Brooklynn May Foster

I’m delighted to be updating the blog with the heartwarming news of the birth of our baby girl.

Meet Brooklynn May Foster. Born on February 14, 2015. 8 lbs. 8 oz. 20 inches

We are absolutely in love with our little valentine.

Birth story

On Thursday, February 12 I had an OBGYN appointment to have a sweep done to see if we could get this little munchkin to evacuate the premises. I was huge and uncomfortable and overdue (due date was Feb. 10). Appointment went well. I had been dilated 1 cm for weeks and nothing had changed. Doctor said that if the sweep worked then I would go into labor within 24-48 hours.

That evening, around 6 p.m. while preparing dinner, I started getting contractions. I started timing them and realized that they were coming about every 2-3 minutes and lasting anywhere from 30 seconds to 1 minute. Josh got home, we had dinner and debated going to the hospital, but I decided that I wanted to labor a while within the comfort of my own home. Plus, I could still talk through the contractions so I knew they weren’t strong enough yet. Around 11, I sent Josh to bed and told him I would wake him up if I needed him. I figured that one of us should get some sleep. The contractions continued and started increasing in intensity. I tried going to sleep to see if they would stop, but they were painful enough that I knew that sleep wasn’t going to be an option.

Finally, around 4 a.m. I woke up Josh and told him that I was ready to head to the hospital. We got there and headed to triage. The nurse told me that I didn’t look like I was in enough pain to be in labor (eye roll). They took my vitals and finally hooked me up to a monitor and checked my cervix. I was only dilated to 2 cm, but the nurse was surprised at the strength and frequency of the contractions. They gave me some fluids and told me that I wasn’t dilated enough to admit me, but that I could try walking around for an hour to try and get dilated more. So Josh and I walked around for 2 hours.

When I went back to triage, basically nothing had changed. I was still at a 2 and the contractions were still the same. They called my doctor and she told me that they could either induce me or they could give me some morphine to ease the pain of the contractions and send me home.

I hadn’t wanted to be induced, but by this time I had been awake all night and was extremely tired and ready to be done with the pain, so I opted to be induced. It was about 10 a.m. when I got moved to labor and delivery and immediately met with the anesthesiologist. I opted for a walking epidural initially so I could move around to help with the dilation. Once the epidural was in place Josh and I walk the halls again and I was given a birth ball to bounce on to help move things along. During this time I was feeling pretty good. I threw up a couple of times, but things were manageable. Well, the Pitocin, fluids, blood pressure dance began and day turned to evening and evening turned to night. At some point the contractions got too painful for just the walking epidural so I got the full epidural and was bed bound from that point forward. My body was taking forever to dilate. The nurses kept telling me to sleep, but they had the pressure cuff thing on me that kept waking me up every 10 minute to take my blood pressure, so no sleep for me sadly.

Around 1 a.m. I had finally dilated to a 10 and was at a point where I could start pushing. I’ll spare you some of the gory details here, but suffice it to say that I pushed for over three hours and it was undoubtedly the most physically demanding things I have ever done. I was so tired that I could hardly open my eyes. At 4:21 a.m. Josh and I finally got to meet our baby girl. She was a whopping 8 lbs. 8 oz (well, large for a Morley baby…I blame Josh on how big she was, haha). Holding her for the first time was one of the best feelings in the world. I’m so glad she chose Josh and me to be her parents.

I wanted to give a huge shout-out to my incredible husband, Josh. He was my rock, my cheerleader, and my advocate. He was so strong for me. I love him so much!!

Here are a few pictures of our valentine.

Roses are red

For the few that only read my blog and aren't on Facebook, our family of 2 is going to be a family of three! Clearly Josh and I like to do major life changes and events on top of each other. First the move, Josh has a new job, and soon we'll have a baby! I guess that's just how we roll.

Florida is awesome! We're all settled in a cute little town home in the lovely town of Windermere. We're both still adjusting the the heat, but I'll take it over the cold any day. It has been fun to see some friendly faces from our time here before. Josh and I both hope that Orlando will be home for a long time. We are both tired of moving across the country.

Most people want to know how I've been feeling--not bad! I had a rough 1st trimester, but my nausea has finally subsided. Aside from a never-ending backache and getting used to being more round, I feel like I'm doing pretty darn good. The other question we get asked is if we have decided on a name for baby girl. Truth be told, no we haven't. We are narrowing it down to a few names that we really like and then we'll decide on one once we meet her. Our lips are sealed until she's here and named!

Migrating south

Sometimes there's a change in the wind, and you have to adjust your sails because you know you are about to be blown in a different direction. Josh and I were taking a walk a couple of months ago, and I told him that I felt that our time in Idaho was coming to a close. Sure enough, a much-desired position with a great company popped up a couple of weeks later. Josh is thrilled about his job offer, and we are looking forward to moving back to Orlando -- a place that holds many happy memories and dear friends.

Yes, I'm sure there will be some eye-rolling as people realize that this is my fourth move to Orlando. I guess that's just how life goes sometimes. Perhaps fourth time's a charm.

We'll be heading out the last week of August and are in the midst of packing our lives up here and getting details worked out for our life down there. Moving is such madness!

We've had a wonderful two years in Rexburg, and I will be sad to say my farewells. My heart always tugs a little bit for Idaho when I'm not here. Luckily, I can always hop on a plane when I miss the people and the mountains a little too much.

Here's to a bright new adventure!

I hope that April snow showers bring May flowers

I figured I'd write a quick update about what we've been up to since our trip to Hawaii.

We've been cold! January-March is one of the toughest times of the year 'round these parts. It's cold with a side of freezing! Luckily, I think we're almost to spring. The Rexburg wind is picking up and hopefully it will blow winter away without blowing us away! Skirts are dangerous to wear during this time of year.

Josh has been his usual charming self. He works hard and occasionally let's me beat him in rummy and Monopoly Deal. He's been doing some very impressive work at the BYU-Idaho Center. He wouldn't want me to brag too much, but he's really contributed a lot to the university. He continues to impress me with his cooking skills.

I'm mostly just trying to stay out of trouble. I'm enjoying my job and always finding ways to spend our money (haha, kidding - mostly). I've unsuccessfully tried out for two musicals and was only offered choral parts in both which has been disappointing. I'm counting down the days until it's warm enough for us to spend some time outside!

We have a couple of fun trips planned for the upcoming months. My brother, Tim, is coming home from his mission in just over a week! After spending a couple of weeks in Florida, he'll be heading to Boise for a couple of months to see family and try to make some money. So Josh and I will be driving up to Boise to spend time with my family.

In early May, my parents will be coming to visit us in Rexburg! We are so excited to have them come. Let's hope the weather behaves for them!

As soon as my parents leave, we'll be heading to Houston for a few days to spend time with Josh's family. It has been way too long since we've seen the Foster family, so we are really looking forward to our time with them.

Life is great!