2 weeks already!

It is hard to believe that Brooklyn is two weeks old already...almost three!  We had her two week appointment yesterday with Dr.  Terwilliger.  I had a lot of questions for him.  I asked about the dimple near her spine and her feet.  He said that they were absolutely nothing to worry about.  He was confident that her feet would straighten as she begins to walk and put weight on them and he said that her dimple is in a spot that it would not affect her spinal cord. He said that they would continue to watch it just to make sure it doesn't get any bigger.  PHEW! At two weeks old she now weighs 10lbs 3.4 ounces!!  That is a 1.6 pounds she has gained in two weeks!  She's getting so big!  She also grew an inch and a quarter....she is 21 1/4 inches long.  Her eyes are still gunky but he said that was clogged tear ducts and showed me how to massage her ducts to help them work better.  She did have to get her first shot..Hep B.  She took it like a champ though...screamed for only a brief second.

Her personality is showing more and more each day.  My favorite time is when she first wakes up and looks up at me with her big eyes.  I fall in love all over again.  She makes the cutest and funniest faces while stretching and waking up.

She's always hungry and loves to eat!  She is eating about 4 ounces every 3 hours now.  Sometimes more or less and sometimes sooner or later. She hates her car seat right now because of the head rest...I think once spring comes and we can take out the BundleMe it will be much easier on her.  She sleeps really well and sound during the day but at night she seems to just catnap.  She wakes up every 3 hours to eat..but it usually takes her a good hour to fall asleep after she eats so she is really only sleeping about 2 hours at a time at night...I try to sleep when she does but don't like to sleep the day away.

She has changed so much since our few days in the hospital when she was born.  Its hard to believe how fast she is really growing...

**Christmas**

Christmas was extra special this year with Brooklyn here!  Although she does not understand anything that went on it was still fun to have her with us.  The boys were very excited for Christmas this year, like always.  We went over to Grandma and Papa's (Scott & Cici's) for Christmas Eve and got spoiled as usual.  The boys got a TON of gifts from everyone!  They got legos, trucks, Jets stuff, clothes, video games, and an Xbox!  The boys had to go back to their mom's this year so they came back to our house at 1 o'clock on Christmas.  They opened all their presents here and my parents also brought over their gifts for them.  Again, they were very spoiled!  We got the boys lots of stuff they can put in their rooms when the addition is complete since they will all have their own room.  We got them all TV's, lava lamps, wall decorations, and oversized bean bag chairs!  They seemed to like everything they got from everyone! Unfortunately we did not get to get a picture with Brooklyn and the boys before they left to go back to their moms house.   After the boys left, we went over to my parents for dinner.  Kylie and my parents opened the gifts from us.  My parents got us a glider / ottoman for the nursery...I can't wait to use it!!

Our Christmas tree this year! 

Christmas at my parents house...Brooklyn did not like sitting patiently for the picture 

Brookie all dressed up for Christmas...sitting under the tree because she was the best gift ever! 

One week doctors appointment

At Brooklyn's one week doctor's appointment (actually 5 days)...she weighed in at 8 lbs 10 ounces!  She gained back what she lost in the hospital and an extra 3 ounces!  She was eating well!  She measured the same length..20 inches.  In the hospital they had showed some concern with a dimple at the base of her spinal cord and with the way she was holding her feet.  I was told to check with the doctors at her upcoming appointments...so I had the nurse practitioner we were seeing about them and she seemed to think they would both be ok.  I left feeling a little better about it...but of course still worried a little.

We ended up back at walk-ins the next day because Brooklyn woke up with her eyes all gunky.  I of course thought something was terribly wrong!  They gave us a prescription but thought it was probably just clogged tear ducts.  We only used the ointment a few times and figured it was probably the ducts so there was no sense putting more gunk in her eyes.

The first week she was home she slept pretty well between feedings during the day but liked to stay up and party at night time between feedings.  She would just look around and make noises.  I slept with her on my chest on the couch the first few nights and loved every minute of it.  She eats 3 ounces every 2-3 hours.

