Birthday girl

Brynna turned one on March 31st so I wanted to document some things she is doing right now. She was probably the most aggressive of all 4 kids when it came to eating her cake! She was so cute. She had to pick at the frosting for a little bit but once she dug into the cake, she was really into it! She squished it all around and through her fingers and would occasionally take a little bite. She completely demolished it!

Let's see... What else is she up to? She is so much fun right now because it seems like she is learning something new everyday. She started walking a little before 10 months old and has been unstoppable ever since. She looks for any opportunity to escape the living room and head to the stairs. She is up them in no time at all. We have to really remind the big kids to make sure to close the baby gate or she makes a run for it! She also loves the bathroom toilet anytime she can get to it!

She is the best eater out of all of our kids. I honestly haven't given her anything that she hasn't liked. She eats pretty much what we eat - just cut up into little bites. We stopped formula right at a year old and switched to whole milk and she hasn't noticed or doesn't care. I am not sure exactly which!

She will put her hand up to her ear when the phone rings and brushes her hair with the brush. She can find her binkie if you ask her where it is. She isn't saying much yet but she says, "this" very clearly! I think anytime I ask her if she wants something that I show it to her and say, "You want this," so she picked up on that.

She pretty much loves everyone and I don't think the stranger anxiety has kicked in yet. She will still smile at anyone who talks to her and sometimes even hold out her arms to random people. :) She is such an easy going baby. Not sure if that is nature or nuture since she has been on the go pretty much since birth with three older active siblings. We have soccer going on right now and I can already tell it is going to be a long summer chasing her around!

Can you believe it?

I am actually posting! I am not really sure why I even have this blog anymore since I never have a free minute to update. BUT since we happen to be in what could be the biggest snowstorm in history, I have a few minutes free! I think we have about a foot of snow on the ground and school has been cancelled for today and tomorrow. The temperatures are VERY cold so we are huddled up in our cozy house eating soup and chili and watching movies. I love snow days!!!



Lots has happened since my last post. Things have been going really well for all of us. Brecca is in 2nd grade and loves her teacher. There is a little girl drama going on already (Can you believe it starts so early?) but she is handling it well. I am very proud of her an how she isn't really letting it get to her. She is pretty easy-going and so far things just seem to bounce off. Let's hope it stays that way. She played basketball this year again and did really well. I hope that is something she decides to stick with. She really is pretty good at it and seems to be really interested in. She also does dance and swimming so she stays pretty busy.



Braylee started Kingergarten this year and in typical Braylee style, seems to be pretty unimpressed by the whole thing! :) She actually does enjoy school and is always ready to go in the mornings (unlike her sister!). She has made some new friends and is very excited about it. She loves getting invited places - especially when Brecca and Brax have to stay home. She was always so disappointed when Brecca would get invited places and she couldn't go so she is very happy that now it is her turn. She also played basketball and loves swimming. Suprisingly, she has a little more desire for competition than Brecca does so we will see what that brings in her future. Everybody who knows Braylee will attest to the fact that she is not your typical 6 year old - in a good way. We wouldn't change anything about her for the world!

Brax is in preschool this year and loves it. I think he feels pretty important now that he gets to go to school like the girls. We are still debating Kindergarten next year. He will be old enough but we are weighing the pros and cons of sending him vs. preschool another year. We will see what happens. Right now, I have absolutely no idea! He started wrestling this year and really enjoys it. He went to three tournaments and is yet to win his first match, but he did get 4th out of 4 wrestlers and got a medal! He was very excited about it. It didn't matter to him that he got pinned 3 times in a row - he got a medal and that's really what it's all about. :) He is really a good boy for the most part so we lucked out there. We are very proud of him!

