Doctor Visit

We went to the pediatrician today for the third time (we had an extra visit due to the breastfeeding problems). Emma is now almost 10 pound and in the 95th percentile. The doctor called her a "Crisco Kid". Very fitting! She is having no problem gaining weight although her hearty appetite is causing me so much pain. The Mastitis is still lingering and we met with the lactation consultant this morning as well to work on Emma's feeding time. She was wonderful and we are praying that we have seen the worst and the pain will get better from here.

Meeting Poppa

Poppa arrived on Sunday night to meet little Emma! He has not let go of her since he arrived and I am grateful for the extra hands, although mom and Mike have not liked sharing her cuddle time! It took Dad about 5 minutes until we saw tears...that was much longer than I thought. I am so glad that he could be here to meet Emma!

We are Home!

Well, it has been a week since our last post and so much has happened in that time. We have been so busy adjusting to this new addition to our family that we hadn't even looked at the pictures until this afternoon. Emma is doing very well and has been to the pediatrician twice because of problems with getting her to breastfeed. Emma struggles with a strong will and a desire to have her needs met immediately and on her terms...I wonder who she gets that from! Her personality has proven to be a challenge in learning how to breastfeed and we have had quite the battle with lots of tears, pain and frustration. That has consumed our week, but I am happy to say that she has now caught on to the eating process and learning where her food comes from and how to PATIENTLY get that food. Good news is that she has consistently gained weight-at a rate far above what the doctor anticipated. She continues to be proud of her size and has an appetite that can only come from the Perrin side of the family.

She is a PRECIOUS gift from God and we are so in love with her. We find ourselves just staring at her, amazed that she is here and ours. Mom (Grammy) has been here all week except for a short visit to Pittsburgh to meet Sam. That has been an amazing blessing as it has allowed me to sleep and not worry about cooking and cleaning. The only challenge with that is that we all want to hold Emma all the time and have had to learn how to share her. Dad (Poppa) comes tomorrow to meet her!

I am attaching some pictures from the week. There is a link to the album if you would like to see the entire 100+ pictures. We have enjoyed getting to know Emma and look forward to what God has in store for her in the days and years to come.

Emma's Birth

IT'S A GIRL!!!

Meet Emma Kate Woods...

Born 4:30am Friday morning, she tipped the scales at 9lbs 13ozs and stretched the tape to 22 inches!!!

FREAKIN' HUGE!

And all that baby with only 15 hours of labor and 45 minutes of pushing.

Becky was unbelievable. She was so calm and cool during labor and made the delivery look easy. She made it through delivery with minimal trauma and should be fully recovered within a few days.

She's amazing. Truly amazing. I'm so proud of her and my (already tremendous) respect level has just been multiplied exponentially.

So, we'll be in the hospital until Sunday morning. More pictures will follow shortly, but right now we've got our hands full trying to find the instruction manual. I think we left it in the delivery room...

Cousin Perrin is Here!!!

Samuel Shaffer Perrin was born this morning! He weighed 7 pounds and 8 ounces with lots of blond hair. Abby's water broke and 3 hours later delivered him WITHOUT DRUGS! Way to go Aunt Abby! We are so thankful for this precious nephew and cannot wait to meet him.

Telling Mom and Dad the News

Attached is the video Mike took when we told Mom and Dad Perrin that they would be grandparents. It is classic Mom and she is SO cute, although I don't think she will be too excited that I am sharing the video of her. We drove out to St. Louis to visit them before they went to Egypt for 3 weeks and it happened to coincide with their anniversary. When we got there, we gave them their anniversary gift which was a grandparent's journal and it had a note written inside about how excited we were to extend the legacy of the family to the next generation, etc. Mom read the note and didn't get it right away, but it is precious when she does. I hope you enjoy it...you may need to turn your speakers down...it gets a little loud!

One Week to GO!!!

With only one week to go, Mike and I have been musing about the growth of this little one and were looking back on pictures from the last 9 months. We have been laughing at how excited we were when I was first showing and thought I was so huge and now we are amazed that my body will really be able to stretch farther and this baby will get bigger. At my appointment this past week, my doctor said that it is likely that the baby will gain another 1-2 pounds before it is born-which was not really what I wanted to hear :)! We wanted to put a few pictures up to show the progression of Baby Woods' growth over the past months.

15 Weeks (first showing)

18 Weeks (we were really impressed at this point)

30 Weeks (with Aunt Abby and Cousin Perrin)

39 Weeks

We are anxiously awaiting the baby and the 27th is the latest that the doctors will let the baby go. That means that we have less than two weeks, and it is still so surreal to Mike and I that we will be bringing home a baby that is OURS to hold and kiss and love. We are torn between overflowing excitement and terror all at the same time. If the baby doesn't come first, I go back to the doctor on Thursday.

Welcome

Welcome to our family blog! We have finally caved and created a blog now that little baby Woods will be here soon and want to be able to share him or her with you. We have so enjoyed following our friends' and cousins' blogs, allowing us to participate in their daily activities even though we are miles apart. We hope that you enjoy this way to follow our life and take a peek as this precious little one grows up.