I can't believe that this baby of mine turned 8 today! This picture was taken when she was 3 or so, and it's one of my favourites. It's also one of the earliest digital pictures we have of her, and since my scanner isn't working, you'll have to believe me when I tell you what a beautiful baby she was. Actually, we don't have a huge number of pictures of Emma for the first 6 weeks or so after she was born, essentially because there was way too much going on to even think about taking pictures.
Emma was born on Mother's Day in 2000, actually 2 days ahead of her due date. I had been to see my OB on the Friday, and he informed me that, as expected, there was NOTHING going on, and I could easily go for another 10 days before delivering. This was pretty much what I had figured would happen, since Will and Lauren had both been born 10 days past their due dates. So I was prepared. I said "Ok, so when can I come in and have her? I'M ready, even if she isn't." He suggested coming into the hospital on Sunday, but then said "Oh, but you wouldn't want to be in the hospital on Mother's Day, would you?". I assured him that it would not bother me in the LEAST, and the arrangements were made.
Fast forward to Sunday...after a few small mishaps, including having my IV put in wrong (and about a litre of fluid dump directly into my arm), Lauren throwing up in the waiting room, and almost missing the window for my epidural (!!), Emma popped out after a push or two, and all was well. Well, almost. It turns out that when I got my epidural, they punctured the dura (the membrane that protects your spinal cord), and I wound up getting a killer headache that lasted for 2 weeks or so. It wasn't too bad if I was lying down, but how do you lie down all the time when you have a newborn and 2 other small children to look after?
But then things got better. When Emma was about 4 weeks old, she started throwing up after her feedings. I would nurse her, and then burp her, and she would basically throw up everything. Fortunately it wasn't a serious problem, and it turns out that she was just a very gassy baby, but she didn't gain weight like my other babies did, which was a concern to us.
When Emma was about a month old, we went to Will's nursery school graduation. I can still remember how grumpy he was that morning, and he also had a few mosquito bites on his face that looked quite irritated. However, we went to the graduation (where he flatly refused to go and sit with his class on the stage), and then I dragged all 3 along to a birthday party with 13 other small children. Oh, how I would regret that the following day. We got up the next morning, and I discovered that Will had more "mosquito bites" on his chest and back. Yep. Chicken pox. You can imagine my joy at having to call the mothers of 13 small children to give them the good news. Within about 10 days or so of Will's outbreak, Emma got the pox. That poor baby. She was only 6 weeks old!! She still has a scar on her face from one of the pox. (Interestingly, Lauren never got it).
Emma was different from my other babies. She was very wiggly as a newborn, and somehow managed to roll off pillows and cushions on a couple different occasions. She's the only one of my kids who has ever needed stitches for anything. She split her chin on the back of a kitchen chair and Darren took her to the ER, where she wiggled out of the straight jacket thingy that they put kids in to stitch them up . Two days later, she wiped out on the floor at Grandma's and split her chin again, this time getting butterfly bandage things at the ER. A day later, she threw a fit and cracked her chin on a table, splitting it again. Darren was fed up with going to the ER, and put band aids on it himself.
Emma has always been feisty, and she knows her own mind about things. She is dramatic, and funny (but don't laugh when she's being dramatic). We've called her Puny her whole life because she was such a little bit of a thing, and even now she has tiny little hands and feet. She has big, starry hazel eyes and curly hair that she wishes was long like Lauren's. She's very sweet, and part of me hates to see her getting so big.
This morning she rushed into my room and waited for me to wish her a happy birthday. Then she said "So now I can get rid of my booster seat, right?". Rats. I was hoping she would forget about the whole "8 or 80 lb" car seat law. I tried to convince her that having a booster seat is a great thing...you can see better out the window ("I can see FINE without it, Mommy"); you have a place to put your drink ("There are cup holders in the van!"), you'll be more comfortable when you fall asleep, etc., but she just wouldn't have any part of it. So it looks like for the first time in almost 13 years, we will not have a child seat in our car. Sigh.
I guess this is the hard part about parenting...letting our children go a little every year. I'm just so grateful that I can entrust them to a big God who loves them even more than Darren and I do. My prayer for Emma this year is that she will love God with her whole heart, soul and strength (Deut 6:5), and realize how much he loves and cares for her.
