We would like to welcome the newest member of our family! Brooklyn Tiffany Farnsworth was born on April 9, 2021 at 6:39 pm. She weighed 7 pound 6 ounces and was 19 inches long. She is the cutest baby ever!! Okay I say that about all my babies but it's true. Brooklyn is our surprise, miracle baby that we are so happy to have in our family. We thought that we were done after Charlotte especially after my battle with cancer. We thought the chemotherapy had zapped my ability to have any more kids but there was one more little spirit in heaven that needed to come down to us. She is definitely a blessing and a miracle.
Throughout this pregnancy, I felt really tired. I think I am just getting too old for this. I had similar pains like I had with Charlotte. My sciatica hurt so I couldn't sit for long periods of time and of course it was hard to sleep. It was fun to feel the baby move though and the kids loved feeling my belly to feel the baby kick. Sometimes she would kick so hard that you could see it from across the room!
I was really worried thought out the pregnancy too. I don't know why but I was always wondering if everything was okay with the baby. I was constantly counting kicks and praying that the baby would be healthy and safe. Because of my age and health history, we did a few extra ultrasounds and checks to make sure everything was fine and thankfully the baby was always fine.
The day finally came that it was time to deliver. Her actual due date was April 10th but we decided to be induced on the 9th because Russell had the weekend off and my parents came up to watch the other kids. The Labor and Delivery unit called us at 5:45 am and we were at the hospital by 6:30.
After getting checked in and dressed, the nurse came in to do my IV. It took two pokes for some reason. I hate getting an IV because people always have a hard time getting my veins. With the IV going with pitocin, it was time to wait for the contractions and baby to come.
The contractions did come but they were not really helping anything progress. In the meantime, Russell and I played Head's Up on his phone which is kind of like Catchphrase. We played, watched TV, and Russell studied. By 3:00, I was so tired. I was tired from getting up really early as well as dealing with contractions every two minutes for the last 7 hours. I still had only dilated to a 3 and was only about 80 percent effaced. So I hadn't progressed at all.
I have never had an epidural before with any of the kids and I hadn't planned on one for this delivery either. After hearing I hadn't progressed at all, though, I realized I had a long way to go still. I decided to get the epidural for two reasons. First, I knew I had a ways to go and my mental game was not there anymore. Second, I was curious as to what it would be like to have an epidural. Since this would be my last pregnancy, I wanted to know what it was like. The nurse and the anesthesiologist both told me how safe epidurals were and took every precaution. I didn't even have to look at the needle and it really didn't even hurt to administer. After that, the contractions were really weird feeling. I could feel the contractions coming and going because my stomach would get hard but I could feel no pain. It was great! I was finally able to relax and they were able to up the pitocin a little bit. Over the next couple hours, I was able to get some rest. Because I wasn't as tense, my body finally decided it would progress with the delivery.
By 6:00 pm, I was finally fully dilated and ready to deliver. Once again though, like the other kids, this baby was facing the wrong way. Instead of facing down to the floor, she was facing up to see the ceiling. So, we still had to do some tricks, like lying on my side, to try and get the baby to turn. Finally, she did turn a little bit so the delivery would be a little better. The doctor came in and it was time to push and have this baby. Thanks to the epidural, I was still pretty comfortable. I was more aware of what was going on with this delivery because I was not in so much pain. This made the delivery completely different than the others. Typically by this point, I am just done and want the baby out, I don't want to talk or do anything but push. This time though, I was actually interacting with the doctor and nurses. At one point the doctor said, "Oh I can see her head and she has so much hair!" I said "Oh good!" During previous deliveries, I would have thought "Who cares!" Another cool thing about being more aware is that I actually had my eyes open and watched the baby be delivered! It was seriously the coolest thing ever! When the doctor laid this sweet little girl on my chest, everything was right in the world. You have no idea the peace and love and awe inspiring feelings you have at that moment unless you have experienced it yourself. It is unbelievable.
Brooklyn was a perfect, healthy baby from the moment was born. The nurses said she immediately pinked right up with her first breathe. They said that was the fastest they had ever seen a baby pink up. Because of that they gave her a perfect 10 on her Apgar Score.
She weighed 7 pounds 6 ounces and was 19 inches long. Emily was my smallest baby weight wise but Brooklyn was my smallest baby length wise. We just love her!
While I got stitched up, and rested, Russell watched as Brooklyn got all cleaned up and bundled up. She loved being swaddled and wrapped tight. We especially love her cheeks and her double chin!
One downside to the epidural is that my legs were dead and I could not walk for a few hours afterward. It was really funny because when the nurses told me to move my legs over to get in the wheelchair, my brain told my legs to move but I could not feel them move so I had to actually look down and ask the nurses if my legs had done anything. It was so weird. By the next morning though, my legs were back to normal.
Brooklyn was a perfect baby in the hospital, she slept and was a great little eater. She sucked her bottles with no problem and ate 1 oz every couple hours like she should. I am definitely going to have to get used to bottle feeding and knowing how much she is supposed to eat.
The next day, the nurse came in to give Brooklyn her first bath. She hated it...
But she looked so cute afterward! I love all of her dark hair!
I always said that none of my kids looked like me. They all look like Russell. Well, I think I finally got one that looks like me. Above is a picture of Brooklyn next to a picture of me at the same age. I think we look pretty similar!
She was so tiny in her car seat! We had to set it to the smallest size possible in order for it to fit. Coming home was the best feeling. All of the big kids were so happy to see their new little sister. They wanted to hold her, hug her, and just love on her.
This little one experienced so much love from all the kids. This must be what heaven will be like when we are reunited with all of our loved ones. I can't believe it! They had been waiting so long for us to come home and due to Covid, they could not come to the hospital to see us. It was definitely love at first sight for them. I can imagine them all up in heaven before they were born, like in Saturday's Warrior, talking to each other and Brooklyn saying "Don't forget about me." Today they were all united again! It was so beautiful.
We sure love this little nugget and can't imagine our life without her now. She is so sweet and precious.
I mean really, is there anything better than this? Just look at that face.
A lot of people have asked why we chose Brooklyn for her name. To tell the truth, we just liked it. I could never really pin down a name for her. With Emily and Charlotte, I knew their names before I was even pregnant with them but it was different with Brooklyn. One day Logan came home from school and said, "Why don't we name her Brooklyn?" (He has a friend at school with that name.) When he said it, I thought, "Yeah, I like it!" Plus, it went with Tiffany for the middle name. I wanted to name her after me for selfish reasons obviously but also because I am the fifth child in my family and she is the fifth child in ours. So there you have it, Brooklyn Tiffany. We sure love you Baby!
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