Emma's Photo Sessions

So way back in June I promised photos from our sessions with Angel Gray Photography... Well, actually I just promised photos from the newborn session, however due to my slacking you will get to see not only Emma's newborn session, but also her 4 month and 8 month sessions... See it's like Christmas all over again... ;) Okay, maybe not like Christmas but now you don't have to wait 8 months to see them, you can watch her grow in minutes rather than months from the most adorable, scrunched-up little ball of perfection to the most adorable little baby who is sitting up and showing off her spunky little attitude...  So enjoy the photographic trip through Emma's first 8 months via the lens of Angel Gray's camera...  Click on the three links below to view the photos from each session.

Newborn Session (6 weeks old)

4 Month Session

8 Month Session (This session also included some family shots)

We have Emma's one year session scheduled at the end of March... It's hard to believe that our sweet little baby is almost a year old!  I will post a link to that session in April so be on the lookout for that... I have to give a small shout out to Angel Gray and her incredible talent that captured wonderful moments in each of  Emma's sessions as well as amazing shots of the rest of our family during the October photo session.  I have struggled with professional photographers for many years and either their lack of patience or their superegos that get in the way of their listening abilities when I try explaining our family's needs and limitations.  But Angel not only listened, she understood and in the process was able to give us fabulous photographs that I love... I love them not only because they are really good photos, but because they capture the personalities of each person in our family in a very natural (not posed) way...  So thanks Angel! 

Next up I am going to do a brief catch-up kind of post on Audrey and Claire, so stay tuned... :)

March 14 - Here Comes Baby!

So it's Monday, March 14th, approximately 6:30 in the a.m., we have made it through registration and are settled into the birthing suite.  The nurses came in and started all of the wonderful paperwork that has to be completed and they readied me for my IV and such.  Inductions, in my opinion, are great!  Everything runs smoothly...  For me, it just made the whole experience much more relaxed and enjoyable.  The nurses were concerned that this delivery might progress too quickly this time around since my labor with Claire was only two hours start to finish, so they started my epidural earlier than usual  that  way I wouldn't miss the window of opportunity to get it.  So while I was only 3 cm and with pain ranking a mere 2 on the 10 point scale, the wonderful anesthesiologist came in to start my epidural.  Now this did slow my labor progression but I was in absolutely zero pain so I did not see that as a problem. Here is a photo to show you how Brock and I spent the couple of hours waiting for everything to progress...

Notice the iPad is sitting on the table next to Brock's leg... We watched a movie and then some stand-up comedians... Nothing like some good laughs before delivering a baby. ;) Speaking of having a baby, here's a photo of me in labor...

See why epidurals are such great things... "Active labor" and not one ounce of pain! :)  The pitocin drip was started around 9:00 a.m. and around 2:00 p.m. the nurse called the doctor in... It was showtime!  The doctor came in and checked my progression and said that Emma was ready to greet the world.  One, two, three pushes and here she was! (Thank you Pilates!!!)  Our perfect little baby girl, Emma Catherine Ballard said "Hello World!" at 2:25 p.m. on the 14th of March 2011.  Brock cut her umbilical cord (just like he did with all of our children) and then the nurses weighed, measured and scored our little bundle - 7 lbs 2 oz, 19.5 inches and 9s on both Apgar tests.  See... I told you she was perfect!  Here are some photos of Emma shortly after delivery...

 

We spent the rest of the afternoon loving, holding and just soaking in all of the goodness that comes with a new baby.  My mom brought the "Big Sisters" to visit later that day and they were so excited to meet their new little sister.  I had the most adorable shirts made for them that said "Big Sis Audrey" and "Big Sis Claire".  Emma had a gown that said "Lil Sis Emma".  (You will see the shirts/gown in one of the photos below.) Claire was the most excited I think because she was finally a big sister like Audrey.  We explained that they are both special roles because Audrey is now a double big sister and Claire is now a big and little sister.  Emma has a special role too being a double little sister.  Our hope is that these "special" roles will help alleviate any issues with being labeled the "oldest", "middle" and "baby" later.  Here are some photos of the big sisters meeting the little sister...

