Eyes open

Adjusting to 3

So busy, it is crazy getting adjusted to 3 kids.  Pretty much eliminated most of our free time, and has added to our exhaustion level.  Hoping we can get adjusted soon!  Here is another Brielle pic.

Mandy's Status Update

Mandy had her check up yesterday and so far she is recovering well, yeah!  Lots of things have been keeping me busy, mostly hanging out with the boys and just having fun with them while we adjust to the new addition to our family.  After about a week, I just love Brielle more and more.  She is such an amazing gift from God, and I just love being mezmerized by her in every way.

Sleeping Away

So far Brielle has been doing great and meeting all of her benchmarks.  All of that work has been wearing her out.

Sweet Dreams Brielle

Big Brother Noah

Safe to say Noah is as in love with Brielle as we are.  While holding her today he said,"i love you so much Brielle and never want anything bad to happen to you".

-Proud Dad

Nap Time

One grandpa left this morning and the other is due to leave this afternoon...but not before Brielle enjoyed taking a nap on Papa's

lap:-)

Home Sweet Home

Here we are after we took our first ride in the car as a family of 5.  Everyone was excited to have Brielle with us, and Micah did a good job repecting little Brielle's space;-)

First Manny

Home Sweet Home

We made it home from the hospital last night.  Just in time to get the boys some dinner and give them a bath.  I managed to get a little sleep last night, but Mandy wasn't so lucky.  She has caught a cold and it is making it impossible for her to sleep when she isn't feeding Brielle.  All in all it felt great to get the whole family home an sleep in our bed...now so much to adjust to.  More pics to come tonight!

Daddys' Lil Lady

Last Call For Visitors!!

We are going to be discharged today, yeah!   We probably will be leaving right after dinner around 7pm ish. Anybody and everybody is welcome to come by the hospital before then.  We are reveling in what will likely be our last hospital day with a newborn so want to soak in every moment we can!

Jondus Test Results

Dr. Barta came by to check Brielle out and delivered the great news, her Jondus test came back in a good range.  So we are cleared to head home today if we want to.  So far Mandy feels good enoungh to head home too, so we will see how see feels this afternoon.   We definately will be staying here at least until we have our classic Tahoe Forest Hospital "Stork Meals" tonight...on the menu, Fillet Mignon:-)

Car Seat

We have Officially maxed out the Pathfinder's back seat.  With Brielle and Mandy still sleeping I figured I would get the car seat installed in case we head home today.  Yes it is pink, we are reveling in all things pink for Brielle!

My Ladies

Finally, Mandy and Brielle are able to sync their sleep schedules:-) 

Genetic Tests

Quick update, Brielle passed her genetic test and pulminary test with flying colors! Now we are just waiting for the results on her Jondus test...should get those test results back in about an hour.

Mini Foot, Long Toes

Love little feet and toes!

Dress Up Time!

Love it!!!!

Break out the bows and ruffles!

Night One

Night one is in the books and as I write Brielle is waking up from a nice nap.  Mandy was able to FiNALLY get to sleep at about 4am.  Mandy deserves some sleep.  Initial jondus test just came back a little low, so they are going to take another one to see if they need to do the billie bed or not.  Really hoping not to have to do that this time around as with Micah it meant 2 extra days in the hospital and we never got to hold him:-(. I took this pic of Brielle right now in the morning light.

Night Night Brielle

Brielle looks great, sleeping after her big brothers wore her out a little bit with their energy.  Micah hit the nurse call button a couple of times so we decided it was time to give some good nights and send the boys back home with grandma and grandpa.  Micah and Noah both couldn't get enough of holding and kissing their baby sister.   Micah's classic quote, "I hold it!".

Sweet dreams Brielle:-)

Micah's a Big Brother

...and he is excited!

Brielle Pics

Spa Trip

Brielle had her first trip to the spa.  The nurses pampered her and she loved it!

Sleep time

We haveofficially been awake for 30 hours...Brielle, mandy, and I are all wiped out, time for a quick nap.  More posts in a couple hours:-)

Grandma...Again!

New Big Brother

Micah loves being a big brother:-)

Pic

Delivery on a Gurney

Tahoe Forest Maternity is stuffed to the gills...the result was mandy had to give birth on a cheap hospital bed.  There was a rumor for a little bit that they were going to bring in a labor bed from another room once another delivery was done, but Brielle couldn't wait.  In fact we are in a room which is about 8x10, and after she was born Dr. Thompson said "i guess we can deliver a baby in this room."  I think technically we are in the room that is 6th on their priority list of rooms to deliver in.  At one point there was about 8 people in the room during the delivery along with all of the machines, trays, and carts...a very very tight fit!

