Peyton turns 1 month old!

Happy birthday to my beautiful daughter Peyton! We have had quite the adventure over the past month. It has been challenging, trying on the patience, and exhausting, but also such a wonderful learning experience and so much fun all at the same time.


The first couple of weeks home were really tough. As new parents, John and I were clueless when it came to dealing with a sleep schedule (or lack there of) for a newborn. In fact, there was one night really early on where we all 3 were crying trying to figure out what to do at 3:00am (the same night we figured out Peyton loves to be bounced on the exercise ball). Peyton was crying non-stop and we could not figure out why. Turns out she was very hungry as my milk had not yet come in. We finally decided to call John's mom at 5:00am when Peyton had made herself hoarse from crying so hard. Molly advised us to feed her some water out of a bottle just to help her dry mouth and throat. She drank that right down and was fast asleep. Since that night, we have learned a TON and are still of course learning new things every day. Here is our take on events that have occurred in Peyton's 1st month of life:



Sleep:
Peyton has turned out to be a great sleeper for a 4 week old baby (at least for now. We don't want to jinx ourselves too soon). Currently, she sleeps anywhere between 5 and 7 hours for her first stretch of sleep at night. She wakes up and eats, then returns to sleep for another 2-3 hours, eats again, and usually goes down for a 3rd stretch of sleep lasting another 2-3 hours. It took us about 3 weeks to get her to this point. The first 3 weeks were pretty much a blur as far as sleep goes. We now have established a bedtime routine for her, which we are hoping sticks and helps her to continue to sleep well. Her routine consists of a diaper change, pajama's on, swaddle blanket on, and a bottle. This happens around 10:00pm. Most of the time after her bottle, she goes down into her cosleeper, which is now in her own room right away. Sometimes it takes some bouncing on the exercise ball to help her go down. We initially thought we would start her off right away in her big crib...yeah right!! She was NOT having that. We quickly went out and bought a bassinet-type bed for her called an Arms Reach Cosleeper. For about the first week or 2, we had the cosleeper in our bedroom right next to our bed. It has since been moved into her nursery where she has been sleeping in ever since. Thanks to and idea from Molly's friend Donna, we elevated her mattress just a bit so its on a little of an incline and she has slept in it ever since we did that. Thanks Donna! Before we were able to figure that out, Peyton would only sleep on our chest's or stomach's. As you can imagine, we weren't exactly getting that great of sleep this way, so we were desperate for a solution. As far as napping during the day goes, she does NOT nap usually in her cosleeper. Instead she naps either in her front carrier (Lascal), or in her car seat in the car. From my understanding, this is typical of newborns.



Clothes:

Peyton was certainly no small baby as you already know. Thankfully, however she still fits into all of her 0-3 month clothes and is still wearing those. Most of her newborn-sized clothes even fit her, although they are getting too small now that she is 4 weeks old.



Eating:

Peyton started off nursing, however after a week she lost interest in latching on. We decided that is worked best for us for me to pump breast milk and feed it to her in a bottle. That proved to be a wonderful decision, and she has been eating great since. She is up to eating 4oz at each feeding.

Doctor:
Peyton has been in the 90th percentile for height and weight since she was born and remains there today. At her 7 day check-up (which is the last check-up she will have had until her 2 month), she weighed just over her birth weight and her height was 21 inches. Dr. Steven's (her pediatrician) says that she is a beautiful, thriving, healthy baby.

Some additional birth photo's

Peyton is born!

