The background story

Our blog may seem a little confusing right now. I'm currently posting old emails I wrote to family and friends throughout my pregnancy and up until now. There's lots of updates and info about our lives (mostly Breeley-related!) so I figured I'd share on here as well. I've wanted to spend some time doing this for a while but haven't gotten a chance, but now that I advertised this site in our Christmas cards, I figured it was about time. After that's all on here, I'll routinely update and post to this rather than sending the emails. Hopefully there will be more pictures and less text!

While my family sleeps, I write.

Breeley continues to sleep and nap fairly well. I can definitely tell a difference when she naps and when she doesn't. She started to get fussy a little bit ago and Brian laid down on the couch with her. She fussed/cried for about 5 minutes but Brian persisted and now both of them (+ Reesey) are fast asleep on the couch! Brian is much better about getting her to sleep than I am!

There seem to be zillions of crazy, but rewarding situations that arise with children. There is certainly more to think about! Luckily, our parents helped us become smart, laid-back, and loving people (among other things), which are qualities that have been very helpful with this parenthood thing! Of course, it also helps that Breeley really is such a fantastic baby. We’re blessed and very happy.

Brian's parents were down this weekend for a quick, 24-hr visit. They left around 10:00 this morning. It was a nice visit. We enjoyed my mom and dad being here last weekend too. (And I loved having Amy for the entire week of Jun 8-14!) It's nice to have people come to us! We of course want everyone to get to know Breeley and her to know you, but it's nice for Brian and I as well!

We went for a nice walk on the Riverwalk with Doug & Joy. Brian & I took Breeley for the first time a few weeks ago. The Riverwalk is a really nice walking path right down next to one of the several rivers that runs through Columbia.

Ma & Pappy also enjoyed some time at our house with Breeley. Ma was especially good at making her smile!

Naptime success!

Perhaps it was the complaining to my mom about Breeley's lack of napping... she is right now successfully taking a nap in her crib!! She's only been down for about 30 minutes, but I consider this a big success b/c she hasn't taken a nap in her crib before. She was awake but a bit fussy when I put her down, but she got quiet when I put in her paci and turned on the mobile. I had to go in twice b/c she was fussing, but I just stood next to her and rubbed her belly a few times, and that somehow seemed to work. I stood in the doorway and watched for a few minutes and she fell asleep on her own!

In fairness to her, I really haven't tried very hard to get her to nap in her crib before. I normally lay her down in her swing or bouncy chair and she wakes up after just a few minutes. So now I'm more convinced that I seriously have the best baby in the world!! (And the cutest!)

Just wanted to share the happy news from mommy-land with you!

Happy Father's Day!!

Today is Brian's first Father's Day! Breeley and I got him a GPS so we can enjoy some "Brian Adventures." It will come in handy during our mini vacation to Pigeon Forge June 27-30. We're staying in a cabin with a gorgeous mountain view! Gonna just relax, visit Cades Cove, maybe some local attractions where we can take Breeley and still have fun. We want to be in the habit of taking a vacation every year, even for just a few days. Last year we camped for 5 days at Buggs Island on the VA/NC border over Memorial Day and it was so fun.

It was fun having my parents here this weekend. I'm glad they could stay all day Saturday even though it made for a late-night drive. Also, my good friend, Erin, was able to come for a short visit on Friday to meet Breeley for the first time. Unfortunately, I didn't get any good pictures with our visitors this weekend, but Mom, Amy, and I did have a Breeley Photo Shoot to try to get a good picture for our announcements, which Amy helped me make and are really cute! Here's the one we settled on:





Also had lots of fun with Amy this week. I'm glad she could come and we could spend some quality time together. Looking forward to your July visit as well. I'm planning to return to work on Monday, July 21, so Mom and Amy are coming that week to stay with Breeley. Amy can also use the time to meet with someone from the chem engineering dept at USC. She's considering attending USC -- woo hoo! -- and majoring in something involving chemistry, maybe chem engineering or pharmacy.

Our Jamaica trip is Feb 1-6! The hotel is confirmed and the flight should be soon! The plan right now is that my mom will keep Breeley. It will be nice for Brian and I to have a vacation by ourselves, although I know we'll miss her like crazy!!

Breeley slept 7.5 hours last night!! 10:00-5:30! Wow! We'll see what she does the rest of the week.

We're about to go to the park to run/walk (one walks with stroller while other runs). I need to get back into shape before Jamaica!

Virginia visit

We went to Virginia for the weekend to attend the wedding of Brian's cousin, Chris. It was a very pretty wedding, but HOT! (Everyone who criticizes Columbia for being hot in the summer, think of this day!) I especially loved that they rode away in a canoe. It was very fitting for Chris and Sophie, especially since it was at Foster Falls, which is near Brian's family land on the New River.


