I guess he's eating ok....

Yesterday Josiah had his first Pediatrician appointment- and he is doing really well and is very healthy!
When we were discharged from the hospital on Dec. 21, he weighed 7 lbs, 10 oz (it's normal for newborns to lose a little weight at first). Yesterday, Dec 29, only 8 days later, he weighed in at 8 lbs, 12 oz- he's gained over a pound since we left the hospital- I was blown away!!
Another big step for the J man: he lost his cord stump yesterday!! Unfortunately, it was a little premature, and there was a little healing left to be done, so there is now a scab inside the belly button area, but it's healing nicely :)
He has also been looking around and interacting with us more- it is SO cute to see him watch Jonathan- and cute to see Jonathan watch Josiah. It's just a house full of cuteness!

Surprise Package!

As many of you know, Milwaukee has been bombarded with TONS of snow lately.
Well, today it is well above 50 degrees, and all that snow is melting. We used to have a 4 foot drift across our front porch, but when I went out to check the mail just a few minutes ago, this is what I saw-a package from my good friend, Katie, emerging from beneath the snowdrift!
I figure it must have been there for at least a week (since there was no snow under it) Good thing it was wrapped in plastic!!

Thanks for the wonderful gifts, Katie! I look forward to dressing Josiah up in the super cute clothes!

Merry Christmas...a day late!

Being a new mommy at Christmastime is not the easiest- I actually kept forgetting it was Christmas- and it's my favorite holiday!
We spent the day at home, and Jon's sister, Sarah, came over with a bunch of hors d'ouvres and we just hung out and ate food and watched Robin Hood, Men in Tights. Good times :)
I also got Josiah dressed up in a baby gap outfit and his retro VANS shoes that we got from our friend, Jesse (who works for VANS out in CA). He was totally stylin'!
Oh, and I also had my first glass of wine since having Josiah- thanks, Sarah!!

Our baby, Josiah

given Oxygen at birth

Birth Story

Wednesday, Dec 17th:
Katie Konop came over with Ruthie so we could go for a walk around Mayfair Mall- I wanted to "get things moving" you might say- I hadn't had any changes at my appointment the week before, and I was determined to have something change for my appointment I had scheduled after my walk.
Well, I actually had NO changes from the previous week- I was even the exact same weight. The doc and I thought that he would make it to the due date, at least, and that she wouldn't let me go a week past my due date. Oh, well.
Thursday, Dec 18th:
3:00 am- I suddenly woke up cuz I felt like I had to use the restroom. To spare the icky details, lets just say it was icky. I knew something was happening. I went back to bed, cuz they say to try to get as much rest as possible- who knows when I will actually go into labor.
3:30 am- I felt something wet "down there", so I ran to the bathroom. Nope, I didn't have to pee. hmmmmmmm......this is not right- all through the pregnancy I never had issues holding it in if I had to. SO I call Jonathan, who is at work, to let him know that I thought my water had broken. He didn't answer his phone.
4:30- Jon calls back- He asked if I was feeling any contractions. Nothing. I felt relatively normal. We got done talking, and a few minutes later he called back saying the nurses he works with said to GET IN RIGHT AWAY!!
4:45- I called my Doc, and she said that she would notify the hospital that I was on my way in. Oh, and she sounded utterly exhausted!
5:00- I work on finishing packing for the hospital- I thought I would have more time for this part, but no.
5:30 Jonathan gets home- helps me finish packing. Calls Nick and Diana to let Nick know that he just missed me at the hospital- he works on the skybridge to the L&D of the hospital- but his shift ends at 5.
6:00am- we arrive at the hospital- Jon insists that we go through the ER entrance, cuz a bunch of his work friends want to meet me.
6:30am- I am officially admitted to the hospital.
THEN there's a long wait- I WAS having regular contractions every 2 1/2 - 3 1/2 minutes, I just wasn't feeling them. They gave me pitocin to make them stronger. It worked. However, I couldn't get past 2-3 cm dilation, so finally at
10:30 pm, a Dr. came in to let me know what an epidural is, and said that it was available for me, then asked if I had any questions. "When can I get one?!" was my response.
11:00pm they started the epidural procedure- this takes a while. They got it done, but for some reason it wasn't working. They hit the wrong spot in my spine. They had to redo it. Ouch.
FRIDAY, Dec. 19th
Finally the effects kicked in around midnight. The rest is a bit of a blur- I have no idea what time what happened, but I went quickly from 2-3 cm to 5 cm.
3:00 am the nurse said I was at 8 cm. YAY!! she said she would be back in an hour to check on me.
(by the way, they wanted the baby out by 6, because the water broke, there was an increased risk of infection)
3:50 am- I call the nurse "how can I help you?" she asked "you need to check me NOW" I said. She came in, and sure enough, my little guy was starting to crown. So she called the doctor- and a bunch of other people. Suddenly it was a party in my delivery room!
4:10- the doctor (who is not my doctor, unfortunately she wasn't able to be there:( bummer) finally shows up.
4:20 am- Josiah is born after just 5 pushes. Apparently I was really good at pushing, even through the epidural and no mirror.
8 lbs, 1.6 oz 22 inches long. The cord was wrapped around his neck, and he breathed in some fluid, so he had to be suctioned out and given oxygen, but other than that his color was good, and he was making noise- he has the cutest little cry (for now:)

