Our 4th Wedding Anniversary

Thursday was our anniversary!  We've been married for four wonderful years.  Emma and I met Daniel at Cracker Barrel for lunch that day, but our real celebration was Friday night in Salado while Emma stayed with Granny (Judy, Daniel's mom).  Daniel didn't tell me where we were going.  I knew we were heading south since we were meeting Judy in Temple, so I thought we were going to the Austin area.  Daniel even asked me if I brought plenty of reading material for the drive, so I was very surprised when he took the Salado exit after just 20 minutes!


On Friday night we did a little shopping before having dinner at Adelea's on Main.  It's a elegant, but casual, little bistro in an old house in Salado.  

It's a little pricey, but hey, it's a special occasion, so it's okay to splurge, right?  Plus, the food was delicious! Here's what we ate:


Appetizers: Daniel had the Polenta Cakes with Mushroom and Proscuitto, and Carolyn had the Adelea's Petite House Salad (with yummy sugared pecans).
Entrees: We both had the hand cut 7 oz. fillet mignon topped with blackberry chocolate sauce and served with garlic mashed potatoes and broccoli.
Dessert: Daniel had the Pumpkin Creme Brulee, and Carolyn had the Goode Spice Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting.


We have a tradition of taking pictures of each other and our wedding rings.

After dinner, we drove through the Nature in Lights display in Belton (between Salado and Temple for all of you non-Central Texas people).  

It's over 5 miles of Christmas lights!  We had a blast singing the Twelve Days of Christmas through that part of the display, but we were a little disappointed that they only had one lord-a-leaping.  The only ones that were numerically correct were 1 partridge in a pear tree and 5 golden rings.

We stayed at Stonecreek Settlement Bed & Breakfast in Salado (in the Wimberley cottage).  Isn't it cute?!





I woke up a few times in the middle of the night and actually thought I was hearing Emma crying. (First night to be away from my baby made me a little crazy!)


The next morning we tried to go shopping on Main Street, but everything was still closed at 9:15 AM.  So we went to Temple to satisfy my craving for a Peppermint White Chocolate Mocha from Starbucks!  We spent the rest of the morning browsing around several gift, antique and home decor shops in Salado and had lunch at Cathy's Boardwalk Cafe before driving back to Temple to pick up Emma.


I'm very glad Daniel chose a fairly local destination.  Since we were just staying one night, it was nice to not spend a large chunk of our time just driving.  We missed our baby girl, but it was a wonderful, much-needed, and relaxing get-a-way!!  

Mommy leaves for a few hours...

Since Daniel is working second shift for a few weeks, I get to leave Emma home with Daddy while I go to church for Bible study and a workout on Thursday mornings.  When I got home yesterday and went to get Emma up from her nap, I unswaddled her and found out what happens when Daddy gets to pick her outfit while Mommy's away!

"These are a few of my favorite things..."

These are the things that we've come to love during the past five and a half weeks!

Baby K’tan Baby Carrier – The double-sling design is a cross between a soft sling and a structured front baby carrier or backpack.  It is made entirely of soft 100% cotton, and the two loop design holds the baby securely.  It’s very comfortable because it rests on both shoulders and has a built-in back support band, and it is easy to use – no wrapping or buckling involved.  Plus, it has 10+ positions, is machine washable and dryer safe, and can be used for a long time (up to 42 pounds)!  And most importantly, Emma loves it!!  If she’s fussy, she normally calms down right after I put her in it and start walking around.  She falls asleep in it fairly easily too!  It’s great when I need to take her somewhere and don’t want to carry her car seat/carrier or can’t use the stroller.  Example: I went to the Just Between Friends consignment sale the other day and couldn’t take the stroller in, so I just put her in this sling.  She did great the entire time I shopped!