After the wedding, we went to Brian's parents' place at the river. It was Breeley's first stay in the camper and she did fantastic! It was close quarters and I was afraid she'd wake everyone up during her nighttime feedings, but no one (except me) even heard a peep! She even slept for 4 hours straight!



Here's some pictures of her smiling. So cute!



Lindsay, Brian, and the kids came on Sunday so Breeley could get to know her new cousin, Kade, a little better. He's only 10 days old in this picture, and they're about the same size!



We were a bit afraid of the sun on her fair skin, so we had quite the get-up. SPF 50+ sunscreen, sun hat, umbrella -- and she actually still ended up with a tinge of sunburn!



She had also been in the sun the day before both at the wedding and when she had her first DMC Concessions experience. Here she is with Grandad trying to stay cool under the canopy at the car show at Claytor Lake. The staying cool did not work--it was SO HOT that day!



Despite the extreme heat, it was a great visit home. We were able to introduce Breeley to most of Pappy's (Brian's dad) family and to see my family for a little while as well. And we hope this will be one of many nights Breeley is able to spend camping on the river, which is one of our favorite things to do!

Cousins!

Breeley has a new cousin today--Kade Brian Duncan! He's exactly 5 weeks younger than Breeley. Despite being induced at 10 days overdue and having a 9 lb 15 oz baby, Lindsay had a great delivery (all natural) and both she and Kade are doing well! I don't have any pictures yet, but I'm sure I'll get some soon. Congrats Lindsay, Brian, Emma, & Lance!

We were hoping Kade would come last weekend because we were in VA for Memorial Day weekend. Breeley met her cousins, Emma (5) and Lance (2) for the first time.


She also met Brian's cousin, Roger, and his little boy, Tyler (4). Tyler was only a few weeks old at our wedding on June 5, 2004.



She also got some good bonding time with Pappy.



And now that we're home, she continues to bond with Daddy. So cute!

Grandma comes to town

It was so great having my mom here this week! She came Monday and left yesterday. Brian went back to work last Thursday, so having Mom here was good support and allowed me to get some extra sleep during the day. It was also good for Breeley to get to know her grandma! Plus, my mom loves pictures, so we got a lot!

Here's a family picture. It's quite difficult to get a dog and a newborn to cooperate for pictures!

Breeley's cord fell off so here's her first tub bath. She didn't cry until we took her out. Mom caught it on tape as well.

Today is Mother's Day, so Mom treated me to lunch in honor of my first Mother's Day! We also went to Breeley's 2-week dr appt and are happy to report she is perfect!

I was able to attend the graduation ceremony of our admissions GA, Colleen. Mom walked Breeley around the student center and I had my cell phone on alert if necessary. Breeley slept the whole time. Here we are with my boss, Suzanne, after the ceremony.

Big eyes and books

We're having fun getting to know our little girl. When she's awake, Breeley has very big, alert eyes.

My parents always stressed reading. Brian and I were both read to as children. I still love to read. Brian, not so much, unless it's something about hunting or fishing, but he thinks reading is important. Here he is reading to our 1-week-old! My mom actually read to her at the hospital, so you could say she had an early introduction to books.

So far so good

We've been home a couple days and things are good so far. She mostly sleeps. We're tired, but luckily at night she wakes up to feed but then goes back to sleep pretty quickly. Brian only has 4 days off from work this week, so I'll be with her alone on Friday before my mom comes down next week. I'm a little nervous, but she mostly eats, sleeps, pees, and poops, so it's not so bad. She doesn't seem to have any unexplained crying... yet.



She seems to like her hands in her face. She even did that in her ultrasounds before she was born!



So how's Reesey adjusting to it all? Many people commented that she was not going to like not being the center of our universe. However, we haven't seen any jealousy at all. She's curious more than anything, as you can see from this picture. She's such a sweet dog.

Breeley Joy Hudson is here!

Our little girl arrived Thursday, April 24, at 11:52 a.m., at Lexington Medical Center in West Columbia, SC! We are all healthy and happy!

I went into labor sometime around 6 a.m. and called Brian to come home. The contractions didn't seem like they were at the point to go to the hospital--5 min apart, lasting at least a minute, for an hour--so we went for a walk at the park near our house. However, by the time we started walking, contractions seemed to be about 1 1/2 minutes apart, so we headed to the hospital and arrived around 9 a.m. Here I am before we left:

By the time I was checked at the hospital, I was already dilated 8 1/2 cm! (I'd told them my pain was about a 5, so that was a good sign at this point!) We were only in our delivery room for about an hour before she was born. It was QUICK!! I didn't even have time to think about my birth plan, but I got exactly what I wanted and it was a great experience. Brian, my nurse, and the midwife were fantastic, and I had a completely natural delivery with no epidural or drugs!!

