emery's birth story

emery lane freeborn entered the world on May 17, 2015

weighing 9 lbs. 9 oz. and 21 " long

here's her story

My due date was originally June 4.

Being diabetic and such, we knew I would probably need to have baby by 38ish weeks.

Just like we did with Levi, we decided to have Baby 2 be a surprise as well.

My pregnancy was very different this time.

I was sick.

A lot.

And it impacted my blood sugars a lot.

I had several ER visits because of it.

I got to have my first ambulance ride.

Midway through pregnancy, baby began measuring large.

Each ultrasound, the percentile got larger.

Originally, my doctor was on board with trying a VBAC this time, pending that I went into labor on my own.

I didn't have any strong convictions either way, but just decided to take things one day at a time and see how it all played out.

However, Baby began measuring over 90th percentile and we determined a scheduled C Section at 38 weeks would be best.

Her birthday was scheduled for May 22.

She chose otherwise.

This pregnancy, I was huge.

I gained 30 lbs.

Not crazy.

{at 37 +1}

But I was huge.

It hurt to walk.

It hurt to move.

Teaching wore me out.

The weekend of May 16, Mr. Free had been asked to officiate his good friends wedding.

No, Mr. Free isn't a minister, but got his online certificate to perform the ceremony.

We always joked about baby making their grand entrance during the wedding, but I prayed Baby would wait.

And Baby did.

By 5 hours. 

After the wedding a strong storm came through our area.

At 2 am, 5 hours after we got home from the wedding I began to get super crampy.

I began to time them and they were a minute long and 3 minutes apart.

When they continued for an hour, I called my mom to come over and watch Levi so we could get checked out.

The contractions got stronger and harder to talk through.

We got to the hospital and it was crazy.

Completely full.

They said the storm had brought in a lot of women in labor.

They monitored me and said I was definitely in labor, but I wasn't dilated.

Being that I was 37 and a half weeks pregnant, and "technically" not full term yet, they wouldn't take me in for a c section until I was dilating or my water broke.

So I labored.

And labored.

The nurse told me, " you didn't prepare for labor did you?"

Um, no.

That wasn't the plan.

This sumo baby was not coming out that way.

Luckily she gave me some tips and tricks and it helped to relax me.

I labored for a few hours in the triage room until I was finally dilated to a 1.

That was all they needed to justify the c-section.

So around 7:30 am I was prepped and wheeled into the OR.

It was so surreal.

Last time I kept falling asleep and this time I was determined to be awake and enjoy it.

But I was scared.

I'm a huge wimp and it totally hit me that I was going to be cut open awake again.

I cried and said how scared I was and the nurses were awesome at comforting me.

Did I mention that my regular OB was on maternity leave?

And that she was returning from it the next day?

So, I had the Dr on call, whom I was informed had been there the entire stormy weekend and I would be here ELEVENTH c section that weekend.

I asked if she was up for it, and they said "Oh yeah, she got like 2 hours of sleep."

It was then I realized I may die.

Or have surgical equipment left inside my uterus after the surgery.

So, we go in for the surgery and I'm given a spinal which works quickly.

I was kind of bummed that I never got to talk with my doctor about some requests I had for a "gentle cesarean".

However, God was so good and the doctor asked about some of the things I wanted right before the surgery.

I got to have a clear sheet in front of me, instead of the standard blue one so I could see baby be born.

I was so thankful for that.

So, this time the spinal make me very queasy and I dry heave throughout the procedure.

Before I know it, Baby is out and the doctor exclaims, "This one's a two hander!" And lifts her up.

She asks Mr. Free if he'd like to announce the gender. 

"It's a girl!!"

This entire pregnancy I knew she was a girl.

I knew before she was conceived.

Just like I knew Levi was a boy.

God just laid it on my heart.

They hold her up and she is a total chunk.

They take her over to get cleaned up and monitored.

That's when I can tell somethings not quite right.

They call the NICU doctor back in.

Mr. Free is over with Emery as they are assessing her and we lock eyes.

I can tell something was wrong.

I was so scared we may lose her.

They cleaned her up, let me kiss her and quickly whisked her off to the NICU.

I sent Mr. Free to be with her.

I got sown back up and into Recovery.

I felt pretty darn good, just nauseated.

And worried sick.

Mr. Free comes back in and tells me, with tears in his eyes that she is going to be OK.

That it was hard seeing her all hooked up to machines, but she would be fine.

After my hour in Recovery, they wheeled me in my bed to the NICU to see her.

I found out then that she was having difficulty breathing, that she swallowed meconium and that her blood sugar registered at 0 at birth.

Zero.

That is so crazy scary.

They had her hooked up to glucose, breathing machines, monitors, etc.

She was in the NICU for 6 days.

She went home the day she was scheduled to have been born.

Each day she got stronger.

Each day she fought to get out of there.

She would pull out her tubing and monitors and they would then follow her lead and see how she did without those things.

We had to work on feeding that week but we eventually got the hang of it all.

The entire NICU team was so fantastic.

I can't say that enough.

The neonatologist worked with kept reassuring me that her situation was very normal for babies of diabetic moms.

And not to blame myself.

It is so hard not to, but he just kept reassuring me.

This is how it is, and we treat it and all will be OK.

They did an echo cardiogram and noticed her right side of her heart was enlarged slightly.

The doctor said that is normal with babies of diabetic mamas but that we would follow up in 3 months to see that it returned to normal.

All during this week of NICU time, I began to feel weak and found my blood level dropped to below 6.

This required a blood transfusion.

After 2 pints of blood I felt much much better.

I was discharged 2 days before Emery would be, but luckily they offered us a hospitality room to stay in for those 2 nights so we could remain at the hospital with her.

Levi this whole time stayed with his grandparents.

I missed him like crazy.

I cried each night missing my sweet boy.

Thankfully he was in great hands and enjoyed his little "vacation" with grandma and grandpa.

He would visit the hospital each day.

He got several "big brother" gifts, one including a cape and batman mask.

The child wore them every.day. to the hospital.

Everyone loved it.

But all of our first family pictures include Mommy, Daddy, Emery and Batman.

Oh well, it's fitting.

How did we get her name?
Like a billion years ago, Mr. Free and I were driving and saw a street called "Emery Street".
I remarked how that is a cute name.
It stuck ever since.
It was our girl name.

Lane is a combination of my middle name, Louise, and my grandma and his grandma's middle name of Jane.

So Emery has done fantastic since.

Her weight has dropped in percentile considerably.

At 2 months old she was 10 lbs even and 23%.

However, Levi was small.

We just make small kids.

Emery just started off large, thanks to her mama.

I am so thankful to be this sweet girls Mama.

She looks just like her daddy.

She loves to smile.

She adores her big brother.

I pinch myself that God blessed me with a son and daughter and look forward to the many memories we will all make together.