A teeny tiny newborn shoot...

Aaaaah... little toes, big ol' yawns, and the facial expressions of, 'I can't see too much further away than your face.' Newborns are amazing. Bryan got me a new pancake lens for Christmas, so I figured I'd give it a spin! Here goes...

(She's about 9 days old in these photos, and positively swimming in her Flip diapers!)

The Arrival of Emma Renee Wisely

How we got so lucky again, I will never know! On Saturday March 5th, at 9:55am, we welcomed Emma Renee Wisely in to our family!

On Friday the fourth, I was extra tired. Megan, Olivia and Will came over to visit-- with a surprise visit from Molly as well! We had a wonderful day eating all sorts of tasty muffins (thanks Meghan!) and raspberry leaf tea (come ooooon baby, get here) and played till our hearts content. It was a rather fabulous day. Everyone stayed until nearly nine that night, and by 10 we were finally putting Norah to bed... That's when the contractions started. "Surely this isn't it," I thought...

Well, after three books and a cuddle with Norah, I started to change my tune. "Huh. Seems like every few minutes... better start logging these in my app." Again, apps to the rescue! They were about every four minutes, and were lasting nearly a minute each, but not painful. Bryan and I decided that since Amy would be spending the night, we better try and clean the house a bit and go over any last minute Norah caretaking things, and I sent my mom and sister the 'state of the uterus' text-- which was that I was having contractions, but who knows if they were going anywhere.

We finally got to bed around 12:30... where I decided I'd keep tracking, and get up if I need to. Heck, if I could get some sleep too, that would be great. As soon as I laid down they stopped for about an hour... then I was right back up again at 1:30, thinking it could be it! I decided by about 2:30am that I couldn't lay down any more, and headed out to the living room to dance around and see if walking did any thing to slow them... turns out nothing would stop them! I woke Bryan up to tell him to get ready, and called my mom and sister about 4am, saying that it was time. (My amazing sister Amy volunteered to go to our house to take care of Norah while baby made her debut-- which was a first for us! We've never left her both at the same time, and Amy had never babysat... needless to say, Norah adores her aunt and was looking forward to seeing her!) And after a drizzly happy drive, we got to the hospital around 5am.

By the time we got there, I was having to breathe slowly through my contractions. They checked us in and got us settled, and I was anxious to see how I was progressing. At first measure, I was 6-7 cm dilated, and 100% effaced (they said baby was pretty low at that point too, but I don't remember exactly how low). My goal was to have her totally naturally, and my favorite midwife was on call (score!). I got to dance around the hospital room listening to Louis Armstrong and having great conversations with all the nurses. Everyone was so nice! The funny thing about contractions before transition is, as long as you're not currently having a contraction, life is pretty good. Jokes happen, and you can point out how awkward and crazy things are. I had my mom and Bryan with me, which was amazing. (In case you didn't know, I have a pretty incredible family.)

They let me hang out in the tub to pass some time. Oh, my. The tub! The glorious tub! Hot water, and the ability to press your feet and shoulders in to the sides to relieve pressure, is absolutely perfect. I stayed in there quite awhile, and sadly, that was when my favorite midwife had to go (she stayed nearly two hours past her shift to try and help with the birth-- she was pregnant as well, and liked me as a patient-- super flattering!) and my other favorite midwife showed up! (But really... there are three midwives there and I adore all of them-- I got lucky I knew both of them on duty) We all decided it was probably time I got out of the tub, because my contractions were slowing a bit. And goodness lord... getting out of the tub SUCKED. That was the time I shifted in to transition; they were coming back to back, and I was a little less happy between contractions. It was still wonderful to be able to move around and work my way through the pain; I have no idea how ladies do this flat on their backs! After a few more hours, it was pretty apparent to everyone in the room that it was getting close to time. Finally, after I felt like it was getting time to push, I had them bring the midwife in to check me, and I was 10cm dilated! Time to push!

They let me use the squat bar, which was super helpful. And I do have to say, attempting to push a baby out is one of the most bizarre things I think a human can do. It feels like you're not doing anything, and doing everything, at the same time. I missed my tub. The worst part was when they told me it was time for her to come out, and I had to lay on my side. My side! The pain was nuts! The first two contractions after changing positions was brutal. Lucky for me I had my mom and Bryan counting things out and being super supportive. After a half hour of pushing, our gal made her--forceful!--arrival! She was facing upward (which was why transition out of the tub was so brutal I imagined) and shot out rather quickly. They weren't expecting her position to be this way, so she came out a bit quickly after crowning-- but our girl was here!! She was here!! They put her right on my chest, and let us hang out and breastfeed for over an hour while we got acquainted. I am so happy this new process is in place! (Normally, and with Norah, baby comes out and they get poked/weighed/prodded right away... so warping!! I love all the immediate bonding/delayed cord clamping they do now standard!) She was perfect! 

