Emeri Jade Brown

She finally came! Our little angel was welcomed into the world on Wednesday, October 17th at 8:41am. She weighed 7 lb 4 oz and is 19 inches long. She is perfect and we can't believe she is ours.

I want to give all the details of the labor and delivery, but am limited on time (my life now consists of nursing, pumping, changing diapers, eating, sleeping if I am lucky and then repeat :)). I want to get all the pictures up for family and friends and will post the dets later on.

Thank you to everyone for your support, love and help. Emeri is so blessed to have each of you in her life.

 Holding her for the first time was the best feeling ever! 

 This is a face of joy, not pain as some might interpret. 

 She was bigger than we thought she would be :)

 Already the best dad in the world.

 Auntie Brittany

 Isla Jane meeting Emeri Jade....precious!

 Grandma & Grandpa Brown

 Uncle Andrew

Patience

Yes, it is October 16th. Yes, my original due date was October 11th. And yes, I am going crazy!

I have always considered myself a patient person, but I have learned how very impatient I truly am. Waiting on our baby girl to come has been quite the roller coaster, especially for an already hormonal, sleep deprived version of Shailynn. Here is the condensed scoop on what has been happening.

10/8: Around 9:30-10:00pm I started to have contractions that began to become consistent and more powerful as time went on (they were coming and 3-4 minutes). My mom was on her way as soon as she heard. She stopped in Vegas to pick up Shannon and Isla. They drove all night and arrived a before 6am. Around 4:00am I was able to drift off to sleep (thanks to hypnobabies tracks). I woke around 5:30 and they contractions were gone!

10/9: Still no more contractions.Walked and ate spicy foods and tried "other means" of inducing labor with no avail.

10/10: Went on a "hike" as my mom kept calling it :). It really was just a walk up the canyon. I did however run a bit, hoping this would spark something...but nothing. Mini meltdown.

10/11: Had a doctor's appointment. Dilated to 3+ (almost a 4) and 90% effaced. She also stripped/sweeped my membranes (separating the placenta from the cervix). This wasn't very painful at all...the doc said it is because my cervix was very ready. She said that sweeping the membranes works to induce some woman and not for others.  After this appointment I thought for sure the baby would come that day or the next. I contracted a little after the appointment. We walked around the mall to keep me moving but as the day went on so did my baby girl's chance of having the awesome birthday of 10/11/12. Oh well.

10/12: My mom scheduled me and appointment with an acupuncturist...she had too much time on her hands to research methods of inducing labor. Don't ask me why I just went along with this. Ok, well it was probably because I was getting desperate to get baby girl out of my body. And besides my mom did/does acupuncture all the time and believes in it. However, I knew it was a mistake after the acupuncturist put some needles in and then hooked them up to cables that resembled mini car jumper cables and my mom said "Oh I've never seen this before." Anxiety set in. It did not lessen when he turned on the machine and my hands started twitching uncomfortably. I made it through 15 minutes of this "current" running from my hands to my feet. The acupuncturist was full Chinese and spoke broken English. It was difficult to understand how he said it would help induce labor...all I understood is that "it will make baby strong, strong baby." This was also very unsettling. Lesson learned....no acupuncture for me, at least in regards to labor induction.

10/13: Walked all day. Went to SLC farmers market and City Creek. After a meltdown at the end of the day, I settled in my mind that baby isn't coming until November.

10/14: Not a thing. More stressed about mom and Shannon being here without the baby here. We did take some pictures on the Provo River trail. See below. We also had a great Sunday dinner with Brittany and Andrew over.

10/15: Woke up with resolve. Walked 3 miles with my mom. Felt the baby lower, but nothing more than this. Just tried not to stress. We went to the movies and saw Pitch Perfect. Felt great to laugh a lot.

Today: Learning to accept the baby and my body's time table is increasing my patience ten fold. I have accepted that I had to be at least 1 week off my due date calculation. I know I am not 2 weeks off though. I realize that I have been so focused on wanting the baby girl here for me and my family's convenience instead of focusing on her what she might need. I am planning on going to the chiropractor today and maybe get a prenatal massage (advice from a friend's sister that went into labor shortly after doing so). Just trying what I can and mostly focusing on relaxing. I am so grateful for the time I have gotten to spend with my mom, Shannon and Isla, it has been wonderful!

 The stripped shirt makes me look even bigger.

 My hubby is such a stud!

 Look as this lil angel!

 Isla loves Mimi!

P.s. Sorry I still haven't posted pics of the nursery. It is next on my list.

11 Days

38 Weeks Baby!

11 days until my due date...at least the due date I am going by :). Because baby girl has been measuring small, the doc pushed the due date back to October 26. No thank you! Shannon says that Isla always measured 2-3 weeks off plus she delivered a week early. So, I am definitely sticking with the October 11th due date.

During my appointment on Thursday, I was measuring 2 cm and 80% effaced. Not quite sure what this means as far as timeframe of baby girl's arrival. The only words the doc said when I inquired is that it doesn't necessarily mean that I will be early, just that I have a "prime cervix" in case they need to induce me. Hoping that never needs to become needed. Btw, she mean't early according to the Oct. 26 due date..psh. Doc did mention that she will be out of town October 10th-14 or maybe it was the 16th, not sure. However, I am sure that this little girl is coming before or during that time. Figures. Since I am not too attached to my doctor at all, I am not worried about it.

As far as when she will get her, I have in my mind that it would be ok to have her next weekend. We shall see.

Another update: we finally got a dresser! Thanks to some of my awesome family that chipped in to pay for it; you are all amazing and we are so very grateful. I had planned on finding a decent one off of ksl.com or craigslist but after searching non stop for the past 3 week with no luck, I gave up. My search also included RC Willey, target, walmart, overstock.com & outlet (any store, you name it). I was suprized at the lack of selection and/or prices at all these places. We ended up getting it from Ikea and I love it! I know there are mixed feeling about Ikea furniture, but I did my research and weighed cost with other features that were important to us. We are happy with it.

I will post a picture of the chosen dresser once we put it all together. In the meantime, here are some pics of Bri and I having fun with the bellies :).

Nursery Ideas

For family and friends that have been asking me what my nursery theme is:

I love the whites, gray and natural tones accented with an aqua and hints of the dark magenta. I love the somewhat rustic feel of using wood, branches and twigs. I also love the bird cage and bird theme. Thus far, I have decorated using items I already have. I have a feeling her room is going to be fairly eclectic. I will post pictures of the room soon. 

Our Baby Girl

I never got around to adding these. This is baby girl....I am actually growing a little human being in my body!