How I've Survived the last 2 months

I can't believe that on Monday, it will have been 2 months since I gave birth to my baby girl. Time has gone by so fast! There were plenty of days when I wasn't sure if I was going to make it. It seemed that everything was going wrong. These are some of my favorite thing that helped me get through these last 2 months and retain my sanity.

1. Bright Starts Swing

I have no idea how I would make it through the day without this thing! The first couple weeks she was born, she HATED it. Anytime we put her in it she would scream. But persistence paid off and by week 3, she could no longer fight the annoyingly soothing music and sway of this swing. This is now the only way she will nap during the day. It allows me to get laundry done, dinner cooked, take a shower and anything else I need to do while she is asleep. She's sound asleep in it now!

2. Itz Been Timer

When we first got home, I will admit that it got tossed to the back burner. Things were so chaotic that I barely had a chance to breathe yet alone keep up with something. Now that things have calmed down a little bit, I love it! I use it to keep track of how long little Peyton has been sleeping and how long it's been since she's ate. This really helps me to keep her on a good nap schedule and making sure she is getting all her rest because I could keep her up and spend time with her for 24 hours! 

3. Huggies Pure and Natural Diapers

These are the best diapers! We've been using them since she was born and have had only 1 blowout and that was the first week she was born so it could have been user error. They are super absorbent and stretchy in all the right places. She's also had no signs of diaper rash which I was SO worried about. The best part is, they are better for the environment and contain no harsh chemicals like regular diapers. I was tempted to go the cloth diapering route but just couldn't bring myself to it. These diapers help me feel a little better about choosing to go disposable.

4. Born Free Bottles

Admittedly, these are not the bottles that I researched and chose to try out when I was preggars. We started out with Tomme Tippee bottles but had a lot of issues with them in the beginning. They leaked like crazy and I think were causing Peyton to have really bad gas. So, Marcus chose to do some research and found these bottles. They don't leak and she is less fussy after drinking from these bottles. Definitely worth the extra cash to get these.

5. Medela Steam Bags

I will admit I am VERY lazy when it comes to cleaning bottles. This was something I dreaded doing when I was pregnant. Between scrubbing and boiling water, I just hated the idea. Whoever invented these bags is amazing. All it takes is a quick 90 seconds in the microwave and all her bottles and pacifiers and clean and sterilized. A HUGE time saver!

6. Eric Carle Developmental Caterpillar

Everyone knows my love of everything Eric Carle and The Very Hungry Caterpillar. Well my little girl is no different. I got this from my mother at my baby shower and decided to hang it from the handle on Peyton's car seat. This thing has been a lifesaver with keeping her company while driving. When we first brought her home, she would just stare at it and gaze. Now, she coo's and talks to him. It's so cute!

7. Soothe and Glow Seahorse

This little seahorse helps make diaper changes a fun time. Peyton loves staring at it and talking to it. Sometimes I even strap her into the changing table and let her hang out for a few minutes spending time with it. She also loves the music.

8. Bright Starts Acvitity Mat

Tummy time! Peyton loves laying on her play mat watching the lights flash and listening to the music. It's been great to entertain her while I can go brush my teeth, clean bottles or god forbid eat!

9. Soothie Pacifiers

I was one of those mothers that said my child would NEVER use a pacifier. I've saw the kids at 3 years old still walking around with it and I didn't want that for my daughter. Well, toss that notion out the window since she was given a soothie paci while we were in the hospital. Now it's the only kind she will take.

10. Boppy pillow
 
Although this is intended for nursing, I find it easier to just hold her in my arms. She does love to hang out in it though. It's become our morning routine to prop her up in it to "talk" to the ceiling fan while I brush my teeth. 

The past 60 days have been quite the challenge. They've been filled with lots of learning experiences but I've learned to go with the flow. My new favorite saying is "Whatever works".

I'm ready for my close up

Little Peyton had her first photo shoot last weekend and she was already showing signs of being a Diva! Our poor photographer was pooped on and Marcus was tinkled on twice. It was all worth it though with the great shots we got! 

 I love these shots. She is definitely a daddy's girl already.

 This shot took almost 30 minutes to get. It was a team effort between Marcus, the photographer and I. You'd never guess how we did it. And I'm not telling the secret! I still can't believe this little cutie came from me. :)

Welcome to the World Little Butterfly

Let me preface by recanting my last post. I was indeed in labor on 1-11-11! We were sent home because I wasn't making any progress however, we come to find out that I was indeed in labor.

After being sent home, I decided to take one day off work and return on Thursday the 13th. At 11:30, the secretary at my school comes on the intercom to tell me that my doctor is on the phone and they need to speak with me. Immediately, I start to get nervous because they have NEVER called my school looking for me. When I get to the phone, they ask me to come in right away and not wait until my 4:30pm appt. that day. I tell them I can but ask why. She lets me know they are worried about the baby because I've been in labor for 2 days! 

I call Marcus to let him know and he frantically drives to pick me up and we head to the doctor. When we arrive, my doctor let's me know that he's worried about me being in labor for 2 days with no progression. After being checked, we find out that I have so much scar tissue from a previous surgery on my cervix. So much so that it would prevent me from laboring naturally on my own. He was still optimistic that with the help of pitocin, I would still be able to deliver on my own once they broke apart the scar tissue. 

Well we check into the hospital at 6:00am and get settled into our room. After getting the IV started, the fun began. They started the pitocin increasing the dosage every 20 minutes. I began at 1cm and by 10:30 I was at 3cm and the doctor was breaking my water. The excitement was kicking in and so was the pain so I got an epidural. At 2:30 I was not at 5cm and making good progress. By 4:30, I had stalled at 7cm. They waited another hour, however, nothing had changed. My contractions were slowing down and they were afraid she was stuck in my birth canal. 