As soon as she was out, the world was right again. Our family was complete! We did our best to rest a bit and soak in the new little sprout that we were blessed with. We made plans for family to visit after we had settled in a bit, which was super nice. We were looking forward to here meeting everyone right away, but also hadn't slept-- and had quite a rough morning! It turned out to be a perfect day. I am so thankful I got to experience a natural birth with no complications. I feel very lucky that through both of our beautiful girls, even with a c-section-- that there were no problems, and everyone was healthy. We really are a very, very lucky family! We named her Emma Renee (middle name after Bryan's mom's middle name, and Emma was our final choice in the bracket-- which we narrowed down at about 11 the night before!)

After we were all settled, we had my dad and Amy drop by with Norah to meet her new little sister. I was so worried, as babies  have been a hot and cold topic with her... but things really couldn't gone any better than they did. She was so great with her! Emma had 'bought' her a huge princess dress from Home Goods... and I firmly believe that Norah's thoughts on the matter were, 'if she got me this, she must be cool. She's alright, she can stay.' She said hello to baby right away, gave her lots of kisses, and were super happy to see us again (as we magically disappeared in to the night after all!) She had so much fun playing with Auntie Amy (and kept asking to see her over the next few days) and everything went so well. I still can't believe how perfectly everything went.

Life at home has been incredible. She slept in five hour chunks the first few nights, and we all felt pretty rested. Norah has still been wonderful, and I still can't quite believe it. She's here! Healing has gone so quickly, and I felt pretty normal right away. Wow... if you need me, I will be soaking in play time and cuddles; taking too many pictures and smiling like an idiot. I am a happy, happy mom. 

Lots of love from all of us!
Sara, Bryan, Norah and Emma

Baby Wisely #2: Week 39

How far along? 39 weeks! Eeep!! 

Best moment this week: Getting everything done, and relaxing more! (And finishing a huge project at work, so I can really start to unwind a bit! Things have been a bit nuts!)

Confusing pregnancy symptom of the week? Overheated, swollen puffy fingers and toes... not necessarily in a huge swollen looking way-- just more feeling like my hands and feet are radiating heat wave lines. :/ Is another symptom being super squirly and weirder than average? Because I'm definitely there, too.

Movement: Definitely more quiet this week-- I've been doing my kick counts, which is a first-- it feels like she's running out of room like crazy, so it's just not as fun to kick around like it was before... 

Food cravings:  Juice. Every morning. 

Anything sounding disgusting? Still can't do warm drinks in the morning...

Sleep? Exhausted this week. Trying to get to bed earlier to catch up... sleeping decently well still!

Clothing situation? Even maternity outfits are too short. This is hilarious.  

I'm generally feeling: Pretty darn tired! Desk is officially cleaned out at work, which is incredibly bittersweet... I love my coworkers so much; it's odd to think that soon I won't be there day to day for a few years... again, it's an odd halfway point; and I am working until I go in to labor... so I'm not quite sure when to say goodbye?? But so, so tired... wanting to go to sleeeeeep... yup. Blog and sleep. It's going to happen.

Notable sibling moments: Quoting everything. Some of my favorites: 
- After watching Aladin music videos, she grabs my hand, looks me in the eye and says, 'do you trust me?'
- 'Gold Bond. Ultimate lotion, ultimate skin.'
- 'They're only $40... my friends love them, my shoes are great! Shoedazzle.com...'
- 'Tax DRS!' (After the tax doctor...??)

House update?: FOUND THE DIAPERS. Guess where they were.... with my other diapers. Am I allowed to claim pregnant crazy yet? I'm claiming pregnant crazy. Also, the house is pretty much done-- if you don't count the garage... anyone want to come over and clean our garage?

Looking forward to: I've been really enjoying these past few weeks, and can't wait to meet her because I feel like we're all finally ready-- but it will be really nice to not be on a surprise schedule!! This not knowing is difficult!!

Baby Wisely #2: Week 38

How far along? 38 weeks-- holy cats! (Hitting me that Norah was born a week early!)  

Best moment this week: Finally getting to tell the rest of my coworkers my exciting post-baby plans-- After tree months, (which is a whole month longer than I had with Norah), I'm going to be working part time from home on a project basis (not with set hours). My boss/boss's boss have been amazing. I needed to keep part of my income, but didn't feel like I could be a good mom if I had to be strapped to a desk for set hours-- so they worked with me so I could truck through a list of things, while working early mornings/nights things like that, for 20 hours a week. It will be tough, but I'm so excited to take on this challenge-- and spend more time with my girls!!

