emma jane | 11 months

 

Happy 11 months, Emma Jane! This past month Emma went on vacation to Sedona with my side of the family, started pulling herself up to standing, and babbles "hi!" and "dada!" Some of her favorite things are puppies, dancing, and being tickled. Our sweet little darling girl; we love you so!

emma jane | 10 months

Happy 10 months to Emma!!

This past month she had her first ear infection and viral infection. We had a hard time watching our baby girl be sick but she made it through both illnesses like a little champ. Emma's now sporting 7 teeth, enjoys being chased by her daddy, loves eating peaches, and does a pretty convincing "uh oh" when she drops her cup. We love her more than we ever thought possible!

emma jane | 9 months

Happy 9 months to our little adventure girl! This past month Emma started crawling and she hasn't stopped since! We love watching her explore the world around her and I'm finding it takes a lot more energy to keep up with her curiosity these days.

The 3 of us had a wonderful trip visiting the Schmitts in New York and Emma has become a pro at cross country travel. She loved her trips to the zoo and Niagara Falls, having her picture or video taken all day long and of course the many fabulous meals we shared with the family (okay, maybe I enjoyed that more than Emma...).

The days are quite hot here in Phoenix but we have the luxury of being able to escape to the mountains most weekends and as far as I can tell grandma and grandpa don't mind that one bit. Still, we are thankful for a cool house with air conditioning here in the desert. And one of Emma's favorite pastimes is sitting at the patio door window watching the birds and the bunnies. So I feel she's getting at least some sort of exposure to the outdoors! We will all be thankful for the change of seasons come Autumn!

emma jane | 8 months

Happy 8 months to our dear Emma Jane! She loves peekaboo, sweet potatoes and pictures of babies. This past month Emma went on her first flight, met her great grandpa and learned to sit up on her own. Mommy and Daddy love you, little one!

emma jane | 7 months

Today Emma turned 7 months old!

She's such a happy little girl and she brings us so much happiness as well!

This past month she started sleeping all night long (!!!) from 7pm to 7am. She still occasionally wakes in the night, but for the most part she's been doing this for 3 weeks. She also started eating solid foods. First brown rice cereal, then oatmeal cereal, then peas and zucchini and tomorrow she'll try some avocado. Next week she'll get orange veggies and then fruits! Emma's not yet crawling, but she is SO interested in the world around her and scoots and rolls pretty much anywhere she wants to go. We love her so much!

emma jane | 3 months

Miss Emma is already over 3 months old! We can't believe how fast she's growing. I've heard that the first three months are often referred to as the "4th trimester" and I can definitely see how Emma has gradually become much more independent since her birth. I miss her itty bitty infant days. I can hardly believe she was ever so small! But we are really enjoying watching her realize her surroundings and interact with us more and more.

At about 8 weeks, I started to feel a bit out of control in terms of what her daily schedule looked like. I realized she wasn't sleeping nearly enough for her age and her mood and happiness were suffering because of it. I felt so bad because I know how important sleep is for her development both mental and physical. So with the support and encouragement of a couple friends as well as her pediatrician we started implementing a baby wise schedule and it has been so helpful to regulate Emma days as well as boost my confidence as her mom and full time care giver. Now, instead of wondering why she's crying or fussing, I can simply look at the clock and know exactly what's up - if she's tired, hungry or overstimulated (it's usually one of those!). But to be honest, she cries so much less now during the day since she's gotten into this routine. The exception is that she does still cry going down for a nap if she's overtired but she's usually asleep within 5-10 minutes.

Our schedule these days goes like this:

7:00 first feeding (this is our goal, but many mornings she is up at 6-6:30 so I'll start her day then instead!) Paul gets Emma and changes her diaper before bringing her to me. We snuggle in bed and she eats as the sun comes up and Daddy gets ready for work.

7:30-8:00 we "play" in my room usually singing songs and throwing around lots of smiles!

8:00 Emma goes down for her first nap. This is usually the easiest nap for her to go down for and she sleeps the longest.

10:00 is the second feeding and I often times have to wake her for it.

