Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Broken Kitchenaid (my husband is amazing!)

I use my kitchenaid mixer ALL THE TIME. I haven't cooked much since the baby has been born. When I went to use my mixer last week it wouldn't work. It would go part way around and then get stuck and wouldn't move. I was devasted. I knew we couldn't replace it and I didn't know how I could live without it. When Nic got home he said he would take a look at it. He loves to fix things and went right to work taking it apart. He found that it had a stripped gear. He did some research and found a replacement gear online. We got the part this week and my amazing husband fixed it and it's as good as new. I love that this man can fix anything! It's one of his greatest talents. Love you babe!
Back in business!


Wednesday, May 23, 2012

More pictures & updates

Our 2 beautiful girls
Sam holds Brooklyn any chance she gets. She is so sweet to her and loves her so much.

I have been going pretty stir crazy in the house with the baby and I have been missing time alone with Sam. We decided to go on a quick date (literally only 30 minutes) just the two of us. I can't be away from the baby for much longer than that because she is pretty much a constant eater. Sam and I are both chocolate lovers, so we went to the Chocolate Nugget candy factory. She had fun picking out her own treat.


Nic's Family came to visit us a few weeks ago, Sam was in heaven with all of the attention
 Grandpa & baby Brooklyn
 Swimming with Uncle Daniel


 Here is our doctor (Dr Hess on the right) and her awesome assistant Maria. We really loved working with both of them.


Brooklyn's first bath, of course Sam had to help




Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Pictures, Pictures, Pictures!

Moments after her birth


 Sam meeting Brooklyn for the first time

 Grandma arrives in Nevada

 Sam loves being a big sister
 Mum Mum & Pap Pap arrive in Nevada
 We are very tired :)
Aunt Jenny comes to visit

More pictures are coming :)

Monday, May 7, 2012

Brooklyn's Birth Story

Tuesday, May 1, 2012
9am:We had a doctor’s appointment . We started with an ultrasound and then had the non-stress test. Dr. Hess came in and told us that the baby was estimated to be 9lbs 14 oz (which could be off by 20%) and that my fluid levels were still high. My doctor said that she didn’t want to risk me going into labor any longer because of the complications that can come from having too much fluid. So we scheduled our induction for Wednesday night. When she checked me I was dilated to 3 cm. We called our family and told them that Brooklyn should be born sometime on Wednesday.

6pm: We decided to do a special date night with Sam as it would be our last family outing just the three of us. We went through the drive thru at Dairy Queen and got ice cream. We then headed to the movie theatre to see Disney Nature’s Chimpanzee.

7pm: The movie started and almost immediately I started having some painful cramps. They were hurting my back and I stood up at the movie theatre and started to walk around because I was uncomfortable. They would come and go about every 20-30 minutes. I got up and went to the bathroom several times and was kind of confused as to what I was feeling.

9pm: We got home and put Sam down to bed. I continued to feel uncomfortable and I told Nic that this was the worst I had felt. He suggested calling labor and delivery, but I didn’t know if painful cramps could be contractions. So we decided to start timing them. They were about 12-13 minutes apart so I decided to get a priesthood blessing from Nic. I was still confused (because my contractions with Sam felt so different from this). The blessing said that everything would go well with the delivery and that I would know what to do. I decided we should go to bed and see if these went away.

10:30pm: Nic starts timing the contractions for me on an app on my phone. I could no longer sit down through them and was pacing around our bedroom with each one. They were coming about 10 minutes apart. I started crying through a lot of them because they were so painful. Nic was helping me to think of happy things to get through them. At this time we still weren’t sure when/if we should go to the hospital.

Midnight: Contractions were between 6-8 minutes apart. We decided it was time to go to the hospital. We called our amazing neighbor Tammy and asked her to come sleep at our house while Sam slept. Nic loaded up the car with a few things that weren’t already packed in our suitcases.

Wednesday, May 2, 2012
12:30am: We leave for the hospital. When we arrive they hooked me up to monitor my contractions. They said they would watch me for awhile and see if they would admit me. I was freaking out with each contraction because I was stuck on the bed and couldn’t move. I kept asking Nic to go get the nurse to have her check me. He reassured me that they would be in soon. When the nurse came in to check me I was 9cm (I was shocked and relieved). She asked if I had wanted an epidural and I said “yes please, as soon as possible”. They said that the anesthesiologist was already on the floor and I was so relieved.

