Ashlee's Transition to BIG SISTER

Ashlee has been the baby of the family for THREE long years.  She has enjoyed having cuddle time with mom and dad, being the youngest and getting some things because of that.  When Brynlee was born Ashlee was beyond excited to become a big sister.  It's all she could talk about for a while, that she was a BIG sister, not the little sister any more.  Her transition was pretty smooth, although we did have a week where she had three accidents, but once we caught on to that we gave her a little more special time and she hasn't had one since.  Here are just a few pictures from the first week of Ashlee being a big sister:

 

We had a few errands to run one day while the kids were in school.  We took Ashlee along with us.  She was a good girl, but towards the end of the trip she was very tired and bored.  I looked back at one point and Ashlee was playing with her fingers like they were people in the sun.  It was the cutest thing ever!

 

One day for nap time I was able to go up to put her down.  I told her to get a book to read and she insisted that she would read it to me.  She did a good job and didn't take too long, which really surprised me!

 



 

Ashlee was so cute when she would hold Brynlee.  She would beg to hold her and then after like 10 seconds she was done.  And you better be there to get Brynlee because she would practically throw her at you so she didn't have to hold her any more.  As I looked through my pictures the next day and saw this one it struck me as so sad.  My "baby" was holding our new baby, her life was changed forever and this picture was proof of it.  It also made me smile because that smile on Ashlee's face shows how excited she is to be in her new role and have Brynlee in our family.

 

 

And this picture is just a silly picture of Ashlee one night as she slept. She sleeps like this quite often when she finally falls asleep at night.  It takes her forever, For....Ever! 

 

 

Ashlee has adjusted quite well to her Big Sister role.  She loves her little sister dearly and loves being in her face and touching her all the time.  

Brynlee's First Bath

Around two weeks of age Brynlee's cord finally fell off so we were able to give her a real bath.  All of the kids wanted to "help" so that made for a real fun time for Mom and Dad.  I could hardly reach Brynlee because I had to reach around the girls that were standing on the stool, but we got it done.  Brynlee didn't completely hate it, but she wasn't the biggest fan either.

 

 

After she got out the kids continued on their mission to help and surrounded Brynlee while she got dried and dressed by daddy.  It was so cute how much the kids wanted to help. 

 

Daddy put lotion in Brynlee's hair and it was so adorable.  It just kind of stuck up a bit, but you could see that she actually had some hair. 

 

 

She was nice and calm after her bath and ready to sleep again....

 

Brynlee's First Days Home

Brynlee was quite a popular baby when she got home, of course.  Her big sister Katelee was enamored with her from before she was born. 

 

 

Maddy and Uncle Matt came over one day to meet her and Brynlee stayed awake for a while to meet them...

 

Ethan had baseball practice that day so when he got home and wanted to hold the baby I made him wear a cover because of his dirty shirt.  Don't blame him, he was just doing what his mother asked him to do.

 

We were so lucky to have GG down right after Brynlee was born.

 

Don't want to forget Ashlee and Aunt Anna!!!

Spring Break 2014

So last year for Spring Break we took the kids to the LVH for two nights.  We all had a blast and the kids kept talking about it this year.  I was very pregnant and there was a little concern that I might have our Brynlee before or during spring break.  We talked about it and decided that we should still take the kids and if we had a baby she and I could stay inside the room or Chris could take the kids and have fun.  Brynlee did not come early and so we were all able to go and enjoy ourselves...  Well for the most part.

 

We got there early afternoon, checked in and went to our room.  I had gone online and reserved just a basic room and then asked my dad if he could just get us into a larger regular room. Well he worked his magic and got us into a very nice suite, the one he got us for Chris's graduation.  The kids were beyond excited and ran straight to the Jacuzzi tub.  My parents were going to come over so we let them get in while we waited for them to join us.  

 

 

 

Every year my parents stay in a nice suite at the hotel for their anniversary and invite us over for night for dinner and playing, so invited everyone over as well.  Since it was a week night only Mom and Dad were able to come over.  We went to go to the café at the hotel, however it closed at like 3pm, so we went looking for somewhere else to eat.  We ended up by Benihans and decided that we might as well really enjoy ourselves.  Plus the week before I was notified that I was getting a raise, so we decided we would splurge.  The kids LOVED it and with my dad we were able to get a good employee discount....

 

 

The next day Chris went to the library to study for his upcoming exam.  We didn't want Chris to take any study time off, so the kids and I hung out for a while.  We decided to go down to the pool and swim, then we had lunch and relaxed in the hotel some more.  When Chris got back from studying we went back down to the pool again.  The kids were loving the pool and us parents weren't minding it too much either!

 

The water was heated a bit, but it was still pretty cold.  When we got out the kids were pretty cold because they were all wet, but this big mother was quite hot and just enjoying the weather.  It was quite relaxing and very much enjoyable!  (Looking at this picture it reminds me how big I was...)

