Emily Mae

We are excited to introduce you:

EMILY MAE BOONE

Born June 25, 2012 at 1035 am

4 pounds, 9 ounces

18 inches

We have had an exciting two weeks since Emily was born!  I thought we would give you some pictures with a brief version of her arrival here.

At about seven months along, my blood pressure started to creep up and I started to show signs of what is called pre-eclampsia.  We ended up going to the hospital for observation on June 21.  Everything looked fine, baby passed the non-stress test with no issues.  I'm glad everything was good at the time, but I was frustrated that we had to spend the entire afternoon that way.  I was almost to 36 weeks at the time and I wanted to spend as little time at the hospital as I could. 

On the next Saturday, it was my mom's birthday.  I was feeling increasingly worse, but I didn't want to miss the family birthday party.  So away we went, knowing that if things felt worse in the morning, we would head back to the hospital. 

And things were worse in the morning.

I knew we needed to go to the hospital, but I am stubborn.  So we packed some bags and the carseat, got Ashlyn to my mom's and headed out.  After an ultrasound and some other tests, we sat in the observation room and discussed our options with the doctor.  The ultrasound showed that the baby had been under stress due to the high blood pressure and she was not growing as well in utero.  She measured to be 4 pounds 15 ounces, give or take 12 ounces.  But she looked healthy and she was going to be 36 weeks the next day.  So it was decided that induction was the best choice. 

Our girl was coming!

After a long night of induction and an epidural at 4 in the morning (I'll spare you the gorey details), Caleb and I called our moms who were both sleeping at my parents' house.  It was time for the party to start!  At that time, Caleb and I were both more than ready for the baby's arrival.  It has been a long sleepless night!

Long story short, Emily Mae was delivered with a few good pushes and she came out smaller than expected.  But she passed every test they put her through in the next 48 hours, including a carseat test and jaundice levels. 

I spent the night on Magnesium, which is by far the worst part of the entire delivery process.  Emily ate and ate and then ate some more.  We gave her a bath and she held her temperature even after that.  She never went to the NICU, which was amazing to me.  I kept waiting for the doctor to change her mind about us taking Emily home with us, but they let her take us home when she was 2 days old.

Heavenly Father gave us a very strong willed girl.  I can feel her strength every day as she eats and grows and show everyone that size doesn't matter when you have a heart like hers.  We are so blessed to have her in our family.  Ashlyn is thrilled to be a big sister, and Caleb continues to be the most amazing husband and father a girl could ask for. 

If you want the nitty gritty version, I can include that later...but for now, just know that Emily is safe at home and continuing to gain weight and grow.  We are so proud of her!  Enjoy the pictures! :)

Little Em's first bath.  Tht is my hand, not a great comparison, but she is tiny :)

Bath time is exhausting

Enjoying her bassinet at the hospital.  Isn't she pretty?

They wanted to send Em home in a car bed because she was less than five pounds, but she was obviously too long for it.  So we got to take her home in the real car seat!

Sister Love

Home Sweet Home!

How sweet is she?  I can't get enough of her!

Our little beauty

Emily got the hiccups one day.  I couldn't resist!

Thank you for the support and prayers!  We are so happy to have Emily here!