We continue this rotation the whole day so Emma eats at 7am, 10am, 1pm, 4pm, 7pm and a dream feed at 10pm. These are all guide times. If I asses that she needs a longer nap, or if we have an appointment, or if she's hungry early, then I adjust the schedule as needed. But this basic rhythm has given us so much stability as a family. We love it and Emma has been so happy!

Now as happy as she's been during the day, she is still having some trouble with nighttime sleep. She wakes more often than her pediatrician says is necessary and she has a hard time falling back asleep. This has been a real challenge for us (especially at 3am when we aren't sure what to do and everything feels like a bigger deal!). I so desire for her to get a long stretch of restorative sleep, and I'd love to start sleeping through the night again myself. But I'm hopeful and optimistic that this won't last forever. We are so in love with Emma and are committed to doing what's best for her. These challenging nights will pass and then something else will be hard. That's just how life goes!

life with a 6-week-old

So many people keep telling us how quickly the time goes by with a baby. They look at us holding our little baby and say things like "I can hardly remember when my baby was that small." It always feels a little sad to hear someone say that because these days feel so precious to me. Yes they are filled with crying and diapers and interrupted sleep, but they are also filled with the sweetest snuggles, the most delicious newborn scents, adorable little coos and the tiniest little fingers and toes. So this is my attempt to remember this time – to capture the days. I want to be able to look back and have clear memories of what these moments were like.

I usually think of my days starting at the early morning feeding. Emma is usually up around 5 or 6 a.m. to nurse and as we drift back to sleep, Paul gets up and ready for work. Most days us girls will catch another hour or two of sleep and start our day around 8:30 or 9 a.m.

I'll hop out of bed and try to steal a few moments to brush my teeth and put in my contacts. It's always a race against time to get these things done as Emma is stirring in her moses basket. Then I'll scoop her up and take her to her room for her diaper change and to get her dressed. She'll start to get agitated usually as she realizes how hungry she feels, so I'll hurry to the kitchen to get my water glass and take my probiotics before hitting the couch for her feeding. I thumb through my phone – instagram, emails and any text messages as the Today show plays in the background. Emma usually nurses for about 30-40 minutes. After she eats she dozes on and off and I work hard to get a good burp out of her so I know she'll be comfy the rest of the morning.

We spend time bouncing on the exercise ball – Emma's favorite! We'll do some tummy time and maybe some bicycle legs as long as she's happy. I usually sing her some songs and we'll pray for daddy and for our day. Around 10 or 11 Emma will usually go down for a long nap. She might get 2-3 hours of sleep and I'll buzz around the house grabbing lunch, cleaning the kitchen, taking a shower, doing the laundry or maybe sneaking a little nap myself. It's funny, because I spend a lot of time trying to teach Emma how to go to sleep, and once she is asleep I find that I miss her so much!

I've been planning one outing or social thing each day at least 3-4 times a week. It's really encouraging for me to get out of the house or to have a visitor and I feel like it's good for Emma to have new experiences too. She loves her car seat and a car ride so we'll meet a friend for a walk at the park or maybe just take a long drive on the back roads to one of our doctor appointments. It breaks up the day and is so refreshing for us both. Other days my mom will come down for the day – those are my favorite days! And if we're not visiting with anyone, I'll at least try to get out and take a stroll with her around the neighborhood. I love that the weather is cooler now – 70 and sunny is just perfect for these things.

In the late afternoon, Emma starts to want to nurse a little more frequently. I don't mind because I love her sweet snuggles! We'll sit on the couch and I've been watching shows on Netflix. But I'm thinking about switching to Christmas movies soon :) Sometimes she'll take another nap but not always. If I can, I'll get dinner started but this is usually her fussier time. When Paul gets home she gets to cuddle with her Dad and we catch up on our days. She cries a lot at this time, so I'm happy to have him home for some backup. We eat a late dinner and then start to get Emma ready for bed. She gets her diaper changed, we put her pajamas on and swaddle her up. We settle in for one last feeding and she starts to drift to sleep. If we're lucky, she'll go right to bed in her moses basket in our room, but sometimes we have to rock her a few times before she finally relaxes. Usually between 9-10 p.m. she's down for the night. She's been sleeping 4-6 hours (lucky me!) before waking to eat, and then another 3-4 hours in the early morning. Sometimes I'm up a couple hours at night trying to soothe her if she's upset and can't get back to sleep. But for the most part I don't mind waking with her and I feel pretty rested and able to take on the days.