I know I am a bit behind on updating this blog, but we have been busy around here with a newborn! Peyton made her grand entrance on Monday May 17th at 7:26pm. Here is the story of her birth and some photo's to go along with it:

I woke up at about 1:30am on May 16th to use the restroom. There, I found that I had a bloody show. John had fallen asleep on the couch that night, so I ran out to the living room and woke him up to let him know. Shortly after that, I started having contractions. Since I couldn’t sleep very well, I stayed on the couch that night and started timing the contractions. All night long, they were about 7-10 minutes apart lasting about 50 seconds. I was able to get an hour of sleep here and there throughout the night, but I was getting excited that this may be it, and feeling some pain from the contractions, so I didn’t really get that great of sleep.
John and I got up that morning and made a nice breakfast since it was my birthday. We waited until mid-morning to call our mom’s because we didn’t want to alarm them, especially since we knew this could be a false alarm. I was still having contractions at this point, but they were not super consistent, some were still 7-10 minutes apart, and others 15 minutes or so apart. We took our time getting ready for the day, and I even managed to change the sheets, and clean the bathrooms since I knew this could be my last chance for a while.
We headed over to my mom’s house first around noon, still having contractions. I could walk and talk through them still and they still were not very consistent, so I knew we didn’t need to call the hospital or the midwife yet. My mom, Molly, Katie, Lily, John and I met down at the Lake Forest Park Farmers market to walk around for a while. It was a nice day out, and was even a bit humid. We all went to Starbucks and sat outside for a while to enjoy our drinks. We decided to head back to John and Molly’s house for a card game and pizza later on for dinner.
Shortly after we got to John and Molly’s house, the contractions started to get more consistent. They were about 5-7 minutes apart, lasting a minute each. We sat around and had some good conversation, played a half a game of golf, and then finally decided to order pizza for dinner. We had planned on going out to Chinese Food with about 20 of our family members and friends that night for my birthday, but because we were pretty sure this was real labor, we cancelled that dinner. Tommy came over and had dinner with us as well. Half way through dinner, I broke down in tears because the contractions really started to hurt, and at that point I had been dealing with them for just under 20 hours.
John and I had learned both in our birthing class and from our midwife that we should call the hospital team once our contractions were 5 minutes apart, lasting 1 minute each, for 1 hour. Because we were well on that pattern, we called the hospital. They told us not to come in yet, as they would like to see them even more consistent. I was pretty upset by that phone call, and also getting really tired, so John and I headed home to see if we could get any sleep at all. We were home for a few hours at most and I could not possibly fall asleep through the contractions. We timed them the entire time we were home, and finally called back the hospital at about 9:30pm when the contractions were 2-3 minutes apart lasting 1 minute for 2 hours straight. The hospital said, if we felt like we wanted to, we could come on it. I couldn’t believe they were being so relaxed about it. I felt like we had really given it some good time at home, and were well past the 5-1-1 rule that we had learned in our birthing class. We packed the car, and headed into the hospital.
I remember on the way there John and I were pretty quiet. We were ex cited, nervous, and tired all at the same time. We put on some Dave Matthews to listen to on the way. When we arrived at the hospital and checked into triage at about 10:00pm, they got us all hooked up to the monitors and checked my dilation. I was still 85% effaced (we knew this from our triage visit earlier in the week), and dilated to a 3, and at a 0-+1 station. We were the only people in triage. They said they wanted to see some more cervical change, so they sent us to walk the halls for an hour to see if I made any progress. That hour was pretty brutal. It was just John and I at the hospital at that point. We walked up and down the halls, stopping to breathe through the contractions as I would have them. I would occasionally break down in tears from the pain, and frustration that I wasn’t yet admitted and didn’t even know if we would be admitted. John was an absolute champ through this hour. He couldn’t have been more supportive, talking me through it, holding my hands, playing some music on his phone, and calling our moms to give them updates.
