Lately in the Wright home...

I just posted my birth story of Brooklyn but I wanted to do a family update as well! We've had quite a bit transpire lately.

First off, Brooklyn is 4 months old and is such a little rockstar. She has surprised us with her quick development and knack for learning. She's very alert and always has to be sitting up- and has been that way from birth. She loves to watch her sister, Melody, and is always trying to snatch her toys away from her :). They will be pulling each other's hair out in no time.

Melody is doing well- she is having weekly therapy and it's hit and miss but I can see progress. She will be attending special education preschool in the fall and we couldn't be more excited. I believe it will be great for her. She has a love/hate relationship with her sister but is overall very sweet and loving and patient to her. She will give her random kisses and often goes over and pets her head. It's very cute :) She is still not speaking but can say a few words with prompt (Mama, wawa, open, hi, Elmo). She can definitely hear better now which is great. She loves to sing and it's quite comical to hear her.

Dustin and I are doing well- I have just started my photography business and it's been amazing how well it's going!! I've been booking 3 months in advance and I just started a month ago. Awesome. I have a new boss at work so it's been an adjustment, but it's getting better each day.

Look for more from us soon and hopefully pictures!!

Welcome Brooklyn!

I am finally getting around to this (4 months later), but on February 4th we welcomed Brooklyn Sandra Wright in to the world! This is my birth story that I put on facebook, plus below I have some more comments about that day and the following days! :)

Friday morning I woke up extremely crampy and with a lot of back pain. I was 3 days past my due date and so this was a positive sign for me that something might be picking up! At around 2 pm I headed to my sisters house and noticed light, but regular contractions. They were starting at 10 minutes apart and were not painful. I had been having contractions like this for almost a month but these just seemed different to me and I told her I was almost sure I was in labor! But they were not bad at this point. By the time Dustin got off work and came over around 4, they had moved to 4 minutes apart but were still not painful to me, just becoming more consistent. I told him I was sure this time! He was very excited and became quite OCD about timing them which we did- though someone had told me that isn't the greatest idea because you could still be timing them for a long time!! But he really was excited so we did and it ended up being a good thing. We headed out to a late lunch and came home to get things ready. After my birth experience with Melody I knew that I wanted to have a natural birth this time with no interventions or medication. I had studied and practiced some techniques and felt very confident that l would do this! Part of my plan was to labor at home as long as possible. I didn't really know when this would be and just figured I would go by how I was feeling. I wanted to eat and move at will which the hospital isn't the best place for. So when we were at home I was packing for Melody and getting everything ready. My mom came and picked up Melody for the night and we headed to the store to get some snacks and some new clothes for Brooklyn. In the store the contractions were every 3 minutes and still very manageable but getting more difficult. We would walk, and I'd say "stop" and lean against the cart until the contraction was over and we would keep going. We got some food for dinner and rented a movie and headed home. At home we had dinner and at this point they were 2 minutes apart. We were watching a funny movie and between contractions I could still laugh and enjoy some pizza. I called my mom and mother in law for advice because my labor was getting much closer together but I didn't feel like I was dying or even in much pain at all. They both said it was probably okay to continue to stay home. At this point (about 8 pm) the intensity of the contractions was picking up and so I went in to a bath that I filled with some lavender oil and soaked. As the tub filled up, Dustin and I sang some songs and I sang through some of the roughed contractions. I got in the bath and was able to relax, which for me kicked labor up another notch and when the bath was over and Dustin had jumped into the shower, things changed quickly and the intensity of these contractions made me a bit nervous as pushing was already on the brink of my thoughts. I grabbed him out of the shower and said, "Hurry!!" I knew it was time now. He ran around like a crazy man and we packed the car and took off. The drive there was not fun at all. It was becoming increasingly hard to focus between contractions and they were a minute and a half to two minutes apart now. When we arrived I was wheeled to l and d because it was after hours and I realized that this delivery was going to go fast. I got to triage and they hooked me up to the monitor. My contractions were 1.5-2 minutes apart and hitting the very top of the chart. I was 5 cm and 90% effaced. I was expecting less so that was exciting but what I didn't expect was what would happen next. It was about 11 that they checked me at 5 and 11:30 when I got to my room. They had to monitor me because the baby's heartrate was dropping when I first got to triage but with some IV fluids it picked back up. During my contractions on the bed I was really hurting and felt I needed to push. She seemed doubtful but checked me. I was at 6 and 100% at 11:40. Ten minutes later I was at a 7. I was telling her that pushing felt like a relief at this time, and she urged me to not push as I was nowhere near complete. They finally allowed me into the tub and everyone left me alone, where I relaxed so much from the wonderful water that I knew I didn't want to get out. With each contraction I bore down as it felt a huge relief for me. I told Dustin the baby was coming soon but I wanted to spend more time in the tub. I asked him not to tell the nurse because I wanted a few more minutes. He disobeyed, seeing that I was beginning to push almost without effort. She ran in to check me and all hell broke loose as my contractions came back to back and I pushed so hard my water broke in the tub. I started screaming as my body pushed over and over without stopping. The nurse realized this and rang the emergency bell and suddenly I am surrounded by nurses yelling at me to get out of the tub because they were not equipped for me to give birth there and the doctor wasn't there. I yelled "no!" and that she was coming. My lead nurse shut the tub off and drained the water so I was able to stand up. I felt spasms in my back and pressure and so as I leaned against the doorway of the bathroom I asked the nurses to please not make me lay on my back to push her because it was so painful. One of the nurses (possibly out of desperation) told me I could give birth however I wanted- just get in the bed! I somehow crawled on the bed (my body was pushing on it's own the whole time) on my hands and knees. There were 3 doctors and 8 nurses surrounded me. The lead doctor told the nurses to get me on my back stating that he "didn't catch babies like this"- unfortunately for him as said that I bore down and pushed her out all at once. I was in my own world at that point and so focused I never heard him or anyone else ask me to flip over!! But out she came quick enough that he barely caught her and she slipped out of his hands on to the bed. As soon as she came out I felt the greatest relief, such an amazing high. I heard her cry but being on my hands and knees I did not see her. They cut her cord and I turned on my back and held her to my chest. She barely cried at all and was very calm and snuggled right in to me. I was so happy and elated and now very much myself again! I was so grateful to have her safe and sound, I was cracking jokes and smiling right away and all my pain was gone. My iv had fallen our during the insanity so i had to be given a shot in my leg to stop the bleeding and did have some stitches but I barely noticed those things since my little girl was in my arms the whole time. I even got to feed her while they stitched me up. The nurses said my birth was the closest they've seen anyone almost give birth in the tub. But ladies if you want a natural birth I do highly recommend it!! It was so intense but so empowering for me. It definitely gave me an amazing new level of respect for my body- that it knew what to do and that it was capable of all of that! The end :)

