Sleep Deprevation

Since returning home from the hospital with our baby girl everything has just been great. The only downfall to having a newborn in the house is the altered sleep schedule that we must now survive on. We didn't start the sleep schedule off on the right foot because at the time Brinley was born I hadn't slept in about 30 hours and Jennifer had been up for about 40. So needless to say we were both extremely exhausted. I also had trouble sleeping in the hospital because I was hyper vigilant of every whimper that Brinley made. I was also getting up at least every 3 hours to change a diaper and to help Jennifer to try to feed Brinley.

So after our 2 nights in the hospital we were discharged to home. Here I was able to sleep in our much more comfortable bed. However according to Jennifer I have had multiple episodes during the first week home with some "sleep walking" episodes from sleep deprivation. My first occurrence was on day 2 at home and apparently I woke from a dead sleep to the sound of Brinley crying. According to Jennifer, I was frantically searching in the comforter for my daughter, but I was unable to find her. Jennifer asked me what I was doing and I informed her that I placed Brinley right there in the covers, but I couldn't find her now. She then proceeded to tell me that Brinley was in her bed. Sure enough I looked and Brinley was in her bed.

The next night I was sleeping and Jennifer told me that I just woke up randomly during the night and stood up and pretended to put a baby in the crib, but I did not have Brinley. She was sound asleep in the swing at the time. After I laid down the imaginary baby I just got back in bed and went to sleep. By doing this 2 nights in a row I am sure that Jennifer began to get a little scared that I would accidentally get up in my sleep and do something that might harm Brinley. She made sure to tell me the next morning what I did (which I vaguely recalled) and insisted that I take a nap that afternoon.

After taking a nap the next day and trying to get a little nap in whenever Brinley is sleeping I have thankfully not had any more episodes. Even though we haven't gotten the regular amount of sleep as we did before, I wouldn't change a second of it for the world. I enjoy being a father more than I could have ever imagined. I can't wait to watch her grow up into a wonderful young lady! Thanks so much for ready reading and God Bless!

Our baby girl!

Delivery Day (5/4/12)

After our doctors appointment at 9:30 am we headed home to get to bed since we were both supposed to work that night. First we decided to stop at Wal-Mart to pick up some calamine lotion, because Jennifer developed PUPPP, which is an irritating rash that happens to 1% of first time mom's.(Lucky Jennifer) We also picked up a bag of new green apple flavored twizzlers and some strawberries. After getting home we both tried the twizzlers and then I read Brinley a few night time stories. Today I chose Brown Bear (one that she is usually really active for) and "On the Night You Were Born". I had been reading this last one to her for about a week now because I figured at least one time I am going to be right.  At 11:00 am I had just taken my glasses off and put them on the night stand and closed my eyes when Jennifer says "My water just broke!" I jumped out of bed and the adrenaline started pumping through my veins. I fumbled my glasses before getting them to my face, so I had to stop to pick them up. I took a look and sure enough the bed was soaked. I started to panic and asked what I needed to do. Jennifer started giving me a list of things I needed to do and I was unable to comprehend any of it because my brain was scattered in all different directions. I had to ask her again what she said, so this time she gave me individual tasks. First was to get her a towel, then to find what she had worn to the doctors that morning. In between tasks I took all the sheets off the bed and tried to clean up all the amniotic fluid ("broken water") so that when we returned home it wasn't a mess. The first person I called was my brother because I had promised him that since he was usually the last to know things I would call him first. No answer, so I texted him (come to find out he was actually taking his last final exam of the semester). Then I called my parents so they could start to make the 3 hour drive up and then I called my sister to inform her that she would soon be an aunt. After getting dressed we started to head down to the garage. But before we went down, Jennifer asked me to get another towel for the car and a trash bag. I ended up in the basement with a grocery bag, so I had to go back for the correct bag. While up in the kitchen I noticed some popcorn that had missed our mouths scattered around the table, so I took a moment to clean it up because I knew that we had people staying in the house while we were at the hospital. We made it out to the car and got settled in. Before starting the car, we took a moment to say a prayer that both Jennifer and Brinley would be safe during this labor process and that he would be with us as we were about to become a family of 3. After our emotional little prayer I had to update my Facebook status saying that we were headed to the hospital. Then we backed out of the driveway for the last time as a family of two and headed out of the subdivision. About halfway out of the subdivision we realized that Jennifer didn't have her purse, so we circled back to try it again. This time it really was our last time backing out the drive just the 2 of us.