Brielle's Stats

6lbs, 15oz.  

18"

13.5" head

Beautiful

Dimple on Left cheek

Lots of dark hair

Long light colored eyelashes

Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful!

Scary Moment

Right after Brielle was born her color was really bad and she had a tough time breathing.  One nurse said her color was a "zero".  They worked on her for a while rubbing her back and sucking stuff out of her nose.  She wasn't crying much and panic was sweeping over mandy and I.  Then she started to cry a little more, i heard a nurse say that her color was improving. She started to cry more, and about 2 minutes after she was born she cleared some stuff from her throught, and immediatly started to cry more and the nurses said that her color was improving.  A few minutes later the nurses were clearly relieved, and Brielle was doing great.  

So Proud of Mandy

Dr. Thompson said to Mandy that she is "A Pro at Delivering Babies".  All hospital staff were very impressed that she was able to check in, get an epideral, and deliver all in about 2 1/2 hours:-)

Latching

Brielle is getting use to latching...so far so good!  Lots of brown hair on her.

1st pic

Her name is...

Brielle Christina Soult 

She is staring at mandy

Ton of hair...looks like noah

Its a Girl! 3:34

Go Time

Head

Nurse is feeling her head, mandy is pushing...dialated to 12...

Chart

Contractions Have Returned

90 seconds apart

Pink Baby Bed Got wheeled in

Love it

Water Broken

Dr, broke mandy's water to keep things moving, she is at 6cm now...she is very comfortable with the drugs in, almost wants to take a nap

Contractions Update

Contractions have gone away...nurse said it is normal right after epideral...

Mandy comfortable

Mandy has a smile on her face...drugs are kicking in, contractions at 2 minutes. One bit of good news we did get the last room...now if we can just get a labor bed...

Epideral In

Epideral in, worst part is over...for dad

Anastesia is here

Epideral is near...mandy should have it in another 5 min

Hospital busy

Mandy is in a closet on a gurney, and no labor beds available...again please pray, 

Update

Contractions are now at 3minutes, not sure anastesiologist will make it in time.  Pray for Mandy

Go time

Contractions about 5min, mandy is at 4cm...anastestiologist has been orderd...it is going down tonight!!

Rolling

Mandy is putting makeup on at 12:45 am...pretty clear sign that we are heading to the hospital soon.   Stay tuned

The Definition of Uncomfortable

Mandy right now is the definition of uncomfortable.  She is literally miserable.  Everything hurts, every move is painful, and it is tough to watch her go through this.  I know that Lady Soult is going to be worth it but she is already wearing her Mom out and she hasn't even been born yet!  We really love you baby girl and can't wait to meet you, so hurry up!!!! 

The anticipation has also been very taxing on me too. Taking care of the boys while waiting on pins and needles for the past 2 weeks has been emotionally and physically draining.  Everyday I wake up and feel more tired than when I went to sleep the night before.  Must be Gods' way of prepping me for being a father of 3 small kids:-)  

I will be updating this blog frequently as things get moving so please keep logging in!  

Due Date

Well here we are, July 15th, Mandy's official due date and we are still waiting!  Mandy is still experiencing a lot of false labor contractions, which is making life a lot more challenging for her.   She never experienced this with the boys so it has taken her a little off guard.  To top it off Mandy has come down with a cold that was handed down from Micah.  I honestly don't think Mandy can be any more uncomfortable right now!!!  I can only hope that Lady Soult comes soon, so I can get my wife back.  Please pray for Mandy!

Dance Party

The good news is that I was able to get my bike ride in this morning...of course that means we are still held up and waiting.  Mandy didn't sleep much last night as she was experiencing continued contractions.  The fun part was at about 4am Lady Soult threw a dance party in Mandy's belly.  Never felt her move that much ever.  I am guessing that this is a sign that I will be spending a whole lot of time with Lady Soult her at around 4am for the next few months.  I honestly look forward to it:-)

Pregame warm up?

Mandy has been feeling what she thinks might be perliminary contractions tonight...we will see if anything comes out of it.  I have a 7am bike ride tomorrow so have put in a request to hold off any baby action till about 8:30am if at all possible.

Noah's Countdown

Noah is excited for the arrival of baby sister so he started to cross the days off on our calendar until Mandy's due date. 3 more days till Mandy's official due date on July 15th.

