It's a Girl!!

I can't believe it! We have a baby girl! Brynnli Linnea Evans made her big debut on Tuesday, September 23 at 3:29 pm. We feel so blessed and happy to have her here happy and healthy. Here's her birth story:

My hopes of going into labor on my own didn't happen, so I had to be induced. We had to be to the hospital at 6:30 in the morning. Once we arrived they got me into the room and all comfortable. 

About 9:00 I got started on pitocin to get my contractions started. The contractions were painful, but not that uncomfortable. I was the most nervous for the IV. My nurse, Lisa, put the IV in, but it was hurting my hand, so they had to have the anesthesiologist come in to put in another line while he was doing my epidural. About 10:00 I got the epidural and then we just waited. Tyler is really the best husband and tried to keep me entertained through the waiting game. We watched tv briefly and talked about random things. He also waited on me and got me lots of icees!  At this point, I was only dilated to maybe a 4, so we knew it would be a while. I look so happy because the two worst parts of the labor and delivery part (in my mind) were over: the IV and the epidural.

About noon Tyler decided to walk around and grab some lunch, and while he was gone another doctor came in to break my water. Then the nurse had me lay on my side for 30 minutes, then switch and lay on the other side for 30 minutes, which she said would help the baby to move down the birth canal. Well this helped tremendously because after an hour I was starting to feel like the baby was ready to come out. The nurse came to check on me and said that I was at a 10 and ready to push, so she went to call Dr. Burgett. Tyler and I were pretty excited at this point. It all started to become real. I couldn't wait to find out the gender and see and hold our baby for the first time.

As each nurse and doctor came in, we would have them guess the gender and wrote it down on the white board. There were three of us who thought it would be a boy (me included), and four people who thought it would be a girl (Tyler included). 

I started to feel the urge to push and I could tell the baby was so close. I really started to panic when we heard Dr. Burgett would still be another 45 minutes before he could get there to deliver. The anesthesiologist came back to give me more pain medicine which would help me not feel the urge to push. Finally Dr. Burgett arrived and it was go time! I pushed for the first round and then had to take a breather. The baby's head was partially out and Dr. Burgett said it had a lot of hair. I remember laughing in the middle of pushing because Dr. Burgett started styling the baby's hair and giving it a mow hawk. The next contraction started and I pushed as hard as I could. The baby came out and Dr. Burgett told the nurses not to look. He turned the baby around and asked us what it was. At 3:29 p.m. our adorable baby girl, Brynnli Linnea, was here!

I really can't explain in words what it was like when I found out it was a girl. It was so exhilarating to finally see our baby, and she was so cute, but to realize it was a girl was so surreal. I remember staring at her, and realizing, then I think I said, "It's a girl?" and started crying. I just looked at Tyler and we were both crying. It was really one of the best experiences I have ever had. This is the most unflattering picture of me, but it was the best moment when they put her on my chest and Tyler got to cut her umbilical cord.

The nurse took Brynnli to the other side of the room to check her vitals while Dr. Burgett finished taking care of me. I remember looking over at Tyler and asking him if "it" was okay. Dr. Burgett started laughing and said we could start calling "it" a "she." It was hard to break that habit after 9 months of saying, "it". :)

The pediatric nurse (who's name was ironically Bryn), said she was doing really well. Brynnli's official weight and length was 8 lbs, 6.5 oz and 20 inches long.

They got her all wrapped up and Tyler brought her back to me. I remember crying really hard, and Tyler asked me what was wrong, and all I could say was, "I'm just so happy!"

 I realized I couldn't hog her the whole time, so Tyler got to hold her. She already has Daddy wrapped around her finger!

 This was my nurse, Lisa. Seriously, the best nurse ever. She really made our experience the best of all of the three babies.

They took Brynnli to get her vitals and first bath, and I got settled into my recovery room. Tyler went with Brynnli and got her first pictures. 

 Obviously she did not love this part.

 She is so tiny, but in these pictures, she looks like quite the chunk!

After a few hours, Makayla and Caden got to finally meet their new sister. I have never seen anything so cute as when Makayla and Caden came in the room. They were so excited and screaming. 

 We told them they had a new baby sister, and they were both so excited! They had been to the store and picked out gifts for their new sibling.

 Caden was so excited to give his sister his gifts.

 And Makayla just wanted to touch and hold her.

This is our first picture as a family of five. This might be one of my favorite moments because we were finally all together.

 I still can't believe I have two girls!

We told people we wouldn't tell them the gender until they came to the hospital. It was so fun to see everyone's reaction when they found out it was a girl. We have such a supportive family and had so many visitors that night. 