On the way to the hospital Jennifer called her family members to let them know that Brinley would be arriving sooner that our due date. We arrived at noon and parked in the clinic were we usually park for work and made the walk into the hospital. Movies sometimes give you an unrealistic view of events and that was exactly the case with us. Upon arrival we thought we would be rushed back to a room and get everything set up and that the doctor would be quickly behind to inform us of the plan. Instead, we arrived at the birthing center check-in and there was no one at the window. I, being in a frantic state of mind, started looking around everywhere for the attendant. What seemed like 10 minutes later, which was probably about 30 seconds, the person finally arrived to check us in. He took down our name and then made us sit in some chairs while he put together a chart. Five minutes later we were taken into a triage room. A resident doctor arrived a few minutes later and said they were going to check to make sure that her water had broke. She checked and quickly agreed that it was broke and decided that she was 4 cm and 90% effaced. The dilemma now was that there were no available delivery rooms. We would have to wait until someone could be moved out and have the room cleaned.

Jennifer in the triage room.

The nurse started an IV and hung a bag of fluids since Jennifer was not allowed to eat or drink until after Brinley's arrival. We also got asked about a 1,000 questions, by about 6 different people, all of which seemed to be repetitive. It would have been nice if the first person that asked the questions had just relayed the information. (Interesting to finally see how some of my patients and families feel when we do this same exact thing to them) In the triage room is where we met our nurse, Brittney, who ended up being with us until Brinley arrived. At this point her contractions were about every 3-5 minutes apart and she was in a considerable amount of pain when each one happened. A few weeks prior to this we had discussed what our plans for the delivery were and she had said that she wanted to wait as long as possible for the epidural, but that she did want one. I had suggested getting it sooner than later, because I had heard stories of waiting too long and not having enough time for an epidural. So, while in the triage room I asked if they knew which anesthesia resident was on call for today. They informed me that Dr. Parks was on, who is a friend of mine, so I asked if they could page her to come talk to us. She arrived and said that as soon as she wanted to have the epidural to let her know, but she would be around the area all day. After all the questions were answered, they left us by ourselves until a room became available. Jennifer became extremely hot at this point and made me fan her with some of the papers we had received upon arrival. We finally were told that a room was ready, so we gathered up our stuff and we helped Jennifer into a wheelchair. When she got into the wheelchair it was like another flood gate opened and more of Brinley's swimming pool gushed out onto the floor.

We arrived in room 317 around 2 pm. This was a really nice and spacious room. Upon arrival Jennifer told me that she was ready for the epidural, so I informed our nurse to let Dr. Parks know we were ready. Dr. Parks arrived and informed us of the complications and made Jennifer sign some paperwork. Jennifer sat up on the side of the bed and Dr. Parks started the process of placing an epidural. At 2:35 the epidural was in place and Jennifer started to feel much better. Jennifer decided that she was extremely tired, so she tried to take a nap. Before she could fall asleep the grandparents-to-be were beginning to arrive. Grandpa Mike and Grandma Shelia were the first to arrive, followed closely by Jennifer's mom, MiMi. We talked for a while and recounted the events that had occurred up until now.

Jennifer in her pretty hospital gown.

Once the epidural kicked in Jennifer no longer felt any of the contractions, she was actually pretty comfortable. The nurse would periodically come in and make sure we were doing ok. Around 4:30 they came in to check again to see what progress had been made. The resident doctors decided that she was 7cm and 90%. They told Jennifer to let them know if she had any more pressure that made her fill like pushing to let them know. Around 6:00 Jennifer started to feel some more pressure, so they came back in to check her and she was now 8 cm and 100%. The whole labor process was moving much faster than I had expected. We had talked with many friends recently who had taken much longer to get this far or hadn't got this far and had to have a c-section. So we were both pleasantly surprised to have this much progress so quickly. However, things started to get a little scary for us around 6:30. Miss Brinley decided that she was going to start dropping her heart rate at random times for no reason at all. Each time this happened they came in and made Jennifer re-position to another side and would reattach the monitoring device. After re-positioning multiple times they decided to try another option, which was placing oxygen on Jennifer. As you know, Jennifer and I both work in the hospital, but obstetrics is not an area that we are familiar with. We were unsure of what options were ahead of us if Brinley continued to drop her heart rate. This time was scary for us all, so we said another quick prayer that Brinley would be safe for her arrival. Our families also decided that they would stay in the waiting room so that Jennifer could have a quiet and calm environment.