After the hour, they rechecked me and said they wanted me to walk yet another hour to see if I could make more change. I just about lost it at that point. I wanted both my mom and Molly to come in for support. As they were on their way, John and I started walking yet again. This hour was even harder than the first. I was having a little bit of a hard time holding it together. The contractions really started to hurt at this point. I could not walk or talk through them to say the least. My mom, Molly and Katie all arrived within the hour. I felt really good about having the 3 of them there for support.
After the second hour, they rechecked me and I was dilated to a 4!!! This meant we would be admitted, thank god! I had now been in labor, having contractions for over 24 hours. We got an IV started, and headed down to our room on the 3rd floor. Once in our room, I decided that I would like to get in a warm bath to see if that would help with the pain at all. Our midwife at that point was Ira, and he had a student with him who was fantastic. Our nurse was Dave, and he too was great. I got into the tub and it felt really good. It did indeed help with the pain. John, my mom, Molly, Katie, and the midwife all took turns spending time with me while I was in the tub. After the tub, I tried the birthing ball which didn’t help much at all. It was now about 5am. The midwife decided to check me, and I was at a 5. She decided that it would be a good idea to go ahead and break my water at that point to see if it would get things moving faster. Breaking my water did not hurt at all, and both John and I were thrilled to have it done if it meant things could move faster.
After my water broke, the contractions got even worse. I was feeling pretty miserable at this point. I had told everyone that I was considering an epidural. Now it was about 7am (almost 30 hours into labor at the point) and Jaime took over for Ira and the student as it was change of shift for the midwife. We also got a new nurse who was outstanding. She had a nursing student with her as well, so in a sense we had 2 nurses with us. Both the nurses and Jaime said they didn’t know how much longer it would be. They said it could be 2 hours, or it could be as much as 6 hours. That was really hard for me to hear. I didn’t know when there was going to be an end in sight, and because of that I decided to go ahead with the epidural. I also had barely had any sleep at all in 2 nights at this point, so I was running out of gas.
I was really excited to see the anesthesiologist, Dr. Nishman arrive in our room. As he was putting in the epidural, John got a little queasy and had to lie down on the couch. The epidural itself was a little painful, only because just as I felt a zinger go down one side of my back, I had a really painful contraction. However, it wasn’t all too terrible, and shortly after it was in, I was a happy camper. Everyone left the room except for John and I and we were able to get about 2 hours of sleep.
Jaime came in around 10:00am and re-checked me. To our surprise, I was completely dilated! That was the good news that John and I needed to hear. The epidural had helped me to progress, and we got some sleep, so we knew that getting the epidural was a good choice. Jaime said that we would give it a little more time, and then shortly we would start to push. During this time, we were laughing and joking, and very excited that Peyton would be arriving soon. Our moms were there, Katie was there, and John’s dad had even come in for support around 3am.
From there, quite a few events took place. Here is the breakdown.
12:30pm-Started pushing. This went on for a couple of hours. We tried many positions of pushing including on my back in the bed, the squat bar, and on my side. Not much progress was being made, although we could see her head and even could see her hair. This wasn’t painful because of my epidural, but it was exhausting using all that energy to push for a couple of hours. My support team was FANTASTIC. I can’t say enough great things about the support I received from my husband, both our moms, Katie, and the nursing team. It truly was amazing to see everyone work together to get this baby out. Never have I felt that much support in my life.
