November 15th, 2005

I’m going to take advantage of this journal entry to focus on what’s been happening with Baby Emma!

I’ll take you back to Sunday, November 6th, when Crossroads threw a Surprise Baby Shower for us. We thought we were going to a youth event at Flor de Cardon (the B&B we stayed at when we first arrived in La Paz) with the youth of Crossroads where we would have a cookout and play some games. When we arrived not only were the youth there, but all of Crossroads was there, some of the pastors from the Mexican churches and their families, and all of our friends from La Paz! They somehow managed to plan a Baby Shower for Emma while we were in Los Angeles renewing our visas. How an entire church kept a secret for 2 weeks is still beyond me! We were overwhelmed at the sight. We were blessed with so many gifts from our friends, and everyone wore “Emma” stickers. Mark and some of the other men were subjected to participate in some games including seeing who could diaper a doll the fastest and the best while blindfolded (Lord, help Emma!), seeing who could identify the mystery baby food from diapers while blindfolded, seeing who could drink from a bottle the fastest, and also a relay race to see which team could transport cotton balls on a spoon the fastest. A more traditional game was seeing who could guess how many squares of toilet paper Emma and I are around. In case you were wondering, I am 11 squares around! We had a wonderful time, and feel so blessed to have such a loving community of friends and brothers and sisters in Christ! Thank You, Crossroads!!!

On November 9th, we had our 8th month Emma check-up. There are pros and cons to having an ultrasound done every month. Obviously the pros include being able to see our little Emma and watch her grow and see her move and to be sure month after month that she is in fact a she! The cons include seeing things that are common but alarming to new parents. Before you think anything is wrong, let me explain. Last month at our ultrasound we discovered that Emma had the umbilical cord around her neck once. The Dr. assured us that this was very common, and most parents don’t even know it’s happened. He said everything is fine, we will just hope that she will get the cord off from around her neck soon. This month, Mark and I were anxious to see if she did, and of course Emma removed the cord! The doctor told us that she is already heading south meaning she is in the correct position for the big day – head down, feet up, the cord is away from her neck, and he also said that because it’s getting quite cramped in there for her, she will not be able to change positions, so she’s there to stay until she arrives. Her heart rate was strong at 158 beats per minute, and everything looks great. I have gained a total of about 22 pounds, and the Dr. estimated that Emma is already about 2.7 kilos which is close to 6 pounds! He’s anticipating a 7 to 7 ½ pound baby girl to arrive around the 2nd week of December, although he’s still saying she could come anytime between Dec. 6th and Jan. 6th.

We are getting more and more excited every day as we are in the home stretch. Physically I get tired very easily, but I feel great! Emma has definitely had a growth spurt in the past 2 weeks. Mark and I like to play “Guess that Body Part” when she moves around. We were able to guess that her feet were up around my ribs even before the Dr. told us by her movements and the shapes of the parts sticking out of my belly at times. The other night I was lying on my side, and Mark was resting his head on my belly. Within a few minutes, Emma kicked Mark’s head as if to say, “Daddy, get off – it’s already squished in here!”. I love feeling her inside of me, and I will definitely miss that part of being pregnant, but I can’t wait to see her in person! Who will she look like? How big will she be? When will we get to see her first smile? It’s so exciting! We set up her Emma space in our bedroom with all of her gifts. We had all of her clothes washed, and I even packed her hospital bag for the big day. I think we’re as ready as we’re going to be to be parents!

We hope you enjoy some pictures from Emma’s Baby Shower! We love you all and thank you for sharing in our joy from near and far away!