She weighted 8 lbs 11 oz and was 21 1/4 inches long -- that's a pretty big baby! My ultrasound 2 days earlier was a bit off on the weight projection, which turned out to be a blessing b/c they probably would have induced me and then the delivery may not have gone as great.

Here's the proud papa with Breeley immediately after the delivery.

We called our families on our way to the hospital, but since it's a 4-hour drive, they didn't arrive until after she was born. She was getting cleaned up in the nursery when they got there, but it was great having them there throughout our stay at the hospital. Dad and DJ had to work, so they drove the 8-hour round trip just to see her for a few hours!

I love her so much already!


Ok, so how'd we come up with Breeley Joy? Brian actually found the name Breeley when he was reading something online a few years ago. Brett Favre, the football player, has a daughter named Brileigh, and Brian just liked the way it sounded. We--or should I say I--considered other names, but this was cleary Brian's preference the whole time. We changed the spelling, but we realize she'll still have to spell it her whole life b/c it's so unusual. Her middle name is Joy because it's a family name on both sides. Brian's mom goes by Joy and my grandfather's middle name was Joy.

Heading home from the hospital. It's a little scary to be trusted to care for something so tiny and precious, but I guess we'll learn as we go!

Still no baby

Well, we're still hanging in there. Apparently this little girl isn't ready, but we're getting pretty anxious! We went to the dr today and I'm dilated 4 cm already! The midwife predicted I'll be holding our baby when she makes her rounds at the hospital on Friday. Let's hope! We had an ultrasound and everything looks great, so no reason to induce. She looks to be about 7 lbs 15 oz.

Here's what that looks like inside my belly--HUGE! :)


Reesey is enjoying some of her last days as an "only child." She has long hair in this picture but I made sure to get her groomed last week so we won't have to take her for a while after the baby gets here.

Final days!

Getting most things done at work or at least feeling good about where I am. Yesterday ended up being busy b/c of an unexpected afternoon meeting. Want to try to clean my office today and do a few other things before leaving for dr appt, but nothing at this point is the end of the world if I don't get to it.

Dr appt is at 3:15. Brian is going too. Definitely feeling more going on, but hard to describe. Mostly back pain and stomachache, maybe like cramps. Some sharp pains occasionally but very short, no where near 30-45 seconds they say early contractions will be. They almost feel like they have something to do with my sciatic nerve, but it shoots around the belly a bit too. Right now her movements are all over the place (my belly moves in 4 different spots sometimes), and it can actually be uncomfortable, so I'm not sure if there's a contraction involved in that somehow. I really have no idea what's going on. I'm interested to see from the dr appt if we're making any progress.

I'm going to the bathroom about every 45 minutes during the day. I can make it about 3 hours at night. There's a lot of pressure, so I'm trying to keep my bladder completely empty, which is hard since I am also continually thirsty!

I'd love to deliver today, tomorrow, or Saturday, but if this girl is anything like her momma she’ll most likely be running late! :)

"Birth plan"

I’ve had pretty constant lower back pain for the last few days and other things are starting to get uncomfortable. The Braxton-Hicks contractions are getting more frequent and uncomfortable. We have an appt on Thursday so we may know what kind of progress we're making then. I'm definitely hoping she comes by Saturday (my due date, April 19), but I'll be patient and let her come when she's ready. We're ready to meet her!

I obviously have no idea how long I'll be in labor or at what point my mom or anyone else will get there. I have a "birth plan" that outlines how I'd like some things to be--pretty much, I want to go all natural, no drugs. Of course, it may change when we're actually in the moment, but for now, it’s what I'd like to strive for. Brian knows all of it and I'm counting on him to be my advocate, but we don't know how he's gonna be and what he'll be occupied with at various times through all of this.

We're hoping to have a doula--a "coach" who stays with us throughout the entire labor and delivery--but there's no guarantee one will be available. If not, it may change things b/c we've been counting on her to help us through and provide strategies/exercises/etc to make things easier.

Of course, this may be thrown out the window if there are any complications. I trust my midwives, and I will do anything necessary to have a safe delivery.

I know my mom and Brian’s parents are packed, but things could end up going fast or we may end up not wanting people around while I'm laboring anyway. I think there's a lot I won't know until the actual day when I'm in the moment. I guess we'll find out soon!

Here's a picture at 38 1/2 weeks. Obviously she's getting a little crowded in there!

Life as we know it

We are super excited and nervous about the arrival of our little girl! We're anxious to meet her! We're finishing things up around the house but I'm trying to stay busy. Otherwise I can see why some women go crazy in the last month b/c they are just sitting around waiting. I'm feeling great - so great, in fact, that I'm thinking I may go past my due date. That'd be fine, as long as I don't end up with a 9lb baby!

