Super Dad

 The whole time I was pregnant I was bracing for the worst.  I tried to enjoy each "last" moment with Alex and Heidi because life would never be the same once the baby arrived.  I was very excited though and couldn't wait for the change.  Well I'm happy to report that life is great- better than ever.  I feel as though our family has been so blessed lately and especially since the arrival of Quinn.

 

The girls adore her- although usually only give her attention when they are in the car, right when I put Quinn down for a nap, or while I'm nursing.  She is the first thing they want to see in the morning and the last thing at night.  Tyler has been super Dad, bouncing the baby so I can eat a warm dinner, pacing with her in the evenings, and taking a leading role with the big kids so I don't have to do everything.

On Saturday he cleaned the house, did the laundry, tidied up the back yard, sorted through our dusty storage, took me and Quinn on a lunch date, took the whole family to IKEA (on their busiest day of the month) and then assembled bunk beds for 2 hours when we got home.  And all with a smile on his face!  Sunday he survived church with the big girls and then after home teaching, came home and made carmel popcorn and played games all evening!  I love him very much.

Heidi is still figuring out the limits of her own strength, as well as personal boundaries and can't be left alone with Quinn.  She just loves to get right in her face and is very physical in all her interactions.  Whether it's squeezing Quinn's cheeks to give her fish lips, or smacking her head with love taps to wake us both up- there is no doubt Heidi loves her little sister.

Monday was Tyler's last day of work at Salt Lake Community College and he didn't have to go in until the afternoon.  So we seized the opportunity and took the girls on a hike to see the waterfall up Battlecreek Canyon.  The kids were so excited- we hadn't been on a hike in ages.

We got to the parking lot and while Mom and Dad got Quinn ready, they climbed the pile of rocks next to the car.  We could have just stayed there all day.

Tyler was Mr. Amazing once again and let me strap Quinn to him for the hike.  I think he was feeling pretty far from his glory days as a wildland firefighter- standing there wrapped up in purple with a baby on his chest,  pink jackets hanging from one side of his backpack, and glittery purple sunglasses from the other.  But I don't think he's ever looked so attractive.  

I had anticipated that our hike would last all of 5 minutes and take us MAYBE 50 yards from the parking lot.  But the girls did so well!  The entire hike was uphill and they hopped and skipped and ran the whole way there, picking up and discarding hundreds of rocks along with way.

Everyone wanted to hold Dad's hands, so I became the packmule for camera's waterbackpacks etc.  I started the hike out with just my own camera, and slowly became more laden down with each step as Alex and Heidi stripped off everything they had brought.  We even took her camera Uncle Ben, but she was having too much fun to stop and take pictures.  We are working on it though.

We discovered that once Heidi holds your hand, you are completely in charge of her well being as she surrenders all control of her legs and body and completely relies on you like a limp noodle.

We also discovered that apparently nothing is as fun as sliding down a hill of dirt and sharp rocks, over and over again.

A slight tilt of the camera, and suddenly my kids are accomplished rock climbers.

After our stop at the waterfall, some snacks and a rest, we started for home.  The girls learned a lesson about running down hills, and Tyler ended up carrying Heidi like a basket (swinging back and forth) while Alex collected pet rocks.

I had to include this picture for a few reasons.  First of all you will notice that Heidi's 'thinking face' is the same as her 'really mad' face.  And second, Tyler's 'I'm getting tired, are we there yet' face is the same as his 'how many times have I told you to leave my ears alone' face.

It was a great hike, a great day and a great weekend.  The afternoon was spent with friends and that night we ended it all with family home evening and Heidi's favorite- doughnuts.  Alex spent a good 30 minutes with Tyler's firefighting hiking boots when we got home. Tyler asked her to salute while he took this picture, she looked at me quizzically and I showed her a salute.  This was what she showed to Dad.  My kids know nothing of the military or super heroes, on Sunday I overheard Alex telling Heidi that Batman was a man who takes care of bats. 