Jennifer with her oxygen.

Most of you know that Jennifer is on the quiet side, but she always talks up a storm to me. During this time she was extremely quiet, so once I asked her why she wasn't talking to me and she said that she was only trying to breath in as much oxygen as she could right now, so no time for talking. Around 7:45 the residents came back in to check on Jennifer and they now said that she was 10 cm and 100%. They said that Dr. Marcum, who was the attending doctor who was to do the delivery should be called. At this time about 5 new nurses arrived and started setting up all kinds of equipment. With the nurses we started to do some practice pushes. I explained to the nurse that we were unable to attend a birthing class, so we were unsure of everything that we both needed to do during this next phase of labor. This was another time in which I was trying to pay attention, but my brain wasn't listening fully. So we began a practice push and all I remembered was that I needed to count to 10. Jennifer pushed when they told her and after it I began counting to 10, then Jennifer pushed and I followed it with a count to 10. After the second time I counted to 10 Jennifer looked over at me and said "Your counting at the wrong time". So I learned my lesson and began counting to 10 during the push and not after. A few minutes after starting some initial pushing, the resident came in and said to wait because the doctor was not in house and she needed time to arrive from her house. So we patiently waited for the doctor to arrive. At 8:05 the real pushing began. Due to a very successful epidural, Jennifer was unable to feel any contractions at all, so the nurses and doctor had to inform her when each contraction started and when to push. They even pulled a mirror over so that Jennifer could see her progress. All the nurses and doctors in the room were very supportive and encouraging to Jennifer. Brinley was also having some drops in her heart rate during this time as well, so we heard the doctor tell a nurse to have an OR (operating room) ready and to have the NICU on standby if needed. I am not sure if Jennifer heard this conversation or not, but it made me even more nervous. I tried to stay as calm and encouraging to Jennifer because I knew that me freaking out in front of her wouldn't be good. After about 40 minutes of pushing we finally were able to meet our daughter and we couldn't have been happier. At 8:46 I met my daughter for the first time and it was the most amazing thing. I was able to cut the umbilical cord and then they immediately placed Brinley on Jennifer's chest, which is part of a new practice by the hospital, called kangaroo care. Brinley was only allowed to be held by Jennifer for the first hour.

Brinley's first picture

After that hour they took her into another room to weigh her and do an initial assessment. They also gave her a couple of shots, which she was not a fan of. She was 6 pounds and 12 ounces and 19.5 inches long. (Although I incorrectly said that she weighed 6 pounds and 7.5 ounces because I misunderstood the nurse.)

She was not happy about those shots

The next hour I got to hold my daughter and at that time everything in the world seemed to be right. I don't think someone could have slapped the smile off my face if they had tried. We had been waiting a extremely long time for her to arrive and the moment almost seemed surreal.

My baby girl

After I got some time with my baby girl, they let our families come back. The grandparents were extremely excited to finally get to see their 1st grandchild. We spent some time together and then they moved us to our new room for the night. We moved to room 369 and that is where Brinley got her very first presents. Grandma and Grandpa Heflin gave her a set of silver eating utensils and a handkerchief bonnet. We were then extremely tired so we decided to call it a night. We took a short nap before waking up at 3 am to have Brinley get her first bath (All newborns at UK are given a bath at 6 hours of birth). We didn't bring in any of her clothes, so I went to get her clothes out of the car. So we took this opportunity to have a photo shoot with our little girl.

Shirt made by Mom

We even had to accessorize with hair bows that her mom had made her. After our photo shoot I decided that we would do the only thing that was appropriate at the time - we read "On the Night You Were Born". Then we decided to try and get another nap in before all the visitors and doctors would start coming in for the day. May the 4th, 2012 could not have been any better and I cannot believe how blessed we truly are to have a happy healthy little girl. I can't wait to use this blog to recount all the wonderful things that we do together so that she will have many memories to look back on when she gets older. Thanks for reading and God Bless!