The Lord has been so kind to me. I love these days with Emma and I'm thankful for the gift she is to our family. I know I'll miss these sweet times with her when I look back on them, so for now I soak them in as best I can!

cloth diapers

We're rocking them! We went with BumGenius 4.0 cloth diapers and so far I'm really happy. Emma started wearing them this week and I've already washed them once. They took a little getting used to (at first it felt gross to put the dirty diapers into the wet bag), but I'm already so excited about how many disposables I'm not using. I've washed them once and let them dry out in the sun and they bleached out like new! And bonus: Emma looks adorable in them and they fill out her otherwise too big 0-3 month clothes. We're all happy campers around here!

Emma's Birth Story

Today our baby girl is one month old! To celebrate, I thought that I would record her birth story before it fades any more from my memory. Birthing Emma was the hardest thing I've ever done but it's probably my favorite story to tell.

On Tuesday, October 7 I woke up around 5 a.m. with mild cramping. It seemed like they were coming in a regular pattern, but I decided not to pay too much attention to them. My due date wasn't for another few days and I had it in my head that I would probably go past 40 weeks anyways, as is common with first pregnancies. I convinced myself my body was just starting to get ready, although it could still be another week or longer. I started my day as normal, and the "cramps" continued throughout the morning. Paul had bought me an exercise ball a few days earlier so I opted to bounce as I worked instead of sitting in my normal office chair.

Around 12:30 p.m. I took my lunch break and decided to lay down on the couch and start timing the cramps. I was still completely in denial that this could be labor, but I thought just in case I'd want to have some stats if things progressed. At that point I was only mildly uncomfortable and the waves were about 7 minutes apart lasting 30-50 seconds. No big deal, it seemed. Looking back, it was completely obvious that I was starting labor, but for some reason I could not wrap my head around that in the moment so I carried on with my work day. I remember sitting on a conference call that afternoon and almost blurting out "I think I'm maybe in labor." Thankfully I recognized how inappropriate that would have been before the words escaped.

After I finished my work that day, I decided to take a walk since I had read that false labor would stop completely with walking. Around 4:45 p.m. I headed out to walk to the mailbox and time the waves. I was still in denial, although at this point they were consistently 4 minutes apart lasting 50 seconds. I still was not in any pain, although I'd say the waves were stronger and I was starting to feel more uncomfortable.

Back home again it became more apparent that this might actually be the real deal (duh, Mariel!). In my disbelief, I had chosen not to tell Paul anything that had been going on all day. For some reason I felt like if I told him, and then it turned out to be nothing, I would feel embarrassed. On another level, I think that I believed once I told him, then it was 'game on' and I just didn't know if I was ready for this really huge thing to start! When Paul got off work, he called and asked if it would be okay if he stopped at the hardware store. I told him no but didn't explain why. Haha! He arrived home and I sheepishly told him I thought I was in labor. He stayed so calm and steady which was exactly what I needed! He asked what I wanted to do and was so supportive of my decisions.

I decided to take a shower because I was fixated on feeling "normal" and feeling clean. At this point there were other signs that I was in fact in labor and I knew it was only a matter of time before I would need to head to the hospital. My waves were closer together, now 2 minutes apart and lasting 50 seconds. I called the on call doctor around 7:30 p.m. and he said the timing was good, but that I should wait until I was in more pain to come in. At that point I was still managing quite well, although each contraction definitely made me stop whatever I was doing to lean and sway my hips. I was concentrating through them and it wasn't that I couldn't talk but I would choose to just go inward and shut out the rest of the world. Once I had realized this was real labor, I had started listening to my hypnobabies tracks. I layed down to listen to the deepening track, but couldn't lay through the waves so I got up on my hands and knees to sway through them. I was using a lot of low moans and also the hypnobabies cue word "peace."