Emma was born on Mother's Day in 2000, actually 2 days ahead of her due date. I had been to see my OB on the Friday, and he informed me that, as expected, there was NOTHING going on, and I could easily go for another 10 days before delivering. This was pretty much what I had figured would happen, since Will and Lauren had both been born 10 days past their due dates. So I was prepared. I said "Ok, so when can I come in and have her? I'M ready, even if she isn't." He suggested coming into the hospital on Sunday, but then said "Oh, but you wouldn't want to be in the hospital on Mother's Day, would you?". I assured him that it would not bother me in the LEAST, and the arrangements were made.
Fast forward to Sunday...after a few small mishaps, including having my IV put in wrong (and about a litre of fluid dump directly into my arm), Lauren throwing up in the waiting room, and almost missing the window for my epidural (!!), Emma popped out after a push or two, and all was well. Well, almost. It turns out that when I got my epidural, they punctured the dura (the membrane that protects your spinal cord), and I wound up getting a killer headache that lasted for 2 weeks or so. It wasn't too bad if I was lying down, but how do you lie down all the time when you have a newborn and 2 other small children to look after?
But then things got better. When Emma was about 4 weeks old, she started throwing up after her feedings. I would nurse her, and then burp her, and she would basically throw up everything. Fortunately it wasn't a serious problem, and it turns out that she was just a very gassy baby, but she didn't gain weight like my other babies did, which was a concern to us.
When Emma was about a month old, we went to Will's nursery school graduation. I can still remember how grumpy he was that morning, and he also had a few mosquito bites on his face that looked quite irritated. However, we went to the graduation (where he flatly refused to go and sit with his class on the stage), and then I dragged all 3 along to a birthday party with 13 other small children. Oh, how I would regret that the following day. We got up the next morning, and I discovered that Will had more "mosquito bites" on his chest and back. Yep. Chicken pox. You can imagine my joy at having to call the mothers of 13 small children to give them the good news. Within about 10 days or so of Will's outbreak, Emma got the pox. That poor baby. She was only 6 weeks old!! She still has a scar on her face from one of the pox. (Interestingly, Lauren never got it).
Emma was different from my other babies. She was very wiggly as a newborn, and somehow managed to roll off pillows and cushions on a couple different occasions. She's the only one of my kids who has ever needed stitches for anything. She split her chin on the back of a kitchen chair and Darren took her to the ER, where she wiggled out of the straight jacket thingy that they put kids in to stitch them up . Two days later, she wiped out on the floor at Grandma's and split her chin again, this time getting butterfly bandage things at the ER. A day later, she threw a fit and cracked her chin on a table, splitting it again. Darren was fed up with going to the ER, and put band aids on it himself.
Emma has always been feisty, and she knows her own mind about things. She is dramatic, and funny (but don't laugh when she's being dramatic). We've called her Puny her whole life because she was such a little bit of a thing, and even now she has tiny little hands and feet. She has big, starry hazel eyes and curly hair that she wishes was long like Lauren's. She's very sweet, and part of me hates to see her getting so big.
This morning she rushed into my room and waited for me to wish her a happy birthday. Then she said "So now I can get rid of my booster seat, right?". Rats. I was hoping she would forget about the whole "8 or 80 lb" car seat law. I tried to convince her that having a booster seat is a great thing...you can see better out the window ("I can see FINE without it, Mommy"); you have a place to put your drink ("There are cup holders in the van!"), you'll be more comfortable when you fall asleep, etc., but she just wouldn't have any part of it. So it looks like for the first time in almost 13 years, we will not have a child seat in our car. Sigh.
I guess this is the hard part about parenting...letting our children go a little every year. I'm just so grateful that I can entrust them to a big God who loves them even more than Darren and I do. My prayer for Emma this year is that she will love God with her whole heart, soul and strength (Deut 6:5), and realize how much he loves and cares for her.
3 comments:
Isn't that the cutest picture?!?
Emma really is a character and a half, and such a sweetie. The drama I could do without, but...its a package deal.
Carolyn is kind of making light of the headache thing. It was a MASSIVE headache that almost never went away for the whole 2 weeks. Very nasty stuff! Basically, Carolyn had a leak in her spine that was causing the amount of fluid to fluctuate and that imbalance caused the headaches. She had a hard time sleeping...or doing much of anything, but she is a real trooper and kept on going anyway.
Anyway, we have always loved the diversity in our kids personalities...but Emma will always be our baby.
that is an adorable pic of Emma... a mother's day baby-very cool!!! she will always be your baby! my parents still introduce as their "baby" and I'm 40 years old!!!
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