Time with Dad

Bright Eyes!

Day 4

Here's our beautiful girl today. Good news from the Doc, we took her in this morning for a checkup. She had a bruise on her head from the birth and there was concern that jaundice might ensue, but that hasn't happened and she checked out great.

Thanks to everyone for all the encouraging emails and comments, we haven't had time to respond to everyone, but your kindness has not gone unappreciated!

More Emma pics!

Emma is here!

After 9 months of waiting and nearly 17 hours of labor, Emma Caroline Granderson, was born on Tuesday, February 21st at 10:43pm. She weighed 6 lbs 14 oz, was 19.5 in long and has a head full of dark hair. She's beautiful and perfectly healthy! We are very blessed! We were released from the hospital early and will all be working to get some much needed rest now.

Last picture of Emma in-utero

Tonight I'll be admitted to Clear Lake Regional Medical Center and will be induced tomorrow morning. We are both a little nervous. Emma is small, but that doesn't necessarily mean that anything is majorly wrong. She may just be small like us, but as a precaution the doctor wants her to be born early in case the placenta isn't giving enough nutrition and support to her. She's developed enough to thrive well on the outside at this point. So, I'm prepared to fatten her up and feel very good about my decision to nurse her. I'm praying that will be a smooth transition. Anyway, her estimated weight as of Friday, according to the ultrasound, was 5lbs 12 oz. She would have likely reached over the 6lb mark by her due date, but again we are just being extra cautious to ensure her safety. Thanks to those who are praying!

Oh, and the ultrasound tech took an amazing picture of Emma proving 100% that she is all girl. It's so clear, we don't feel comfortable showing it via the blog. So, we can finally stop worrying about all the pink & purple stuff we have!

Be sure to check out her ultrasound pic below.

Tiffany & Brad & Emma

Ready, set...

Here's the latest Emma pic from our ultrasound yesterday. Unfortunately, her eyes are in the shadows! The ultrasound tech estimates her weight at 5lb-12oz, which is a little on the small side but still healthy for a little girl. Just to be cautious we're going to induce next week...stay tuned!

Brad

Praying for Emma

A dear friend of ours, from our old church and with whom we went on a mission trip to Mexico, sent us some verses from the Bible to pray for Emma. She typed them up and put them on the cutest pink butterfly paper. Each verse has Emma's name inserted. Thought I'd share a few:

"Show Emma Caroline your ways, O Lord, teach her your paths, guide her in your truth...and may her hope be in you all day long." Psalm 25:4-5

"Help Emma Caroline listen to her mother's and father's instruction and not forsake their teaching." Proverbs 1:8 (AMEN to that one!)

"May Emma Caroline love the Lord with all her heart and with all her soul and with all her mind." Matthew 22:37

We continue to pray for Emma's growth and development and for a safe and healthy delivery. 15 days and counting!

We're gonna be an uncle & aunt!!!

Brad's brother Jeff and his wife, Elissa, have announced that they are expecting! The baby is due October 17th. We are very excited and happy for them. Can't wait to meet the new baby Granderson, Emma's 1st cousin! :)

Is it just me or have I been pregnant forever??????

Time to vent a little...

Ok, I know we are very blessed. We are SO happy to be having Emma and can't wait for her arrival - but I'm REALLY ready to have this baby. Sometimes I just don't know if I can take another day. I'm getting tired of rolling myself out of bed (sometimes Brad has to push me out!), peeing every 5 minutes, feeling like I have a lead weight in my belly, and feeling so tired - I mean exhausted. Did you know that you can actually get heartburn from water??? Well, you can when you're 9 months pregnant! And there are several other wonderful challenges, but I'll spare you the details. (You can thank me later.) I miss taking really hot baths, sleeping on my stomach, eating cookie dough, and weighing less. I'm tired of people's advice, being compared to other women & their pregnancies and being told I'm too small. Can I just be me? I'm not too small! I have gained the right amount of weight, 28 lbs so far with 3 weeks to go! You are supposed to gain 25-35 lbs in a healthy pregnancy! Whoever said Brad and I would produce a 10 lb baby anyway?? The only things I am not tired of are my sweet husband and feeling Emma move (except when she punches my bladder)! These are the only things getting me through each day right now!

Many, many women have had it worse than me and I'm very thankful to have had a relatively problem free pregnancy. But, let's get on with the transition to parenthood. It will have it's own challenges, but at least we'll have sweet Emma to enjoy.

Tiffany
P.S. Brad is convinced she's coming early. Time will tell!

Infant Car Seat Installation Day!

It's a beautiful Saturday here in Clear Lake! We slept in, had pancakes for breakfast and are taking it easy while we get a few things done. Brad has been installing the infant car seat in the car. Always good to have a NASA engineer around for events like these! I'm doing lots of laundry - ours and Emma's! Tonight we have a date! Going to see a movie and then off to dinner at our favorite Mexican place, Lupe Tortilla's. Fajitas...yummy!

Tiffany

Doctor Visit Today

36 weeks is the start of the 9th month. (I hit 36 weeks today!) We are in the home stretch now, but then again they say the 9th month is the longest month of your life! Each day moves so slowly and you think the baby will never come. Unfortunately, I have already been feeling that the last several weeks! Since the end of last week I have been so very tired and uncomfortable and haven't felt like doing much at all. That is so frustrating because I still have a lot of work to do to be ready for Emma! However, I have to listen to my body and chill. Hopefully, some more "nesting" energy will kick in over the next couple weeks so I can finish washing Emma's things and cook meals to freeze.

Brad and I went to the doctor this afternoon. FYI - I am now at the point where I begin weekly visits. Brad was a little late because of a lack of parking, but made it just in time to hear the baby's heartbeat. We were listening to the heart and Brad started talking. When he started talking, Emma's heart rate increased. The nurse said she was responding to her daddy's voice. How sweet! Then, the doctor checked the position of the baby, which is still head down. Yay! She estimated that Emma probably weighs about 5 lbs right now. She said that she's a little smaller than average, but that this was likely due to genetics. We agreed, since Brad and I are little people. Anyway, she'll put on a little more weight over the next 4 weeks. Hopefully she'll make it to the 6 lb mark and that's TOTALLY fine with me. I'm not up to birthing a 10 lb baby! :) (Brad weighed over 6lbs and I was 7lbs 11 oz) Looks like my body is preparing for labor. I am 1 cm dilated and 50% effaced. I won't go into all the details about what all that means, except to say that things are happening and my body is getting ready. I still have a ways to go, but we are on the right track. My previous doctor had told me that she would induce labor if I went to 41 weeks (which is a week overdue) without delivering. I asked my new doctor if she had the same "policy" and she said yes. They typically want to go ahead and get labor started if the baby is a week late because after that there's a greater chance of problems for the baby. However, she also said that at this point, she didn't really think induction would be an issue because it looks like things are progressing naturally. I hope so! Looks like Emma will at least be on time! Next week (at 37 weeks) she'll officially be full-term. It won't be long!

Tiffany