Emily Faith

Emily Faith "Emmy" was born on 12.4.2008 @ 6:04am. She weighed in at a whopping 8 pounds, 6 ounces. Both Rachel and Sam weighed 6 pounds, something, so when they told me how much she weighed, I was shocked. We were scheduled to be induced on 12.4.2008 @ 6:00am, but as you well know, we didn't make it to the inducement.

My contractions started around 10:45 that night and were about 10 - 15 minutes apart. I sent Rusty to bed, and I waddled around the house getting some last minutes things taken care of. I went to bed shortly after 11:15.

By the time 11:30 rolled around, I was having contractions 4 -6 minutes apart. I called Mom and asked her to come over "just in case" we didn't make it to the inducement. She had already planned on being there at 5:00 anyways to take the kids to daycare.

I hung up with Mom, waddled around the house some more, and realized that my contractions were not subsiding. They were getting worse. I jumped in the shower thinking that it would relax me. Negative. By the time I got out of the shower, my contractions were not letting up at all. I got Rusty out of bed (insert Zombie look here), called Beth to tell her it was time, and we loaded up in the car. With Mom on her way still, we were parked in the road waiting for her to get there. She showed up about 2 minutes after we pulled into the road, we dropped the utility bill in the mailbox, and we were off.

We stop at a convenience store (between contractions) for Rusty's Red Bull, and Beth pulled in behind us wondering why on earth we were getting gas at a time like this. She knocks on the window as I am having a contraction, and scared the contraction right out of me!

We got to triage where they ran some tests on me and Emmy. I felt like I had just gotten to the dentist. You know how you go to the dentist with a toothache, and then it goes away once you get there? Yeah! That was me! During my entire hour in triage, I had 5 contractions, and only 2 of them registered on their stupid "contraction machine". I'm not crazy, I swear! They were unbearable not 15 minutes ago! The triage nurse calls my doctor, and the doctor agrees that I just go ahead and stay at the hospital. I was scheduled for induction in 4 hours anyway!

The rest of Emmy's delivery seems to be one big blur, but let's just say that from 2:00am while being admitted into the hospital, to 6:04am, Emmy was born. I did have an epidural, on the bright side. It's just that it started working after Emmy was born! Isn't that just wonderful.

It seems that time FLEW by. I can remember looking at the clock thinking that it couldn't possibly have already been an hour of this tormenting pain! Then another hour passed. Then another. I must have gone into my secret place because my memory of each moment is so skewed, and it's only been a week since Emmy was born.

Rusty and Beth were WONDERFUL to have with me during this whole process. Rusty was my strength. Had he not been there, I feel sure that I would have passed out on several occasions. He made me breathe where I would have otherwise held my breath during each and every agonizing contraction! I never once told him that I hated him or squeezed his hand off or blamed him for anything like you see on television. I am SO proud of him as a husband and a Dad. I couldn't have been blessed with a more wonderful man!

Beth was right there reading my mind as I needed it. There were a few points that I had back labor (THE WORST POSSIBLE PAIN IN THE WORLD), and Beth was right there with a damp cloth rubbing my back or rubbing my head when I need it most. Where Rusty was my strength, Beth was my sanity. There is no one else in the world that I would have rather had as honorable "right leg holder".

After Emmy was born, they took me to my new room. My blood pressure was extremely high (I have no idea why. It was perfect throughout the entire pregnancy), so they put me on magnesium. They told me that it would feel like I have the flu without all of the vomiting and diarrhea. BLAH! Magnesium is a ridiculously horrible medication. Double vision, flu feeling, can't hold your eyes open, BLAH!

Emmy had a pretty bad case of jaundice. But then, she had some weird breathing issues as well as a potential infection that they had to put an IV in for treatments. By Saturday morning, I was a basket case. She had not slept at all during the night, she was crying incessantly, and she just looked so pathetic. They blindfolded her to put her in the Bili Rubin bed to treat her jaundice, her entire arm was taped with an IV in it, and she was just miserable. I can remember praying for her and feeling so bad that I wasn't sick for her. I wanted so badly to be sick for her. It was a gut wrenching feeling that never once went away while we were at the hospital.

There were lots of people praying for you, little Emmy, a lot!

After 3 days, Emmy's Bili Ruben level came down from a 17.6 to an 8.3. Her breathing issues were normal "newborn" issues, and the infection that she was treated for was never an infection, but they didn't want to risk it.

We brought Emmy home at 9:30 Sunday night!

And thus begins another adventure for the Corley Clan!

Don't I just look fantastic!?! This was my most wonderful nurse, Sharon.

Daddy & Emmy

Grammy & Emmy

Rachel is such an extremely proud big sister!

Sammy is just so infatuated with his little sister!

Joey & Emmy

Beth & Emmy

Amy & Rayne stopped by to see Emmy! What a nice surprise!

Jamie stopped by to see her little Camo girl.

Here are some more random pictures from the hospital and some from the house from Emmy's 1st week as a member of the Corley Clan.

She is definitely a Corley! She can eat and poop like no other! Overall, she is a wonderful baby, and we are so happy to have yet another addition to the mini-van!