Emma taunted us for WEEKS prior to her arrival. Believe it or not, I was a station 0 for a solid 4 weeks before I was induced. That's not normal. My midwife's continued reassurance was "Oh, you'll never make it to your due date, this baby is in a hurry. "
Well, it turns out that there were 2 little hands and 1 elbow that blocked all chances of an early delivery. On my due date of October 14th, we decided with the counsel of our delivery team that it was best to induce. Emma had been so low for so long, and I had been leaking amniotic fluid so there was a chance she was getting low...That and I was DESPERATE to be done.
13 loooooong hours of labor later, 2 turns in the jacuzzi, countless walks through the labor hallways and I had an exhausted husband from never sitting down, a mom who was literally on the hospital bed behind me, pushing my back to keep me from giving up from back labor, when little Emma Grace Coleman appeared....all at once....head, shoulders, hands and elbows, we did it all at once. Her Daddy had tears in his eyes and I'll never forget that first night in the hospital. Around 3am, after we'd all been cleaned up and "put to bed", Andy decided Emma couldn't sleep in her little hospital cart, he wanted to hold her. He sat in the recliner and just stared at her. He'd drift off to sleep and startle back to awake again, afraid he'd drop her. I'll never forget what it was like to watch them together. I had a baby girl.
7 lbs 13 oz and all I could think was, "I am so thankful she's here because I'm never going through that again." Somehow though, even after 91 stitches, I did it two more times, just not without drugs of some sort.
Emma Today
8 years have gone by. I still feel as though Emma requires every mothering ability I have and then some of what I don't. She asks deep questions, worries about the world's problems, thinks of and spends her time with nursing home patients and has more of a handle on spiritual matters than some adults.
Kids like Emma are a huge blessing, but a huge responsibility....Nothing escapes them, they see everything you do, there is no chance of fudging your way through. They can smell insincerity.
She gave her heart to Jesus when she was 4 and she lives what she believes. Her heart is soft to our instruction and has a firm desire to please her parents. (Again, another huge responsibility...kids like that can be broken into pieces so easily...)
Most days you'll find her either with her nose in a book, at science club, basketball practice, on her piano practicing, playing with her sister and brother or off in la-la land climbing up her favorite apple tree.
I want to say Happy Birthday to the first baby love of my life. My Emma Lou who fills up my heart with joy. You are beautiful and I treasure every day with you.
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