By the way, Jonathan was FANTASTIC through the whole thing- he played with my hair, did pressure point on my back, read to me, put the Simpsons in the DVD for me, watched the baby come out- and told me what was coming out and when- cut the cord, and took the most BEAUTIFUL pictures of our son's first moments. I love that guy!!

Family Photos

I had the opportunity last night to take family photos of a couple who went to college with me- they have 2 sons, 19 months and a 10 week old- and they were so photogenic!
to see more photos, click here

38 weeks, and nursery pics

Here is what our nursery look like so far- I have a couple of pictures to put up yet that my sister, Mandy, gave to me of animals that they've seen at various zoos around the US. I kinda went for the jungle/safari/wild animal theme. I LOVE sitting in the rocking chair and just hanging out in here!





I am feeling it more and more each day how difficult pregnancy can be on a body. It's all I can do to try to get out and keep walking, but I have managed to keep it up about every other day I walk for 2 miles- lately I've been going to Mayfair mall because of all the snow here in Milwaukee :)
I also would like to thank my very good friends that live here in Milwaukee who came out to my house on Saturday to do a DEEP cleaning- my house looks BEAUTIFUL- it was a wonderful gift, so again, THANKS A TON!!
Here I am at 38 weeks, 2 days:

Wintry Walk

I went for a walk today while I was waiting for Jonathan to wake up- and brought my "new" S5 with me to play around with it a bit.

36 weeks

My dad, among other people, have hinted (somewhat strongly) that I have fallen a little behind in my "weekly" pictures.
Yeah, I guess it's a little bit of laziness. And forgetfulness. :)
Here I am at 36 weeks, 4 days:

Fall in Wisconsin

I had to take a picture of the beautiful leaves in my front yard. Soon they will be covered with white and, when they reappear, they will be brown and slowly becoming part of the earth again.
I love fall, but this year it seems to be flying by so quickly that I haven't had my usual childhood flashbacks: until today.
Things I love about fall:
1.That distinctive smell of cool, crisp leaves brings me back to walking on our front sidewalk with a blanket 6 inches deep with leaves and making a trail with my feet.
2.Piles of leaves on people's lawns reminds me of when, after school, my siblings and I would make several piles of leaves (nests) and we would fly from one to the other. Of course, they would need to be rebuilt every so often, but there was such joy in jumping (flying) into the softest pile we could build.
3. Dewy mornings- it's just beautiful to see perfect droplets of water sparkling across my lawn on yellow-golden leaves and grass that is still green :)

Another addition !

So my friends Abby and Eric FINALLY had their baby boy, Gabe- he was about a week late (poor Abby!)
We continued the tradition of bringing Chinese food to the hospital for the new parents- and I brought my camera, too~


Congrats, guys- he's absolutely adorable!!

One last time....

