Emma Rose Brinton

Our sweet Emma Rose Brinton came into the world with a vengeance on April 30, 2013. She was due on April 29, and I was convinced she would be early, since all of the others were. But she decided to hang on a little longer and make things interesting.

About 9:45 pm, I was watching Storage Wars on TV and doing Emma's counted cross stitch. My mom was with me, and then decided to go up and get ready for bed. Peter was doing some work at the clerk's office at church. About 5 minutes after my mom left, I felt a strong contraction and then a gush of liquid - my water broke. I have never had my water break outside of the hopsital, so I was a bit surprised. I cleaned myself up and called the doctor's office answering service. The doctor called back about 10 minutes later and told me to go to the hospital.

So I went upstairs and told my mom what had happened and started putting the last minute things in my bag. The contractions were coming stronger and stronger. Peter still wasn't home yet and I was getting ready to go look up the clerk's office phone number online. He had been so conscientious all week about having the cell phone with him, but we didn't really expect anything to happen that night, so he had left it at home.

My mom and I heard the garage door open and she went downstairs to tell Peter what was going on. He came up and got the bag and put stuff in the car. Then helped me down the stairs and gave me a blessing. My mom said she looked at the clock and we pulled out of the driveway around 10:17 pm.

By the time we got to the hospital the contractions were very strong, close together, and painful. Every time we told someone at the hopsital that this was my fourth baby they seemed to pick up the pace a little, since they knew it would come fast. By the time they checked me, I was at a 9. I was begging for an epidural and they told me they would try, but I knew chances were slim.

Anyway, a few minutes later I was ready to push. No epidural. It was extremely painful and gave me a new appreciation for the epidural. I really wish there had been time for it. I was shaky and felt sick. It took about 5 pushes and she was out. She was big, too - 8 lbs. 15 oz. and 21 1/4" long. Hannah was my biggest before Emma, and Hannah was only 7 lbs. 12 oz., so she was a lot bigger. She was born at 10:54 pm - about an hour after my water broke and 30 minutes after we got to the hospital. Crazy.

Despite the pain, we are so glad she is here. She is a sweetheart and seems very mellow (and still very sleepy). The kids love her and are so excited whenever she is awake or does anything. We are all so happy to have her in our family.