The Happiest Baby on the Block by Dr. Harvey Karp – Most new parents have heard of the 5 S’s for how to calm a baby, but this book is wonderful in its detailed instructions on how to do each S (Swaddle, Side/Stomach, Shushing, Swinging, and Sucking).  This was indispensable advice for us for Emma’s first five weeks of life because she had to be calmed down and put to sleep in our arms before we could put her in her crib.

Gold's Gym 65 CM Exercise Stay Ball – This thing is great for when Emma is fussy and needs to be bounced or rocked. We can bounce like crazy when she’s screaming and then transition to smaller bounces, bouncing and rocking, and eventually just rocking until she’s out cold!

Luna Lullaby Soothing Swaddle Blankets – These blankets are great because they’re 44” x 44”, so they’re much larger than normal receiving/swaddling blankets.  They’re made of soft muslin that is breathable and stretchable.  They even come with a DVD with step-by-step instructions on how to swaddle a baby.

MAM pacifiers – these are the only pacifiers we’ve found that Emma will take!

Mommy’s Melodies Soothing Plush Bear – Emma loves the mother’s womb sounds, but it also plays 3 lullabies and 2 nature sounds.  It automatically shuts off after 5 minutes, so you don’t have to worry about remembering to turn it off or it draining the batteries all night long.

Now all we have to do to put Emma to sleep is to combine those last three items!  Swaddle her up good and tight, give her a pacifier, turn on the Mommy’s Melodies bear, give her a kiss, and put her in her crib.  We normally have to go back in her room once or twice to put the pacifier back in her mouth and turn the bear back on, but that totally beats having to walk and bounce and sway and rock and pat and… okay, you the get picture… for 45 minutes or more!

Medela Tender Care Lanolin – I’m not going to go into detail with this one, but let’s just say that this stuff was a necessity during those first few weeks of breastfeeding.

MommyGear.com – This is a great website for purchasing nursing bras, especially for those of us with larger cup sizes!  You can shop by size, and they offer free shipping on size or style exchanges on all nursing bras.

Boppy pillow – I didn’t think I would need one of these, so I just used regular pillows at first.  But after borrowing a friend’s Boppy, I don’t feed Emma without it (unless I’m out of the house).  Plus, we can put Emma in it to prop her up or for tummy time!

Baby Nail Scissors – I tried using the clippers on Emma’s little nails… let’s just say it didn’t go well!  The scissors are so much easier and safer to use, in my opinion.

bumGenius Cloth Diapers – If you’re going to use cloth, this is the way to go! We only have a few of these because they’re pretty expensive. The all-in-one's come in sizes XS - L, so you have to buy more as your baby grows, but they're so easy because you can just throw the whole thing in the wash. With the bumGenius 4.0 diapers, you have to deal with inserts, but they have snaps to adjust the diaper to three different sizes.

Snappi Diaper Fasteners – Since bumGenius diapers are a bit pricey, we just use prefolds with vinyl diaper covers most of the time. Snappi's make putting the prefolds on so much easier than it used to be!

Emma's First Month

It's hard to believe that Emma is already a month old!  She's growing and changing so fast.

One day old

One month old

Emma weighed 9 pounds, 8 ounces (75th percentile) at her 3-week checkup.  Dr. Huitink, our pediatrician, was very pleased with her growth.  We're getting the hang of breastfeeding, although it definitely wasn't easy for the first couple of weeks.

She is sleeping pretty well.  She takes good naps during the day and normally sleeps about 4.5 to 5.5 hours when we put her down for the night.  After the middle of the night feeding, she normally goes back down for another 3 hours or so. She slept through the night for the first time when she was exactly one month old!  She fell asleep at 10:30 p.m. and didn't wake up until almost 6:00 a.m. (7.5 hours)  Unfortunately, she hasn't done it again in the week since then.

She is a very good natured baby.  She only fusses when she's hungry, tired, and when we're trying to put her down for the night.  She's starting to hold her head up by herself pretty well.  She makes lots of faces, but the cutest is when she puckers her lips like she's drinking through a straw.   We've gotten a few grins out of her, but we're still waiting for a real smile.

