Brinley is now 4 Months Old!

Brinley at our 1st twilight clinic

We didn't start out being 3 months old on the right foot. For the first few days of the month of September Brinley started screaming when it was time to eat. She would take about an ounce of milk and after burping she would have no interest at all in eating. In fact, she would scream and was very hard to console. After calming down again she would take another ounce and the process would start again. This happened for a few days and by day 3 we were at our wits end. So we decided to head to the doctor, the only problem being that it a Sunday and only the twilight clinic was open. We couldn't take seeing our daughter miserable with every feed so we headed in to the clinic. The doctor examined Brinley and took a look in her ears and said that she thought she possibly saw some infection in her ear and to start on antibiotics. However, since I have worked in the health care field I questioned if this was really the best decision. I just didn't want to start antibiotics for a possible infection and then later in life when she really needed the antibiotics, they wouldn't be as effective. So I reviewed the facts with her again (only fussy with feeds, arching her back with feeds, no fever, and no other signs of ear infection) and she talked with her upper level attending doctor and they agreed with me that it was probably just a little reflux and that she should be started on zantac. They said it might take about a week to see any results from the medication, but if she didn't get better then maybe schedule an appointment with the pediatrician.

Up until now, Brinley was not really wanting anything to do with tummy time, so I had to show her a little tough love and make her spend more and more time on her belly even if she didn't like it. We were really wanting to see her finally roll over.

This was right after Brinley rolled over for the very 1st time. I was the only one to witness the event, but a few days later I was actually able to catch it on film.

Brinley at her 2nd twilight clinic visit

We went home and tried this out for about a week. Brinley started to eat slightly better over the next few days and then she started to eat very poorly over the weekend. We really didn't want to go to the clinic on the weekend because we couldn't see our pediatrician, so we decided to keep working with Brinley to see if it was anything we could fix on our own. We tried 2 different bottles and Jennifer even went out and bought hypoallergenic formula to try instead of the breast milk she had been getting since birth because she thought that Brinley could possibly have a milk allergy. However, all of these attempts were a failure. We decided that we would call early Monday morning to see about getting in to see the pediatrician. Brinley decided that Monday morning that she was going to eat again, so we decided to hold off on the doctor's visit. Everything seemed to be going great until 4pm that afternoon when Brinley decided that she wasn't going to eat at all. Being the first time parents we are, we immediately called the doctor's office to see if we could be seen. They said that the first available time slot was for the after hours twilight clinic, so we decided to take it. We had the same resident doctor come in for the inital examination and this time she added even more news to our already hectic thought process when she said "Is her heart murmur something that her pediatrician is just watching?" Well this was a shock for us because out of about 10-15 doctors and nurses that had seen our daughter, not a single one had mentioned a heart murmur. Again being nurses probably made us a bit more scared that the average person and of course my thoughts went to the worst possible scenario. I had recently taken care of three patients who had developed heart murmurs and ended up having to have open heart surgery. The upper level attending came in to exam Brinley and she verified that her problems were probably related to reflux, so we increased the dosage of zantac and she also said that the breast milk would be the best thing for her to eat because she didn't think it was an allergy. The attending slightly calmed our fears by telling us that most children develop a murmur at some time during childhood and that Brinley's didn't sound like one that presently needed to be followed up on. We headed home with even more than we had bargained for, but over the next few weeks we finally got our little eater back. The heart murmur is still being watched by our pediatrician and we even made a deal that if it is still present at her 6 month check up that we will do further diagnostic testing to ensure that nothing needs to be done to correct it. That is enough with our eating problems, now to some of the new and fun things that we did while we were 3 months old!

Aunt Sarah came up to visit with the rest Jennifer's family for a BBQ.

Aunt Amanda also came up for the to visit little Miss Brinley.

Four generations: Great Granddaddy Clayton, MiMi, Jennifer, and Brinley.