Brynna is 11 months old now. I know I have said this before but time really flies! She is walking all over the place and has been for a little over a month now. She eats anything you put in front of her but still only weighs 19 lbs. She is happy pretty much all of the time and sleeps all night, every night. Really, we couldn't have asked for a better baby. She is on the go and has been pretty much all her life. She spent the summer going to swim meets and ball games, fall going to football games, swimming, basketball, dance and we are just now starting soccer. She loves going "bye bye" and sleeps pretty much anywhere so we lucked out there. She waves, gives high fives and kisses, and walks around the house saying, "eh" all of the time. No official words yet although Brecca just told me she says, "dada." I said that she didn't and she told me I was just jealous (she doesn't!). I have to say that 4 really isn't much different than 3. Going from 2 to 3 was our biggest struggle but it could just be because Brynna is so easy. She has been pretty healthy for the most part, other than having RSV over Christmas. Nanny comes to the house and keeps her and Brax for me so that is a major blessing. I think that is a lot of the reason that she has been so healthy.

I got a job this year teaching Kindergarten here in town. I alsolutely love it. It was hard leaving Brynna at first but I knew she was in good hands. It is so nice to be able to take the girls to school with me and then just take them home with me after school. The students are great and I couldn't have asked for a better group of ladies to work with. I honestly enjoy going to work every single day! Nate is still at Ash Grove. He just went back to work after being laid off for 6 weeks. He enjoyed being home and now that I have an income, I think it was a little difficult for him to go back! :) He is busy working and being a dad. We are hoping to spend more time at the lake this summer and he hopes to fish a little more this year.

I feel like I just wrote a newsletter for my Christmas card but hopefully that catches me up. I feel bad that I haven't been documenting our lives like I should be so I am going to try harder! Even one post a week is better than none, right??? We'll see how that goes...

4 months old

Wow! Time really flies when your having fun. It has been a crazy summer but we have loved every minute of it. I really cannot believe Brynna is 4 months old already. I meant to do a milestones post for each month but the time has really slipped by me so here we are at 4 months doing are first milestone post! What is Brynna up to these days:

- We go to the doctor next week so I am not sure about weight and length. She is wearing mostly 3-6 month clothes and 6 month sleepers. She is also in size 2 diapers.

- Still takes primarily breastmilk although we do supplement with formula occasionally. She takes 4-6 ounces at a time about every 3 hours.

- Sleeps all night every night and has since just a couple of weeks old. Occasionally she would wake up about 4 or 5 am but usually slept until at least 6:30am. Made the transition from bassinet to crib at 2 months. She is still in our room though and will be for quite some time! We put her to bed drowsy but still awake and she goes off to sleep on her own. I do miss rocking her to sleep but we snuggle a lot before I put her down! :)

- Loves her binky and also sucks on her fist. She has found her thumb a couple of times. I am worried we are going to have a thumb sucker on our hands!

- She uses her left hand to reach for things. We have a feeling she may be a lefty but we'll see. Just started grabbing big sister's hair!

-Hasn't rolled over yet but is very close. I have to say that our house probably isn't the safest place to be laying on the floor so her time there is limited. She hasn't had much practice! She spends most of her time in someone's arms or in her little bouncy seat. With three older siblings running around, plus a 70 lb dog, we prefer to keep her up off the ground!

- She is a very happy baby! Smiles all the time and will let anyone hold her. She is content to be on the go a lot and doesn't mind her carseat anymore. She spent lots of evenings at ball games, swim meets, and out at Grandma and Papa's pool.

- Loves her baths. We did put her in the pool one evening and she seemed to enjoy that too. Haven't tried it again but plan to.

- Coos and tries to talk all of the time. She thinks anyone in the same vacinity who is talking is talking to her and will smile and coo back at them. She is a really social baby (so far!).

- She likes sitting up (on laps and in her Bumbo) and is hardly ever still. She is constantly moving her arms and legs and trying to stand up. She is an active baby, that's for sure!

That's is all I can think of for now! She has been a real blessing and we are so thankful that we are her (and the other three's) parents! I will try to keep the updates coming!!!

