One month old!

Brooke!  You are one month old today!  This month has flown by so fast. 

You started out at 7 lbs and 19 1/4 inches long.  I can’t wait for you one month check up to see how big you are.  I think you will be a good bit bigger.  You are really starting to fill out and have the cutest little chubby cheeks! : )

You are still wearing newborn clothes, but I think our weeks are numbered with that.  You are in a size 1 diaper (grew out of the newborn diapers after about two weeks).

We had some road bumps on our breastfeeding journey, but now you are doing great.  So much so, that now you don’t want anything other than me – no bottles or pacis!  We are working with you on that and hope you get it figured out before I go back to work in six weeks. 

You are a pretty good sleeper and we have a couple nights here an there where you will go four hour stretches.  Some nights its every 2-3, so you definitely aren’t predictable yet.

You have followed in your siblings footsteps and seem to have reflux.  You are currently taking Prevacid which has seemed to help.  You are still fussy in the evenings, but I think that is just a bit of your personality. 

Your whole family loves you so much.  Your brother and sister want to be with you all the time.  Your dad and I are loving having a baby again and watching you discover the world around you.  You are such a wonderful addition to our family.  We love you!

Love, Mom

Bedroom Redos

With the addition of a new little person into our home, we had to do some redecorating of the kids’ bedrooms.  We have a three bedroom house, which meant that two of the kids needed to share a bedroom.  Originally, we had thought about having Gavin and Kayla sharing a room for a bit until the baby was older.  However, when we found out that the baby was a girl, we decided to go ahead and have Brooke and Mikayla share a bedroom.  Mikayla is a super heavy sleeper, so I know she will do fine sharing her room with a baby that may wake up in the middle of the night.

We had a difficult time finding bedding that had a crib set and twin set that matched.  Thankfully, Target came through and we were able to find something that everybody liked.  It’s the perfect combination of sweet little girl bedding without looking too baby-ish for Mikayla. 

I also made these bow holders to put on the back of their door.  With two girls, I have had NO trouble filling it up.

 

Gavin gave up his crib and traded it in for a brand new big boy bed.  I’m not big into character bedding, but I figured if it would get him to sleep in his bed without argument, then I would do whatever it took.  He LOVES his Toy Story bedding.  I was also able to find some stickers at Target (love that place!) to put on the wall. 

It was fun getting to decorate the kids’ rooms.  The best part is that we didn’t have to repaint anything.  We were able to make the colors that were already up work.  I’m sure Gavin will be getting a change in the next couple of years after he tires of Toy Story.  We will probably also redo the girls’ room in about 2-3 years when Brooke moves to a big girl bed – we can take our time on that, though.

First photo shoot

My sister, Laura is  trying to get some experience with photographing babies and children.  Thankfully, for her (and me!) I am more than willing to volunteer my children for the sake of helping her build some experience.  Her and my mom (for much needed moral support) came to our house this past Friday and we got some pictures done.  The main subject was Miss Brooke, but we included me and her siblings (Jeremy was at work).   It was pretty exhausting getting a very active six and three year old to cooperate.  It was even more exhausting to get a 2 1/2 week old that was NOT a happy camper to cooperate.  However, we were able to get some just beautiful pictures done.  It was definitely worth the work.  

Here is a small sample of the beauty…..

Week Two

I can’t believe two weeks have passed already since Brooke was born.  Time is flying by way too fast! 

Breastfeeding is going great!  We had some definite hurdles that first week, but now she is a nursing pro.  We have had some issues with fussiness after feedings, so I took her to the pediatrician this morning.  They confirmed just what I thought – reflux.  Mikayla and Gavin both had it, so I was not at all surprised.  We started reflux – hopefully that will help to make her a happier baby.

They weighed her today and she was 7 lbs. 8.8 oz.  She is packing on the weight!  I’m hoping this will lead to the ability to sleep longer than 3 1/2 hrs at a time soon….

Here are some pics from this week for you:

Sisters!

I caught a sleep smile!

Sweet girl

Proud big brother

She wiggled an arm out of the swaddle – too cute!

Kayla, with permission, painted her finger nails and toe nails all by herself.  She did a pretty good job and was very proud of herself.

Week one

I can’t believe this little girl is already one week old.  She is a such a blessing to our family.  Gavin and Mikayla have adjusted very nicely to having a new baby in the house.  They both just love to hold her and love on her.

We had her one week check up on Tuesday, July 5th (my due date!)  She weighed 7 pound 1 oz, was 19 3/4 inches long and had a 14 inch head circumference.  Everything checked out perfectly!