So our birth went very well and I am very grateful for that! But unfortunately, things took a down turn. The second night we were in the hospital, I let the nursery have her for a few hours-- I always seem to go in saying I don't want to use it but I usually give in the second night. The first day I was up for 37 hours and then went to sleep for about 4 broken hours. When I sent her to the nursery, she aspirated on spit up, turned blue, stopped breathing, and her heart rate dropped scary low. So while I was sleeping she was rushed to the NICU. They woke me and I went down right away. They were concerned about her apnea episode and wanted to check all the bases. They had suspicions that she may have an infection. They also noted that she was jaundice and so they put her on the bilirubin lights.

Honestly, the next 4 days were hell for me. I don't know how people do that with much sicker babies. Every 3 hours and usually less I came down and breastfed Brooklyn in the NICU for about an hour, went upstairs only to be called to come down again. On the third day of no sleep (I think I got maybe an hour in 3 days), I became delirious in my hospital room and called my husband. While I was on the phone with him I walked to the bathroom and collapsed out of exhaustion. I don't remember much but that he said he was coming over. I remember being on the floor felt good and I didn't want to get up. A few minutes later my nurse tried to come in and realized I have fallen almost in front of the door. They brought several nurses in and got me back in my bed. A short while later my husband was there and he was my saving grace. Thanks to him I was able to finally sleep for a few hours thanks to his calming presence. We were blessed that Brooklyn was always a great eater and never needed supplmentation like I did with Melody. I had a lot of sadness about not being able to fully breastfeed Melody and I was able to right away with Brooklyn. She was a little fighter in the NICU and kept beating all the odds. She hadn't been peeing and they were going to have to catheterize her and so during our feeding I whispered to her to please pee for mommy and the next time I went to feed her they reported that she peed so much that she went through her diaper! Woo hoo!

By the last 2 days she was eating so well that they could take her off the IV and no longer had to test her blood sugar so much (by poking her I might add). Poor baby really didn't enjoy her stay in the NICU and on our rooming in night she was up all night needing comfort. 

Finally we were able to go home. Brooklyn is 4 months old now and she is a joy. She is a very happy and emotional baby. She is a little higher needs than Melody was at her age, but we love her to pieces. She is reaching all of her milestones very quickly. She can currently roll over both ways, get in to the crawling position, grab things and bring them to her mouth, and says "baba, mama and dada". With everything we've been through with Melody it's something I'm not used to! She is still on breastmilk though she no longer likes to nurse (as of a month ago) so mommy is pumping like a madwoman to keep up. It's going well :)

Anyway, there's Brooklyn's birth and life in a nutshell right now! I love my girls :)