Other tid-bits:

• We were locked out of house when we brought her home from the hospital.  Carolyn's sister accidentally went back to Ft. Worth with our house keys and our neighbor locked a door that we normally leave unlocked!   The neighbor had to come home from work to give us our spare keys back.
• She had a lump on her upper back right after she was born.  It was about the size of a marble!  We thought it was a cyst, but the doctor said it was just tissue and would go away.  Sure enough, by her 3 week appointment it was gone.
• We thought we would have to get her frenulum (the tissue under the tongue) clipped, but the ENT said it was not severe enough to put her through the procedure.
• Her umbilical cord stump fell off after just 11 days!
• We lost power at the house for several hours when she was one week old.  Her very first outing (besides the doctor's office) was to Dairy Queen for dinner.  Fortunately, the power was back on when we got home!
• We got lots of meals from our wonderful friends from our Sunday School class at Columbus Avenue Baptist Church!
• Daniel had to work the second shift when Emma was 3 weeks old.  Fortunately it was only a four day week because of Labor Day because she was very difficult to put down two of the nights he was gone.
• We started taking her to church when she was almost 3 weeks old.  We only took her to Sunday School the first week and she started to fuss in the middle of it.  Daniel took her outside and got her to fall asleep.  Carolyn missed half of Sunday School the next week for a feeding, but Emma did great during the worship service!
• Other outings:  Walmart, baby shower for a friend from church, Sunday School social/lunch, Just Between Friends consignment sale, Target, Vitek's BBQ, and the post office

Emma's birth story

Two weeks later, I'm finally getting the chance to record Emma's birth story!  Warning: this is long version of the story and quite detailed.   The afternoon of August 17, 2010 was probably one of the longest and hardest I've ever been through, but looking back it really wasn't THAT bad, and I would do it all again in a heartbeat - she's worth it!

Contractions started around 9:30 p.m. on Monday, August 16th (one day after our due date).  On our nightly walk to the park earlier that evening, I told Daniel that I felt like Emma was really pressing down - apparently I was right!  Our doula, Sondra Johnson, instructed me to drink water, eat a little bit, and try to get some rest.  We finished packing our bags and crawled into bed.  Daniel said, "How are we suppose to sleep now?!"  We were pretty excited that Emma was finally on her way!

Daniel was able to fall asleep, but the contractions, though pretty mild, were enough to keep me awake.  After a couple of hours, I woke Daniel up because I wanted his support while I breathed through the contractions that were gradually getting stronger.  After 3:30 a.m. we started timing the contractions.  They were 3 or 4 minutes apart but very short (15-30 seconds) for about an hour and then changed to 5 to 7 minutes apart and longer (closer to a minute to a minute and half).  We were planning to go to the doctor first thing in the morning, but at that point, I didn't think I would make it through the night.  We were waiting for the contractions to be consistently 5 minutes (or less) apart and getting stronger - then we would consider calling Dr. Rister and heading to the hospital.  However, around 5:30 a.m., the contractions dissipated; we waited almost 18 minutes for my last contraction before I fell asleep on the couch for about an hour and half!  I had been full of adrenaline and energy until then, but being up all night finally caught up with me.

I woke up around 7:00 a.m. and ate a bowl of cereal while Daniel packed up the car.  I was having a few contractions, but nothing like the night before.  We were at Dr. Rister's office shortly after they opened at 8:00 a.m.  When he checked me, my cervix had dilated to 2 cm and was 50% effaced.  I had been at less than 1 cm on Friday, so this was good news - these contractions were definitely the real deal and we were making progress!  He suggested that we head to Hillcrest to start Pitocin to kick labor back into gear.  We were prepared to go to the hospital and Daniel had already called his boss to tell him he wasn't going to coming to work, so we agreed.  

