Now, a family of five

In honor of Brennyn's arrival and her 1 month milestone, we headed once again to Galhouse Photography. Amazingly, Kaileen captured beautiful photos of our family. The team of Dylan and Keelyn were bright and cooperative for the first half of the session while Brennyn was hungry and uncooperative. Then, once Brennyn turned the corner after a healthy snack, Dylan and Keelyn hit their limit. At one point, Kaileen said, Debra, try not to look so worried; it was then I thought, I have smiled once during the session. At the end of the session, I thought we'd probably have some good shots of the kids, but was worried if she captured our whole family. Then, we saw the slideshow and my worries were put to rest. Thanks Kaileen!

Week 2… Growing strong

Brennyn has stretched out her night feedings to 3 hours; we are getting pretty good sleep as a result.

Dylan breathed a sigh of relief when Brennyn’s “connector thing” fell off. And, now sans cord, Brennyn was physically ready for her first real bath; emotionally, she was not prepared and cried through what turned into a very quick bath.



On the one day we had a break from the below freezing temps, I took Ripley for a 1 mile walk; felt good.

Josh and I were able to cook a meal together this week while Dylan and Keelyn played in the living room and Brennyn slept in the family room… it was a nice moment of routine family life.

Dylan started week 2 of swim lessons. His instructor said he has the most enthusiasm and is not afraid and that she has some kids who take the full session to get as comfortable as he is in the water. Dylan says, “I want to walk on the bottom of the pool like Aquaman.”

Dylan and Keelyn are still very sweet with Brennyn. Keelyn asks, “can I hold my baby sister,” kisses her softly on the head, and then says, “ok, I’m done.”

At 2 weeks, Brennyn exceeded her goal of getting back to birth weight by 4 ounces. And, for height she is between 50th and 75th percentile. She is growing strong as she looks ahead to Week 3.

Week 1... and all is well

Today, Brennyn is 1 Week!

She was born safely, swiftly, and sweetly on Wednesday, January 5 at 1:58 PM.

At 12:15, we were 80% / 6cm / -2 but still no contractions to speak of. So, they started us on pitocin. 90 minutes later, we were 100% / 10cm / +2. Dr. Yoon said, this is why we’re here today and sprang into action. Brennyn was born in under a minute with 4 pushes through 1 contraction. She started crying before she came out, they said that rarely happens, she was ready. Her APGAR score was (an almost perfect) 9.9.



On Thursday, we were home by 5:00 PM so we could be home with Dylan and Keelyn. Dylan and Keelyn were very interested in getting to know their new baby sister.



On Friday, Brennyn visited her pediatrician and her weight was down 10% which was right on the border, so they said let’s give it the weekend and do a check on Monday. Luckily my milk came in over the weekend and by Monday, she had gained 3 ounces which is right on track for weight gain per day.

Every morning, Dylan and Keelyn check on Brennyn, they are both very sweet and calm around her. Dylan inquires every day (with a scrunched up face) about when the “connector” on her belly button will fall off; he is concerned it hurts her. Keelyn is concerned and comforting when Brennyn cries, she wants to help her be ok.

We do manage good sleep. Josh can usually sleep through the night with an early wake up from Keelyn. I am usually up every couple of hours for diaper change and feeding, but Brennyn falls right back to sleep and we sleep in later than the rest of the family.

On Sunday, we managed to get back in our routine. We had breakfast, lunch, and dinner at the table as a family. Keelyn helped wash the morning dishes. Dylan and Josh built Star Wars Legos; Dylan is so good at following the directions. Keelyn went down for her nap easily while Dylan and Josh went shoe shopping. My favorite moment of that day, while I was upstairs nursing Brennyn, I could hear Dylan downstairs singing every word to Taylor Swift’s Mine. At bed, Dylan and Keelyn put on their “extrrra” undies (from How to Train Your Dragon) and climbed into bed. I asked Dylan if he had a good day and he said,”Yes, Daddy and I listened to each other’s ideas.” Josh said, “that is the best thing I could hear about today.” Mommy, Daddy, and Brennyn were asleep by 10:00.

This is more of a low-light, but on Monday, I woke up feeling good and thinking I looked pretty good; you know considering it was only Day 5. Anyway, we needed a few baby supplies, so Brennyn, Josh and I went to BabiesRUs. Josh brought the car to the front while I checked out (with Brennyn right beside me in her car seat), and the guy at the register asks, “so, you are expecting another?” I said, “no, this is it.” But, seriously?! Who trained that guy?

This morning, Dylan and Keelyn helped shovel the deck from a light snow and took a sleigh ride to school. Brennyn is napping now and gearing up for Week 2.