Emma is here!

Both of my children are asleep... and I am using this precious nap time to blog. It's been a battle to blog. Between being pregnant with a toddler and a husband who is campaigning, it didn't happen. Now with a newborn, a toddler, and a husband who is campaigning, it's even more challenging!

But, I want to get some thoughts out.

So, Baby Emma Grace was born 2 weeks ago. She was perfect. I wanted to try to have a natural birth- meaning without drugs. I had an epidural with Ethan really early in labor. It was great for me during labor, but made the delivery hard. Ethan had turned sideways and I ended up having a lot to recover from... because it was difficult to get him out. I wanted to have the option to move around if Emma was in a bad position... to try to get her to move if needed. So, I wanted to try without drugs. At least in the beginning, until they told me she was in a good position.

I went into labor at 1:45 Saturday morning. The contractions were 10 minutes apart. I woke Jason up at 3, when they were 5 minutes apart. We timed them together for a while, and then started making calls. He called Grandma Patty to come over, and Dr. Wolanski to let him know we were headed to the hospital. Patty got to our house at 5 and we got to the hospital at 5:15. They admitted me and got me in a delivery room. I opted to labor in the tub for a while. I did that for about 30-45 minutes. Then I said, I think I'm ready for some drugs. The nurse went to get the doctor. Dr. Wolanski said if I wanted to push she would be out in 10 minutes. I thought, I can do anything for 10 minutes. So, I tried and she was out in 10 minutes. She was born at 6:46 am- 5 hours after my labor started.

I still can't believe I was able to give birth without any drugs or complications. What a blessing. I had been meditating on this verse when I was praying about labor. Trying to keep this in front of me that God would take care of me even in pain....Isaiah 46:3-4

"Listen to me, O house of Jacob, all the remnant of the house of Israel, who have been borne by me from before your birth, carried from the womb; even to your old age I am he, and to gray hairs I will carry you. I have made, and I will bear; I will carry and will save.

The recovery has been really fast. My milk came in super fast this time. I am so thankful. It's made being a mom to 2 kids much easier.

But, when we came home from the hospital a snowstorm dropped a foot of wet, mushy snow on us. We lost power. We ended up at Grandpa Tom and Grandma Lucy's house for 3 days and 2 nights. Those were rough nights. Jason slept with Ethan- who kept kicking him in the face, and I slept with Emma. We were glad to get back to our normal sleeping arrangements and try to figure out what "normal" would look like with Emma.

It's been nice having Jason home during the day to help take care of the kids. But, he has been busy with campaigning at the same time. He goes back to work Monday and my Mom comes Wednesday night and will stay for a few weeks. Now, just to get through this election and hope that Jason gets to keep his job. There's a lot going on for us this month!

Remember- April 2nd (on Emma's 1 month birthday)- vote for Jason to be the next Treasurer for Charlottesville. :)