Welcome Emma!!!

I thought I would post a short version of the arrival of Emma Mae Theisen.  Emma's due date was Nov. 20th.  Well she did not come on that day.  On November 21 I spent most of the day trying different things to progress labor.  Dylan and I went for a 2 mile walk in the evening.  It was a very nice walk.  I still felt like not much was happening in the area of going into labor.  Well we went to bed and I woke up with a weird sensation but thought it was nothing.  Well I got up to use the bathroom and realized that my water had broke.  We called the midwives and they said I needed to come to the hospital since my water had broken.  So we went and when we got there my contractions were inconsistent and not getting stronger.  The midwife wanted to start a induction drug but I wanted my body to try on on its own.  Well I wasn't making much process so I eventually took the drug.  I handled the contractions for about 7 hours and then decided to get the epi.  The contractions were still not getting strong enough or closer together.  They had to keep upping the medicine.  I couldn't get comfortable enough to sleep this whole time.  It was now about 10 on Nov. 22nd.  They changed my position because they thought the baby was not in a good position and this allowed me to sleep for about 2 hours.  When I woke up I felt ready to push.  When I started pushing it only took about an hour for her to arrive.  The pushing was the worst part, far worse than the contractions. But it was worth it once she arrived. They placed her on my chest but soon realized that she was having a hard time with breathing.  She was trying to cough stuff out but it wasn't coming out.  They called in the NICU doctors and they worked on her in the room for awhile and then they took her to the NICU.  They weren't sure why she was having a hard time.  Her weight was good and her heartbeat was strong.  In the NICU they had to hook her up to a C-pap machine to help dry out her lungs.  She was also being fed by IV.  She went into the NICU on Saturday but Sunday we was taken off the c-pap machine.  She had to be able to feed of me or take 2 oz from a bottle before she could leave.  At one point she had to be fed through a feeding tube.  It was hard to think we couldn't take her home because she didn't look little or sick.  We were able to take her home on Thanksgiving.  It was a wonderful way to be thankful on that day.