Pictures Pictures Pictures!

Emma Kate Peterson
Born August 25, 2011
6lbs 11 oz.
20" long

Mommy soon after giving birth to Emma. Happy as can be!

first meeting... The girls were very apprehensive. Liv didn't hold her until the very end of the visit (it took her a few hours to warm up) by the next day she was ALL over Emma though. Claire only took about 5 minutes before she was trying to kiss her and rub her and grab her hand.

first family photo

First hair washing. Emma slept through it all until we dried her off! I guess it was cold getting out of the water!

Livie loves her new sister. She wants to hold her ALL day all the time. She is going to be such a big help! Now if only Claire were a little gentler...

The story of Emma Kate Peterson

Emma Kate was born August 25, 2011. This is the story of her labor and delivery. The weather had been in the 100's and I was SO ready for her to be born. At about 35 weeks I started to dilate and efface. By my 39 week appt. I was dilated to about a 4 and 90% effaced. I had my membranes stripped and thought for sure that I would go into labor some time that night. My mother in law graciously stayed the night just in case I went into labor so we could leave asap. I tested positive for Group Strep B and I wanted to make sure to get to the hospital as early as possible to get on the meds to protect Emma from getting sick. They would like you to be on the meds for about 4 hours. That night I woke up around 3 am and was NOT in labor! I was so mad and decided to jog around the living room and jump up and down. Nothing happened so I went back to bed. The next day I woke up still not in labor and felt like I was being tortured. I was SO uncomfortable and I had been having contractions for 4 weeks. I was so done with it all. I thought the stripping of the membranes had not worked and I would just have to be induced. (With both Claire and Olivia I went into labor the night I had my membranes stripped). I was so sad about it all because the Dr I wanted to deliver was on call until 12 am that night and I was going to miss him. ;( My mother in law decided to stay at our house until Emma arrived, but I was skeptical that she would arrive any time soon. I decided to try and stay active and on my feet to maybe induce labor. We walked to the park, went grocery shopping and I even did some running with the girls in the back yard.

That night I decided to take a bath after the girls went to bed. It was 9:00pm and I was sweaty from our long hot day. Brett went to church meetings and to play basketball for the night. He usually gets home around 11:30pm. I lied in the bath wishing something would happen, but just felt the random weak/moderate contractions I had been feeling for weeks. I dreamed of having my water break or SOMEthing to happen. After I got out of the bath I realized I had felt contractions most of my bath and that they MAY be getting regular. I finished getting ready for bed and by 10:30pm I decided to track the contractions, just in case. They were about every 6 minutes. I got a twinge of hope and texted Brett that I thought MAYBE I might be going into labor soon but to not worry or come home early. By the time Brett got home at 11:20 ish I decided I was in labor, it was just really inconsistent with how weak or strong the contractions were. Some were barely there while others hurt pretty badly. I called my mom and we decided I better head to the hospital and the worse that could happen was they would send me walking. So- Brett took a shower and we were off. We arrived around midnight. The contractions were pretty strong by then and regular. I thought I had MAYBE dilated to 4.5 maybe 5 if I were lucky. They checked me and I was at an 8!! I couldn't believe it! They quickly got me hooked up to everything and got an epidural for me so that maybe I could have the anti-biotics for a little while. By 1:30am the Dr came to break my water and deliver the baby. I was not really ready or expecting to push yet. I hadn't mentally really realized what was about to happen. The next thing I knew the Dr is telling me to push and all I could think was "this hurts SOOO bad! I should have pushed the button for more medicine from the epidural!" I realized then that if I pushed (the one thing I did NOT want to do, since I knew it would hurt even more) that she would come out and the pain would be gone. So I pushed and pushed again. She was out and I just could not believe my eyes. There she was. A new sweet tiny baby girl. How was she here already!? I was so shocked she was out and it was over with. She was beautiful and we were SO happy. On a side note, during the pushing the Dr gave me an episiotomy. Another side note, when we arrived at the hospital I found out the Dr that I wanted was on call! I was SO happy to hear that he would deliver Emma. I guess there shifts go from 7am-7am the next day. So, if I had went into labor the night before he would not have been my Dr. The Lord was blessing me all along.

