Peyton Valerie

She's here. And well. Thank you Lord.

What a long night though. I was definitely in labor all of Wednesday and things picked up quickly after 8pm. We made it to the hospital about 10. The pains just started to crowd in together at 2-4 minutes apart. Epidural, yes please. So nice to not feel any pains but uncomfortable for positioning and trying to sleep. So not much sleep happened. By 630am the baby was coming.
And after much ridiculous shouting and weird words of pushing she arrived. It was such an entirely different birth experience then Ellee's. I was aware. I was conscious. And I cared. Kind of. The funny thing was as soon as she got here I was like, "thas a big baby!". She isn't really. Only 6.10 perfect in size. But with Peyton being almost a whole pound bigger then Ellee was, I really noticed a difference. Peyton has so much more chub then Ellee did too :) But she came on her time (and the Lords). And that makes me happy. 40 minutes after I was supposed to report for my scheduled induction. :)

What a blessing.

When reading while in labor I came across Psalm 30:5. It was such a comfort and reminder that the Lord was with me and very aware of the entire process I was about to go through.
The latter part of the verse reads
"...weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning"

Surely  enough before breakfast, there was joy.

Our God truly is an awesome God and Matt and I will forever be reminded with our wonderful blessings.

The MOST wonderful time of the year :)

So much has been going on lately. Thanksgiving, Christmas decor, chasing Ellee, labor pains. Yes, labor pains.

I really love Christmas. I love the cheerfulness and the skip in your heels just walking through any store and seeing the exciting decor. It really does make me want to go overkill on the decor but I have been taking my time with collecting my Christmas home accessories. Our first year married I found a Christmas tree at good will, for all of 20 bucks! Pre lit and all, but didnt work. Matt somehow did some electrical magicalness and was able to get it working. I think he only got shocked twice in the process :) From there I've tried to add to the colors and christmas spirit. But oh man. Today at Target there were soooo many cute things I wanted to purchase. Totally my style too! 

Here is a bit of Collage of some items I thought were cute. Go and check it out for yourselves though super cute stuff! And some of the cutest I couldn't find online to show you!

  My plan is to hit them up after Christmas :) 

Today while we were getting back in the car Ellee looks out the window and sees a man and shouts "Papa!! Papa, papa papa papa! "

Of course its not Matt. The funny thing, its a very big and tall black man.

 #1. Matt isn't very tall. #2. He's white. 

I still can't figure out what posessed her to think that he was papa. She doesn't look at every male on the street that passes and shout Papa. 

It sure was funny though!

On top of all this activity of Christmas-ness is the lingering induction. Thursday morning. Yikers!

But I pray ferverently that the baby will come before then. And am quickly wondering if God is answering my prayers. Yesterday morning contractions were full on every 7 minutes. More painful then usual, definitely not braxton. And then they slowed down. But still there all day and I am still having them today; but worse!This morning at 4:00 contractions woke me up. And they were like clockwork. 7 minutes. And I was breathing through them. At 5 I decided I should let my parents know so maybe they should leave home a bit early. They did. At 6:30 I fell asleep. Thankfully. At 7 I was awaken with super painful horrible contractions. 3 in a row too!! 5-7 minutes apart. I had to stifle a growl at Matt as he tried to ask me about something mid contraction. I was not the least bit interested in socializing. Then, the contractions slowed. And their severity also declined. Whats up with that!? So still contractions all day so far...

Maybe baby before Thursday morning induction? I hope so!

Ellee has been keeping me distracted at home so it hasn't been TOOOO difficult to ignore the contractions. 

She decided this morning she'd open her christmas presents early. And pull all the ornanments on the bottom half of the christmas tree off. 

Christmas with a toddler. 

 And here are some cute shots of Ellee with cousin Kyana at walmart for a little late afternoon Black Friday shopping :)

38 Week Thanksgiving update!!

How far along? 38 weeks
Total weight gain: 22 lbs
 Maternity clothes? how could I not be? My maternity shirts even require a constant tug down to avoid flashing my bare baby belly to the world!
Stretch marks? unfortuantely. With ellee, none. But it seems the fact I avoided the last 3 weeks of prgenancy last time also benefited in helping me avoid stretch marks!
Sleep: good, but up a tonne.
Best moment this week: Just plain time with Ellee. She so sweet and kind and fiery. But shes adorable with other babies. She pronounces loudly baby and has yet to show any signs of jealous issues.
Miss Anything?  feeling comfortable. I have a feeling once this baby is out and I am recovered from the labor process I am pretty sure I am going to feel like a light and floaty butterfly instead of large heavy weight rock!
Movement:plenty
Food cravings: ice cold water, ice, popsicles, chocolate, caramel, turkey and prime rib, mashed potatos, lots of things that it would probably take over the whole post! Possibly impart to thanksgiving
 Anything making you queasy or sick: nope!
Gender: Girl
Labor Signs:contractions. seem to be getting stronger daily.
Symptoms: acne, leg cramps, braxton hicks, general abdominal discomfort, lots of other things.
Belly Button in or out? out....
Wedding rings on or off? off for now.
Mood most of the time:  Happy!
Looking forward to: one week from today from this moment we could have our sweet little girl in our arms!

