Happy First Birthday Emmeline!

The Birthday Girl

Exactly one year ago today, our dearest Emmeline Louise came into this world at 7:31am.  I woke up at 3:00am feeling some contractions.  I had been having contractions for three or four weeks, but these contractions were coming every few minutes.  I woke Paul up and he called the midwife.  She told us to get our things together and meet her at The Birth Center.  My contractions were incredibly intense and close together.  I was expecting that the early stages of labor would last for several hours and that we would spend that time at home relaxing and leisurely getting ready to go.  Well this was certainly not the case and by 4:30am I was telling Paul to run the stop lights as we drove one very long mile to The Birth Center.  Katie, the midwife on duty that night, met us there and had everything ready for us.  I was about 4 centimeters dilated when we arrived and felt like pushing about an hour after we arrived.  We had taken hypnobirthing classes which helped me relax and focus throughout labor.  We also brought about six hours worth of Enya to set a comfortable atmosphere.  I labored mostly on my hands and knees and turned over on my right side in the last 45 minutes of labor.  Paul helped the midwife "catch" Emmeline but the cord was wrapped around her neck and under her armpits so he didn't get to help as much as he would have liked.  When I reached down for Emmeline, pulling her to my chest and saw her for the first time, the first thing that I noticed was her big, alert eyes.  She looked as if she was soaking in the entire world in her first look.  She didn't even seem to squint, even though the sunlight filled the room with bright rays.  It was the most gorgeous, sunny summer morning to have a baby.  And she was absolutely perfect:

Our first look at each other, just seconds

after she was born.

Sweet little Emmy Lou

Nurse Deborah, midwife Katie, new daddy

with his baby, nurse Peggy and midwife Nicole.

Today we had Emmeline's birthday party in Bellevue Park.  I made her this special little non-dairy, low-sugar cake with banana and mango glaze.  She didn't seem that interested in it but that could have been because there was so much going on.  Most of her baby friends were able to attend and we had a beautiful day to play outside.  The forecast had called for rain but Mother Nature was smiling down on us today.  The babies played on the swings and had fun climbing over each other and playing tug-of-war with each others' toys.  Paul's cousin and her husband were able to make the party but they were our only family there as our families are in the Midwest.  Today we missed our families and they wished they could be with Emmeline, but they will see her soon.  We will be flying out to the Midwest for two weeks this upcoming Wednesday.  Despite being without our families today, Emmeline was surrounded by people who love and adore her.  We have wonderful friends and we are very grateful for them all. Thank you to all of you who made Emmeline's first birthday so special for her and for Paul and me.

Birthday smiles for mommy

"Happy 1st Birthday Pokey" cake from

Serpes Bakery.  This is what was on her

birthday cake last year; we didn't order

it until after she was already overdue.

Emmeline and her baby friends. Marysol is

sleeping in her stroller, clockwise from her 

is Estella (standing), Elisa, Sabine, Haley

and Emmeline.

Playing with one of her fun new toys

A quiet moment

Birthday parties are fun!

Visiting the "yellow room" at The Birth Center

where Emmeline was born.  We took this

picture on Thursday when we were at TBC

for our play group.