Emmett's Arrival!

Most of you who regularly check our blog probably already know that we welcomed the newest addition to our family this past Wednesday. I thought I would go ahead and post the story of how he arrived, though, for those who don't know and are interested. If you're not one who enjoys a good birth story, feel free to scroll down to the pictures! :)

Emmett Christopher Gilcreast made his entrance into the world (after a long and hard-fought battle to avoid a c-section) at 5:43 P.M. on April 15. His stats: 7 lbs, 13.8 oz / 21 inches - almost a whole pound and two inches bigger than Jackson! He is absolutely perfect and we are totally in love with him! So far he seems to be a really sweet baby - easy to please, not too fussy (although Phil and I did not sleep a wink last night because E had some really bad gas issues), and I seem to have gotten the snuggly baby I was hoping for - he loves to cuddle! We are so truly blessed - God was and is so amazingly good to us!

So, Phil and I went in to the hospital on Tuesday morning to have the version done like I mentioned before. I got an IV started (which was almost the worst part of the whole experience - they had to poke me three different times - YUCK!), and the doctor and my midwife came in to try to flip the baby. Some interns came to watch, too, since they had never seen a version done. The doc lubed up my belly, tilted the bed back so my feet were up in the air and my head was toward the floor, put two hands on my belly, pushed, and in less than 10 seconds the baby was head-down! It virtually pain-free for me and was so amazing - no one could believe how easy it was! I couldn't see anything because I was upside down, but everyone else said they could see the baby turning from outside the belly. Again - God is so good! That was a huge answered prayer.

We immediately went to a birthing room after that (around 8:30 A.M.) and got all settled. My midwife started me on pitocin to get labor going and prepared to break my water, which she hoped would keep the baby's head down and get labor moving faster. Well, since I wasn't really ready for labor yet, after checking me she found that she wasn't able to break my water. So, she put a corset-type girdle thingy around my belly (really stiff and uncomfortable), which we hoped would keep the baby from moving, and I settled in for a long day of moderately uncomfortable contractions, TV-watching, and gossip magazine-reading. At 6 P.M. she checked me again and I still hadn't made enough progress for her to be able to break my water, so she took me off of the pitocin so that I could eat something and get some sleep. Phil stayed with me that night, but neither of us slept very well, as you can probably imagine.

At 3 A.M. we started the pitocin again, and luckily, by 6:30 A.M. when my midwife arrived she was able to break my water. Whoa - did that ever do the trick! I started having some crazy painful contractions that were about a minute or two apart, but wanted to wait to get an epidural for as long as I could to make sure that I was making good progress with the labor. I held out until 11 A.M. and was again amazed at how totally awesome an epidural is! I was so snug and cozy in my bed after that and was actually able to get a little sleep.

We were all really excited and happy at this point b/c we thought things were going to be pretty easy and that we were home free for a vaginal delivery. Well, I was almost fully dilated when Emmett's heart rate started dropping with each contraction. My midwife and the nurse were hanging out in our room a lot, which was making me nervous. It turned out that the way E was facing had caused the umbilical cord to be wrapped around something and every time a contraction occurred it squeezed it and caused his heart rate to drop. Luckily, his heart rate bounced right back after each contraction, but after a few minutes it kept dropping lower, so my midwife started talking to me about a c-section. I was so upset that after everything we had done and how close we were to the end we would have to end up doing a c-section anyway. The doctor who did my version came into the room right about then and suggested that I try a last-ditch effort of getting on my elbows/forearms and knees for a bit to see if that would make Emmett change positions and give me time to get fully dilated. Let me tell you, being on your elbows and knees for a half hour after not working out for nine months is not much fun, but luckily, it WORKED! When they had me flip back over I was fully dilated and E had changed positions a bit so his heart rate was staying up. I was crying and thanking God! It took an hour of pushing and some great counting and encouragement from Phil, but Emmett arrived safely at 5:43 P.M.! I know that I could have saved everyone a bunch of time and stress by just giving in to a c-section earlier on, but I'm so glad that we all stuck it out. It was an amazing experience. Now for pictures...

Getting settled for a loooong day...

In a lot of pain here... but forgot to take one last belly picture before delivery, so we had to do that!

Ahhh - epidural relief!!Happy tears after delivery!!!Love Jackson's face in this picture...Jackson driving everyone home from the hospital! (just kidding, of course)

Quick Pics

It's a busy time... we'll get back with some commentary and the story involved with our newest addition soon...but, in the meantime here are a few photos to whet the appetite...

