The Christening of EMMA GRACE

Today was Emma's christening at St. Joseph's Roman Catholic church in Stepps. Emma wore a lovely Mothercare outfit and we had lots of people at the church and later at home where we had a real feast. The christening ceremony was lovely and she was great, she didn't cry at all and quite interested in what Father Jim was doing! She even enjoyed when he poured water over her head...

Godmother: Louise Kelly
Godfather: Emma's uncle Marin (baka Zdenka was there instead)

Those that were present at the Christening:

• Zdenka Matic (Emma's grandmother)
• Daniel
  
• Christine (Emma's grandmother),
  
• Jennifer (Emma's aunty)
• Grandad Edward and Jackie
  
• Uncle Gary, Lynn and Lauren
• Louise, Shahid, Imran and Liam
• Elizabeth Kelly
  
• Monty, Katherine, Lara and Zoe
  
• Andrea, Alex and Lily
• Diane, Paul and Lauren
• Avril, Stewart and Hannah

Afterwards, we had fireworks in the garden. Daniel was a bit scared but Emma loved it. All in all it was a great day to celebrate Emma's Christening...

Click here to see more christening photos.

Meaning of Daniel and Emma's name

Daniel

Usage: English, Jewish, French, German, Scandinavian, Polish, Czech, Croatian, Spanish, Portuguese, Romanian, Biblical

Pronounced: DAN-yul (English), dan-YEL (French)

From the Hebrew name Daniyel meaning "God is my judge". Daniel was a Hebrew prophet whose story is told in the Book of Daniel in the Old Testament. He lived during the Jewish captivity in Babylon, where he served in the court of the king, rising to prominence by interpreting the king's dreams. The book also presents Daniel's four visions of the end of the world. Famous bearers of this name include English author Daniel Defoe, Swiss mathematician Daniel Bernoulli, American frontiersman Daniel Boone and more recently film star Daniel Day Lewis. Most recently Daniel Craig is the new James Bond...

Noun 1. Daniel - (Old Testament) a youth who was taken into the court of Nebuchadnezzar and given divine protection when thrown into a den of lions (6th century BC)

2. Daniel - a wise and upright judge; "a Daniel come to judgment" -- Shakespeare
judge, magistrate, jurist, justice - a public official authorized to decide questions bought before a court of justice

3. Daniel - an Old Testament book that tells of the apocalyptic visions and the experiences of Daniel in the court of Nebuchadnezzar
Book of Daniel, Book of the Prophet Daniel book - a major division of a long written composition; "the book of Isaiah"

Emma

Gender: Feminine

Usage: English, French, Italian, Finnish, Dutch

Pronounced: EM-a [key]

Derived from Germanic ermen meaning "whole" or "universal". This was the name of the mother of Edward the Confessor. This is also the name of the central character, the matchmaker Emma Woodhouse, in Jane Austen's novel 'Emma'.

Emma's birth story

Some time ago I decided that I would have an elective section with Emma rather than go through natural birth since Daniel was really late and had to be induced. We booked the section for Tuesday, 7th February and everything was planned for then.

The weekend before the section I felt OK but on Monday morning, 6th February, I woke up about 3am feeling crampy, like I was getting a period. I felt very uncomfortable and didn't sleep well and in the morning I went to see my mum and asked her if she felt like this when she went into labour. As I never went into labour naturally I didn't know what to expect. Anyway, I thought I'll ring the hospital and ask them what they thought. They said, come in to Prenatal Assessment ward. So about 9am, Alan and I went to the hospital, I left my hospital bag at home, I didn't think I would need it. I was hooked onto the monitor to monitor the baby's heartbeat and to monitor contractions. There were contractions but they were mild and irregular. They told me to stay for a few hours and if the pains and contractions didn't increase I would go home. I was also examined internally and I was not dialated at all. I felt very tired and I tried to snooze and the cramping continued, sometimes being very uncomfortable. About 2pm I was examined again, after being there for four hours and I was still not dialated and although I did have cramping the doctor said it was OK to go home but to come back if the pains increased. Alan was 45 minutes away from the hospital so his mum came to collect me and I went home. I came home and was really tired and went to lie down. I coudln't really sleep and whilst lying down I started to get regular pains/contractions. I was so tired but when I looked at the clock the contractions were coming every 5 minutes. It was just before 5pm when I called the hospital and they told me to come in. This time I brought my hospital bag and I actually thought yes, I'm in labour. The contractions were uncomfortable but not too bad at this stage. I was speaking to my mum and she said your contractions are shorter than 5 minutes. And so we went to the hospital and I was getting really uncomfortable. Alan let me out in the front of hospital and the pain was intense it was difficult to walk and a couple of people actually asked if I was OK. I was then examined in the hospital and told I am 1 cm dialated ! The contractions were getting more and more painful and I was given a couple of painkillers which didn't do much. I was then given gas and air and although it felt better I just felt really lightheaded and after a while I got sick, threw up three times. I asked when I would be sectioned and they told me there was an emergency section and that the consultant would see me. She eventually came and said there was another person who might be going before me and she was going to see that person. Whilst the consutlant was there the contractions were really intense and I was hoping I would be next. And I was! Just before 8pm she came back and said I was next, they asked me if I wanted to walk to the theatre and I told them I couldn't. I know I sound like a coward but the pain was really strong and when I went into threatre it took ages to get the spinal in as my contractions were just so fast and furious. Eventually the spinal was in and I was all hooked up and prepared and Alan came in. The section took quite a long time as they found a lot of scarring from the previous section, so they had to call another consultant to have a look at this. I felt very very cold during the section, apparently a side effect from the spinal anesthetic. Eventually, over an hour later, Emma Grace was born at 21:22. She weighed a healthy 3.715kg (8lb 3oz), we were going to take a picture of her when they took the screen down but she was covered in vernix and blood so we didn't until after they cleaned her up. Her upgars were 8.5 and 9.5 and she had a strong voice, she wasn't happy being dragged out! She nursed almost immediately they put her next to me, she fed for over an hour, such a pro!

She is such a contended beautiful happy baby girl, she has definitely made our family complete! We could not be happier and I keep looking at her, can't believe she is all mine!