One day old

Brax had gone home with Dave and Julia the night before and Braylee with Kara and Matt. Brecca was with my mom and slept in a little the next morning. We were bad parents and let her just skip the whole school day. Julia and Kara had to work the next day so the plan was for them to take Braylee and Brax to my grandma's and then my mom would pick them up and bring them out to the hospital a little later. Braylee was too excited to wait so Kara brought her out first thing in the morning. She got to see Brynna and hold her for the first time. Braylee was pretty excited she was a girl. Brax came out a little later andhe wasn't quite as excited as the girls. I mentioned earlier that he kept saying, " I thought it was going to be a brother." He warmed up to her pretty quickly though and is a very loving big brother. Brynna has a small umbilical hernia so her umbilical cord stump stuck out pretty far, especially with the cord clamp on it. The first time Brax saw her, he thought that it was something else... something that may have indicated she was a boy! We had to explain to him that that was just her belly button and not what he thought it might be! :)

I was having a pretty rough day. I enjoyed all of our visitors and really truly enjoyed seeing everybody but I was just worn out. I didn't get much sleep the night before and people started showing up to visit pretty early so by early afternoon I was pretty tired. I never had a chance to get up out of bed and shower and I still had my catheder in so I wasn't even getting up to use the restroom. My brother and Erin came down that evening and my sister and Tylee came up from Parsons and I could barely keep my eyes open and visit with them. I kept dozing off and they all made the comment that I looked pretty pale. We sent Brynna to the nursery that night so we could get a little sleep. They said she was perfect and brought her to me every few hours through the night so that I could feed her. I think they all fell in love with her. Everybody was shocked when they saw her and her full head of dark black hair!!!

The next morning the nurse came in and told me why I had been feeling so tired. My hemoglobin was 5.2. Normal is supposed to be between 12 and 16 and anything under 7 is considered critical. Apparently 5.2 is pretty low. They told me I would need at least 2 units of blood and said that it was a good thing I had not been up out of bed... that I probably would have passed out had we even tried it. Things moved pretty quickly as far as getting ready to give me blood. I was really nervous about it. Just the thought of someone else's blood going into my veins gave me the chills but I ended up being ok with it. They gave me two units over the course of the afternoon and then let me get up and shower. I was feeling a little better by that point but they said my hemoglobin had only come up to about 7 so I would need a couple more units. They gave me those through the night and by the next morning I was feeling much better. I was still really sore though and having a hard time getting around. They mentioned doing a sonogram or a CT scan to see if I was still having some internal bleeding but decided against it. I just couldn't figure out why I was so sore. My sister had a c-section 2 years earlier and she was getting around really well by this point and I just kept thinking that what I was feeling wasn't normal. I knew I wasn't just being a big baby!

By Saturday morning I seemed a little better and they thought I was well enough to head for home. It was nice to get out of the hospital but going home presented a whole new set of problems.

I was still soooo sore and our furniture sat too low. Our bed was too high and I couldn't get up into it. Brynna and I spent our first two weeks home in the living room on the couch. Our couch has recliners on both ends so although I couldn't lay down, I could recline the seat and get pretty comfy! I pretty much sat and held her all day long! At night, Nate would lay her in her bassinet (in the living room right next to the couch) after her 10:00pm feeding and when she woke up for her next feeding, he would get out of bed, change her diaper, give her to me, and head back to bed. I would nurse her and then hold her the rest of the night. He was working 6am-4pm at the time so he got up about 4:45am. He would take her, change her again, and give her back to me. This was pretty much our routine for about two weeks when I finally decided that that wasn't normal and headed back to the doctor. It turned out I had a huge, softball size hematoma in my stomach! After a CT to confirm, we scheduled a surgery the next day to remove it. Talk about relief! I walked out of the hospital that day feeling better than I had in a LONG time!!! I felt much better knowing that the pain I had been feeling was justified and that I wasn't just a big baby!!! Things slowly returned to normal and we eventually got into a little bit of a routine. Honestly, having a 4th child wasn't too big of an adjustment. Two to three was the hardest for us. I think maybe because Nate and I were outnumbered! From the beginning Brynna has always been a great baby so that definitely made it easier for us! I can't imagine going through all that with a fussy baby! Things were going well. I was on the mend, the kids were getting used to having a baby in the house, Brynna was adjusting well, Nate was a proud Daddy again..... We were loving life (and still are!)!!!