Claire couldn't wait to hold Emma...

Daddy and his three girls :)

Audrey holding Emma

Claire holding Emma

The Girls!

 Three Sisters

I'm Back and Ready to Blog Again...

It's hard to believe that so much has happened in the past two months...  There have been ups and downs, good times and bad times and my plan is to catch you up on all of the happenings in the next few posts. I am going to blog them in chronological order with the date and subject in the title so I hope you are able to follow without too much confusion...

My last entry was all about my maternity photos and how wonderful my pregnancy had been. That was Friday, March 11th. My doctor upped my due date to Monday the 14th so there was a lot of things to get ready for the big day and only a few days left to get them finished. My mom flew in on Saturday and she helped me finish the few things left on the to do list. Our contractor worked some miracles and got the exterior of our house painted and 99% of the interior punch list completed. I have to say that the big belly has quite the persuasive power. Sunday (the 13th) was a relatively relaxed day. We spent the day together for the last time as a family of four. As I expected, I had a hard time going to sleep that might because I knew that little Emma was going to make her big debut the next day and the excitement was overflowing. Knowing that I needed rest so I would actually have the energy to deliver my precious baby enabled me to get a few hours of sleep. We had to be at the hospital at 6 am on Monday so we did our hugs and kisses with Audrey and Claire that night. Monday morning came quickly after four short hours of sleep, but the excitement of a new baby got the adrenaline pumping and put an extra bounce in our steps. And as is my usual M.O., we were running a few minutes behind.  Brock kept telling me that we had to go, but I kept thinking, "Really? It's not like they are going to deliver the baby without me... I am the incubator after all. :)"  Here is one last photo of me and the belly outside the hospital.

Maternity Photo Session

My good friend, Alison, took some fabulous photos of me and the belly today.  We went to Highland Beach Park, which is a great beach just down the street from us.  At first I thought I might be a bit apprehensive about flaunting the belly in public, but it turns out I am obviously not that shy.  Pregnancy is such a special time and I am so thankful that I was able to have this moment captured.  Alison did a wonderful job photographing it.  The pictures speak for themselves, so enjoy! :)

37 weeks with a big belly

Disclaimer... Some details from my doctor's visit will be found in this post so if you don't care to read about that click away now or just skip the first section... :)

37 Weeks with a BIG belly

So I am now 37 weeks and went for a checkup yesterday with my amazing OB.  I have been having a lot of inconsistent contractions the last week or so.  At my 36 week checkup I had already dilated 1.5 cm and  was 50% effaced, so I was anxious to know if these off and on contractions of late had actually caused any further progression.  Well, they obviously had - at least a little bit.  I was 2.5 cm dilated and 60% effaced yesterday and the doctor seemed a bit surprised.  She upped my delivery date from the 21st to the 14th and told me to "take it easy" so that I would make it until then.

I really don't know how you "take it easy" when you have other children, ongoing construction and a 14-day to do list that now has to be crammed into 6 days, but I will prevail.  I know I have to get more realistic with my to do list and not worry about the parts of the construction that won't be complete before Emma comes home, but I want it all... You know I am the "have my cake and eat it too" kind of person.. Not necessarily a terrible fault, but not the best attribute to have either.

Emma's nursery is 99% complete. It would be 100% but Pottery Barn Kids threw a huge wrench into my plans.  I had ordered an adorable table lamp and shade over two months ago and the shade was on back order (of course) until March 3rd. No big deal, right?  I mean my due date is toward the end of the month, so no worries... Well, that was the case until I got an e-mail update from PBK telling me that my adorable shade had been delayed again until April 4th.  What?!?  So as of now I have a lamp base with no shade... not very pretty... but I am going to look for a temporary replacement shade today.  I say "temporary" because I still want this adorable shade from PBK (of course - the whole cake thing applies here too)...  Isn't it precious?

It goes very well with the rest of Emma's decor and will perfectly complete the nursery, but not until April ,I guess. :)  Anyway, I hope to get some photos of the nursery posted soon... So be on the lookout for those...  

