My Bundles of Joy with Huggies

As most of you know, we are a Huggies household. I remember bringing home my first baby, fumbling with different diapers and wondering when is the right time to size up. I was a brand new mom, I was exhausted, stressed out, and filled with so much love I thought my heart would burst. We quickly figured out that Huggies were best for us, we could rely on them to fit her just right, keep her dry through the night, and after a great customer experience with customer service, we became Huggies customers for life.

When I was a pro the second time around (ha!), I knew exactly what diapers we would need and Huggies have been there for us every step of the way with both of my daughters. Their new campaign is sharing your favorite Bundle of Joy moments and I can’t help but get emotional as my youngest Emma will be turning two soon, and will no longer be my youngest baby. We only have a few months left and she’ll become a big sister, a role her older sister has taken a shine to and tells me she’s going to teach Emma to be a good big sister like she is. It’s the cutest thing ever!

Our Little Emma's Owie

If you follow me on Snapchat or Instagram, you've seen that our little Emma Brooke has her first major boo boo and has a full cast on her left arm. Poor baby! I feel so terrible, but I'm so thankful that she's ok! Thank God for children's resiliency, she has been such a sweetheart and her cast hasn't even slowed her down any. 

It all started with a wooden stool, which has since been thrown out. Ellie has a stool that she uses in the kitchen to help us bake and wash her hands. Emma was playing next to it (Ellie wasn't on it or using it at the time) and started to pull herself up on it when it fell over onto her hand. She cried really hard, but for less than a minute and that was it. I check her fingers, legs, etc and couldn't really see anything so I went to work and took her to daycare. When we came home that night her finger was swollen and bruised, but it wasn't bothering her. She could make a fist, she was using it to grab toys and crawl, putting all her weight on it, and she didn't wince when we squeezed it. We decided to just watch it and see what happens. 

The swelling went down, but the top of her finger was still swollen so we brought her in to have it checked out. The doctor did all of the same "tests" I did and thought we should get x-rays just to be safe. She sent them out to orthopedics who said there was a break and to come in the next day to have a look further. So we went in and saw the doctor, took more x-rays, and he wasn't sure what to do. He said that her body would probably fix it on it's own, but for adults they would need surgery. He went back and forth about what would be best and asked us to sit tight while he took the case to a meeting for other doctors to review. He called us late that night to tell us it was a tie and he still had mixed feelings about the best route to go since she's so young. He said if it had happened to Eleanor he would know exactly what to do, but Emma is so young he was worried about making the right decision and referred us to a baby orthopedic doctor to see the next day. 

The specialist was amazing and I'm so glad we were able to meet with her. We talked about how it happened, how she's been, and she was saying how tough she is. Anderson strong my dad would say. She said that babies bones go overlooked all the time since they heal so quickly and are unable to tell us if it's bothering them. She said we had done the right things and decided that it's best to wait and let her finger heal on it's own. We're going to monitor her healing process and go back to see her several times in the next year. She said there's a chance that surgery may still be needed, but she think her body will correct it on its own. If you look at the first pictures of the x-ray, there's a round ball that's up that should be sitting in the pocket of the bone. The specialist said that it's best to cast her arm to protect her from falling or from her finger being stepped on and damaged further. They had to cast her arm up to her elbow because she would have wriggled out of it by the time I hit the parking lot. She has to keep it on for two weeks and then she'll be good to go. 

She is such a special girl, I can't believe how well she's been handling everything. She's sleeping just fine, hasn't been fussy, crawls everywhere, and is just as happy as can be. Again, I'm so grateful she's ok and surgery won't be necessary (for now). I prayed so hard and we had our visiting teachers come by for a blessing and I truly believe in the power of prayer. It's just a broken finger, and this may seem over dramatic, but it's so hard to see your children go through hard times. Thankfully, she's totally unaware of it and will never remember this time! Thank you all so much for all your prayers, thoughts, and kind words. It's means so much to me to have so many friends who are so supportive! 

Emma's Birth Story

Leading up to Emma's birth, we had the option of doing a second c-section or trying for a VBAC (vaginal birth after c-section). My husband and I talked about it and considered the different options and possibilities, then at one of my appointments, Emma was Frank Breech just like Eleanor, so the decision was made! C-section it is for the safest delivery. We felt good about having a second c-section, my first one went really well and was a great experience so our minds were at peace. Then, about a month before Emma's arrival, she flipped! Having a VBAC was an option again, but we were already prepared for a c-section and kept our expected surgery date.

