Brigs Birth Story

Better 2 months later than never, here is Brigham's birth story. At my 37 week doctor appointment I was dialated to a 3! I was so excited to already be dilated that much! I stayed at a 3 at 37 weeks and 38 weeks at that appointment my doctor told us that he would be out of town basically the whole next week besides a few days. I told him that I wanted him to deliver the baby so we scheduled an induction for Saturday the 20th, unless I went before. I was really hoping to go earlier because I didn't want to have to be induced. At my 39 week appointment (Monday the 15th) I had progressed to a 4. He said that because I was progressing so well he said he would be surprised if we made it to saturday. I asked him how I could get things going and he suggested Castor Oil or he said to go on a walk. So I went to the store and bought some castor oil, I heard that the stuff was nasty and I was nervous so I decided that I would take it the next day. When I got home from the store I was feeling some pressure so I started deep cleaning (my already clean house), I scrubbed my floors by hand because my sister told me that that is what she did to go into labor. By the time I was done I was having some cramps here and there. So I decided to take it easy for a bit and I wrote out all of my thank you cards. By the time I was done, around 2:00 pm I noticed that I was having cramps on and off so I called my sister. We started counting them and they were about 10 minutes apart and lasting about 30 seconds. She told me she thought I was in labor, but I wasn't sure. So when Nate got home we started counting them and they were getting closer together and more painful. I decided to get in the bath to see if they would stop or continue (I thought for sure that they would stop) but they kept coming and were getting more and more intense. They were coming every 5-7 minutes about a minute long. I decided that I had better get out and blow dry my hair so I didn't have to go to the hospital with wet hair. So I did my hair, stopping at each contraction. By the time I was done the pain was really bad when a contraction would hit, then I would be fine. All the while Nate was running around getting everything ready. He was nervous, I guess he didn't want to have to deliver the baby in the living room, go figure. He kept saying okay lets go to the hospital and I would agree with him until my contraction stopped then I assured him that I was fine. I did not want to go in and get sent home! So I called the hospital and they told me that I could come in if I wanted, but I could tell she was skeptical that I was really in labor. So I called my sister to see what she thought. As I called her I got a really bad contraction and couldn't talk through it, my sister told me go to the hospital right now! And as that was happening Nate said we are leaving now! Get off the phone lets go. So I agreed and we left, it was 8:00 PM. In the car I was in so much pain. I dare say the worst pain I have ever experienced. When I got there the lady at the desk asked if I was the one that just called. I told her I was and she told me to have a seat. As we sat and filled out some paperwork she was eyeballing me to see what kind of pain I was in. After a few minutes they took me to a room and we checked for dilation and I was at a 5. So they decided to keep me! I was relived. They got me hooked up and asked me what felt like 100 questions.

I was in so much pain. I wanted the epidural but I had to get the whole bag of fluid in me first. After I got the epidural almost instantly I felt better. It was heavenly. At that point I was done with all of the questions and Nate and I just hung out for a bit. Then my mom and sister got there and hung out with us for a bit and we all tried to sleep a little. (this was around 12:30 AM) Then my nurse checked me at 1:00AM and was unable to because my water was about to break. She guessed that I was close to a 10 but wasn't sure, so she went and called my doctor. He decided to come and break my water. He got there around 1:30AM and after he broke my water his head dropped and it was time to push! I couldn't believe how fast it was! So he got all scrubbed up and by 2:15 AM I was pushing. It was such an amazing experience I couldn't believe how calm and peaceful delivery felt (I guess thats one of the joys of an epidural). I didn't even break a sweat but I did feel swollen, loopy, and nauseous after. But it was all worth it.

Brig was here by 3:02 AM 7lbs and 2oz. Such a handsome healthy baby. We feel so blessed.

Newborn Photoshoot

Nate's sister, Alex took the pictures. I think they turned out great! We took them when he was 9 days old. I think for future newborn photo shoots, I will have them taken in the first week. We had a hard time keeping him asleep, but regardless I love them.