Oh... Another update is that I had to unfortunately cancel my maternity session for the 17th because, well, let's face it, I won't be pregnant anymore... But I have a good friend, Alison, that is going to take some photos of me and the belly at the beach this week. She has great talent for photography and, even though she doesn't, she really should consider doing it professionally... So I will have maternity photos to post soon and I have a newborn session scheduled for Emma when we get home from the hospital... I am really looking forward to both of those shoots...

36 1/2 weeks...

 

Wow!  Where has the time gone?  It seems like we just found out that we were expecting and now we are just over two weeks away from Emma's arrival!  While I didn't think it was possible, my belly has grown bigger.  She has also dropped a bit which is nice for my breathing but not so great for my bladder ;)  Overall, I am feeling really good.  I get tired quicker but nothing that a short session of feet propping doesn't fix.  Brock jokingly reminds me that I now have a full-on waddle walk but what do you expect with a big belly and hips that are getting ready to birth a baby.  He also tells me how beautiful I am and that makes me feel very special. I love the way he and the girls love the belly.  Claire gives Emma kisses every day.  The first time she gave my belly a big hug and kiss the conversation went like this:

Claire:  (Big hug and kiss on the belly) I love you!

Mom: I love you too Claire!

Claire: I wasn't talking to you Mommy.  I was talking to Baby Emma!

Mom: Oh...

Everyone is getting excited about Emma's arrival and we are very close to being ready -- if you can ever actually be "ready".  But the construction is nearing the end and is almost finished on the inside -- just a few small details to complete.  The house may not be painted and the landscaping will probably not be completely installed before she gets here but I guess I will have to just learn to live with that.   Her nursery is complete so "Victory!" there. But I still have two weeks and a really big belly to convince our contractor to move quickly.  So maybe it will all work out and I can have my cake and eat it too. :)

Audrey and Claire attended a sibling class at the hospital, where I will deliver, a few weeks ago.  We toured the maternity wing, saw a brand-new newborn (a nice refresher of just how small newborns actually are), made onesies for Emma with their handprint and talked with the nurse about what you can and can't do with a new baby and how they could be big helpers to Mom and Dad.  It was a fun class and they both had a great time.  We have also made a countdown chain to countdown the days until Emma's scheduled delivery.  Did I mention that?  Our doctor has picked the 21st of March to be Emma's birthday.  It is also the first day of spring.  Yeah! Anyway, the countdown chain counts down the number of nights that the girls have to go to sleep before Emma is born.  We make these chains for things like this and other events like counting down until grandparents visit, etc.  It is fun because every day you get to see the chain get shorter and it helps the kids, especially Claire, visualize how much longer we have to wait.  It also helps me not have to answer the never-ending question of "When will Baby Emma be here?"  A photo of the countdown chain is below...

 Another thing that I am very excited about is my maternity photo session that I have scheduled for March 17th (so I hope that Emma doesn't come before then).  I am excited about the session because I love my baby bump and look forward to having it professionally captured.  We are going to shoot the maternity session at the beach -- I mean, that's where we live and what an amazing background to be able to use.  So pray for a sunny day with blue skies and no labor! :) The photographer is also going to shoot a newborn session of Emma at home so be on the lookout for those great photos later.

I will try to get more blogging in before Emma's delivery, so stay tuned!  

29 Weeks

So the belly is HUGE and I still have 11 weeks to go at this point... I'm thinking I might not make it to the end of March, but we will see...  As large as the belly is, my weight gain is still hovering right around 12-13 pounds.  As most people have told me, the weight is all in my belly which is a good thing.  Especially since my brother and his fiance just set the date for their wedding to be August 6th - that's only five months after my due date!  It's is not that I am actually in the wedding party, but one must still look good as the sister of the groom.  I mean, there will be photos taken! ;) But I digress...