3:30pm: Jaime realized that we weren’t making much progress at all with the pushing, so we discussed the possibility of using the vacuum with me. Because midwives are not licensed to perform the vacuum, she had the on call OB, Dr. Steinberg come in and discuss it with John and I. We both felt confident in Jaime and Dr. Steinberg that we should move forward with the vacuum. It is standard to have the NICU nurses in the room when a vacuum is being used. There were probably around 15 people in the room when the vacuum was being used, so it was quite crowded. They only use the vacuum for a maximum of 3 contractions because of the risks to the baby. Needless to say, the vacuum did not work.
4:30pm-Dr. Steinberg had a discussion with John and I in regards to the next step. She told us that it seemed my uterus was just not contracting strong enough on its own to push Peyton out. She wanted to try giving me some Pitocin to make my uterus contract stronger. She also said we would need to turn down my epidural so that I would feel more of the urge to push. I knew right off the bat that this meant some serious pain. John and I asked everyone to leave the room while we discussed it. At this point, we were both exhausted, and pretty much done trying. We just wanted our baby here. In our discussion, we both said we didn’t feel like this was going to work, but we felt at the same time that Dr. Steinberg did think it would work and we put our trust in her. We went ahead with it. The pain I felt during this time was absolutely excruciating. I can’t explain it. There is nothing like it. I turned into a different person during this time. I couldn’t focus, couldn’t seem to do anything during the contractions to make it feel better, or to calm myself through them. I pushed for about another 20 minutes with no progress. I was BEGGING for someone to do something about my pain.
5:30pm-We decided that a C-section was necessary. We had exhausted every other option at this point. Both John and I knew that we had tried every avenue to get Peyton out vaginally, but that it just wasn’t in the books for us. Once we decided on a C-section, the staff told me they wouldn’t turn back up my epidural because they would be dosing it differently in the OR once I got in there. The problem with this was that they were performing another C-section at that time, so we had to wait until they were done with that one and the OR cleaned until it was our turn. I was not having that. I begged and pleaded, and almost demanded that they turn back up my epidural. I was sobbing, cussing, and pleaded to John, my mom, Molly and Katie to do something about the pain. They kept telling us it would only be another 20 minutes, those 20 minutes would go by and they would say it was only going to be another 20 minutes, meanwhile the Pitocin is still making my contractions extremely strong and my epidural is still turned down. Finally, our nurse went and got the anesthesiologist and he came in and re-dosed my epidural. I could have kissed him! By the time it had actually kicked in, I was being rolled into the OR. I remember passing Anna and my brother in the hall on the way to the OR. They had arrived and hour or 2 earlier.
6:30pm-We got into the OR at about 6:30pm-about 41 hours into labor. They had John wait out in the hall while they prepped me for surgery. That was a really long time for him. He was anxious and just wanted to be with me. I was in total bliss at this point. My epidural was working, so I was no longer in pain. I also was so happy knowing that for sure Peyton would be born very soon. And as weird as it sounds, I felt comfortable in the OR since it’s where I work every day. I knew what all the equipment was, I knew what the staff were all for, etc. John joined me shortly before they started and we were on the way to meet our daughter. Because Peyton was so low in my pelvis from all the pushing, Dr. Steinberg had to push her back up before we started. At 7:26pm, Peyton DeMaris Kirkpatrick was born, weighing in at a whopping 9lbs, 6oz and 19.5 inches long! She was in fact sunny side up. The combination of her size and the fact she was sunny side up were what prevented me from pushing her out. She did not come out immediately crying, so they suctioned her out a bit and then we heard the sweet sound of her cry. She scored a 6 on her first APGAR, and then a 9 on the second one. She was healthy, and a gorgeous baby. John and I were over the moon happy.

