Emma Kate Helmick

EMMA KATE HELMICK

6.27.2009

Keri two days before Emma was born!

Mom and Coach making it through contractions.

Right after Emma arrived! When we arrived to the hospital Keri was already dilated to 9cm. She was simply amazing! I was so proud.

Dr. Kevin Brenimen, Steven, Emma, and Keri. Emma Kate Helmick was born at 3:14am, Saturday June 27, 2009. She weighed in at 7 lbs 10 oz and was 20 1/2 inches long.

Gotta love it... My two girls. I'm blessed.

Nothin' like being a dad....

One of the few mornings that we were at home so far was very enjoyable! We spent time cuddling in Mommy and Daddy's bed.

We love your hair Emma Kate!

Emma was readmitted to the hospital because of a high billirubin count. She tested positive coombs (a result of Keri and Emma having blood types that didn't like each other. The red blood cells in Emma's body got into Keri's system by passing through the placenta. Since Keri is O+ her blood created antibodies to fight off Emma's B+ red blood cells. Once they were all gone, Keri's antibodies got "bored" and headed back towards Emma's body. Well Emma has a sea of red blood cells that Keri's antibodies wanted to attack. There is a finite number of antibodies that were created so eventually they died off, but Emma's red blood cells that were attacked released billirubin in her system.) All babies have billirubin in their system; however with the positive coombs testing and Emma's bruising from birth (which also caused red blood cells to burst which in turn created more billirubin) Emma's count was high enough to put her back in the hospital.

The UV lights break down the billirubin so it can pass through Emma's stool.

Check out our cool California beach bum daughter!

We had to feed her through a syringe because we wanted to imitate breast feeding as much as possible. When Emma sucked my finger, I gave her some of the milk. When she stopped sucking I stopped pushing the syringe. She needs to learn how to work for the milk.

Steven burping Emma after a syringe feed in her isolette.

Keri and Emma chillin' out at the hospital. The circle on Emma's face is velcro for her sunglasses that she wears when she is under the UV lights.

The World!

So I've always wanted the world painted on Keri's belly when she was pregnant....I was granted my wish when Jenn and Chris came to visit this spring. I loved it! Thanks so much Jenn. This is priceless. :)

We were all playing settlers and wanted to watch the world evolve so we had Keri prop herself up on the island in the kitchen. What a woman!

Our 5th Anniversary!

BIG CEDAR LODGE

I suprised Keri with a trip to Big Cedar Lodge for our 5 year anniversary/Last trip before the baby comes trip! We had a fabulous time relaxing and hanging out together!

Our community group leaders, Tracy and Renee, took us out to eat at Bone Fish Grill for our anniversary!

Keri suprised me with a 40 inch flat screen LCD TV! It is awesome! She worked a couple Saturday shifts to cover most the cost. She is the coolest wife ever!

Chocolate covered strawberries awaited us in our room! They were awesome.

They gave us a cake for our anniversary.

Keri and I loved this coffee shop called the Truman House. It had the greatest cream cheese danish I've ever tasted. For real....

I suprised Keri with an hour long mom-to-be message. She loved it!

The paddle boat trip left us burnt to a crisp once we were done.

We loved laying out by the pool while eating snow cones!

This is a shadow of the man guiding our carriage ride. I thought the shadow was kinda cool.

Me and the belgian horse named "Willie."

Our time was great. We loved our getaway!

Bye Bye Acxiom!

After 2 years and 205 days my Acxiom days are over! (Who's counting...) God has been good in giving me great people to work with as well as a flexible schedule; however I am so excited to start teaching in the Fall. I will miss my running on the river trail and basketball games during lunch though!

The picture below is of some of my co-workers at Juanita's for my going away lunch.

Closer and Closer....

When this picture was taken we had about 9 weeks to go! Lil' Helmick should be making his/her arrival in about 8 weeks!

Kari's Visit and Kelli's Graduation!

Our good friend Kari came to visit Keri and me for the weekend. Troy is still deployed with about a month to go which is why he wasn't able to make it. We had a fantastic time with Kari . We got to talk to Troy on Skype which was pretty cool. It was so good to see that he is doing well.

Keri and I after Kelli's graduation.

The Graduate! Stephen graduated on the same day at MTSU so Kelli and Stephen were unable to be at each others graduation. Bummer.

The entire gang that were able to make it...minus Kari.

Jenn, the following pictures are for you....These are the flowers that you got Kelli for graduation and your mom for Mother's Day. Kelli's are the pink ones and your Mom's flowers are the yellow roses.