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Here she is with Steve, minutes old.

And this photo truly captures Avelyn’s joy in meeting her new sister.

We can’t decide who Brinley looks like. I definitely see traces of Karenna in her, but it’s so hard to tell at this stage when all newborns kind of look like tired turtles.

I am working on the birth story and hope to have it ready for tomorrow. Brace yourselves; it’s intense. A one-hour labour is freaking crazy times, you guys.

Amanda just called to tell me that she woke up in the middle of the night with contractions and within twenty minutes of being admitted, Baby Brown #3 arrived into the world. (Sometime around 3 a.m. - I’m sure Amanda will do an official recap when she’s back home.)

Brinley Anna Brown weighed in at 7 pounds, 13 ounces. I’m heading up to see baby and her Momma on my lunch hour, so check back in a few hours for a photo.

Congratulations, Amanda and Steve! And Avelyn and Karenna! Can’t wait to see who Miss Brinley grows up to be.

***Edited to add a photo of fair Brinley. Amanda thinks she’s a good mix of her two sisters and I have to agree with her:

Last night I had some maternity photos taken by a generous and talented neighbor. The air was grey, the wind was blowing, and through the course of the stormy evening I was developing stronger and stronger contractions. The night felt magical, as though I were about to embark upon my final labour journey.

I went to bed, convinced I wouldn’t be able to sleep, or at the very least if I did happen to rest I would be roused by the breaking of my water or some intensifying contractions that would confirm the time had come.

Alas, the only thing that woke me up in the night was the usual need to pee every couple of hours and the contractions totally disappeared by morning.

I wish there were a light on a pregnant woman’s belly that shone red when labour symptoms were false and headed nowhere, and turned green when birth was actually nearing the horizon.

Tired, grumpy, and bloatedly yours,

Amanda

(OK, so I really thought it was Wednesday. I was up with both kids in the night and had contractions all night long. No sleep = a hazy reality.)

It’s been horrendous.

The first few nights they stayed up until nearly 10:00, even though we tucked them in at 7:00 PM. They were fairly happy to be together, so I didn’t fight it or lay the smack down. The problem was that they were still waking up at their usual time, so after a few days of losing three hours of sleep a night, they were both grumpy beasts (well, even more grumpy and beastly than they usually are). No fun for anyone. Then the novelty of sharing a room seemed to wear off slightly and they were both falling asleep within a half-hour of being put to bed. It’s cute to hear them chattering with each other and I love that they enjoy each other’s company.

But.

Karenna, who is ALMOST TWO, is still not sleeping through the night. (This is where I ask you to please kill me. I can’t take it anymore.) For the most part, Avelyn has gotten used to her sister’s night-time shrieking and I’ll often find Avelyn curled up in her bed in the fetal position, both hands over her ears as she sleeps, in a feeble attempt to block out the noise.

I am just at such a loss with what to do with Karenna. We started different variations of sleep training with her once she hit about seven months of age and I was like, “um, I don’t think you need six bottles a night anymore.” We tried the Baby Whisperer method, the Cry-It-Out approach, the We’re Putting You In A PlayPen in the Basement Because We Can’t Handle Your Screams Anymore technique, and nothing has worked. She’ll randomly sleep through the night, then we’ll be right back to square one with her rousing once or twice a night and I have HAD IT. I can’t help but feel anger towards her, this little two year-old, for not having her act together enough to just go to sleep already. I feel like just letting her cry it out isn’t really an option anymore now that she’s sharing a room with her sister, because then I’ll have two little girls wailing at 3 am (like I did last night…it was super fun). Gah. No clue what to do next. And, oh yeah, we’ll have a newborn in the house next week, so that should really add to the peaceful flow of our nighttime routine.

I am just so tired. And I know I am only going to become exponentially more tired once the baby arrives and I’m not feeling up for it. How will we make it through, how will I be able to keep up with pumping every three hours in the night and dealing with a hollering toddler?

It’s stuff like this that makes me feel like I kind of suck as a parent and wonder why the things that seem so simple for everyone else are hard for me. Kids have been sharing rooms for centuries, so why is it such a challenge to make it work for our family?

Anyone else been there?

I am tired and hot and trying to enjoy these final days with the girls, which would be a lot easier if they would stop fighting and pulling each other’s hair and wanting to TALK TO ME.

The baby’s room is ready, my bag is packed for the hospital, the breast pump is sterilized, the carseat is installed…I am ready! Which means, of course, this kid is going to come two weeks late, right?

In other (slightly less grumpy) news, a local artist we know did a couple paintings of Avelyn from photographs I had taken. Anyone recognize these?

The originals are for sale at Sleeping Giant Winery in Summerland. Kind of cool to see our girl immortalized on canvas like that!