Oh, What A Surprise!!

Starting in my 37th week of this 4th pregnancy my blood pressure started going up. It wasn't awful but still steadily going up. I had one more check on Friday November 14th and it was still up, so my doctor decided to go ahead and induce me that next Monday! I was stunned because I felt like we still had so much to do. Would the baby be ok at 37 1/2 weeks, was this wise to do it early? We frantically called family to go ahead and come into town so they could watch the boys for us.

We spent our last weekend as a family of 5 finishing up the last minute things that we had to do and praying this baby would be well and healthy for an induction. It was a very bittersweet weekend as we prepared for our lives to change. Would we be a family of all boys or would a little princess come along and rock our world?! My blood pressure remained high through the weekend so I felt better about inducing early!

On Sunday afternoon Jordan and I had a sweet last date for a while and walked in the snow and did a bit of shopping for baby before we checked into the hospital.

I was blessed with massive amounts of nausea/heartburn this time around and I only gained around 13 pounds and put on a few more the last 3 days as my blood pressure went up. 

I felt sad leaving the boys for a few nights but I knew they were in good hands with their grandparents! I didn't sleep much Sunday night and was up with the frozen sunset knowing this was the day The Lord had ordained for us to meet this precious new baby!

The day progressed along and I didn't progress very quickly at all. We prayed that my labor wouldn't stall out and end up with a c-section! We had SO many friends and family praying for us throughout the day and we were so thankful!

The boys planned to visit around dinner time and it just so happened I started to really come along quickly and knew the baby would be coming soon! As the boys went downstairs to eat dinner it was time to push! I literally thought my heart would explode with excitement to see what we were having!

You see that.....it's a Pink bow!!! I just about lost it as she came out, my doctor held her up and Jordan looked and announced that it was a GIRL!!! We cried and cried and I thanked God for this precious gift that I didn't even know that I wanted or needed. 

What a blessing!! The boys came up from waiting downstairs and we let it be a surprise for them too as they walked in! They were all really, really excited to see a pink bow! They are completely obsessed with her and love her so much already!

Emma Katherine (she'll go by Emma Kate!) was 8 pounds 10 ounces and 20 inches long. She is amazing, beautiful, perfect and such a wonderful surprise to us! 

 Another surprise is that she has lots of very light hair and maybe blue eyes....it's hard to tell quite yet! We are nearly 3 weeks in and I still am in shock that we have pink and bows in our house! It feels strange for this boy mom!

We just love her so much and we are so thankful that we have a healthy, beautiful baby to snuggle on!

More pictures to come! Welcome to our family Emma Kate!