I am so thankful for my quirky little Ireland. Finding out I was pregnant with her was not near the lengthy process as her older sister. We found out we were pregnant a week and a half after Emmie's 1st birthday. We hadn't really been trying, but hadn't really been NOT trying either (we had discussed "trying" in a few months). Guess the fertility problems were gone!
First hurdle was finding out that I was due March 9th, 2010. That was one of the LAST days I'd ever want a child born on... all for personal reasons that I won't delve into now. But the baby would come when it wanted, so couldn't change that.
Second was picking out a name. Em had been easy since we'd had the name picked out for a girl since before we'd married. Now, though... clean slate. Dan was great with the boy names: Thor, Hercules, Legend, Fortune, Zeus, etc. You get the picture. I was a little bit more picky (wanted the name to sound good with Emerald, go well with the last name, etc.). Didn't have anything specific in mind though. When we found out we were having another girl, it took all of Dan's suggestions out of the running. We couldn't agree on anything (except middle name ~ Marie after his mom's middle name)... until a fellow scrapper made a suggestion at retreat ~ Ireland. Eureka! Went well with Emerald, sounded good with our last name. We loved it!
March 9th came and no baby. I had an appointment that day with our OB. We made the decision to induce the next day (mainly so my doctor could deliver because he was on call and the next time he'd be on call would be 2 weeks from then). My water was broke at 9:14 am on March 10 and Ireland was born at 12:56 pm. A second gorgeous baby girl!
I'm thankful for a second beautiful daughter who is sassy, witty, a cuddle bug, a true observer and very smart. She's an animal lover like her parents and already loves to try to help me around the house. I love her to pieces and couldn't imagine life without her.
Our gorgeous Ireland with me and Daddy
Beautiful! (Photo courtesy of Tanya Noel Photography)
This morning, my 4 year old got sick in the car on the way to daycare. As I raced back home to get her cleaned up and laying on the couch, calling my boss that I'd be working from home, calling the hubby that Em threw up, doing all of the things of a sudden routine change, I decided today would be the day to acknowledge how thankful for my first born.
My husband and I always wanted to have children. So a year after we got married, we decided to start trying to get pregnant. Each month I wasn't pregnant was gut-wrenching, agonizing, heart-breaking, depressing. I cried... a lot... I received all kinds of very "helpful", well-meaning advice like "Don't think about it and it'll happen" or "Don't stress about it" or "You could always adopt". All from those who got pregnant right away, so had no idea the pain we were going through. After a year of this, I went to see my OB-GYN about fertility treatments. What an agonizingly slow process.
First was testing on Dan. He's superman... no, really, he is. We even have it confirmed by a respected doctor (insert huge ego here!).
Then was the multiple tests to see what could be wrong with me. We thought we hit the jackpot right away because we found out that I was not ovulating. I went on fertility meds to force ovulation. It worked (more tests confirmed that), but still wasn't getting pregnant. I had more tests to make sure my falopian tubes weren't blocked (they weren't), ultrasound to see if there were any issues with my ovaries (there weren't). Finally, our doctor decided to do an exploratory laparascopy to see if I had any scar tissue on my uterus that was prohibiting pregnancy. Bingo! Our doctor fixed it and I was told to continue trying as soon as I felt up to it from surgery (I'd been on fertility meds for 9 months now). The first month afterward the surgery, I wasn't pregnant and I was devastated. Our doctor suggested trying another month or two since our next options weren't covered by insurance.
After 2 years and 2 months of trying, tears, tests and medications, I *finally* was able to see that all-elusive plus sign on a test stick. I sank to the floor and I cried again; but this time, it was tears of relief and extreme joy.
On July 16, 2008, our little miracle girl arrived in a hurry (water broke at ~1 am and she was born at 8:11 am). Emerald Irene was the answer to all of my hopes and dreams. Every day, I count my blessings that I get to be mommy to such an intelligent, funny, creative, beautiful child in all of her sassy wonderousness.
This was Em on her first Valentine's Day. Quite the little pin-up!
One of my favorite baby pics of Em.
