The LONG Labor

We finally got to deliver our baby girl!

My mom came up on Tuesday night to help out with Braelynn, and Kent and I headed to the hospital for our 5:30 appointment on Wednesday morning. I told Kent that this must be what being on Death Row feels like...there was no surprise and I knew exactly what I was getting myself into. I was really dragging my feet!

When I told the nurse at the desk that I was there to be induced she gave me this look and asked, "have they even checked to see if you are dilated?" Yep- I was really excited to be delivering at Chandler Regional again!

So when we got past Lil Miss Attitude at the gate, I got hooked up to the Pitocin at 6:30...not only was I dilated, I had gone from a 2 to a 3 since the previous morning :) Right on! I knew I was in for a LONG day.

The 1st half of the day was incredibly boring. I watched Food Network and Kent napped. Around 11 though things started to pick up their pace and intensity. At 12 noon I had to brace myself for the contractions...Kent and I also had a discussion at this point that I didn't find it appropriate that he was negotiating a deal via text messages at this time. Seriously. So, he went and got some ice cream. He's lucky he can still walk...

At 12:50, I was in the throws of alotta contractions- the nurses weren't going to check me again until 1:30 though. For the next 40 minutes I talked myself through each contraction that were about a minute apart. I knew I could make it to 1:30, but at that point I wasn't sure if I would take the Epi or be able to make it through again.

Bad news. I was only at a 7. WTF?! I asked nurse Carla (do you remember her? She was my most amazing and fabulous nurse when Braelynn was born. I GOT HER AGAIN!!!), what she thought the timeline was. If anyone was gonna talk me outta the Epi, it was gonna be her! She smiled and said it would probably be about 2 more hours. She then said she would call Dr. Lei for the Epi :) This is why I love her! She can read my innermost thoughts.

I sat up and they prepped me for the Epi. They told me that it would kick-in in about 3-4 contractions and that my feet would tingle to start. Nope. It didn't get any better and I could still feel my feet. I don't know who was more frustrated, me or the nurses. I didn't get any relief :(

At this point Dr. Karabinas came in (love her too!) and the whole team of nurses. The baby's heart rate was dropping and so was my blood pressure. They gave me the good ol' Oxygen and broke my water. They also checked me and I was ready to go! The nurses think that just the movement from me getting the Epi must've been enough to finish things off. Still no explanation why it didn't kick in...but it was decided that I get credit for natural birth still :)

So, 2 good pushes later she was out! She looked a lot bigger than I was bracing myself for, but even better, she was perfect! There was nothing wrong with her. She got to stay there with me. What more could I have asked for?

We had been kicking around a few different names: Brooke, Brielle, and Bethany. We had 2 nurses named Brooke, which kinda sealed the deal. I've always loved the name Renee and I thought it fit with Brooke just beautifully. We had also been considering Nicole and Elise.

There was no contest from either of the nurses :)

She weighed in at 5 lbs. 15 oz...about a pound bigger than what was estimated the week prior to. She is 19 inches, and was born at 2:45 pm on 4/26/11. She has straight brown hair on the sides, and some blonde curlies on the top. My favorite feature is the little patch of straight brown hair on the top that sticks straight up! She looks like a little bird.

She is just a sweetheart of a baby. She sleeps A LOT, doesn't cry, and just has this sweet disposition. This may sound rEALlY wEiRd, but the little voice in my head for her is Buddy the elf, from "Elf." She just has this look on her face that everything is so exciting. If you don't know what I'm talking about, you gotta watch "Elf"!

Braelynn loves to pat her head and throw away her diapers. She carries around this mantle of big-sisterhood like it is her biggest duty. She takes it very responsibly. She wanted nothing to do with me for a few days, but has come around.

We are loving being a family of 4 and this week has just been so wonderful! We are looking forward to the new adventures that await us...hopefully colic is not one of them!

Easter Weekend

Friday evening was marked with an emotional meltdown...I was NOT supposed to be pregnant on Friday still. But, there I was carrying a butterball around my mid-section. The only thing that could save me from myself was a good plate of Mexican Food.

Usually Kent drags his feet when we head out for dinner, but that night he was in the car with Braelynn before I could even figure out where I wanted to go. I was still balling my eyes out (remember Chipotle 2 years ago?), when he made a sharp turn into Casa Blanca. It was packed, but we waited until we could get a seat on the side that we like. I was a basket case, there was no messing around with bad seating and ugly decor on the backside!