 

 

 

Brynlee played nice and let us all enjoy our time.  We got to cuddle at night, stay up late and eat junk all day long.  The kids got to have some fun on their spring break and so did the parents.  We all knew that the next week our lives were going to change with the addition of Brynlee. 

 

 

The kids were loving the cuddle time and I was loving the comfy bed and sleeping in late.  I always love hanging out with my little family.  They are so much fun and times like this remind me how grateful I am to have them with me forever!!!

 

Mother's Day 2014

This Mother's day was great.  I have four wonderful children that call me Mom, and I'm so thankful for that.  Ethan made me a mother, but each kid after that has made me a different kind of mother, as they are all so different to mother.  Ethan is a boy and beyond crazy at times.  He has a sweet, kind and huge heart, but sometimes his boyish craziness gets in the way of that shining.  Katelee is a sweet, opinionated and shy girl when she wants to be.  She can flip on a dime, but loves with all of her heart the things she loves.  Ashlee is our "monster" child, she is active, loud and a free spirit.  She keeps us on our toes ALWAYS and gets called "little Hilary" far more than I would like.  And then Brynlee is our ever sweet and wonderful infant.  They each share my heart equally and my life wouldn't be complete without each and every one of these amazing kids.  They make me smile, cry, pull my hair out and rejoice.  They make me feel that I have accomplished something wonderful in the life, with more pressure and worry that I have so much work ahead of me.  I love being a mother and look forward to the day that it is my only full time job to do! 

Brynlee Hazel's Birth Story

This post is long and may be considered TMI, read at your own risk...

This pregnancy has been quite different from all my others one, except for one thing...  At 39 weeks I was still not dialated at all...  How does that even happen?  After three other kids and my body still refuses to start labor on it's on???  Being that this is completely normal for us we were good to go when the Dr. suggested that we be induced, only difference this time was he wanted us to go into the hospital late at night.  He thought this would be best since my cervix was not dialted or softened at all...  After I protested a bit he did agree to go straight to Pitocin induction if I was dialated when I got to the hospital...  This time we didn't just have to worry about who would watch out kids, but we also had to worry about how Ethan and Katelee would get to school.  We finally worked it out that Ethan would stay the night at our good friends, the Maynor's house.  He walks with them to school every day so it seemed to be better than having my mom take Ethan at 7:20am to school and having to wake the girls up to go with her.  The girls stayed at my parent's house since Katelee doesn't have school until 11:40am.  It was tough for me to accept that my mother wouldn't be able to join us for this birth like she has for all of the others, but things change and we have to adapt, right?

 

Monday night we took my parents to dinner and then we dropped Ethan off at Aiden Maynor's baseball game.  We headed back over to my parent's and hung out there till about 9:30pm, then we headed to the hospital.  (Side story, we have delivered all of our children at Valley Hospital.  It's in the ghetto, but it's closer to us and it has a level 3 NICU...  Well they decided to close their maternity floor the week before our Brynlee was due, so we had to go to Summerlin Hospital this time around.  It's pretty far away, but they have a level 3 NICU as well...I am one of those mothers that wants the comfort of knowing my baby can be taken care of in the hospital we deliver at, if needed.)  We got to the hospital at 10pm, our scheduled time to arrive, and we were quickly told that they were packed and wouldn't be able to see us right then.  They apparently had called us to inform us to not come in, but they called our house phone after we had already left for the night.  So after trying to get a timeframe from the nurse we decided to head home and just go to bed.  If they called in a few hours at least we had a few hours of sleep.  We went to bed and they didn't call until 7:30am and asked us to come in at 8:30.  I had slept alright, but the anticipation of getting a call in the middle of the night woke me up several times.  And did I mention that I was still fighting a horrible cough?  Well it was about day 5 of the cough and it seemed to be getting a bit better, but it still woke me up at times.  We got to the hospital at 8:30am and they got us to our room, it was officially going to happen.

 

 

The nurse came in and gathered ALL the information they gather.  She checked me and determined that I was at a 1 (WOW) and my cervix was super soft, so she would let my doctor know and hopefully he would just skip the 12 hour long induction way...  It worked and they got me hooked up to Pitocin.  With all of the other kids it took 6 hours from when they get the Pitocin hooked up to delivery.  We were ready for that again...  Things went really smooth, Brynlee was a champ and never had any moments that worried anyone.  Her heart rate was super strong the entire time and she stayed on the monitor for the majority of the time.  Before they ruptured my water they got the epidural started and that was a bit more painful than normal, but it worked and I guess in the end that is all that really mattered.  I was not progressing at my normal rate, but I was making some improvement so it wasn't a real concern.  At six hours I was barley a 6 or 7 so they had me start laying on my side in a certain way to try to get the baby's head to push on my cervix.  I started to feel some pressure in my back, but when I was checked I wasn't much different. 

 

Poor Chris was freezing and I was so hot...  He was studying and kept blowing warm air into his hands to warm up.  Eventually the socks came off and those blankets never went on me...  poor guy wouldn't change the air temperature even though I told him to multiple times...