Finally around 8:50 p.m. I told Paul I didn't want to wait any longer and we needed to leave for the hospital. I knew we had about a 35 minute drive and I couldn't picture managing the contractions in the car if they got any worse. It was surreal pulling out of our driveway and knowing that next time we came home we'd be a family of three. I remember making note of that because I thought it was a special moment. Paul sped down the back roads in the darkness and I listened to my early birthing time track on headphones in the car. I really felt in control and although Paul said he was nervous because I was making so much noise, the vocals were my greatest pain management tool.

We arrived at the hospital and had to go through the ER since it was after hours. It was quiet and not very busy and I remember the staff being really patient with me – I was thankful. They kept wanting to push me around in a wheelchair, but I'd ask to get up every time I had a wave because I just couldn't sit through them. I had to move! At 10 p.m. I was checked in triage and relieved to hear I was 5 cm dilated,  80% effaced and -2 station. I was admitted! This baby was on her way.

Once we were admitted and got to our room the real fun started.

The nurse knew my wishes for an unmedicated birth, so she left Paul and I alone in our room to do our thing. She said she'd come in about every 45 minutes to monitor the baby, but otherwise we were free to labor on our own. I got into the jetted tub, hoping to find some relief, but every time a contraction wave came I would get so overheated and uncomfortable. I got out and continued laboring in the room. At this point, my memory of time gets really fuzzy. Looking back, it feels like it went by so fast. But in reality I know that hours were passing as I labored on. It felt like work, but it never felt like something I couldn't do. I hung onto Paul, continued my moans and "peace" cue word, bounced on the ball and otherwise just changed positions around the room.

As I entered what I now know was transition, I was bulldozed with an incredibly powerful urge to push. I ran to the bathroom dragging my monitor behind me and giving my poor husband a near heart attack. As I sat in the bathroom I started screaming "I'M PUSHING!!!" My nurse ran into the room and commanded me to stop pushing and to get back to the bed. I thought she was totally crazy. This baby was coming out now! Somehow she and Paul got me back to the bed and when she checked me I was 8 cm dilated. The end was in sight! I had a job to do, and it was hard, hard work. But I knew that I was the only one who could do the work, no one could do it for me.

I continued bouncing on the ball as the pain intensified with each wave. My urge to push was also increasing and my nurse confirmed that I was almost ready to push the baby out. She asked me to do a "practice push" on my next contraction, which was such a relief after trying so hard not to push prematurely. As soon as I did, I saw her press for her call button for the Dr. to come now.

Suddenly the room was buzzing with people as they prepped for Emma's arrival. I really didn't pay much attention after this. I just closed my eyes and went inward. It felt like my body was taking over and I no longer had any control over what it was doing. I was calling out to Jesus because just speaking his name was giving me strength to carry on. The nurse and Paul kept telling me to control my pushes and take small quick breaths, but everything that wasn't bodily instinct felt so hard! Thankfully this only went on for about 10 minutes until my little Emma made her appearance. I remember feeling her head come out and thinking 'this must be the 'ring of fire'' but it only lasted for a moment followed by the distinct sensation of the rest of her body exiting mine. I can't even describe it but even now I can remember what it felt like. I hope I always can.

Finally at 2:23 a.m. Emma was here. It was so wonderful! And it was over! I felt them place her on my chest and someone said "Open your eyes!" I did and there she was! My little purpley baby. I was in shock and Paul said I kept saying "What are we going to do with her?" I couldn't wrap my mind around the fact that she was ours. She stayed on me for the first two hours and I wish I could remember them better but it was such a blur.

By 5 a.m. we were settled in our post-partum room. Emma was the cutest little baby I had ever seen – with her little newborn cap, all wrapped up in her blanket. They put her in a little bassinet next to me and I just lay in bed staring at her. And as the sun came up Paul and I just soaked in the beginning of our first day as a family of three.

Introducing...

Emma Jane Schmitt

born October 8, 2014 at 2:23 a.m.

6 lbs 14 oz, 19.5 inches

We are home from the hospital today as a family of three! Our little one surprised us by coming a few days before her due date - I definitely wasn't expecting that! But we are thrilled that she's here already and feel so thankful that we get to start our new life together. I am overwhelmed by so many emotions now as I sit here with my 1 day old babe. Fear, excitement, love, joy, anxiety and hope. How can I possibly do this? By God's grace we will take it one day at a time. Welcome to the world little Emma! We love you so much.