Brody's Birth Story

Our little Brody was born on April 1, 2012. It was a scheduled induction so we arrived at the hospital at 8:30 in the morning. Labor and Delivery was a little crazy at the moment so we just waited in the waiting room for our nurse to finish the delivery she was working on. Our nurse Carrie was able to get me checked in and hooked up to the monitors. Dr. Spencer came in around 9:00 and broke my water. He asked if we had any predictions on how long the delivery would be and I said 8-10 hours since Luke was 18 hours long. He said his guess was I'd have a baby by 2:00...this seemed super optimistic to me!

I have been feeling like I was in labor for the past three weeks. When Carrie first looked at the monitors she said she wouldn't doubt it and said I should probably get my epidural. I was a three and 100% effaced so I decided why not get the meds going and take some of that pain away!

My anesthesiologist was Dr. Silver. He was a sharp guy and really fun to talk to. By the time he left my room he had cost us quite a bit of money. He suggested a few books and an iPad cover that Mark quickly bought on Amazon.

After I received my epidural I was able to relax and read for a bit. Carrie came in to check on me about an hour later and I was dilated to a six. Mark thought he better grab some lunch so he headed downstairs to eat. In the meantime Carrie and I talked for about thirty minutes. Before she left my room she said she'd just check me one more time. In that short time I had progressed to a nine and I could feel him coming. She quickly called Dr. Spencer and got everything prepped for the delivery.

Dr. Spencer arrived at 1:55 and I was relieved because I didn't think I could keep him in much longer. Right when he arrived they got me ready to push. Mark took his position in the chair up by my head...he doesn't handle the delivery very well. I only had to push three times and he was out. Brody arrived at 2:04pm. Mark likes our babies to be washed right away when they come out, but I wanted to try skin to skin this time. I am so glad I did. It was so nice to sit and hold my little guy and comfort him instead of having him scrubbed down.

He weighed 7 pounds 1 ounce and was 20 inches long. It was so nice to finally have him here and get to see what he looked like. The first day we thought he looked a little different than Luke, but by day two we decided they were twins! Our hospital stay was very relaxing being able to just spend time with Brody. Grandma and Grandpa Talbot came to visit Brody in the hospital. Since Brody's middle name is Grant I just love this picture of Grandpa holding Brody and Brody looking up at him wide eyed.

It was hard not being able to see Luke while we were in the hospital. No one under 14 was allowed in. Each night my parents would bring Luke to the hospital so Mark could take him home. It was hard knowing that he was out in the lobby crying and wanting to see me and Brody. I was able to go out one night and see him. We decided to hold Brody up to the window so Luke could see him. He kept saying how sweet he was and wanted to give him a kiss. I was so excited when we were able to bring Brody home and be together as a family! We are so blessed to have this little guy in our family! I am so grateful for how smooth everything went and to have such a perfect and healthy little guy!

Easter Countdown

I haven't felt like that great of a mom lately because I am nine months pregnant and not a lot of energy or patience. I decided we needed to do something fun. I made this little Easter Countdown for Luke. Each egg has a number and then is filled with either an Easter treat or activity.

Today was our first day and it was an activity. We planted wheat grass for our Easter baskets. Luke thought it was pretty fun planting all the seeds and watering the dirt. However, he couldn't understand why we weren't outside using the tools. I thought wheat grass would be perfect because it sprouts in just a few days and will be long and ready by Easter. The boys' Easter baskets will be super cute with living grass growing out of them! Can't wait!

Quite the Name

If there is one thing Luke is good at lately it's coming up with names. He comes up with the craziest names and we have no idea where they come from. Tonight we went to Sweet Tooth Fairy and Luke chose the mud cupcake complete with a gummy worm. His worm became a friend instead of food and he named is Doushy. He names every stuffed animal and dolly we own. Our favorites are Soda, Porklin', Butterscotch, and Puddin'. Quite the imagination this little guy has!

Basket for Brother

I was pretty excited when I found out that this baby was a boy because it meant that he would be able to use all of Luke's cute baby items. Their birthdays would only be days apart and everything would fit him perfect. It wasn't until lately that I started to feel anxious because I felt like I hadn't really bought anything for the little guy. I know that we are ready for him, but it just feels weird. Today my mom showed up with the cutest little basket for the baby. I told her not to worry about getting him anything, but she still felt like he needed a few of his own items! She crocheted two super cute receiving blankets, two bibs, sewed this soft little quilt, and bought him a few little outfits. I can't wait for the baby to use these items. Thanks to my super talented and thoughtful mom! Love you!

Sleep Shirt

Luke has decided that he doesn't need pajamas anymore. His new favorite thing to sleep in is one of Daddy's Skullcandy shirts. They are huge on him and he is always tripping and falling, but this doesn't stop him from wearing them to bed. Lukers feels pretty cool knowing that he is sporting some Skullcandy attire while he sleeps!

So Ready

Obviously this pic isn't that current...my tummy is definitely not this small anymore. I am now 36 weeks along and so ready for this pregnancy to be done. Luke keeps asking me to get his brother out. It has been a long pregnancy, but it has definitely been fun seeing how Luke reacts to the whole thing.

When I was first pregnant and super sick Luke told everyone that he had a baby in his tummy that was making him sick. He would even go as far as to gag himself and throw-up. Luke came to almost every single doctor appointment with me and he started to think that Dr. Spencer was a pretty cool dude. A few times I caught Luke playing Dr. Spencer with Callie. She would put a dolly up her shirt and Luke would help her get the dolly out. One day he even used a saw and hammer to get the baby out...that's when Santa put a doctor kit on the list! Luke has already bought brother his own Baby. He has been worried that brother would steal his froggy.

Luke's big thing lately has been what he is going to teach his brother. He'll remember the little things that we had to get after him for and Luke will tell us that he'll teach brother about that. Like how he will tell brother not to touch Mommy's pretties. Luke will remind me that he'll put brother in timeout for me...such a helper.

The name has been a major problem this pregnancy. Mark named Luke so he said I could name this baby. I really wanted to name him Brody from day one. I had a student named Brody and fell in love with him. Mark went along with it for a little bit, but towards the end of the pregnancy started to change his mind. Now we have no idea what to name this little guy. Luke still calls him Brody. Mark just teases about names...Doyle, Raghib, Chuck, and the list goes on. Right now it is between Brody and Rockwell and I don't want to decide.

We are so ready for our little guy to get here and we can't wait to meet him. It will be so fun to see how Luke is with him. Hopefully he comes soon!!!

My Little Worker

One thing that you can say about Luke is he is a worker. I have never even taught him how to do the dishes and he almost always does his dishes when he is done eating. He pulls a stool over to the sink, rinses his dishes off, and puts them in the dishwasher. Luke loves to help scrub toilets, wipe the mirrors, and put clean clothes away...such a helper. Tonight I looked over and there he was in his underpants doing the dishes without even being asked. I love this little guy! Can't get enough of him!