A New Year Baby

Steven and I were really hoping that we would have a 2014 baby, but little Miss Emery had other plans!

I've already told you the story of how she was born, so now I'll tell you how she was celebrated as the first baby born in 2015 at Research Hospital! 

The hospital did not have any scheduled c-sections or deliveries for New Year's Day, since it was a holiday.  Emery however, worked on her own time schedule.  I was the only person in labor  and our sweet nurse Chelsea held her breath all morning waiting for Emery to be born.  She was so hoping that she would get to deliver the first baby of the year and was so nervous that someone else would come in, fully dilated, ready to push! haha!  Thankfully I delivered (literally) and gave her that first baby!

My Post-Push Gift

Once I was complete and was ready to push, Chelsea brought me a little celebration gift and told me that I could drink it and celebrate as soon as Emery was born!  This was such a small gesture but it made me feel extremely special, especially since this isn't something every new mom gets when they deliver!

A few hours after our baby was born, a floor nurse popped her head into my room to see if I was awake.  I was, of course, but I was also nursing Emery.  She said, "AAAAAH, of course you're feeding the baby!!!  But we are too excited and we just cant wait!!"  And at that moment my room filled with all of the people who were in my room during delivery - plus a few extras!  Chelsea came in carrying the largest "gift basket" I have ever seen - or received!!  A gift basket reserved for the first baby of 2015!!  We're talking laundry hamper large.  It was basically a baby-shower-in-a-hamper: lotions, diapers, wipes, soaps, 2 blankets with matching hats, an outfit, stuffed animals (which were PERFECT for Annie), a balloon, and most importantly: snacks!  The staff was seriously excited about giving this to me and even though I looked like an absolute disaster and I was nursing my new baby, they broke out the cameras and took a million photos of the occasion.  Mom and Steven snapped a few with their phones too!

Later that evening the nursery came and took Emery for her labs, etc....but while they had her they also dressed her up in a special cream-colored crocheted hat and blanket (that they gifted to us) and took her picture.  They even framed one for us :)

On our last night at the hospital, we were served a very special dinner.  Now, this is something the hospital does for every new mom - It wasn't a special New Year Baby thing, but it was still pretty wonderful.  We got to choose from a few entree options and we chose the steak!  Considering this was served from the cafeteria we (me and mom, since she was staying with me) did not have high expectations.  However, think TX Roadhouse delicious.  It was SO. so. yummy - and the presentation definitely made us feel special! Not to mention Food Service even included a little snack "basket" gift for us! Every hospital should do this...

We were just super impressed with how special Research Medical made us feel after welcoming our sweet baby girl.  There is so much sadness that happens at a hospital, so it's really amazing to see a hospital go above and beyond to celebrate the happy that happens there - and a new baby is definitely a happy thing!  Maybe it was because our baby was the new year baby, maybe it was because we were the only people who delivered that day, but maybe it's just because they have an awesome staff and really want to celebrate new moms.  Either way, it definitely made this birth memorable and we couldn't have imagined it being any better...