A Sample of Maternity Pics by Kate!

A huge thank you to Katie for taking some really great shots of John and I last weekend. From the beginning I really wasn't interested in taking any maternity pics, but I had a last minute change of heart. I am so glad we asked Katie to come over and snap a few of us. She did such a wonderful job and I can't wait to see the rest. So fun! And gosh, do I not have the most handsome husband ever?!!! I certainly think so.

38 Weeks, and full term!

Well, we finally made it to full term (as of last week, 37 weeks). Both John and I are beyond ready for this baby girl to come out. Our hospital bags are packed, car seat is in the car, diapers, crib, clothes, etc are all ready to go for Peyton. Now we just need her to join the party!

I am still working, and will be trying my absolute hardest to continue to do so until our due date of May 14th (if she hasn't come by then). I would rather have the time off with her after she is born then waste it before-hand. However, I must admit that work is getting harder and harder by the day. Being on my feet for 10 hours is just physically exhausting, mostly to my legs and feet. I feel pretty useless after work, although I am trying my best to keep up my energy some. Some of the people at work thing I am crazy for continuing to work, and some seem to understand why I am doing so. I am grateful for my 4, 10 hour shifts and still wouldn't give up that extra day off for anything.

Reflux came and hit me pretty dang hard a couple of weeks ago. It was a Sunday night, and I ran out of my OTC Prilosec and had forgotten to pick more up (BIG MISTAKE!). I went to bed only to be awaken at about 11:30pm and had heartburn so bad that I couldn't even lay down. I was up until about 3:30 until I finally fell asleep. Needless to say, I called work and told them I wouldn't be in until later that day. That is the last time I forget to pick up my Prilosec. It seems as long as I take that everyday, I don't have a huge issue with the heartburn. Lesson learned.

I now completely understand and agree with all the woman who told me the last couple of weeks of pregnancy get really hard. I am just to the point of feeling so huge, that every physical task is harder and harder each day. Even small things like checking your blind spot when driving, the old rolling over in bed, putting on socks and tying your shoes, etc. all take huge amounts of effort. I am down to only a few shirts that actually cover my belly and that I don't have to keep pulling down. Leggings are even uncomfortable now because I keep having to pull them up. I live in yoga pants and the couple pairs of corduroy maternity pants that I have.

John and I decided we should go on one last final date before Peyton arrives and did so this past Thursday. I am SO glad we decided to do so. We went out to Seastar Restaurant and Raw Bar in Seattle. I got a little emotional on the way to dinner thinking about it being our last time out together without a baby. John was so good to remind me that we can still have dates like this even when she is here and that we should be making an effort to do so. We are so lucky to have both sets of our parents so close to us as well as our siblings who all I am sure would be willing to take Peyton for a few hours while we get some good time in together. We ate some really great food (John said he had the best Ceasar salad he has ever had that night), had some good conversation, and let it sink in that we are going to be parents within the next few weeks!!! I am so blessed to have him as my husband and by my side through this whole experience. I can't wait to see him with our daughter. That moment will be so satisfying for me.

A lot of people have been asking me if I am dilated at all, etc. My midwives don't even do any internal checks until 39-40 weeks. They say that the result of doing an internal check will have nothing to do with the care they provide, so there really isn't any reason to do one. I could be dilated to 2cm and stay like that for a couple of weeks, or could deliver in the next couple of days. Its really not an indicator of labor progress. On the same page, I have not experience really any painful contractions, just lots of Braxton Hicks.

The other night, I was feeling particularly sorry for myself (extra swollen and uncomfortable that day) and Molly came over with a care package, flowers and all! She is the absolute best. She recommended that John and I go in the hot tub (as long as it was turned down to 99-100 degrees). We took her up on the recommendation, and it was heaven!!!!!!! John and I always have the best conversations in the tub about our lives and that night was no exception. It made me remember just how much I love doing that together and look forward to much more of it soon.

Peyton brought me really good luck this past Friday night. We were having a going away party for John's friend Andy Cline and playing a round of poker. I had planned all week on NOT playing, but had a change of heart that day and decided to give it a go. Good thing I did, because I actually won! I couldn't believe I beat out 9 other people including John, his dad, Todd, etc. I have never come close to winning playing poker, but I think Peyton brought me the luck I needed. :)

So, Peyton can really truly come at any time now. I do hope she waits until at least May 10th though since my mom is back East visiting Aunt Helen for her 80th birthday until then. We are anxiously awaiting her arrival and can't wait to hold her and look at her.

That's all for now. Up next will either be another belly shot, or a picture of our little girl!

35 Week Belly pic

35/35

Yep, here we are! 35 weeks pregnant and 35 days to go. How am I feeling today? Here are some of my thoughts in a nutshells:

Weight Gain: 33lbs (this is scary for me!! Although the midwife still says this is average, I would like to not gain very much more thankyouverymuch.)

Maternity Clothes: My really good friend Kim asked me a couple of weeks ago if I had gotten to the stage where even maternity clothes were getting too small, and I didn't really know what she was talking about...until now! My belly seems to be tugging more and more on those shirt buttons, and peeking its head out the bottom of my shirts. Just when you think it can't get bigger, you start to notice these things and realize it is indeed getting bigger. Even my scrub tops at work (which I am already wearing a size bigger than pre-pregnancy) are starting to do this same thing. Its been all about comfort lately. I seem to be wearing my tennis shoes, slippers, and zodi's a lot more on my feet. Yoga pants are about the comfiest pants to wear right now. In fact, I wish I had a dozen pairs of yoga pants so I could wear a different pair each day.