The day before my c-section was a busy day. I had my hair done in the morning and then ran out to my pre-op appointment, ran some last minute errands, did some laundry and cleaning, and took 30 minutes to myself to just relax and zone out watching some TV. We spent some quality time with Ellie, talking to her about the baby, reading books, and playing with her toys. Matt and I then relaxed with some Big Brother and turned down for bed. Around 5am, Ellie came in to sleep with us and it was nice to get some good snuggling with her. I started getting ready around 530 and started my day with a prayer just like before- I prayed for strength, bravery, a good delivery, and a healthy baby. We were all so excited for our new arrival, we couldn't wait to meet her and welcome her to our family.

We dropped Eleanor off with Matt's sister and headed in for our family's big day. I went right up to Labor and Delivery where they monitored both the baby and I. It takes about two hours to prep for surgery, I met the nurses and anesthesiologist who would be in the room with us and then my Dr came by before I'd head to the operating room. Once in the room, they gave me my spinal and the anesthesiologist kept giving me the play by play which I asked him not to do because I wasn't nervous, but knowing everything that was going on and about to happen made me nervous! He kept talking about everything and finally the nurse asked him to stop too, it was really funny and he was so nice. I really liked him a lot and he was good at his job. The spinal pinched this time (last time I didn't even feel it!) and the warm sensation started right away at my feet and came up my body. They had me lay down quickly and let Matt into the room.

Everyone was so friendly and relaxed, we all talked and made jokes. The anesthesiologist started giving me a play by play again so I had to distract him with personal questions- Do you have kids? What are their names? How old are they? How long have you been married? Where did you meet? etc. He was very friendly and said that most people like to know what's going on so he's used to giving them all the details to keep them calm. Not me! Ignorance is bliss, I just want to show up to the hospital and leave with a baby in my arms. Done and done. He was really great at asking me how I was feeling and telling me I was doing a great job.

When they were getting ready to deliver Emma, I felt a bit light headed from all the pressure, but thankfully didn't get sick. When they were delivering her one of the nurses referred to her as a "he" and Matt and I immediately repeated "HE???" then everyone laughed because she had accidentally just slipped. She was indeed a girl! Once Emma was here, the doctor put her over the sheet so I could see her and her gorgeous little face! She had brunette hair just like I had called! For some reason, I just knew she would have dark hair and in all my dreams of her she had dark hair. She was so perfect and I couldn't wait to see her up close!

My heart grew so much and I felt so much happiness. She was finally here! Another sweet girl for our family to love and care for.  When I got to hold her up close and really see her, she was everything! I couldn't stop kissing her and telling her how much I loved her. She was beautiful and perfect and so much more than I could have ever expected. I loved our bonding time in recovery and nursing her for the first time. She latched right away and it was such a special time for us. Matt and I again, couldn't stop staring at her and talking about how happy we were and how we couldn't wait for Eleanor to meet her little sister. It was a perfect day filled with so much love, friends, and family.

Thank you so much for all of your support these past few months during the pregnancy and these last few weeks! It's been an incredible journey to add to our family and I'm happy to share it with my blogging family! I'll be doing a future post about having a second c-section and the differences during surgery and recovery. If you have any specific questions you'd like answered, let me know below!

IPhone Birth Pics

I can't believe it's been a week since our little EB joined our family. I'm still getting the hang of things and it's been wonderful having my husband home with me. I'm dreading getting out of the house by myself with two little munchkins- it takes Ellie like 20 minutes to leave because she wants to do everything herself and takes forever to decide which baby to bring and which accessories the baby might need while out. This last week though has been incredible and doing the mothering thing the second time around is pretty amazing. I'm hoping to have some good posts up soon- what I packed for the hospital, some beauty reviews, our birth story, etc. So please hang in there with me!

Hope you enjoy these pics from my phone in the hospital- there's a few repeats that have been posted to Instagram (Kristen_Lawler), but mostly new ones that I really love and wanted to share.

Our last family pic of 3

Getting ready for baby

When I was wheeled into the bonding area, Matt was absolutely adorable kissing and talking to our Emma

First family pic of 4!

Ellie was pretty excited!

The kissing still hasn't stopped

Nursing is off on the right foot

#milkcoma

I can't get over how tiny she is

Her little face is just precious. I don't see me at all in her, just Matt and Eleanor!


Look at that sweet nose and chunky cheeks!

Thank you so much for all of the sweet comments and support this past week! We are so happy and my heart is so full it's spilling over. I love reading everyone's kind words and love this online community so much! Hope you're having a great day!

Our Newest Bundle of Joy

Introducing Emma Brooke, or as we call her "EB" for short. 

She is beautiful and perfect and so so tiny. 

She was delivered Thursday, August 6 and our lives couldn't be more full. 

Eleanor is obsessed with her and so protective and asks to hold her all the time and gives her a million kisses. 

We are over the moon with happiness!