Finally, a few pics

Payton likes to help bath the baby, and her doll, and her toys, and my floor......

Payton cuddling with Samara

Samara sleeping...in her bassinett...imagine that....

Aunty Mandy getting some cuddles

Such little hands

Resting with Daddy

Pics

Since I haven't posted any more pics, I thought I would link to the beautiful scrapbook layout Kay did with Samara photos. It's here.

Wow!! My baby is a week old already!!

Time is flying by!! Happy one week Samara!!

I noticed on Tues a strange rash in Samara's armpit, the midwife happened to be here and she wasn't sure what it was so she took a swab and told me to call if it got any worse. Last night I noticed it was also in her other armpit and spent a great deal of time worrying about it and searching on the net. I called the midwife this morning and told her it was spreading(I also found a spot on her back), she got us in to see a pediatrician right away to be on the safe side. I wasn't to worried only because she seemed fine in all other ways but the thought that something was wrong with my newborn eats at my insides. So off we went, he was really good, awesome with Payton too. It turned out he was the pediatrician in the room when Samara was delivered! That was funny. Anyways, she has a staph infection, it's a topical bacterial infection. Nothing to serious but needs to be treated quickly before it gets worse. So we have cream and antibiotics, if it continues to get worse they will have to give her antibiotics through an I.V. I get to try to feed my newborn medicine 4 times a day! FUN!! So Payton didn't have antibiotics until she was 2.5 and Samara made it all of a week!

Other than the rash, she is doing really really well. She's breastfeeding like a pro and gaining weight accordingly. Payton is doing pretty well adjusting. There has been some obvious acting out and attention seeking, but I expected that. I worry about being a good mom to 2, but really I can only do the best I can.

I'm sorry this isn't pictures. Maybe tomorrow!

Days and Nights

Well, we have our days and nights messed up around here. Never really experienced this before, Payton didn't really mix them up so much as just never slept. Where as Samara has been having good sleep during the day and not so much at night. I'm so glad Rod is here as he lets Samara and I sleep in when Payton gets up.

I'm going to try to get some pictures posted today as my girls are just so cute and want to show them off!! Just means a little sitting and editing, I'll try to make it priority.

Quickie post

I just realized neither Rod or I posted any info regarding birth weight ect! Oops! I also want to post about my birth experience but think that will have to wait because I need a shower!

Samara was born weighing 8lbs 13.5 ounces, 20.5" at 8:37am. It would have been earlier but they had a hard time getting the spinal in me, they tried 4 times before it took. Yeah, that was fun! I was praying it would work because I didn't want to be put under!

Congratulations to Nicole for being the closest all around guess, saying girl and 8lbs 8ounces. Shari was the closest in weight guessing 8lbs 13 ounces. There weren't many girl guesses period, she surprised a lot of people!!

We are still doing well, the midwife was here today and Samara is already gaining weight like a trooper! When we left the hospital on Sat she weighed 7lbs 14.5ounces and today she was 8lbs 6 ounces! She'll be back up to birth weight in no time!

Hope everyone out there is doing well, I haven't been on the computer much so haven't been checking on the blogs to check up.

Oh and any suggestions for middle names starting with M? Rod has a family tradition of double middle names(which is twice as hard), we have one we think but need one more. Any suggestions??

Samara

I am so in love.

I wondered when I was pregnant if it was possible to love someone as much as I love Payton. I was worried I would take favorites. I never thought the emotions would be so big, so overwhelming again.

I have fallen in love all over again. And yes, the term "fallen" in love is perfect. I have loved her since conception but over the last few days have fallen in love with her all over again. And with Rod, and Payton. I am enamored with our family.

Nothing, absolutely nothing could describe my joy. I'm tired, a little sore, and overwhelmed often, but it is with great joy, love, and peace that I move one foot ahead of the other and tackle the next day.

Oh and Yes, her name is Samara. We still haven't settled on the middle names, but it's nice to have a name to call her. And she suits it.

We're home

Hey everyone, just a quick note to say we're home. I've been doing really well, much better than I anticipated. We are busy and tired, but very very happy with our new daughter. I hope to post more soon.

Thanks to everyone for your prayers and congratulations.