So at 29 weeks, I went for my regular doctor's visit and everything looked good.  I passed my second glucose tolerance test (the yucky 3-hour one) and was very happy about that.  At the end of the appointment my doctor said "We'll see you in 2 weeks".  This caught me off guard... What?  I'm not that far along yet, am I?  Well, I guess I am because I am going to see the doctor on Monday for my now "Every 2 weeks" checkup (I am a bit behind in blogging because I am now 31 weeks hence why I am going to the doctor in two days)... I know this means that the remainder of my pregnancy will begin to fly by.  While part of me is anxious and excited to finally hold our little bundle of joy, there is a small part of me that loves being pregnant and doesn't want to give up the special moments that I get to share with the baby - you know, the flutters and kicks that you feel all of the time and the closeness that you have because she is with you, a part of you, I'm not really sure how to describe it but I know that all of you Moms out there know what I am talking about.  Maybe I am just feeling this way because I know 100% that she is the last baby that I will carry and while I am very settled with that decision, it is still just a little sad.  However, I feel blessed to have had the opportunity to experience pregnancy one more time.  Many of you know, Brock and I thought that our family was complete and had made plans and appointments made to have permanent measures taken.  But one month before those plans were to be carried out, we were given a wonderful surprise!  I believe that we were meant to have three children and that God has special plans for each of them.

24 weeks

So here is a photo that Audrey took of my ever-growing belly at 24 weeks... I am a little behind in getting this posted because we are now at 25 weeks but it's been crazy around my house (more on that later).  I went for my checkup on Monday and got a great report.  Baby #3 is right on schedule and my weight is still progressing right on track - only 9 pounds thus far - but I am sure that will change as she starts adding lots of cuddly fat to her little body.  She has been kicking and rolling around a lot lately.  Everyone - being the immediate family - has been able to feel her movements.  Even Duke got in on the action last night... He was snuggled next to me with his body next to the belly.  Baby kicked and Duke jumped!  It was very funny!  She has also found my sciatic nerve or at least found a position to hang out that presses on it... While the discomfort is not a constant issue, it does catch me off guard at the intensity, albeit a short spurt of intensity.  I have added a number of stretches and exercises to my daily routine that will hopefully help alleviate most of the discomfort.  I don't remember having this issue with my previous pregnancies, but the doctor did tell me that subsequent pregnancies tend to carry lower and that may cause more pressure to be placed on the area around the sciatic nerve.  All in all, the pregnancy is still going very well... While I can no longer see my toes, I am able to move around very easily and my energy level seems to be getting better each day, which is a very good thing since the holidays are upon us and my schedule seems to be getting crazier by the day.  We are going for our 4-D ultrasound tomorrow afternoon so I will try to post new photos soon!

21 Weeks

"You are halfway there!"  That's what my weekly e-mail told me this week.  It's seems like we just found out that we were having another baby and now I am 5 months along.  The end of March seems like a long time away, but it also feels like it is right around the corner.  So with only four months to go, I have been feeling really good (with the exception of my allergies that are always bad this time of year).  I remember how great the second trimester is - you know, when you can still move around relatively well, you can still see your toes (well, barely see your toes) and your energy level picks up a bit.  I have been feeling the baby move like crazy, but everytime I try to get someone else to feel her (like my husband or my children), either she stops moving or they can't feel the movement.  It is a bittersweet time for me because, while I want them to share in the excitement of the baby's movements, I still like being the only one that can feel it.  It is like a special bond that only the two of us share.  In the next few weeks, she should grow enough that Brock and the girls will be able to feel her kicks and flips; and I will be so happy to be able to share it with them.  For now, I will treasure each movement that I get to experience solo.

It's a GIRL!!!

We went to the hospital on Friday for my second trimester ultrasound.  The tech told us that everything looked great - the baby was just the right size for the due date and all of the parts were there and in the correct places, oh, and she also told us that more PINK was in our future! :)  Baby Ballard #3 is Baby Girl #3!  While most people have thought that we might be disappointed that we are having another girl, we are actually very happy.  We would have been happy either way, but having another girl just goes along with what we already know what to do.  Other plus is now we do not have to rename the boat! ;) 

(note the name at the back)

Audrey and Claire are very happy about having a new sister.  Claire wanted a sister all along and declared, "I was RIGHT!" when the tech told us it was a girl.  I think 'being right' is something that means a lot to a little sister!  Audrey, who really wanted a brother, was still excited about a new sister.  The fact that this means that she will get her own "big girl" teen room when the baby moves into the room with Claire probably had a bit to do with that.

