Time Flies

I'm down to my last couple of day on maternity leave and I'm not sure how 8 weeks has gone by so quickly. I also can't believe that Brooklyn will be 8 weeks on Saturday. I feel like her size hasn't changed much. She is still my petite little baby, but her personality gets bigger and bigger every day. It has been fun to see her start to smile more and really recognize my voice. She will turn her head to find me when I start talking and gives the biggest grin when I pick her up in the morning. We have grown pretty fond of each other lately. 

We are still working out our bedtime schedule, but we are making some progress. I feel like with her reflux and gas issues it makes her bedtime routine so tricky. She falls right to sleep, but almost exactly 30 minutes later she wakes up shaking her arms and moving like crazy. She can't be swaddled and HATES to be swaddled, so we are just hoping that we can grow out of this phase. Once she is asleep she usually stays asleep for much longer stretches. We even got 8 hours out of her the other night. Hopefully we will get better at this routine thing, because I'm going to be one tired teacher come Monday! 

 My little snuggle bug will sometimes fall asleep while she eats. Lately she has started snuggling with her burp cloth and I think it is just about the cutest thing ever.

 The Provo City Center Temple open house was amazing. Mark and I had both really been wanting to go so we decided to brave it with our inconsistent evening sleeper. Luckily she was a champ that day and slept through the whole thing! The temple is gorgeous. I'm so glad they were able to restore so much of the old tabernacle.

 We have started going on walks almost every day. This day I remember taking this picture and thinking how grown up Brooklyn looked. She was wide eyed and ready to go.

 The tongue...she loves to stick it out at you all day long!

 She still loves her hands by her face while she sleeps. Of course she looks extra cute trying to pose here.

 This picture reminded me how tiny she still is. She looks so beautiful when she sleeps.

 We went to Vernal for cousin Max's baby blessing. It was a quick trip, but we had a great time visiting with family.

 I've fallen in love with Brooklyn in sweaters!

 My little girl showing off all sorts of silly faces

She loves to watch tv...which is kind of funny to me! She has really been enjoying Fuller House

 We read books every night. Lately she just likes to crinkly the pages of this new book though.

 Afternoon naps are a struggle for Brooklyn. I feel like by then her reflux is a little worse and she usually needs to poop. Both of these things make it hard for her to sit in her rocker and nap. I often have to rocker to back to sleep, which can take FOREVER! A lot of the time she needs to fall asleep on my shoulder so that her tummy feels better. IF she can fall back asleep I often end up putting her down on the couch close by me wrapped up in blankets and propped on pillows. My hope is that someday she will get a good afternoon nap!

 We found out day one that Brooklyn had a click in her hip. By day two the doctor could hear it in both of her hips. We got an ultrasound and saw a specialist only to learn she has hip dysplasia. It sounds a lot worse than it really is. She just needs her hips in a better position so that they can fully develop. We are hoping she won't have to wear this brace too much longer, but we know it is best to take care of it now. Our hope is that by having her in the brace for a couple of months now, we will eliminate the need for braces as she gets older and or surgeries. It took a lot of adjusting on my part to deal with the brace. She only notices it a little bit when we change her clothes. For me it has made feeding her more challenging, diaper changes SUCK, she can't wear pants, and I miss snuggling her close to me. But she does look super cute in her little brace!

 We finally made it back to church! We only lasted for sacrament meeting our first Sunday because we were all exhausted from a long night. Mark let me go upstairs and take a nap. I woke up to these two snuggling on the couch.

Visitors for Valentine's Day!

We were so excited to have Kyle, Jordan, Kassidy, and Jayden come spend the weekend with us. It is a long drive from California and we LOVE that they love us enough to make that trip! It helps that we have a super cute baby to snuggle!

We really wish we lived closer to these 4!

 Jordan did a little photo shoot with Brooklyn. I can't wait to see the rest of the pictures.