Oh yeah, and we almost have a name, will share soon!

the baby photos you have been waiting for

ITS A GIRL!!!
mommy and baby are doing great, probably get out of the hospital on sunday.

still no name yet..

It's baby day!

Off we go, just a few minutes behind when I wanted to leave. There are so many things going through my head and no time to write it down. Hopefully I will remember and write it down later. Next time I post I will be mommy to 2!

To the Littlest McLatchy, we love you very much and are so excited to finally meet you!!

2 hours!!

Nothing like last minute mind changes...

In 12 hours or less I will be up and preparing to go to the hospital....AHHHH.....

I change my mind!! I think one is good!!

Last 30min or so I've been having a big panic attack.

My kid is grumpy and clingy, she hates coughing, and is wondering when the medicine will start working(so do I), she doesn't want to be far from me and I oblige but of course that means nothing else around here got accomplished. It's now suppertime and I look around and see clutter, this is NOT what I wanted to come to. Come home...with another baby..I'm going to have 2 kids 2!!!!!! Not 1 but 2!!! Then when I have grumpy, sick Payton days I won't be able to give her 100% attention, I'll have to say things like I know your feeling grumpy and sick but I'm sorry I can't cuddle with you right now, how comforting will that be?? I know I know we'll manage but man everything feels weird right now. I am SO emotional and SO hormonal it's not even funny. I think I'm going to bawl tomorrow, sadness, happiness, new beginnings, very very scary.....

Please someone tell me this irrational, hormonal, emotional mess that is me at this very moment is normal, tell me I'm not the only one to change my mind at 9 months pregnant, tell me I'm not a bad mom for changing my mind!!I love this baby so much and want it with all my heart but man I'm having a hard time adjusting to the reality of it all.

And I just want to add that anybody coming to visit me at home next week please ignore the mess, I can't foresee it getting any better than it is right now! I guess my favorite saying will be If your coming to see us your welcome anytime, if your coming to see my mess please make an appointment, and that just may be days, weeks, months from now!!

Ok, going back to my sweet kid who is crying like a banshee because I won't let her go outside and play in the rain when she is sick.......sigh.........

0 days.....0 days..... 0days!!!

La la la

Should be cleaning..oh well!!

My kid is FINALLY asleep! No, I am not napping, just couldn't today, brain whirling around!! I did pass out briefly on the couch earlier when I was having a cuddle with Payton. Cuddles seemed important on this the last day of her only-childness. My baby is going to be a big sister!! I am going to tidy, laundry ect when I finish this.

So far on the guessing game we have 16 guesses, 12 of which say boy, 4 for girl. Weight ranges from 7 lbs 9 ounces to 11 lbs 1 ounces(OH MY!) I am thinking more towards 9 lbs something than my previous guess of 8 lbs 9 ounces but am going to leave my guess as is! Only one person offered a different due date, which would be today!! There are still many hours left today so we'll see!! There are many who have guessed that don't do the online thing and they have mostly said boy as well, so we'll see!! There is still 16 hours to guess here.

I'm not sure if I'll get the chance to post anything in the am before we leave tomorrow, it will be very very early!! I'm sure there will be updates online at some point tomorrow, and of course many of you will get phone calls. If anyone posts anything(updates, pics ect) could you leave a comment here so others can check it out if they want. I know Rod will post at some point Thursday but don't know when. It depends if the hospital has wireless Internet.

Thanks to everyone for all your support and excitement!!

0 days!! 0 days!! 0 days!!

Does that thing say 0 days????

OH MY!!!

O days...........

Am I ready???.....NO...will I ever be???? Probably not!! LOL

Come on baby!!!

I'm excited!!

2 Sleeps to go!

OH MY GOSH!!! When did it get to be tues? 2 full days and 2 sleeps until we meet baby!!

Because I wasn't anxious enough....Payton has come down with a cough, it made us all miserable last night and tired this morning. I am thinking I'll take her down to the walk in clinic this morning because it's gotten flemy sounding :( I've heard there is a cold going around where it seems you are better then it comes back worse and sometimes leads to chest infections. I'm worried about Payton being sick around her new sibling, and I'm worried about me catching it and getting the Cesarean postponed.