On thursday I had the final photo shoot with Brandon, Katie, and Ruth:
here are a few of my favorites:

32 weeks, 5 days

Here's what's new:
I had my 32 week checkup this week, and everything looks great. My weight gain is staying steady, I've been feeling ok for the most part (wednesday morning was a little rough, but we made it through:), and Jon and I started our childbirth express class. We have one more meeting with our class, then we graduate. And we will get a certificate saying we are booksmart ready for having a child. Amazing that 6 hours of class time is all we need to be adequate parents :P
Anywho, I finally took an updated picture this morning, so this is 32 weeks, 5 days:


My sister also came to town with her family to help me paint the mursery this week- it looks great!! so BIG thank you to her- I will post images of that once it's all set up.
On wednesday, I met up with my friend, Diana, to have my maternity pictures taken. Despite the cold and really bright sunshine, she really got some great shots: check them out on her blog.

My Sister's Family Pictures

My sister asked me to do their family pictures a long time ago, and (if you read the previous post) the last time I was up there I forgot my memory card for the camera. Well, I remembered it this time I went up. I actually was up there for my baby shower that she threw (which was AWESOME)
I thought these turned out kinda nice, despite the fact that these were taken during Katie's naptime, and she was QUITE cranky!

29 weeks, 5 days pregnant!

This week has gone SO fast- it's amazing how time flies when I stay busy (and when I am feeling almost normal!)
I spent the weekend up at my sister's house for KJ's birthday- it was a beautiful, sunny, cool day. We had been planning on taking their family photos on Saturday evening, and I had all my equipment ready, and the kids got all ready for it, and when I got my camera out, I realized that I didn't have my memory cards!!! So, what does a pregnant woman with a bad cold who's had very little sleep do? I cried. I felt SO terrible that we had this planned, and I forgot my cards. I had actually emptied the card onto my computer that morning, and just forgot to take it out of the computer. Bummer.
Anyway, on Sunday Jonathan and I went to my parent's house and spent the day making applesauce and hanging out with family. We hadn't been up to visit them since Jonnie and Kimmy came.
I finally took my picture again tonight- I am now 29 weeks, 5 days. It's amazing to think that at the beginning of this week little Mr. Pinchie weighed over 2 1/2 lbs and is already over 15 inches long- he's getting all folded up in there!

Congrats B and KT!!

My good friends, Katie and Brandon, had their baby last night/this morning sometime (a little confused on the timing) They named her Ruth :) such a cute name- I can't wait to see her and take pics of her.
I had been taking pictures of Katie once a month since she found out she was pregnant, and fortunately we were able to get a final one in this past weekend with Brandon- they turned out lovely!!

28 weeks pregnant (just about, anyway!)

Here I am- it's a beautifully cool fall day, the Brewers made it to the playoffs (hasn't happened since the year I was born!!!), tried Indian Food for the first time ever (the general consensus was that the orange stuff tasted the best), and I finally remembered to take my "weekly" picture.
The past week was SO much fun and full of craziness- I taught art on Tuesday and Thursday, had a photo shoot on Thursday night, a wedding shoot on Friday, and a maternity shoot on Saturday.
Thought I'd show off Mr. Pinchie some more to you all, since he's getting SO big~ I now weigh a whopping 142 lbs!

fun with fisheye!

So, I just spent a lot of money on a new camera/lens/flash- and am SO very happy!!
these are just a couple of pics I have taken in the past few days (some are funny, some I was on a photo shoot, so had to be more serious :)

9-11-01

I remember:

Being in the underground at WLC at 8 something in the morning, all the TV's tuned to the news- one of the twin towers had been hit. As I watched, another plane exploded into the second tower. I began to cry.
Then one tower fell, and then the other. Utter silence in the crowded college hangout.
I immediately call Jonathan. He is sleeping at his apartment just down the road. I tell him to turn on the tv. He asks why, and i tell him, and I start bawling again. He can't believe what he's hearing from me. Immediately I fear war is coming, and that Jonathan will be called away to serve his country overseas again. (he does get orders to serve, but due to previous injuries while serving in Bosnia, his call to serve is terminated)
Class was canceled after a long prayer in which every person in the lecture room held hands with one another.
Jonathan and I spend the day together, talking and praying, then run up to Sheboygan to spend the rest of the day with my family (this had already been planned a week earlier) and we announce to my parents that we are engaged. My mom cries, and everyone congratulates us.
We spent the rest of the night watching footage on the news, over and over, praying more people survive what seems to be a war zone.

9-11-01
I will never forget.