 My little love bug! She usually will smile if you give her kisses!

 I'm not sure how she is already a month old, but on Saturday we celebrated! Hard to believe we have been parents for a month already. It seems like it went by quickly.

 Cousin Kassidy was such a good helper. She LOVED Brooklyn. Oh my goodness. I wish she lived here and would come babysit for me all the time.

 Jayden wasn't too interested in Brooklyn, but it was pretty cute when he held her for the first time. He just kept looking at her and giggling. She would just stare up at him.

 Our sleepy baby enjoyed lots of naps snuggled up with everyone.

 Brooklyn even got bedtime stories one night!

 It's hard to believe that these 2 are now old enough to hold my baby. I remember when they were this size!

We had a great weekend hanging out and loving on Brooklyn!

The Brooklyn Show

Brooklyn has taken over our lives, in a good way! She is the center of attention and although that sometimes means less sleep, missed meals, less time snuggling with Mark, it is worth it. It isn't easy though. Everyone tells you that being a new mom is hard, but man, it is HARD! I think the thing that has shocked me the most is how up and down my emotions are. Things that would never bother me or get under my skin now have me in tears. Thank goodness Mark is being very patient. I also have a very loving Mom who lets me text 20 times a day with constant updates and questions. 

Mark and I gave this onesie to his sister Nicole for her birthday 2 months after we had been married. We wanted the family to think we were pregnant. She held on to it and gifted it back to us once we found out we really were pregnant.

Let's talk about how her hair looks SO red here too!

 We titled this, " I'm mad that Grandma left!"

 This little girl is such a funny sleeper! She makes the best faces.

 Brooklyn is a pooper! I was trying to take a cute picture to send to Mark and right in the middle of it all she just pooped, and pooped, and pooped!

 Grandma missed us so much she had to come back! She is a lifesaver! Brooklyn agrees and loves to give her kisses!

 I was really good and didn't shop at all while pregnant. I bought one outfit and this was it! I couldn't resist the little jean dress, with polka dots, and a sweater. I love it on her and am so sad that she is already growing out of it.

 Mark is such a sweet Daddy! He loves to just snuggle up with Brooklyn when he comes home from work. I love the break for a few hours and I love that he is so sweet with her.

 Everyone has a book they love about babies. Everyone has methods they have tried. Me... I can't make up my mind. I feel like I'm a fan of lots of different ways. Then this little one got reflux and I decided that I was just going to do whatever makes her happy. Lucky for me she is a good sleeper and eater so as long as we stick to our schedule for the most part, we have a good day!

 Brooklyn is a wiggly sleeper. She wakes herself up all the time with her crazy arms. We have tried to swaddle her, but she just cries until her arms are out. Once she finally settles down she just looks so calm and peaceful....until she moves 5 minutes later!

 My friend Ashlee has an adorable instagram account where she and her daughter read and review children's books. She asked for some of our favorite books, so Brooklyn and I choose Ribbit! It's all about a pig that wants to be friends with some frogs. He says ribbit, and all the animals think he is crazy. The wise beetle finally tells them that he isn't crazy, that maybe he just wants to be friends. The last page has the pig sitting in the tree with some birds saying "Tweet!"

 We watched the Super Bowl over at the Urry's this year. It was nice to hang out, eat, chat about babies, and watch the game.  Brooklyn and Holly are exactly 1 week apart! We love that they will always have each other as buddies.

 One morning I fed Brooklyn in my bed while watching Project Runway. I try to keep myself busy while I feed her otherwise I go a little crazy just sitting and sitting. That day she fell asleep looking so serious. She cracks me up.