Daddy's little elephant

Pregnancy Journey (Third Trimester)

The final trimester seemed like an endless journey in which the goal was highly anticipated, but always seems so far away. We started off this trimester by investing in some new books to add to Brinley's collection. We bought her first Dr. Seuss books and her first Bible. We have both really enjoyed getting to read to Brinley and feel her kick and move around during these readings. Of all the books that she has got, she tends to get more active when we read her Brown Bear. We try to read to her almost everyday and can't wait until she gets to see all the pictures that go along with the stories. I guess that I just forgot over the years how much fun it is to read a Dr. Seuss book. Almost everyone of his books gets me tongue tied at some point.

Brinley's favorite book

Jennifer got into an extreme craft mood. She had stuff spread all over the house so I decided to set her up a designated room to do all of her crafts. I got her a large table and set it up in the loft along with her sewing machine, ribbon, scrapbooks and all of her accessories. She made a small quilt for Brinley to use while in her car seat. She also made a diaper clutch so that she could carry all the diaper changing essentials without having to haul around the entire diaper bag. Jennifer also started turning onesies into art by ironing on designs.

Small quilt

Diaper clutch

Decorated onesie

We also celebrated my last birthday before becoming a family of three. My parents came into town and we went to eat at PF Chang's. My fortune cookie was perfect for me because it said that I would receive a surprising gift very soon. We came back to the house and had some cake and I opened a few gifts and cards from my family. Jennifer got me a Michael Jordan outfit and hat for Brinley so that we can match once she gets here. However, the most exciting event from the night belonged to my parents. They had been trying to feel Brinley kick every chance they could and before dinner they were both able to feel one. They were both really excited and grinning from ear to ear.

The happy grandparents finally felt her kick

Towards the end of March, my cousin Tricia and my mom threw us a baby shower back in Western Kentucky. We were really excited to spend some time with friends and family that we just don't get a chance to see as often as we would like too. Miss Brinley is definitely loved by many people. She received so many gifts, including many handmade items, tons of clothes and lots of other toys and accessories.

Our cake that was inspired by her room

Starting to open the many gifts

A few days after our shower in western Kentucky we had a baby shower that was given to us by Jennifer's co-workers in the NICU. We had a nice dinner at Olive Garden and got many wonderful gifts.  My co-workers in the PICU gave us a large gift card to help with all the little things that we may have forgotten. Many other people have given us gifts along the way, too. Brinley is going to be one lucky little girl. She already has a closet full of clothes and as many accessories a girl could want. All the money that we got went to opening Brinley's first savings account. We appreciate all the thoughtfulness and generosity from everyone.

One of our coworkers has recently gotten into photography and we decided that we would like to have some pregnancy photos taken. We booked a day and went out to a park to have some pics made. Katie Davis did a wonderful job and we can't wait to have our newborn pictures of Brinley taken with her too.

Brinley's first blocks 

Starting at 36 weeks we began going to the doctor every week for check-ups. At 36 weeks Jennifer was already 1cm dilated and 25% effaced. This was very promising because some people never start to dilate until getting into the hospital. At 37 weeks we were 2 cm and 50% and we thought that this was going so smoothly. We were making such great progress and Miss Brinley was now considered full term, so Jennifer was really excited to have Brinley make her arrival. By 38 weeks we were 3 cm and 50%. Our doctor said that we actually had gotten past the most difficult part. Most 1st time moms have a difficult time getting this far. We were so excited that Jennifer made me pack all of our stuff into the car just in case. At our 39 week appointment we were ready for our doctor to tell us that we were so far along that we could just head over to the hospital to deliver. However, we were at a standstill of 3 cm and 75%. We talked about scheduling an induction on our expected due date of May 9th. Our doctor also gave us an option of stripping Jennifer's membranes, which can sometimes speed up the labor process. Of course we decided to go ahead because we wanted to meet Brinley. We had no idea that just 2 hours later the final stage of our pregnancy journey would be started. In between naps I will try to get my next blog up soon about the labor. Thanks for reading and God Bless!

Name Surprise

I have loved my name for as long as I can remember. My full name is Jordan Michael Heflin. I was born in 1985, which is the same year that Michael Jordan finished his rookie season with the Chicago Bulls. I have always been a huge fan of the man who most people think that I was named after. In fact most days I can be seen wearing at least one thing that contains my name, most of the time it is my flip flops, yes even during the winter.

