Emerson's First Bath

On October 17th, 2012 - Chuck and I gave Emerson by ourselves.  He absolutely loves the water!!!

First Night Home

The first night my mom came and stayed with us.  It was no picnic that is for sure!! 

Diaper Changing Debacle: My mom showed us how to change his diaper which was a little challenging as we had to put a gauze pad smeared in Vaseline over the stitch that he had.  The first diaper change was a success.  Can't say that for the next one though.  Upon trying to change his diaper the 2nd time the Vaseline must have not be smeared enough on the gauze pad because it ended up getting stuck.  When my mom pulled the pad away there was blood everywhere.  I totally lost it.  I was so freaked out that he was bleeding all over the place.  We called the hospital and asked them what to do.  They said to put a folded up wash cloth over the gauze pad and then to close the diaper over that to put more pressure on it.  If it didn't stop bleeding then come back to the hospital.  Thankfully this worked!! But it was definitely mommy meltdown number 1.

Sleeping: The first night home Chuck and I really didn't get much sleep.  He was a hot mess no matter how much I tried breastfeeding him he wouldn't stop crying.  We called Joan (our DR) and she suggested to supplement feed him since maybe my good milk had not come in yet.  After that bottle he finally fell asleep a couple of hours!!! That was the best sleep Chuck and I had!!

Putting On Clothes:   I don't know who designed onesie's but our first encounter changing Emerson was a huge challenge for us.  Emerson thankfully was not a floppy kid (meaning he could pretty much hold his head steady right when he was born so his neck didn't need much support), but man was he strong.  Our adventure of putting on his 1st onesie probably took us about 1/2 hour.  The poor kid probably wanted to kill us!! Getting it over his head was easy but trying to get it through the arms was not an easy task.  Both of us were to scare to really move him around and he was all tense on us trying to put his arms through the arm holes.  So we would wait until he relaxed to try to get them through the arm loops.  Boy was it a pain!! After this debacle we decided we liked the onesie's that didn't have to go over his head but instead had buttons or zippers!! ha ha

The Hospital Stay

Our hospital stay was a nice experience overall.  The nurses did a wonderful job taking care of all of us.  Chuck was such a wonderful husband.  He stayed with me the entire time even though the couch wasn't long enough for him.  I told him to go home and get some rest on the second night, but ended up chickening out due to worriment over Emerson. 

On Thursday October 11, 2012 - We were informed that he had failed his hearing test twice.  We thought everything was fine with Emerson after worrying about his heart during pregnancy and delivering what to seemed to be a healthy baby boy.  So now we had to worry about our little guy's hearing.  We were told that we needed to make an appointment the following week for a followup check.  This is all that we could think about for the next week.  We were also informed that our little guy needed a stitch during his circumcision due to the amount of blood there was and he wasn't clotting.  They ran some tests to see what his blood count was and other blood work to make sure everything was ok with him.  The tests results showed everything was just fine.   Due to Emerson having a stitch the nurses informed us they were going to change his diapers.  That didn't bother Chuck and I one bit!!

On Friday October 12, 2012 - we were ready to leave the hospital and make the journey home.  We were very nervous about going home, as both Chuck and I had zero experience with babies.  Both of us had still not changed a diaper yet, IN OUR ENTIRE LIVES.  So that was scary enough!!! We had to ask our nurse if we had Emerson in the carseat correctly as well!!  Man I thought we are in trouble when we get home!!

Picture Time at the Hospital!!

Bella Baby took pictures of Emerson while we were in the hospital.  They turned out really nice despite him crying and being very difficult during the shoot!

The Delivery

I was excited the day had finally arrived.  Chuck, myself and my mom checked into the hospital on October 10th, 2012 at 8:00 am for my scheduled induction.  Our baby was already like his mom, scheduling everything.  I was ready to have this baby today, being I was 7 days overdue as it was.  They hooked everything up to me around 9:00 am and we were ready to roll.  The waiting game began.  Around 10:00 am Chuck's mom arrived.  I was very blessed to have such a great support team (Chuck, my mom and Chuck's mom) in the delivery room.  Until today I had never felt a contraction.  Around 1:00 pm the contractions started to get unbearable.  I called for the nurse to get my epidural.  I thought I would get it right away.  Oh no they wanted me dilated at 3 and to finish two more bags of the iv before getting the epidural.  So my mom cranked up the bag to my iv so I could get it in faster.  Around 2:30 pm I was in better spirits as I received my epidural.  Thank god!!! I know for sure that I could never go through labor naturally.  Joan came and checked on me around 4:45 and she said I was dialated at 10.  We were finally ready to push.  She went and got dressed while the nurses prepped me.  At 5:00 pm I was starting to push.  I got our little guy out in 20 mins, only 12 pushes.  I could not have done it without Chuck even though I thought I was going to have to at one point because he looked a little green.  We were happy to announce that Emerson Louis Jenks had ARRIVED!!! 8.2 oz, 21 1/2 length and 34 inch head at 5:22 pm.  Many people came to visit use that night.  Uncle Kyle, Auntie Krissy, Evan, Molly, Auntie Devin, Sydney, Auntie Alexis and Uncle Wayne we all there to welcome Emerson into the world. 

Dad tired of waiting!

Taken on 9/30/2012.   Chuck and I went for a 2 1/2 mile walk this morning, then to my parnets house to run the puppies and to help them setup a room for Baby Jenks, all in hopes that something would induce labor.  It looks like he is not making an appearance today.  We have a doctor's appointment tomorrow night.  Hopefully we will see that we have made progress.  We have been dilated at 1 1/2 and thinning for the last two weeks.  It would be really nice to hear, "You can go right over to the hospital!!"  Dad and Parker were very tuckered out after our long morning.

Baby Jenks Nursery Finished!!

It is now t-minus 5 days to our due date.  Chuck and I, along with everyone else is anxiously awaiting Baby Jenks to arrive.  Chuck and I have been trying to do everything in our power to get me to go into labor, long walks, spicy food, etc., but nothing seems to be working.  They do say that all good things make you wait so I guess Baby Jenks is living proof of that saying.  We have finally finished the nursery!!!!  We could not have made the nursery this amazing without our family and friends to contribute to making such a wonderful room for the little guy!! Thank you so much!

37 Weeks Pictures

Pictures of me at 37 weeks pregnant. Taken on September 15th, 2012

Our Baby Shower

Our baby shower was on August 19, 2912.  The baby shower took place at Ruffled Feathers Golf Course.  Chuck and Kyle had a tee time at 6:15 am that morning and played 18 holes before the shower began at 10:30 am.  They said the course was absolutely amazing to play.  Our family and friends did such an amazing job planning and making this day so special for the both of us.  They made the theme of the shower vintage airplanes which is the same theme for Baby Jenks nursery.  The day turned out so amazing!!  We will never forget it.  We know that Baby Jenks will have many people who love and care for him!! We just wanted to thank everyone who shared this special day with us.  We also wanted to thank the people who couldn't attend and still make the day so special.

Aunt Ellen and Uncle Richie - Rivers Jersey YEAH!!

Mom and Molly

The boys on their golf date in the morning before the shower.