It obviously wasn't their fault and there was nothing they could to, but it was just emotional for me knowing that I would have to wait another day. After feeling sorry for myself for a half hour, Matt told me to grow up (just kidding - he said it much nicer than that, LOL!) and said we were getting out of the house to do some fun things. It was a beautiful day - super warm and sunny, so we made our way to Al's and got some lunch outside, went to visit Miche at work and go to the Burton store and went to Blockbuster. We made it home and I was about to take a nap when the hospital called me at 1:30 and asked if "now was an ok time to be induced". I just laughed, I was so excited, and told the nurse we would be there within 30 minutes.

We arrived at the hospital at 2pm and the nurse that I had when I delivered Acadia looked up and asked if I was Jennifer. I told her yes and she said she was going to be my nurse for the day. I was SO excited and told her that she was my nurse when I had my first daughter and that I had loved her!! She told me that I had the "best room in the house" and I instantly knew that it was the same room I delivered Acadia in! She took me down and sure enough, it was the same room - the corner room that overlooked Lake Champlain. It was so awesome - I was having Emma with the same nurse, in the same room and with the same OB as I did with Acadia.

By 2:30 I had been hooked up to the pitocin. The contractions started coming pretty regularly, about every 5 minutes, which didn't happen when I was induced with Acadia. I was 2 1/2 cm dilated at this point. By 7pm I was still 2 1/2 cm dilated and about 30 minutes before this (and before when they were about to break my water), my water broke on its own. It was right around this time that the doctor suggested I get an epidural. I had mentioned to our nurse Alison that my childhood friend Jessica was an anesthesiologist at the hospital and without me knowing, Alison requested that Jess do the epidural, which was awesome. Alison came back and told me Jess was working that she had put in the request for her and asked me if I felt comfortable with that. I was so excited!! Jess came in and even though I was super nervous for the epidural, put me at ease. Because of my back surgery, Jess had a hard time getting the epidural to work . She tried a couple times and on the third time, it worked, thank God!

At 9pm the doctor came back to check on me and I was only 3cm. I figured I was in this for the long haul and tried to get some rest. They came back to check at 11pm and I was 5cm. Around midnight I felt a lot of pressure and when I told them this they called the doctor back asap to check on me. I was 9 1/2 cm and the doctor said it was time to push! I told Matt to get my mom and sister and ask if they wanted to be in the room with us when I delivered. They all came running in just as I was starting to push. I pushed a few times and the doctor told me she was going to use the vacuum because Emma had come down the birth canal so quickly that her heart rate was dropping and they needed to deliver her. I gave another push while Dr. Flaherty was using the vacuum and out she came!! She put her on my chest and words can't explain how happy we were to finally meet our little girl! It was an amazing experience and I feel so, so lucky to have to wonderful birth experiences with awesome doctors and nurses by my side. Matt, of course, was an incredibly supportive husband during the entire labor birth. He seemed to know exactly what I needed before I could even get the words out...he's an amazing partner, husband and daddy!

More updates to come - visitors at the hospital, our hospital stay, our first night home and Acadia and Emma meeting for the first time!