Brenna's Baptism

Today during church, we had Brenna baptized. Yes...it's a little early - I mean, she is only a week old. But it was either now or looking like it would be June. And I didn't want to wait *that* long, so we just went ahead and did it today.
Brad's longtime friend, Terry, was the godfather and his niece, Tara was the godmother. The whole family came to church to celebrate this wonderful day and then following the service, Brad's mom was kind enough to have everyone over for lunch. It was a great day and we were so thankful to have Terry make the long drive to be a part of it and also so very thankful to have everyone else there. This was a very special day to us and to Brenna and to have our families there was so wonderful.
And would you know Brenna didn't even cry when "her hair was washed" (as Brooke says). I have included a few pictures from today. Her baptismal gown that she wore was the same that Brooke wore just over three years ago. We thought that would make it extra special.

Everything else is going well. Brenna has taken to nursing like a champ. We needed a little help and questions answered from a friend in town who is an expert in the field! (Thanks again Kimberly) But it was mainly because I am having quite a bit of soreness so I was trying to get any help to reduce that soreness. Hopefully that'll work itself out soon. Otherwise, Brenna is doing wonderfully and is sleeping A LOT! Which we are taking advantage of since we know soon this newborn stage will end and she'll start to wake up and demand more attention. She basically wants to eat every three hours throughout the day and night, which is pretty good actually. She also has a terrible diaper rash already. It's beyond a rash though, and Brad says it even looks like her skin is gone it is so raw. Poor little thing....we are leaving her naked as much as possible and only in cloth otherwise to try to help clear it up. It makes me so sad to see her little bottom so sore.
As for me, I really have little pain to speak of. Still a little sore on occasion and am still moving a little slow. I still need help getting up and down sometimes but I am doing far better with this recovery that I did with Brooke. I had my staples removed on Friday (which was a tiny bit painful) and the incision from the Csection is healing nicely.
My only scare at this point is my blood pressure. I have noticed my swelling not going down and yesterday my legs started tingling, etc. When I took my BP, it had skyrocketed, peaking yesterday at 180/110. You could say I panicked. I mean, I've never had BP that high before. I wasn't sure if I needed to run to the hospital or what. I was really scared and that was making it worse I'm sure. Brad phoned the on-call doctor, who told me to rest and come in first thing on Monday for them to check it and talk about what to do. Apparently it isn't life-threatening, but a definite cause of concern. It is very uncomfortable to say the least. I am having all the symptoms they say to call about if you experience.....the swelling is tremendous, my legs and arms are tingly and go numb, they feel hot and itchy, and I have the occassional headache and blurry vision. It is all quite scary, but hopefully my fears will be calmed a bit when I go in tomorrow. In the meantime, the only thing to do is to rest rest and rest. I'm limiting caffeine and now off pain meds. Any pain meds can stimulate high BP, even simple Ibuprofen, Tylenol, or Aleve. So it's been a tad bit more painful to remove that 'crutch' of taking Ibuprofen every so often to help with soreness (both from nursing and the Csection), but I'm maintaining. I'm also trying to keep my feet up as much as possible. I am already having to learn to just let things go and let my house be dirty. But please pray that this situation resovles itself soon. As you can imagine, I'm still a little scared about it.

Brooke is still very enamored with Brenna and held her the entire church service. She helps out a lot around the house with the little things. Running to get me things, putting things away and 'helping' with Brenna as well. We are so blessed to have such a great and understanding first child who is so kind. Life with two kids is definitely different and an adjustment. I am so thankful that Brad is able to take off the time he can take off to help while I am unable to do a lot of things. But it has been rough on him as well to take care of me trying to stay off my feet, trying to monitor Brooke and keep up with her schedule and provide 'entertainment' for her, and to take care of a baby and tend to Brenna's needs as well. While I'm not an invalid, this high BP has caused me to not be able to help as much as I'd like to. My mom was here over the weekend and was able to occupy Brooke's time well and we are thankful for that. Hopefully we will all soon start to settle into a new 'normal'.
Until next time.....