To top off the weekend we made our way to Wisconsin for thanksgiving. Don't worry, I ran it by the OB an she gave me the all go. Told me to wear my seat belt and drink water. I can do that. Of course being even slightly away from home makes me paranoid so I am so much more aware of every twinge and movement of my body. 
But no baby. tonight or tomorrow I am sure. :)

And then we'll be back in Illinois. 

 

Whack attack

I have a problem. I am a walking sign for weirdos. I constantly have weird things, or rather PEOPLE, coming up to me or interacting with me. I've had several in the past, especially with having cute little Ellee with me on many occasions, but today it was Ellee as well as Belly that attracted some attention.

My first problem is the fact that I do alot of shopping at Wal-mart. Thats like a welcome sign for some odd balls. Obviously, I shop there :) haha
Anyways, this woman comes up to me in the beauty aisle and asks me in very broken english with a very strong spanish accent how many "months" is Ellee. After double asking, I finally figured out what she was asking and said 16 months. From there the questions flooded in and I felt horrible for not being able to understand her and I had to say pardon a million times.
Then she says:
" and now you have Boy!"
" Boy?"
"Yes! Is boy!"
"Nope! Its a girl they tell me!"
"NOOOOO. Is boy!"
"Well, they said 99% girl!"
"Belly is round. Like boy"
"Yes....so Ive been told. "
"Let me see!"
She then proceeds to lift up my unzipped jacket and literally do a 360 around me in the aisle. Dissecting my belly, back and butt.
After spending her minute of checkout time, she informs me.
"Yupp, is boy."
What do I say to this? Not only have I just had my personal bubble invaded but she is also demanding that I agree its a boy.
My only response:
"I'd let you know in 2 weeks if I knew you..."
"Have a nice day!"
"You too?..."
Hahah.

I could come up with several other occasions to enlighten you all on in which weird, actually more like people-with-no-personal-bubble-invading-alarms, as well as people-who-say-things-they-shouldnt-to-people-they-dont-even-know have approached me.
I had another encounter just 2 weeks ago in which the target check out lady told me how cute Ellee was, then saw my belly:
"Youre pregnant again?!"
"Well yes!"
"how old is she? How far apart are they? Was it a surprise?"
"Well shes 16 months and they'll be about 17 months apart. It was a wonderful surprise."
"Wow. Are you gonna get on birth control after this?"
Sayyy whatttt?!?!?!?!??

I could enlighten everyone on all my interesting experiences however we may be here all night.
And I am tired :)

 

37 week update!

How far along? 37 weeks
Total weight gain: 20 lbs
 Maternity clothes? yyou betcha. and lots of yoga pants :)
Stretch marks? some itty ones making an appearance. 
Sleep: good!
Best moment this week: Ellee officially will give me a REAL kiss with a loud pronounced MUAH. She used to just lean her head in and let u kiss her head or cheek. Now she'll give you a really smooch!!!
Miss Anything?  comfort.
 Movement:plenty
Food cravings: ice cold coca cola, oranges have sounded super yummy all day, and Ive been craving really sweet things lately too. (chocolate and candy, oreos!)
 Anything making you queasy or sick: nope!
Gender: Girl
Labor Signs:irregular contractions.
Symptoms: acne, leg cramps, braxton hicks, general abdominal discomfort,
Belly Button in or out? out....
Wedding rings on or off? off for now.
Mood most of the time:  Happy!
Looking forward to: family this weekend! 


Officially the longest I've been pregnant! At this point with Ellee I was already holding her :) 

Its been a rollercoaster of a week!!

Last Wednesday was a surprise with the quick trip to the hospital. The doctor still wanted to see me on Friday to follow up and check things again.
So I went in Friday and my BP was high. Go figure. No running involved this time but still high so she decided I definitely would need to do the 24hr urine test just to be proactive. And honestly that was fine. She was still suspicious of preeclampsia, and since I had it before I can have it again.
So before I left the office she informed me pending the test, she wanted to induce me on Wednesday. Wednesday?! This Wednesday? yes. Crazy! I was sooo not prepared for that. She had mentioned it at my previous visit, but I just didn't think it would happen. But it was better then with Ellee when it was I am inducing you now! So I'll take what I can get as far as planning ahead.
She also said based off the blood pressure being so up and down she was not going to let me go to full term if they didn't induce the upcoming Wednesday. That means baby is a November baby!

So I left the office with a tentative baby coming Wednesday or Thursday. And of course my planning brain is running through all the things I wanted to get done. I basically went into major nesting mode! So I went home and all the little things I wanted done, I just started tackling. With the lingering voice of my husband saying "take it easy".

