Emmitt Jeffrey Lam
September 20, 2013
7 lbs 6 oz
20 in
2:43 AM
Perfect.
Let me take you back to the day he arrived...
Emmitt's Birth Story... enjoy :)
I left school that day 100 percent sure I wouldn't be back the next day. I left everything there, all layed out, ready for my long term. I met Nikki at Java for some dinner.. another reason I knew I would go into labor. I was with her the night my water broke with Aiden too :)
I started contracting around 10:30 that night. They started out coming about every 10 minutes and I wasn't even really sure it was the real thing the first hour or so. But they quickly became closer together
and stronger. I decided to take a bath, do my hair, and pamper myself... for a couple reasons:
1. I was pretty darn uncomfortable and needed distractions..and everyone else was sleeping except my mom who, yes, I was texting things like "Holy cow it hurts!" and "My stomach is ripping open!" Ha, little did I know what was in store.
2. I knew by then that it was real and I stunk, literally. I didn't want to go have a baby and not shower for the next... 5 years, so I took advantage!
I wasn't sure when to go into the hospital. With Aiden my water broke loud and clear so we knew to go in! I woke Jeff up around 12:00 when they started happening about 4-5 minutes apart and about 1:00 my water broke. We called Sarah and she came over at 1:30. We left the house at 1:45, by the time we got to St. Lukes at 2:00 and got into a "check-in room" they were already 2 minutes apart and they
hurt extremely bad. I immediately was asking for an epidural because I knew I was moving along fast and this girl wanted her meds!! The nurse kept saying, "I'll get you your epidural, promise." She clearly didn't understand that this little boy was on his way out soon!
By 2:15 I was in some major pain so she checked me and I was 6 cm. Then she got her butt in gear. And I was STILL asking for my epidural. Then she was all like, "We have to wait for the labs to come back, I'm so sorry!" In my head (still in my head at this point) I was thinking, "Sorry isn't good enough!!"
They rolled me out to my real room shortly after that (by shortly, I mean 5 minutes later) and by the time they had to transfer me beds I was curled up on my side grabbing onto the bed for dear life! I was at 8 cm by that point. And was STILL (yelling now) asking for my epidural. And finally she said what I wanted to hear, "He is on his way." ..... But from the time they checked me at 8 cm and she said those wonderful words, until two contractions later, I had moved on pass the point of no return. I HAD to push. (But let's be honest here: I was STILL yelling for meds and announcing to everyone that would listen at 2:30 in the morning, that I could not do this! )
I told (read: screamed) them that I was going to push and they told me to breath through it because the doctor wasn't there yet. Ummm. You go ahead and tell my 7 pound 6 ounce little boy that. He wants out people! Screw the breathing.. Im pushing! It was the most intense feeling I had ever had. So I rolled myself over and pushed as hard as I could. (Yes still screaming that I couldn't do it and it hurt so bad and asking them to make it stop.. and holding my breath even though everyone kept telling me to breath) The doctor showed up right as I started pushing. Phew.
To push a child out of your body with an epidural is one thing. To push a child out of your body without any sort of medication is a WHOLE different story. And I thought the contractions were bad..
He didn't take long to make his appearance. I pushed for about 5 minutes, but let me tell you.. those 5 minutes were the most intensely painful minutes of my life. I have never felt anything close to it.. nothing compares. I remember yelling a lot (ahhh.. now I know why people yell during labor) and squeezing the nurses hand and Jeff's hand so hard I thought I was breaking them apart. And the breathing.. it wasn't happening. They kept telling me to breath. What a silly thing. I couldn't. I didn't, until his head was out and then, then, I took a breath. After he was out I felt my entire being fall off of the cliff I was dangling from and land in a fluffy pile of cotton. Then I had him in my arms.
And then everything melted away and it was just me and him. My baby boy. He grabbed my finger and then decided to wiggle his way down to my boob. He was hungry :)
My birth experience with Aiden was very zen. The labor was about 5 hours and the delivery was about 15 minutes. I remember talking, laughing, and relaxing during his birth. I also had an epidural at about 7/8 cm.
Little Emmitt's was so very different. I think if I would have gone in expecting to go all natural I would have controlled myself a bit better (maybe?). I would have been prepared (maybe?). It happened so fast and was so incredibly intense that I was thrown into a box of crazy emotions. For the first week after his birth I described it to my friends and family and "horrible" and not wishing upon my worst enemy... talking about the pain obviously.
Now, almost 2 months later, I look back and can say I am actually thankful it happened the way it did. I got to experience it in a whole new way than I did with Aiden. I got to actually FEEL him. FEEL what was happening to my body and to him. Wow. Just wow.
It was incredibly painful. But also just plain incredible.
Something I noticed right away in this picture: Jeff has color in his face and doesn't look like he's going to pass out! That's quite the improvement from 3 years ago :)
Just a few hours new!
Grammy O brought Aiden down to meet Emmitt bright and early. He was a bit confused at first and not in the best mood. I think a lot of it was because we were all trying to get him to go say hi, get pictures, do this, do that. But after we stopped, he got right in there and loved on his little brother like crazy. I was so very happy to have my Aiden there with us. It was the first time our family was all together and it felt wonderful. He visited a lot over the next couple days thanks to Grammy being his taxi cab and every time he was there I just felt so complete.
He loved holding him :)
And touching his eyes..
"Don't touch his eyes sweetie, "says Mommy.
"But I want him to open them up and wake up!" says Aiden.
He kept saying, "Oooo, he's so tiny!"
Emmitt meets The Fam and Friends
Joel came just in time for a diaper change, ha :)
We had lots of visitors that came to meet Emmitt! Unfortunately I didn't get pictures of everyone, but let me tell you.. we have amazing friends.
Grandma and Grandpa Lam snuggles! Hannah looked so big compared to her new little cousin!
Papa and his boys :)
Auntie Leslie and Uncle Ryan! So crazy to think they were just here less than a year ago!
Auntie Ash came up after a day at work for snuggle time.. no his arms arent that long!
Auntie Sarah and Uncle Brent cozying up with the little guy.
Grammy and Papa O .. the look of love :)
Small but Big Moments
First diaper change.
How many poopy diapers did you Snapchat Jeff? :)
Little feet in his new socks from Ash
Footprints..
Emmitt didn't have a name for the first couple days so his tags just said Baby Lam.
Emmitt didn't open his eyes much in the hospital, but when he did we could tell they were going to be beautiful!
Getting his picture taken :)
Aiden got a lot of awesome gifts too!
To prove that I really WAS there, my mom took a picture of me taking the pictures :)
Ha! I love everything about this picture.
Never the wrong time for tickles.
:)
Daddy checking in the first "check up".
When I finally started breathing again..
Best way to rest. With a new baby in your arms. Oh don't freak out AAP, I literally told my husband to take the picture.
All love.
Peeking in on brother.
My boys.
Going home
Yay, let's go home!
As prepared as I thought I was, I forgot to pack mittens and socks and
didn't realize it until the moment we put him in his seat to go home.
Whoops. So the Hawkeye socks ended up doubling as mittens because
Emmitt LOVES to have his hands up by his face at all times and he
scratches himself badly. And his tootsies were covered up by a
blanket. It all worked out :)
My life feels so complete. The amount of love that is pouring out of my heart for these two boys is inexplicable. And watching my husband with them and knowing he feels the same way makes it doubly amazing. I have my forever family and I can't wait to spend the future with them.
