Pregnancy loss warning 🚨

On August 15, 2018 we found out we were expecting a baby! It was a surprise but a great surprise! We were so thrilled to bring another baby into our family. Being a mother has given me a new purpose in life and is helping me become my best self. The thought of another baby was such a happy feeling! I got positive pregnancy tests and ended up having my first ultrasound when I was 5 weeks 6 days pregnant! Also, guess what?!?! We saw & heard the heartbeat! Our tiny baby had a beating heart and a tiny growing body. I’m so thankful I was able to get that ultrasound and see our little peanut.

The ultrasound was early on a Wednesday morning. By the time Friday night came around I began to notice some bleeding which made me nervous because I didn’t experience anything like that with Maizy. By 4:30am I was bleeding a lot to the point I was feeling sick. Jason, Maizy and I got in the car and headed to the hospital just to be safe. They ran some blood work and did an ultrasound.

Now, here’s the sad part.. I had been bleeding so much that by this point the miscarriage was already taking place. The baby had already made its way down to my cervix. On September 1, 2018 we lost our tiny baby who had a beating heart. For some reason, our baby had to return home. Jason and I are hurting in every way. I’m feeling pain physically and emotionally. This is hard because we love our little peanut but we know everything will be okay. We have faith that we will see our baby again. We know God has a plan for us and he is very aware of us and what is happening in our lives. That knowledge is getting us through this devastating time. Our hearts are hurting because we just lost our baby. I miss our tiny baby that had a growing body, a heartbeat and a due date. It’s just going to take time to heal and grieve. I am not angry nor do I blame myself or anyone/anything else. I don’t know why this had to happen but it did and I trust God. Some moments I feel so sad and hurt. Other moments I feel completely numb. Some days are better than others. Its just going to take time. Thankfully, there is also a special and peaceful feeling around me.

I am so grateful that families can be together forever. I am thankful for the Atonement of Jesus Christ that has been getting us through this tough time. I am learning things about myself that I didn’t know before and I am counting all my many blessings. God is really helping me get through this pain and have hope. Having Jason and Maizy by my side through this has been a huge blessing. I love them so much, more than I could ever put into words. They are my whole world. We want to thank all of our family and friends for all the kindness and prayers. We love you all so very much.

Birth Story: Maizy Lyn Brimhall

I’ve been meaning to write about Maizy’s birth story for quite some time now. Maizy will be one year old this month. The first year of her life has been the best year of our lives! She is such a light and a blessing.

I had a great pregnancy with Maizy. Yes, it was very hard at times. I had some heart issues which made me feel sick but she was a healthy growing baby and that was all we hoped for! Towards the end of the pregnancy I had hypertension which became a concern so my doctor decided it would be best to induce me at 39 weeks 3 days. We arrived at the hospital around 1:00am on a Monday morning. The induction began at about 2:00am. They started by giving me the pill in my cheeks. That was quite a long process. I believe we had to do a few rounds of that before I began receiving pitocin through an IV. The whole process of dilation was slow and long if you ask me! When the induction began, I was only about 2cm dilated. That day was such a blur! I’m having a hard time remembering the exact order and times but I know by this point (with the pitocin) I began progressing a little bit more. I was having contractions off and on and was not feeling very comfortable. That Monday was extremely long! Aren’t Monday’s already long as it is? 😉 That day I wasn’t progressing as much as we would have hoped so my doctor had me rest for the night and get some sleep.

The next morning he came in bright and early to break my water. Things began progressing more which was exciting. I believe it was around lunch time or so, I still wasn’t quite as far along with dilation as we hoped so I got the balloon inserted and filled with water. That was pretty painful but it worked! Once I dilated to about 4cm or 5cm the balloon fell out. Luckily, things were moving along! I believe I got the epidural when I was about 6cm or so. I was so exhausted from this long induction process and am glad I ended up getting the epidural. Soon, (after a few hours) I was finally at a 10!!! Yay! I started pushing.. that was pretty long as well. I pushed for 3.5 hours. Some of it was practice pushing though. Unfortunately, Maizy’s head was stuck for awhile. I remember feeling so much pressure. It was very uncomfortable but I just kept doing my best to push with every contraction. She was so close to coming so many times! I remember feeling so hot and it was really hard to breath so luckily I had some oxygen given to me during birth. I felt like I couldn’t do it but somehow I did! I saw my doctor grab the metal scissors, that made me nervous! He had to cut a bit but I trusted him.

