Introducing Emery Rose

On July 20, 2012 at 7:52 p.m., we finally got to meet Emery Rose!  Emi weighed in at a healthy 6 lbs 7.9 ounces and stretched out to 18 inches tall.  She is totally perfect in every way!

Everyone says that I had a very easy labor.  I started feeling discomfort at around 12:30 a.m.  By 8:00 a.m., Steve and I started to time my contractions.  They were never too painful, just very uncomfortable.  At around 11:00 a.m., my contractions were about 6-8 minutes apart…then they started to spread out again and at one point reached 14 minutes apart.  I was set on staying at home as long as possible and was a bit disappointed that my contractions weren’t progressing.  So, we drove out to Santa Monica and walked around a park.  At the park, my contractions became more painful, so we headed home.  At 2:42 p.m., I sprinted to the bathroom as my water broke.  (The nurses at the hospital explained that it ruptured, which explains why it seemed like Niagara Falls at our house.)  We called the Labor & Delivery number and were told to come on in.  Once we arrived at the hospital, the midwife checked and I was five centimeters dilated!  I was SO happy that I made it that far at home.  It was a rough few hours after that, but I successfully made it through labor and pushing without any drugs…just as I had so hoped to do.  Plus, it all ended with the most beautiful little baby!!

A Healthy Baby

Our results came back from the ultrasound yesterday – Baby Girl Vo is healthy and growing at the perfect rate.  This is the best news we could expect!!

I, on the other hand, was told by my doctor that I am gaining a bit too much weight.  Looks like I won’t be able to eat all the bread and pasta that I keep claiming is important for the pregnancy.

Blue or Pink?

Today marked one of the biggest moments in my pregnancy thus far – we found out Baby Vo’s gender!!  At around 4:18pm today, the ultrasound technician took a peek and showed us that Baby Vo is a little girl.  I’ll be honest, we weren’t really expecting that, but we’re happy.  It’s time to start picking out the shade of pink for Baby Vo’s nursery!

We were also able to see how active Baby Vo is inside me.  She was kicking around a lot and gave the technician some difficulty in completing her measurements.  Perhaps our little girl will be the athlete that Steve has always wanted…

To celebrate our newfound knowledge, Steve and I went to Mozza for a romantic dinner…and we finally started to talk about names!!

Confirmation

Today, Veterans’ Day, Steve and I went to the Kaiser Permanente Women’s Clinic to “register” the pregnancy.  (Our healthcare is with Kaiser’s HMO.)  Initially, I pee’d in a cup so that the clinic could confirm that I’m pregnant.  Surprise – I am.  The remainder of our hour in the clinic consisted of filling out loads of forms with questions about our medical and familial histories, my feelings about the pregnancy, and important questions such as “do you know who the baby’s father is?’, “have you told the baby’s father that you are pregnant?” and “is the baby’s father upset or angry about the pregnancy?”  Super mature Steve thought these questions were a riot and took pictures on his iPhone of the questionnaire to laugh at later.

As it turns out, I am in my fourth week of the pregnancy.  I set my first prenatal appointment for the ninth week and headed out the door to enjoy our three-day weekend.  Working for the government might not make us millionaires, but it’s great that we both get the random holidays off!