Bath Time Fun

Last week was busy.  We gave lots of baths. 

Usually Brooks and I take turns giving the kids baths while the other one cleans the kitchen (or gets some alone time) but the last few months Brooks has been the one doing bath time since it was getting harder and harder on my body to lean over while pregnant (our bath tubs here are really high).  Now, with 3 kids-- one is bathing the boys and the other one is bathing Brooklyn.  

We decided to do everyone at the same time just to keep things fun around here!  The day after we brought Brooklyn home from the hospital she got her first bath from Mommy and Daddy.  

Daddy loving on his baby girl!

Gavin and Miles had no idea what was happening to Brooklyn.

This picture pretty much sums up Miles bath time with Gavin.  He loves it though!

As soon as her pajamas were on and I picked her up she lifted her head up all by herself and looked at the camera.  Too cute for words!








Once Brooklyn's umbilical cord fell off we were able to give her, her first "real" bath!  She loved it.  It took her a few seconds to adjust to being submerged in the water, but once she relaxed she was calm and kicked back!

 

Do you notice the red mark on Brooklyn's stomach?  We don't know what it is yet, (it was NOT there the moment she was born, but started showing up before we left the hospital) but it could be a hemangioma.  At her one week check up the pediatrician saw it and checked it, but never commented on it.  We'll see.

Brooklyn is really, really enjoying bath time and hardly fusses at all.  The other day I ended up bathing her during the day when Gavin was at school and Miles felt the need to be involved.  This last picture has become our new reality.. anyone who is holding Brooklyn is the person that Miles wants to hold him!!  You can imagine how sad and pitiful his faces can be with those big blue eyes pleading with you to pick him up and put the baby down.
 

Coming Home from the Hospital

We were able to leave the hospital on Monday, January 30th and were so excited to be bringing Brooklyn home to her brothers.  Brooks dressed her, just like he dressed both the boys before their trips home and I must say, we were both smitten with the pink and the bow.  

Brooklyn's nurse, Jibby, came to tell her goodbye and saw us off.  We LOVED Jibby and had her the whole weekend.  You can't tell in the pictures, but the same nurse that discharged us from the hospital this year and escorted us to our car, was the same nurse from Miles discharge last year.  Random I know, but I wanted to remember this!  Brooklyn didn't mind the car seat at all and slept the entire hour and a half drive home.  I love how conscience our drivers are when a newborn is in the car!!  In fact, we all slept going home.  

  

Once we got home, we were greeted with lots of hugs and kisses from the big brothers.  I realized later that the weekend of Brooklyn's birth was the first time I left Miles over night.. I truly missed that little guy.  He didn't get to come up to the hospital since he was underage and wasn't going to be allowed in, plus-- he wouldn't have had much to do in the hospital room anyways.  

Gavin and Miles were so excited to see us and have Brooklyn home!  Miles was intrigued by her the moment he saw her and realized she was alive and could make sounds.  Gavin became the protective big brother and didn't leave her side the first hour she was home!  

We let Miles "touch" Brooklyn and he squealed with excitement!  Their first meeting also started us teaching Miles how to touch gently.

The 3 Perry Kids together!!

Our family of 5 was home and we were ready to start life with 3 kids!  

Behind the Scenes

We had some moments last Saturday that I didn't post about in the previous blog nor did I put the pics on facebook, but thought I'd share them with those that read our blog just for fun and so Brooks and I can remember them for years to come.

Do all couples have moments like these while in the delivery room?  *pause the music down below.

That was my sweet, loving, caring, supportive husband making fun of me feeling sick after just getting an IV.  I'm pretty sure I called him a jerk moments after this... but then we made up and I was over it, and he behaved himself the rest of the morning!  

My doctor's assistant came and checked me at one point in the morning and said it'd be another 30 minutes before I'd be ready to deliver.  As she was walking out of the room I felt the STRONGEST urge to push and it terrified me since they said I wasn't ready yet.  I refused to let her leave and started yelling her name as she was walking out of the room.  She decided to check me again, just minutes after checking me.... she quickly ran and got the doctor.  

Stephanie has a story that represents this picture.  You can read about it on her blog here.

 Post delivery, my doctor came back in the room.  He wanted to show me pictures from his vacation he took over the weekend.  I was NOT interested at that moment.

Brooks helping me get re-situated from all the tubes they had coming off of me.  Can you tell I was out of it at this point, post delivery?!?!

