Emerson!

Emerson Brooks Fenwick is here!

Born August 22, 2016 at 2:13 pm at IMC Hospital in Murray, UT.

He was 7 lbs 5 oz and 20.5 inches long.

When we took him to the doctor for his first appointment, they said he was 19.5 inches long... so not exactly sure on that.

I received a call at 6:15 am and was told to come into the hospital at 7 am to be induced. We arrived, were taken to my delivery room, and I got hooked up to an IV to start the potocin. Later they gave me an epidural and then broke my water. With Deacon, I couldn't feel anything with the epidural and couldn't move my legs (I thought it was great). With this epidural I could still move my legs and could feel pressure during the contractions for about the last half hour. I guess it is their goal to have you still be able to move your legs, so this delivery went even better than the first. When it was time to push, it only took me two contractions to get him out, which was great! Emerson arrived at 2:13 pm and they put him on my chest. He was grunting and flaring his nostrils, which are not good things. They said his lungs may have been a little underdeveloped and that the air sacs were still opening. He also had some issues with some low blood sugars for the first day. They were not low enough for the nurses to take action, but once he got some food in him, they went up. His breathing and sugars improved and we took him home on Wednesday afternoon. 

He doesn't really look like Deacon, but he sure is a cute boy! For his first week of life he has slept a lot, which I quite enjoy. It took us a little time to get the hang of nursing, but I think we're doing better now. At his doctor appointment on Friday, the doctor was slightly concerned about his weight (he weighed 7 lbs at this point) because he was only eating for 5 minutes at a time and then sleeping for a long time in between feedings. I took him back on Monday for a weight check and he was up to 7 lbs 4 oz, so that was great. 

Deacon has been a great big brother, and even though he wanted to jump over Emerson while I was changing his diaper on the floor at first, he is now being very soft and gets worried whenever Emerson makes any sounds. Even though Emerson doesn't cry much (yet), Deacon doesn't want him to cry and seems very concerned when he does. He seems to be adjusting okay to having a new brother so far. I think the hardest thing for him will be a huge shift in his normal schedule and then again having it change when I go back to work in November. We called Emerson "Baby Brother" after we found out he was a boy. Even though we have told Deacon that his name is Emerson now, he still calls him "baby brother" sometimes and also calls him "my baby." It's pretty cute when Deacon walks into a room and says where's "my baby?"

Below are some of Emerson's first pictures:

We got Deacon the below Captain America build-a-bear and had him build a Superman bear to give to Emerson when he was born. On his way out of the hospital, Deacon spotted a Batman bear in the gift shop and just HAD to have it. It was closed at the time and we try not to give in to stuff like this, but I guess he talked about that Batman bear all day and night, so Matt and I decided to give Deacon the Batman bear as a gift from Emerson. We are going to have lots of bears at our house. 

  Emerson has already started to smile. He mostly does it with his eyes closed, but has done it a few times with them open, I just haven't been able to get a picture of that yet. 

Welcome Baby Emerson! We love you!

Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies

Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup white sugar

2 cubes butter

2 eggs

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

¾ tsp salt

1 ½ tsp vanilla

3 ½ cups flour

2 cups chocolate chips

Combine 1^st 8 ingredients. Add flour gradually. Stir in chocolate chips. Place dough on un-greased cookie sheet. Bake at 350º for 7 – 12 minutes.

Swimming

I apologize if I already mentioned this, but Deacon and Livy are both in a 5-week Mom and Tot swimming class again this summer. It started on July 16 and goes until August 20. Deacon did not like swimming lessons last year, so I was a little nervous to take him again, especially being pregnant. Luckily for me, he is doing so well this year! I can't even believe the difference a year can make. He hated going on his back last year and pretty much didn't want to do anything we were supposed to. All he wanted to do was go play on the little park they have in the water. This year he seems to actually enjoy it and will go on his back with no problems. He likes playing a little game they do where he throws a toy out of the pool, climbs out to get it, and then jumps back into my arms. I am thrilled that he is doing so well and has improved so much from the previous year. 

Last Saturday after our swim lessons, we decided to go swimming in the kids pool for a few hours. Deacon and Livy both love the pirate ship and like to point it out when we drive past it. I think Deacon's favorite part is the ship's steering wheel, and Livy loved the slide! She went down the slide a ton! Deacon also liked playing with some "water guns" that shoot water out at people. Of course he enjoyed spraying other people more than getting sprayed, but that's what happens. I think the kids had a great time swimming and playing in the water. 

I don't know why, but I haven't really given Deacon a fresh peach before. I asked him if he wanted to try some with his dinner two nights ago and he loved it and kept asking for more. At dinner last night I told him he could have a cookie if he ate all his dinner, but he said he didn't want a cookie, he wanted more peaches. Sadly I didn't have anymore. I guess we'll be going to the store soon. I'd much prefer him to eat/want a peach over a cookie (:

Deacon is so funny with his dancing! We went to Jimmy John's on Monday night and they were playing some rocking music. Deacon just "had" to dance and had to stay for one more song so he could dance. It was good no one else was there because he took up quite a bit of space, but it was so cute and funny that he just had to keep dancing.