January recap

January was a month of up's and down's for us...

I went back to work on January 4th, after 5 weeks off. It honestly wasn't all that hard for me as much as I love spending time with Peyton. a.) It was only part time and b.) Ben's mom was watching Peyton at our house. I think it would have been way harder to drop her off at a daycare with a bunch of strangers.

A week after I went back to work I was offered a full-time position! This was GREAT new considering I had been working full time since June of 2009. Come to think of it, I don't even know if I mentioned the job in the first place. I am working as a graphic/web designer for Rivertowns Newspaper Group - mainly the River Falls Journal, Hudson Star Observer and the Pierce County Herald. I really like it and it's SO convenient working here in town.

On the 13th, Ben's grandfather passed away. This was his second grandparent in 6 weeks (his grandmother from the other side of the family passed two days after Peyton was born). So, Monday and Tuesday of the next week were spent at the wake and funeral.

Then, that Thursday, the 21st, our dog Raven passed away. She hadn't really been herself since we brought Peyton home from the hospital, but we kind of expected that since she was a dog that craved a lot of attention. At that point she didn't seem 'sick' though, just a little distant. Then we started noticing she wasn't eating as much, but still we just assumed she was a little depressed. Then a week or two before she passed she started having some diarrhea. This is when we knew there was something more serious going on. We took her to the vet and he ran some tests and said her white blood cell count was high so we knew she was fighting some sort of infection. He gave us amoxicillin and some deworming meds to try over the weekend. We also took a urine sample in on Saturday. Monday the vet called with the results and said her billirubin levels were high so he thought it was liver related. We then had him run a blood test, which for some reason he sent out rather than doing in-house and it was going to take two days instead of one. On the second day we called and the results were in but the doctor was not so we had to wait another day. Raven passed early the next morning. Looking at her the night before I just knew she was going to make it. It was seriously the saddest thing ever! I know to some people dogs are just animals, but ours have always been like our kids and she was only four years old - way too young to be taken from us. We still have no real answer as to how she died. The vet is pretty sure it was kidney and/or liver failure, but we have no idea what caused it. We had her cremated and got a really nice photo memorial box for her. Chase (our other dog) is doing well, but life just isn't the same without her. :o(

December recap

Okay, I'm back as promised (for the one or two of you who care, LOL)! Let's see...

The first couple of weeks of December are kind of a blur. Peyton was a little jaundice after leaving the hospital so we ended up taking her back in a couple of times to check her levels. One night with the Wallaby blanket did the trick though. My mom stayed with us for the first week, which was a huge help, even just to have someone to talk to at 2am when Peyton decided to scream for 3 hours straight.

We headed over to Oshkosh for Christmas to see my family. Peyton did great on her first long car ride and slept the entire way (4-5 hours). We only had to stop once to feed her (and us). I also mastered pumping in a moving vehicle. :) Thank goodness for my Udder Cover! While in Oshkosh, Peyton got to meet two of her Great Grandma's, her Grandpa Kitz, her Auntie Kyra and a few of my aunts, uncles and cousins.

Peyton with her Auntie Kyra

Peyton and Great-Grandma Ruth

The Sunday after Christmas Ben and I met some friends of ours at Lambeau Field in Green Bay (only a 45 minute drive from my mom's house) to watch the Pack take on the Seahawks. We had a ton of fun and plan to make it a yearly thing! Ben and I went by ourselves last year, which was a blast, but it was WAY more fun this year with friends! Here are a few pics from the day...GO PACK GO!

2 months old

Wow, I can't believe Peyton is two months old already (and that I haven't blogged in that long either - I promise for a recap of the past couple months later today)!

Peyton is now 11lbs., 8oz. (95th percentile), 23in. long (75th percentile) an her head is 39cm (55th percentile). Little chunk. :o)

According to the little checklist the doctor used for things she should be doing, she's right on track or even a little ahead of schedule. She's eating 4-5oz. per feeding now and with an exception here or there we have her sleeping from about 10 or 11pm to 6 or 7am. Success in my book!