Confusing pregnancy symptom of the week? Heat waves!! Whoda thought-- with Norah, in the middle of the summer, I was hot as usual-- but not unbearable. This time around-- in the middle of winter-- I'm in a tank dress with the fan on me, and I still am sweaty and swollen. What the heck?! Hormones, man.

Movement: Much more subdued, but nevertheless happy, spins. And an ever prominent foot, in my right front side. I believe her little bum is sticking up right above my belly button?? Who knows!

Food cravings:  Still loving me some juice...

Anything sounding disgusting? Hot drinks! Could possibly have to do with being in the middle of a heat wave myself... 

Sleep? Still only topping at one tinkle break a night-- and baby isn't suffocating me wen I lie down anymore, which is an improvement! (Oh yeah. She's dropped alright.)

Clothing situation? Loose dresses and no bras. Yes ma'am. 

I'm generally feeling: A little weirded out-- now that work knows my plan, and I will be cleaning out my desk and setting up a home office-- it feels a little 'officially unofficial?' When you leave your job to stay at home, you say goodbye, have a potluck and don't come back-- I will technically still be 'here, but not here;' coming in for an hour meeting every Monday, but not around anymore.... ghost designer perhaps? It's a bit strange, for sure! (Trying to wrap up my projects and predict baby is getting more and more interesting as well!)

Notable sibling moments: Norah's been having some fantastic days and some frustrating ones back to back...And the past few nights has been rough. She's been so incredibly sweet and clingy at night, which breaks my heart... and hers too. She won't let Bryan or I leave her bedroom. I think she knows life is about to be different, and is sucking up all the snuggles she can... (I can totally see how parents sleep on the floor by the crib... unfortunately, not a very comfortable or helpful option for me at the moment these days :(

House update?: Nursery is pretty much finished! We still have quite a few things that needs to find a home, but we're working on it. Now if I could only find the first newborn diaper stash I purchased?!?!? It's driving me crazy!!!

Looking forward to: Meeting our newest little lady! She can show up whenever she likes now, we're feeling a lot more ready these days. Although I'm not rushing it... I'm actually enjoying these last few weeks of pregnancy (ever), and it's been more intense, but still lots of fun. We've both been so lucky... it's always fun thinking about what the next chapter in your life will be like!

Baby Wisely #2: Week 37

How far along? 37 weeks-- full term! My swiss chard sprout. 

Best moment this week: Had a big, 'uh-oh, that felt definitely like a spin,' (woke me up, this one's a pushy baby!) then thinking her head was where her little tush was... then finding out that she's still head down!! Woohoo! Had a great midwife appointment today and talked about our birth plan. Having all this be a bit more real is super exciting. 

Confusing pregnancy symptom of the week? Nesting. Grime hiding anywhere? Who knew you could organize that? I can. Watch out house... I'm coming. Unless I take a nap. Then I will just be dreaming about cleaning you.

Movement: Still belly-shaking, happy head-down mover.

Food cravings:  Juuuuuuuice. Yes!

Anything sounding disgusting? Nope!

Sleep? Sleeping like a rock (although I don't get much these days, I'm averaging about five hours a night between trying to get the house in order and going in to work early...) I will wake up randomly at 3am wide awake, but then tinkle and won't move until my next alarm goes off. It could be worse!

Clothing situation? Tight and short! Oh well. Only a few weeks left-- world, welcome to the bottom half of my belly. (Unless I wear a maxi dress--which have gotten much shorter, or the above new t-shirt-- my belly is hanging out.)

I'm generally feeling: Incredibly happy, tired, and ready for work to slow down. But very happy about life!

Notable sibling moments: Another big milestone tonight-- Norah played well with her dolls. As in, they got to eat dinner with them, she shared her milk, then she made them a bed. This is a stark change from "I DON'T WANT TO PLAY WITH BABY." So I'll take it!

House update?: Slowly trucking away!! The nursery is on its way to being... um... decent? Once we get the stormtrooper outfit out of there (massive box that needs to go in the garage), we will have more room to spread out and decorate. Got the glider (first part of our Target order) today, will hopefully get everything else by next week, then put everything together! Which is great, because'we're officially running out of time, haha!

Looking forward to: Being more relaxed. Right now I'm happy and busy, but really, really looking forward to being happy and relaxed... because I know our house is going to get a heck of a lot busier really, really soon :)

Baby Wisely #2: Week 36

How far along? 36 weeks. I swear, all the apps online change their mind about how big fruit is. Oh well! Round and heavy? Sure! why not honeydew!