One week old :)

First night home! :)  Loves her rock n play! 

Daddy and baby girl fast asleep on the couch together <3

Meeting the BIG brothers!

Brooklyn had lots of visitors while in the hospital.  All of her family and friends came to meet her..she was even visited by almost the entire police department!  She will be one protected little girl!  :)
Brooklyn got to meet her big brothers on Monday evening.  The boys were very excited to see her but were a little nervous to hold her since she was so little and new.  They used the boppy pillow and all took turns holding her.

 Dylan was a little apprehensive to hold her but did a great job! She was very content hanging out with him! 

Colton held her last and had to be really coaxed into holding her.  He was very nervous because she was so little and there were a lot of people around watching.  He did great though! 

Zach was the least nervous and the first one to hold her!  He was very comfortable holding her and she knew it!  She didnt fuss at all with Zachy! 

Lots of other family and friends came to visit while we were there and the nurses all loved her too.  We left the hospital on December 11th around noon.  It was exciting and nerve wracking to bring her home.  When we left the hospital Brooklyn weighed 8lbs 5 ounces.  She passed all of her tests and was doing great!  

Brooklyn Ann FINALLY arrived!

As many already know, Brooklyn Ann Watkins finally made her appearance on December 9, 2012 at 5:17 pm.  She weighed in at 8 lbs 7 ounces and was 20 inches long.  She had a head full of dark brown hair and was absolutely perfect!

I started having contractions on Friday December 7.  I wasnt sure at the time that they were contractions so I ignored the crampy feeling and went on with my day.  Saturday morning I woke up and felt the same crampy pains every so often but again ignored it and Derek and I went to Elmira to Christmas shop.  The cramps got more intense throughout the day and came more frequent...still I wasn't convinced it was labor.  We shopped ALL day...didnt get home until around 9 oclock in the evening.  At this point I was able to time the cramps which I was now convinced HAD to be contractions.  I called labor and delivery and they said that it was probably labor but to try to relax and come in when they got 5 minutes apart or got too intense.  Derek got ready and went to work because I figured I would be home a while.  I took a bath and tried to relax as much as possible.  Around midnight I knew I'd have to go to the hospital soon so I started packing my bags and called Derek to come home.  He came home and we headed to the hospital about 1:30 in the morning.

They put me in a room and hooked my up to a monitor to check out the baby and contractions.  After a while the doctor came in to check me and said that I was 2 cm...they wanted to keep me a few more hours to see if I was progressing..so a few hours later they checked again and I was 4 cm..they decided to admit me since I was progressing pretty steadily.  I walked around the floor as much as possible to keep things moving along.  It worked because the next time they checked I was 5cm.  Around 11 am I decided the contractions were too much and got the epidural.  It worked well at first and I was able to relax a little but soon wore off and they were not able to get it to work correctly.

I started pushing around 4:00 pm and Brooklyn arrived at 5:17 pm.  It was all around a great experience!  Nothing crazy and too overly painful like you hear about on T.V. The nurses I had were absolutely awesome and made me feel comfortable through the entire stay.  Brooklyn was able to stay with us in the room both nights...they bathed her and did all of her testing right in our room.

Beautiful Baby Girl <3

 Right after she came out...poor thing was so red from the long journey! 

Daddy and his baby girl <3

My baby and I <3

Construction FINALLY

The construction on the house has finally begun and is starting to make progress.  We have all new windows in the house now and can already tell the difference with the heat!  Not to mention, they look 100% better than the old ones! They have also dug out the hole for the foundation, leveled it out, and poured the concrete walls..

They also put up the forms and poured the concrete walls to create  crawl space under the addition so that it is level with the rest of the house.. After the concrete dried they tore off the forms and laid the plywood floor!  I have to get out there and take some more pictures...but its snowing right now soo it may be a few days!  It is coming along nicely though, hopefully the weather allows them to keep working!