Where have the last 7 weeks gone...

I absolutely cannot believe how fast the last 7 weeks have flown by. I have tried to get on here and write quite a few times and have gotten about a paragraph down until I have to do something else. Life with a baby is never boring. Somehow I never quite find the time to sit down long enough to write down my thoughts. But here it is... finally after 7 weeks of motherhood... I absolutely love it! Let me back up to where I left off though.

The last day of work before I delivered (41w 2d).

I had so badly wanted to just go into labor on my own, but as the days just kept dragging on and on, I finally caved and decided to get induced after being 10 days past due. I ended up working right up until the day I delivered, which really helped pass the time.

July 27 - We headed to the hospital around 6:30am. I was so excited...in only a few hours (ha) I'd be holding my sweet baby girl for the first time. The Doctor broke my water at about 9am and started me on pitocin. Only being 1cm dilated, the day seemed to drag on.

Around noon, my contractions were getting very strong and painful and I got my epidural shortly after. Best thing ever! I was able to relax (for the most part) the rest of the day and enjoy my visitors while I waited for my body to hurry up and get things rolling. I feel so incredibly blessed to have so many wonderful people in my life that love and care for me. With four baby showers, I received everything I could possibly need and more. Thanks to those of you who made this event so special for me and were there when I need you.

 After a very long and exhausting 13 hours, finally at 10:30pm Brynlee entered into this world weighing 8lb 5oz and measuring 20in. She was absolutely perfect!

It was the best feeling in the world to have her in my arms. She was so delicate and precious. It made the whole long, miserable pregnancy and labor sooo worth it.



The next few days is a blur. I guess it's what people call "survival mode". I slept when I could, tried to get used to the fact that Brynlee was no longer inside me and soaked up every minute.

Before I knew it, it was time to take Brynlee home. I was so ready to be leaving the hospital and be back in my own house, but at the same time, I was slightly overwhelmed at the thought that I wouldn't have a nurse to show up at my every call. On the way out of the hospital, our lovely nurse decided to cut off Brynlee's anklet before they disarmed the alarm and it locked down the entire labor and delivery. It was quite amusing watching the very large security guard come running up to check on things. If someone was really stealing a baby, I'm not sure he would've gotten there in time. It seemed that nobody knew the password to turn the alarm off. After about 10 minutes of waiting, they were finally able to turn it off and let us leave.

And what can I say... Is life with a baby everything it's cracked up to be? I think so, and maybe a little more. :) Yes, it can be challenging and exhausting at times, but so worth it. I've definitely had to adjust to alot of things, but we are figuring it out one day at a time. It definitely takes so much longer to do everything. I feel so blessed to have such a good baby. She hardly cries and loves to sleep, just like her mommy. :) Here is a real quick update on what we've been up to in the past 7 weeks...

1 week old

Our 3 year anniversary fell one week after I had Brynlee. My 2 wonderful sisters drove up from Chattanooga and hung out with me for the day, and then watched Brynlee for an hour so that I could go out to dinner with Brad. It was a little hard to leave her and I'm pretty sure I cried a little, but it was really nice to have an hour alone. 

2 weeks old

We went to Brynlee's cousin's 2nd birthday party and even managed to get a cousins picture with the grandparents.



3 weeks old



4 weeks old


 At 4 weeks, I packed up Brynlee and we headed down to Myrtle Beach for what was supposed to be a nice, relaxing vacation with my family. It turns out that vacations aren't as relaxing with kids. :) We still had a bunch of fun though! Brynlee got to meet her great-grandparents and learned that her great-grandpa is a complete nut. :)

5 weeks old

It was Brad's 26th birthday, and as the tradition has come about, we decided to go camping. Brynlee's first camping trip and she did great. We just chilled by the fire and whatnot.

6 weeks old


Despite the adorable distraction Brynlee can be, Brad has been working so hard and has gotten a promotion. Brynlee started to intentionally smile too. It's so cute!

7 weeks old

I'm back to work and trying to get used to that. It's nice to have a little break, but at the same time I miss her terribly and can't think about much else. That was a quick summary of the past 7 weeks in my life. Hopefully I will do better keeping up to date with all of the latest developments from a day in the life of a new mom. :)

Pregnant and miserable...

With 20 days until my due date, some days are definitely better than others. And some days I struggle to make it through. The other day just happened to be one of those days. I was having terrible neck pain. Not to mention that it never feels like I can get enough air these days. And then I started feeling light-headed. If only I would feel this way from the moment that I woke up, because then I would call into work and sleep it off for a couple more hours. But of course it never sets in until I’ve been at work for at least half an hour or more. Then I am stuck at my desk trying to keep my head up. Not so easy when all I feel like doing is laying down for a bit. But when I do try and lay down, I pinch nerves in my hips which cause more pain. I’ve really started to master “the waddle” too. Oh sweet baby, I know this is definitely all worth it for you, but would you please make your grand entrance soon. I don’t know how much more of this I can take.

Last week we preregistered at the hospital, so now when the time comes, it’s straight to labor and delivery. Yay! I was really impressed with the hospital. Everything is so new and clean. We can get complimentary valet parking when I come to deliver the baby. The rooms are nice and big with a pullout couch for Brad, free Wi-Fi, and a whirlpool tub that I get the luxury of enjoying after delivering. All in all, it should be a wonderful place to deliver.

My fourth and final baby shower with some of the ladies from the Brewery turned out perfectly. I was so very excited to be able to spend some time outside of work with them. It was such a wonderful and relaxing evening filled with laughter, awesome food, and great friends. I feel so blessed to have had so many wonderful showers from so many wonderful people. It’s nice to know that I’m loved.

