My Birth Story (by Emma Noelle Jester)

It was early in the morning on Sunday, April 14th, and I had given my mom lots of warnings throughout the night that I was planning my big debut that day. My dad had spent his spring break getting ready for me to come home, so they were ready for this moment.  Their bags were packed and they were excited about meeting me face to face!

We drove to the hospital at 6:00 that morning, but the doctor said that mom wasn't quite ready to be admitted yet.  She suggested we walk around the hallways for two hours and come back to see if it was time.  So we did, and we also took a detour to grab breakfast for mom (that lady is always hungry!), and when we got back, the doctor said we had done a great job! We could either get admitted now or walk the hallways for a while longer before coming in. Dad and mom felt like walking, so away we went again!

Once we finally got admitted and checked into our labor & delivery room, I threw everyone for a loop!  The nurse who was monitoring my heart rate had just finished saying how wonderfully everything was going, when suddenly a big contraction hit and my heart rate plummeted!  A lot of concerned doctors and nurses came into the room, and when they saw that I continued to be in distress, they rushed mom away to have an emergency c-section and rushed my dad away to get into scrubs. Mom and dad said it was the scariest moment of their entire lives and that they were really worried about me!  But by the time we were ready for surgery, I had begun to stabilize and my heart rate was much closer to normal, so everyone was pretty sure I would be alright.  I was born at 12:58 in the afternoon, and the doctor discovered that I had wrapped myself in my umbilical cord so many times, it had gotten pinched during mom's contraction!

Dad got to cut my pesky bungee umbilical cord.  He says I am not allowed to create any more drama for the rest of my life!

I came out yelling to let mom and dad know I was okay right away. Dad says I came out looking like a prize fighter, but I only weighed 5 lbs 12.8 oz.

Since mom was still getting stitched up, dad got to hold me first after I was born.

But eventually mom got to hold me, too.  She was so happy to see me!

Since my dramatic entrance, things have calmed down quite a bit and we've had some good times at the hospital.  My favorite part is that I get to be wrapped like a burrito 24 hours a day.

Dad changed my diaper, and neglected to tell me it was the very first time he'd ever changed a diaper before!  I would have sent him to some other kid's room for practice first.

But we made up afterwards.  I love that guy!

Mom gave me my first manicure after I accidentally scratched myself on the cheek.  Note to self: manicures are nice - schedule them often in the future.

By our second day at the hospital, my fan club began to arrive. Our first visitor was Nana, who flew all the way from Fort Worth, TX!  She wanted to sleep on a hard, uncomfortable cot in the hospital room so she could hear me cry during the night.  That seems a little crazy to me, but she's a great cuddler and I love her already.

Our friend Cynthia was my second visitor.  She had taken the best photos of me and my parents a few weeks ago, and we forgot to take her picture when she came to visit me!  Sorry Cynthia!

Next, Paul and Ann stopped by. Paul works with my dad and they have a son named Eli who is going to be one of my buddies when I'm ready to play with other kids.

Our friends Chris and Judy and their sons Ian and Jon also visited us. Those boys were super energetic and fun to watch!

Before we knew it, it was time to leave the hospital and go home.  I'm not going to lie, I was a little upset at first.

But I calmed down pretty quickly and was ready to start my next big adventure!

Work Baby Shower

Last week, two of my sweet co-workers hosted a baby shower at work for me.  Fatima scheduled the shower, sent out the invitations, and ordered cake and drinks.  Athena designed the beautiful invitation below and helped with the decorating and setting up that day.  Since the shower date was just before I hit 38 weeks of pregnancy, they were a little nervous I wouldn't make it to my own party!  But baby girl and I held out and made it through our last pregnancy-related milestone!

 The invitation

 Cute decorations and delicious desserts in our conference room

 Since Dan was still on Spring Break, he came to the shower, too!

 We got so many fun gifts!  Most of the gift bags were full of those irresistable baby girl clothes. If she has to wear the same outfit twice in her first 6 months of life, I'll be shocked! :)

 A photo with the hostesses, Fatima (left) and Athena

Everyone expected that my maternity leave would begin right after the baby shower, so I feel like a celebrity when I walk into work every day now. :)  As long as I'm still feeling well, I plan to work through next Friday, two days prior to my due date.  I haven't had many pre-labor symptoms yet, so I'm mentally preparing myself for her to arrive late.  But of course things could change in a moment, and I've got strict instructions to go straight to Fatima for assistance if labor starts while I'm at work.  My boss, Ralph, and co-worker, Doug, say they will only frantically run around in circles the way men are supposed to if you believe the movies. Ha!

Since Dan was on Spring Break, we took advantage of it and spent time with several friends.  He also spent a large part of his time off moving furniture and putting our storage boxes up in the attic to make more space in our rental house for the baby and all her stuff.  Everyone's been asking me if the "nesting urge" has hit me yet.  It hasn't, but I think it's because Dan's got it covered! :)

 Some last "baby-free" date nights: We spent the afternoon at Disneyland last Saturday and met our friends Chris and Adessa for dinner afterwards.

Our friends from Colorado, Michael and Jennifer, visited San Diego this week with their kids, Audrey and Austin.  We've really missed them and had so much fun catching up and getting to know their kids better!