Adjusting to our new life

All is well so far in the Johnson house with adjusting to life with a newborn. I can't believe it's been nearly 3 weeks since Emma arrived!

I was released from the hospital four days after Emma's birth. I forgot how hard the first few days post surgery were but am glad that I'm recovering well. Kirk took the first off from work and that was nice. We kept Sarah home from daycare as well so we could have time together as a family. By the end of the week, we were all getting antsy. We were thankful and felt blessed that a local moms group that I'm part of delivered meals for the majority of the first two weeks we were home. Sarah returned to daycare last week with some reluctance. But she did well showing off her new baby sister to her classmates and wearing her 'big sister' shirts with pride. Kirk has been back to work in full force busy as ever. And I'm home with Emma trying to keep the house from total disaster while bonding with the new little one and catching up on sleep. Emma is a sleeper...at least much more than Sarah was at this age. She does well with feeding and is on a 3-4 hour schedule. It seems during the day she can stretch to 4 hours between feedings but at night 3 hours is her max. So it's down for bed around 10:30pm-11:00pm and up again around 2-3am followed by a wake up call at 6-7am. She sleeps well in the bassinet which is something Sarah did not do well until 2 months or so. Emma is chunking up with each passing day so I look forward to her 2 month visit in June.

Sarah is doing really well with being a big sister. She takes pride in calling herself 'big sister'. She is still practicing being gentle with the baby when it comes to rubbing and kissing. We call her our bull in the china closet. She is a tad bit jealous when it comes to sharing. Sharing things like mommy's time and the jogging stroller seem to be the latest battles. Plus I have to play "Let's Make a Deal" just about every morning before daycare in order to make the thought of daycare somewhat appealing. So far the deals have been fairly benign like letting her watch a certain show after school or arriving at daycare with a lollipop.

I'm doing well with recovery. I know what to expect this time plus the increase of sleep has helped. I still get sore come nigh time and require a pain pill but otherwise I'm hanging in there watching the belly slowly shrink. I look forward to my 6 week visit with the doctor in a couple of weeks.

We will post more pictures as Kirk has time to do his magic in Photo Shop with the collection of shots taken over the past two weeks.

Emma Grace Johnson is here!

We are so excited to announce that Emma Grace Johnson arrived Wednesday April 21st. She was born a day earlier than planned and I got to experience labor to boot. Both were not on the schedule. :-)

Emma was born in Durango, Colorado at Mercy Medical Center with the help of an excellent group of doctors via c-section. She was 7 oz and 19 inches long - smaller than big sister. She looks a bunch like Sarah with darker hair so we are curious what the next few months will reveal in terms of her physical characteristics. She is a great baby who sleeps and eats well with minimal fuss. Sarah is doing great with being a big sister calling Emma "her baby" and being very concerned over Emma's well being.

The story of Emma's birth is interesting and I'll share real quick...
I had my pre-op appointments with the doctor and the hospital on Tuesday last week (the 20th). All was well but boy was Emma kicking up a storm in the pelvic area making it painful to do just about anything. I kept going on with the day. Kirk's parents arrived that afternoon and we enjoyed a nice dinner. But I was couch bound for most of the evening in pain. Again, I just thought it was the pelvic grinding I've been experiencing for several days. By bed time, the pain increased and started to develop a pattern. Kirk and I were able to get about an hour of sleep before I got up and went to the restroom. Let's just say there were additional signs this wasn't just grinding and I called the OB. The doc on call said to head on up to Durango. So we did at lighting speed which got us pulled over in Colorado by the state patrol. The cop was nice and called ahead to the hospital as he told us to drive safe and follow the speed limit. Yeah, sure Mr. Officer. I experienced the labor process for the remainder of the evening until the next morning when I was able to deliver with my doctor. And the rest is history.

Final Countdown

In six days, the plan is to welcome Baby J #2 into the world. So far we will be staying on track. I had an OB appointment this morning and all seems to be holding on including the weight gain (whew!). In the meantime, I've managed to get a few things done here and there at a much slower pace. Plus the weather has been nice this week, knock on wood, making the home stretch enjoyable.

Here is a picture of our princess Sarah, aka Tinkerbell, along with the rabbit lawn decoration from last night. She kept this outfit on when we made a run to DQ for yummy treats, which come to find out will be my last because it makes baby spaz out just a wee bit too much for my liking.

Blog catch up and taking a break

I've posted the latest from the Johnson clan on the blog...finally. See below and enjoy. I'm also taking this time to sit down and just rest. Today marks the first day of my "vacation" before the baby arrives. I'm burning what I have left of my vacation days from work between now and the 22nd. (or sooner if the baby decides) I woke up this morning feeling weird with lower back pains like cramping. So after having a mild panic attack and calling the doctor, it's managed to settle down now that I'm hanging out on my rear end. Wouldn't that be something to have this kiddo earlier than planned? That would definitely send two anal, schedule driven, and OCD type engineers into a tizzy.

Yesterday was bittersweet in that I no longer have to swipe my badge, log on and attend meetings for some time now. But I fear that in 6 months time, I'm sure I'll be wishing I could sit in a meeting, any meeting for that matter. For now, I've put the ol'career as an engineer on the back burner and will expand my mommy career in 17 days. Wow, 17 days...crazy! Though the sleepless nights and recovering from major abdominal surgery aren't appealing, the thought of getting my body back (somewhat since I'll be breastfeeding) is exciting. And that occasional small glass of wine will be oh so nice.

We will keep everyone posted as the time approaches for the reveal of Baby J #2!

Our little helper

We finally finished the landscaping on the south side of the house now that the weather has been nice plus we were able to hire it out. We wanted to spray the new rock down to get the dust off and make it look somewhat less brown. So Kirk and I took turns...however, Sarah wanted to get in on the action.

Future Project Manager with her hands in her new capri pants pockets and sporting her new 'Life is Good' ball cap for the summer.

Happy Easter 2010

We enjoyed a great Easter weekend. Sarah and Kirk colored eggs on Good Friday since that was a holiday for COP. Then Sarah and I attended an Easter Egg Hunt with a local Moms Club on Saturday. On Sunday, we enjoyed another egg hunt followed by wonderful brunch at a friends/co-worker's house. Sarah and their daughter Caroline are becoming close buddies. She also wore her new dress that was a gift from my brother and his family. (Liberty for Target...too darn cute!!) We've been rationing out the goodies collected in both egg hunts and also took some of the loot to work to get it out of the house quicker. The weather was great up until Sunday evening when the wind picked up. It's been crazy windy ever since. We hope everyone had a wonderful Easter.

Happy Birthday to our sweet Sarah Ann!

We celebrated Sarah's 3rd birthday last week! We can't believe she is already 3 years old. We enjoyed cookies and juice with friends at 'school' followed by a trip to the park with Daddy who got off work early and then enjoyed Cold Stone cupcakes after dinner before opening presents. Sarah received wonderful gifts from family and friends including Jessie and Bullseye from Toy Story 2 which were quickly introduced to Buzz and Woody after being freed from the package.