Brooklyn's First Week

With having a c section I needed to stay in the hospital until Tuesday morning. As much as I loved the nurses and the help they were giving me, I was more than ready to leave. No one ever told me that a hospital is like a prison! We had a room and one hallway we could be in. They brought you your meals (which were good), and you had an uncomfortable bed or a hard chair to sit on.  I got cabin fever very quickly and so did Mark. We had awesome visitors come which helped break up the day. Other than that we kind of just sat around and held Brooklyn. I did get a few naps in, but with those nurses checking me every 2 to 4 hours it made it a little tricky.  Night time brought on some anxiety with not really understanding Brooklyn and her eating needs. We had one good night and then the next was bad. I worried a little, ok a lot, but my nurse stayed with me for almost 2 hours as we tried to figure out what exactly Brooklyn needed.  In the end we just realized she is an eat every 4 hours baby, not every 2. She wasn't liking being woken up to eat. She just wanted to sleep. 

We were so happy to head home, but then we realized home is a little scary. 

My mom has been a lifesaver. Not only has she done this 3 times, plus grandchildren, but she also cooks, cleans, and does anything else I might need. I'm not sure I would be surviving right now without her. She has been great about letting me get some extra sleep. She is spoiling me by taking Brooklyn, who is a noisy sleeper, for me after she eats at night. I feed her and then my mom just makes sure she is okay all night and brings her to me when she needs to eat again. If you are going to have a baby, I hope you have a mom like me. 

Although nights still give me some anxiety, I'm getting better at this mom thing. I have a lot to learn, but I'm trying to be patient and just go with the flow. Brooklyn is SUCH A GOOD BABY! She only cries when she is gassy and even then it's not a screaming cry. She is a great eater and loves to just sit and stare at you. Right now we are working on getting her to soothe herself a little bit more when in her bed. She gets a little antsy if she isn't super tired. I can't complain about her behavior though. I know I'm extremely luckily to have this little newborn be so good for us.

She smiles for us constantly!

 Look at those eyelashes!

My dad was able to come visit this weekend, which was great. I loved watching him with her and seeing how in love he quickly became with his newest grandchild.  We had fun just hanging out with her and giving her all the love and attention she needed. 

My mom made Brooklyn this adorable quilt. She looks so tiny on it now!

Mark has been great with all of this. Those new dads get worn out too! He has been great though and I love watching him with her. He already loves her so much and it's adorable. He gives lots of scratchy beard kisses and is the best at swaddling her before bed.  We were so happy to have him home with us all week. I never doubted he would be an amazing daddy. I've seen him with babies and kids before, but when it's your own...melt my heart.  These two could just stare at each other for hours!

We survived our first week and it's becoming more and more real every day. I got up and showered while she played in her bed this morning. We talked to each other and got ready for the day. Mark went back to work and she is happily napping away. My life has changed in a big way and very quickly, but I'm loving this mom life.

From 2 to 3

Brooklyn's Birth Story

A couple weeks before my due date we found out that Brooklyn was breech. The doctor wasn't too worried about it, but we knew that we would need to have a c section. Lots of options were given to Mark and I about possible things we could do to avoid a c section. Although neither of us wanted me to have to go through a c section, we both felt very strongly that that was what needed to happen. Surprisingly I felt very calm and at peace about it, which is nuts because it is a major surgery. The one good thing about a c section was knowing what day we would be having our sweet baby girl.  Although we knew going into labor before that day was an option, we thought that having her at 39 weeks would hopefully prevent me going into labor at work. No need to traumatize those cute 2nd graders with my water breaking. This also allowed my family to make arrangements to come out to be with us.  

It's an odd feeling counting down the days to when your baby is coming. We prepped, planned, cleaned, went on dates, etc.  The weekend before I kept saying this is our last weekend to not be parents. For the rest of our lives we will be parents. For 9 months I had been counting down the days and now suddenly it was approaching very fast and it all seemed a little too real.  

Mark and I were both able to work the Friday before. Mark's co-workers had a Daddy shower that was super sweet. My students gave lots of hugs and did their final pats of love to Brooklyn.  We were ready. 