However, not until recently did I find out actually how my name really came to be. I had always been told by my mother that I was named after the Jordan River from the Bible. My middle name came from my father because his first name is Michael. This is what I knew for 26 years of my life until I was talking with my parents recently about trying to figure out a name for our daughter. My dad came in with a Paul Harvey moment and said and here is "the rest of the story".

During October 1984 while my mother was taking a shower my father was watching the nightly news. One of the headlines that night was about a small town in Jordan, Minnesota involving an investigation into a child sex abuse scadal at a daycare. My dad recalls that he didn't remember much about the story, but it was the name of the town that caught his attention. He said the name of the town in his head a few times and decided that he kind of liked it. He yelled into the bathroom to my mom who was still in the shower "What do you think of the name Jordan?"

My mother said she said it a few times in her head and thought about the Jordan River in the Bible, a place that she had actually visited during a trip to Israel during her college years. She decided that she liked it as well so she yelled back that she liked it. That is the true story of how I got my first name.

What was even more fascinating to me is that at the same time I am hearing this story for the first time, so was my mother. I couldn't tell during the story if he was telling the truth, so I googled Jordan, Minnesota and the first link was about a sex abuse scadal that happened in 1984. So, I learned that there are always two sides to every story. Maybe you should ask both of your parents how they decided on your name and see what happens, you might be surprised too. Thanks for reading and God Bless!

Pregnancy Journey (Second Trimester)

The second trimester started off on a scary note. One night while I was at work Jennifer was taking her breakfast down to the basement when she lost her footing and fell on her backside and skidded down a few steps. Jennifer was really nervous because at this point she still hadn't been able to feel any kicks. So after calling me at work she decided to come in and get checked out. After talking with the doctor and having a quick ultrasound we were reassured that everything was OK with our baby. Later that week Jennifer's mom, Mimi sent her a package that contained non slip socks and shoes. Luckily things only got better for the remainder of the second trimester.

At sixteen weeks you are able to try and see the gender of the baby. However, we didn't have a scheduled ultrasound through the hospital until 20 weeks and we really wanted to find out earlier so that we could tell family before Christmas. So we booked an appointment at Lexington Fetal Photography to find out if baby Heflin was a boy or girl. Up until this point I was for sure that it was going to be a little boy, just because we had a an impromptu ultrasound a couple weeks before and everyone that was there seemed to think that they had seen a little bit of extra stuff down between his legs. We had also started discussing names and we had quickly agreed on a boys name but were having trouble with girl names. If she had been a boy then we were going to name him Landon Michael. Maybe we will have to save this one for a later date. At the ultrasound, almost immediately after starting the lady informed us that it was definitely a little girl. After an initial slight disappointment, came some fear and then an urge to work tons of overtime. I knew that a little girl was going to be more expensive and we needed to save now for dresses, shoes, accessories and for a wedding some day. However, it didn't take long to put all these worries to rest when I realized how amazing Jennifer is and if our daughter was anything like her then I would be the luckiest man alive, no matter how much it cost.

Our little girl!

Already wearing pink!

Now the debate for a name came into play. Jennifer had a list of names that she really liked, but I wasn't really excited about any of them. One name that Jennifer really liked was Rylee or Riley. I wasn't completely sold on this as a name so we decided to think about it. I have a really hard time associating names with people that I know whether it is a good or bad association. About a week later I came up with the option of Briley because it was similar and I knew of no people named this. However, Jennifer wasn't completely sold on it. Two weeks after we found out we were having a girl I was playing with some blocks that we had gotten for some pictures and that our daughter could play with later on. I was trying to come up with different name combinations and I just happened to add a N to Briley and formed Brinley. Jennifer and I both really liked it, so we looked up the definition to see what it meant. It said that it meant "burnt meadow" and immediately we said that it was the perfect name. I know that seems kind of weird but let me explain. When calculating the date of conception we were on our trip to Australia. The actual date we were in the outback and we had taken a hot air balloon ride over the outback and the brush had been set on fire. So in essence it was a "burnt meadow". We couldn't have found a more perfect name for our daughter. Jennifer came up with the middle name Kate because it flowed well together and it was one of the names that she had really liked for possible names. Just in case we had any second thoughts, we decided to think it over for a while before telling anybody. We made it official right before Christmas after having our anatomy ultrasound and verification that it was in fact a little girl.