The Rest of the Story

Well, two months later I am finally finishing the story of Brynna's birthday! I think I left off about the time they took Brynna off to the nursery. They told me it would just be a few minutes and they would be wheeling me back to my room. That few minutes ended up turning into a couple of hours. Unfortunately at they time I thought I would be back to my room rather quickly, I told Nate to not let anyone know what the baby was until I was there for the big moment. By this point, several people had gone on home so it was basically just my mom, Chelse, Nanny and Poppy, Grandma Katy, Brecca, and Tylee still hanging out in my room waiting for the big news.


The doctors were trying to get me back to my baby as soon as they could but my uterus just wasn't cooperating! They later told me that I was bleeding from places that I should not have been bleeding from. Everytime they would put in a stitch to sew me up, blood would just keep oozing out from between the stitches. I guess this is not a very common occurance so they weren't exactly sure what to do. They gave me a couple shots of Pitocin right in the uterus to make it contract and eventually had to use some sort of synthetic glue to get it to stop seeping. They sewed me back up and sent me to recovery. They did some lab work to make sure I hadn't lost too much blood so that took awhile to get back and there was another lady delivering a baby so the OB nurses were tied up with her. By the time I got back to my room, it was after 2:00am. Poor little Brecca! She was exhausted and could hardly wake up enough to meet her new baby sister. Everybody was so excited to find out what he or she was and even more so after waiting an extra two hours. They said they were just sure she was a boy because she looked just like Brax. I remember telling Brecca, "You have a sister!" and her giving a little grin but it had been a long day and she was worn out! I wish I would have thought to get out the video camera at that point but the thought didn't even cross my mind. We made a couple of phone calls to share the news and everybody headed for home. By the time I fed Brynna for the first time and we settled down enough to go to bed, it was after 4am. It had been a long day! Braylee and Brax would have to wait until morning to fnd out whether they had a new brother or a new sister!

Lots to update

So much has happened over the last week I almost don't even know where to start! I guess I will start by saying that we have a beautiful, healthy, baby GIRL! I can't say that I was suprised, although I don't think I would have been suprised had they announced she was a boy either! My feeling just went back and forth the entire time so I was prepared for either one. I have to say I am so excited to have another girl! I think deep down I felt like she was a girl but I didn't want to let myself get to excited either way so I just remained kinda neutral. Big brother Brax was a little disappoined at first but got over it very quickly. His first question for me was,"I thought it was going to be a brother?" I explained to him that God had decided that he needed another sister and he was ok with that! Both sisters were extremely excited that they got their girl. I guess I had better back up to the beginning and start from there! It was a long few days to say the least!

I don't think I ever posted about my doctors appointment in which I had gained 10 lbs over 3 days. My blood pressure was a little high but nothing too bad - pretty much borderline - so the doctor ordered a bunch of blood work and a UA to rule out preeclampsia. He explained that normally if he even questioned preeclamsia he would just deliver the baby right away but he had already checked my cervix and it was not even close to being favorable. I was dilated to a one but he said everything else was still "thick and high" and even mentioned that my cervix was in a funny position. He thought it was safer to wait on the bloodwork and if that came back ok, then to monitor the baby a couple of times that week by doing a non-stress test and see me the next Monday. The bloodwork all came back ok so he felt safe waiting another week and then reevaluating at that point.

