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Barnes had his first real snow storm this weekend, we are not going to count the 5 inches of snow that fell the night before he was born as his first since he was in the hospital!  The snow started falling on Friday night and it continued for several hours and once it finally stopped around 8 inches had fallen in Greensboro.  It was so cold on Saturday that we only spent a few minutes outside to take pictures, before walking over to our neighbors house to celebrate Charlie’s first birthday (because of the snow we were the only ones who were able to make it to the party).  Barnes did not even notice the snow, he did notice his little snow outfit and was not a big fan!  Other than the party on Saturday, Barnes and I have not been out of the house since Thursday – we have both had little colds and I don’t think he feels well – but we are starting to get cabin fever or at least I am.  All that being said, it does not look like we will get out of the house any time soon and they are calling for more winter weather this weekend!  I am so ready for spring weather, Punxsutawney Phil predicted six more weeks of winter today so I guess I will have to wait awhile before Barnes and I can enjoy some warm weather.  Happy Groundhog Day!!!!

Love Always, Em

Mommy I really don't like this outfit	Giving Mommy Some Love	My Sweet Little Angel
Barnes in the Snow!!!	Snow Day

Dear Barnes:

I can’t believe you are a month old – where have the past few weeks gone?  It seems like yesterday we were counting down the days until your arrivial.  You weigh 9 pounds (25%) are 21 1/2 inches long (50%) and your head is 15 inches (50%); you are starting to out grow your newborn clothes and the 0-3 month clothes no longer fall off of you.  You are still wearing newborn diapers, but will be in size 1 diapers by the end of next week.  You had a head full of hair when you were born, but now it is starting to fall out (you have a huge bald spot on top of your head).  You love to eat and hate to take a bath.  You eat every two to three hours, but every now and then you will go four hours at night (not very often).  You have slept in the crib in your room for several weeks now and seem to enjoy your nursery.  You spent your first night away from home last week, while you and Mommy visited your grandparents in Rocky Mount (where you have your very own nursery).  You talk all the time, even in your sleep.  We are still waiting for the day that you give us a big smile.  You enjoy your swing and love to go on walks and car rides.  We love you more than anything on earth and are so blessed to be your parents!

Love Always,

M&D

(Mommy and Daddy)

I began this post several weeks ago and at the time it was just too hard to write – as I told Will, I was just not ready to live the whole experience again!  But it has been a month now, yes that is right our baby boy is a month old today, and well I guess it is time to start sharing with everyone what is going on with us and our sweet baby Barnes.  I will do his one month post on Friday after we see the doctor.  But here is the story of how it began….

Shortly after my last post, on the evening of December 18th after 5 inches of snow fell in Greensboro, my water broke!  At around 11:00 pm Will and I braved the snow and ice and drove very slowly to Women’s Hospital, which is thankfully only two miles from our house.  It was almost midnight before we were checked into our labor and delivery room and with all the snow outside we decided it was better if we did not call our parents and let them know we were in labor until the morning, in fact we called did not call anyone until around 7 the next morning.

At 12:11 pm on December 19th, Barnes Argyle Haley was born.  He weighed 6 pounds 14 ounces and was 20 3/4 inches long.  He seemed perfect and healthy, and after about an hour was taken to the nursery for his bath and other examinations.  Will came back from the nursery and said one of the nurses noticed that Barnes was a little yellow and his bilirubin level came back slightly elevated, and just to be on the safe side they were going to run more test.  We were transferred to our postpartum room and Barnes was brought to us wrapped in a billi blanket.  I had seen babies in billi blankets before, so having my child look like a glow worm was not that big of a deal.  However, when our pediatrician came in shortly after and after a consult with the NICU doctor Barnes was taken back to the nursery for light treatments.