Her first set of blocks

We were both off work for Christmas and were able to travel back to Western Kentucky to see both of our families for the holidays. Everyone was excited about our little one on the way. We discovered that Miss Brinley is going to be spoiled by all of her grandparents and great grandparents. We didn't have enough room in our car to bring it all back. Her closet was starting to get full at just 20 weeks old. I think I might be in a little trouble! Brinley was actually a little late giving me her Christmas gift. Right after the New Year I was able to feel her kick for the first time. It was great to finally be able to feel her move around.

Brinley has lots of clothes!

I was lucky enough to get to attend Superbowl XLVI (46) in Indianapolis because of my sister. So we packed our bags and headed out to Indy to hangout with Andrea, Chris, and our gracious hosts Tony and Myra Duritsch. The 5 day trip was jam packed with activities, however we had some free time to head down to NFL Experience one day and test our abilities. Jennifer even participated in the challenges, which made me pray that Brinley gets my athletic ability. Aunt Andrea even got Brinley her very first name badge made for her. Chris and I went to the big game and Jennifer stayed with Tony and Myra. Tony thought about texting me at halftime that Jennifer's water broke, but Myra and Jennifer talked him out of it. During this trip Andrea even got to feel Miss Brinley kick.

Jennifer trying her luck at the NFL Experience

Brinley's first name tag

During this second trimester Jennifer also celebrated her 27th birthday. She got a new iPhone 4 so that she could take pictures and videos of our little girl. It also meant that while at work we could take a minute to face time once Brinley gets here to say goodnight before bed. Also on Jennifer's birthday we decided to finish up some of the decorating in Brinley's room. A few weeks before I had painted Brinley's room pink and Jennifer had ordered some decals to match her bedding. We spent about 3 hours putting a tree and some monkeys up on her walls. I really hope she likes monkeys when she gets here.

Starting the tree

Jennifer with the tree

Brinley's finished bedroom wall decals

Jennifer also got into a crafty mood and decided to make a paper mobile and multiple bows to put on her bow holders. She also sewed about 150 buttons into the shape of a B for some nice wall decoration along with painting all the letters to spell out her name.

Jennifer is super crafty

We decided as a Valentine's Day gift we would have a 3-D ultrasound done. Grandma Shelia and Grandpa Mike decided that they would come up to see first hand what their granddaughter would look like. She was really cute and even opened her eyes a few times. It a majority of the pictures she had her legs up by her face. Near the end of our session she started playing with her umbilical cord, which made me a little nervous.

Just a little wink

The second trimester was very exciting and it seemed like it flew by. We started off with a scare and after we got to around 23 weeks Jennifer started getting a little nervous that Brinley could realistically come at anytime. However, with each passing week Jennifer felt better and better because she knew that all the extra time in the womb was very crucial. She also enjoyed seeing babies at work that were the same age as Brinley was because it gave her a good idea of realistically how big Brinley was at the time. We can't wait to meet our precious girl. Only 12 more weeks until our expected due date. Thanks for reading and God Bless!

The Pregnancy Journey (First Trimester)

The last 8 months have been a wild and wonderful adventure and we are highly anticipating the arrival of Miss Brinley Kate. It all started with a positive pregnancy test on August 28th, which was shortly after returning home from our Australian adventure, which made us about 4 weeks pregnant. Being in the medical field made us realize that this was a very tough time of the pregnancy because of the high risk of miscarriage, so we decided that we were not going to announce anything until we had reached the 12 week mark. This only lasted about 2 weeks because it was extremely hard talking to my parents because I had some of the most exciting news of my life and I wasn't able to tell them. Jennifer and I decided that since we would be going home in a couple weeks and both our families would be there that we would only tell the grandparents to be. We decided that since a picture is worth a thousand words we would get each set of grandparents a picture frame with a picture letting them know what was in store for them. Grandpa Mike and Grandma Shelia got a picture of a hamburger bun in the oven, just a little outside the box way of telling them. Jennifer's mom, Mimi, got a picture of the positive pregnancy test. All the grandparents were really excited about the news, however we told them that we wanted to keep it a secret for just a little while longer. This really let some of the pressure off our shoulders because we knew that there was now a few other people praying and thinking about that precious little baby that Jennifer was growing.