A little after 9:00 a.m. we arrived at the hospital.  They took me back to a labor and delivery room - changed into a gown, answered lots of questions, and got hooked up to an IV, monitors for contractions, the baby's heartbeat, and my blood pressure, and the Pitocin machine.  Daniel used the time to make a few very important phone calls - including both grandmothers!  I was having contractions before they started the Pitocin around 11:15 a.m., but they were so mild that I didn't even noticed them!  (I only knew I was having them because of the monitor they had me hooked up to.)  During that first hour, I was definitely having to focus and breath through the contractions, but I was in good spirits - able to watch another episode of 24, listen to K-love via the internet, talk on the phone, watch the contractions on the monitor, etc.  However all of that changed after Dr. Rister broke my bag of waters at 12:15 p.m. (when my cervix was 90% effaced and dilated to 4 cm)!

Sondra arrived exactly when I needed her - around 12:30 p.m.  The contractions were pretty intense (they were gradually increasing the Pitocin) and about a minute and half apart, if I'm remembering correctly.  (Side note: Hearing the machine release more Pitocin into my IV was awful!  It should be silent for anyone who doesn't get an epidural!!)  The best position for me during this stage was standing next to the bed that was raised so I could easily lean on it.  Daniel stood on the other side of the bed and helped me breath (hee hee hoo!) and squeeze his hands, and Sondra stood behind me applying counter-pressure to my hips while I swayed through the contractions.  Later, Judy (my mother-in-law) took Daniel's place and held my hands while Daniel stood next to me and rubbed my back.

A little after 2:00 p.m., I got in the shower to try to relax.  Can you imagine how hard it is to get a sports bra and hospital gown off and back on while having contractions and with an IV in one arm!?  As soon as a contraction would end, we had to work quickly before the next one hit!  The warm water felt good on my back but by the time I got out of the shower and dressed again, I was exhausted.  Around 2:30 p.m. I told Daniel that I wasn't sure how much more of this I could handle and that I needed some relief.  We had two options: IV pain medicine that would take the edge off of the pain and make me pretty "out of it" for about two hours or an epidural which would take away all pain (hopefully!) but would require a catheter, a very large needle, and being confined to bed for the rest of labor and for a while afterwards as well.  I opted for the IV meds (Demerol) which was started around 2:45 p.m.

I was in bed laying on my side while doped up on Demerol.  I say "doped up" because it made me totally out of it between contractions.  I got nauseous and heaved twice but didn't actually throw up.  I didn't think the medicine helped at all with the pain, but that may have been because they had up-ed the Pitocin again!  However, it did force me to relax between contractions and get some rest, but it was awful going from half-asleep to intense pain.  This was the worst part of labor for Daniel because I asked him when they were going to give me the pain medicine after I had already been on it for a while!  He was counting down the minutes until I could get an epidural (not until two hours after they gave me the Demerol).

At 5:00 p.m. I was coming out of the Demerol haze and requested an epidural.  Dr. Rister came in to check me and told me that I was at 7-8 cm and 100% effaced and that it would only be another hour or two.  Sondra said to give her 30 minutes.  I agreed to hold off on the epidural because I knew that I was in "transition" - the shortest phase of labor.  I tried sitting on the exercise ball and by 5:37 p.m. I was feeling pressure with the contractions and had the desire to push.  By 6:05 p.m. I was back in bed and starting to push. 