April Showers

Last week was my first test run as a mother of 3, and Monday was very intense.  Heidi wanted nothing to do with Quinn and everything to do with me.  I spent most of my time sitting on the couch holding one child or another and putting out little fires between the older two.  If the weather had been nicer I could have sent them outside to play for hours, but it was cold and windy and rainy all week long.  We played lots of lego's and silly putty.  They each got some time with the ipad, and we did our best at structuring our days with coloring, chores and story time.  

    The last weeks of my pregnancy we were home bound due to my immobility, and then the weeks after that I've been at home with a tiny baby- afraid to leave the house and expose her to the world of germs.  It's been hard on the kids, making them into wild little wresting monkeys, and hard on me to have so little adult interaction and be stuck inside day after day.

   As the week progressed things got both easier and harder.  On Wednesday Tyler took a few hours off work to help me take the kids to the doctor.  Quinn was due for her 2 week check up and Alex for her 5 year.  No one got shots (thank goodness) but it was by far the longest, craziest doctor appointment I've been to and would have gone insane without Tyler there.  Quinn is top of the charts, tall and thin,  Alex leans more toward the bottom, short and thin- but they are both doing great.  At the appointment we mentioned to the doctor that the girl's cousins from Tennessee had been to visit 2 weeks ago and had since come down with Whooping cough!  Poor Baby Madison had been hospitalized at 2 months old with it and we were afraid Alex's persistent cough that had started about they time they left, might be the same thing.  The doctor said not to worry but we could go to the hospital for a test if we wanted.  We decided not to.

   Thursday we got a call from Tennessee advising that we be treated just in case, or at the least get tested.  Tyler was in SLC all day working and I was without a car, but we were able to borrow Grandpa's truck and get Aunt Danielle and Bridger to come babysit Quinn for me.  I couldn't have done it without Danielle, If I had taken Quinn- I would have lost it in the first 20 minutes.  To check in for the test we had to go to a different building to get the paperwork, and then walk over to the hospital to have the test done.  Once in the room I discovered that the test involved sticking a tube up the girl's noses and sucking out mucus.  They were both freaking out before we even started, and after watching me pinning Heidi down while she screamed and cried- Alex was already bawling before we even touched her.  It took forever, and all my strength to pin down their arms and legs, while trying to hold heads while they screamed and cried and begged me to stop.  It about broke my heart and my only consolation was that they still clung to me after it was all done and thankfully saw the nurse as the bad guy.  4 suckers later, one in each hand, we walked to the car collecting dandelions and forgot the whole thing had happened.  The next day we got word that the tests were negative.  Thank goodness!

    Quinn is a happy baby and has settled into a schedule that I can live with.  She sleeps the morning and afternoon away and then wakes up in time for Daddy to come home.  She then stays up for 5 or 6 hours in the evening and then sleeps fairly well through the night, only waking up 2 or 3 times.  She lets us do just about anything we want with her.  This evening the girls helped me bath her in our bath flower placed in the baby tub inside the giant tub.  Alex was at her feet and Heidi at her head inside the big tub.  It was so sweet watching them wash her little hands and toes with such care.  They rung their wash rags out so not to drip all over her, and wiped every little bit of her tiny body.  It could have been a disaster but turned into the moment of the week.

Sequin

      I feel like I've been defending the name Quinn, since we announced it as a possibility.  To the older generations, Quinn is a man's name.  As we played around with names the past few months, we knew that we wanted her middle name to be something special.  All of our girls have a family middle name and interestingly enough have grown to bear a strong resemblance in both looks and personality to that person for whom they were named after.  So when we were considering our options, we wanted to choose a middle name that not only matched the first name and sounded good, but also one that- if the trend continued- would be a good role model for Quinn.
      On the long drive home from Arizona at Thanksgiving, where we visited Tyler's brother Ben and his family, we finally found our winner.  Quinn Katherine.
     Katherine is the full name of Ben's wife- Kate.  You may know Kate as my partner in crime and all things wonderful.  The most amazing, patient, kind, loving, fun, spunky, faithful, optimistic, sweet, spiritual, fantastic, hard working woman I know.  We often joke that Kate and I were destined to be sisters, and that Ben and Tyler were just the means to that end.  Tyler immediately loved the nickname Katie Q and suggested we switch the first and middle names.  But since I fully intend on someday being neighbors with Kate's family, having 2 of them running around would be too confusing.
   So that's how she got her name, and hopefully if all my prayers are answered, she will turn into a miniature version of her Aunt.
   On a different note, today we got the insurance card for Quinn.  Apparently there was some breakdown in the communication and instead of Quinn Katherine Brady being insured, we have a Queen Katherine Brady in our family who is.
   Tonight Tyler was pointing out to her that the baby flamingo's in the documentary we were watching, could walk and fend for themselves within days.  "See Quinn" he said, and then I had to laugh because he had said Sequin.  My little darling I hope you don't hate us in 10 years for your name, as it has been a nice little handful the last 10 days.