The week went by without incident. I really wasn't feeling the greatest but I was 38-39 weeks pregnant with my 4th child so my expectations weren't too high. The baby looked great on both non-stress tests and I kept my appointment for Monday. After weighing in, the nurse told me that I had lost the 10 lbs I had gained the previous week and that my blood pressure was great. No swelling either! Everything was looking good. The doctor gave me the option of inducing, even though my cervix wasn't favorable, since it was my 4th baby and we thought things would move fairly quickly regardless. I asked if there were any benefits or risks either way and he couldn't see that it really mattered and didn't really think it was likely that I would go into labor on my own even if I tried to wait it out for another week. We even looked back in his notes from when I delivered Brax and he had written the exact same thing that he had just told me a few minutes before - dilated to a 1, 30% effaced, thick, and high. My labor and delivery combined with Brax lasted about 8 hours so after hearing that, I made the decision to go ahead and set up the induction. I wanted to avoid Thursday since it was April Fool's Day and also Friday since I wanted to be home before Easter so that left Tuesday or Wednesday. The doctor left to call OB and see what day they would prefer. He came back and said Tuesday was the day! Not much time to prepare but we were ready to meet this baby!!!

I had to be at the hospital bright and early (6am!) so the kids spent the night with my mom and we went to bed early. It was a long night of bathroom trips,Tums, and a little anxiety about the next day, so I was up before the alarm - which is very unusual for me! We headed to the hospital and got checked in. We were assigned to a smaller delivery room than the one we have had in the past. Our nurse was super nice and I asked if she would back that night and she said that she was starting her three days off and so she probably wouldn't see us again (Can you sense a little foreshadowing???). They got my IV going and the Pitocin started and also put in the catheder so things would be a little easier when the time came for the epidural later. The doctor also broke my water so maybe thing woud progress a little more quickly. Things were pretty uneventful for the first few hours. Family started showing up at the hospital. We visited, watched tv, took pictures..... pretty much just hung out until I started feeling some contractions. I asked for my epidural before I really started feeling much pain. Each time I have had an epidural my legs have gone completely numb and this time was no exception. I couldn't move a muscle from the waist down. The doctor came over on his lunch break and things weren't progressing very well. The baby had it's head turned to one side and we needed it to turn it before it would slide on down into the birth canal. He thought it would be at least 5:00 before I delivered so he said he would be back after clinic. I thought about poor Brecca who was at school waiting on someone to pick her up before the baby was born and figured she was probably so excited she couldn't stand it so my sister and Tylee went ahead and picked her up early. Waiting at the hospital is no fun but at least she knew what was going on! My mom picked Braylee and Brax up at the babysitter's later tht afternoon. The rest of the afternoon was similiar to the morning... just waiting... At least I was somewhat comfortable - although I couldn't feel my legs!

The doctor came over after clinic hours and had more bad news for us - still not much progress. That baby was being stubborn! They had the Pitocin up about as high as it could go and they said sometimes it helps if you kick it back down and work up slowly again. They cut it in half and started working back up again. I took a little nap while Nate went to the cafeteria and ate some dinner. He came back and we started watching American Idol. That's when I started feeling a little sick to my stomach. Things got worse from there. I started throwing up and then just gradually started feeling worse and worse. I felt hot and then cold, sick to my stomach, weak and tired. It was so strange that it all hit me so quickly. It is all a little blurry to me from this point. By this time I had been on the Pitocin for over 12 hours, nothing to eat, very little sleep, and now I wasn't feeling good on top of all that! I know that a lady who had also come in that morning delivered her first baby during that time! The doctor said he had expected the opposite - her still in labor and me having my baby! At some point I heard I was dilated to an 8 and the nurse started getting things ready for me to deliver. The problem was the baby just would not move into the birth canal. It still needed to turn it's head and at this point, it wasn't cooperating!

