Bedtime prayers

Emily's bedtime prayer tonight went something like this:

"Dear Henley Fa-er, Thank you my mommy, n my daddy, n my baby sister. Thank you a pillow n my blanket. Thank you I listen my body. Thank you I wear mommy's jammies..."

(We had made a big deal and praised her for "listening to her body" and going #1 on the potty all by herself a few minutes earlier. And I guess she thought wearing "mommy's jammies"- one of my t-shirts- to bed was pretty neat.)

I love when she's in the mood to say her bedtime prayer all by herself because she always says something sweet or funny. Definitely a highlight of my day. Love this little girl!

Pictures

I took some pictures today... finally! Here are some of my favorites.

Katie is 2.5 weeks old and time is flying!

On a side note, this is officially the "one thing" I got done today. Having a newborn, some many days are way less productive than usual, and I'm okay with embracing that. 

(And if I really wanted to keep it real, I would tell you I'm still in my PJ's...)

PS. it's a circus act trying to take pictures of two kiddos. But man, are we in love with these girls!

Ignore the smooshed, crying face, haha.

  

I think I like the "out-takes" as much as the (comparably) good ones...

Spontaneous head banging.

First of many bored-face pictures

Found my slippers and decided she needed to "go shopping"

Teased with the binky one too many times

Life is good! Loving being a mommy of two more and more everyday.

Katie is HERE!!!

Our beautiful baby girl joined our family (all of 12 days late) on January 23, 2012 at 4:04pm. She weighed in at 9lbs, 2oz and was 22 inches long. Her full name is Katelyn Talei (means "precious" in Fijian- where Jeff served a mission) Kemp

We have loved every minute of having her in our home and family. The sweet spirit that a newborn brings is almost tangible. Our home is very blessed by her presence. 

Emily has been an awesome big sister. She is a nurturer/mommy and has been nothing but loving toward the baby. Only a few times has she told me that I don't want to hold the baby, that daddy wants to hold the baby and I want to hold her. 

Life is good. I LOVE being a mommy and wife. 

  laboring at home, haha

 heading to the hospital

 family of 4 :)

 

Daddy and girls

Girls with Nana

Arriving home

Katie has a pretty intense gaze... her "game face"

Sweet baby

Here's the story, for those who are interested (by the way, lack of sleep = mushy fog brain/trouble with words... so sorry this is long and not well written)

Sunday night the contractions began 7 min apart, but were not painful. At 10pm we headed to the New Orleans airport to pick up my Mom. (talk about perfect timing!) Not planning to be induced, we didn't know when the baby would come/when my mom should come-- she had already bumped her flight once when I didn't have the baby at a week overdue. I think on some level my body knew that Mom would be here, that everything would be taken care of and that it was time to relax and have this baby!

We all slept great Sunday night. Not sure if the contractions let up or if I just slept through them. I woke up Monday morning and right off the bat they were 3 min apart, lasting about 45 seconds to a minute. They were a little uncomfortable, but manageable with breathing and pushing my lower back into the wall. We timed them for a while and then called labor and delivery to let them know we'd be coming in. We still took our time packing the final things and getting out of the house- I think we finally left around 10:00am. 

We arrived to the hospital and they checked us right into a room and began setting up a birthing tub, since I planned to labor without an epidural and really wanted to have the option of laboring in the tub. Everything went really smoothly. The room had a really relaxed atmosphere, lights dimmed, I was very comfortable. I spent most of the time standing and walking/swaying and then leaning over the bed with each contraction and Jeff would press firmly into my lower back/hips. I spent some time bouncing on the birthing ball and leaning over the bed. Jeff was my support through the whole thing and I appreciate him so much. I couldn't have done it without him!

So we labored from 10:30 to about 2pm and the time went really fast.We were pretty much left alone except for every half hour or so when I had to hold the portable monitor over my belly for 5 min. The staff was very calm and quiet and respected our wishes for a relaxed atmosphere. 

I was 5cm when I arrived at the hospital and could have gotten in the tub at that point, but I wanted to save it for when I really felt like I needed it. By 2pm I was getting mentally and physically tired and having a harder time relaxing between contractions. At that point I was around 7cm and I was getting close to transition, even though I didn't know it. Getting into the tub was amazing. The warm water felt so great and was just what I needed. I had a smile all over my face that I couldn't hide and kept raving about how great this felt and how I was totally converted to birthing tubs. Jeff was equally relieved to see me so comfortable. Contractions were still intense and took my breathing/concentration, but I was able to sit back and relax and float around (haha!) in between. That hour of labor was great.