Brigham Wayne Messerly

Born on October 16, 2012.

Weight: 7 lbs and 2 oz.

Length: 20 in.

He is here and we are so in love with this little guy, words can't even describe. He is such a good baby and we feel blessed to be his parents. Nate's sister, Alex got some great pictures of him at the hospital. More to come on his birth story soon!

The Nursery is DONE!!

Get ready for a picture overload! After months of searching ideas and themes for Nurseries, I decided to go with a Mountain man/ lumberjack theme. I didn't want it to look baby like and I wanted it to look 100% boy. So this is where we started:

We basically used this room for storage and Nate used the closet for his clothes (our closets are mini). So we started by clearing out the room and moving nates "closet" to the downstairs bedroom, lucky guy gets a whole room as a closet.

We then measured the walls for the Baton Board. Baton board is SO easy and pretty cheap too, if you use plywood like we did. We decided we wanted to do short, stalky baton board. After we measured we went and bought the amount of plywood needed and used a table saw to cut it down to size and a nail gun to hook it to the walls.

We then puttied the cracks and nail holes, let it dry for a day, then sanded it down smooth. Then we wiped all the dust and painted the walls and boards cream. We just used better homes and gardens paint from Walmart and it worked out great! 

Then the Mustard Walls... I went out and bought the paint, Tan Almond (better homes and garden, again walmart). When I came home and showed Nate the color he said it looked like poo brown/ yellow. Aw crap.. then I second guessed my color choice and asked some family for their opinion.. most of the feedback was negative. After days of contemplation, I said lets just do it. So we did and turns out I LOVE IT! I rolled the walls while Nate did the edges, then he rolled the second coat while I sat in a chair and enjoyed a beverage.

  

                  Just incase you wanted to see our faces.. we were happy to be done painting!

Then the dresser. I searched probably over 30 yard sales this summer for a long dresser... nothing! I could not find one for the life of me. So I decided to try and easier route...KSL. I love the classifieds. We have bought and sold tons on there! So the second day I checked KSL I found this beauty:

72 inches long and 9 drawers for $20 bucks!! And all of the drawers work fabulously, it was just missing a pull.. which is no big deal at all. We went and looked at it and bought it that day! It did need some TLC, so I sanded the top a bit to smooth out the nicks and bumps, then I painted it. You can see the finished product in the room below.

Then the gallery wall. The diamond frames on the top, I found at a yard sale. And the mint green frames were from the DI. Other than that I had the other frames just at my house. We bought the wooden puzzle deer from Love Sac (on clearance for $10) a few years ago and had it in our basement. So we basically just pulled together what we had and made a gallery wall. We spray painted the frames and used a cherry spray paint for the deer to match the crib. You can see the finished wall in the room below.

My mom found this rocking chair at a yard sale as well this summer, for $4, you really can't beat that! It was broken and needed paint. So with a few screws and some paint it works perfectly! I love the detail in the wood. She painted it then used brown to distress and antique it. My sister made me that mountain man rag quilt, it matches the room perfectly! And look at that mountain man pillow! My mom bought him for me off Esty and gave it to me at my shower! I love it!

AAAAND DRUMROLL PLEASE..... The finished room!

My mom made all of the crib bedding, she really is so talented!

I love this crib skirt!

Bumpers

Quilt

Outside of the crib

Inside of the crib

And we added a strip of the crib skirt fabric to tie the curtains in with the crib:

We are so happy with how it turned out! Now all we need is the baby! There is 1 week and 4 days until my due date! I went to the doctor this week and I am still dilated to a 3 and I am 80% effaced. I really haven't been having any contractions yet, mostly just braxton hicks. My doctor is going out of town the day after my due date, I told him that I wanted him to deliver my baby so we scheduled an induction for Sunday the 21st (my due date). I really hope I go in to labor before then. I don't want to be induced and I want the excitement of going into labor on my own. But I would rather be induced then have some random doc deliver my boy. So we will see what happens, only time will tell.