Emma Noel Winegar

*Our Little Princess*

*Grammy Winegar*

*Papa Winegar*

*Grandma Mora*

*First Family Picture*

*Wow, baby Sister brought Presents*

*We are happy you are here too!*

Words cannot express the new found love we have in our hearts right now. On Tuesday, December 16, we welcomed Emma Noel at 6:01 p.m. She was 6lbs 6oz and 19 1/2 inches long. She is the sweetest, absolute sweetest thing in the world. She has the softest skin and mildest manner ever. I guess its a blessing since Joey is full of energy. But we love them both so very much and feel so blessed to parent them.

Many will notice that yes we do now have a Joseph and an Emma- though Joey is Kevin Joseph. Joey was named after Joseph of Egypt because he was Rachel's second son that she was blessed with as Joey is our second son. Emma is named after Emma Smith. She is indeed an Elect Lady and we revere her for her support to the prophet and hope that our Emma will likewise be a great support in the Lord's work.

I went in on Tuesday for a check-up since I was dialetd 5 cent. I was still dialeted to 5 at the dr's office but my blood pressure was elevated so after some discussion, she agreed to just go ahead and break my water. Once I went to L&D I was 7 cent. so I don't know how accurate the first Dr was. I did have an infection that needed to be treated so after that was done, I got my epidural, water broken at 3:45 and had her at 6:01. The epidural was different since Joey was a natural labor. It was nice and calm, but it was hard not to be in control because I couldn't feel anything. But I am glad I got it because I was more relaxed. Recovery has been great and I have no complaints. Other than my anxiety to loose weight :(

My mother joined us from NY that evening and she was quite sad to have missed my labor but she has been a great help and loves how little Emma is.

My in-laws joined us on Wednesday from Arizona and that has been so nice. Its been raining a lot so we have just been hanging out at home but hopefully we can take them sight-seeing soon.

Joey is doing much better today with Emma's arrival. It was difficult because he has been

extremely whinny and emotional. But we powered through his anxiety and now he tells me when Emma is crying and pats her head and kisses her. Maybe its because she bought him a light saber to butter him up.

We want to thank each and everyone of you who supported us, prayed, and showed compassionate service during our pregnancy. We are so blessed to have such a wonderful support group. We are indebted to you for your service and love you all so much for it.

What can I say. Life is great and we feel so blessed that Heavenly Father has entrusted us with one of His precious children.

Still Pregnant

Thank you so much to all that have had us in your prayers and thoughts as we try to bring a healthy baby into this world.  I hope you understand me just putting this on our blog so that I am not retelling the same tale over and over.  I am a little drained.  But this is what happened.  I had a cerclage that is normally scheduled to be removed at 36 weeks to prevent tearing the cervix.  I had it removed on Monday morning and immediately went from  1 centimeter dilated before the procedure to 4 cent.  An hour later I was 5 centimeters and 100 % effaced.  However, because I am 36 weeks and military doctors are very conservative, they felt that it was not a good idea to break my water as was done with Joey and check Emma's lungs before anything else was done to progress labor.  I had an amniocentesis done- amniotic fluid was taken from my uterus through my belly with a syringe- to test her lungs.  2 out of 3 tests resulted that Emma had a chance of needed respiratory assist after birth and her lungs were at 1.8 where they should be at 2.  The NICU at the National Naval Medical Center is a level 3 so the doctors were confident that she would do well long term but immediately she might need help.  So it was up to us to decide what we wanted to do.  We took it to prayer and decided that despite my state of discomfort, her health is most important and a priority so we have decided to let labor come naturally.  We feel good about the decision but its just different because its not what we expected.  So I am still dilated, contracting not as much, and pretty comfortable, actually.  Some good friends from the ward have stepped up immensely and helped with Joey and for that I am grateful.  My mother is still here but will go to NYC and return when my water breaks.  So thats it!  We will keep you posted but so far we are ok and still trying to cook a healthy baby.  Please keep her in your prayers.  We are extremely grateful for you all and feel so blessed to have you in our lives.  We are more grateful for the power of prayer that allows us to see the eternal perspective of things.  Thanks for listening!  We love you.

Thanksgiving with No Gravy

                                                                 

*At the base of the Washington Monument, these girls were just lounging and Joey decided to go and flirt.  He has no shame*

Let me just tell you that this is my Thanksgiving Post, yet I took no pictures on Thanksgiving day! Don't ask!  We had the absolute honor of having my childhood friend, Gwendolyn, drive all the way from Florida to spend the holidays with us.  I have known here since we were literally in diapers.  She is my longest friend and I love how strong our friendship still is.  I was able to meet her amazing husband, Robin.  He is from Belgium and cracks us up as he gets accustomed to American ways.  She has two little girls, Keylah and Mya, and they played well with Joey.  But Robin was Joey's favorite- even though he totally whacked him with his Wii control while playing tennis.  

So for dinner we had Gwendolyn and her family and one of Kevin's classmates over.  We had Turkey, sweet potatoes, stuffing, cranberry sauce, corn casserole, green bean casserole, rolls,  pumpkin cheesecake- yum-, and a pistachio cake.  Did you notice that I left out the gravy and mashed potatoes?  That's because I totally forgot!  We sat down at the table and I served myself turkey and looked at Kevin and asked for the gravy.  And than he looked at me like I had 3 heads, because I made no gravy or potatoes!  Jeez!  Needless to say, we still had plenty of food and the turkey and cranberry sauce were juicy enough!  Phew!  I blame it on the hormones.

On Saturday we took Gwen on a tour of the National Mall.  We feel like we live there but its awesome.  And guess what?  While we were walking towards the Washington Monument, we saw Marine 1 and its decoys land at the White House.  It was awesome.  We weren't close enough yet to see passengers or anything but it was cool just to see every one stop and stare and point and take pictures.  Once again, I have no pictures of that.  Anyhow, we had a good time for Thanksgiving.  Now we look forward to Christmas, celebrating Emma's birth, and celebrating the Savior's birth          

                                                                    .

*At the DC Temple*

 *Good Friends

*Gwen, Keylah, and Robin in front of the White House*

*Robin, Keylah, Gwen, and Mya*