Emma is Eleven!

How is that possible? 11 years ago I was blessed with the baby girl I had always wanted. I had dreamed about having a little girl but honestly didn't think I would ever actually get one.

Right after Paul and I were married we were asked to teach primary. I was preparing a lesson on Joseph and Emma Smith. I wanted a daughter of mine to have a unique name but one that anyone could pronounce. When I read Emma in that lesson manual I knew that that would be the name of my future daughter. I had only met one Emma that I could remember and she was beautiful and intelligent. It was also a family name. My great grandma was named Emma. It was perfect and Paul agreed.

A couple of years later I was working as a manager for Eddie Bauer. That is when I got pregnant with Emma. I waited, not so patiently, for the ultrasound. I told the tech that I would not leave the table until they could tell me if it was a girl or a boy. It took a little while but finally they had a clear shot. I was getting a girl! Am I really that lucky? Yes! From that moment on the baby was called Emma and she had more pink outfits than you can imagine. I was so excited.

Besides some back pain and foot swelling the pregnancy was very uneventful. Delivery on the other hand was not. She was born 15 days past her due date. I pushed for 3.5 hours after about 20 hours of labor she was born. (I know 20+ hours isn't that long but trust me when I say it sucked hard and I am glad that I never had to do it again! I think scheduled c-sections are quite wonderful.)

I won't go into all the details but it is a miracle that we are both here, alive and healthy. It was bad. They vacuumed her out and we soon realized the problem. She weighed 9lbs. 14 oz. They had numerous specialist come and attend to her and several for me as well. Once everything was under control I finally got to hold our baby. I can't say she was perfect though. Her poor little feet were so twisted (It took six months in casts to fix that) but she had use of her arm which we are told is another miracle.(Her shoulder had gotten caught. The doctor said if it wasn't for the blessing that I had gotten he knows that she would not be able to use her arm. Having a shoulder get caught is usually very devastating.) Overall she was healthy and I had a baby girl.

Now 11 years later Paul and I are still as in love as we were then. Emma is so fun and vibrant and full of life. She wants to try everything. She is so smart and is a great student. I don't know what we would do without her in our lives. She is a miracle and I feel that she has been saved several times for something special. She is going to touch lives and change the world for the better. Heavenly Father has blessed us with someone very special and I thank Him for that.

Emma we love you tons and hope you have a wonderful birthday!