Finally!!!!!! Our beautiful 8lb 13.5oz baby girl popped out but she did much more than that.. I got a 4th degree tear. (The worst tear you can get) I did have the epidural though so I didn’t feel it as much as I would have without the epidural. I also received a lot of stitches! The moment Maizy came out, all my pain went away and I cried because I loved her so much. I remember looking up at Jason and he was crying too. It was such a special and spiritual moment. I remember saying “I love her, I want her.” She was born Tuesday night at 6:26pm! Having her in my arms was the best feeling I’d ever experienced. What a miracle and a blessing it is to be given the chance to be a mother and a parent with my sweet husband.

The birth was hard! I was in labor for 40 hours. It was tiring and difficult but so incredibly worth it. As hard as it was, it was also very exciting and special. Maizy is an amazing little girl who we adore so much. We are excited to have more children. Parenthood is incredible! ❤

Thanks for reading!

Love,

Kadi

Twistshake products are very high quality and easy to clean! They are by far my favorite bottles to use for Maizy. You can also purchase these bottles in many different colors and sizes. The bottles come with little removable snack holders that can also be used to carry formula.  We have really enjoyed using these because of all their different features. They also come with a removable filter that allows you to be able to put fruit in the sippy cups and catches the formula chunks.

These bottles truly make our lives easier! My husband an I both agree that they are our favorite to use. Its obvious that baby girl loves them as well. If you are familiar with using bottles, you probably know how often they have to be cleaned and sanitized! I can assure you that TWISTSHAKE has been the easiest to keep clean! Another amazing thing is the price of the bottles! Very affordable. We truly love them 🙂

Use my code: thebrimhalllife at checkout and save 20% on the entire range of pastel and even the new limited edition pearl collection! With the same code you get 60% off on all neon and neon packages!

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/twistshakebaby/

Website: https://www.instagram.com/twistshakebaby/

Thanks for reading!

Love,

Kadi

OpalBoulevard is a shop which makes beautiful handmade bows! The bows are high quality, adorable and affordable! The bows can be made with either a nylon band or an alligator clip. Another awesome feature is the sizing of the bows. You can choose “regular” or “newborn.”

Theses handmade bows have beautiful detail and patterns! My baby girl wears them to church, around the house, on the go and even when splashing around in the water. They are also a huge life saver because she doesn’t constantly pull these off. The nylon bands don’t bother her like other thick headbands. They look so cute on! We love these bows so much. I highly recommend them 🙂

At checkout, use the code “MAIZY” for 10% off!

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/opalboulevard/

Etsy: https://www.etsy.com/shop/OpalBoulevard?ref=shop_sugg

Thank you for reading!

Love,

Kadi

I decided to write about being a college student and a mother. A little bit of background on the subject, I am a senior in sociology at Southern Utah University. I have one semester to go! Thankfully, its a light load. I will finish up my degree in the fall. I am taking research methods and finishing my senior capstone. Being a mother in college is not easy but its worth it! When I got pregnant with Maizy I had just begun a semester. I went through an entire semester pregnant, gave birth during a semester of all online courses then completed a semester with a beautiful growing baby by my side.  Currently, I am taking an online summer course and volunteering. Next, I will complete my final semester which will give me a bachelors degree. Being able to complete my associates degree before Maizy was born, was very helpful. I’d like to talk about some tips which have helped me along this journey.

Tips:

DONT GIVE UP

Sometimes giving up seems easier than reaching your goal. Just know YOU CAN FINISH! You can do hard things! Having my husband really helps me strive to keep going because I have his support. He helps me get through the hard days and tells me I can do it but also didn’t pressure me to finish. I think it’s very important to have someone who supports you and helps you through it! That’s probably the biggest reason I have got this far in school.