Dinner was fabulous! Then we headed to Tempe for a concert under the stars. The music was ok, but it was just nice to be out with the family and enjoy a cool breeze. It was the perfect start to our weekend.

Saturday we planned to go to the city of Chandler's Easter Egg hunt. Braelynn took a 3 hour nap before it started at 10:30, but I figured it was just from being out late on Friday. Boy was I wrong. She once again got sick! I felt so bad dragging her out there. She ended up sleeping for most of the rest of the day. That night we went to our friends/neighbors, the Jacksons, for a BBQ. It's so fun to have friends 3 doors down!

I stayed home with Braelynn on Easter, but Kent was able to go to church and had been asked to speak. I was so bummed that we couldn't go and that Braelynn missed out on the rest of Easter fun. We had been invited to a friend's for dinner, since I had to cancel my get together (something about being told I would have my baby by then...grrr...), but she was sweet enough to bring dinner to us!

So, I guess Easter was a quiet day, but altogether it was a beautiful weekend!

This morning I went in for an appointment and we scheduled me to be induced tomorrow morning at 5:30. Now I'm hysterical because I'm getting induced! I'm sure it'll be ok, I was just looking forward a repeat of my delivery with Braelynn. Who knows, maybe it'll go quickly.

Well, next time I get on here I'm sure I'll have a much more exciting story for you! Until then, goodbye from our family of 3 for the last time!

Just Putting This Out There

I am so done being pregnant!!!

This pregnancy has been awful:

I didn't have any morning sickness with Braelynn.

I had morning sickness until Christmas with this one.

At about 20 weeks, this baby slowed down growing.

Since then, I have had 16 Ultrasounds, 9 OB appointments (at 3 different OB offices), 7 NSTs, 6 colds, and an Appendectomy.

At first I was in love with my OB office. Everyone was just so nice, I liked the doctors, and the office was super cute. There are a few offices around the valley with many doctors under the 2 that own the show. I'm now seeing the head-honcho. This guy has been practicing for 40 years. Today I realized that I think he's losing his mind...I found out that I was supposed to be induced by tomorrow (39 weeks). I have seen this doctor twice since the specialist sent his report over with the recommendation, and it was never brought up.

My upper back hurts from always slouching from the weight of my stomach. My ribs hurt because there are 2 feet kicking them. My lower back hurts because of the belly. My belly hurts because the skin is stretched. My hips hurt because I have a head burrowed in the middle of them. My legs hurt from carrying around an extra 20 pounds. My feet hurt from all of the above.

So, the baby is 5 pounds now- yeah! But she hasn't really grown in the last 2 weeks, so the specialist is advising it's go time and is sending another report to my doctor. For some reason it takes 1-2 days for it to arrive at the doctor's office across the street. But anyway, I will probably be induced on Thursday or Friday.

I can't do it tomorrow, because I have laundry, grocery shopping, and a casserole to make for the Ronald McDonald house.

IT BETTER BE THURSDAY!!!

Feed the Baby

Tonight we were chatting with Kent's mom and Braelynn was feeding her baby doll with a little bottle. She then lifted my shirt and began to "feed" my baby.

She's so stinkin' cute!!!!

Rainy Saturday

It's funny to think that today was 50 degrees colder than it was last Saturday!

Last Saturday was General Conference and we positioned ourselves comfortably underneath the A/C vent for 2 days straight. We love conference weekend. We always make yummy snacks, and pile up our couch cushions and pillows on the floor to be nice and comfy. What made it really special was seeing Braelynn excited for it. She already knows her "spot" after a few times...what will be interesting is in 6 months to see who gets the spot :) She is NOT a pushover!

Braelynn has had this nasty cold this past week, with a fever. We had a few plans for the weekend- movie in the park on Friday night, and Gilbert Village Festival today. The weather rained on our parade and with Braelynn not feeling so great, we made some changes.

On Friday we tried to take advantage of the wind and go fly some kites. The finesse of the $1 kites was no match for the power of the wind though, and Braelynn was much more amused by the playground. It was good to get out though.

I won mother-of-the-year award by taking my sick baby to the Arizona Museum for Youth today. She survived and hopefully none of the other kids will die after being exposed to her fountains of goop.

Kent and I had a ton of fun though! The areas were sectioned off into different fairy tales and had corresponding activities. Then on the other side of the museum, there was a ton of stuff for the littlest visitors to climb on and explore. Braelynn was pretty much toast by the end of the day, but we will definitely be going back again! It was a perfect rainy day activity.