We took a little stroll through the arboretum before mommy had to go to work. Brinley has really started to enjoy taking walks in her stroller. We have been trying to take her out every night after it cools off a little.

We would have gotten out for some photos, but Brinley had just fallen asleep. If I have learned nothing else it is to not wake a sleeping baby!

Miss Brinley was a much happier little girl after a couple weeks on the zantac.

I walked out of the room for a few minutes and when I came back this is what I found. I was pretty impressed myself.

Again I say we had a much happier little girl again. This was right after a night time feeding and getting ready for bed. This was also one of her last nights with a swaddle blanket.

A new hobby that Brinley picked up was blowing raspberries and blowing spit bubbles.  She is very amused by all the noises that she can make.

Another hobby that Brinley enjoys is putting her hands, or any object for that matter, in her mouth. Every spare moment of the day Brinley is trying to figure out what things taste like.

Brinley playing with her new favorite toy that was sent to her by Aunt Andrea. It is an elephant teether and crinkle toy. 

Brinley also got a late night visit from Andy Bates.

My beautiful girls sitting out on the back deck. I sure am a lucky guy!

I have also decided that I might have to contact Michael Jordan and see if we could get Brinley a modeling contract to help boost the sale of infant apparel. 

A big investment that we made this month was a new car. We decided to buy a SUV because on our trip to Indianapolis last month we couldn't even fit all the stuff in our car. So, it was time to expand and our new Toyota Highlander has plenty of room for us and all of Brinley's things.

The downside to getting the new car was getting rid of the Chevy Cavalier. Brinley and I were the only ones sad about this transaction. Brinley was sad that she never even got to ride in it and I was sad because the car had been a part of our lives for about 12 years. This was Jennifer's first car, the car we drove off in after our wedding, the vehicle that protected us when a semi veered into our lane and hit us, and many more memories. However, it was time to go!

Since Jennifer and I were both off for the other two summer holidays, we were both scheduled to work Labor Day. We couldn't switch with anybody, so we called up the grandparents. They came up to stay all weekend and watched Brinley that night while we were both at work. She was pretty easy on them because she slept all night long. I didn't know what kind of trouble these 2 were going to get into.

Our happy little girl on her 4 month birthday! At our 4 month check up she weighed in at 12 pounds and 9 ounces (25th percentile) and 23 3/4 inches long (3rd percentile). So it looks like she is going to be on the shorter side like her mother.

Jennifer and I were now both back into the full swing of things at work and taking care of our precious little daughter, but halfway through the first 6 week schedule at work together we knew that something had to change. Since we didn't feel comfortable leaving her at a babysitter we had just been working opposite shifts at the hospital. Not only was it difficult to arrange our schedules, but by doing this it meant that we really only had 1 day a week to spend any time together as a family. So I applied for and was able to get a WEPP position at the hospital. This meant that I only have to work 2 days a week, but end up being paid for 3 (only downfall is that you have to work every weekend). The other catch was that I would have to leave the PICU. This was really hard because I have really enjoyed my time in the PICU and made a lot of great friends while working there. However, I have come to find out that having a child (some one that depends on you) can really change your life and if losing out on my weekends meant having more time with my girls then it was an easy decision. After I made this decision to change jobs, it made Jennifer want to be able to stay home more too. So she informed her boss that she would like to go per diem, which means that after orientation she can work throughout the Children's Hospital but she gets to tell them what days she will work. Overall it has been a pretty busy month and I wouldn't change it for the world. I consider myself a very lucky man to have Jennifer and Brinley in my life. I can't wait to make many more memories with the two of them. Thanks for reading and God Bless!

