Our Little Girl

Emma Harley Grover

7 lbs. 3.6 oz

20.5 inches long

7:50 am on November 25, 2013

This was our last family of 5 picture, Sunday after church. (Porter undressed during his primary class).

Monday morning, bright and early.  We had to be at the hospital at 5:30 am for a planned c-section.  

Travis ready to go.

I had been having daily and nightly contractions for about the last month and a half.  No labor contractions.  So this picture was taken at 7:31 am right before I walked to the O.R. No pain, just cold.

Exactly 20 minutes later at 7:51 am was the next picture on my camera.  As soon as I heard her crying, I started crying.   I am always excited to hear that healthy little cry, but I don't usually tear up.  I told Travis that I cried when she arrived and he said it was the most emotional delivery for him too.  Probably since she is a girl and already has him wrapped around her teeny little finger! ;)

She screamed the entire time she was in the room, until she got wrapped up.  And it was such a loud, high-pitched, girly scream.  When they cut me open to get her out, the first thing they saw was her hand.  Adorable.

This is Travis cutting the cord, you can't tell... it could be anybody's hands.

She reminds me of Hudson a lot in this picture.  And she has a ton of hair!

Getting all the measurements.

These are the first pictures of us 3.  Obviously, I can't turn around.

After the measurements, Travis got to leave with her and go into post-op. I had to lay in the cold room, waiting and watching as they sewed me up.  Then 30 minutes later, exactly (love the timestamps on the pictures) I finally got to hold her.  I think that is the hardest part about a c-section, you don't get to hold your sweet little baby right away.  You just hear them crying. Then they go to a different room.  So seeing these pictures makes me so happy, because I don't get to see any of it when it happens.  I am so glad Travis is so patient with me and takes lots of pictures!

They don't give baths right away anymore.  They waited about 4 or 5 hours and then gave her a bath in our recovery room.  Then they recommend skin-to-skin contact and she got to eat immediately.  And she was so clean and pink and warm. She loved having her hair/head washed, but then she was very angry about the rest of her body.  And that is how she still is at home.  Also every time a nurse took her under arm temp, she would scream.  She loves to be wrapped up, warm and cuddled!

Loved the head pampering, but then.... See.  She wasn't very happy about that bath.

With all that hair, I had to take the hat off!

People came to meet Emma in the hospital!
Grandma Margie

Grandpa Norm

Now some pictures of us 3 facing the camera.

My friend Brittany has come to the hospital to visit us after each kid was born.  I am so glad!

Aunt Trisha

Grandma Grover

Hearing test.  This cracks me up, it looks like she is listening to music.  Of course I needed pictures!

Newborn screening and jaundice check.

Her cousin Taylor.

Her cousin Megan.

I felt so lucky that we got to go home at 2:00 pm on Tuesday afternoon.  There was a cricket in our room chirping all night and then my IV machine kept beeping really loudly for about 2.5 hours.  Someone would come in, shut it off and then it would start right back up.  We did not get any sleep at all.  So we kept asking everyone if we could go home.  Initially they told us it would be 72-96 hours for c-section recovery.  I tried so hard to eat normal food, and not complain about anything and get up and walk around.  They all told me I was an awesome patient.  Pretty much.  But for some reason Travis thinks I am a complainer.  But he has never been pregnant. Then the last nurse said, "I can tell from the 2 minutes I have seen you that you want to go home."  She was nice enough to let us go before 48 hours! YAY!

Emma's uncle, Ethan, stopped by on the way home from work.

Daddy and his little girl.

Cousin Allyson.

Cousin Julianne.

Aunt Lisa.

Big brother Carson.  Porter and Hudson both came to the hospital, but Carson was in school.  He loves to hold her and washes his hands a lot in preparation to do it!

Porter checking out her bow... or her hair.

Emma brought the boys some gifts.  She got Carson a Charlie Brown coloring book.  He quickly colored a page for her and wrote her a note.  I didn't see him do it, but found them attached to the wall over her crib in our room.  The note says "We Luv You."  He is really being a sweet brother to her!

I was so excited to leave the hospital so quickly that I didn't take the classic, carseat/going home picture.  So I recreated it.  I love these little jammies that she wore home.  This was taken on Thanksgiving. Her first Thanksgiving!

The rest of these pictures are from the rest of the days she has been here.  She sleeps A LOT!
She is crying, probably because she is cold.

She has two little cowlicks, close together.  All of the boys had one right in the middle of the back of their head.

The cuteness here is too much.

Hudson wanted to be in a picture with her, but knows not to get too close (he is rowdy).

Our little burrito.

I love Porter's face in this picture.

Still curling up like she is in my belly!

We are so glad she is here.  I know it has been 3+ years having a little baby.  I can't stop holding her and cuddling with her.  She is so, so sweet and I love the spirit she has brought to our home. She had been home from the hospital for about 10 minutes when Carson met her.  And he saw her smiling in her sleep and said, "She is thinking about the home she just left with Heavenly Father.  That is why she is smiling."  It made me tear up.  And I strongly believe that is true.  Babies are amazing.  

Her name:

Emma was the first name that I brought up to Travis months ago.  He kept asking the boys if they liked it and they all started calling the baby that.  I have loved that name for as long as I can remember.  I wasn't sure about naming her that with my name being Emily.  I made a list and put it on the fridge with only a few weeks left.  Some names got crossed off and we took the list to the hospital with us.  On our ride there, just like with the other kids, I asked Travis what he wanted to name her.  He said he didn't really care and I could name her what I wanted.  Emma is also Travis' great-great Grandma's name, on his Mom's side. 

Harley is a name that I have loved with all the kids.  I really wanted to name Carson that and everyone said it was a girl name.  With each kid I brought it up again and people still told me it sounded like a girls name.   It is my dad's grandma's brother's name (I don't know how else to say that).  He was born in 1887 when it was very popular as a boys name.  

So I put those together.  Both family names, both names I love!