 

Chris jokingly said that Grandma Karolyn wouldn't stop talking to Brynlee and that is what was taking so long.  I started crying at the though of how sweet that was, and how very true!  From then on there was a special spirit in the room and no rush for our little girl to get here if she really was hanging out with loved ones that had passed on.  Our focus was changed and I was fine with Brynlee taking as long as she needed to, to say good-bye to everyone she might be hanging out with.  We switched sides and after about an hour I had a lot more pressure in my back, so the sweet nurse agreed to check me and I was a 10.  She had me push a few times, to which I was a complete failure, and then she said, "you'll get it figured out by the time the doctor comes, you've had three other kids!"  Talk about stress, what if I didn't figure it out?  And how on earth was I not pushing right?  I have three other kids that I successfully pushed out....  Well after a few pushes she said, "Ok, that was perfect, no more pushing I'm calling Dr. Bart and we will push again when he comes."  Well just then another nurse came in and said Dr. Bart had called and he would be up in 5 minutes and she better have me ready...  The Dr. came up and got all ready and I pushed one full contraction and then started on another when he told me to stop so he could suction out the baby's mouth.  I didn't push again, she just popped on out.  They placed her on my chest and I sobbed like a new mother sobs.  She was born at 6:33pm.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The spirit was so strong and so were her lungs!  The girl cried/screamed for quite a while.  They rubbed her off and Chris eventually cut the cord.  One thing I love about Summerlin Hospital is they do everything for the baby in the room, so I was able to see it all this time.  Her first bath, measuring and all the other medical stuff they do.  She was perfect, she had a little blond hair and super long fingers.  She looked just like Ashlee to me. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 This is in grams, the regular weight was 7lbs 9oz... and 19 1/2 inches, with a bent knee (Chris says)

This time it was just Chris and I in the delivery room.  He studied for a portion of it, since his big exam was in a week.  I laid around and dosed off and on, watched some horrible TV and read a little.  My mother was watching the kids and wasn't able to be there for the birth, but I know Karolyn was there, she was very much felt!  I could feel her and almost hear her talk my ear off with excitement.  It was a sweet, sweet experience, different in its own way from the other kids' experiences.  They are all sweet just this one was a different kind of sweet experience.

 

Ethan had a ball game that night so my parents took him and the girls to that since Brynlee was born later than we expected.  With the kids having school the next day and Summerlin Hospital being so far away they decided just to come out the next day.  So it was just me, Chris and Brynlee.  The postpartum rooms were all full so we stayed the night in the delivery room.  I didn't get much sleep, Brynlee decided to stay away forever.  Chris did get a few minutes or hours of sleep... While Brynlee and I got to know each other a little more.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I enjoyed the quite time and getting to hold this fresh little princess from my Heavenly Father, but I was exhausted too...  Around 5am Brynlee spit up a massive amount of amniotic fluid and started chocking on it.  I jumped up to my knees in the bed and rolled her over to her side while shouting for Chris to get up and help me.  Her lips started turning blue and I yelled at Chris to pull the nurses emergency cord.  My nurse and few others rushed in and helped out.  Our nurse was so great, she looked at me and said, "I think Mom needs a good hour of sleep, can we take her to the nursery for a bit so you can sleep?"  I was so grateful for her suggestion because I was beyond tired.  They took her for a few hours and I got some sleep.  I finally called them back when it was time to feed her again and after I had taken a nice nap.  It was much needed!

 

After school and my dad got out of work the kids and grandma and grandpa came over.  Grandpa Snickers had already been by at lunch time and spend some good time cuddling with Brynlee.  The kids were beyond excited to see their new sister.  We were told we could go home once Brynlee was 24 hours old, and we were ready to get home.  The kids stayed for a little while and then grandma and grandpa took them home.  It felt a little overwhelming having all of the kids there and a little like "what the heck did we do having another kid?"  But we just can't imagine life without her, out family was missing her!

 

 

 

 

 

We were all packed and ready to go and then we sat around and waited and waited.  Chris fell asleep and when he woke up an hour later was surprised it was so late.  He went down to see where we were on discharge and a little while later the nurse came in and we were ready to go.  My Grandma Alberta made a beautiful dress out of one of Grandma Karolyn's old shirts, so she could be apart of our special day!  We made it her "going home" outfit and she was beautiful in it.  Brynlee was a bit cranky about going home just because I didn't know if I should start feeding her or wait till we got home...  So her pictures in the dress that night weren't the best.

 

 

We finally got to go home and were welcomed by my parents, Uncle Matt and his friend.  The kids were all upstairs asleep, that's how late we got home.... 

 

This recovery has been my easiest yet, I felt great after birth, my pain was almost nonexistent and I was up and moving with no problems.  I guess that is what happens when you get to number four!  Our family feels complete with little Brynlee Hazel, she is a joy to have around and a great baby!  Welcome to the world little lady!  We are so glad you are finally here!