1:15am: We are admitted to our room. We quickly do paperwork and get hooked up to an IV. I was so anxious to get the epidural because I knew I was close to delivery and I didn’t want to push without it.

2am: My doctor arrives and they bring in all of the delivery equipment to my room. Still no sign of the anesthesiologist. My doctor was trying to decide if she should break my water right then or wait until later in the morning. That way I could rest for a few hours after I get my epidural and wait till there are more people on hand in case they have complications after my water breaks. The anesthesiologist finally comes in the room around 2:15am and takes her precious time going over paper work and explaining things I already knew. Every time I asked her to just start the epidural she would explain that these things don’t work right away etc etc.

2:45am: I get the epidural. My doctor goes to check me and my water breaks. She immediately feels for the chord to make sure it doesn’t come out first. And as she lets go they lose Brooklyn’s heartbeat. My doctor explains that the baby is stunned and that we have 5 minutes to either rush to the OR or do a vacuum assisted delivery. I asked her what she suggested and she said it was up to us but we had to quickly decide. I looked at Nic, said a quick prayer, and said lets push. I was very panicked as we got ready. I felt so much pressure to deliver her so quickly, but I felt very strengthened by my Heavenly Father. I felt very strongly that he was there with us and would bring her here safely.

3:09am Brooklyn is born after 5 pushes. She swallowed a lot of fluid so they spent the first few minutes suctioning fluid out of her lungs.

She is beyond beautiful and I am so happy that she is finally here! I am so happy that I went into labor on my own and naturally. I am so grateful to Nic for coaching me through the labor and being such a fantastic support. I was so thankful that we had taken child birth classes before we had Sam, I never thought we would need them, but I was sure grateful we had that knowledge to get us through without our planned medication. I am so happy that I am not pregnant anymore :)


Friday, May 4, 2012

She's here!

Our beautiful Brooklyn just couldn't wait until her induction date to come to our family.
 Brooklyn Faith Mills
Born: Wednesday, May 2nd at 3:09am
7lbs 13oz 20 inches long
Birth story coming soon!

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Baby Time (sorry for the novel)

We went to the doctor's today. We had a non stress test done along with an ultrasound. The baby is estimated at 9lbs 13oz (that can be off by 20%) and my fluid levels were still very high. Our plan was to let the baby come on her own when she was ready, however my doctor has a lot of concerns with the high fluid levels. I guess there are a lot of complications that can come from that. So because we know the baby is a healthy size and we are so close to my due date, we are going to go ahead and get induced tomorrow night. According to my doctor it is a lot safer to be induced with this condition then risk having your water break on your own away from the hospital.

We have been waiting for Brooklyn for so long, it's hard to believe that the time has come for her to become a part of our family. I have been so emotional today. I am beyond grateful to my Heavenly Father for allowing me to have children. What a wonderful experience it is to be a partner with him in this incredible journey. Sam seems so little to me, I can't believe we are already having our second child. I am so excited for her to be a big sister. I am so nervous about how I can give each child equal love and attention. I am excited to hold another precious newborn in my arms. I don't know if I am ready to do this all again, but I sure am excited to finally meet our baby girl.

 We have decided on the name Brooklyn Faith Mills. Yes, I love Faith Hill, but it's not after her (although an added bonus). The decision to have Brooklyn, along with her entire pregnancy, has been a very faith building experience for us. We wanted to remember this special time of our lives by including that in her name. I did not feel ready to have a second child, but I felt very strongly last summer that it was time. At the time Nic had just graduated and he didn't have a job yet. I felt like the timing was horrible. Our future was so unsure. Then, we got pregnant and found out we were having twins. I went through so many roller coasters of emotions through the process of finding that out and then losing the one a few weeks later. As you know, we then got a job in Nevada and moved all within 3 weeks. Living away from our family during this pregnancy again has been a huge exercise of our faith in our Heavenly Father's plan for us.

We are so excited to meet our Brooklyn. Pictures and birth story coming soon!!!