I couldn't help but cry when I heard the words: C-Section, but my doctor assured us it was the only way to safely get the baby out. I agreed but it still was not what I had planned for the birth of my precious baby. I was nervous but all I could repeat in my mind to calm down was "healthy baby, healthy mommy". 

At 6:30pm we head to the operating room to have our little girl. Although it wasn't the birth I expected, it was no less of an awe inspiring, unforgettable moment in my life. With Marcus by my side, Peyton Ela Jones entered the world at 6:58pm. She was 6 lbs. 4 ounces and 19.5 inches long. She was born at 38 weeks 6 days.

She was indeed stuck in my pelvic area and there was no way she was making it through. She was also face up which was an issue so we definitely made the correct choice. Marcus went with her to be cleaned and weighed. What's so miraculous is how quiet she was when she was born. She let out one LOUD cry and then stopped. I was scared beyond belief wondering what was going on with my baby since I couldn't see her. They assured me she was perfect, just quiet. Let's only hope she stays that way. 

After they finished getting me stitched and cleaned up, they brought my precious daughter over for me to see. She brought tears to my eyes with how beautiful she is. I couldn't believe this perfect little person came from me!!! 

After getting back to the room, I had trouble dealing with the anesthesia and had some nausea and vomiting which caused my interior muscles to tear. Boy was that painful! I lost a lot of blood so they decided to keep us in the hospital until Monday. 

I'm doing great though. Peyton has latched on like a pro and has only lost 4 ounces which they are sure she'll put right back on once my milk comes in. It's been such a wonderful experience already and I can't wait for each day with her! 

2 L&D Visits and still NO Peyton

Seriously... Only 1cm! There's no way she's making her debut through that tiny of a hole.

Well I started having contractions Sunday night and just suffered through them until Tuesday afternoon when they were coming every 5 minutes and getting more and more painful. I call the doctor and they told us to go to L&D so they can check me out. We get there and I'm only dilated 1cm. I couldn't believe it! All that pain and that's all the progress I had made. So we were sent home and told to come back when the contractions are 4 minutes apart.

Now the walking marathon begins. We walked through Target for nearly 2.5 hours, finding some great deals on little sleepers for Peyton I may add. Then we walked Lowe's for about an hour and finished off our marathon with a parade around the Dollar Tree. Afterwards, my hips were sore, my feet hurt and I was exhausted! We ended our night with a spicy trip to Buffalo Wild Wings to try and melt her out with all their fiery delicious wings.

By 10:30pm Tuesday night the contractions were coming every 3 minutes and were extremely painful. So back to the hospital we go. Convinced this time was the real thing. After an hour there, I was still only dilated 1cm and not making any progress. To make matters worse, the contractions were slowing down.

So I guess for now Peyton has decided to stay an inside baby. Maybe another order of hot wings will do the trick... ;-)

38 Weeks...

I'm officially 2 weeks away from my due date with no little Peyton in sight. We went to the doctor on Thursday hoping for news of me dilating or showing any signs of progression. However, she's staying snug as a bug in there for now.

The highlight of the appointment came when the nurse let me know I was back to the weight I was before I became swollen like a balloon. My doctor's hilarious note on my chart: "Husband aggressively pushing fluids." We couldn't stop laughing. Marcus had indeed been filling me up on liquids as his cure all for any ailment. At least now he's giving me a break!

Hopefully things will start to progress soon and I will be holding my little one any day now. You never know! 

Merry Christmas from the ER

Marcus had planned such a delicious Christmas Eve dinner filled with prime rib, corn and shrimp chowder and broccoli salad. I could hardly wait to spend the day with family listening to Christmas music and playing games.

All that changed at about 10pm on December 22 when I got extremely sick. Some type of stomach virus took me by storm and after a sleepless, sickening night, Marcus finally took me to the ER at 9am. By this time, the virus had also struck him and he was just as sick as me. When we checked into the ER, they were ready to admit both of us but Marcus was trying to be brave and let them tend to me.

After a couple hours, they admit me because my calcium and potassium levels were so low from being sick all night. I was so scared that me being sick would affect the baby in some way so I was thankful that they were going to keep me overnight to monitor the baby and I.

Christmas eve morning rolled around and began swelling very badly. They weren't sure what was causing it so I would need more tests ran which meant another night in the hospital. :(

So Marcus goes home to get ready for another night in the hospital. To my surprise, he comes back with Christmas decorations and our santa hats. So sweet!

6pm rolls around and we are flipping through the hospital tv for Christmas movies. When who to our surprise walks in the room but my wonderful OB. He said he was sitting at home wondering how I was doing and if my levels were back up. After an hour of him checking all the test results, he released me to go home under strict eating and drinking restrictions.

We couldn't believe it! I would get to spend Christmas Eve in my own bed. We still wouldn't be able to spend Christmas day with our family but we were so thankful that we were able to spend the day together cuddled on the couch. Dr. Sudela was our Christmas miracle.

Our first doctor's visit

I could hardly contain my excitement after finding out we were pregnant. I couldn't wait to meet with our doctor so on my break from work I called and quickly scheduled a visit with my doctor for later that week.
We arrived at our appointment at 3:00 and were so excited to find out when we're due and have the official "Yes, your pregnant" talk. Well, 5:15 rolls by and we are STILL sitting in the waiting room. I'm almost in tears at this point. I was so full of excitement and now was having to sit there for over 2 hours to see the doctor. With no end in sight, and the office staff leaving, I asked for a refund of my co-pay and informed the remaining staff that we would NOT be returning. Although I was very upset and felt robbed of our exciting day, it lead me to find the BEST doctor ever! I met with them less than a week later and found out we were 7 weeks 5 days pregnant. 

Here's the 1st picture of our little butterfly at 7 weeks.