When Will and I visited Barnes in the nursery and finally talked with the NICU doctor we were told that Barnes was going to be transferred to the NICU and that if his bilirubin levels continued to increase at the same rate as they had the past few hours, he would begin having blood transfusions between midnight and 3 am!  This is when we learned that Barnes and I have incompatible blood types, called A O incompatibility, and my red blood cells had crossed the placenta walls and after birth my red blood cells were attacking and killing Barnes red blood cells.  So Barnes was transferred to the NICU, which was terrifying.  At midnight we were informed that Barnes bilirubin levels had increased but not at a rate that would cause him to have to start blood transfusion and we would get another update at 3 am.  The 3 am update was even better, Barnes not only was not going to need a blood transfusion but his levels had decreased – the light treatments alone were working!!!

Barnes was in the NICU for 5 days, 3 days for light treatments and then 2 additional days for antibiotics because his white cell counts were elevated at birth (but no infection was ever found).  Will and I spend the night of December 23rd with Barnes in the NICU and were able to bring Barnes home on December 24th – Christmas Eve and his original due date.  We were home with our new Baby for Christmas!!!  Enjoy the pictures below and come back on Friday for another Barnes update.

Love Always, Em

Click on pictures to zoom

First Picture	Barnes under the lights	Barnes in the NICU
Last day in the NICU	Barnes and Santa	Barnes watching UT get crushed
Barnes waving hello	Tummy Time

We recently got a new camcorder and have yet to really play with it.  Since snow is such a rare occasion, we thought this would be a great time to try it out.

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We went back to the doctor yesterday and what a difference a week has made!!!  We have made so much progress that they have decided to go ahead and schedule an induction for Tuesday morning at 5:15 AM!  I go back to the doctor on Monday to see if my cervix has dilated anymore (I was 2 cm yesterday and 80% effaced).  If I have not made any progress then we will go into the hospital on Monday night to start the induction process, but otherwise we will just go to the hospital early Tuesday morning.  Baby Haley should arrive sometime on December 22nd, if I don’t go into labor this weekend, and we hope to come home Christmas Eve!

Please keep us in your prayers and we look forward to sharing good news with everyone at the beginning of next week!

Love, Em

We reached 38 weeks yesterday and at this point we are just counting down the days.  Over the past two weeks we have been to the doctor twice and had two ultrasounds.  The ultrasound on December 2nd was to check and see how big Baby Haley was measuring and I am excited to announce we are no longer measuring large (90%).  Baby Haley was measuring around 6 pounds 15 oz (75%).  However, my fluid levels were low.  I am not sure exactly how they measure fluid levels but my was around a 9 and it should be around an 18.  I was told to go home, rest and drink lots of water and that is all a pregnant lady wants to hear is that she should drink more water, as if I don’t already go to the bathroom 500 times a day!  We had another ultrasound on Wednesday and my fluid level was up to a 14, much better.  Baby Haley measures around 7 pounds 5 oz, gaining about 1/2 pound a week!  As for getting close to Baby Haley arriving, we don’t think it will be anytime soon as there has been no progress.  We go back next Wednesday for an appointment and then have another ultrasound on December 22nd, if we are still pregnant.  Everyone keeps asking me how I feel and honestly things are okay.  I am uncomfortable and walking around is no fun and at times painful, but I am still able to get some sleep at night and I am VERY thankful for that.  We have no plans for Christmas.  If Baby Haley is not here, Will and I plan to spend Christmas resting and enjoying our last few days as a childless couple with each other and the dogs in Greensboro.

Love, Em

Something most people do not know about me is that I collect children’s books.  I am not sure when my days of collecting books began, but I know from an early age I would get a book on most holidays, usually from the Easter Bunny and Santa.  I am not sure if my adult collection began in middle school or in high school, but at some point as a teenager my mother began giving me children’s books again and this tradition continues still today.  When Will and I married in 2003 he began giving me books for Christmas each year and I can honestly say that I look forward to receiving new books from my mother and Will each year.  They always give me special children’s books, for example the first year we were married Will gave me the book T is for Tarheel an alphabet book all about the state of North Carolina because he knew how much I love NC and how I said North Carolina would always be home.  My collection is not just of books from Will and my mother I try to remember to pick up a book when we travel, for example I picked up books while in California several summers ago and my sister, Amy, brought me home a book from Australia from her summer abroad.