I decided a few days before Brooklyn's induction that I wanted her birth filmed.  I know that may seem weird, gross, odd... or whatever, but I really wanted to experience it and remember her birth.. it sounds strange since I'm the one giving birth, but I didn't want to miss anything and I figured if it was video taped, I could watch it once, remember everything and move on.  It was kind of a good thing I did have my mom videotape since I was really out of it with my epidural not working the way it was suppose to that I genuinely missed out on a few things. I'm glad I made the decision and it was a joy watching my little girl come into the world.

When Gavin came to visit me in the hospital, the first thing he asked me to do was get the bug out of his nose.  Um, okay.  So instead of a hug and a kiss I got to pick my child's nose.  Nice.

Here's a video of Gavin meeting Brooklyn for the first time.  He really was excited, but acted so serious!
**Don't forget to scroll down and pause my music so you can hear him!

Everyone took a nap at some point during our busy day Saturday once Brooklyn had arrived.  Brooks and I requested a private room for our stay in the hospital, but they were all full so we got a semi- private room (with 2 beds) but we didn't have to share it with anyone.  Mom, Brooks, & Steph all took turns napping on the extra bed.

Incase you're interested... 

The hospital I delivered Miles and Brooklyn at is a breast feeding only hospital.  That is the policy.  When you live in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia-- they can declare policies like that!  Well, this momma wasn't going that route again... been there, done that, struck out twice, and learned my lesson.  So, I asked the nursery to bring formula for me to feed Brooklyn.  This is what they did.  Needless to say, my mom sent a bottle up to the hospital the next day for us to have while feeding Brooklyn formula.  

 

Brooklyn's First Visitors

We have some amazing friends here in the Kingdom and we feel so blessed to be doing life with them!  They came to meet Brooklyn, brought us meals, and kept us company throughout the LONG hospital days.... We love these friends and are so grateful for their friendships and that they love our kids (and us) as much as we love them!  

Our sweet friends from back home that live nearby, The Acords, came to meet Brooklyn over the weekend once we got home and they brought us a delicious dinner!  Gavin and Miles got big brother gifts, which they loved, but I think they enjoyed playing with their friends more!  We're so thankful to have such wonderful people that we're surrounded by during these special times in our lives!

The day our little girl came into this world

We've been home for a few days since welcoming Brooklyn into the world and life has been wonderful.  I'm pretty certain that there will never be a dull moment in this house again, but we're surely loving having our 3 kids here with us.  Brooklyn has been an extremely EASY baby.  She sleeps all day and wakes up every 3 hours to eat.  Her favorite time of the day to be awake is after her "dinner" bottle and she tends to stay awake for a good 2 hours.  The only time of the day that she is fussy has been right when it's time to go to bed for the night and then she stays awake for another 2 hours when Brooks and I are ready to sleep.  Oh well, everyone is adjusting.  Gavin and Miles are loving having their baby sister around and have been doing so good with her.  Gavin is sweet and gentle while Miles is excited and over zealous when he hears her or touches her.  It's been nice having my parents here... it's almost one adult per kid-- so everyone is being tended to!!  

We spent Friday afternoon enjoying lunch at our house with my parents and our friends Micah and Steph.  We all hung out and played outside and just relaxed for the day since we knew Saturday was going to be a long and busy day.  Here's our last picture as a family of four!  

Now onto the details of the day:

3:00am- Brooks, my mom and I loaded up in the car, picked up Stephanie from her apartment, and headed to SAAD hospital.

We arrived at 4:30am and waited outside of the admissions office until 5am to be admitted for my induction.  We sat with a Saudi girl named Nuff who was also being induced.

I got into my room around 5:30am and was hooked up to monitors and my IV was started around 5:45am.  I started feeling sick and was mentioning that to everyone and started preparing myself for what was to come!  My mom went and found a bucket just incase I needed it, but the fun didn't start until my anesthesiologist came in and was talking to me about all the risks and and explaining what was going to take place when I got my epidural.  Around 6:20am I passed out during the guys talk.. I remember telling him, "wait a minute, I'll be right back"-- what can I say, that just happens to me- anytime I get an IV, have blood drawn, etc it's just what my body does.  Within seconds doctors and nurses crowded our room with major concern because Brooklyn's heart rate dropped drastically when I passed out.  As I was coming around I could hear my mom telling them this is just what I do, that I'm okay.  I tried telling them when they did the IV, but I guess enough time had passed no one thought it was going to happen.