After Emma was delivered I was on such a happy high. I was just SOO happy to not be pregnant. So happy that I arrived at the hospital in time and so happy the labor and delivery was easy. Every thing just turned out perfect. There were so many conflicting things going on in our schedule the next few days that it would have been a pain to have her any other day. Things like Olivia starting school on Tuesday. I was elated. It seemed everything was perfect. We are now home and everything is going really well. Emma is 2.5 days old and a good nurser. My nipples hurt extremely bad, but she is eating well and I know it will get better with a little time. I've had help from 2 lactation specialist and I think I've got all the help I could ask for. We are all so happy and mostly healthy. (the girls and Brett have had colds) Hopefully Emma won't catch anything.

#5

Olivia turned 5 this year. It is hard to believe that they grow up so fast. The day was filled with all things Liv requested. She got a new swim pool with a "slide", she wore a new tutu skirt all day and went to the Nickle-cade. She wanted to have a picnic at the park for dinner, but since it was raining we went to the food court at the mall and then played in the mall play ground. She brought her friend Anna and they had a lot of fun. She requested Popsicles for desert and a balloon launch. The lady filled the balloons too much at the store so 2 popped by the time we got outside to launch them in the air. Olivia wished for "a happy family" when she let go of the balloons.

Updates

I was going to wait until later this afternoon to update the blog (since I have a Dr's appointment later taoday) but, I have time now... and lately I've had no time for blogging. So- I figure I better seize the moment and do it now. Claire and Olivia are doing well and are excited for all upcoming events. Liv starts Kindergarten and we will have a newborn. It is also Livs b-day next week. I wish I could spread the events out a little further... but it is what it is. Liv really wants a big party, but she understands and hasn't complained much that this year we just can't fit it in. We did do a little party with cousins and she loved that.
Speaking of cousins... We just got done with a family reunion. All of Bretts family came out to Utah and we hung out lots. The girls loved playing and bonding with their cousins. We have LOTS of girl cousins the same age, so it is lots of fun for them! Oh- and this next baby won't be short on cousins either. We have our baby, Britta, Alisha, and Nettie who will also have a baby soon too! And on my side of the family we have Promise and Emily having babies (actually Promise just had hers...) So, our little baby will have 5 cousins her age. crazy!

Here are some cousins together. Aunt Alisha styled hair and they were SO proud of their beautiful princess hair. Even Claire stood in line to get her threads done ;) So cute! (not all the cousins are pictured here... I was a bad photographer this reunion)

Claire was re-evaluated this week for her speech development. Turns out she has come a long way! She is just slightly delayed and they think she will fully catch up in the next 6 months. She is really talking a LOT more and is even doing 3 word phrases. Her phrases are hard to understand, but with practice I think she will be talking and easily understood soon. Olivia's big accomplishment of the summer is learning to not be scared of the water. She was in swim lessons for a few weeks, and she was SO proud of her accomplishments. She can now put her head in the water. (I know it's a freaky picture, but she LOVES it!) She thinks she is pretty awesome. Claire has tried everything Olivia was learning and I'm surprised she hasn't drowned in the bath... 2 year olds just do not understand the concept of holding their breathe. The girls talk about the baby every day, and yesterday they decided to play "momma and baby" Claire crawled around, while Liv dressed her in footsie PJ's and fed her out of a bottle. They crack me up. They also play "doggie" a lot too. Claire pretends to be a dog (she even licks you! YUCK!) While Livie is the owner who feeds her, pets her, and takes her for walks. As of last Tuesday- I found out I was dilated to a 2.5 and 70% effaced. That was at 36 weeks. I'm excited to know if anything has changed. The baby's head is down and pushing to come out (yes, it is highly uncomfortable and hurts a lot) yet she still manages to be able to kick my ribs. I am thinking she must be one looong baby! If I stretch out, she can't quite reach my ribs, so I only get a few kicks before I move and she can't reach far enough ;)