Weekly Doctor Visit

Mandy had her weekly doctor visit yesterday.  The doc said that the baby's head is as low as it can go without making an appearance, so we are still waiting on pins and needles.  We had some good friends that visited us the other night who have a 4 month old girl...so cute!!!   Just can't wait to meet ours now!

-Kevin

Day at The Beach

No sign of Mandy Jr. yet.  To kill some time we spent the day at the beach with the boys.  I can't wait to take our little girl to the beach and show her off in some of her cute pink ruffled swimsuits!!!  

-Kevin

Waiting...

Minnie Mouse car seat and baby's bag are all packed and ready to go....just need a baby to go with them now!  After having 2 boys we have been liquidating all of our boy clothes, baby items, and anything with blue in it to make way for our daughter.  Lots of pink has been making its way into our house and I am thrilled about it.  I really hope I can be a good Dad to a little girl...can't wait to meet her:-)    

...quick update on Mandy's status...lots of abdominal pains but not action yet.  I think our girl is running out of room in her little cocoon, stay tuned!

-Kevin

Anxious

No sign of our little lady introducing herself to us yet.  I am so anxious and excited that it is wearing me out!  Luckily I have 2 boys that love to be entertained and so the days have been filled with beach time, swimming, skateboarding, pump track visits, and baseball.   Please keep praying for us and we get closer to the finish line!

-Kevin

Fireworks in Kings Beach

No baby yet, so we took in the fireworks over in kings beach...as great as fireworks are, God put on the real show at sunset.

Checkup Update

Quick update, just got back from the Dr's office and all is good.  Baby is low, but still has some room to go lower (not according to Mandy though), and heart beat sounded great!  Mandy is going through some pre-labor contractions which are making it impossible for her to sleep.  She says that this is the first time she has had any contractions like these before giving birth, so it is making the heat up here a little tougher to manage.  All is good though...now time to pack up and head over to the lake for some hot dogs and fireworks tonight...enjoy the 4th everyone!

-Kevin 

Holding Pattern

Uncomfortable...check, overheating...check, lack of sleep...check, baby girl yet...still waiting.  We are definitely in a holding pattern.  Mandy and I went for about a 2 mile walk last night and at one point on our way back while admiring the amazing sunset she came to a screeching stop and I thought we were going to have the baby right there about .5 miles away from our house...false alarm.  The pain went away and we made it back home.  It was a surprisingly cool evening, and the walk helped cool down my very overheated bride. 

Today we have our weekly doctor appointment so will let you know if any news comes from that.  Also trying to head over to my folks place in Tahoe Vista to watch the annual 3rd of July fireworks from the beach.  We will see if the fireworks help motivate our little lady:-)

Bag is Packed

If a surprise trip to Reno was the first clue that Mandy knows something that we don't, clue #2 was found today at the foot of our bed, a fully packed bag ready to make a sudden trip to the hospital.  (See Picture)

I really have a ton of sympathy for Mandy.  It is really hot, even here in Truckee and my wife is really, really, REALLY uncomfortable.  She is a big time trooper, but I think every girl can sympathize with what she is going through...I can only imagine how hard it is growing a human being in your body during a heatwave with no A/C.  The only thing I know to do is work extra hard around the house and spend lots of time with the boys so Mandy can focus on getting to the finish line.

Stay tuned...more to come in the days ahead:-)

 

The Countdown is On

Greetings friends and family!  Love and Blessings on behalf from the Soult clan:-)

I have always wanted to write a blog about the time leading up to the birth of my children, but have neglected to do so.  Not this time.  In all likelihood this child will be our last, and so I want to live it to the fullest and share our experience with our friends and family.  This will be how I update everyone on the impending birth of our little lady, along with pictures, etc.  Feel free to pass this link along to all of your friends and family that know us if they want to know more about how we are doing too.

Update #1:  Mandy took an unscheduled trip to Reno today to stock up.  Being that Mandy schedules every Reno trip about a week in advance, I have a feeling this means she is doing some final nesting, and that baby girl Soult isn't far away.  I honestly can say that I love both of my amazingly unique boys, but CAN NOT wait to be the father of a little girl.  All I can do now is hope my boy parenting skills will translate accordingly, and that she will come adorned with the big fat chunky legs I love so much, but missed out on with my 2 slim jim boys:-)  I will update this as things progress, and hope not to bore everyone in the process.  Love to all:-)

-Kevin