7 Random Facts

1. We have 6 Bleeding Heart Tetras in our fishtank that hide in the back most of the day, but since I have been up feeding Emma I see that they are super active and school and swim in circles and loops during the night.. our frogs, however, are always entertaining.
2. When Emma wrinkles up her forehead she looks strikingly like E.T.
3. John and I are still looking for the perfect house for us to move into. We're getting closer, I can feel it!
4. John put in his 2 week notice today as a resident manager of our apartment manager. At the 2 week mark I'm pretty sure he will turn his phone off for at least a week.
4. Global warming is a farce. 2007 was actually one degree cooler than the last 30 years.
5. Breastfed babies have higher I.Q.'s, better health, better mouths and vision and are generally happier.
6. I was only breastfed for a month or two.
7. If there was someway we could pull it off we would spend all summer, every summer at John's family cabin in Vallecito, CO. It is a little bit of Heaven.

I tag... Nichole and Jana

Motherhood: Week 3

Emma Jane is 3 weeks old today. I seriously loving being a mom. It is the best thing I have ever done. It is really a way to learn true selflessness and sacrafice! I am also amazed at how much I worry already!! Emma is such a little baby, as you know and the most emotionally draining and chanllenging thing is making sure she is eating well and gaining weight. At 2 and a half weeks she had still not gotten back to her birth-weight. :( She is a very sleepy baby and a bit jaundiced and I know that is part of the problem. She is happy to just keep sleeping instead of eating!! But I've been waking her up more often to eat and am now pumping a little to keep my supply up and make sure she gets what I pump. So far it is working. Tomorrow I am seeing a lactation consultant to see what else I can do to get her to gain weight. I want a little rolly polly baby! I feel confidant that she will gain weight and be okay.. she is totally healthy and happy and content.. she's just lazy! I guess John was like that.. he would sleep 9 hours straight at birth!

You can see how she is a little yellow still in this picture.

She loves her baths! She moved so much when I was pregnant I would always say she was doing her water aerobics. I'm sure the warm water makes her feel right at home. She actually was really fussy a couple of days ago while I was bathing her and I couldn't figure out why until she pooped ALL over the towel. That is actually the only time she really cries.. right before she poops!

When Bob, Amy and Madison were here Amy and I got some fabric together to make these awesome hooter hiders! I am feeding Emma in this picture.. It's so handy because you can actually see what you're doing and have both your hands free. I haven't had to use it yet, but when I do I'll be glad I have it.

So Emma has to be woken up for most of her feedings and I usually do this by changing her diaper and it is so cute how she stretches and looks around and she makes the funniest faces!!

She loves her changing table.. she looks around so wide-eyed and wiggles and grabs the bars..

she also does this funny lip pucker all the time! I love it! My mom said she got that from me...

And here is the usual end result.. a sleeping Emma with milk on her face. :)

Emma Jane McCulloch

Well I am a mother! I just noticed that I went into labor just hours after posting my last blog..

Emma Jane was born May 22nd at 7:20 pm. She was 6 pounds 4 ounces and 19 1/2 inches of cuteness. Wow.. what a whirlwind of emotions! Our lives are changed forever and I am so grateful! She is two weeks old today and she already seems like she is growing and changing.

I couldn't have asked for much more throughout my labor and delivery (okay I could. .. It really hurt and was pretty terrible! ) But we really feel blessed and that everything went okay. I woke up about 5:00 Thursday morning with contractions in my back. John and I went on a walk and then came home and laid down to see if they would go away, but they just got worse so we knew we were going to have a baby! We were in and out of triage at the hospital while I was in early labor. We spent two hours walking at a park and then three hours at home (actually cleaning!) until I drank some rasberry tea and took a warm shower which put me into active labor. ..my contractions were suddenly a lot more intense and evey 2-3 minutes apart (not to mention still in my lower back!) Here's us at the park.. you can tell that I am not in too much pain .. yet..

So we get back to the hospital and soon after my water breaks and there is meconium in it. I was worried about it but the doctors seemed to be okay with it. At this point I am really hurting.. all still in my back. Once we were in the delivery room I pretty much hung out on the bed leaning over my big exercise ball. I was trying to get the pressure off my back. John would push and rub really hard on it which did help most of the time...It all seems like a whirlwind now. .. I'm not sure how long we were in the delivery room.. but I started pushing around 6:30 and about 45 minutes later she was born. I did it all with out any pain medications.. It was really hard but I'm glad I did it. It was the most amazing day. So exhausting but the best thing ever! John and I just sobbed right after she was born. It was incredible. It is amazing how you can love someone so much!

She is healthy and beautiful and such a joy. They did say it looked like she had the meconium for a while, so it's a good thing she came 10 days early. We feel so blessed. .. with all my blood pressure stuff and preeclamsia worries I did great. Literally as soon as she came out my blood pressure went back to normal. So no worries there. John's mom, Nancy came to help out with the labor and delivery (really to be our doula) and I am so glad she was there. She was awesome. I know if her and John were not there I would have had that epidural (and probably 10 extra hours of labor). I really feel like I have a great sence of accomplishment after that.

Doesn't he look like a brand-new father? I love this picture. He is so good with her and loves her so much. I'm so grateful for him.

In this picture we are both feeling happy that labor and delivery is over! :

She was a little jaundice so I would put her in the sun for a little bit every day. She is doing a lot better now. It's amazing how protective I am over her and how much there is to worry about her already! Thank goodness breastfeeding has been getting better everyday...

I love this picture.. Emma likes to have here hands by her face when she sleeps. It's adorable. She sleeps a LOT! Even a lot a night.. which is great but I wake up on my own worrying that she needs to eat..

She is just amazing and so much fun. She has all this soft brown hair and blue eyes and the cutest little mouth! She also has John's feet! (Sorry Emma) She smiles in her sleep and it just melts my heart. I am seriously in love with her. :)

Thank you everyone for all your visits and calls and dinners and gifts and support! We love you!