3pm transition definitely hit. Things got way more intense and I had a hard time staying on top of the pain. This was the hour where I disconnected from everything around me, even Jeff-- when i think back on it I just picture a big concrete, dark, empty room, facing a black wall, on my knees and praying. It's hard to put into words, but the physical pain and intensity of transition took me to a place where I've never felt so vulnerable, and to a level where I had never been before-- where there was absolutely nothing else but me and God and nobody could help me but God. I have felt dependent on God before, but never this focused of a need, as if
I'd crumble if He didn't help me. I prayed a lot. Because of this I think this was the most spiritual part of childbirth for me. I know it sounds dramatic, but it's truly what I experienced. (I'm interested if other natural birth moms have felt similar?)

A little before 4pm I was checked again and the midwife said I was totally ready, dilated and that if she broke my water the baby would be here very soon. I was unsure what "very soon" meant but told her to go ahead. Because there was meconium in the fluid I had to get out of the tub to push, otherwise I could have had a water birth. I sat on a birthing stool, Jeff behind me and the midwife cross-legged on the floor in front of me. Pushing was intense, but not so much painful as just intense and rewarding at the same time. It was much better than transition for sure! I won't lie, I was moaning and groaning and shaking like a dying cow (Jeff said it wasn't that bad, but I'm a little embarrassed looking back on it) In a matter of around 10 min/5 contractions, Katie was born. What an immediate feeling of physical relief and emotional disbelief and joy all at the same time!!

Recovery has been SO much better this time around! I feel like I've been able to jump back into things much quicker. Aside from losing a lot of blood and being pale/a little weak I have felt really great. 

I think this experience has pretty much converted me to natural birth, especially birth tubs! The birth tub was SO amazing. If you have the chance to labor in a tub/have a natural birth I say go for it! My motivation to have a natural birth was to avoid a c-section-- I almost had to have one with Emily because I had an epidural and was flat on my back and she was not engaging even after lots of pushing. I felt delivery would go much more smoothly if I was able to be upright and mobile. But there are a lot of reasons to have a natural birth-- you just have to find your reason and go for it! You can do it. Jeff and I prepared a lot reading and listening to a lot Hypnobirthing stuff. I wouldn't say I had a Hypnobirth per se (I didn't stay deeply relaxed throughout and I didn't listen to any prompts/scripts during labor), but I definitely used the relaxation, visualization and breathing techniques. Also the Hypnobirth philosophy gave me the confidence that my body could do this and overall helped me be really relaxed and free of fear.

SO, YAY for babies! Life is good. 

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

This was a our first Christmas on our own. With baby #2 due so soon we stayed here in Baton Rouge and while definitely missed being with our families, I think we can say we still had a great Christmas.

We cut out and painted salt dough ornaments to put on our tree. Can you spot the the 2 elmos, the octopus and the pregnant lady (Jeff's handiwork!)?

On Christmas Eve we went to the bonfires on the levee. From what I gathered nobody really knows origin of this tradition. Some people say it's to light the way for St. Nicholas but I think it's just a good excuse to play with fire! Every 100 ft or so was a bonfire and some of them were setting off fireworks too.

Emily by our little tree on Christmas eve.

The baby Jesus ornament was Emily's favorite.

Christmas morning...

Emily ran right to the tricycle from Nana and Papa

 ...then she opened the dress up box from Santa. 

She never waivered in her request for "projects and dress-ups" this year.

We went to church and then came home to open presents.

The bow on the belly was Jeff's idea. Almost 38 weeks and counting!

Jeff's parents gave Emily this doctor kit and she loves it! 

Jeff got a mandolin from his parents. 

He already sounds pretty good since the fingering/strings are the same as the fiddle. 

I was so impressed with Jeff- he picked out some perfume for me on his very own.

We ate our Christmas feast while Emily napped. 

Happy Birthday, Emily!

Emily turned two on the 19th!

Birthday morning- Emily found a bag of Lucky Charms- she loves picking out the marshmallows, so we let her do so to her heart's content! Hey, it was her birthday.

 Birthday breakfast waffles with a candle- for practice :)

 Skype with family while opening presents.

Birthday dinner strawberries, mac n' cheese, and chicken "muggets" (all Emily's favorites)

We had a little get together for cake and ice cream.

Singing Happy Birthday!

 Emily's four other two-yr-old friends were here. Annie, Halle, Lane, Emily, and Afton. (I love Lane's expression in this picture- she was telling Halle not to shake the jar of candy!)

Best picture we could get of the bunch. I love these girls!

We sure love this little girl!