The Birth and the Whirlwind

 By Wednesday April 3 I had given up on ever having the baby.  Obviously if she hadn't come early, and hadn't come by her due date, she was never going to come.  So I planned a potluck playdate at my house and figured that I was either going to have a baby, or an excellent pity party that day.
   About 9am I was getting the car rug out of the toy room and dragging it to the living room when I suddenly felt like I'd just peed my pants.  "Seriously" I thought "I know my body is sort of falling apart but has it gotten so bad that I just completely lost all bladder control?!"  I was on my way downstairs to change when it happened again, and then there was a big RUSH and I realized that this might not just be an incontinence issue.  So I canceled playgroup and called Tyler to let him know that today was the day, but not to leave work just yet because I wanted to labor at home as long as possible.
 

  Well, it's pretty hard to go for a walk, or really do anything at all when every few minutes there is a gush of water soaking through your pants.  So I called the nurse, told her my water had broken and asked if I really had to go to the hospital right away or could I stay home for a bit.  She told me to GET THERE  NOW, but I stalled.  Well, by the time we'd gotten Grandma home, and settled the kids, eaten lunch and gathered our things it was about 1pm.  When we arrived we were very expected.  Apparently there were no other laboring mother's that day, and they had been waiting on me for hours- thinking that I'd had the baby on the side of the road or something.  I got quite the lecture from my labor nurse about risk of infection and needing to get the baby out ASAP, plus all the scary reminders about risk of uterine rupture from attempting another VBAC.  So she strapped on those monitors, and there I sat for hours. 

 When I became pregnant I told Tyler he needed to buy me some sort of "labor day" gift because after 9 months of pregnancy and a day of giving birth, I deserved something fun (other than a baby).  So he really went ALL out and got me an Ipad!  In between contractions I fiddled around and bought Apps and talked to Tyler and it was great.  We even watched Jeopardy.  I was dilated to a 3 when I arrived and by 6pm I hadn't dilated past a 4.  They had me on a very low dose of pitocin, and insisted on putting in an epidural (and testing it with a low dose of the medicine) in case of complications with the VBAC.  

 Well about 6:30 is when the contractions start to hurt and I got really nauseous and shakey. I thought "If this is me, on an epidural, at a 4- there is no way I'm going to survive labor laying down with out medicine." So I pushed the button, and about 3 seconds later the Anesthesiologist (who looked and acted just like the actor Jeffery Tambor- (George Bluth from Arrested Development) and therefore made me love him) showed up and gave me a booster.  About 2 minutes after my legs went completely numb from the high dose of pain meds, the nurse came in and said the doctor was going to come talk to me about options- because my labor wasn't progressing.  During this speech (which I swear Gloom and Doom nurse was taking in the direction of c-section) I started to feel my contractions a LOT lower and NOT in my belly anymore.  I mentioned this to Doomy who checked me and announced in the last 30 minutes I'd dilated from a 4 to a 10 and was ready!  So she ran out to tell the doctor to hurry up.  He showed up, and because there was a lot of meconium in my water, said I needed to push her out fast.  So 2 contractions and 5 minutes later at 7:23 pm Quinn arrived!  Even though they had to wisk her away from me, the NICU nurses got her all squared away and after a few minutes they put her on my chest and we got to snuggle for the next hour- the only thing I had set my heart on this whole pregnancy- finally being able to hold my baby within minutes of delivery.  Unfortunately after I was all stitched up I started to shake and quake and couldn't stop.  It was actually pretty violent and scary and by far the worst part of the whole thing.  I could not stop shaking and it was terrifying.  Tyler gave me a blessing and I was able to calm down, and then they brought me an Apple and Croissant sandwich and I ate and held my baby and smiled.