The contractions leading up to this point were extremely painful, but the pushing phase was a lot more work than I realized!  I didn't just have to suffer through it; I had to exert a serious amount of energy to get this child out of me (not an easy task after staying up most of the night before, not eating since 7:30 that morning, and a LONG afternoon of contractions).  Thankfully, my sister arrived in time to be with me during the pushing phase.  I can remember her telling me how proud she was of me, which was a huge encouragement.  They had me push to the count of 10 three times during each contraction, but I don't think I ever made it to the 10 on the 3rd set!  I just didn't have the energy to hold my breath and push for that long.  At 6:55 p.m. after 50 minutes of pushing (which felt more like HOURS), her head was crowning.  The pain at the very end was excruciating, and I totally lost my focus until Sondra got in my face and said "Carolyn!! You have to push!" (I don't know what I would have done without her!)  Finally, at 7:14 p.m. Emma Leigh Lehmkuhl was born!  She cried briefly and then opened her eyes to check out her new surroundings.  We knew her head would probably be cone shaped, but were surprised by how purple she was at first.  Daniel got to cut the umbilical cord.  Emma did great on the APGAR test - receiving scores of 9 out of 10 on both the 1 minute and 5 minute tests.  

They placed her on my chest while they cleaned her up.

Big girl!  8 pounds, 7 ounces and 21 inches

First family photo

Inducing labor next week!

After I passed the CPA exam in late 2007, I started a large cross stitch project (14" x 11") - I had to find something to do with all that extra free time since I no longer had to study!  I have worked on it off and on over the years, but this week I FINALLY finished it.  Now I just need to frame it!  I hope to have it "on display" in our guest bedroom very soon.

We had our last appointment with my OB yesterday.  He has decided to induce on the morning of Wednesday, August 18th if she doesn't come before then.  I'm still hoping she comes on her own (this weekend would work!), although my father-in-law would love it if she waited until Wednesday since that's his birthday as well!  It's nice to know that we are going to meet our sweet baby girl within a few days, but my emotions have been quite the roller coaster ride since yesterday - anxiety about labor and delivery, excitement about finally getting to see and hold this little one that's been growing inside me for the past 10 months, and just a bit overwhelmed by it all.  

"Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything." Philippians 4:6a

God is in control, and He is faithful.  It's time to just take a deep breath and thank the Lord that I can cast all of my cares on Him (1 Peter 5:7) - aka RELAX! :)

Still waiting

5 days until our due date and still just waiting!  Daniel and I have gone for a walk almost every evening for several days in a row now hoping that would bring on labor, but it hasn't worked yet!

I've been off of work for over a week, and it's been great!  I've been swimming with friends from church twice, read another Karen Kingsbury novel, made lots of progress on my cross-stitch project, cleaned the house, watched a few movies (thanks to Netflix on the Wii), etc.  So I haven't really been bored at all!

We're scheduled to go to the doctor again on Friday afternoon, but maybe she'll come before then!  Let's all keep our fingers crossed!

Last day at PB&H

Today was my last day of work at Pattillo, Brown, & Hill.  It was a wonderful place to work.  I had the best bosses in the world, and my coworkers were great.  They have been such a blessing in my life for the past three and a half years.  I didn't think I would cry, but the moment I stepped out the front door, the flood gates opened. (and here I go again...)  I'm so excited about staying home with Emma, but I guess I'm just sad to be leaving behind such great friends.  Being 9 months pregnant and super hormonal probably doesn't help either!  I just have to keep reminding myself that it's not like I'm never going to see them again - I'm not leaving Waco and I left on good terms.  We can still get together for lunch; I'm just not going to see them every day.  So, to all of you that enjoy what you do and the people you work with, remember this: "To enjoy your work and accept your lot in life—this is indeed a gift from God." -- Ecclesiastes 5:19b

We're just over two weeks away from our due date, and Emma seems pretty content to just stay in there.  Hopefully she'll change her mind soon - we're very ready to meet her.  I'm definitely feeling huge, but I really can't complain.  I get a little bit of heartburn, it's super hot outside, and my feet hurt if I'm on them for very long, but I'm not swelling very much, I'm sleeping relatively well, and I'm feeling pretty good overall.  When the doctor checked me at 34 weeks, my cervix had thinned some and had started to dilate, but at my last two appointments, nothing had really changed.  I've been having some contractions, but nothing strong or regular by any means.  But I still have a feeling that she's going to come early - maybe late next week?  Guess we'll just have to wait and see!

