1st Week

We just can't get enough of her...

She loves to suck- her thumb, a pacifier, our fingers, and whatever else she can!!

She is finally looking a little chubby.  This is her very content, right after nursing pose.

Love this baby girl!!!!!

Bilirubin Check

 Our first week home we found ourselves back in Labor and Delivery almost every day checking her weight and bilirubin.  She did start gaining weight, but we did have issues of her bilirubin rising just enough to want them to keep checking.  By Saturday- a week old, it started to go down.

Again we feel very blessed, one of the pediatrician residents that was on call Labor Day weekend is from our church.  He had been so wonderful and thorough and is now the baby's pediatrician.  We are thrilled to have someone we know and trust.  We have been so taken care of and have loved all the doctors we have worked with on base.  Also it has been wonderful to have so many LDS doctors in our ward.  

Coming Home

We headed home on Labor Day.  We were excited to get home and start life as a family of 5!

This the resident that delivered Brynn.  We call her Dr. R  She is AMAZING!!!

Home Sweet Home

 It took 8 hands to give this baby a sponge bath!  It is said it takes a village to raise a child.  I am thankful for so much help!!!

 Poppy and baby

Nanna and baby

I am so thankful for my mom who has come to stay with us.  She has been an amazing help and support!!!

This is our first family of five scripture study.  Me and Brynn had a hard time staying awake!!

Meet Brynn Leigh

Brynn Leigh Miller

7lbs. 15oz. and 21in long

born at 6:17am at Wright-Patt Medical Center

We are so happy to have Brynn Leigh here with us.  She is healthy, beautiful, sweet and we are all just so in love with her.  It has been a crazy two weeks before she came and was thrilled as things unfolded and that the birth went so smoothly and there were no complications!

It had been a complicated decision to go with a c-sec or try a v-back.  With lots of prayers and consultations with Dr.s the decision was made that a repeat c-sec was the best option.  (I had c-sections with the first two kids.)

We had decided to schedule a c-section for Wednesday September 4th.  I was excited and ready.  My mom came into town on Friday August 30th and we had been teasing how I could then go into labor.  I got a burst of energy on Friday and felt great, Brandt had the day off and the kids were in school so we ended up getting a lot done including the baby's dresser.  Friday evening my mom and I took the kids swimming at our neighborhood pool and I started having contractions.  The contractions kept coming and getting a little stronger.  I called Labor and Delivery at 1:30am but decided to wait a little longer before going in.  At 3:30 it was not getting any better and I called back to Labor & Delivery and they told me to come on in.  So Brandt and I got ready and headed over.  I was afraid to be sent home, but felt that I should go in.
When I got there they hooked me up to monitors and checked me- I was only dilated to a 3!  Crazy!!
The decision was made that I was in Labor since the contractions were coming every 2-3 min and that it was best to go ahead and perform the c-section.  The resident I had previously met, but had never met the Dr.  I was told the Dr. was really good and I was hopeful.  Being the weekend and a holiday weekend there were no other patients and the hospital was very quiet.  I got a lot of attention and the staff was amazing.
The c-sec was started and Brandt was at my side and within a few minutes they pulled out our precious daughter. We got to look at her right away and Brandt got to hold her and even bring her next to me.  I was surprised at how long the c-sec was taking and at all the tugging and pulling.  I ended up getting really sick and was getting scared at the whole process.  The resident and anesthesiologist kept talking to me and explained that there were no complications just a few things that needed to be repaired.  The surgery after pulling Brynn out took over an hour, but had good results.
I had talked earlier with both the resident and the doctor about my desire to another baby after this.  Well, they listened.  Since I had already two previous c-sections and they were so many years ago the scar tissue had built up, my uterus had several adhesion's on it which caused my uterus to attach to my bladder.  The uterus wall had also thinned out greatly and if I had tried to have a v-back it could have caused many complications including an uterine rupture.  It is not common, but is very dangerous for both mother and baby and could result to not being able to have any other children. They said having the c-section was a very good choice and stopped many complications that could have occurred.  They also said they think even if I had tried v-back it would have ended in a c-section because of the many issues and the size of the baby.  The doctor did his best to make the uterine wall thicker and repair any damage he could, he separated the uterus from my bladder and cleaned up the scar tissue.  It is risky to have another baby and four c-sections, but they feel it is possible.  We will continue to pray about it and the timing but are thankful for the Lord's hand in our lives and for the incredible doctors and staff we worked with.
We are so thankful and feel so blessed to have Brynn Leigh with us, our happy, healthy, precious baby girl!

Home Projects

The main project we have wanted to finish before baby comes is to finish our basement.  It is a process...

One of the things we wanted to do before starting on the basement was to create more storage and above the garage their was space that could be used for storage.  Brandt has worked really hard at creating usable space as well as a system to move up all our stuff to the attic easily.  He is a genius, and after a lot of hard work we have more storage space and a simple way to move things up and down from the attic!!!

The next thing that needed to happen before finishing the basement was to expand our windows to meet guidelines so our bedrooms can be considered bedrooms.  We also want our basement to be safe for the kids to sleep down there. The windows were made bigger and the window wells are made that you could escape out the windows and climb out. We found a company claiming to do this which what seemed like a good price and made promises of having it done between 5- 10 days.

After 6 weeks the project was completed.... a few issues and it costed more than it probably should have, but it is done and is functional.

I hate to say that Brandt still has ideas to improve it, but the main hard work is done and now we can start the work on the rest of the basement.

Back to School

I can't believe Summer is ending and School is starting.  Both kids are excited and anxious about school.  We are excited about their teachers and about the school year!!!

Peyton has started 3rd grade.  He has Mr. Ramsey as his homeroom teacher and this year, he will switch classes for math, reading, and social studies.  His teacher teaches science.

Jenna has started 4th grade.  She has Ms. Warner, the teacher she was secretly hoping to get.  She too switches classes for her different subjects.

The school year has begun.  With it, I also send my prayers out to help my children learn, grow, be good examples, and to be protected.

Love them and love watching them grow and become into incredible people.

My Ward Family Baby Shower

I have an amazing ward filled with some incredible women.  We had a Girls Night Out/ Baby Shower and had a great time eating and chatting!!!  I feel so blessed to know these women and be a part of this incredible ward!!!

So much fun and now I am more ready for baby!!!!