Hello, it's me......

Wow, where do I start? A lot has happened in a week!
I am overjoyed to report that Emily Katherine is home and happy and healthy. She is absolutely precious and resembles a small kitten or mouse. She is very sweet and doesn't fuss much, just when she is hungry or having her diaper changed.
My delivery was pretty uneventful... got to the hospital late of course and checked on in. Dr. K came by and checked me and said that the baby had moved up and he could not even feel my cervix to see if I was dilated any more or not. Started pitocin, started contracting, got my epidural. Checked and I was at a 5. Watched TV (E! of course) and napped a bit, felt some pressure. Called the nurse, I was at a 9. Got ready for delivery, Dr. K came back, pushed her out at 2:23 pm. This labor was a bit longer than my others because she was turned sideways. But it was pretty painless, which was most important.
And she was so big!!! Wow, 9 lbs. and 4.4 oz. I guess this is payback because I weighed 9lbs. 5 oz. at birth. She looks a lot like Caroline did as a newborn. I don't really see any William in her.
As soon as I was all stitched up, the medical staff cleared out and left us alone with her. And I immediately burst into tears of thankfulness that I have been blessed, yet again, with another beautiful and HEALTHY child. It was just all overwhelming. I will admit now that I was terrified during my entire pregnancy that something would happen and Emily would not make it into the world. I guess because I have heard some sad stories about moms losing babies at full term. This has happened to 2 people that I know in real life and it just really scared me.
When Dr. Traci came to examine Emily later that evening, she detected a heart murmur. She said not to panic because it was most likely something to do with some valve that often does not close until after the baby is born. I was not that worried because the same thing happened with my friend K's baby, but Jason was very worried. She said she was going to come back the next morning and listen to Emily's heart and see if the valve had closed. Well, when she came back it had not closed. Dr. Traci happens to be married to a pediatric cardiologist and she told him to come over and listen to Emily. Before he came, they did an EKG and said it looked normal but they had to let Dr. Traci's husband look at it. He came by later and said it was indeed normal and listened to her and said Dr. traci was right! It was just a valve that had not closed yet and all was well with Emily. Thank the Lord! Then he said although it was very nice to meet us all, he hoped he NEVER has to see us again. He is a really nice man. The next day, Dr. Patterson came by to discharge us and he listened and said he could not find the murmur at all and the valve was officially closed. What a relief!
Well, that is the birth story and pretty much sums up the hospital stay. I hear Emily snarfling around like she wants to eat so I will write more later.