2.0 has officially launched!

and I'll start with Emmett's birth story.

Dana had her weekly appt on Emmett's due date, the 14th. nothing new, same dilation and effacement as the previous 3 weeks. well on wednesday the 15th, at around 3pm Dana started having more painful contractions, but very irregular. she'd have one rough one, then nothing for 10 minutes, then a slight one, then a rough one 8 minutes later, etc...

well at about Aria's bedtime (8pm), I had to put Aria to bed because Dana was having strong contractions, and they were starting to be more regular and about 7-8 minutes apart. She would write down the time on a little notepad (we're saving it to put in Emmett's baby book). Dana's mom had been staying with us so we could go to the hospital on a moment's notice. therefore, Dana got ready to go to the hospital while I finished with Aria.

then we waited. we didn't want to be the people who called the medical advice line too early, so we just kept writing down times for the contractions and waited. Aria's birth was different because Dana's water broke, and she was put on a pitocin drip, so we never really experienced natural labor. This was a completely new experience, thanks Emmett! (absolutely zero sarcasm there)

Dana called the advice line at about 10:45 because the contractions were getting stronger and closer together, about 6-7 minutes apart. the advice nurse told Dana that she would call the OB/GYN on call and would call us back. since the hospital is about 20 minutes away from us, we decided to head there before the callback.

we checked into the hospital at about 11:30pm, and found out in triage that Dana was fully effaced and 5cm dilated. So we went to an LDR room and got ready! by the time we had gotten situated and Dana was all hooked up, the Dr on call came by and Dana had dilated 6/7cm. contractions were really bad at this point, so Dana asked for the epidural. once that was administered, everyone left, expecting us to sleep for a bit while things progressed. "see you in 2 hours." was what the nurse and Dr said.

well apparently, our nurse's nickname had become "speedyCat" because all her recent patients had delivered fairly fast. it was an ongoing joke among the nursing staff. at around 1:45 (only about 20 minutes after everyone left us so we could nap), Dana asked me to get the nurse because she was feeling some pressure. the nurse checked Dana and said she was fully dilated and ready to push! by the time the Dr came in and everyone was setup in the room, Dana had begun pushing. it was 2:18am. Emmett came out at 2:24am, I cut the cord with tears in my eyes (exactly the same feeling as when Aria was born), and we held him with joy in our hearts.

can you tell they're related?

it amazes us how similar Emmett and Aria look (well DUH)!

It's been only 5 days?

I can't believe it's been only 5 days with Emmett! We are all doing well. Each night we've been getting a little more sleep (last night was a whole 4 hours). This weekend we had my family over and they really took care of us. My mom cleaned, cooked and so much more. My dad washed our cars! And then my sister made us some food and played with Aria. Emmett was passed around too, which gave me a little break. You guys are a blessing to us! Kevin's parents also came over to meet Emmett and spent a night. They helped us get through the first morning of getting Aria ready for school and out the door with our new addition in the mix. Having all the family around has been helpful for Aria to adjust because she got a little extra attention from everyone. Today was our first solo day and we did ok! We are getting the hang of this. It helps that Emmett is a pretty even tempered kid so far. He's a great eater and a pretty good sleeper (for a newborn). Here are some pictures from the last couple days...

This is the tree my parents planted for Emmett—we'll take a picture of him with it every year.

Grammy and Aria are weeding around Aria's tree.

Aria "reading" to baby brother. Notice she even shared her Doogan with him.

5 days old

I have to update this dang ol' blog's header!!!

Welcome to my goofy daddy 2.0!
here's some more pics of Emmett!

More pics!

8lbs 5oz, 21.25"

Emmett Matthew Zak!

More info to come...

Miller Time?

We have a joke on my side of the family (my parents and sister) and we call it "Miller Time". The norm for our family is to be late...and that's Miller Time. My dad and sister severely suffer from this. I on the other hand have done pretty well, on my own without my family's influence to keep a new on time tradition :-) ...until now. Today is my due date and no baby. It's clear this little guy is made up of my family's genes. There is an end (rather beginning) in sight. Next Wednesday at 6:30AM I will be induced. HOPEFULLY he won't suffer from extreme Miller Time and come at least a little earlier than that!