Hi, y’all! It feels great to be back here on the blog. I took a little (okay, 2+ months) break to prepare for and welcome our 4th baby so it only seems appropriate that my first post back is all about HER! Yes, I said her. We’re still in shock yet so in love!

Brooklynn's Birth Story - The BakerMama

We welcomed our sweet baby girl into this home full of wild boys and we couldn’t be more thrilled! The influx of pink and bows took some embracing, but we’re loving every bit of it. Bring it on…girl stuff is just so darn cute!!

So without further ado, I’m so excited to introduce you to Brooklynn Naomi Brown (if you follow me on Instagram you probably already know her all too well. Haha. I’m obsessed.)…

Brooklynn's Birth Story - The BakerMama

She was born on November 30th at 4:47pm. She weighed in at a healthy 8 pounds 8 ounces showing up her big brothers who were all born in the 7 pound range.

My due date was November 20th, so she made her debut 10 days late! Those last few weeks/days seemed to go by so slow as we anxiously & very patiently waited. We didn’t know whether we were having a boy or a girl so you can only imagine how ready we were to meet our little blessing.

This is the first time I’ve put one of our birth stories into writing (something I wish I would have done shortly after each of the boys were born). Childbirth is such an amazing experience that’s so different for each mama and each pregnancy, from my three experiences for sure. I probably included way too many details in this post, but I will love having her birth story here to look back on over the years. Sorry in advance for any tmi moments, but I wanted to include the whole story. Childbirth is not glamorous, or at least not for me, as you can see from the pics. 😉 But it’s so beautiful and something I feel extremely blessed to have experienced three times.

A little background: I had a natural vaginal birth with Baker, our oldest, at 40 weeks. Then I had to have a c-section with the twins at 38 weeks because one was breech & the other transverse.

I was very hopeful for a VBAC (Vaginal Birth After C-section) this time because the process & recovery from my c-section with the twins was horrible. Such a difference from the vaginal birth & recovery I experienced with our first-born.

My doctor was very supportive of a VBAC, so that was the plan. As my due date drew near, the baby was measuring big so I had a few extra ultrasounds to keep track of the baby’s growth because my doctor was concerned about doing a VBAC with a really big baby.

When my due date came & went, we began discussing options for delivery. My doctor will not use induction meds to induce with a VBAC, so going into labor on my own was the best option for a successful VBAC. The only other option was for the doctor to break my water in the hospital in hopes that it would induce labor, but there was no guarantee and I could end up with a c-section anyway. She said she would let me go 10 days past my due date as long as the baby was healthy and not getting too big. So we scheduled to have my water broken on November 30th with hopes that I would go into labor on my own before then.

I had been having bouts of strong contractions about once or twice a week for several weeks leading up to my due date, but they would go away just when we started to think it was time and then nothing for days. My mucus plug came out the 19th. I was dilated to a one and 50% effaced for weeks.

On Thanksgiving night (November 26th/27th) around midnight, I sat up in bed and a huge gush of fluid came out. I stood up and another huge gush went all over the floor. We were sure my water had broken so we called the doctor that was on call (my doctor was on vacation) and he told us to come in. No contractions had started. We got to triage & the nurse did a test to see if I was leaking amniotic fluid & it came back negative. They basically told me I had peed myself & sent me home. What the what?! We were shocked! No way I peed that much (it took lots of towels to clean up), it didn’t smell or look like pee, and I had just peed before I got in bed. But the test said it wasn’t my water that had broken & I wasn’t having contractions, so we headed home. Ugh!

No signs of labor over the next few days, so we geared up to go in on Monday morning the 30th to have my water broken. The day before the 30th we went to the mall and walked a good amount including some stair climbing. We also tried a few of the other recommended ways to induce labor naturally (we’d been trying these for a few weeks as well with no luck, but figured we’d give them one last chance). You can Google what these are so I won’t go into great detail. Haha.

