Welcome, sweet baby Emi!

Dear Emi,

Welcome to the world, baby girl! You arrived at 8:13am on Friday, July 18th. You weighed 8 pounds, 2.5 ounces and were 20 inches long. You most resemble your big sister Maya but you have bluer eyes (we'll see how that changes), slightly more petite features, and a head full of short, dark fuzzy hair.

We spent about 3 and a half days in the hospital recuperating before heading home on Monday. You were a good sleeper from day 2, needing to be woken up for many of your night feedings. On Wednesday we went to your first pediatrician appointment where the doctor was so pleased with your alert, sweet personality. On Friday we went to mommy's appointment to get her stitches out. So, really, that first week with you we only had 2 full days at home to get used to life together before all kinds of craziness began.

In the early hours of Saturday morning mommy began hemorrhaging as a result of my uterus not properly contracting after the birth. Daddy took you and mommy to the ER and things started happening very quickly. For much of the day the doctors struggled to keep the blood loss to a minimum and to replace it as best as possible, all the while trying to encourage mommy's uterus to shrink. There were times when their efforts didn't seem to be making much progress, and everyone, including me, was very worried.

Aside from when mommy was under anesthesia for a procedure, I kept interacting with all the nurses and doctors and asking tons of questions, trying to keep myself alert and aware of what was happening. Despite a lot of treatments, some making me feel pretty terrible, I was determined to keep it together. I was also determined to keep pumping so I could go back to nursing you when all this was over. That was one of my strongest drives throughout the chaos.

On Saturday evening the decision was made to transfer me to a larger hospital with a bigger ICU. Luckily by the time I arrived there, the bleeding had pretty much slowed down thanks to the efforts of the doctors at the first hospital. Mommy still had to stay for a couple nights and days to be observed and recover from losing what probably amounted to half my body's blood volume. On Sunday morning all of my strength from the previous day evaporated and I became very emotional. I couldn't wait to hold you in my arms!

Thankfully mommy's lab results had improved enough on Monday to come home from the hospital! I still have a lot of recovering to do but I'm so pleased to be able to be with you and nurse you again. You may be just a tiny little thing, but you gave me so much strength throughout this ordeal. I love you, sweet baby Emi!

Dear Maya,

You are such a rockstar! When you first came to the hospital to meet your baby sister, you were so curious and so sweet. Each day you came to visit and were excited to hold Emi and fawn over her. You commented how little and cute she is, and you counted her 'piggies' often.

We had lots of family visiting for the birth and you were given various gifts of congratulations for becoming a big sister. One of these was a pretty necklace from Grandpa and Lori, but one night while you were in bed you managed to swallow its castle-shaped charm. Luckily you passed it within a couple days.

After we came home on Monday, you continued to be sweet to Emi. Only a couple times did you show any frustration in having to share our time and energy with her. You were more excited that you could play with Grandma, Papa Stan and Bobbie who were staying with us, and Kelsie and Gracie who visited a few times.

Then on Saturday when mommy went back to the hospital, you must have been so confused. Grandma brought you in to the ICU before I was transferred and I will never forget the worried look on your little face when you saw all the tubes hooked up to mommy. I'm so glad you didn't have to see that again. While mommy was in the hospital, I looked through photos and videos of you often. I missed you so, so much! Throughout this whole crazy couple of weeks you were so good. I'm so proud of you, big sister.

Dear Maya and Emi,

Mommy wishes she hadn't gotten sick over the weekend, but it only served to show me how much I love you two and want to be there for you always. I'm really looking forward to watching you both grow together and love each other. I'm so proud to call you my daughters!

Love you!

P.S. An enormous thank you goes out to our doula, Kristin. Your support through the pregnancy, birth, and the aftermath meant so, so much!