Goodbye to The Little Gym :-(

Today was Brixie Lee's last class at The Little Gym. The owners have had some health issues and have been trying to sell the franchise for some time now. Unfortunately they were not able to find a buyer, so The Little Gym in Chino Hills is closing. I can't tell you how incredibly sad we are about this. The Little Gym is one of Brixie Lee's favorite places and they have helped build her self confidence and so much more.


Below is Brixie Lee's favorite instructor, Miss Melissa. When ever we talk about going to class she always talks about Miss Melissa. Here she's working on her forward roll down the balance beam. Such a big girl!

At the end of class all the students went up to a little stage and received a certificate and ribbon. Brixie Lee was so proud of herself. It really makes us so happy to see her having so much fun.

Here are all the kids in her class. You'll notice that Brixie Lee is off to the side (as usual) and posing like a little model (as usual).

Mommy & Daddy are sooo proud of you Brixie Lee! We love you so much!

If you want to see all the pictures from Brixie Lee's last day at The Little Gym, check out Don's Gallery.

Helene Marie, Born Jan 23rd...

Continuing from the last post... that afternoon alone with Brixie Lee was in fact my last real alone time with Brixie Lee. We put her to bed that night (Jan 22nd) and I started have very strong, hard contractions. We called Melissa and Grandma over again (at least it was 9pm instead of midnight) for another round of "run to the hospital."

By the time we got to the hospital I was sure Helene was just about to pop! They took me in for my first exam and there was no change! They were considering sending me home, but my screaming made them change their mind. I labored in triage alone for 2 hours and was begging to get something for the pain (I'm a huge baby). I will say right now that I have an entirely new respect for any woman that has gone through natural child birth. WOW, that was crazy pain!

They finally admitted me at mid-night and we got our labor room. Between 10pm and mid-night I only dilated another 1/2cm (up to 3-1/3cm now). I couldn't believe it. I knew I would not be able to handle a long labor, so I told them I wanted an epidural. Unfortunately the hospital was very busy that night and the anesthesiologist would not get to me for another hour (so I was told). He finally showed up at 3am (3 hours later) and I got the relief I had been wanting so desperately. Our amazing nurse, Megan, examined me again and I was only 4-1/2cm (I wanted to cry). At least the pain was gone. Don was able to get some sleep and my exam at 4:30am showed I was still progressing slowly, only at 5-1/2cm. The nurse said we would probably not see a baby until 9am or so. Again, at least the pain was gone.

At 5:30am the nurse came in and asked me if I was pushing. I was very confused and told her no. I had started to feel something different, but I had no clue what it was. She asked me if I knew my water had broke and I told her no. Don was still asleep when she did the next exam and Megan said, "oh... there she is... it's time to push!" I couldn't believe it. In one hour I went from 5-1/2cm to fully dilated (10cm) and Helene was ready to pop! I called Don over (he was still half-asleep) and he was completely shocked at what he saw... me in the pushing position, telling him to grab a leg. It was just the three of us in there and the look on Don's face was priceless when he realized just how hands-on he was going to have to be.

Being the perfect husband that he is, he shook off his shock and started helping me get into position to push. We pushed on every other contraction and about about 15 pushes (15 minutes) and then Megan said it was time to get the doc! Unfortunately the doc covering for my doc that night was in surgery, so we had to wait there for 20 minutes. That was a shock! The doc got there at 6:35am, said, "yes, it's time to push." He got into position and 1 push later Helene, as Don says, "popped" into the docs arms.

Helene Marie was born at 6:36am, weighed 6lb 4oz, and 17-3/4" long. She was beautiful! I know every mother says that, but now I know why!
Our first 24 hours with Helene was a bit of a haze because we hadn't slept in 2 days. By Saturday afternoon we started making some calls and letting people know what had happened. Sorry if we missed anyone, I'm still not sleeping, but things are getting much better. I wanted to get this story out there for everyone to enjoy and before I started to forget.

Hugs to you all,

The New Mathewson Family!!!!

38 Week Update...

Yesterday we had our 38 Week appointment with Dr. Cropper and decided that we would like to try a VBAC (Vaginal Birth After Cesarean) instead of a scheduled c-section. Don and I were having a hard time justifying an elective surgery to ourselves and our doctor is very supportive of VBAC's.

At 5pm, Dr. Cropper's exam showed that I was 3cm dilated and 75% effaced, so she stripped my membranes in hopes of moving things along for me. At midnight my contractions were 5 minutes apart and getting stronger. Our friend Melissa saved the night and came to watch Brixie Lee while Grandma drove to our rescue from Lakewood to wait with Brixie Lee until we got back. HUGE thanks to both Melissa and Grandma!

