Brylee Olivia...Happy Birth Day!

November 23, 2010, was a very special day for the Brokaw Family. The following is a photo diary of the events of November 23

Last belly picture at 40 weeks & 3 days pregnant. We left for the hospital at 5 am for our scheduled induction.

They started pitocin at 6:30 am. The doctor broke my water and by 10 am I was really feeling the contractions, so asked for an epidural. After the epidural, I was feeling much better.

To make a long story short, after pushing for 2+ hours and getting no where, (the last hour was without the epidural because they clamped it off hoping it would help me push), we ended up having a semi-emergency C-section. I was very unhappy, overwhelmed, & upset at first, but ended up with the prize of my life at the end.

At 3:24 pm, we welcomed our precious baby girl, Brylee Olivia Brokaw into this world.

My doctor & the hospital were GREAT! I was so worried because of the C-section, they were going to take her away & I wasn't going to be able to enjoy her first moments of life. But they kept her about 8 feet from me the entire time, and Bryan was able to come & go between

the both of us.
She was a healthy, big baby, weighing 8 lbs and 15 oz (1 oz shy of being 9 lbs! Big Girl!) and 19.5 inches long.

What a beauty!

I knew I would be emotional when I saw her, but I cried with such tears of joy when I got to hold & kiss her

Our first family photo. I was so swollen & puffy with fluids & meds (and a lot of crying), so I could barely open my eyes or smile.

I even love her crying (which I'm sure I'll enjoy less & less at 4 in the morning!)

What a proud Daddy! Bryan did SO GOOD during the entire process. He was there for me the entire time, and although doesn't enjoy all things medical, he handled himself like a champ during the C-section!

My super proud parents, who became grandparents for the first time last Tuesday.

Bryan's parents who waited so patiently for their first chance to see their new granddaughter.

Bryan got to perform the first diaper change Tuesday night.

We had such a great hospital stay, with great nurses and such a great doctor. Although Brylee didn't enter this world exactly how we expected, she was born healthy & happy and we couldn't have asked for more!

Day 282 Pregnant...last day!

I honestly can't believe I made it to 40 weeks & 2 days pregnant! And today is the last day of my first pregnancy. What a good pregnancy this has been. Tomorrow we head to the hospital at 5:30 am to be induced. I was really hopeful it would not come to that (and I guess I still have about 8 hours to go into labor on my own), but apparently my little girl is a stubborn one! For the last 3 weeks we have been playing the "waiting game," with Bryan's cell phone available at all times, expecting to go into labor at any moment. Who can blame us... I have been dilated to 4cm & 100% effaced for the last two weeks! But for some reason, she is happy & content staying put despite my body trying to get ready.

I am very grateful for such a smooth pregnancy. I was not sick at all, minimally tired during that first trimester, and able to work all the way up to last Friday (1 day shy of my 40 week due date!) And honestly, as I ran errands with my family today and passed by my work, I thought to myself, I really could have been working today (although having this weekend to relax and be with family has been very nice).

I have to admit I am a little nervous about this whole induction thing tomorrow (which is funny, because I have not been nervous about going into an unplanned labor this entire time). But mostly, I am just excited to meet our little girl! I pray she is healthy, beautiful, and sweet natured. I pray I have caring nurses who help me through this. I pray for my anxious & excited husband who tells me every day he can't wait to meet his girl.

We can't wait for everyone to come meet Brylee! We will do our best about updating this blog and posting pictures of our baby as soon as possible. Thanks for all your thoughts & prayers ahead of time!

Pumpkin Smuggler

Every year in downtown Wylie, the city does a Halloween expo called Boo on Ballard. We put a booth out in front of Bryan's office & hand out candy to about 3000 kids! It is fun, but tiring this year to say the least. We had a pirate theme this year, and a couple of Bryan's business neighbors downtown came up with the idea to make me a shirt that said "Pumpkin Smuggler" instead of having to dress up as a pregnant pirate. I loved it! (and we got a lot of funny comments about the shirt...the funniest of which were little kids who couldn't figure out if I really had a pumpkin under my shirt!) Bryan's office assistant, Judy, is the best in the world!
Now hopefully Halloween night will be full of Texas Ranger's baseball winnings!