Well, something worked, because at midnight on the 30th, I started having regular contractions that were 3-4 minutes apart & got stronger/more intense over time. I told Brandon to get some sleep while I relaxed and tracked the contractions. About 3am, the contractions were getting pretty intense, so I took a shower because we were scheduled to go to the hospital at 6am anyway. By 4am, I could barely talk through each contraction, so we called the doctor and they said to come on in. We made our way to the hospital & got all set up in a labor room.

Brooklynn's Birth Story - The BakerMama

Contractions were still about 3 minutes apart and increasing slowly in intensity. They checked me and I was 3 centimeters dilated. I continued to labor and then my doctor came in at 7:30am. She suggested that we go ahead & break my water just to speed things along since I was already in active labor. Well, guess what?! When she went to break it, there was nothing to break, it had already broken. She asked the nurses in the room at what point my water had broken and they said it hadn’t broken since I’d got there. Soooo, that means my water really did break on Thanksgiving night & I had been carrying on as usual for 3+ days with my water broken. Oh my! Looking back, we’re thankful this was the case because if they would have kept me when we went in that night, I would have for sure had a c-section because I had no contractions for 3 days after my water broke. We’re just so thankful the baby was doing great and relieved that all that fluid that came out of me that night was not pee. Haha.

So I just continued to labor. We had gone through the Bradley Method of Natural Childbirth classes with our first-born and we felt it prepared us really well for a successful natural delivery. We didn’t go through the training again or even review it before this delivery, but it came back to us pretty well and I was able to labor and deliver without any interventions.

It was definitely an intense labor, especially the transition stage. I couldn’t have done it without Brandon right by side for support. He encouraged me each step of the way and was ready to help any way he could. I think I asked him to put a blanket on me and then take it off of me about a million times. God bless him!

My doctor decided to have a NICU team on hand for the baby since my water had been broken for several days & I was 10 days overdue. As I was getting close, I heard the nurse tell my doctor that the NICU team was ready & they would just need 1-2 minutes to be here when she felt I was about to deliver the baby.

I was dilated to a 9 for a while, but my body kept feeling the urge to push. My doctor finally let me start pushing as she massaged the cervix. Such a motivating moment when everyone is cheering you on & saying how close you are to holding your baby. I just kept screaming, “come on baby!” “come on baby!” with each push.

About 2 pushes in and my doctor requested the NICU team come to the room. I got so excited as I knew that meant we were so close to meeting our sweet baby. It definitely gave me the boost of energy & motivation I needed to push really hard.

It took about 5 intense pushes and out the baby came. We had told the doctor that we didn’t want them to announce the gender but would rather find out ourselves once the baby was on my chest. As soon as the baby came out, they asked Brandon to cut the umbilical cord so he ended up getting a sneak peek before the baby was passed on to me. I immediately pulled the baby close to my face saying “we love you so much” and kissing the baby on the cheeks. I was so relieved to have a big healthy baby in my arms and that labor was pretty much over. It then dawned on me that I didn’t know the gender yet so I looked at Brandon who nodded for me to look down “there” and low and behold, no penis! Shocked! I said “Hello, Brooklynn! We love you so so much!”

Brooklynn's Birth Story - The BakerMama

After loving on her for a little while, I started nursing her (she latched like a champ) while I birthed the placenta and several blood clots (tmi, so sorry!). I lost a lot of blood. When I got up to use the restroom shortly after the delivery, I almost passed out. The doctor and nurses started discussing a blood transfusion, but fortunately, I got back in bed and started feeling much better after some juice and crackers and a big burger later that night. 🙂

Once I was stable, we were able to bring the boys in to meet her.

Brooklynn's Birth Story - The BakerMama

It was one of the sweetest moments ever. They were so excited to see us and meet this baby we’d been talking about for months. They each brought her a little lovie. I think they were a little surprised to see and hear they had a sister.

After the boys met her, we brought in the rest of our families to meet her. Such special moments, especially for our moms and my sister to whom Brooklynn is named after. My sister and Brandon’s mom both have Lynn for their middle names and my mom’s middle name is Naomi. Brooklynn Naomi has been our girl’s name with each pregnancy. We’ve always loved it and now that Brooklynn is here, we know it was meant to be her name.

 

We’re so in love with our little blonde-haired, blue-eyed (for now…Brandon and I were both blonde when we were little) blessing!