Best moment this week: Having my wonderful co-workers throw me a baby shower at work!! It was absolutely perfect. I was a bit nervous about having another shower (there's a weird stigma sometimes about doing it again; but Becky and Anne wanted to throw a party for baby regardless-- they are pretty dang wonderful); but everything was wonderful! Great food, and much spoiling from my oh-so-sweet coworkers! (We didn't need hardly anything, but was still spoiled with a bundle of cute clothes for our new gal, some neat handmade gifts and some gift cards to get additional things we need). We are so spoiled!! 

Confusing pregnancy symptom of the week? Baby is playing me like a freakin' bongo. I don't remember Norah being this violent?! She shakes my stomach from side to side. Goodness lord!

Movement: See above!

Food cravings:  Still on a juice fix! And even though there's been tons of food available this week... I'm not really hungry these days. Pretty sure my stomach has been replaced by baby. Which isn't to say I didn't totally enjoy the scones Anne made for us this morning :)

Anything sounding disgusting? Nope!

Sleep? Up to one tinkle a night or less. Win!

Clothing situation? Uncomfortable, but happy!

I'm generally feeling: Quite overwhelmed at work, so very much trying to relax and enjoy these last few weeks before baby comes at home!

Notable sibling moments: My official answer to, 'how do you think Norah is going to react to new baby?' is, 'as good as we can expect I think, she's two and a half!' Nora is equal parts curious, snugly and inclusive of baby Sprout-- but I can tell she's getting a lot more clingy to us, and also has been changing how she responds to people lately. I think this is going to be a good period of learning time for all of us!

House update?: We have a dryer-- woohoo!! Going on a super romantic trip to Ikea on Valentines' Day (woohoo!) to get her a dresser, then we are going to head to Target once our post-registry coupon comes in to grab the rest-- then it's just decorating, folding and waiting left to do! (Oh yes, and cleaning...)

Looking forward to: Purchasing all of the last minute things!! It's so close! One and a half more weeks I expect before we're 'ready'.... although if she came tonight, we'd still be good. So nice having the piece of mind of, 'we've done this before' to quell (at least a little bit) that crazy nesting instinct of, 'I can't deliver a baby until the curtains are pressed.' Aaaaah, hormones.

Baby Wisely #2: Week 35

How far along? 35 weeks, a crenshaw melon?! Not sure what that is. All I know is this week I had the ultrasound tech show me that her head is in my hip, and her bum and legs are up in my ribs. A much better visual.

Best moment this week: Finding out yesterday that our girl is head down!! YEAH!! (Norah was frank breech and was the reason I needed a c-section-- I've been approved for VBAC, and now just crossing our fingers that everything goes well!) It was wonderful seeing our little sprout again, too-- they were finally able to get a nice profile picture of her, which was amazing! I can't believe we are approaching the home stretch! 

Confusing pregnancy symptom of the week? Is being as wide as you are tall a symptom? I feel like I'm approaching being as wide as I am tall. Especially while sitting.

Movement: We had a great anatomy lesson yesterday with, 'here's where her back is, here's where her bum is,' which was great... all those crazy thumps and whatnot on my right side have been her pushing her back, shoulders and bum out against my tum-- so I get all sorts of octopus-y feelings inside (where her hands and feet are flailing around) and huge thumps where she is just straight up pushing. Nuts!

Food cravings:  Juuuuuuuuuuuuice. Apple juice, in particular. Watered down, actually. That's an odd one.

Anything sounding disgusting? Nope!

Sleep? Sleeping more! And sleeping a bit more comfortably, which is odd considering my size. Not to say flipping over is any easier, though.

Clothing situation? Still hating anything that touches my upper ribs, but I feel like I'm finally figuring out a small piece of my wardrobe that makes me comfortable. Mainly, my four or so maxi dresses. Considering just taping my boobs rather than wearing a bra...

I'm generally feeling: Nesty, excited, and happy all over.

Notable sibling moments: Norah has been in full on, adorable story telling mode. She will tell me long stories about her day, mixed with whatever she's looking at, or seen on tv throughout the day. I am going to attempt to get this on video (although some of her best stories are on our way home from Nana's house... she played outside and blew bubbles, but then Ursula from the Little Mermaid showed up; who is a stinker; she took her bubbles, but then it was okay because Lily--my parent's cat--came in and took a nap with her, which made it all better.)  

House update?: Crib is assembled, and room is cleaned out-- on to decorating! We still need to find a dresser, but other than that, this is the fun part. I've made it my goal of the week to have things put together. (On a side note, it's hard to clean and nest when your dryer is broken... got a new one from CraigsList, but need to find an adapter to the gas line which apparently isn't available at hardware stores...?!?! still looking. Fingers crossed. Laundry is starting to become an epidemic.

Looking forward to: Even more nesting! Today I tackled the junk drawer and my baking cabinets. And fixed our cabinets (which have forever loosey-goosey joints that like to sag). Next, on to the bathroom cabinets and pantry.... oooooh, the pantry...