Yesterday we ventured out to a water park with some friends. I wasn’t too sure what I would the whole time there since I can’t go on the slides. Luckily, despite the nasty weather in the morning, it cleared up to be a beautiful sunny day and I spend many hours floating on the lazy river. I have a very red belly to prove it too.

Tonight marks my last stretch of 3 days working at the Brewery. I’m looking forward to having my afternoons off to enjoy our recently opened pool, washing and sorting Brynlee’s clothes, and just getting everything in order before she gets here. Until next time, I will continue to try and get comfortable and get enough oxygen to my brain so I can function. J

Flying through June...

We are already a week into June and the time has just flown. This excites me so much, because I know the rest of the month is going to fly by too. I don't have a picture of my calendar, but it looks something like this:

I have something written on practically every day. Here are some of the things that I have planned for this month:

• A shopping day with my sister
• Volunteer work day at camp
• My cousin's wedding in Atlanta
• A 4 day Primerica convention in Atlanta
• Father's Day
• My friend's wedding
• Dr's appointments
• Helping out with VBS
• Another baby shower
• My friend's wedding shower
• Etc.

I think you get the picture. I have to squeeze everything in now so that I can relax all of July. :) Speaking of relaxing, I decided to take the night off from work and just relax a bit. Last night I think I pushed myself a little too hard and went home in a lot of pain. I woke up not fully recovered so I decided not to overdo it and take a little break. What would be a nicer way to relax than laying out by the pool. Unfortunately ours hasn't opened yet.

They were supposed to open it Memorial Day weekend, and apparently ran into some problems. A week and a half later, and it still isn't open, while I've been melting in our record-breaking high temperatures. Yes, it has been a fun summer so far. :) I've been staying cool by munching on ice (my new favorite thing). 

It has perhaps been my only real craving during this pregnancy. I've been stocking up on Sonic ice at home. You can buy a bag of it for less than $2. That has been my life saver. 

In other news.... yesterday for the first time, a stranger touched my belly. She was one of my customers at work. It really caught me off guard. It was a very uncomfortable moment for me. If she hadn't been so nice, I think I would've been far more bothered by the incident. Hopefully that doesn't happen again.

I feel so blessed to have such wonderful friends and family in my life. I have had 2 baby showers in the past week. The first one was a surprise thrown by my work. It was such a lovely little cookout and I received some wonderful gifts. The next one was thrown by all our friends at church. We had a lovely breakfast bar with pancakes and dozens of toppings. It was so nice. And I still have one more shower thrown by all my girls at the Brewery. I feel like the luckiest girl in the world to be surrounded by such love.

I'm having my maternity pictures taken this weekend. Stay tuned for the finished product. :) 

Along came Brynlee...

In my quest for inspiration for my blog yesterday, I just ended up wasting my time browsing through a mess of websites. I got so caught up in it, that before I knew it, I had run out of time. So today I'm simply going to start writing and see where it takes me.

I know I've slightly failed at being an excellent blogger and I always vow to do better the next time, but this time I really am going to try and blog at least once a week. So let me catch you up....

After months of anticipation, I found out that my sweet baby is a girl. You would not believe how excited I was to hear that news. Tears of joy poured from my eyes. Although I have a feeling that had I found out it was a boy,  I would've had the same reaction. I was just so happy to know what I had been carrying. The search for the perfect name then began.

Little did I know how difficult it would be for my husband and I to agree on a name and both be excited about it. But one thing that I've learned about my husband over the years, if he doesn't like it at first, give it some time and it'll grow on him. So I began throwing out all the names that I liked and watching his reaction on them. If there was even the slightest bit of interest, I'd keep using that name. After what seemed like forever, I finally got him to agree on a name with me, and somehow I think it just fits perfectly...

Brynlee Elizabeth Adams

I definitely didn't pick Brynlee for it's meaning. In fact, I didn't even know the meaning of it until I started doing some digging. I was slightly disappointed by what I found.

• The Welsh meaning of Brynlee is Hill Meadow
• The English meaning is Burnt Meadow

It honestly doesn't matter. I mean, who comes up with these meanings anyways. To me, Brynlee will mean my sweet angel. And that's all that matters. 

As for Elizabeth, she is being named after both my mother (who has always been my role model and my hero) and my husband's mother (who has taught him everything he knows and turned him into such a wonderful person). I think it's very special that she'll share that name with both of her grandmothers. 

Stay posted..... more to come!

Which will it be?

This perhaps is the age-old question. I couldn't even tell you how many people have already asked me what I'm having. Unfortunately that is still up in the air. However, there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Two days from now, I will finally know my precious baby's gender. In the meantime, I have been doing some research and talking some polls. Here is what I've come up with and my conclusion...

The results from the first gender test I took left me uneasy. It was inconclusive as to whether I'd have a boy or a girl. So I guess the only possibilities there are twins or a hermaphrodite. I'd opt for the first.

The second test favored me having a girl, but only by 58%.

The famous Chinese predictor was sure that I'm having a boy.

The last test I took also predicted a girl.

My psychic coworker is convinced I’m having a girl, along with another coworker who told me that she’s good at calling these.

I've had my mother, sisters, and friends all guessing that I'm having a girl. However, I've dreamed twice that I'm having a boy.

According to other info, I'm having a boy because:

• I crave salty foods.
• I carry my extra weight out front.
• I crave cheese.

I'm having a girl because:

• I had morning sickness early in pregnancy.
• My baby's heart rate is at least 140 beats per minute.
• I am craving fruit.
• I have broken out more than usual.
• My breasts have really blossomed. 

As to whether I'm carrying low or high, I don't really know. I'd have to compare my belly to someone else in order to be able to tell that. 

It seems like there is a lot of support for both sides, sooooooo...

What's your guess?????  

Stay tuned for results on Thursday!