Oh & she looks just like Baker did when he was born. I mean identical. Those first few days, I just kept staring at her and telling her she looks so familiar.

Brooklynn's Birth Story - The BakerMama

Brooklynn's Birth Story - The BakerMama

Brooklynn's Birth Story - The BakerMama

She’s already got her dada wrapped around her little finger…

Brooklynn's Birth Story - The BakerMama

It was love at first sight for big brothers and they seriously can’t get enough of her. They have been so great with her and have actually been a pretty big help when it comes to fetching diapers, putting her paci back in her mouth and holding her bottle if I’m helping someone else or trying to get us out the door in the mornings. Baker calls her “Miss Priss”, Bryce calls her “Brookilee” (sounds like broccoli when he says it) and Barrett still just calls her “baby”. 😉 And she’s pretty smitten with them too as she just lights up when they’re around her or in her face and her favorite thing to do is watch them play.

Brooklynn's Birth Story - The BakerMama

And I seriously have not stopped snuggling her since she was born…

Brooklynn's Birth Story - The BakerMama

A few nights in the hospital and we headed home (actually straight to the soccer field to watch Baker’s last soccer practice…4th child problems! ;)) to settle in as a family of six!

Brooklynn's Birth Story - The BakerMama

Brooklynn's Birth Story - The BakerMama

Stay tuned for more posts about life lately along with lots of yummy recipes I have up my sleeve…it’s pretty crazy around here, but oh so wonderful!

It feels great to be back. Thanks for your love and support. It means so much to me and my little crew! 🙂

xoxo,

About The BakerMama

Maegan is the author of her best-selling Beautiful Boards, Spectacular Spreads and Brilliant Bites cookbooks. She started blogging in 2012 and features hundreds of original recipes on The BakerMama. She truly enjoys sharing her easy, family-friendly recipes, creative meal ideas, food board creations, and entertaining spreads to encourage others to get in the kitchen and make something memorable for their loved ones to enjoy together. Learn More

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Comments

  1. Aww!! Thank you for sharing Megan (even all the details ????)! So glad Brooklyn was healthy after your water breaking without knowing for sure. Congrats on a beautiful healthy girl!

  2. I am sorry to say that I laughed out loud when you said you peed yourself and thought, is that even possible? Thank you so much for sharing her sweet birth story. You guys are all just the cutest!

  3. Such a beautiful birth story. I’m glad you shared it. Congratulations! I love following your energetic family on Instagram.

  4. This is so beautiful! And you are such a champ for heading to soccer after birth!!! Glad you have another female to keep you company! Congrats!

  5. What a beautiful heartfelt loving piece of writing. You are so blessed. I love following your life. I have three sons (all grown)and can relate to so many of your tales. You are an amazing mom and wife. May you have continued blessings and treasured memories.

  6. Thank you for sharing your birth story! She is so beautiful! I don’t know how you do it with four littles but I love following along and trying a recipe out here and there! Congrats!

  7. Maegan- you are amazing!!! I am so happy for you and what a beautiful story. She is one lucky little girl to have such great big brothers watching over her. Congratulations!

    1. Awwe, thanks Summer! Means so much coming from you. You’re the girl super mom and I’m going to need all your tips and tricks to survive just this one! 😉 xoxo

  8. I know I’ve said it on social media, but I just wanted to say it here too! Congratulations Maegan! I am seriously so happy for you that you got such an adorable and healthy little girl to add to your cute family! I love reading birth stories and always get a little emotional reading them, how sweet to find out the gender in that way! Congrats!

  9. HI! Just wanted to stop by to say CONGRATULATIONS on your sweet baby girl! I’ve enjoyed following along on Instagram and look forward to hearing about the adventures of your family… and the new recipes you’ve been making, too! Reading this makes me wish that I’d shared something along these lines when my daughter was born last March because sharing your birth story while it’s still fresh in your mind is pretty unforgettable! 🙂 Congats, again!

    1. Thank you so much, Erin! We have got to get together. Let’s plan a coffee or lunch date with our girls sometime soon! 🙂