It has been 5 weeks since Peyton joined us! 5 weeks! I am sure I will not remember all of the details of her delivery, but I am going to try and get as much down now so I dont forget it all!
On Friday, August 15 we decided to head down to BYU for open scrimmage at the stadium. We picked Clay up after work and headed down. It was hot. We got some popcorn and found seats. The boys didnt last long and I was starting to feel sick (plus we hadnt eaten dinner yet) so after not too long we decided to head home. We stopped at Noodles to get some dinner before going home and we thought we would just eat there, but I felt like I was going to throw up so the kids and Clay were nice enough to take their dinner to go and we went home.
I then spent the rest of the night in and out of the bathroom throwing up. Not cool. I felt bad because Clay had to deal with all of the kids and get them in bed but I just couldnt do it. And then I thought if I just threw up once I would be ok but that wasnt the case. And having a huge belly did not help at all as I spent the evening hunched over the toilet.
By morning I was starting to have pretty consistent contractions, enough that I was timing them. I wasnt sure it was real labor but we decided to talk to Lyndsay and see if they could take the boys so we could go to the hospital. I was afraid that since this was my 4th I would go a lot faster and didnt want to risk it!
We checked in and got to the triage room around 7:30am. I was still at a 4 but since I was having contractions they decided to have me wait for about an hour and see if anything changed. After about an hour (and a few awful pictures) they checked me again and I was at about a 5. They had to get ahold of the OB before we could move to a room so it took a little longer but we eventually made it to a room with a great view...
Since I had tested positive for group B strep, they started an IV. They wanted to have it in for at least 2 hours, ideally 4 before delivery and were not sure that would happen. By 10:45am I had gotten my epidural. It was not the best epidural I have had for sure. My right side felt pretty numb but my left side was still only tingly and I ended up pressing the 'button' to up the medicine several times. I didnt want to overdo it but that didnt end up being the case. In fact, I am pretty sure I felt way more than I wanted to! Around 11am they broke my water and I was at about an 8. They figured I would go pretty fast after that but this little girl was not quite ready! Around noon I was at a 9 and the contractions were really bad. I feel like I managed them well, but I was in pain! Once I felt like I needed to push it really didnt seem to take too long, but I definitely felt way more than with my other babies and struggled a little to relax enough. As her head was coming I remember the doctor and nurses all commenting on how big she must be! Not exactly what I wanted to hear, I just wanted her big head out! Peyton was born at 1:31pm. She weighed 8lbs 2oz and was 20in long! They were all surprised she wasnt bigger, but I am thankful she wasnt! I am also glad she came 2 weeks early! Not sure I would have managed if she was any bigger! We both had a bit of a fever right after delivery so they monitored that pretty close, but thankfully it just went down and there werent any complications.
Dr. Jones (who I had seen since we moved to Utah) happened to be out of town so I got his partner, Dr. Cloward. Even though I hadnt ever met her before, I had a good experience with her! She was really nice and I felt like things went really well! I also had amazing nurses! They took such good care of me and were so nice!
*And just because I dont want to forget, it was so funny to me that the first time I went in to see Dr. Jones one of the first things he asked me was when I wanted to schedule a time for induction! I wanted to go into labor on my own, and he was respectful of that, but he also ended up setting 3 different dates with the hospital to be induced! He told me that if the hospital called I could just tell them I didnt want to be induced and it was all Dr. Jones' idea! He must have had too many women begging him to be induced and not being able to get in to the hospital so he wanted to plan ahead! Having said that, I am glad I didnt have to worry about it! I didnt feel pressure to schedule a time, but I did think it was funny how much effort he put in to setting times!*
Since I tested positive for group B strep, they were trying to push me to stay 48 hours in the hospital. I wanted to go home the next day. I have been positive with all of my children and I think I only stayed 48 hours with Jack. In any case, I asked what the chances were of us leaving sooner and they said as long as the doctors (OB and Ped) were ok with it, then we could leave. Thankfully they agreed (the pediatrician just wanted Peyton to go in to the office that Monday to make sure everything was ok) and we got to go home Sunday evening! I do like having people take care of me, but those hospital beds are brutal!
Love this picture even though it is blurry!
We had lots of visitors in the hospital! Lyndsay and Jared (off to do some back to school shopping!) brought the boys over to meet their sister! Lyndsay took some pictures of the boys with their new sister! Somehow I dont have a picture of her with Peyton! Grant and Becki were actually driving out for Education Week and drove right to the hospital as they got to town! We were supposed to meet them at the Ogden Temple Open House that afternoon, but plans changed once this girl decided to join us instead! Cameron and Virginia also happened to be in town and got to come over (not sure why we dont have pictures of them either). And then Chad and Colleen drove down with their kids to see us! It was so good to see everyone and I am so thankful they all made an effort to come see us! I was pretty exhausted at this point, however, since I hadnt had much sleep in the last day or so! Peyton and I took advantage of the quiet and I even let the nurses take her for a few hours in the middle of the night so I could sleep! Not going to lie, that was nice!
One of the great things about being out here in Utah is that on Sunday morning, since we couldnt make it to church, there were 2 couples assigned to come around to our hospital room and offer the sacrament to us. Plus, we had a view of the Mt. Timpanogos temple from our post partum room!
I have to admit, I was not expecting all of the love and attention Cohen has given Peyton from day 1! I was expecting that to come from Brody (who still loves his sister, but more from a distance!), but Cohen is always right there! Usually in good ways, but sometimes with a little too much 'love!' He always wants to hold her and give her kisses and make sure she has a pacifier. He has scared me a few times (trying to pick her up out of her bed or actually climbing in on top of her), but overall he loves her and I am curious to see how their relationship grows as they get older!
She has been such a good baby! She handles all the noise and constant attention from her brothers really well and we only have issues when she decides to wake up and want to play at 4am! We are working on it!
