One Month

                     Her serious face

                     Always moving...

           Our First Walk ... she slept the whole time, after being mesmerized by the sun

                    She loves bath time!

I can't believe how time has flown by. Emma is now one month old!

One month:
weight: 8 pounds 10 ounces
length: 22 1/4 inches


She loves to curl up into a ball on your shoulder, but will eventually find your elbow pit and bury her face.
She has tons of hair (which is getting a little lighter) which likes to stick up all over the place and is so cute.
Her lips are the cutest thing ever and her eyes are big, bright, and blue.

Being a mom, even just for one month, has taught me so much!
1) I can be "prepared" to a tee, but ultimately God has bigger and better plans than I can imagine
2) the house might be a little messier and cluttered, but that's ok
3) don't have expectations, but rather goals
4) the little things like getting a shower and actually drying my hair, cleaning up the kitchen after breakfast, or making the bed can be huge accomplishments
5) I can not control every situation
6) I can not fix every situation
7) I don't always have the answer
8) It's ok if it's noon and I'm still in my pj's
9) I do need help and can't do everything by myself (thank goodness for such an awesome husband!)
10) I have some pretty great friends and family who are so willing to help
11) enjoy every second because it flies by!

She's Here!

                         Emma Kathryn Hensley
                             October 21, 2011
                                   1:58 am
                             7 pounds 5 ounces
                                   20.5 inches
                   
After 41 weeks and 6 days of pregnancy, Emma finally arrived. We could not be more proud - she is such a sweet heart.  I went into labor prepared for my "ideal" labor and had the perfect plan. I wanted to go into labor on my own, not be hooked up to monitors and IVs constantly so I could move around, and have a natural/unmedicated delivery. Well the opposite happened with the exception of going into labor on my own. God continues to teach me that He is in control and that His plan is always better. I never knew how He could teach me so much through a little 7 pound baby.

 Birth Story

After 41 weeks of waiting, Craig and I tried all the tricks to make me go into labor. Finally on October 19th I started noticing contractions coming more frequently. The afternoon of October 20th (41 weeks 5 days), I went to the doctor and they told me that Emma's heartbeat was not steady or where they wanted it to be and that I should go on to the hospital. Since it wasn't urgent, we couldn't resist going to get lunch at our favorite Westside restaurant, West Egg. We checked into the hospital at 2:45pm on Thursday and the contractions started coming more frequently, about every 5- 7 minutes. We got settled into our room and actually started watching the movie Elf, b/c who doesn't love a good Christmas movie while in labor. We watched about a fourth of the movie and then it wasn't so funny anymore and my contractions were coming every 3 minutes apart. B/c the doctor was worried about Emma's heart rate, I had to be hooked up to a fetal monitor the whole time I was in labor (about 11 hours). They gave me 3 bags of fluids through an IV and oxygen periodically to try to stabilize her heart rate. Around 10pm the contractions were coming every minute and things were getting very intense. Craig was amazing and helped me work through them, and our labor doula was great in helping me concentrate on the ultimate goal. At midnight they checked to see if I was dilated at all, which I thought surely I was after all that work. When the doctor told me I was still 1cm dilated my heart sank and I felt totally defeated. After all of that work there was nothing to show for it, no progress.

The doctor advised that I should have a c-section due to the concern about Emma getting enough oxygen and the fact that I had a 101 degree fever. Even though a c-section was about the last thing I wanted, Craig and I knew immediately that it was the best thing for both me and Emma. At 1am they took me into the operating room (I had to walk while having 1 minute apart contractions - holding onto the walls and the nurse along the way. At that point I didn't care what I looked like) and Craig got into his scrubs. The epidural was first, which was nothing compared to the contractions and I was thankful when I no longer felt them! Emma was born at 1:58am and Craig got to watch the amazing delivery. Once I heard her little cry, nothing else mattered ... she was finally here!

She had one last scare for us when they took her for routine vitals and found that her bilirubin count was 23 out of 25! At 21 hours post delivery, they took Emma to the NICU because the high bilirubin count gave her an extreme case of jaundice and could lead to much more serious problems if not controlled. She was placed under constant phototherapy lights (3 light booths), given IVs, antibiotics, etc. It was the saddest thing I had every seen seeing her hooked up to everything. The doctors all said that it was the highest level of bilirubin they had ever seen, but that the levels came down faster than they had ever seen (in just over 24 hours her levels were at a 3!). We had to get a few follow up blood tests during the first week, but she she is a little fighter and is now perfectly healthy. 

                               Bright eyes.

                         GranJoe and MayMay

                            Poppy and DeeDee