Out little boy wont be so little much longer!

Today Brigham went to the doctors for a weight check---and he has gained 12 ounces in one week! He is 6 lbs 4 ounces!!! The doctor said that the average weight gain is 1/2 oz. to 1 oz a day, and our little Briggy is doubling those numbers!!! We are so proud of our little guy...hopefully he'll keep up this rate and then some and he'll be seven pounds next week :)

Thanks Auntie Jessie and Uncle Collin for all the yummy fruit!

I finally figured out how to add pictures!!

We havent taken a ton of pictures yet with this camera, but dont worry, there will be plenty more--especially now that i figured out how to hook the camera up to the computer. I took some pictures of his room (its a little messy) and some of Brig. He's either eating or sleeping...so no great action shots yet.

oh! how could i forget this fun little fact! turns out the cold that ive had (and still HAVE) is pnemonia. i have flippin pnemonia.

Oh my goodness we have a baby!

For whatever reason, no matter how planned, organized and articulate i try to be, my life is one big silly disaster. well, not a disaster....just like the ride at all local fairs that spins you in all crazy directions so you feel like youre going to lose it and fly out, but somehow you manage to stay in---thats pretty much me in a nutshell. Anyway, all day friday i spent shopping and decorating for my baby shower in connecticut with my mom and little sister. we were out and about all day long and i was feeling fine. in the evening i started to get a little tired and was resting more than normal on the couch--directing my mom and danielle on how to set up everything....then i started to feel pretty cruddy. i called my midwife and she said she wanted to see me in the morning for a stress test, and to just get home soon. (it was about 5:30 pm) as i was thinking about driving home, and my cruddy feeling intensified my mom and dad suggested maybe going to the emergency room just to get checked out. i called my midwife back. i told her that these "pains" were probably braxton hicks and that i was just probably over reacting, but they didnt cease...there was no contraction-five minute break- contraction again...it was just full on achiness. My midwife agreed, and said to go get checked out immediately. I called Tom and told him to meet us in CT at the hospital, that it was probably nothing, but they were going to check me out for not feeling well. Tom left work in mass and headed down....My parents drove me to the emergency room in Torrington. I was in an evaluation room when the nurse was asking me questions and checking things...i just remember her giving me this crazed look and said "Youre SEVEN centimeters dialated! We need her in a delivery room!" They wheeled me into another room, hooked me up to everything, and thats when i asked--i am supposed to have a midwife and an epidural! she said, "we dont have midwives, we have doctor mashburn--HES really nice. and as for the epidural, i'll ask the doctor but i dont think thats in the cards for you at this point." I started to feel nauseas. I NEED AN EPIDURAL--i planned on it! Theres no way i can push a baby out with medication--i think at this point i was hallucinating a bit. i just remember my mom shoving ice chips in my mouth and me saying "where is tom. my husband, where is he?" take into consideration the speed of all this. id say i had been there for about an hour now, but it honestly felt like 15 minutes. The doctor came in, my water broke, Tom arrived, held my hand, the doctor said "sorry! no time for an epidural!" i said "i need to push" and that i did. The doctor continually referred to Brigham as a "little critter" as i was huffing and puffing--which i thought was pretty cute. By 9:44 pm Tom and I were parents to a ridiculously handsome little boy. Little he was. Because he was four weeks early he didnt have much meat on his bones. He was only five pounds and fourteen ounces. the doctor assured me that that was a great weight for his age. Oh, and he was 18 inches long. His head circumference was 13 inches. He is a maniac when it comes to eating, so i feel pretty confident that he'll chunk up pretty soon! We all stayed in the hospital for quite a few days (friday night until wednesday late morning) Because he was a preemie, his jaundice had to be monitered. it was a little higher than they wanted to see, so they had him under the special bililight incubator for a whole day. On Friday we went to our peditrician to have Brigham checked to make sure the jaundice was taking care of itself, and it turns out the number is going down. phew. ive been sort of a nervous wreck about all of that. My dad took some pretty cute pictures with his I phone when we were in the hospital, so he's figuring out how to put them on the computer, Tom and I are taking digital pictures--Im just waiting for him to get home tonight and hopefully figure out how to put them on the computer (im slightly behind in this technology-filled world) anyway, hopefully tonight or tomorrow i will be able to post a few pictures of my little man.

Isn't this picture so sweet? I wanted to write a little dedicatory blog on the prophet, Thomas S Monson. This picture of him is absolutely adorable. President Monson has family in a ward very close to my home ward in CT. Last year he spoke and I was able to attend. I had just moved back from Utah and was very uncertain if I was "mormon" enough to withstand the pressures of old friends and family that just did NOT comply with my new-found standards. Well, I was probably third or fourth row--really close and dead center. I cant remember everything he said but I do remember him saying (and of course, it felt like he was staring directly at me) "you are worth it. you know what you can be and who you should be. you have the faith and the means to endure..." something to that affect. I think he was referencing a woman who was going through some troubles when he was a young bishop many years ago. President Monson is a smart guy. I think he's wonderful, and although President Hinckley's passing was hard for me, I am grateful for the priesthood and true apostleship the Church of Jesus Christ has. I am also very excited that President Uctdorf was called. He has a glow and happiness that for me symbolizes what the Church has to offer. This is a favorite Monson quote of mine:

"Choose your friends with caution; plan your future with purpose and frame your life with faith"

One More Month!

I can't believe we are going to have our little briggy in ONE MONTH (or less...) I'm hoping he'll be a few days late so he can be our little leprachaun on Saint Patrick's Day. Its all becoming more and more real the closer we get. I'm pretty sure i've read just about every baby book, and as great as the wisdom and advice is, i am just plain terrified. everyone assures me (kelly-- not tom--he doesnt freak out about anything) that instinct will kick in and i'll just know what to do...but im not the sharpest tool in the shed--i just dont want to mess this little guy up.

Last year around this time I somehow convinced my dashing fiance to buy me a second diamond ring for valentines day, but this year since things are a little different and priorities are A LOT different, we decided that we are just going to make a little build-a-bear love gift for our little boy--the kind where you can put in a cheezy recording of tom and I talking mushy and telling him how much we love him. that's pretty much the excitement for our romantic valentines day. And YEA! for babies. Tom's good friend Nate and his wife Kelsey just told us they are expecting their first little one in August--so our little kiddo's will be five months apart. Brig is also close to his cousin Addison in age too--just 6 months apart. Hopefully someday we will live close by so Brigham will have some good friends! Someday....but for now, western massachusetts will have to do.