Newborn Photos

My friend Kristen Papac is a budding photographer/Mommy. We both love photography. Though we have no extended formal education in it, it's fun to practice on our friends and family until we perfect our craft. Since she is expecting her second little bundle fairly soon as well, she wanted to get some newborn practice in on Emily's first days. Her inspiration came from a site called BabyAsArt.com. Emily was very cooperative I thought : ) She did need to eat half way through, and it took her a while to get to sleep to get started, but Kristen was very patient and sweetly entertained Owen while we waited. Thanks so much Kristen for these precious pictures, I will cherish them, as she will probably look completely different next week as she keeps on growing! You did a great job, it was inspiring watching you take on the task! These are my favorites:

Home Coming and First Bath

On our first night home as a family of four we had a little rain which was unusual. However, it made for a beautiful rainbow outside my kitchen window just before we sat down for dinner. It was a wonderful way to start our life together. We are so lucky to have my Mom (Nana) come and help out with dinner (and the kids!).
Emily's big brother Owen did a good job helping with her first bath at home. : )

Daddy kissing his fresh and clean little girl : )

Emily slept great her first night in her new home. Owen even slept in until 9:45 am! He crawled into bed with us in the morning and we all got to snuggle as we listened to thunder outside. It was a magical, and memorable first morning with my growing family.

Sibling Love

I spent about 2 hours of my time writing this post and accidentally deleted it just before hitting "Publish." After saying a few choice words under my breath, I turned off the computer and went to bed. It has taken me a bit to forget about it and re post, but I want to make sure I get this one on there!

Nana (my amazingly helpful Mom) brought Owen to the hospital the morning after Emily was born. He seemed rather comfortable and gave us both big hugs and kisses when he saw us. He immediately asked to see his "Baby Sister." (We are all having a hard time calling her Emily, as we have been calling her "Baby Sister" for quite some time now.) He talks to her in the sweetest high little voice and says "Hi Baby Sister, I wuv you" followed by a tiny kiss that sounds like this: "Mmmmmmmmmwwaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhh."

This was then followed by: "Mommy doesn't have a baby in her tummy anymore. Mommy can ride the train with Owen now!" (I couldn't ride the small train on the 4th of July with him because, one, I was wearing a skirt, and two, I was a little too pregnant to hop aboard a bouncy train I had to straddle for a ten minute ride!) I thought it was a cute comment, worth remembering. : )He absolutely adores her and has not once showed us an ounce of jealousy or cruelty to her (I, however, am getting the cold shoulder sometimes, but not the baby). He gives her hundreds of kisses a day and is very excited to see her every morning and every time she wakes up from her long slumbers. She knows exactly who he is too. She turns to him every time he talks and can't take her eyes off of him (He is rather entertaining at times : ). She has been hearing his voice for months now after all. I think these two are going to have a good relationship as they grow up together. I am so happy. : )

Welcome Sweet Little Emily Lynn Anton!

As you all know by now, I waited quite a while for my children to enter this world. Owen was 14 days late, and Emily went past her due date by 11 days. They have taught me how to be patient. Patience is the first and hardest lesson learned in parenthood, in my opinion. I have learned that I need patience at all times; like when my son doesn't want to go to sleep when I want him to, or give up diapers before he is ready, or takes 2 hours getting dressed when I only had 1 hour to be somewhere. I need to stop and take a breath and realize that these moments won't last long and learn to enjoy even the stressful times as they grow right before my eyes.

Emily is already a week old, and I haven't written this blog post because I have been enjoying every second of holding her tiny warm body in my arms, and stroking Owen's soft blond hair, reassuring him that he will still be loved and cared for just as much as ever. They are now both sound asleep, so finally it's time to write Emily's story before I need to starting writing about her rolling over, first foods and walking!

This isn't the story I had intended to tell, but it is my story none the less. Tuesday July 6th I had my weekly OB appointment with Dr. Green. Since I was getting close to being 2 weeks over due, he sent me to a specialist to do a non-stress test to make sure the baby was still thriving. This test includes checking amniotic fluid levels (which were still very good) and sitting in a chair for 15 minutes while they monitor the baby's heart rate. They noticed some decelerations even though most of the time I was there it was normal. The nurse was a little concerned so she sent me across the street to the hospital to monitor the heart rate for an hour instead.

Once I was hooked up at the hospital, whenever I moved to one side, or got up and then laid back down, the decelerations would happen. Needless to say after about 2 hours of monitoring, they were ready to admit me and induce labor (which I was dreading!).

I had started moderate irregular contractions the night before, so I knew we were getting close. I had planned on going to my OB appointment that morning, coming home to go for a long walk on the bluffs to hopefully get labor going. However, my plans changed. I called Adam and told him to finish packing the hospital bag, drop off Owen at my Mom's house and meet me at the hospital, we were going to have a baby in the next 24 hours. I was scared of the impending labor, and very sad I didn't get to say a proper good bye to Owen before he saw me with a new baby (which probably bothered me the most). The nurses were all amazing and took good care of me reassuring me things will be fine.