Okay, for those of you who are wondering, we do not have any names at this point but we are putting our thinking caps on and getting started with the process.  Audrey's name was relatively easy.  We knew that we wanted "Grace" as the middle name and when we found the name "Audrey" in the family tree we just knew that was the perfect combination.  Claire's name didn't come quite as quickly, mainly because I put so much pressure on myself to come up with a name that was equally as perfect as Audrey's.  We knew we wanted "Claire" (another name from the family tree) but we struggled with another name to go with it for quite some time.  The doctor scheduled my induction for the 30th of December and that put the name selection into high gear.  We found "Natalie" which means born on/near Christmas, which worked great since Claire was born on Dec. 30th.  With that we had an equally perfect name for our second baby girl.  So we have "Audrey Grace" and "Natalie Claire"... and now we have to come up with another girl name that is equally as perfect as those two.  I have no doubt that we will, but I know that it will take some thought. :)

16 weeks

16 weeks -- Photo by Claire

Claire wanted to take a picture of my ever-growing belly, so I thought I would share. :)

So far this pregnancy has gone well. I had a bout of morning sickness for a couple of weeks, but that is over now! Yes, I know that my belly looks quite big to be a four month belly, but I haven't gained a lot of weight... yet... I know that I will pack on the pounds from here on out, but this is the good kind of weight gain -- the weight gain with a "pot of gold" at the end! I gained 33 and 31 pounds with my previous pregnancies and that seemed to be a good amount of gain for me. The doctor told me I should gain between 30 - 35 pounds this time around as well. So that's the goal! Healthy weight gain = Healthy baby, so it's really a win-win... I am also trying to stay active and keep up with a regular exercise plan. I started a prenatal Pilates class a month ago and I LOVE it! I did regular Pilates for about a year before I got pregnant and it was very beneficial. Now, with the ever-growing belly, Amy (my Pilates instructor) has modified the exercises to accommodate my needs. I feel fantastic after each class and look forward to seeing if there is a difference in delivery -- my doctor said that Pilates is a great exercise, along with walking and swimming, for moms-to-be. So time will tell...

We find out if we are getting a boy or girl added to the family at the end of the month! Audrey and Claire are so excited, although they each want something different. Audrey wants a brother because she "already has a sister" and Claire wants a sister because she "wants there to be three sisters in our family". I can relate to Audrey because I wanted my baby brother to be a girl because I already had a little brother. Unfortunately, I didn't get what I wanted. And while I wasn't very excited at the beginning, I learned that having two little brothers was actually a lot of fun! Claire is very adamant about the baby being a girl. She isn't open to having a brother, but if it turns out to be a boy, I am sure that she will come around to the idea and love him just as much as she would have loved a sister. Brock and I are actually neutral on the whole gender issue - healthy with 10 fingers and 10 toes is what we want. So my next baby post will be a big announcement - Boy or Girl! Stay tuned...

Our Little Surprise

We officially found out yesterday that we are expecting Baby #3 at the end of March.  We are very excited about the news.  Audrey and Claire are beyond excited.  The ultrasound tech told us that the baby is about the size of a blueberry right now, so the girls were calling it "Baby Blueberry" all night.  Claire keeps saying, "I can't believe there's a baby in your tummy!"  Audrey can't wait for the baby to be big enough to kick so she can feel it.  She loved that part when I was pregnant with Claire.  They are both reminding me how big they are and how much they can help out with the baby.  Since Audrey will be 10 and Claire will be 5, I know that they will be good helpers.  I flipped through my calendar yesterday to show Claire how long it will be until the baby is born and she said "That's a long time... Your belly is going to be huge!"  LOL!  Aww, kids say the cutest things! Cute, yet brutally honest... :)