half a dentist

On June 17th (Brynn's 2 month birthday) Brad received his white coat!

1/2 a dentist

This is a day that I have looked forward to since Brad started dental school because it would mark the halfway point of Dental School! Both of our families came into town for the occasion. The day was HOT but luckily the ceremony went pretty quickly.

Our Families

When they receive their white coat it signifies them moving to the clinical portion rather than the classroom learning. Brad LOVES being in the clinic so he is much happier. It also means that he will be able to spend more time with Brynn and me which makes me much happier. haha!  

sporting his white coat 

We are so proud of all the hard work Brad has put into dental school and it's crazy to think that I can officially be his patient now! I'm due for a cleaning so I'm sure it will happen soon! 2 years down, 2 to go! Then the fun of paying off these student loans! ;P

Our little family :)

Two Months

Our little Brynn baby turned two months on June 17th. It is hard to believe its already been two months, yet some days it feels like she has been here forever!

At two months old Brynn is weighing 10 lbs even. That seems huge to me but everyone always mentions how petite and dainty she is. She can still wear a few of her newborn outfits but she is mostly in 0-3 now. She has also graduated to size one diapers due to some serious blowouts!! (take a peek at my instagram if you want proof)

She is still a great sleeper for the most part. She wakes up at 2:30 to eat and then again at 6 but always goes back down until around 8:30am. We are pretty much on a schedule and it makes my heart so happy, and our days go much smoother when we stick to it. 

First Time to the Beach! 

We finally bought her a little playmat and she could spend all day talking to her little sea friends! It has been so fun to see her little personality come out a little more this month. She smiles more, coos more, and we have even gotten her to laugh a few times!

She is such a snuggly baby which makes us so happy. Baby cuddles make everything better. She loves to cuddle her little lovey blankets and it is the most adorable thing in the world. 

We can't wait to see what milestones little Brynn hits this next month. We love watching her discover the world around her! 

Brynn's First Month

Brynn turned a month old almost 2 weeks ago. I'm such a slacker for just now posting about it. Here is our girl at 1 month old

Ever since we brought Brynn home from the hospital she has been a great sleeper. She sleeps about 4 hour stretches and sometimes we get lucky with a 6 hour stretch. Of course she has her off days where she does 2 but those just make me grateful that it's not our normal.

We are in big trouble once we get to the teenage years because Brynn seems to give men the biggest smiles. Her daddy and dude have gotten the cutest ones but luckily she will give them to mom too. 

She loves tummy time as long as someone is down there with her and playing with toys. She loves to show us just how strong her head and neck muscles are. I'm pretty sure she thinks she's bigger than what she really is. haha.

She LOVES to be held. Which is perfectly okay with me because I love holding that sweet girl and luckily we have lots of family and friends that enjoy it too. 

Brynn is a very easy going baby so far. She cries when she's hungry or wet but other than that she is so content. We've had about 3 bad gas days but luckily gripe water always does the trick.

The girl LOVES the water. She always gives us the biggest smiles during bath time and loves getting her hair washed. We took her to the pool for the first time and she was in heaven, thankfully I see many pool and beach days in our future.

We can't believe it's already been a month. It's so bittersweet for me, but it's a good thing I know each age just gets better and better. We are so thankful to have Brynn in our lives and it's hard to imagine our family without her in it. 

A New Light

The other day I was talking to my cousin on the phone. She was asking me all about my labor and delivery and the topic of how Brad handled it came up.

I knew that Brad would be a champ during labor. He is in the medical field so I knew he would be fascinated by it all and that I wouldn't have to worry about him passing out. I however, was not prepared for how the whole process would strengthen and bring a new light to our relationship.

During my pregnancy I was always so worried about how I would be in labor. Like I have mentioned many times on the blog, I have serious white coat syndrome. I had many women tell me their labor horror stories, many stating that it was the closest a person comes to death. So to say I was terrified would be an understatement. I was worried I would do one (if not all) of the following: yell, say bad words, pass out, throw up, bleed to death...(luckily none of those happened). I had both my Dad and Brad give me multiple priesthood blessings as time got closer.

Anyways, I'm getting off topic. During my contractions and labor Brad kept telling me "you can squeeze my hand to help take the pain away." I never had the urge to squeeze his hand. I knew that the more I let my body relax the quicker my labor would go. During the transition stage of labor I was surprised on how I handled the pain. I didn't want to squeeze Brad's hand but I wanted him as close to me as he could get. At one point he was bent over the bed rails with his head in the curve of my neck. I wish I could've captured those moments in a picture to keep forever, but since I didn't I hope that those intimate moments we shared in that delivery room will always stay in my memory.

I feel like that was the most beautiful part of my labor process (until our Brynn came into the world, of course) and that it says a lot about how much Brad means to me. His presence alone got me through. Words will never be able to express how much those moments meant to me. It reaffirmed that ever since I met Brad, I never had to face anything alone. He was with me every.single.step of the way. I literally wouldn't have been able to do it with Brad. My epidural was more effective on my left side so I was completely numb. Brad acted as the strength of my left side and literally helped me with every single push. He stuck with me every single second of those two hours of pushing. I'm sure he was super sore because I know I felt like I had just ran a marathon.