Right now, I plan on returning to work after 12 weeks. It's a tough decision and in many ways I'm torn. I love my job so it'd be hard to give up. But it also seems crazy to try to add a baby into the mix of our already hectic lives. It seems like something has to go, and it can't be the baby! But I want to give both options a fair chance and I figure 12 weeks of maternity leave will help me see that option. I think Brian prefers I stay home but he's leaving it up to me. I can't wait to see him as a dad! He's been so great so far and he's super cute with our little Reesey. Most people think he'd prefer a "manly" dog, but he's smitten with our 5lb bundle of energy! It'll be interesting to see her reaction to the baby. She's a sweetie but is very hyper and used to being spoiled. I'm sure it will be a transition for all of us.

I know I mention loving my job a lot, but I’m not sure many of you are familiar with what I do in college admissions. The admissions office’s main responsibility is recruiting students to the university and working through the application process. We talk to lots of 11th-12th grade students and parents, review applications, and hold special events to help students decide if USC is right for them. I'm Coordinator for Outreach & Enrichment Programs, which was a new position created after I graduated in May 2006. Pretty much, I work with some special populations of students such as middle school and younger students and students who are visiting campus for camps or other programs. I also work with programs that help students from low-income families or communities. I talk to students and parents about planning for college in general, not just about attending USC. I also work with our alumni recruiting program and our extensive telecounseling program (current students call prospective students), as well as doing review, answering phones, etc. like everyone else. It's a unique position that I've been able to build along the way. I love it!

In the fall I taught 2 classes: University 101 and a leadership class that our U101 Peer Leaders take. I'm teaching U101 again next fall. It was tough teaching two classes so I thought I should cut back since I'll have a new baby at home. Of course, I chose the class that is more time-consuming and harder to teach, but I loved teaching U101 the most and would hate to give it up. I'm realizing I have to give up some things. I'm frequently on campus late for various committee meetings or other programs, mostly volunteer. Brian has been good about reminding me that I can't volunteer for as much and I need to be more aware of when I get home in the evenings.

Brian is usually home by 5:00 or 5:30 but he still puts in 45+ hour weeks at his job. He goes in at 5:30 a.m.! He's a manufacturing engineer at FN Manufacturing, a company that makes guns. They are the main contractor for army machine guns, but they also make the more familiar Browning and Winchester commercial guns. It's a good fit for him. Of course, all the good deals they give to employees has been tempting for a hunting enthusiast like Brian! But it's been a good company for him to work for. He just returned from a trip to Belgium!

We certainly never thought we'd end up staying in SC, but we love it! Life is good. We've been fortunate. But we know our lives are about to change in a BIG way!

Two more showers!

We had a great weekend in VA where we had two baby showers! My mom had one on Saturday with some of my childhood friends and women from church, hosted at Nicki Watson’s house. It was so fun to see everyone who I hadn’t seen in a while and I especially enjoyed hanging out at Nicki’s after the shower. Brian’s mom and Lindsay hosted a shower for his family at the Red Brick Church in Wytheville. After these two showers, plus the one we had in Columbia on February 23, we feel so much more prepared! Everyone was extremely generous and thoughtful! We definitely appreciate it! I think there's only a few things we really need before she's born and not much else that will need to be bought within the first few months. We're fortunate to have such good family and friends... and family friends.

I have a busy week. I'm volunteering tonight from 6-10 at Tot Trade, a big consignment/yard sale for infant and children’s stuff. Then I get to shop on Wednesday evening after work. Tomorrow we have an infant/child CPR class and then Thursday night I have something for work. On Friday we'll be shopping and getting Brian ready for his trip to Belgium. He was told today that he has to wear shirts and ties all week and he definitely doesn't have enough for a whole week.

Brian leaves on Saturday and is coming back on Friday, March 21. It makes me a little nervous to have him gone so close to d-day, but I have no reason to think I’ll go that early.

I seem to be retaining fluid in my hands and feet. Luckily I can prop my feet up under my desk. I think baby is much more uncomfortable than me though. She's poking and jabbing and pushing her butt into my ribs!

Here's Brian and I with our cake at the Wytheville shower -- all the yummy food at these showers is certainly contributing to the weight gain!

Brian's sister, Lindsay, is pregnant with her third child and is due a month after us. It's been fun being pregnant together. They aren't finding out the sex, but we're excited for our little girl to have a cousin her age! Here we are squishing Emma, who is Lindsay's oldest and the first grandchild on the Hudson side:

It's a shower!

I had a lot of fun and we got a lot of great loot for the baby at the shower hosted by my good friends Erin, Elizabeth, and Jenn! Thanks so much for everything!

Mom & Amy and Doug & Joy were able to come down for the weekend. Doug and Brian went fishing while we went to the party.

Outfits, bedding, fish rattles... we're set!