They kept monitoring the baby before they induced me to make sure that she would be able to withstand the demands of labor. Every time I rolled to one side the heart rate would go down too low, ultimately Dr. Green didn't think it would be a good idea to go through labor and started preparation for an emergency Cesarean section.

When this occurs there is no time to mentally prepare for what is about to happen. I had no idea how this procedure worked (and why should I? I was planning on a natural birth like I had with Owen). I have never had surgery in my life and my only hospital stay was when I had Owen, so needless to say I was scared and pretty upset. I was first asked a hundred medical history questions, then wheeled into a sterile bright white room. I was rather upset that my daughter would have to be blinded by these lights when she entered the world. Adam was left behind and told to wait as they prepped me for surgery. They told him it would be ten minutes, but he told me it was over twenty, and he paced and prayed every second of it. He was then invited into the operating room in scrubs and then sat next to me and held my hand as they began the surgery. No longer then ten minutes later at 7:55 PM we had a baby. Adam didn't watch the surgery over the curtain, but he did see as Emily was raised out of me that her umbilical cord was wrapped once around her belly and again around her legs! That solved the mystery of the irregular heartbeats. We are so thankful our doctor made the right call in an emergency and we have a beautiful healthy daughter to show for it.

We then heard the sweetest little cry that made me tear up and feel some relief for the first time in hours. Emily Lynn Anton had finally come to join us. Everyone was talking about all her hair and how tiny she was. I couldn't see because she was on the other side of the room and there was a curtain over my body that I could not look around. Once she was checked by the nurses and bundled up, Adam brought her over to me so I could see our darling little girl. She wasn't crying, she just looked straight into my eyes to tell me that all would be OK. I was left paralyzed on the table while they sewed me up and Adam left with Emily and the nurse to do the routine tests before meeting me in the recovery room later.

I started shivering uncontrollably for about an hour and a half during and after the surgery. This was due to the anaesthesia in the spine as well as the shock from what my body had just gone through. Once Emily was finally in my arms, my shivering stopped and so did her cry. When they took her away, the chatters came back. She makes me feel so warm, calm, balanced and grounded. I feel so connected to her already, and she is only 7 days old. She has slept on my chest or by my side every night since. I have never slept so well (except last night when she woke up a little more often than I was wanting!).

There it is, Emily's birth story in the raw. It's not how I had envisioned her birth, but the fact that we are both healthy and happy now is all that matters.

Emily's Birth Stats:
6 lbs
18 inches long
Not sure why she was so tiny, but she is making up for it now. She has gained almost a pound in a week already!

(Owen was 8 lbs and 21 inches)

Thank you to all our doctors, nurses, parents, family, friends and everyone who has expressed their support and well-wishes to our wonderful little family.

Go to:
http://picasaweb.google.com/owencrazy/WelcomeEmilyLynn#

For those who want to see more pictures of our little girl:)

4th of July!

We went to the Stow House for an old fashioned 4th of July this year. They had lots of simple kid games, train rides, face painting, live music, pony rides, popcorn and hayrides. It wasn't too crowded or too hot, so it turned out to be a nice afternoon. Owen had a great time, which is what it's all about!

He's ready for school! (This is part of the new Stow House museum.)

Pony Rides!

Ring toss. He came close to winning this one, but got a prize anyway : ) Owen LOVED this game. He held a fishing pole over a curtain (that someone was hiding behind) and he would catch a bag filled with little toys and candy. We played that one 3 times!

"CHEEEEEESE!" I can see him as a teenager in this picture. Yikes!

My very own Clark Griswald : )

For about two or three weeks, Owen would twist up his shirt by the corner with his thumb. No idea where that came from?
I have a tree climber on my hands now!

Nana went with him on the train ride because Mommy was too pregnant, and wearing a skirt! Next time I'll go : )>

Waiting....at the Beach

Today was sunny and warm, so we took advantage of the beach...again. Waiting for this baby has never been so much fun and relaxing! I almost stayed home to take a nap instead while Adam and Owen went off to play in the waves. The thought of relaxing on the beach sounded better to me, but the reality of Owen standing over me saying "come on Momma, come in the water, it's warm for you!!" over and over again made me think twice. He was so excited for me to come, I just couldn't say no. Adam said he would watch Owen while I rested on the sand, which is ultimately what we did. Thanks babe!

What goes up must come down! For Owen, the best part of making a sand castle is destroying it afterwards. Boys (Insert eye roll here). Relaxing against me while he ate his snacks. He was a tuckered out little boy by this point! One week over due with this sweet child o' mine. Not the most flattering pictures, but it's reality.