Jennifer at our 1st doctors appointment

We had decided to go ahead and tell people before our original 12 week decision to wait because a few people had already found out. When heading into our 1st ultrasound we happened to park next to a couple, Tigre and Scott, who happened to have a doctors appointment that day. I tried to talk my way out of it, but I couldn't get out of telling them the truth because it was a women's health clinic they saw us walking into. They swore secrecy and I knew that they were good for their word, but it was a close call. Some of Jennifer's co-workers found out early too because one night Jennifer went into work and was assigned a patient with CMV, which is a virus that can cross the placenta barrier, so pregnant women do not need to take care of them. Jennifer had to ask someone to trade with her for the night and then had to put "no CMV" by her name on the schedule. We made our pregnancy official by the only way we knew how, by posting it on facebook. We posted it on October 10, 2011 which was exactly 11 years to the day after we started dating. I posted this ultrasound picture with the caption "Jen smuggled back one last little souvenir from our Australian adventure! Too bad I have to wait till May!

1st Ultrasound at 8 weeks

At our 1st ultrasound, as soon as the technician found Brinley on the screen we saw the above image and it appeared that she was waving her little arm at us as to say hello! It seemed that she was just as happy to meet us as we were to finally see a picture of her. Of course at the time we had no idea whether she was a boy or girl. The first trimester is usually the worst because of all the morning sickness, but we were really fortunate that Jennifer really didn't get sick. We had been expecting the worst because of everyone's horror stories of how bad the first trimester had been for them. Jennifer became a big fan of Pinterest and found an idea to share with our family about the development of Brinley. Here is the first picture that was taken at 10 weeks.

Our first picture day!

Since Jennifer had been doing so good we decided to take an early "baby" moon. Jennifer had discovered this new trend while doing her pregnancy research online. We decided to try and go somewhere within driving distance because Jennifer didn't want to fly anywhere. This was right during the middle of football season, so all the options that we came up with were relatively close to an NFL game that we could attend. My sister Andrea and her boyfriend Chris were planning a trip to Buffalo around the same time, so I talked Jennifer into letting me go watch the Bills play. That decided it. Our baby moon would be a trip to Niagara Falls. We decided to stay on the Canadian side, then make the trip to Buffalo for a few days so that I could go watch the Buffalo Bills play. A few days before the trip was to begin I actually talked Jennifer into another side trip to Philadelphia to watch the Eagles play. Jennifer finally agreed, so we set off on our baby moon with sports weekend.

Horseshoe Falls from the Canadian side

After exploring Niagara Falls, Canada we came back to the American side so that we could experience the falls from both sides. The only thing we didn't get to do was ride on the Maid of  the Mist and that was because it was closed during the winter months. The Canadian side is the prettier side because you get to see a panoramic view of both the American and Canadian falls. However, on the American side you get to be up close to the falls and see the power and force of the water as it cascades over the edge.

Jennifer and I at Niagara Falls, USA

Up close view of the falls from the American side

We then made our way down to Buffalo and had our best meal of the trip at the famous Anchor Bar in Buffalo. This is the place were the Buffalo Wing was created and it was hands down some of the best wings that I have ever had.

They were good!

Sunday was game day in Buffalo and Jennifer decided to sit this one out and rest at the hotel. I went to the game and had a great time at Ralph Wilson Stadium watching the Jets and Bills with Andrea, Chris and some of their friends. Monday morning Jennifer and I packed up and made the next leg of the trip to Philly to catch the Monday Night Football game between the Eagles and Bears. Before heading to the stadium we decided to try out the famous Philly cheese steak, so of course we went to Geno's and Pat's. We really needed a third member of our party because I liked Geno's and Jennifer liked Pat's better. After filling up on cheese steaks we headed to Lincoln Financial Field for the game. Jennifer was a good sport and pretended to enjoy the game, but I know she was mostly excited about the hot chocolate. (I really hope Brinley loves sports like her Dad.)

Picture after the game from our seats

Tuesday we headed back home. This baby moon officially wrapped up our first trimester. It was great to know that we were 1/3 of the way done, but there was still a lot to do before our child was to arrive. Thanks for reading and God Bless!