Eventually the doctor came in and said if things didn't improve, we might be headed in the direction of a c-section. The baby's heartrate had dropped pretty low at one point but had bebounded nicely so they weren't ovrly concerned about the baby at this point. It seemed to be tolerating things pretty well. He said I would be pushing for at least a couple of hours to get the baby to move down and at that point, I decided I just didn't have the energy for that. I was feeling terrible and could hardly keep my eyes open and my head up long enough to have a coversation with him.... I knew there was no way I was going to be able to push for two hours! It was seriously the weirdest feeling I have ever had. I still have no idea what happened or how to explain what I was feeling. I was completely against a c-section but at this point, it seemed like the best option. I asked the doctor at what point we could just say that we were doing a c-section and he said if I was ok with it, we could make that decision at any point. Later he told me that he usually brings it up when it starts looking that way to him and gives the parents some time to adjust and then later comes back in and breaks the news that a c-section is the direction they are going. I didn't need that time to adjust! I told him I was ready and he said it would take a little while to gather the surgery team but we would be ready to go shortly.

I remember Nate, my mom, Chelse, and Nanny laughing about Nate in his scrubs and wishing they would be quiet but that is about all until they wheeled me back. It was interesting moving my numb lower half from my hospital bed onto the operating table but they managed and started getting set up. They strapped my arms down (which was an odd feeling) and put the sheet up between my head and stomach. I was afraid I wasn't going to be numb so I kept telling them that I could feel things and they kept saying it was just pressure that I was feeling and they must have been right because I never felt any pain. They eventually let Nate come in although he didn't get to stand by me. We still aren't sure why but I did feel pretty alone in there! Once they got started, it was only a few minutes before I heard the baby cry and they said she was a GIRL! I really don't remember feeling suprised - just happy and excited! I was happy she was a girl and happy she was finally here and safe and crying! They showed her to me briefly (she was beautiful!) and then Nate and the nurse took her to the nursery to get her cleaned up. Things stayed pretty interesting for the next few days but this post is long already so I'll save the rest for another day! Our baby was finally here!!!!!

Leave of Absence

Wow! It has been awhile since I have posted! Things have been coming along very well though along the homefront, despite my lack of blog updates! I am now officially 38 weeks pregnant and could technically go into labor any day now (which would be great for me!!) although it isn't looking very likely. If past pregnancies are indicative of what is going to happen with this current pregnancy, I might be waiting awhile before I go into labor on my own. Which is why I am going to induce on the first possible day the doctor will allow it! I know there are differing opinions on inducing and honestly, if it were my first baby and I had to do it all over again, I would have waited a little longer. Let's just say Brecca was not ready to come out! But since this is my 4th and having been induced three times previous, I am jumping at the first available chance! I go to the doctor tomorrow and hopefully it will be sometime this week that we get to meet this new little guy/gal! I have tried to do my best to enjoy it this time since it will more that likely be my last (I just can't say for sure yet!!!). The little kicks and hiccups, hearing the heartbeat, feeling the baby rolling around in my belly, watching the kids faces when they feel their brother/sister kick..... those are all things that I will never get tired of. Although as it has gotten bigger, I will admit that they have gotten a little more uncomfortable! It hiccups all of the time and moves around more than any of my others have. They were all active but this one is pretty much on the go constantly!

Things are definitely getting harder around the house too. Between having to use the bathroom every couple of hours all night long and getting up to take a Tums for heartburn, I haven't been getting much sleep. Nate has been working a lot of overtime at work so I have been on my own with the other three a lot. Cooking, cleaning, bathing, running around..... Things just aren't as easy as they used to be! Luckily we have lots of family around to pick up the slack and they have been more than helpful the last month or so!

I really don't want to sound like I am complaining! I am truly blessed and thankful for everything that I have. God has given us so much and we are so grateful that He trusted us to raise these wonderful children! We really don't have to look far to see how blessed we actually are. And hopefully in a few days we will have a new little blessing that will enrich our lives even more! I can hardly wait! :)