TAKE ONE DAY AT A TIME

It’s so easy to look down the long road of schooling and get overwhelmed! I’m guilty of wanting to quit because I didn’t think I could do it but when I take one day at a time and keep a positive attitude I know I can finish!

College with a baby can be difficult but having an end goal and taking one day at a time during the semester has really helped us!

PLAN YOUR SCHEDULE

Each semester we have planned out our daily class schedule. This is very helpful to do in advance when having a baby to take care of. Last semester, Jason was able to clear his schedule to watch Maizy during my class. This was extremely helpful. I try to get most of my courses online and independent study so I can be with Maizy. We have also found it helpful to take turns with Maizy while doing our homework in the evenings. Depending on our study schedule, we either keep Maizy busy with activities and toys or just take turns taking care of her. Let me tell you, being a parent in college has helped me learn to multitask better.

SUPPORT

I have already talked about this a little bit but having support from organizations within your institution and support at home is very helpful. Jason and I are both in college so it helps that we can support each other along the way. I am thankful for the love and support he gives me. It relieves stress and helps me get through the hard days.

I am so close to the finish line and sometimes I get overwhelmed but I know I can do this and you can too! Let me know if you have any questions!

Thanks for reading 🙂

Love, Kadi

Since Maizy was a tiny baby, I have searched through pinterest to find the perfect art projects to do with her. Before she was really strong I did several hand print projects with her. There are so many different projects to do which can be found by searching through pinterest. The baby hand print projects are great holiday gifts and house decorations.

I want to talk about a specific activity we have tried two times. We got the idea from pinterest. You put little dots of paint on a piece of paper then carefully put the paper in a zip-lock bag. It’s fun for babies and lets them experience sensory activity. She enjoyed spreading the paint around. On the plus side, it was mess free!

The first time we did this paint activity, Maizy was about 6 months old. She had just learned to sit up on her own and was learning how to control her hands during that stage. The first time, It seemed as if she was more focused on the texture of the paint under the bag.

The second time, she was about 9 months old. This time she could sit up on her own, crawl and control her hand movements. This time, she figured out how to spread the pain around very quickly. I could tell that she was more focused on getting the paint spread around and seeing the colors mix together.

I love these activities because it helps Maizy explore sensory, art and have fun. Also, it was really neat to see how much she grew, learned and developed in only 3 months. I highly recommend doing these fun little activities with babies. Its a blast!

Thank you for reading! 🙂

Love, Kadi

I have been wanting to share a little bit about our bedtime routine for Maizy. Since the very beginning of  her life, we decided to create a bedtime routine for her. We began by giving her a bath, putting her down around the same time every night and feeding her right before bed.  We found this to be very helpful for all of us! It worked great for her and helped her get to sleep fairly easy. For the first several months we would put her to sleep then put her down in her bed to continue sleeping.

Maizy’s Pediatrician suggested we begin putting her in her own room at 4 months old but I just wasn’t ready at that point so we decided to wait until she was 6.5 months old before beginning to sleep train her. The sleep training attempts failed a couple times before it worked because I just wasn’t ready. the best advice I can give is wait until YOU are ready and feel that your baby is ready. Once I was ready, it worked out wonderfully. I had a hard time being away from her at night but it truly helps us all sleep better when she is in her own room.

When we decided to have Maizy sleep in her own room, we still stuck to her bedtime routine which usually consists of feeding her a meal, giving her a bath, getting her in her pajamas, reading to her and giving her a bedtime bottle. Some other main things we make sure to do is turn on her sound machine and fan. Unless she is sick, she always falls asleep by herself in her crib and sleeps well through the night. When she doesn’t feel well, I usually rock her to sleep then lay her down.

Overall, we feel that having a bedtime routine has been helpful for all of us. Obviously having a perfect bedtime routine is not realistic but we do the best we can. I feel like having a routine at bedtime has also helped getting ready for bed more enjoyable and even fun most of the time. I plan to blog about our sleep training journey and what worked for us as a family. Stay tuned!

Thank you for reading!

Love, Kadi