I Might Be Turning Into My Parents

As we are preparing for little Miss Brinley's arrival I find myself becoming more and more like my parents. If you don't know my parents all that well, then I will let you know that ever since I can remember they have been very emotional people. Jennifer and I had been doing pretty good with our emotions, but over the past week we have both had some mini break downs. It all started last week after working a night shift. Jennifer had been having a lot of Braxton Hicks contractions, around one every five minutes. The next morning after getting off work we happened to already had a doctors appointment. Our doctor said that everything was looking good and after checking Jennifer she said that she was currently 1 cm dilated and 25% effaced. This made us feel better that our doctor said that this was fairly normal at this point in pregnancy and that Jennifer should try to rest when possible and to drink plenty of water and to let her know if the contractions became more frequent or severe. I think that this mostly made us more aware that this seemingly never ending process of pregnancy was in its final stages and that Miss Brinley would soon be making her appearance in this world.


Here is the latest picture that we have taken, which again shows that it will not be long before Brinley makes her arrival. We have been taking one of these pictures every Wednesday since around 10 weeks. We have sent them to family members so that they could keep up with Miss Brinley's progress.

My moment of parental emotion came on this week while listening to Pandora. A song came on which described exactly how I am going to feel when Brinley gets here. It is a short song by Stevie Wonder about the birth of his first daughter, Aisha. Below are the lyrics to the song.

Isn't she lovely
Isn't she wonderful
Isn't she precious
Less than one minute old
I never thought through love we'd be
Making one as lovely as she
But isn't she lovely made from love

Isn't she pretty
Truly the angel's best
Boy, I'm so happy
We have been heaven blessed
I can't believe what God has done
Through us he's given life to one
But isn't she lovely made from love

Isn't she lovely
Life and love are the same
Life is Aisha
The meaning of her name
Londie, it could have not been done
Without you who conceived the one
That's so very lovely made from love

The words almost made me tear up a bit because I know that the moment that I lay eyes on Brinley I will be the happiest father in the world. God has truly blessed us beyond measure with bringing Brinley into our lives and I cannot wait to meet her.

Jennifer became emotional in one of the weirdest of places. We decided that the other day we would go to Build-A-Bear and make Brinley a stuffed animal from her Mom and Dad. Upon arrival the decision was quickly made once seeing the option of a koala bear. As you probably know, Brinley was a sovenir that we brought back with us from our adventures to the land down under, Australia. Jennifer and I have only made one other bear at Build-A-Bear (for the Tomes Family when they added a new addition) so we had forgotten all the options and how the process was carried out. You had the option to place an audio "press here" button inside the koala. After listening to all the prerecorded options, we decided to create our own. This is when I looked in Jennifer's eyes and knew I should tred lightly or I would have to ask for a mop and bucket for the cleanup. Just like I have seen many times in my life, once my mom got that look in her eyes, my father's weren't far behind. So we went over into a corner of the store and composed ourselves so that we could record ourselves. We each took a turn telling Brinley Kate that we loved her. We proceeded over to the stuffing section and handed over the koala and audio clip.

Jennifer pressing the button to make the
stuffing come out of the machine.

 The lady then asked if we would like to pick a heart to put in the koala. I let Jennifer pick one and then the lady told Jennifer to give it a kiss and make a wish. The tears almost began to flow again, but Jennifer composed herself enough to make her wish and to then let me get a wish in as  well. We completed the koala then had to pick out an outfit. I let Jennifer do most of the selection here as I still have difficulty making my own clothes match. Here is a picture of the final product.

I let Jennifer pick out the clothes

The last thing on the agenda was to then make a name for the koala. The first name that came to mind for both of us was Harvey. Kinda crazy, but again it goes back to Australia. Jennifer got to hold a koala in Australia and the picture ended up looking like a family photo.

Jennifer and I with Harvey in Cairns

That cute little koala was named Harvey. However, Harvey being a boy's name we decided to use one of the names that had been in the running during the name selection process. So, Brinley's stuffed koala made by her mom and dad is named Allie Harvey. We hope that Brinley enjoys Allie as much as we enjoyed making it for her.

So, over the past few weeks I have decided that I really am not just becoming my parents, but in fact I am becoming a parent. This pregnancy journey has been amazing and I can't wait to experience the final few weeks until our baby girl decides to make her arrival. Thanks for reading and God Bless!