Terry and Craig watched the kids for us, so they were there first. Brynnli and Grandpa Craig share the same birthday, so Craig was especially excited.

My  mom and dad came next. When they found out Brynnli was a girl, they said they had the feeling it was a girl all along. 

Aunt Tracy came to visit.

 And Darren and Meg came later that night.

 We tried to convince Darren he needed to have another baby and thought that making him hold her would do the trick... I don't think it worked.

 Doesn't she look beautiful?

Everyone left for the night and Brynnli and I had our first night together. She was up every hour or so and would only sleep if I was holding her. Let's just say that between Brynnli and the nurse checking on me every few hours, I didn't get much sleep. 

The next day Dr. Burgett came to check on me and he asked how I was doing. I told him jokingly that I was ready to go home and he said okay. He said I was doing fine, and it was an uncomplicated delivery, so pending the baby being discharged, I was free to go home. I was so excited. I called Tyler and told him all his plans had to change because we were going home that day. 

Tyler and the kids stopped by a while later and everyone couldn't wait to hold Brynnli again. Both kids are seriously so cute with her.

The kids were getting slightly restless in our small, confined hospital room, so we loaded them up with cookies and icees. That really helped their restlessness.

We had to wait until Brynnli was at least 24 hours old before they would release her, so Tyler and I had lunch together. Great Grandma and Grandpa Evans and Karen stopped by to visit.

We finally got the okay to go home. We got our cutie all loaded up in her car seat and headed home!

Once we got home Brynnli wanted to give Makayla and Caden their present. 

Caden got new legos

And Makayla got a new baby to take care of, just like Mommy's

Makayla was so cute with her new baby and wanted to hold her baby just like Mommy.

Tyler gave me a necklace that has Brynnli's birth stone in it to match the ones I have for the other kids. Now my necklace is complete!

Later that night we had more family visit at our house.

Kenzee and Brynnli are only 8 months apart. Kenzee wanted to touch Brynnli, but got scared when she started screaming. I think these two will be cute little friends when they get older.

Two proud dads!

In the days that followed, Brynnli has been spoiled with gifts from friends and family.

I don't think she has spent much time alone because someone always wants to hold her.

I am still in disbelief, even after a few days of her in our family, that we have a beautiful daughter! We feel so lucky and blessed to have her in our crazy family. I worried before she was born how she would fit into our family, but I have been amazed how quickly we fell in love with her. Now I seriously don't know what we did without her. Brynnli is the perfect baby and I am so glad our family is finally all together.

My Due Date is Here! Why Isn't the Baby?

Yep, my thoughts exactly!

Today, September 21st is my official due date. But where is baby? Well he/she is being a little stubborn and has decided to hang out in my belly. I have officially given it an eviction notice and told it to get out by Tuesday, or we will have to use other measures to force this cute little nugget out. 

I feel kind of guilty that I haven't posted much about this pregnancy, so I figured on the official due date I would share my thoughts about the pregnancy thus far. 

We found out we were pregnant on January 16 and were so excited! We figured the due date to be in September, and I thought that seemed like so far away. I feel so grateful that I have easy pregnancies. I had a little bit of morning sickness in the first trimester, but nothing that was terribly bad.

We announced the pregnancy to our families in mid March, and everyone was really excited for us. Nobody was too surprised though, they all knew we were hoping to add to our family in the near future. Makayla and Caden didn't really understand too much of what was going on, but they knew we were excited about something. 

May 13th we had the 20 week ultrasound and Baby looked healthy. We had decided weeks before that we would be surprised about the gender. We had the ultrasound tech put one of the pictures in an envelope. I thought it was a great idea to be surprised, but after we had the ultrasound I changed my mind. I wanted to know what it was so bad. I tried so hard to peek at the inside, but there was no way to know the gender without opening the envelope. My only hope was to convince Tyler, and I knew that wasn't going to happen.  I am truly amazed that we (I) have not caved and opened the envelope. Before the ultrasound I was convinced we were having a girl. Mother's intuition just made me think that. However, the ultrasound tech said she figured out the gender really quickly, which made me think that we were having a boy. I also checked the Chinese gender calendar on the internet and it predicted we would have a boy. Not that any of that is solid, but after that, and too this day, I have the feeling it is a boy. 

I ended up having a second ultrasound a month later because the doctor was concerned my amniotic fluid was too low. Good news, the second ultrasound showed that it was just fine. The doctor also told us that low amniotic fluid tends to run in boys, so my feelings about the gender got a little stronger after that point. 

