Our little miss Brooke Ann joined our family a little over a month ago. Her entrance into the world was speedy. I went to bed one night about 9:30 p.m. and woke up about 30 minutes later to what felt like could be a contraction. I started timing the contractions and woke John up about 10:45 p.m. My contractions were seven minutes apart, and I told him we may want to head to the hospital somewhat soon. We live about 45 minutes from the hospital. We got in the car about 11:15 p.m. At this point, my contractions were about five minutes apart and switched to two minutes apart while on the way to the hospital. The hospital staff took their time checking us in, and we weren’t officially admitted until 12:50 a.m. Because my contractions didn’t feel super intense, at first the staff didn’t realize how far along I was in the labor process. Less than an hour and a half after being admitted to the hospital (2:11 a.m.), sweet Brooke was in my arms. About 20 minutes before she was born, the pain was super intense. The epidural didn’t have time to kick in. John and I joked afterwards that while the pain was the worst of my life, that intense pain only lasted about 15 minutes, which really isn’t that bad (and for that I am super grateful!).
We love this new addition to our family. She was born with thick, long dark brown hair. I love her hair because I can already stick bows in it. During her first couple weeks of life, she pretty much only cried when she was hungry. She didn’t give any other clues she was hungry. So, when she cried, it seemed like she was at the point of being ravenous. John says she takes after me because when I am hungry, I NEED to eat or a different side of my personality appears haha. Little Brooke had some mild tummy trouble which made us sad to watch. Thankfully mylicon drops have been a lifesaver.
David seems so big compared to Brooke. It’s amazing how small babies are when they’re born and how fast they grow in that first year of life. Because David is a tangible, daily reminder of how fast babies grow, I’m trying to soak in all the newborn cuddles I can.
John took off work for two weeks when Brooke was born. I was so grateful to have him home. He was a champ taking some late night shifts with Brooke during those early days. He saw the worst of her tummy troubles in the middle of the night.
My mom stayed with us for a month. We loved having her here. She and David are best buds. She kindly took a shift with Brooke each night to allow us more sleep. She also taught David new skills like how to climb down the stairs (previously, he only knew how to go up the stairs) and how to blow kisses (he’s still not the best at that haha).
While having a newborn brings a substantial amount of fatigue during those early days and weeks, they also bring a sweetness and joy that is unparalleled by anything else. Sometimes when things get hard due to lack of sleep and/or having a baby and a toddler crying at the same time, I remind myself that I wouldn’t want things any other way. I’m grateful to have two healthy kiddos who are thriving.
Some background regarding Brooke’s name… Brooke has the same middle name as both of her grandmas and her paternal great-grandma. Her first name is derived from the surname of her maternal ancestors from Holland. Her ancestors from Holland have the surname of Van Tussenbroek. The last part of the name (broek) sounds like “Brooke.”
Moments of Meghan 