We are having some issues with breastfeeding which have been a little frustrating for me.  We met with a lactation consultant yesterday and I got lots of helpful information.  We had one really good feeding, but then met with some challenges after that.  We are still working on it and at least I know that Miss Brooke is capable of breastfeeding.  We’ll get it!

He are some pics from her first week:

First bottle from Daddy – I just love watching him with our children.

We are ready to go home from the hospital!!

First bath! (She was not a huge fan.)

Great Grandma and Great Grandpa get some good cuddles with Miss Brooke.  I think my grandma could have held her for hours.

Happy Fourth!

Jeremy had to work on the Fourth of July, so he dropped the kids and I at my parent’s house so that we could have some fun (and I could have some help with three kids!!)  We all got together for a nice barbecue that evening and then the kids were supposed to go see fireworks, but unfortunately a big thunderstorm rolled through and derailed those plans.  My mom did let them throw some “Pop-its” in the garage and they used some glow in the dark necklaces and wands to put on their own personal firework show (it was VERY good !)

We were also able to capture a picture of our little Fourth of July cuties.  It is a typical picture that you would expect with three kids.  I’m glad to have it though.  I still can’t believe I have three kids!

I hope you all had a great Fourth of July, too!

SHE IS HERE!!!!!

So we have had quite the eventful week here.  I was scheduled to have our little girl by c-section on Thursday, June 30th.  Well, apparently, she had different plans.

Sunday morning, I woke up to get ready for church and noticed that the baby was not moving around as much as normal.  After eating breakfast and taking a shower, I still didn’t feel anything, so I decided to call the doctor.  The on call doctor told me to come down to get monitored.  Jeremy was at work, so I called my mom to come pick the kids and I up and then drop me off at Jeremy’s work so that we could go down to the hospital together.   I hadn’t packed anything, so I quickly packed a bag for the kids and I  (just in case, which was apparently a good call!). 

Jeremy and I arrived to the hospital and I was hooked up to the fetal heart monitor.  Thankfully, they were immediately able to pick up her heart beat.  However, she still wasn’t moving.  Now if you’ll remember from a previous blog post, this baby did NOT like to be monitored.  She always got very active and moved away from the sensor.  However, this time, it took about 30 minutes before I felt any movement, and even then it was nothing like I was used to.   The OB doctor on call decided that I needed to have an ultrasound to make sure everything was okay.  The ultrasound showed that my amniotic fluid level was low, so the decision was made that I would be monitored overnight and have a c-section the next morning. 

I got to stay at the hospital in a labor high risk room, which I am pretty sure was in the dungeon of the hospital.  It was quite a maze to get there and we had no cell reception.  My parents brought Gavin and Mikayla down to see me.  These are our last family pictures of me with my two children (with my BIG belly in the middle) and our little family of four. 

After waiting for quite some time Monday morning (or at least it seemed – I was anxious!), they finally found a spot for me to have the c-section at 10:45am.

On June 27th, at 11:19 am,

Brooke Eliza Matthews

was born.  She weighed 7 lbs and was 19 1/4 inches long.  She has a normal sized head ( a first for one of my children) and is just a perfectly, petite little girl.

Isn’t she precious?!?!

This is my first up close look at her.  It’s hard to believe that she was JUST inside of my belly.

An OR picture of the three of us, thanks to the anesthesiologist.

When we got to recovery, Brooke was very hungry (I hadn’t eaten in about 12 hours prior to surgery), so they were able to put her up to my chest, skin to skin, and she immediately nursed like a champ.  After she ate, I got to hold her on my chest for quite a while.  I forgot how soft and sweet newborns are!

Daddy and his little princess.

Jeremy and I got some good cuddle time with Brooke prior to being moved to a room.  It took us about 4 hours to get up to a room – the hospital was packed!  Don’t you love the hat that the nurse made for her?  So cute!

 

Gavin and Mikayla waited in the hospital atrium for about two hours prior to us getting to our room.  They were obviously anxious to see their sister, but according to the grandparents, they were very well behaved.

These are the first pictures of Mikayla and Gavin holding their new sister.  We got to spend about 30 minutes together before the rest of our family came into our room.  They both just love her so much!  I knew Mikayla would do wonderful ( and she has ), but we have been pleasantly surprised with Gavin’s reaction.  I thought he would be indifferent with her, but I was so wrong.  He keeps telling me “ I just love Baby Brooke! “  He loves to hold her and is in fact a little possessive of her.  Mikayla is such a natural and loves to help us with her.  She is such a good big sister.

I can still not believe that I am the mother to THREE children.  I feel so incredibly blessed!

Our attempt at a family pic – LOL! 

She is such a sweet girl.  I am so happy that she is here, healthy and happy.  We are loving this time with her and can’t wait to bring her home!