Baby Update

Well, here we are at 39 weeks and baby is still in the wrong position, despite all of the hanging upside down that I've done. He is really being a stinker! I went to have an ultrasound done today to check his position, and when my midwife first checked on him he was sideways (head on my left, bottom on my right). Right before I left she checked again, and he had moved back to breech! She said that she cannot believe how active and mobile he is, and neither can I! I already have one active boy - this is supposed to be the calm one!! :)

On a positive note, I didn't go into labor this weekend and I got to get my hair done and have a pedicure today, so I'm all primped and good to go for a while. Phil and I are going to the hospital tomorrow morning so that I can have a version done (where the OB tries to manually move the baby into a head-down position). If that works (and I pray that it does), I'll be induced right then to hopefully ensure that he won't move again. If it is not successful, then I think we'll come home, wait a few more days, try the version one more time, and then have a c-section. It will be interesting to see how this all turns out. At least we know he's healthy and happy in there! It's so exciting to think that we might have another baby tomorrow!!

Before I go finish packing and try to get some sleep, here are some pictures from Easter...

M&M's inside the eggs were a huge hit...

He loved his Elmo card, Mom and Dad!

Don't my guys look so handsome in blue?

We went to a friend's house for brunch after church and J had a great time finding eggs and throwing them in his basket. Unfortunately, we didn't get any pictures of that with our camera b/c I was helping J and Phil was taking pictures with someone else's camera. It was fun, though! Hope you had a wonderful Easter, too!

Feed the Birds... Tuppence a Bag

That title is a throwback to the movie, Mary Poppins. Does anyone else remember that song? I love that movie - is it too girly for boys to enjoy? I sure hope not. Phil took today off from work (and made waffles for breakfast), so we decided to take the leftover waffles and go to one of the lakes downtown to feed the ducks. Unfortunately, there weren't very many ducks on the lake today, but there were a plethora of seagulls. I absolutely hate seagulls. I heard someone say once that they are the rats of the bird world. Yuck. So, I stayed out of the way of the birds and took pictures for two main reasons: A) I had just washed my hair and would have gone bat crazy if a seagull had pooped in it, and 2) I've been afraid of birds flying around me since a seagull landed in my hair while I was eating an ice cream cone at Sea World on a 10th grade cheerleading trip. Anyway, here are some pictures...

We decided this was an accident waiting to happen... too close to the water!

Look at all of those nasty seagulls! I don't know how the ducks on this lake survive with those gluttonous birds stealing all of the food. They are such pigs!

Dad and J having some sweet time...

Now it's Mom's turn for some sweetness!

Notice the waffle residue all over J's mouth - he was eating as many waffle pieces as he was throwing to the birds. I look so huge and bloated in this picture! Yuck.

More Playtime Pics and a Backwards Baby

Here are some more pictures from our favorite playground. Our weather here has been wonderful and terrible off and on, so we take advantage of being outside as much as we can. My sister, Becky, bought J this cute t-shirt and new tennis shoes so I wanted to take some pictures for her. Thanks, Beck!

Hungry now... digging for snacks in my purse....

Fistfuls of dirt and wood chips are so fun to throw...

Here's one of Jackson's favorite things to do inside the house... pulling every book out of his bookshelf in the closet (I think I've mentioned this before). He looks so cute in there reading by himself, though...


Today J got lucky enough to get a long Jeep ride from our 5-year-old next door neighbor. They even did some off-roadin'. He loved it! I can see the purchase of one of these toys in our future.


In baby #2 news... for those who haven't heard (and just because I'm totally obsessed about this and stressing about it and can use all the prayers I can get), after being in the perfect head-down position for labor for about three weeks, baby has now moved to a breech (bottom-down) or transverse (sideways) position. He seems to like to alternate between those two - at least, that's what it seems like to me as I poke and prod him from the outside trying to figure out which lump is his head.

I have been taking advice from friends and scouring the internet to do all I can to try to get him to turn (as you can see from the ticker at the top of the page - we haven't got much time left). So far my strategies include: leaning down with my elbows and forearms on the floor, my knees on the couch, and my tush in the air for as long as I can hold it (this is really not easy carrying 40 extra pounds), and laying on the couch with my hips on pillows about a foot above my head (which makes all the blood rush to my head and food want to come back up my throat). I guess these techniques are supposed to relax my uterine muscles and/or allow gravity to do its thing and make it easier for him to flip. I don't know if they work or not, but I'll try anything to avoid a c-section.

My midwife said that if he hasn't flipped on his own by 38 or 39 weeks, I'll go to the hospital to have an OB try to flip him manually from the outside of my belly (called a version), which I've heard doesn't always work and can be pretty painful. If that does work, though, and he moves into head-down position, they would go ahead and induce my labor right then in hopes that he would stay in the right position. I really don't want to be induced, either, but I guess that's the lesser of two evils in this situation. So please, please, say a little prayer (or two or three) that the baby flips back on his own this week. Thank you!! :)