Six-year-old sweetie and newborn cutie!

Birthdays are a special time in our family and during May we celebrated two special birthdays.

 

 

On May 2nd, Braewyn turned 6 years old!  Six means you are no longer a little kid but officially elementary age and turning more into an independent individual every day.  It's been a joy to watch Braewyn grow and I think it will be even more exciting over the next several years.  She is quite head-strong, but I think that's a great asset as I believe Braewyn will be a leader instead of a follower.  She's our little princess who does not want to be called cute or even pretty, but awesome and cool instead.  She does like her Barbies but says her favorite color is blue and not pink.  She's a wonderful girl and a loving "Sissy" to her sister and brothers...

If you haven't heard, the baby in my belly was born on May 19th and we'd like to introduce Rylan Judah!  I was actually due on June 3rd, but after having contractions all day on Saturday, May 18th, Matthew and I decided to drive to the hospital at 10pm, leaving at home Philip, Braewyn and Juliet with Grandma Ruth Ann.  I wasn't sure if I would be admitted as the contractions weren't that bad and coming every 10-15 minutes apart. Once in triage, the monitor said my contractions were 3-4 minutes apart so I was admitted.  Moving into the labor and delivery room, my nurse said my obstetrician would like to break my water but she was telling him no.  I thanked her and said my main request was to get a nap sometime before the baby was born!  I tried to get comfortable in the bed while Matthew slept over on the sofa/bed built into the wall.  Around 2:00am, I decided it was probably a good time for the epidural as I was dilated to around 5cm.  That procedure went very well despite the nerves that creep up when getting a big needle stuck into your back.  After that I tried to relax but was fighting off more nerves wondering if my OB would break my water or not.  Closer to 5:00am, the nurse said the OB decided to go to sleep for a while and just let me rest too.  That was what I needed to hear and I did sleep soundly until around 6:30am.  At that time, Pitocin was started to keep things moving and the contractions got pretty bad.  I asked for more pain medication and the anesthesiologist said he didn't want to dull all my pain.  I told him I understood but needed more to take the edge off.  Once the epidural was increased, I almost immediately felt the need to push.  They thought I was still around 8cm, but then the nurse began to call for back-up.  Matthew knew the baby was coming quickly the way everyone began to get things in high gear.  My OB made it in and I pushed through two contractions.  After the first set of pushes, I did have a quick moment of fear and asked, "Is it stuck?!"  Matthew reassured me that the baby's head was almost out.  Next set of pushes and Rylan was born!  I don't remember seeing him as I heard Matthew say we had a boy, but I do remember seeing the tear roll down Matthew's cheek.  It was a wonderful moment.

Our life will be forever changed as of that moment, now being the parents of two boys and two girls!  Rylan, you are only 14 days old and already we love you SO MUCH!!

 

You might be able to tell who gets the MOST excited holding her new baby brother!!!