It was a beautiful thing to see him get emotional as we brought our baby girl into this world together. He is such an incredible husband and father and I pray each night that one day Brynn will find a man who is just like her daddy, who will be with her through all of the ups and downs that life throws her way.

Introducing

Brynn Arrington Schmidt 

Born Sunday April 17th 2016

at 2:20 in the afternoon

weighing in at 6lbs 7oz and 19.25in long 

We have been in absolute heaven the past week with her in our home. I thought I would share her birth story before I forgot it. No worries I won't make it graphic, haha.

On Saturday the 16th (my due date) I started having contractions about 7 min apart at 4 pm. This wasn't anything out of the blue as I had been having contractions for the past week or so. By 5 pm they were 5 min apart so we called the doctor and she told me to labor as long as I could at home. By 7 pm they were coming every 3 min and were getting more intense.

Everyone always tells you to eat before you go to the hospital because once you are there you can't. So we stopped for Chickfila and I got a kids meal. I couldn't even finish it because I was in so much pain. So we headed into the hospital.

Anyone who knows me knows I have some serious white coat syndrome which makes my blood pressure soar. Well apparently with that and eating combined my contractions had slowed down back to 7 min apart. Because my blood pressure was high and we had an induction date set for Wednesday they decided they would just go ahead and admit me. So by 10pm I was admitted and they got me started on my IV and pitocin. 

I continued to have contractions throughout the night but nothing I couldn't handle. By 8am on Sunday the doctor came in and broke my water, I was at a 5 when she did that. It is the weirdest feeling ever. Once she did that I labored for another hour and a half before asking for the epidural. Goodness gracious was that epidural heavenly. I will never forget how the anesthesiologist looked, he had the biggest and pointiest ears I've ever seen and was so tall. 

I was comfortable until I started to transition but I went from a 7-10  within a hour. By 12 it was time to push. My epidural was messing with my contraction consistency so they turned it off right as I began pushing. After 2 hours of pushing Brynn finally made her appearance at 2:20pm. She came out with her hand right by her head which didn't make pushing easy, but she was here and healthy! Which is all we cared about. 

I honestly had the best nurses and doctors for each part of my labor and delivery. I had nurses that were very cut and dry when I didn't want them to sugar coat things and during my delivery I had the most encouraging nurse and doctor. I'm so thankful that Brad was there for me every step of the way. I honestly couldn't have done any of it without him.

We spent the next hour just loving our baby girl and spending time as a new family of three. That hour is one I will always remember and treasure. We are so blessed to have such an incredible girl and are looking forward to all the adventures we are going to have!  

Midnight Thoughts

The other night I woke up around 2:50 am. That seems to be a magical hour for little Brynn and I. She likes to wake up and stretch her legs, which always leads to me having to get up and use the restroom  or readjust how I'm sleeping so I can breathe. I really don't mind it and usually fall back asleep as soon as I get back in bed or get comfortable.

That night it took me a little longer to fall back asleep though. Which meant my mind was wondering with all kinds of thoughts. On this night specifically I thought about how soon it will no longer be just Brad and I and I got all kinds of emotional as he laid there asleep next to me.

This year Brad and I will celebrate 4 years together. It went by so fast that I can't even believe it. And while we are so grateful for the time we had just the two of us, we know how much better our little girl is going to make our lives. I got so emotional because I was looking at it from the perspective of the ending of an era but really we are about to enter the best years of our lives!

We are like little kids on Christmas Eve waiting for Santa to come as each day that passes we wonder if it will finally be the day we become a family of three. We are so ready to be able to bring our girl home and to love on her as much as we can.

a shower for our little southern belle

This past weekend we hit 37 weeks which is considered "full term". I use quotations because ideally babies need to make it to the full 40 weeks, if she is anything like me we will make it past that! haha. We got to celebrate though because it was baby shower weekend!

My friend, Katie did such a beautiful job putting on the perfect shower for baby Brynn and I! The theme was southern belle and it couldn't have been more perfect. The food was delicious, the decorations were adorable, and I was thrilled to have both family and friends in attendance! Baby girl is SO loved and got so spoiled!

Let's go back to the food because she served everything a southern girl loves from the cucumber sandwiches, tomato pies, to the incredible banana pudding and strawberry shortcakes. There were lots of other yummy foods to eat but those were definitely my favorites!

Katie had asked me what colors I was using in the nursery and based the shower color scheme off of that. I love that I will be able to use all of the adorable prints she made in the nursery once we move!

Baby girl received the cutest clothes and we finally have diapers and wipes so we have all the necessities ready for her to make her appearance when she is good and ready. I have another doctors appointment tomorrow and I'm so excited to see if I've progressed any further. This may be TMI (stop reading here if you don't want to know details) but last week I was already 2 cm dilated and 50% effaced. It blows my mind that in 2-3 weeks we could be a family of three!