In late July I had to have the glucose test, which just like the other two pregnancies, I had to go back for the three hour test which included fasting and four blood draws. Not my idea of a fun morning, but I will go through anything to make sure the baby was okay. This pregnancy was just like the others and I passed the three hour test. 

Third trimester started and I was tired all the time. I would put Caden down for a nap, then turn on a movie  for Makayla and fall asleep everyday. I still feel bad that Makayla had to watch so many movies, but I just had no energy. I also started to feel the baby move quite a bit. It likes to push on my bladder and put a foot right in my rib. There is no feeling in the world that is better than feeling your baby move and seeing an elbow or a foot go across your belly. This baby likes to start moving about 9-10:00 at night when I am trying to go to sleep... I have the feeling this trend will continue once it gets here... we'll have to change that fast.  This baby is a little stink because when I try to get Tyler to feel the baby, it suddenly decides to stop moving. We did have one fun night when Tyler put his head on my stomach and the baby was moving so much that Tyler's head was moving up and down. I have always felt that I have been carrying this baby is really high, which according to an old wives tale is a sign that it is a girl. I have to say by this point in the pregnancy, I was so tired of people asking what I thought I was going have. I felt like I was so busy taking care of the other kids that I didn't really think about this baby that much, or have time to think about the gender. If it wasn't for the huge belly, I probably would have forgotten I was pregnant at times. 

The last few weeks have been fun because I have been able to do a lot of shopping. I had to buy boy and girl stuff, but that has just added to the excitement of trying to figure out the gender. The baby's room is not complete but we do have the crib and rocking chair in it. Once the baby gets here we will be able to decorate it more and I will post pictures of the room once it is complete. 

The other fun/hard part is deciding on a name. It is hard enough to decide on one name, let alone two. The one thing we were confident about is the middle name. Tyler and I decided early in our marriage that our third baby's middle name would either be named Robert (after my dad) if it was a boy, and Linnea (after Tyler's Grandma, mom, and Tracy) if it was a girl. The first name has been difficult to come up with, and even though we are not 100% sure, we are considering the following girl names: Brynnli or Kelsey, and these boy names: Easton, Jaxon, or Baylor. 

The kids have been really cute about the pregnancy. Because we have been talking about it so much, they have been too, although I don't think they truly understand what is going on. I have mentioned it a lot on the blog, but Makayla has Baby Kenzee growing in her tummy. When I complain about things, she starts complaining about them too. Once day I was telling Tyler that this baby was kicking me, and a little while later, she informed us that her baby was kicking her too. Makayla loves to steal clothes, diapers, and everything that is intended for the baby for her baby, but she only likes the girl things, not the boy things.

Both kids like to talk to my belly and give it kisses, but Caden was especially cute. Last week we were sitting on the couch and Caden started talking to my belly and saying, "Come out baby! Daddy got your bed ready" and "we have toys for you to play wif!" Caden has also told us that he will teach the baby how to crawl. I'm certain this baby will be spoiled and that he/she will have the best big brother and sister to watch over it. 

The last four weeks have been a waiting game. I have weekly appointments with Dr. Burgett, but every week there is nothing going on. The heart beat sounds great, and I have been feeling good. I have days where I have a lot of energy and I have great ideas like cleaning the entire basement or taking the kids to the zoo by myself. Then I have other days where I take a shower and need a nap after. Unfortunately I haven't dilated or anything. I was hoping I could go into labor by myself because I haven't been able to with the other two, but that the doctor said it was unlikely. So here I am 40 weeks pregnant and ready to have the baby. The induction is scheduled for Tuesday, September 23rd, but hopefully some miracle will happen and the baby will decide it wants to come out.

Regardless, I can't wait to meet this little angel and welcome him/her into our family! We have so much love to give this cute little baby!

I know I really failed at getting monthly pictures with this pregnancy, but here is the very last pictures of me pregnant!

What We Do as a Family of Four

Baby could make his/her debut any day now! Before Baby gets here, and our world gets turned upside down, here's a look into some of the fun things we have done together as a family of four. 

Tyler got to go with us to Lagoon again. We were disappointed that he was in Alaska the last time we went, but we used our bounce back passes and got to go again a few days later. The kids loved going on the rides with Daddy this time. 

Labor Day was a blast this year. We headed up to The Land to spend the weekend. We had to do some chores, but the kids had so much fun with that. Caden was a great helper with mowing the lawn. 

The kids also had a blast playing on the kid-sized 4 wheeler. They would ride this around the yard until the battery would die, and as soon as it was charged, they were on it again!

 We also got to fly kites.

