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Tuesday, August 25, 2009

2 weeks old today!

It is Payton's 2 week B-day today! I can't believe how fast these last 2 weeks have flown by. She is growing up so fast already! She had her first bath the other day and absolutely loved it, she just laid back and chilled in the tub no crying or fussing! Here are some other fun facts about our little Payton at 2 weeks old:

~She can roll over from her back onto her side
~She loves to be in her Baby Bjorn
~She is eating every 2 hours or so and eats like a champ- almost 3 oz
~She moves her mouth in her sleep like she is eating
~She smiles all the time, especially after she is done eating (I think it is her favorite thing to do)
~She smiles and giggles in her sleep
~She loves looking around the room, at the ceiling, at faces, and she loves to look at the bedding and mobile in her bedroom
~She doesn't like to sleep at night- just durring the day
~She loves to be held and rocked
~She loves to sit up
~She is very gassy & fussy lately, poor thing...
~She does awesome in her carseat & almost always falls asleep durring the car ride
~She doesn't mind getting her diaper changed anymore but she doesnt like getting dressed
~She has an umbilical hernia
~When she is really hungry she starts grunting like crazy and flails her hands around, Daddy calls this "The Gremlin" lol...
~She goes cross eyed when she is really trying to concentrate on something


She is so amazing! I could go on and on about all the cute little things she does... I have never felt so overwhelmingly blessed in my whole life. I love our family and I couldnt ask for more! <3

~Ashley

Friday, August 21, 2009

I thought I should write a bit about the whole labor & delivery and our life with our little girl since she is already almost 2 weeks old!!

So around 8pm on Tuesday Aug. 10th- my official due date- I decided to take a chance on trying out castor oil to see if it would start labor. I had heard that it worked for a select few ladies and others just got all the bad side effects from it and no baby. But I was rrreally wanting to meet our little angel so I though why not?! 8pm- Castor oil ingested, it was disgusting and I gagged it down... the next hours consisted of many trips to the bathroom...12am finally got to sleep...1am got back up to go to the bathroom and then all of the sudden, my water broke! I was in denial for quite a while about it actually being my water for some reason...then I say "Honey, wake up, my water just broke!"

Brandon jumps out of bed quicker than I've ever seen him move...he's running around the house packing bags & bringing stuff out to the car...hands me the phone with the Birthplace so I could tell them I was heading in...getting paper work and phone numbers and our birthplan out and ready...in about 5 minutes he's ready to go with keys in his hands and I haven't even gotten over the fact that my water broke!

We drive to the hospital, its about 15 minutes away, no contractions yet so I was feeling good. Brandon and I look at eachother & we both can't believe its finally time. Brandon drops me off at the Emergency entrance where I am escorted to the Birthplace while Brandon parks the car.

I am greeted by the night nurse at about 2am, change into a hopsital gown, and then they hooked me up to the external fetal & contraction monitors. Brandon finally finds his way up to the room after some parking ramp confusion. The nurse attempted 2x to start an IV and failed so she called in another nurse who was able to get a good line started right away. Contractions start kicking in...They test my water to make sure it actually broke, and it did but with Meconium in it that will require the NICU to suction out the babys airways ASAP after delivery. The Dr. comes in (finally) for an exam and I was 3 cm dilated.

The next couple hours I suffered through contractions that got stronger & stronger, Brandon was THE BEST labor coach- he was so supportive and kept telling me how great I was doing, which I really needed! The nurse came in and offered me some pain medication because she said the anesthesiologist wouldnt be here for a while- I refused until about half an hour later I couldnt take it anymore & she gave me a small dose which didnt seem to help too much. Finally the anesthesiologist comes in at 5am & started my epidural which I was able to control with a push button if I started to feel it wear off. Thank God for epidurals- after it was started I felt very little pain, it was suuuch a relief and made the rest of my labor experience a good one! Next time I was checked by a Dr. I was 10cm & ready to push! I pushed for 2 hours & needed an episiotomy, after the episiotomy I think I pushed one more time & out she came! They suctioned her up and she was all ours!

She was 7lbs, 21inches long, born at 12:15pm- Our little miracle!

Saturday, August 15, 2009

Payton Izabella Erickson :)







After 40 weeks of anticipation and excitement our beautiful little angel was born at 12:15 on Tuesday, August 11th. She was born very healthy and very beautiful! Ash was amazing throughout labor and came through with flying colors. Payton was 7 lbs and 21 inches long. After two days in the hospital our new cute little family was headed home! Ashley and I are so thankful for all the calls and visits from our loved ones while we were at the hospital. Thanks and Payton is looking forward to meeting all of you!






Monday, August 10, 2009

Today is my due date...

Bummer... Looks like I'll be going over my due date. My doc said she will induce at 1.5 weeks overdue...So on the bright side, sometime by mid next week our baby girl will finnnnnaalllly be here! I hope she decides to come on her own because being induced is NOT what I had hoped for as there is a much higher rate of C-section. I don't have time to recover from a C-section, I have to go back to school in full throttle in 3 weeks! Recovery time from a C-section is 6! So I will keep on praying that our baby girl decides to grace us with her presence before we have to resort to any of that!

I have an OB appt. this Thursday (if she doesn't come before that) and at that time they will do a Non-stress Test and ultrasound to see how baby is doing in there. Sometimes babies don't "thrive" in utero when they are past due, and if thats the case then they will induce sooner rather than next week.

We've been trying to do some "self-inducing" which are mostly old wives tales of how to bring on labor. We've been doing lots of long walks, I get contractions during the walk, but they go away when we get home. I think I am finally at the stage where I may try the castor oil technique, not recomended by most, but I would rather go through the bad side effects in hopes of it working & not going through induction at the hospital! So off I go to Walgreens...desperate times call for desperate measures lol!! :)

~Ashley

Thursday, August 6, 2009

(Almost) 40 week appt.




Had OB appt. today, Dr. stripped my membranes which is a mild form of induction that works for some people and not for others. Typically this would start contractions within 3 days of the procedure. So hopefully baby decides to come meet us this weekend!

Baby's heartbeat was verrry loud, strong, and clear and was 143. She was still measuring 37 weeks but the Dr. said that was due to how low she is haning out, so the measurement isn't the most accurate.

I have been lightheaded, dizzy, have this horrible pain in my lower L abdomen area when I move or walk, and I'm nice and swollen... I have been up having trouble sleeping at night with back pains/mild contractions/peeing at night, and by the time I fall asleep and finally get some rest, it's time to get up! So I've been pretty tired these days too. Pregnancy is taking its toll!!

Any day now baby!!!

~Ashley