Brooklyn's Blessing

Brooklyn was given a name and a blessing by Mike on November 28th in Mike's parents ward. Mike's dad is the Branch President of the Lakeview Manor Branch and we thought it would be nice for him to be able to sign the blessing certificate. Mom Gardner had purchased the blessing dress for Brooklyn to wear on this special day in her life. It is interesting what we go through for her to wear for just a short time. She looked beautiful in her dress. We decided to have our brothers and brother-in-law to join in the circle. There were many who came to support us in this joyous occasion. All of Mike's family came and even some of his extended family. All those immediate family members in my family came and also Wendy. Afterward we gathered at Mom and Dad Gardner's house to have some food and take some pictures. It was a nice occasion.

Happy Thanksgiving

This year for Thanksgiving we were able to join Mike's family at his cousins house in Lehi. My assignment was to make rolls. I am still trying to figure out how to make things, take care of Brooklyn and not have it take all day. None the less, the rolls were a hit and we had a great time. I am really enjoying dressing up Brooklyn in holiday apparel. During the holiday break Mike's sisters were able to come out and meet Brooklyn for the first time. They sure do spoil her.

Our Little Bug

Halloween was a new experience for us this year as we had an addition to dress in a costume. I really wanted to dress Brooklyn in a bug costume because she is our little "BB". I waited too long to order a costume that would fit her so I decided to make one. I decided to make her a ladybug costume. I didn't have any patterns but make a simple but very cute outfit for her. She was able to wear her costume to a ward Halloween party and over to both her grandparents houses. Little did we know that two of her cousins would also be ladybugs.

Brooklyn is such a good baby!

Brooklyn has been home for over a week now and has been a great blessing in our lives. She is one of the world's best babies. She never cries and has only done a few times when we changed her. She did cry pretty hard when we gave her her first sponge bath and once when in the car. Other than that she doesn't cry. Not even to let me know she is hungry or needs her diaper changed. Most of the time she would even sleep through the night if not woken to be fed. These early days she needs to be woken, to give her nourishment and to make sure my milk is coming in properly. This has been kind of hard for me because she is such a sound sleeper. Sometimes I get her woken up but she falls back asleep just as we start the feeding. I was worried yesterday because I just couldn't get her to wake up. I tried lots of tactics and she just would not give in. Finally around 3 pm just as we arrived at Grandma Gardner's she decided she had been asleep long enough. She has done really well since then and has woken up long enough for me to feed her and has stayed awake for a little while. She is the most beautiful baby and we are so blessed to have her.

Brooklyn Heading Home

We were excited to finally be able to take Brooklyn home. It was really great that we didn't have to travel very far to get home. As nice as it was to be in the hospital I was ready to get out of bed and relieve some of that bed soreness.

Hospital Visitors

Tuesday morning at about 9:00 am we had our first visitors. Mom Gardner, Dad Gardner, Mark and Greg were the first to see Brooklyn. Around 12:00 pm came Mom Rothe, Dad Rothe, Peter, Camille, Morgan, and Nathan. Later in the afternoon Megan and Michaela showed up. It was nice to see all of those who were able to come and share in this momentous time in our lives. Each person seemed very excited to see her and love her. Our favorite part of the whole thing was Nathan, who is 4 years old. On their way up Peter said something like, "I bet she is adorable like Mike." Nathan's reply was, "You think Mike is adorable?" Well, yes Mike can be very adorable at times. After they arrived Nathan really wanted to hold her. We finally let him sit in Peter's lap while Peter helped him. Nathan proceeded to play peek-a-boo with Brooklyn almost whacking her in the face. He then said, "Babies like this." We thought it was so funny. Little kids say the cutest things. It will be so much fun when Brooklyn can talk.

Brooklyn Bonnie Rothe

Brooklyn Bonnie Rothe was born on September 28th, 2010 at 2:37 am. She was 8 lbs and 20 inches. I never thought that it would happen the way it did. I pictured myself in the middle of the night to start having contractions and going into labor. I would sit up all night timing the contractions. I would then let Mike know that it was time to go to the hospital. Well, that is not what happened. Here is the story. I woke up bright (well, not so bright) and early Monday morning, the 27th, at about 4:30 am. When I went to the bathroom I noticed a lot of bright red blood. My first thought was this is the "bloody show" I have been waiting for. Not that I really new what the "bloody show" consisted of. I cleaned things up and then decided to look up what the "bloody show" consisted of. As I read it said pink in color. This was definitely more than pink. Then it said if you see bright red blood to contact your doctor. I then called the after hours number and the lady on the phone said she wasn't sure what it meant but the she could call the doctor. I was a little reluctant to call because I didn't want to cause any undo concern in the middle of the night. I tried to wake Mike up to see what he thought. He wasn't sure and we decided to call Mom and Dad to see what they thought. They said to call the doctor. I then called the doctor and he said to go to the hospital and get it checked out. We arrived at the hospital around 6:30 am. They set us up in one of their labor and delivery rooms and put the baby's heart rate monitor on me and the monitor for the contractions. I was having only mild contractions and wasn't in real labor. After about an hour of monitoring they said I was still dilated to 2cm as I had been for the past two weeks. They called the doctor to see what he would have them do. They decided to have me get an ultrasound to see if the bleeding was because of the placenta detaching from the uterine wall. They were pretty busy in the imaging center so they said I would just have to wait until they were ready for me. Not long after they told me this the nurse came back in and said they would like to induce me. I was already after my due date and they thought this would be the best for me. They still couldn't explain why I was having the bleeding. They started the IV at about 11:00 am and got the Pitocin going. This started the contractions but things didn't move very fast from there. I didn't progress to 3cm until around 5:00 pm. Mike and I were able to play a game of cards and watch a movie. Mark even came and played a couple of rounds with me. At this time they asked if I wanted to start the epidural. The anesthesiologist was going into a C-section and wouldn't be available until about an hour later. I thought no I can handle the pain right now. Mike was there to let me squeeze his hands through the contractions. All my contractions were felt in my lower back. After making that decision I regretted it and was relieved that they came back and made sure that I didn't want it. I then decided to get it and it felt great. The needles going into my back were not as bad as I had imagined. During a lot of this time I had been talking to Mom and Dad letting them know what was going on. We expected that I would have the baby that day. This was not the case. I actually didn't reach 10 cm until about midnight and that is when I started to push. I pushed for 2 hours and just couldn't get her beyond the pelvis. I was so close but with each contraction I would push hard 2 times and on the third I just couldn't give it anymore. It didn't help that I was having heartburn and that third push made it really hard. I was grateful for the help that Mike gave me during this time. I just love Mike. He is the greatest! No husband compares to him. At this time the nurse decided to call the doctor and see what he wanted us to do. He decided it was time to come over and try getting her out with the vacuum. After resting for a little bit the doctor arrived. He told me I was going to have to do a lot in pushing to help get Brooklyn out. If the vacuum didn't work I was going to have a C-Section. Well, after just four strong pushes I was able to push her out. I was glad to have that over with. She is such a good baby and I was so happy to have her enter this world.