Once things settled down, I was being prepped for my epidural.  All that meant was they put a shower cap on my head for like an hour.  Ridiculous.  My nurse for the day came in around 7am.  We then waited and waited and waited.  Around 8am my doctor came in to break my water.  I was 6cm and 80% effaced.  After my water was broken, my doctor told me I didn't have time to get an epidural.... ummm- I pretty much freaked out at that moment...  so he expedited an anesthesiologist from downstairs (a completely different guy from the one that came in earlier in the morning) to administer the epidural.  The 2nd anesthesiologist arrived at 8:15am and by 8:19am I had my epidural in place.  It was easy and I did my best to stay calm and relaxed.  I just didn't want to pass out again (which I did after Miles' epidural).  All was well and I started feeling some tingling in my legs letting me know that the epidural was working.  I was told over and over again that it would not be a 100% numbing epidural because over here, they feel it's important for you to have some understanding/feeling of what your body is doing to help get the baby out easier/faster.  I didn't mind it as much since I had an 80% epidural with Miles.. never felt pain, but knew what was happening.  They also did a "new" technique as I was told where you are only numb from mid back to your knees.  Now that was weird.  I could move my feet, bottom part of my legs, my toes- all of it.  I was still okay with an 80%, new technique epidural because I was becoming numb in the area I was suppose to be numb.

8:45am- My doctor's assistant, Evelyn, came in to put the catheter in and that's when things got interesting. I was now 7cm.  I mentioned to her that I felt what she was doing and it hurt.  She was confused since my epidural was working and I was suppose to be numb.  She continued doing her thing, but we quickly realized something wasn't right.  The anesthesiologist came back in to check on things and he seemed to think all was well-- he did unplug a tube here and there and genuinely tried checking for any blocks or kinks in the tubes.  

At 8:50am they started the pitocin drip to get my contractions going to see if my epidural was in fact working appropriately.  If I didn't feel pain then it worked.  At 9:05am my epidural machine started beeping saying it was clogged.  Once again, the anesthesiologist came back into the room, requested that my machine be replaced with a new machine.  At 9:17am the new machine is now beeping.  Another anesthesiologist (#3) comes in to take his turn to see what's going on.  He attempted to move me and see if maybe there was a blockage being caused by the position of my body.  He did a few other things for another 10 minutes.  However, I was continuing to feel contractions and a LOT of pressure.  I tried telling Brooks over and over again that this wasn't right and I didn't feel comfortable with being able to feel as much as I could.  There is a reason I want epidurals and I was quickly realizing there was a chance I might be having a close to natural delivery.

9:26am- after telling my nurse, Brooks, and my doctor's assistant that I was feeling more and more pressure, I was checked again and was 9cm.  They told me to relax, it'd be another 30 minutes before I'd be ready to deliver.  Within 5 minutes I was basically yelling I needed to push.  Since I kinda felt like no one was taking me seriously, I made sure to make myself heard and didn't let Evelyn leave.  She quickly ran out the door and yelled down the hall for my doctor to come in.

By 9:34am my doctor was in the room, prepped, and ready to start the delivery.  The 3rd anesthesiologist came back in the room one more time and started administering medication through the tube that was attached to my back and was by passing the epidural machine.   He really did try and was going as fast as he could, but stopped and left the room the moment I started pushing.

9:43am- After only 4 pushes (and embarrassing enough, a few screams).... Brooklyn arrived in this world!!  She weighed 7lbs 4oz and was 20 1/2 inches.

I was given the same opportunity to bring Brooklyn into the world as I did Miles, and once again, it was an amazing experience.  It's the only thing that got me through the pushing process-- knowing it was almost over when my doctor asked for my hands.  I was so relieved and ready to meet her.   

Once they whisked her away, Brooks stayed by her side.  He was one proud daddy!  

Brooklyn and Dr. Ashour.

After a half natural, half medicated delivery... I was a little out of it but was so thankful our baby girl was here.   It was really surreal having a little girl and knowing she was ours.

My mom got to be there to welcome grandbaby #7 into the world.  Brooks and I took our usual picture with him bringing our baby to me and giving me a kiss.  Brooklyn had a head full of hair... we're loving it!

  

Brooklyn has looked like a little doll ever since she arrived.  

Gavin came to the hospital to meet her and was just beside himself.  He couldn't wait to see her and started telling us he wanted her to talk and walk.  He loved giving her kisses and kept checking to see where she was the whole time.  Brooklyn got Gavin a DVD and some Spiderman cars that he absolutely loved and kept telling her thank you!

My best friend Stephanie got to experience the day with us.  Something we will both cherish for years to come, I'm sure.

Captain was there too and met his little grand daughter.

We enjoyed the rest of our day visiting with everyone and just watching Brooklyn.  We ate dinner before sending my family and Micah and Steph home.  The rest of our evening was easy and relaxing.  We sent Brooklyn to the nursery through the night so we could get some sleep and they brought her back to us for her feedings.

January 28th was a great day and one we will remember for the rest of our lives!!