Brielle

Meet Brielle Marie.

Born December 31st, 2019.

6 lbs 11 oz 19 in

Our Brielle baby is already three months old. That went fast. And so much has happened! Time to rack my brain for all those birth story details. Let me back it up a little bit.

My due date with Brielle was January 12th, which is kinda funny because Emmett's due date was March 12th haha. He came ten days early, and my body started dilating sooner this time around, so I was pretty confident she was going to be a December baby. At my 35 week check-up I was already 3 cm dilated!! At the next appointment I was 4 cm... and the next I was 5. At this point we were just reeeaaallly hoping she wouldn't be born on Christmas.

On December 20th I was having shooting pelvic pains, some strong contractions, and feeling a lot of pressure. We dropped Emmett off at Ryan and Karlie's house and went to the hospital. I'll admit, I was much more paranoid with this pregnancy. My biggest fear was that labor was going to hit me hard and quick - so quick that I either wouldn't make it to the hospital or wouldn't have time to get an epidural. Um, no thanks. We were in the hospital for about five hours that night. No progression. I was stuck at 5 cm and my contractions were inconsistent. Even after I was told that we'd be sent home, they still wanted to hook me up to an IV. Two nurses unsuccessfully poked my left arm.. and my right arm.. then eventually put the IV in my hand. Their failed attempts hurt so so so bad. I couldn't help but cry as they dug the needle around in my arms for ten minutes. Anyways, not a fun night. As soon as the bag was empty, we went home.

In case you were wondering, late December is a super stressful time of year to have a baby! Basically all of our family and friends that we have here in Alabama were going to be out of town the week of Christmas. So if I had gone into labor one week earlier, we really wouldn't have had anyone to watch Emmett for us. How do you plan for something that could happen at any moment during the busiest time of year when nobody's around?! Ugh. The thought of possibly delivering our baby alone while Jason sat with Emmett in the waiting room made me so sad. I don't think I've ever been so stressed in my life.

Christmas passed and still no baby. Phew. At that point my mom decided to drive down with Mauri so they could be here when I went into labor. HUGE RELIEF. My stress level went down 100 notches the minute they got here. They are the best ever. We spent the next few days trying to kick start my labor. Lots of walking, shopping, merry-go-round spinning, and exercise ball bouncing goin' on.

^^ Emmett soaking up his last few days as an only child.

New Year's Eve rolled around. I had a doctor's appointment scheduled for 8:15 that morning. When we got there I was told that my doctor was in surgery and the appointment would need to be rescheduled for later. I explained that I was already dilated to a 5 and my contractions were about 5-8 minutes apart {although not painful}. Without being checked, they told us to go straight to the hospital. So we did!

The check-in process took  f o r e v e r .  I can't even imagine how that would have played out if I were having excruciating labor pains like I did with Emmett. Once we finally got in a room, the nurse did not seem too confident that I'd be sticking around. My water hadn't broken, I was still only measuring at a 5, my contractions were't very strong, and it was a super busy day in L&D. Lots of babies making their debut! She monitored me for a few more hours and THANKFULLY things started picking up. At that point they gave me the option to have the doctor break my water or go home and wait it out. After waiting over an hour to get in here?? No way, Jose. As soon as we told the nurse we were going to stay, the contractions started slowing waaay down. Great timing hahaha.

The anesthesiologist came in and gave me the epidural before breaking my water. That needle hurt a lot more than I remember. Probably because I didn't have crazy painful contractions to distract me from it this time :,) Once that magic kicked in, Dr. McCloud broke my water and BOOM! Active labor. We watched as the monitor quickly started drawing mountains. I kept thinking how tough my body was in that moment, even though I couldn't feel what it was going through. Like at all. They could have cut off my foot and I wouldn't have felt it haha.

Mom, Mauri, and Emmett stopped by while we waited for our girl.

They stuck around for an hour or so before heading out to grab dinner and drop Emmett off at the Hoggard's where a little New Years Eve party was goin' on. That was our original plan for the evening, but we were happy to be here instead!

After about two hours of active labor, it was time to push. The nurse didn't want me to do any practice pushes because she was sure it would be a quick delivery. If it was anything like my previous experience, I knew it would be. I probably push a liiiitle too hard. Once the doctor came in I pushed through one contraction... two contractions...

and Brielle was here.

They cut the cord and immediately placed her on my chest for skin-to-skin. This hospital really advocates for that initial bonding time and I was soaking. it. up. Neither me or Jason could keep the tears back as we met and held our daughter. She was, and still is, so perfect.

That sad little face kills me!

Mom and Mauri obviously came back for some newborn baby snuggles. I absolutely LOVED having them there!!! Being in Alabama, I knew we wouldn't have fifteen + people visiting the hospital like we did when Emmett was born. It made me really appreciate the family that we were able to have there, though. My mom, Mauri, Karlie, and Ryan all came by to meet our fresh-out-of-heaven babe that night.

I'm pretty sure Jason changed allll the dirty diapers while we were in the hospital. I sure do love that man. All three of us were pretty exhausted, so we ended up snoozing through the new year. It's kinda crazy that at not even a day old, Brielle has lived in two decades!

My mama heart melted when Emmett met his new baby sis for the first time! We couldn't believe how BIG he seemed all of a sudden. Was he a toddler when we left?? I don't think so.

Peek-a-boo, little sister!

You can't tell, but I was struggling during these photos. Recovery is no joke! Overall I would say that I recovered much quicker after this delivery, but the postpartum contractions I had those following days were THE WORST and my back felt so bruised. That didn't happen after delivering Emmett, so I wasn't mentally prepared for it. Sooo painful. My mom said that her post-delivery contractions got worse after each child. Worse?! Oh no. Thank goodness for heat pads.

Love these pictures of my mom with my babies. She's the best gigi!

We were sooo ready to bring Brielle home after our two-night hospital stay. It was overcast and rainy basically the whole time we were there which made us feel even more cooped up. We snuggled our girl while we waited for the discharge paperwork and then booked it outta there.

Our first stop... the pharmacy. Second stop... Chick-Fil-A. Third stop... pharmacy again. Anyone who saw me probably knew exactly what I just went through as I slowly waddled around the store for pain meds and hemorrhoid pads hahaha. It was painfully obvious. After that, we finally made it home. Best feeling EVER. Emmett was so happy to see us and his reaction to Brielle was so cute. He kept pointing to her saying, "Baby! Baby!" with the biggest smile. Thankfully I got that little memory on video.

Brielle was also welcomed home to this...

SO SWEET. I cannot thank my mom and Mauri enough for all that they did for us! They drove 34+ hours, took care of Emmett, grocery shopped, made meals, cleaned the house, folded laundry,  kept me company, and gave us the best welcome home ever. They are amazing!! Emmett was definitely a fan of the balloons and flowers. I'm pretty sure he thought they were for him haha.

WE ARE OBSESSED.

I'm the luckiest to be your mommy, Brielle baby.

Welcome to the family!