We had to be at the hospital at 5:30 am on Saturday.  The surgery was scheduled for 7:30.  Our doctor was on call and it was so nice to know that he would be the one performing the surgery.  Of course Friday night I started having contractions... UGH! I had only had maybe 10 contractions (very small, no pain) the entire pregnancy. I couldn't believe that the night before my c section my body was doing this to me.  I was up all night freaking out that my water might break. Luckily it didn't, but the contractions did continue.  

39 weeks and so happy to be done!

I felt very prepared for the c section. My sister had prepped me well along with my doctor. I loved our first nurse. She was awesome at keeping me calm and very friendly. That helps when you are exhausted, anxious, and about to have a baby.  Mark even got to wear a really sweet jumpsuit! 

It was finally timed and I was taken in to have the spinal block. They warned me it would hurt, but in that LARGE bee sting prick of a moment I panicked. I sat on the table, Mark holding my hand, and I went into panic mode. The doctors and nurses were busy bees setting everything up and it felt like I was standing still while everything was happening around me. Luckily the medicine kicked in quick and I didn't feel any pain, just a random tingling. I will say though, it is VERY uncomfortable to know that you are just naked from the waist down with who knows how many people just buzzing around you. I'm very modest so to know that I was just hanging out like that did make me feel very uncomfortable.  It's amazing to me how quickly everything happened. At one point I started feeling really nauseous, but my AMAZING anesthesiologist was so comforting. He quickly went into action to make me feel more comfortable. I was so grateful to him. He watched me like a hawk and made sure I was doing okay. It was so nice to know that my doctor was taking good care of my baby and he was taking good care of me. Then it happened. They said here comes her bum. Mark immediately started taking pictures and got very excited. They turned her and she pooped first thing! That gave everyone a good laugh. For me I just needed to hear that cry. I had been having nightmares about her not crying so I just needed to hear that. I loved watching Mark's face as they took her out of me. I wish I had the camera in that moment so that I could capture his joy. His eyes filled up with tears and he just kept saying she was beautiful. She did cry quickly and as they took her over to be cleaned off I was grateful I could see her. I just kept asking if she was ok. I think I asked multiple times even though I could hear her crying and see her moving. I just needed that confirmation over and over again.  As I was being stitched up once again my anesthesiologist was great. He noticed that my oxygen levels weren't where they needed to be and took great care of me while everyone else did their jobs. He even got very close to my head and just talked to me to keep me calm. I will forever be grateful for his kindness during my surgery. 

Brooklyn Marcella Urry

1/16/16

8:03 am

6 lbs 12 oz

19 inches

As soon as I was stitched up and she was cleaned they gave her to me. In that moment I just remember feeling exhausted. I know I was excited and so happy she was there, but it almost didn't seem real. That was my baby, on my chest.  They took me back into my hospital room to recover and everything really was a whirlwind.  I once again had a wonderful nurse to look after me and my mom and Mark loved on Brooklyn.  

I immediately became obsessed with her round cheeks, long eyelashes, and fuzzy hair. She was so snuggly and perfect right from the start.  She ate right away too. The nurse was so pleased that on the first try she was able to latch and get some good food in her belly. 

Grandma and Grandpa were able to come visit our sweet girl along with my mom.  Everyone was just in love instantly.  The rest of the day I was pretty tired. I didn't realize how little of sleep I had actually gotten the night before and how worn out I would be from the surgery. I wasn't in pain from it at all, but I just couldn't keep my eyes open. Our nurses in the mom and baby unit were great. They helped with everything and answered all of our questions.  We felt very looked after and felt comfortable knowing they were there to help us. 

How could you not love this sweet little face!

It's a little crazy to think that I'm a mom now. It's something I have always dreamed about and wanted. I spent a lot of years wondering when my turn would come and if I would ever get my sweet baby.  Thank goodness I have a loving Heavenly Father who had a wonderful plan for me. He had me wait just long enough so that this sweet angel could be my baby.