Saturday we took the test to the lab and Monday I had an appt to see her again. Saw her yesterday and she said definitely no pre-eclampsia! That made me happy! So definitely no induction Wednesday. And honestly, I wasn't to impressed with the idea of induction on Friday when she told me. But I had spent the weekend really rearranging my thought process and making it a positive. If this was part of God's plan then it needed to be a part of mine. So I was a little disappointed when she said no baby action this week. I got myself all excited to see my munchkin! Definitely for the best though. God knows she needs more baking time, and since were relying on God were happy no matter, because a healthy baby is what we'd like.:)

Baby's tentative arrival date is the 28th/29th of November. 
That's when the induction is scheduled. But in the meantime, I will be doing everything to try and get things going prior to the induction. It would be sooooooo awesome not to have to be induced. I've got my pineapple smoothie, and plan on getting some raspberry leaf tea. I wont be trying the castor oil anytime soon though, yuck. Too bad double stuf oreos don't induce labor :)

Ellee is getting ready too. Sort of. She still loves smacking my bear belly and shouting baby. But good thing there isn't much time left for that as shes proceeded to try and show the baby to the world in other places. I.e. target, good will, and other public places which I am not interested in showing my belly off.

36 weeks!

Small Hospital Visit

Yesterday night before heading to the usual Wednesday bible study meeting I had my weekly appointment with my OB.
We were running a little late. Matt and Ellee were both with me as the hospital is about a mile from the Hall. So, we walk  in, briskly. Then forfeit the elevator since we dont have the stroller and hike up the stairs. We get in an basically don't even wait since were late as it is. Whats the first thing they do once we get in there? Take my BP. 148/91. Hm not good. I am veryyyyyy aware of this.

The nurse departs after doing the BP and measurements and my OB comes in after about 5 minutes. Basically informs me I'll be getting shipped to the hospital if she takes me BP in 5 minutes and its still high. It was. Off to the hospital, Matt and Ellee in tow.

Now if this doesn't make your BP go up a little I dont know what does. I was feeling very calm till they made me put the horrible robe on and strapped up all the monitors and then I realized, they might put an IV in! One of my WORST memories of Ellee's birth was the IV. OUCHHHHH.
But no they only stuck me once for a million viles of blood :o.

So we waited, and waited...and waited. They had to process the blood work and they also wanted to get my BP for at least an hour every 15 minutes. And as we thought it was down almost immediately. All 120/80 and lower. Nothing to worry about. And then all the blood work came back, and absolutely normal. So normal I didn't have to do a 24 hour pee test! I do have to go see my OB again tomorrow morning. So we'll have to see what she says if my BP is up even a little.
She brought up possibly inducing next Wednesday, I am 37 weeks/full term as of then, if the BP is still out of sorts. Not exactly ideal, but it has its positives in planning purposes.

Bed rest might come up too. But bed rest with a 16 month old? Yea right. Thats a joke.

Ellee did so well at the hospital. I was literally strapped to the bed so there was no way I could even help Matt. But he entertained her even amidst her hunger and tiredness.

Here's a video clip of the sources of entertainment matt came up with :)

36 week update!

How far along? 36 weeks
Total weight gain: 20 lbs
 Maternity clothes? yupppers.
Stretch marks? Maybe :(
Sleep: so-so, wake up a tonne!
Best moment this week: this week has been crummy. Ive been soooo sick and so has bug :(
Miss Anything?  too much to mention. baby come out now!
 Movement:plenty
Food cravings: ice cold coca cola! other then that not much a of an appetite, ive been sick.
 Anything making you queasy or sick: nope!
Gender: Girl
Labor Signs:lots of different things. nothing consistent!
Symptoms: acne! :( leg cramps, belly aches and pains, contractions, mild swelling
Belly Button in or out? out....
Wedding rings on or off? off for now.
Mood most of the time:  Happy, now that im getting over my illness!
Looking forward to: baby coming sooooooooon!

Ellee and Belly

Here's a snap from 35 1/2 weeks. Its hard to believe at this point with ellee I was ALOT more swollen. And only 1.5 weeks from actually having her. So crazy. Definitely in the home stretch. Which is completely fine with me as I really would like to have this baby out :)And excuse the terrible-ness of the pictures. Ive been terribly sick the past several days and completely uninterested in putting any effort into appearance!

Ellee's new favourite thing to play with? My tea towels. I have them hanging off the oven door and she pulls all of them off then wraps them around her neck like a scarf or pulls them over her head like a hood. I have no idea why. Its not like she doesn't have other blanket options around. And since shes been a runny booger nosed little girl shes been wiping her nose on them too. EW. So I've had to start keeping them on the counter instead of doing loads of laundry of just tea towels.

Pineapples do something...

I had such a crummy night. I kept waking up with belly pains. So it does something, but not worth losing another nights sleep :)

Pineapples. Possibly my new best friend.

I read some thing about pineapples being a food to "naturally induce labor". So what am I drinking?  A homemade mango pineapple smoothie. I'll keep you posted on its effects. In the meantime its absolutely delish and everyone should try to make it! (Especially if the Aldi near you has them on sale for 99 cents!!)

1c. fresh pineapple and core
1c. mango
1c. orange juice
1/2c vanilla yogurt

Something I'd wish I'd done was puree these ingredients together first till they are nice and smooth.
Then add ice accordingly and blend till its the right consistency. I also added a tablespoon of sugar just to throw in some extra sweetness. :)