Peyton Nora

Our little girl arrived at 4:00am on Monday, November 30, 2009. She weighed 7 pounds, 10 ounces and was 20 inches long. :)

I went in on Sunday evening for a gel application to jump start things, and boy did it ever. They sent me home just after 9pm and told me to call whenever I woke up in the morning. Well, I woke up at 1:30am when my water broke and my contractions were already 4 minutes apart and pretty painful. We made it to the hospital about 2:00am and I was 4cm. At that point I was ready to give in to an epidural because all the contractions were in my back and extremely painful! When they checked me not even an hour later though I was 8cm so there was really no med option and just knowing that things were progressing that fast I knew I could do it. About 3 contractions later I was fully dilated and pushing. Everyone is right, pushing feels SO good at that point! Now quite sure how long I pushed, Ben and I are guessing maybe 20 minutes, and she was out and perfect. :)

Labor was the easy part...

A couple of hours later they had me up to go to the bathroom and I almost passed out. My bp was down to about 80/50 and I was bleeding a lot (more than normal that is). They put me on oxygen and started a catheter and waited for the doctor to come assess the situation. Apparently my uterus didn't stay firm enough as it contracted, which lead to excessive bleeding and clotting. So, he ended up massaging it down and manually working the clots out (AWFUL) and then they had me on several different IV meds throughout the day to keep my uterus firm. I am doing much better now, but my iron level is still extremely low and I'm on some supplements to get that back up. I am actually in the blood transfusion range, but I seemed to be doing well enough that they didn't think that was necessary. I just need to be careful to not over-do it right now.

We got discharged around lunch time today and are in the process of settling in at home. I am sure I will have plenty more pics to post in the coming days, but here are a few. I can't believe I'm a mommy!

the end is in sight!

Just got back from my 40 week appointment and nothing has changed since last week. Baby's head is still down and low and my cervix is thinned out, but no notable dilation. Doctor thinks there's a good chance she will come on her own this week, otherwise I will be going in on Sunday night to be induced. Baby Sanford will be here by Tuesday at the latest! Crazy!

39 weeks

Again, a little late since I'm now 2 days away from my due date, but here is my 39 week picture from last week. Not much to report from my last appointment. Baby is in position and her head is really low (doc said he could feel it quite easily) and I was almost totally effaced, no dilation though. I go in again tomorrow.

I had LOTS of early labor signs last week - won't go into all the lovely details - and thought for sure I'd have her this past weekend, but then everything stopped and here I sit Monday morning, still pregnant. Oh well. I'm not really uncomfortable or anything (with the exception of a day here or there) so I really can't complain. The worst is having to go back to work everyday and hear, "Oh, you're still here?" :o/

I had a good weekend though. My sister came up to visit and that helped me keep my mind off of the fact that I wasn't in labor. Ha. We did a little shopping on Saturday - bought a pack 'n play and some slippers for the hospital - and I introduced Kyra to Potbelly (one of my favorite places to eat in Woodbury), otherwise we just laid low around the house. She left around lunch yesterday and I got the house all cleaned up again, got all the laundry done, baked a pumpkin pie and repainted my toenails. I'm all set now baby! *hint, hint*

38 weeks

Well, I had my 38 week appointment yesterday and that was quite the ordeal! Started off normal - he measured me, listened to the heartbeat and checked my cervix. I am thinning out nicely, but he didn't mention anything about dilation so I'm guessing that's a no. Then he tells me that I am measuring a little small (most likely due to the fact her head is so far down the birth canal) so he'd like to do a quick ultrasound just to make sure everything's in check. My blood pressure has been up a little bit the past couple of weeks too, so that may have been another factor he wanted to check out. So, we go do the ultrasound and he's scanning back and forth, back and forth and not saying anything (starting to freak out a little at this point). And then he says, "Well, I'm not seeing what I'd like to on here." Basically, she wasn't moving at all at that point (probably due to the fact she had been moving like crazy all morning and even minutes before he came into the room and that I hadn't eaten lunch yet) so he decided to send me over to labor and delivery to be monitored, "just to be on the safe side". So, he walks me over there and they hook me up to one thing that monitors the heartbeat and another that monitors contractions (which I am having apparently even though I'm not really feeling them). All is well though and he saw what he needed to see on the charts so they let me go. Whew! I mean, I wasn't TOO worried since I knew she had been moving a lot earlier in the day, but it's still a little nerve-wracking. So, more waiting and back to the clinic on Tuesday. I still think a Friday the 13th baby would be cool...hint, hint little girl... :o) Not crossing my fingers though, since I really don't expect to go early.

38 weeks