 The next 2 days were great.  It was like a spa.  I got to eat whatever and whenever I wanted.  I didn't have to worry about my other kids because Grandma's, Aunt and Cousin were helping out at home, and I got to watch whatever I wanted on TV and take naps (like that was really possible though) without worry about kids running in or any responsibilities.  Tyler was working his long 12 hour days plus commute, and so we didn't see much of him at all after delivery for those 2 days until we got home.  My Mom had driven up from Montana to help take care of me and the girls, and she came to pick me up from the hospital.  Quinn had a questionable Biliruben score and so we were told to bring her back the next day for another test and keep her in the sun as much as possible.

Quinn with her Paternal Grandma Brady and Great Grandma Jake!

 We arrived home just in time for Conference festivities!  Friday night was a family reunion of sorts with almost all my family showing up to see my Mom/ the baby.  It was fun, but a bit overwhelming for the first hour home from the hospital.

  Saturday we watched Conference and that evening all the girls came over while the boys were at Priesthood session.  Once again lots of fun, and bit overwhelming.  I think I ended up running away to the basement while everyone else took care of my other kids.  Sunday was more Conference, but Grandma Asay took Alex to watch it at my brother's house and Grandma Brady took Heidi on an afternoon outing to see her Great Grandma and the cats- so I got a nap and some alone time.

 When Monday hit and it was just the girls and me and my Mom, we finally it our stride.  It was fun to have the occasional visitor, and try to figure out how this new life was going to work!  I'll admit that Sunday night/Monday and Tuesday was when the baby blues really hit.  I cried, I freaked out a bit, but it wasn't that bad at all compared to my first baby and it went away quickly.  I made sure to avoid all music, TV shows and movies- With Alex I watched 'Planet Earth' during the blues, and it completely ruined the show.  We have the DVD's but I can't listen to the soundtrack or narrators voice with out a fist of anxiety grabbing my heart and a slow creeping depression descend over my brain.  They have sat unwatched for 5 years on the shelf.

 Wednesday the sun decided to shine and we got out of the house!  Quinn took her first trip to Target and we all saw the Traverse Mountain Outlet Mall for the first time, then we visited Danielle and Bridger for a bit.  That night we played dress up and discovered that the Build A Bear clothes fit newborns quite perfectly

 Alex and Heidi are loving Quinn more and more each day which warms my heart.

 The rest of the week was full of fun.  We had a tea party, took pictures of the baby, read stories, painted pictures and ate wonderful food.

 Quinn did lots of sleeping, I turned my back for a few minutes and found that Heidi had decorated her sister.

She got her first bath, in a beautiful flower with lots of bystanders vying for the perfect view point.

And even in the drafty kitchen, that sweet baby didn't make a single peep!  The first of my kids not to cry through their first bath!

 The greatest part of the whole thing was having Grandma around for a whole week!  The girls LOVED it.  Heidi was stuck to her like glue and wanted to be with Grandma every minute of the day.  It was just wonderful having her here with us and we were all SO sad when it was time for her to leave.  She cooked and cleaned, put the kids to bed every night, fed them in the morning, played with them on demand and still had time to hold the baby and cater to my whims.  These Brady girls all love her SO much!  Thanks Mom for the wonderful week and all the amazing service!

Quinn Katherine Brady

 I love taking pictures.

And taking pictures of a soft, squishy, sleeping baby- who will let you mold her however you want.  Is about the greatest.

I think Quinn agrees.

We had a baby!

She came!  

 And I've done nothing but sit on the couch nursing and holding a sleeping baby for a week.

But my mother left this morning and now I get to see if I can juggle 3 kids AND do things like blog.  So, here is the sneak peak- hopefully there will be lots more to come!