 Daddy was determined to get his kite from when he was 8 years old up and flying. He took him all afternoon, but he finally did it! It was like I was watching an 8 year old all over again!

And feed the horses apples and carrots

 Makayla was showing off her posing since she was starting dance that week.

 Some other fun things we have been up to include:

Caden was reading his animals and babies books. He asked me to take a picture of him. I love this little boy and his love of books!

 We like to hang out with Daddy on Saturday and Sunday mornings in our "jammers."

 Oh and I have been putting the kids to work. Child labor is really cheap! The kids are great to help me straighten the house (most of the time).

We obviously don't like the Cougars. We are a Utes fan at this household!!

And today we celebrated Grandpa's 60th birthday with a surprise party at Tracy and Jeremy's house. His birthday isn't until Tuesday, but since he is most likely going to have to share his birthday with a certain new baby, we had to celebrate early. It was the Ute game that day, so we got to double celebrate. We sure love Grandpa and all he does for us!

So that's some of the fun things we have been up to as a family of four. Our lives are about to change dramatically with the arrival of our cute new baby! We realize things are going to change, but we just can't wait to snuggle and spoil this new little baby!!!

A Broken Clavicle

Thursday, September 18 was not a good day for our cute Makayla. About 6 ish that night we were waiting for Daddy to get home from work and the kids were sitting with me on the couch. Makayla was on the arm of the couch and Caden was crawling all over. I don't know exactly what happened, but Caden either pushed or pulled Makayla off the couch. She immediately started crying and holding her shoulder. At first I couldn't tell if she was being dramatic or if she really was hurt. Daddy got home and we tried to get Makayla to show us, but she was being so protective of it. We debated about going to the doctor or waiting until the next day, but an hour later she was still crying and we knew we had to take her in. We had the suspicion that she probably broke her collar bone. :(

We took her to urgent care and the doctor came in to look at it. The doctor tried to be gentle, but even the slightest touch sent Makayla into a hysterical cry. The doctor ordered a x-ray. 

 Since I am 9 months pregnant and ready to pop, I couldn't go in the x-ray room with Makayla. Luckily Daddy was there to comfort her. It was so sad because I could hear Makayla screaming the entire time. They took some pictures with their big machine and Daddy took some pictures with his phone. The look on her face breaks my heart. We knew she was so scared.

  A little while later the doctor came back with the results. Our suspicions were confirmed that Makayla had indeed broken her collar bone. All I can say after looking at this picture is OUCH!!

 The doctor said that collar bones are different because you can't cast them, you basically have to let the bone fuse and heal on its own. They gave Makayla a sling, some pain medicine, and told us to follow up with a pediatric orthopedic doctor. Once Makayla realized she didn't have to get shots and that we were on our way home she was a happier girl.

Since then, Makayla has been such a trooper. She loves to tell people that she, "broke her clavicle," and loves the extra attention she is getting from everyone, even if she does pretend to be shy about it. She doesn't complain about it much unless she bumps it or if she is needing some extra attention. I have to laugh because Makayla has definitely learned how to milk it, and she knows we will do anything to try to make her feel better. Hopefully we'll have some more information on how long she has to wear the sling when we meet with her orthopedic doctor on Friday. All I can say is that our little girl is such a tough little sweetheart!

Makayla's Week of Firsts

Yes, I sound like all those mom's out there, but really, how do we have a three-year-old? And how is she ready for preschool and dance already? Makayla had a busy week this week as she had her first days at her new adventures.

Tuesdays and Thursdays Makayla has preschool at Little Learners Academy. Her teacher this year is Miss Aubrey and Miss Kembree. We took this picture on her first day, September 2, 2014.

I think Makayla was a little nervous about her first day. Caden and I walked her in, but as soon as she was in her classroom, she started playing with toys and told me good-bye. I think it may have been harder for me to leave her. When we picked her up she wouldn't tell us much about what they did that day, but in the days since we learned that they learned about their letters, colors, sing songs, have snacks, and play. Now that she is used to the routine, she loves preschool and talks about it all the time!

Then on Wednesdays Makayla takes a dance/tumbling class at Synergy Dance. She was so excited about dance and couldn't wait to wear her new dance outfit.

They don't let parents watch, and Makayla didn't tell us much about dance in the beginning either, but now she shows us a lot of tricks they do. She is learning how to do somersaults, cartwheels, and lots of new dance moves. 

We love to see this little girl grow up and experience new things!

Oh, and what do Caden and I do while sister is at preschool and dance? We go shopping! This handsome little boy is the best shopping buddy!