3 Months and Counting!

I cannot believe how fast these last 3 months have flown by. It seems like just the other day that we were bringing Brinley home from the hospital. The past months have been extremely busy and I have completely fallen behind in my posts. I try to spend as much time playing with Brinley when I don't have to work and there just doesn't seem to be enough time in the day to get everything accomplished as I had wished. Now I know first hand exactly what my parents were talking about when I was growing up. Sad thing is that I only have 1 child and they had 3. This past month has been very eventful and we got to experience many new things as a family of three. During the month I was scheduled to work a lot of day shifts at the hospital. The original thought when I took all these day shifts was that I could be at home to help at night. However, ever since about 1 month old Brinley has been going to bed around 8 pm and sleeping through the night. I am very happy that she sleeps through the night, but on days that I worked I would leave before she got up and when I got home it was time to put her to bed. I just felt like I was missing out on so many things while at work. These are just a few pictures from the last month.

The month started off with a visit to the doctor for our 2 month check up.  Everything was great and Brinley was now 10 pounds, 3 ounces and 23 inches long. She is getting to be such a big girl. The bad part about our check up was that Brinley had to get her first immunization shots.  

We took a trip to Indianapolis to work the 7-on-7 camp with Aunt Andrea and we made a stop by the YMCA to see some of our good friends, Tony and Myra Duritsch. Our visit just added more fuel for the fire of Myra's baby fever. We didn't get to spend too much time together, but we are looking forward to seeing our friends more often because they are moving even closer to us in the next few weeks.

Brinley got to spend a lot of time with Mommy in Indianapolis because I was busy working the camp. They did make a few stops by the office to see me. Indiana was Brinley's first state that she traveled to outside of Kentucky. She only has 48 more states to go before she catches up to me.

One day while Brinley was napping I was just playing around  and seeing how many Swedish fish I could put on her with out her waking up. Looks like 6 is the number to beat.

I took the girls out for dinner while in Indy and we asked the waiter what some tourist spots were in the city. After some thought and asking his co-workers the only thing he could come back and tell us was the monument at the square. So we stopped by to have a little photo op. In fact Brinley had already been to the square once before. This is where the roman numerals were at during the Superbowl festivities this past February and Brinley was still in Jennifer's belly. 

I picked this little football rattle up one day when I had to pick something up at Babies R Us. This has by far been one of Brinley's favorite toys. Only problem that we have is that Brinley tends to try and eat the football as opposed to throwing it. I have plenty of time to try and teach her everything I know about the sport.

Our big accomplishment of the month was finally getting to where Brinley could hold her head up enough to be able to sit in her Bumbo. She has really enjoyed her time in her chair. It also gives her a different perspective and allows her to be amazed with her toes.

Our little girl loves to play with her ears while she is eating. 

Aunt Andrea came to visit after we worked the camp together in Indy. We enjoyed spending time  with Andrea and getting to celebrate her birthday even if it was a week or so early.  McKinley is still trying to learn how to hold a baby, especially one that enjoys to move around while being held.

We had some sparklers that we forgot to use on the 4th of July so we had a little fireworks show on the back deck. As you can see Brinley wasn't that amazed with our display.

Mommy and her girl before having to go into work. Jennifer was not excited about having to go back to work after having 11 weeks off to spend time with Brinley.

I was supposed to take many pictures and send them to Jennifer on her first night back to work so that she could see what our baby girl was up to while she was at work. I took this one right before bedtime with all of her stuffed animal friends.

Brinley also enjoys books. This really makes Grandma very happy.

We have tried so hard over the past month to get Brinley to spend time on her belly and she doesn't like it for more than a few minutes at a time.

Brinley sitting in the rocking chair for the first time. We put her kangaroo with her to kind of prop her up a little bit.

Brinley got word of my Swedish fish picture and decided to get a little payback. So Brinley and mommy got me good one morning while I was sleeping.

By far the best investment that I made was picking up this football rattle. Since she can't pick up things as well yet this fits on her wrist and she practices her touchdown dances all day long.

Mimi came to visit Brinley one weekend. Brinley enjoyed getting to spend some time with her. 

Jennifer snapped this photo with her Curious George stuffed monkey. This is such a happy little girl.  She is getting so big.

Brinley really racked up the gifts for her party. Her favorite gift by far has been the toy elephant that Aunt Andrea gave to her.