Stretch Marks: Believe it or not, I am still in the clear! A few weeks ago, I thought one popped up, and I was a little bummed. But, I'll have you know that a few days later it was completely gone. I may have scratched my belly against something because it looked similar to when you carry too heavy of a bag on your shoulder and get that little red/purple mark. I still swear by my body butter, but am now only using it every other day because it was making my belly itch like none other.

Food Cravings: I was really hoping to have this fun story to tell everyone about a funny food craving that I got when I was pregnant, but I've got nothing. There are things that sound really good that day, that I can't stop thinking about until I eat it, but then once I eat it, that craving is gone. If I had to rack my brain for something, I would say milk and pancakes have tasted to-die-for since my 2nd trimester. I don't feel like I need them all the time, but I have them somewhat often and they always taste so incredible. I've even had pancakes for dinner a couple of times!

Movement: I feel like Peyton might come out as a gymnast! She is moving all the time now, which is great, but sometimes it catches me off guard or takes my breath away, or even tickles. She still has her little baby bum on my left side, and her feet are pointed up towards my head on my right side. Lately, she has loved to get into this position where she sticks her butt way out and stretches her feet way out, pushing them right into my ribs. When you look at my belly from the outside, its the most bizarre thing. Its no longer this cute, perfectly round belly. Its all lopsided from her butt sticking out. Pretty funny, really.

Labor Signs: Thankfully none yet! However, the midwife said something at my appointment this week, which made me realize just how close we are. She said at any point now if I happen to go into labor, they wouldn't do anything to stop it. I guess that means, technically Peyton can come whenever she wants now. Lets hope she stays snuggled in there at least a few more weeks! In fact, I really hope she stays in there at LEAST until May 10th since my mom is going to be back East until the 9th.

What I'm looking forward to: One of the biggest things weighing on my mind right now is getting the nursery done. Now that the house remodel is all but done, I would love to really dig into the nursery. Really, there isn't a ton left to do. We need to finish her dresser/changing table (I say we, but this is really John's job), get Peyton's name decal up on the wall (hopefully with the help of Peyton's uncle Colin), hang the paper lanterns that I just received yesterday, and clear some space in the closet for some of her clothes to hang. I think I am feeling antsy because everything that will go inside her dresser drawers is just in boxes in her room right now, so it looks pretty messy. I am also very much looking forward to the obvious, having Peyton in our arms. I can't wait to see what she looks like, what her little personality will be, etc. And I have to admit, I am looking forward to not being pregnant anymore. Not that I am miserable, but I will be happy to have my own body back and be able eat/drink/exercise/put my shoes and socks on without it taking my breath away/wear normal clothes again, etc.

What I miss most: If you read my confessions post, you already know the answer to this. But, for the record I miss wine, the hot tub, sushi, and working out. Oh! And sleeping on my back too.

We started our birthing classes last week with Penny, and so far we think they are great. We are the furthest along in the class, and in fact the last class is scheduled for after our due date, so we'll see if we make it to that one. The other couples in the class seem very friendly, and for the most part are somewhat in our same age range.

Work is getting tougher and tougher. Standing on my feet for 10 hours is just not so much fun anymore. Some days are definitely better than others. I wish we were rich, so I could just stop working now and enjoy these last few weeks nesting at home and resting, but I will settle for my days off on Wednesday to get this stuff done. Thank god for those days off! I am still going to attempt to work up until my due date (if she hasn't arrived by then), but we'll just see how it goes. There are many days where I wake up and go to work wishing I had a desk job.

John and I have been talking about what kind of savings/college savings plan we want to start for Peyton. We have researched some into the GET program, and also have heard bits and pieces about at 529 plan. Anyone have some good advice?

Up next, more belly pics!