One Month Wonder

Our little girl is one month old already! She is changing so fast it is hard to keep track. Our good friends Jamie and Buck gave us some month by month onesies to take pictures and keep track of her first year progression. Here are some of the things to note of her first month:

Her hair is so long and is usually really wild.

We thought her hair was black but it is actually brown.

Her eyes started out a blue/grey color, now they are more grey.

When we hold her she likes to flop her head all over the place.

She sleeps with her hands near her face, usually over her eyes.

She doesn't cry often, but when she does it is really loud.

She has smiled often since the day she was born.

We think she recently began having "real" reactionary smiles.

We have had to clip her nails every week.

She loves car rides and they put her to sleep instantly.

She hates getting dressed.

She loves when daddy holds her and sleeping in his arms.

She loves laying against mommy's chest.

She loves to move and is always kicking and swinging her arms.

She is long and skinny and her clothes are too wide and short.

 

Awake

Today I was able to get some pictures of Emery while she was awake between feedings. She let me get a number of pictures before demanding to be fed. I was happy to get some pictures were you can see the color of her eyes, I'm not sure how long they will stay this color so I'm glad I finally have them well documented!

For The Auntie

Heather told me I need to post more pictures of Emery for the days she doesn't get to see her in person. So here you go Aunt Heather...

Meeting People

I tried to get pictures of everyone as they met Emery for the first time and I got most people but unfortunately I did miss a few people.  Here are the ones I got...

Aunt Heather

Grandma Chandler

Tia Monique

Tia Sarah

Uncle Josh

Aunt Sarah

Our best friends Jamie, Buck, and Harlow

Our close friend Heidi

Cousin Marlynn, who is only 20 days older

Nickell cousins

Great Grandma Naomi

Tio Ezekiel

Cousin Jacquelyn and Tia Julie

Grandma and Grandpa Trevino

The whole Trevino family

A Little More Birth Story

This post is a little late and out of order but that's ok, I wanted to share some of the birth story from my perspective. Labor was long and hard and hurt more than anything I've ever experienced. My pain level was at a 10 for a lot of the time only 10 kept getting worse and worse so what I said was a 10 early on would have been more like a 6 or 7 to me later. Jonah and my doula were so helpful in getting me through contractions but even with them once the decision was made to give me an epideral I was so ready for it. It was such a relief once it started working, it was weird to have the whole bottom half of me numb and tingling and to not be able to lift up my legs but it was worth it. When Rita (my midwife) came in to check me 3 hours after my epidural to see if I'd made enough progress to continue with labor and made the call for a c-section I was pretty upset and cried for a while. But Rita and my doula reassured me that it was time and that we had given it our best shot.

Feeling better after the epidural.

 It was very surreal being wheeled down the hospital hallways heading off to surgery. All I could think about was how it was just like in the movies. Jonah had to get his scrubs on and therefore couldn't be with me as I was getting prepared for the surgery. The medicine they gave me made me nauseaus and I was so nervous, I was really worried about fainting or throwing up but fortunately neither happened. Jonah finally was allowed in and I felt much better with him there with me.

Trying to stay calm as I waited.

 I felt a lot of tugging and moving but no pain and didn't have a clue what was going on beyond the curtain.  And then we heard her and it was the best sound in the world. Jonah went over to cut the cord and then they brought over the most beautiful baby I'd ever seen.

Daddy cutting the cord.

 Emery was so much cuter than I'd even imagined and I couldn't stop crying. I was so relieved she was finally out!

 Then Jonah and Emery had to leave me and I did NOT like that. They said I was going to get some medicine that might make me "a little sleepy" and it almost knocked me out. I had to fight to stay awake and felt like I needed to remind myself to breathe.  Finally they were done sewing me up and I was wheeled to the recovery room where Jonah and Emery were waiting for me.

Our little wide awake baby.

Proud daddy.

Reunited

Little Angel

Here's my sweet little girl.

The Birth Story

I was asleep when I heard a whistle from the bathroom. Usually this means one of us wants the other to come to them. Since the time happened to be 1:00 am, I knew that chances were, the time had come. Michelle explained that she thought perhaps her water had broken, but we realized that it was actually her mucous plug. She also had 2 contractions that were slightly painful. We attempted to go to sleep thinking it would still be awhile before much more happened. Excitement and painful contractions kept us awake however, and we decided to start counting and timing them. For the next couple of hours we realized that they were about 2 to 5 minutes apart on average, and the pain and duration was steadily getting worse. Michelle was doing really well breathing through them but as the pain progressed we decided it would be good to go to the hospital and see what they thought. When we arrived there around 7:30 am, they checked to see how dilated she was. We had expected her to be a little dilated after about 6 hours of contractions, but we were disappointed to be told she was just 1 cm. They sent us home. We figured, with that news, that we would wait for awhile before going back. The contractions intensified at a stunning rate, and about 7 grueling hours later, the midwife and doula were calling us and asking us how we were doing. The doula heard Michelle and I working through her contraction and thought that we had better hurry to the hospital. We got ready and headed out to the hospital. The midwife checked Michelle’s dilation and everyone was shocked to hear that she had not progressed. According to the doula, the monitor was reading really hard contractions, and that normally, Michelle would be at least 4 to 5 cm dilated. She was shocked to hear how long these contractions were going on without progress. The midwife then gave us 2 choices, take morphine and go home (to which she also said “with these contractions I don't think it would even help too much.”) or, get an epidural. These would hopefully help to relax her in hopes of becoming more dilated. This was an emotional time for us because, on top of not wanting any intervention, Michelle’s labor thus far, seemed all for nothing. Michelle decided to take the epidural because the midwife said this would be the best option. She let Michelle try fentanol first, to see if that would do the trick. It made her pain more bearable, but an hour later the contractions were off the chart again. It took another hour still until they came in and gave her the epidural. At this point they checked her again,(still 1 cm) broke her water bag, put some internal monitors on her, and gave her an epidural. The midwife came in and said that if Michelle had not progressed significantly in the next 2 hours, we would be looking at a cesarean. This was more bad news, but it was easier to take now that Michelle was in little to no pain. We could finally relax and hope for the best. When the Midwife came in at 7:40 pm. Michelle had only progressed to 2 cm, and the midwife said that around 9:30 we would head in for a cesarean. When the time came, it was pretty heavy emotionally. We still felt disappointed, but we continued to remind each other that we did all that we could. Michelle never complained or cried about the pain (in fact the only time she cried was when they told her she needed an epidural and again when she was told they would be doing a cesarean). She was a such a warrior. While they were preparing for surgery I was not allowed in the room and it was hard to sit there alone, exhausted, and emotional. When I was finally allowed in the O.R. I talked to Michelle through the operation to keep her mind off of it. It seemed like just seconds until they were telling me to take a picture! And at 10:12 pm, after 22 hours of hard labor, we heard Emery Jade Trevino cry out, and it was the first time on this earth, that anyone would hear her voice. She was as beautiful as we could ever have imagined. Michelle got to see and kiss the baby for the first time after I cut the chord. It was another bittersweet moment as baby and I were taken to the recovery room, leaving mommy behind to finish the operation. As I was walking out with Emery in my arms, she gave me a big smile. I hung out with Emery while they did all the tests and measurements. She was 8lbs 2oz and 21 inches long! Soon after, they wheeled mommy in and we had a wonderful reunion. This is normally where I would say “The End,” but all of you parents out there know that this is just “The Beginning.”