25 weeks (and then some:)

Good afternoon!
I have to thank Diana for keeping on me about updating my blog- we went shopping today at Kohl's (she got a lot of fun shirts, and I got some AWESOME super-dee-duper soft underwear.) I think I scared Jonathan a little bit cuz I was so happy about it when I woke him up this afternoon. Seriously, I had such a burst of energy, I was hopping around and folding laundry and putting away blankets and making the bed and talking about my day and so on and so on..... Well, I might have been on a little sugar high from the mint chocolate chip ice cream cone I got from Kopps. MMMM.
So, you may notice that I am a little more dressed up this week for the picture- I remembered to take the picture on Tuesday early afternoon (so technically the pic is from 25 weeks, 1 day). The reason for the "dress up clothes" is cuz I am now an art teacher at St. John's in Wauwatosa! I met the kids for the first time on Tuesday- all I did was go around to the different classrooms and talked to them for about 5 or 6 minutes about me and what we can expect for the year. So, I have a teacher wardrobe (thanks, KT, for some of your work clothes!!) Fortunately, I am still little enough that I fit into a couple of my pre-preggo pants- as long as I wear them with a belly band!
Mr. Pinchie (as Jonathan so lovingly refers to our son, since we haven't landed on a name yet) has been rolling and kicking and thumping and elbow-ing and knee-ing and generally going all over the place- mostly at night after Jonathan leaves for work. I will have to borrow his video phone one of these nights so I can show him what it looks like when Mr. Pinchie is sticking a leg/arm an inch past where my tummy line actually is and rolls across the stomach. It's just fascinating!!
Overall, I am feeling great, though nighttime is still iffy, and if I need water, I get a bad gag reflex, but the weather is cooling down for fall, our sugar maple is dropping it's already golden and fire-colored leaves, and the air just seems fresh. What a wonderful time of year!

24 week overview

Hello, all!
Sorry I missed last week's blog- I totally lost track of time, and realized that it was the end of the week already, and I never did an update!
So, here's what happened:
not a whole lot. I got bigger. I am now over my pre pregnancy weight. yay.
Today I went to the Bristol Renaissance Faire with my sister, Adri, sister in law, Jen, and friend Amber.

best quote of the day made by a total stranger : "When you're eating a watermelon, you're supposed to spit out the seeds, not swallow them."

I guess that means that people are noticing that I am expecting :)

These pics are of me today after eating a lot of good food, so I feel bigger than what I think I am (if that makes any sense!)
Enough rambling- I'm pooped!
have a blessed week

~em

"Very Normal"

Good News from the Dr.:
Everything with our little baby boy is "very normal" (to which Jonathan responded, "he can't be our child, then..." :)
It was amazing the detail that we could see during the whole thing- his little fingers opening and closing, the kicking that I could see at the same time I could feel it- he even reached down and played with his feet- just an amazing thing to be able to see him already while he's still growing in me- Praise the Lord!!!
By the way, it sounds like he's going to take after both the Lemke and the Ebeling sides with his length of arms- the tech commented on the length of his arms already- said he's going to be a tall one! They also were able to measure his weight- 1 lb., 3 oz already!
Thanks to everyone who kept us in their thoughts and prayers- we know God listens~

Em

22 weeks!

Hello, again!
So, I have been having a great time this past week hanging out with friends and spending time with my hubby. A really good friend sent a care package in the mail and gave us a gift card to Applebee's, so on Saturday night, Jon and I went on a date! We did dinner and a movie (we finally went to see the Dark Knight) and spent only a little over $8 (we had a movie gift card too- thank's to a special promotion at our local grocery store:)
Well, I guess we spent a little more than that- I got EXTREMELY cold while sitting at Applebee's, and decided that it would probably be just as cold in the movie theater, so I went to Gap Maternity that was right across the mall from the theater, and picked up a $20 sweater. it is actually really nice, so I don't feel too bad about spending that much on a gap item.
Anyway, the majority of the weekend was spent with my younger brother, Josh, and with friends on Sunday- we had a special going away service at Point of Grace for John and April, who are going over to China to teach English. God's Blessings on them- we will try to remember them as often as we can in our prayers!
The pic of me is from just a couple minutes ago- 22 weeks already!
this afternoon I will be having the ultrasound to make sure all is ok with baby- since the last one showed a couple choroid plexus cysts, we need to make sure the rest of him is developing normally :)
thanks for the prayers!!!

em