On my most recent trip to New York I had the absolute pleasure of spending several hours in the famous New York book store Books of Wonder, this is the book store that the movie You’ve Got Mail’s children’s book store The Shop Around The Corner is modeled after!  During my afternoon I met Katherine Paterson, the author of the novel A Bridge To Terabithia, who wrote a book with her husband called Blueberries For The Queen.  While this is not the first book for Baby Haley, this is the first signed book in Baby Haley’s book collection.

Of course, my collection (I guess it is now Baby Haley’s collection) also contains many classics such as Good Night Moon and Oh the Places You’ll Go!  I can’t wait to begin reading all of this books to Baby Haley and look forward to the hours of story time we will share for years to come.  Below are a few pictures of some of my favorite books from our collection.  Please leave a commit and let me know what is your favorite children’s book, what is your child’s favorite book or what book do you remember from your childhood?  I would love to hear from any mother’s (or grandmothers) who have suggestions of new or unique books their children love, I am always looking for suggestions as to books we should add to our collection!

Love, Em

Some of Baby Haley's New Books	Books from Around the World	The Classics
Color and Opposite pop-up Books	Introduction ot Art Books	Book Collection

Baby Haley has really grown over the past few weeks!  This past Thursday marked our 35th week pregnant with only 35 days left until our due date, which is why I titled this post our 35/35 Update!!!

Baby Haley now weights around 5 pounds and should measure around 18 inches long (about the size of a honeydew).  He (she) is now putting on around 1/2 pound a week and I can really tell a difference in his (her) size, I feel like my baby bump grows almost daily.  The next few weeks Baby Haley’s main job is to put on weight.  We go back to the doctor on December 2nd for our last ultrasound, we hope to have a better idea at that point how big Baby Haley will be and make some decision from there.  I have been told multiple times that the doctor will not induce me early, even if Baby Haley continues to measure in the 95%.  I think Baby Haley might come early, I just can not imagine staying pregnant for another 30 days, but this might just be wishful thinking.  Either way, in the next two to six weeks we will have a new baby – I can’t believe nine months have come and gone so quickly.

There has been lots in the news the past three weeks.  There was the tragic Fort Hood shooting and the House and the Senate have both passed a version of a health care reform bill.  Oprah announced on Friday that she would end her show in September 2011 and Sarah Palin’s book “Going Rogue” hit book shelves last week.

As for a fact about our family – since Will and I recently joined a Church here in Greensboro, I have decided to write about Church.  Will and I were married at Saint Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Rocky Mount.  We loved Saint Andrew’s and were very involved in Church activities – Will sang in the choir and Emily helped with the middle school youth group.  There was not an Episcopal Church in Fuquay Varina and between grad school and law school, we did not join a church after leaving Rocky Mount.  After moving to Greensboro, Will and I started looking for a new church.  After visiting several churches I am happy to say we have a new church home.  We decided to join Holy Trinity Episcopal Church in downtown Greensboro.  Holy Trinity is a larger church, but still has a very small church feel.  We feel so welcome at Holy Trinity and while we have not become extremely involved in church activities look forward to becoming more involved in our new Church Family in 2010!

Only 30 more shopping days between now and Christmas.  I hope everyone has a WONDERFUL Thanksgiving Holiday.  We are starting a new tradition in the Haley house and will be hosting Thanksgiving in Greensboro with both the Barker and Haley families – we will have 13 people for lunch on Thursday and honestly I am so excited to share this very special time with my entire family.  We have so much to be thankful for this year!!!

Love Always, Em

Enjoy the picture – it might be the last baby bump photo I post, as I look and feel HUGE!!!

Baby Bump - Week 35