Emory Claire Hall!

Well, this girl likes to do things on her timetable! :D  On Thursday, Dec. 1st, my doctor informed me she could schedule me for an induction Monday (Dec. 5th) morning if I wanted...um, yes please!!  So we quickly moved Josh's paternity leave around, and made arrangements with MawMaw and Nana for the big sister and brother.  Pam came down Sunday evening to stay at the apartment with Charlotte and Liam while Josh and I stayed at Mom and Dad's house so we could get some extra sleep and be close to the hospital.  We left the apartment about 8:45pm, and by the time we arrived at Mom and Dad's I had experienced 4 contractions...didn't tell Josh this until we got there.  We visited for a little while and then everyone went to bed.  I continued to have contractions all night, which of course meant very little sleep, but I was excited!! Little (well, big, as we later discovered) Emory was going to do things her way..no induction needed here :) My doctor had already told me labor would be quick once it got going, so I was hoping the contractions would help steer us in the "quick delivery" direction.  I basically labored all night, kind of wanting to go on to the hospital since Dr. Cannon had told me not to wait too long, but not wanting to go and be sent home.. (I'm not a good judge of whether I'm barely in labor or really far along)  So I made it until 6:00am, at which point I woke Josh up and said, I think we should head on over (induction was scheduled for 6:45, so I figured we wouldn't be sent back home to wait if I wasn't very far along).  We arrived at the hospital, got checked in and set up in a room with all of the monitors and things, and waited.. My dr had said she had a surgery at 7:30, and so I could start the Pitocen drip at 6:45 and she'd break my water when she got out of surgery.  So all of this went accordingly, and when she arrived around 8:45 to break my water, she told us that I was at 8cm and going to have Emory really soon.  I had planned on an epidural, but Dr. Cannon said I'd have her out after a few contractions and I could get the epidural but it would be pointless.. So at that point I made a decision I never thought I would and decided to just forego the epidural (!)  I had 2 more contractions before I felt like I could bring myself to push (aka cause myself intense pain on purpose...weird!!!), and then pushed through 3 contractions and boom! There was our beautiful baby!! It was an incredible experience where my eyeballs came out of their sockets and Josh's hand became rubberized, but it was amazing and I'm thrilled I got to experience it with the best guy in the world by my side. :D 

Emory Claire officially entered the world at 9:21 am, weighing 8 lbs 14 oz (!) and stretching out to 20 1/2 in!  She is, as you have seen above, gorgeous and we are absolutely head over heels in love with her.  Not to leave out that she sleeps through the night (I have to wake her up for her to eat~awesome!) and is a doll baby during the day.. So far she has only cried when she is gassy, but I'm sure that will change as she leaves the "sleeping and eating only" phase of infancy. 

Big Sister and Brother are taking extremely well to her~Charlotte is in hog heaven and Liam apparently thinks she is fun because he is always laughing when he interacts with her.  We are so so so so so so happy and are thrilled miss Emory is here safe and sound. :D  We love you, sweet girl!!