I have to take credit for the smile in this picture. It never fails that I can get Brinley to smile by making funny faces and silly noises. 

 I hope to keep this more updated in the future. Brinley is definitely getting big and she is developing more of a personality everyday. We love her so much and I enjoy getting to share just a few of the many pictures that we take. Thanks for reading and God Bless!

Pictures from Brinley's First Month

Here are just a few pictures to highlight some of our adventures in parenting. Everyday we are learning new things and it seems like every day Brinley gets to experience something new. I am trying to keep track of all of Brinley's new experiences and I even try to take a picture to help us remember it. Here are a few from her 1st month.

Our 1st trip out to a restaurant. We went to Mi Mexico when Brinley was 8 days old. We were tired of being stuck in the house all day. Brinley slept the whole time we were there, so we decided that since she was going to cooperate we should probably go out more often while we were both off from work. This was the day that Jennifer discovered your umbilical cord had fallen off during one of your diaper changes.

 Brinley's 1st Church service at Southland at only 9 days old. Happy Mother's Day to Jennifer! (May 13th)  Brinley didn't even make a single noise during the service. This was not duplicated on our next 2 trips to church.

MiMi even came to visit on Mother's Day.  I treated the women to lunch at Saul Good, which has quickly become a favorite of Brinley's since she has made 2 return visits.

Our 1st stroller ride around the neighbor hood. (5/15) Brinley even met her first neighbor, Patrick, while out on our walk.

Lance and his girls, Shelby and Hayes, came to visit Miss Brinley (5/15)

Brinley's 1st trip to the grocery! She was pretty snug in her little holder.(5/17)

Met the other recent NICU employee babies at the March of Dimes at Keeneland. (5/20) We only made it about 1 mile because it was really hot and we thought that Brinley was getting a little too hot. 

Brinley got hungry waiting for the doctor to come and see us. Today Brinley weighed in  at 7lbs 4oz (5/21)

Finally Brinley got to meet her Aunt Andrea. She flew in from New York City to spend Memorial Day with us. (5/24) Brinley stayed out really late to meet Aunt Andrea at the airport in Cincinnati around midnight due to some flight delays.

Grandma and Grandpa took Brinley for a walk around the neighborhood.  (5/25) On this day Jennifer and I both left Brinley for the first time. She had plenty of babysitters in Grandpa, Grandma, Aunt Andrea and Uncle McKinley.

Chris arrived in Lexington late and he got to hold you before we put you in your crib for the night. Chris was nervous because it was the youngest and smallest child that he had ever held. (5/26) Today we had our first outdoor BBQ, complete with homemade ice cream and watermelon.

Brinley enjoys football just as much as me. She can be found signaling for a touchdown  almost everyday. Brinley actually slept in her own bed during the night for the first time. (5/31)

We got a quick little photo opportunity with Brinley and her blocks.

Brinley was getting hungry while being burped, so she was trying to eat her arm.

Brinley got her first real bath in her tub. (6/1)  Today was also the first time that I noticed Brinley having  real tears. After getting a bath we took Brinley to her 1st movie. We went to the drive in and watched Men in Black 3 and The Avengers. Brinley slept during both the movies and woke up during the intermission for a snack and diaper change.

We celebrated our 5th Wedding Anniversary and decided that instead of hiring a babysitter, we would just take Brinley with us. We went to Malone's for the first time and it was probably one of the best meals that I have ever had. 

Brinley is one month old! The first month has really flown by so fast.

Brinley with her gifts and smores cake. She got a new book, rattle and some money from Aunt  Andrea and Grandma and Grandpa Heflin. (6/4)

Brinley has been such a blessing to Jennifer and I and we can't wait to experience many different things with her as she grows up. The 1st month was sleep deprived and hectic at times, but I wouldn't change a single thing. I can't help but smile every time I see our little bundle of joy. Thanks for reading and God Bless!