26 Days?

So I normally don't look at the baby tracker on the top of this blog, but today it definitely caught my eye when it said "26 days left"! How can that be. It seems like just yesterday we were telling our family & friends about being pregnant. This pregnancy has flown by, to say the least. Which, keeping our baby a secret for about 4 months probably helped!

Bryan and I are getting really excited, and are still having a hard time imagining how this growing belly is actually going to turn into our own baby girl. This weekend we started getting ready for Brylee's big debut, semi-packing our bags, putting the car seat in the car, and of course, getting ready for the World Series!

Bryan is the biggest Texas Rangers baseball fan I know, and he is more than excited that they are playing in the world series. We both have tickets for Saturday night's game, and then Bryan has a ticket for Sunday night & Monday night. There is a slight bet whether Bryan will cry more if the Rangers win the World Series or at the birth of his daughter. And he has had many friends guarantee him I will go in to labor during one of the World Series games and he will have to make a choice whether to go to the game or take me to the hospital! For all of our sake, I'm praying Brylee waits until at least next Tuesday to make her debut.

I went to the doctor today, and got some good news, which included being dilated to 3-4 cm & 80-90% effaced already! Not that that necessarily means labor is imminent this week, but it does encourage me that hopefully I wont have a terribly long labor once this whole thing starts! The doctor gave me the ok to keep working & go to the Rangers game Saturday night, as long as I have an "escape" plan in case I get a little too excited Saturday. My mom delivered me and both of my two brothers at 37 weeks, which is this Sunday, so I am on a bit more "high alert" than normal. Bryan has been out of town this week from Sunday through Wednesday, and our biggest prayer was that Brylee wouldn't chose to come while he was gone. So far, she has listened to our request.

Brylee, we can't wait to meet you soon!

First Family Photo's....of Three!

Let's Go RANGERS!!

If you know my husband well, or even just a little, you know what a Rangers Fanatic he is! Some days it gets a bit crazy (and intense to say the least), but I love him for it and am so happy for him right now. The Texas Rangers have made it into their farthest playoff run in franchise history...and lucky Bryan, he has tickets to EVERY home playoff game all the way until the World Series (that is, if we make it that far)

On Saturday afternoon, we left Abilene at noon from ACU homecoming weekend to make it back to the first Rangers home playoff game. We met our friends the Holmes there, and were very excited to see a Rangers Win!

The pre-game fan fair was wonderful!

The sold-out crowd was their highest attending game in history!

Unfortunately, we didn't see a win on Saturday, but the Rangers pulled through last night and beat the Rays to move on the the next round of playoffs...New York Yankees, you're history!

Bryan is going to the first Ranger-Yankee home game in Arlington this Friday with Wade, and then Wendi and I are going to join them for Saturday's game! Go RANGERS!

ACU & ACHS Homecoming

Last weekend Bryan and I made a quick trip to Abilene for our 5 year ACU homecoming and Bryan's 10 year ACHS homecoming (the number's don't quite add up in my head either, but since ACHS is so small, they always have their homecoming the same weekend as ACU, and they don't go by graduation year, they go by 10 years from their senior year Homecoming...I don't know...)

Anyways, we had a great time catching up with some good friends and seeing Bryan's family. We got there Thursday night, and spent most of Friday participating with Bryan's high school graduating class. He graduated with about 20 other students, and about 10 were at the Homecoming football game Friday night. We had a good time.

Saturday morning, Bryan went to his Galaxy club breakfast while I met up with Ashley to have coffee and visit (6:30 am was just a little too early for me!) Then we headed to watch the Homecoming parade, which is my favorite time of Homecoming weekend because we see the most people and get to catch up.

My pregnant self (who happened to borrow a purple shirt just in time for homecoming... thanks Shara) and Ashley with her sweet girl Emma (who is soon to be Brylee's best bud!)

Happened to run into Kim & Jamie T at the parade... I get to see them weekly at church, but there is something so fun about seeing ACU grads back at Homecoming!

We had to leave early on Saturday, but before we did, we made sure we ate lunch at Harold's Barbecue! God Bless Harold for sticking in there for so many years!

We left before the ACU football game, which was heartbreaking for Bryan (he is a HUGE ACU football fan!)....but the heartbreak was made up by the fact that we had Texas Rangers Baseball playoff tickets. That post to follow!

We love you, ACU!