My how time flies!

Wow, hard to believe our birthdays and vacation and most of June has passed since I last posted! I knew it had been awhile but I didn't think it had been working on 2 months! (you were right Aunt-in-law Donna). Carolyn and Emma seem to be doing well. Fortunately we were able to get a vacation in before the heat and the pregnancy became uncomfortable. We traveled to Branson, MO where we saw a couple shows, played a round of golf, where I made my first hole in... a window! OOPS! And I was having such a good round prior to that! Something about shattering a window ruins your swing though. On Sunday we went and visited our friend Sara Miller in Springfield and visited her home church. It was a great break from work for both of us.  Thankfully the nursery is pretty much ready decorating-wise, now the challenge will be organizing everything from the upcoming showers and putting everything in its place.   Because, of course, everything must have a place.  But for now we continue to count the days and weeks as Emma's much anticipated arrival draws ever so near.  As of yesterday we were 8 weeks out!  I'll try to continue and keep you posted as we get closer.

Nursery Pictures

The Final 100 Days

Well, the good news is we're within 100 days of welcoming Emma into our home. The bad news is the weather has yet to hit 100 degrees, but it's coming. There is more good news, though. As you can see the majority of the nursery has been completed and Carolyn's sister Amy donated a TON of clothes to the cause (although this means less shopping for baby girl clothes). Carolyn, Emma Leigh and I plan on taking a trip to Branson for Memorial Day to get away one last time before our attention completely shifts in August. Emma has been pretty active the past couple of weeks, sometimes you can even see her kicking from out here!

Nursery & Baby Update

Howdy! Here are a few pics of our nursery's progress as well as Carolyn and Emma Leigh's progress (IT'S A GIRL!). Sorry, I meant to post when we found out it was a girl, but here we are nearly a month later! In fact we go back on Tuesday. It was a fascinating experience watching the ultrasound and seeing the fingers and ribs and watching the heartbeat. I still don't buy the washing machine sound they passed off as the heartbeat a visit before, but this ultrasound thing was worth the price of admission I know that much. He had us pretty nervous that we might not get the boy or girl answer there for a while, but for me it was just more time to see different angles and views of our little one. 115 more days until predicted due date!

Progress

Well, we've heard a heart beat and we have a crib. We actually went window shopping in Austin a few weekends ago to look at stuff, and you need the whole 9 months just to pick out everything! It was a fun time though, mainly because we didn't have to make any decisions on any of it yet. We go to the doctor again this coming Tuesday, mainly to schedule the 'big appointment' which should be late March. So in a month we should know what we're having! Wow, once that gets here we'll have less than 5 months to go! Oh, and look who's starting to show! That was taken at 4 months along.

The Waiting Game

So... here we are, just a few days shy of our second trimester! We've known of our new baby for about a month and a half now and it has obviously been the center of discussions and decisions ever since. Fortunately, the morning sickness bug really hasn't struck at our house (at least not Carolyn), and believe me, I asked her... a lot. At the moment, though, I seem to be playing a lot of the waiting game. Initially, it was the excitement and waiting to tell family and friends. And waiting for the first Dr's visit. And seeing that first heartbeat. Then we sprung into action and cleaned out the soon to be nursery. We moved bookshelves, disassembled and reassembled the desk, rearranged wall hangings. We were left with what you see in the picture, a room in waiting. But now what? We wait. Wait for the next doctor's appointment, we wait to find out if its a boy or girl, wait to find out what color to paint the nursery...wait...wait...wait. This is like waking up Christmas morning and opening presents as a child but not being able to play with them for 9 months! Sure, I have other projects to work on, and as the weather warms up I will be able to work on them, and between now and then I'll do lots of reading, but I will also be doing more preparing, and more waiting. I guess this is lesson #1 of many to come. Patience.

-Daniel