Due date

This isn't a great photo but I had to take a "belly picture" on my due date - It's hard to imagine her just being born today...or even later!

Second week

Our second week was a busy one -

On Wednesday we went to Dwayne's graduation from nursing school! Brynn was a little angel and slept through the entire thing (even the loud music during the slide show at the end) and we are very proud of Daddy!


Thursday was Brynn's first "playdate" - Rachel, Rachel's mom and Keely came to visit. Another milestone that Brynn slept through...she sure loves her sleep, but we're not complaining!


And on Saturday, Grandma Pryor babysat Brynn for the first time while Dwayne and I went to a graduation party for one of his classmates. I missed her even though we were only gone for a couple of hours!

Baking my baby

Brynn had pretty bad jaundice her first few days, so the pediatrician told us to put her in the sun to help lower her bilirubin levels - Dwayne asked her for how long and she told him something to the effect of "You'll know when it's been long enough."

So Brynn had a nice nap in the sunshine until my mom thought she felt a little warm - we took her temperature and it was up to 102! Oops! Thankfully, she was fine, and we'll be more careful following vague advice in the future...

Brynn's first week

Wow - I cannot believe that it has been almost a week already. I love being a mom so far!

We had a little bit of worry the first few days - Brynn had jaundice when she was born and it was getting progressively worse; we had to take her to the lab Thursday, Friday and Saturday for bilirubin tests and thought she might need to get a bili-blanket, but by the third day her levels were on the way down so she should be fine now.

My mom has been staying with us a lot this week and has been a huge help with changing diapers, doing laundry, shopping, and even helping with nighttime feedings. Dwayne has also been great - it is so cute to see how smitten he is with his new baby girl.

Brynn has generally been a pretty "easy" baby so far - I think a lot of it might have to do with the jaundice and being a few weeks early, but she loves to sleep most of the time. The first few nights we couldn't even get her to wake up for her feedings, but she is spending more and more alert time each day. The pediatrician told me to only feed her formula for a few days since it helps lower bilirubin levels, so nursing has gotten off to a slow start. Sometimes she has the hang of it though, so we'll keep trying.

I am already getting a little sad thinking about how fast she is going to grow - I kind of want her to stay my little peanut forever...but I'm sure every week will be exciting as she grows and learns new things.

Coming home from the hospital -


Bailey meets his new "sister" -


Getting a bottle from Daddy -


Hanging out with Grandad -


Grandma gives Brynn her first spongebath -


Fresh and clean after bath -

Week 36 (and 37 - post baby!)

Little did I know, but the week 36 pic was taken only a couple of hours before my water broke. I gained just about 25 pounds up to that point; everyone kept telling me you gain the most and are the most uncomfortable in the last month - since Brynn is completely healthy I can't say I'm sorry to have missed those weeks!

Brynn Elise is here!

Brynn surprised us by coming four weeks early, at 36 weeks!

Last Sunday, my friend Rachel went into labor a week before her scheduled C-section and had her baby Keely on Sunday afternoon. I was feeling really uncomfortable all day and was complaining to my mom that it wasn't fair and I hoped my baby came early too. Around 8:30 pm, Dwayne and I went for a drive and I ate a huge Friendly's sundae. Then out of nowhere, at around 10:30, my water broke! We called my doctor and he told us to head over to the hospital. They confirmed that my water had indeed broken and I went to one of the labor/delivery rooms. My contractions weren't bad overnight, but I didn't sleep really at all because of being hooked up to the monitors (and excitement.)

Early Monday morning, the on-call doctor checked me and I was 4 cm dilated, and about this time my mom arrived at the hospital. I didn't make much more progress the next hour or so, so my doctor put me on Pitocin. By then, the contractions were starting to hurt, but not too horrible. I went ahead and got the epidural then since they warned me it might take a while to get it and for it to take effect. After the epidural, I was feeling great - no pain! Soon I was fully dilated and that's when the pain began - the nurses kept telling me it was normal to feel "pressure", but this felt horrible! My doctor just made it back when it was time to start pushing and within 20 minutes, Brynn was here. Since she was so early, she was a tiny 6 lbs, 1 oz and 18.5 inches long, but still adorable and perfect.

I stayed in the hospital until Wednesday afternoon - Dwayne's last nursing school final was on Wednesday morning, but thankfully he did well even though Brynn's arrival cramped his studying plans!

Just born -


First family picture -


So cute -

Cankles

About 3 weeks ago, I started getting swelling in my feet and ankles and it has gotten progressively worse. I have a chair with two pillows at work and try to keep my feet propped up when I can, but it doesn't seem to make too much of a difference.

My doctor said he's not worried as long as my blood pressure isn't high, but I'm pretty sure I could scare small children with these monstrosities!