When we got to the hospital I expected them to tell me that I had dilated more and that we would be admitted. Unfortunately there was no change, but my doctor didn't want to send me home because my contractions were 2-3 minutes apart and pretty strong. I was told to "walk the halls" for 2 hours and then I'd be reevaluated.

After a very long 2 hours of walking the halls the contractions were even stronger, but there was no change in my progress. They sent us home. We were happy and sad at the same time.

Oh! They were able to tell us with 100% certainty that this baby is in fact a little girl! At least we accomplished 1 thing last night!

By the time we got home Brixie Lee only had another 1/2 hour of sleep left in her, so her and I watched several Word World episodes while Daddy tried to get some rest. The contractions stopped while I was laying with my baby girl and I really enjoyed what may be some of my last few moments alone with my girl. Daddy took over a couple hours later and gave me a long break. Thank you Daddy!

Then Brixie Lee and I went for a short walk and there were still no more contractions until I made lunch. They were very mild contractions that eased up when I sat down so I know it's not "real labor." We'll keep you all posted the best we can! Hugs to all!

Brixie Lee's Birthday Pics!!!!

Here are some of our favorite pics from Brixie Lee's Birthday party last weekend. All the pics are on Don's Gallery if you want to check them out!


This is Brixie Lee's BFF Malaya and her Daddy Matt. Matt got a glimpse at his future when Malaya (2-1/2 yrs old) and Brixie Lee's cousin Davy (8 yrs old) became buds at the the party. Below is what happens when Daddy trys to break-up young love :-)


These are all of Brixie Lee's friends. The girl to the right of Brixie Lee is Maddie (daughter to Anne-Marie, my good friend from Cal Poly). Maddie was such an awesome helper at the party. All the kids (and parents) loved her because she was helping them play on all the toys! Thank you Maddie!


This awesome cake creation could not have been accomplished without my good friend Melissa! I used the WordWorld idea and cut out the letters, but frosting the cake was not turning out well. Melissa took pity on my big-O bellied self and saved the day by coming over to frost the cake for me. I LOVED IT!!! She did such a great job! Thank You Melissa!!!!


The cake looked so good to all the kids that they just couldn't wait to try it. Once Jack (to the right of Brixie Lee) joined Brixie Lee all the other kids followed. All the kids did soooo great sharing the cake! Brixie Lee has such great friends! Hugs to you all kiddos!


We did learn one thing... don't try to take a family picture at the end of a 2-1/2 hour party (also 1 hour into nap time). Brixie Lee was not having any of it! She was completely wiped out and suffering from a sugar-high crash.


Thank you to all our wonderful family and friends for making Brixie Lee's Birthday Party such a blast! We loved sharing her special day with all of you! Hugs to all!

Happy 2nd Birthday Brixie Lee!!!

Today is Brixie Lee's 2nd Birthday and she had a blast with all her friends at Party Kingdom.

Happy Birthday Sunshine!!!!

Mommy & Daddy love you soooooo much!!!!

Here a couple of pics, but many, many more will be coming when Don has time time to process all the pictures.

BTW... Brixie Lee is not crying because Papaw is holding her, she's crying because she just crashed into her cousin Tommy inside one of the bounce houses. She's such a girl! Tommy didn't cry one bit!

36 Week Update

Finally! I'm posting on the same day of the event! It's almost as if life is returning to normal before the storm!!! It's been an interesting couple of days. On Sunday night (Jan-4) I started having some pretty hard contractions every 4-6 minutes for about 2 hours. I didn't want to get out of bed to see if I was supposed to be doing something, so I just waited for them to go away or get worse. Lucky for me they went away until the next morning. I called my doctor's office and they told me to go to the hospital to get checked out. The contractions were still pretty hard, but not as hard as they had been in the middle of the night. Turned out that I was starting to dilate, so the doctor on call put me on "relaxation" orders until I could see my doctor at my appointment today. We just got back and my doctor is not worried about it, but wants me to continue to rest and drink lots and lots of water. If I go into labor now they would not stop it and the baby would most likely be a preemie, but strong strong enough to come home with us. At a minimum I would like to make it through Brixie Lee's birthday this weekend. Most likely everything will be fine and we'll have our scheduled c-section on January 27th. Here's the latest pick and you'll notice that I'm not holding Brixie Lee in any of these pictures. One thing every doctor has said that I need to stop picking her up. Sooo hard!

Brixie Lee Loving Baby Sister...

I know I said "baby sister" and we don't really KNOW that it's a girl, but that's what Brixie Lee calls the belly. If we're wrong then we'll have some explaining to do.


Anyway, the other night we were singing Where Is Thumbkin and Brixie Lee started loving Baby Sister. It was so sweet and Don was able to get a quick pick. My girl is such a sweetie pie!