The car is toast, not worth fixing. That makes me sad, it was my first car and has treated us well. Rod has picked up a little Toyota Tercel from a guy at work for cheap. It seems to be a good little commuter car. Big thanks to Phil for helping us through our car woes. We tried to figure out how we could make being a one vehicle family for awhile work but just couldn't seem to make everything jive so when Rod found the new car we felt it was the best option.

Bye bye sweet car!!

I'm very tired lately and ready to have this baby. I really want this place spick and span before I go into the hospital but find I tire so easily it's very fustrating. Yesterday I re-arranged stuff outside and cleaned up the yard, I even hosed down the concrete(under the bird feeder was DISGUSTING)!! It's not perfect but so much better! It had been driving me insane, the mess outside, but that really wasn't a good idea. I was so sore the rest of the day from the bending and lifting. But on the bright side, it looks much better out there!

I told Payton we were going to see the Dr about that cough and she's freaking out about it, saying "No hospital!! Cough all gone Mommy cough all gone!", I'm not sure where this anxiety came from she's never been to the Dr for anything before.

Payton and I were trying to cuddle on the the couch this morning and the baby kept pushing her away from the belly. It was to funny.

Don't forget to add your guess about the sex and weight of the baby to the post below if you haven't already!

Put on your guessing hats!

Had a nice day today, consisted mostly of a friends wedding and visiting with Rod's Dad and Step Mom. I was a good time. Not productive but good.

I figure it would be fun to have a baby poll, see who guesses correctly. I guess we can't really guess about when baby will be born(unless you think baby will come early or flip before thurs) as the C-Section is booked for Thurs. The actual scheduled time is 7:45am. But it would be interesting to see guesses on sex and weight. Rod says I should throw a what will or what should we name the baby category as we haven't decided on names either(suggestions would be good!)

For reference Payton was born at 37 weeks 3 days and weighed 8lbs 4ounces.

And the winner will get....well the satisfaction of being right!! I don't have prizes!

I'll start I say:

We make it to thurs(power of positive thinking)
Boy/8 lbs 9 ounces

SQUEAL!!!

SUSAN AND TERRY ARE GETTING MARRIED TOMORROW!!!

giggle...................

Can't help myself

Need to tidy....can't keep my eyes open....going to lay down.....

Sigh....don't you wish your house cleaned itself?

No title

Feeling very contemplative today, very melancholy.

I found a blog awhile ago, just stumbled across it. It's very real, very raw, not something a very pregnant woman should be following but I can't help myself, I'm invested. A very brave woman, a very brave family is facing cancer head on and sharing there experiences. It's written by both the husband and the wife, although mostly the husband now. It's only been about a month since they started, since they found out. They have a small daughter, and she was pregnant when they found out, she isn't now. It's so hard. I went back and read through the archives, and bawled. I just couldn't imagine. It's beautifully written, if you can say that about something written about cancer. Anyways if you want to check it out it's here.

Anyways I had more I was going to post, about my kid, about how gorgeous and wonderful she is. About rocking out with her this morning listening to the music on Shari's most recent post. More about my anxieties. And about new friendships and old ones.

But I don't feel like it now. Maybe I will again later. Must go now and dance with my kid some more.

Thurs....already!!

Where has this week gone?? Crazy, soon it will be the week baby comes!! Guess I have to figure out what NEEDS to be done this weekend.

I am maintaining sanity by not thinking about finaces and car stuff. Everything will work out. We will pray and I will trust my husband to make good choices for us. I just can't deal with anything at this point, everything feels so big. I can only seem to wrap my head about being as good of a mom as possible to Payton and getting ready for this baby. That's it, add any other drama in there and I shut down. Completely!

So many concerns floating through my head. How will Payton adapt to having a baby here? Is it fair to take her only child status away from her? Can I be a good mom to 2? Can I love someone as much as I love Payton? Will I play favorites? How will I cope? Will my house every be tidy? Will I regret not pushing Payton's potty training? Do I baby her to much? Sigh.....the learning experience that just never ends.

Going to go make some tea and tidy some while I'm not falling over dead tired. Let's see how long this lasts!

You know gas is expensive when...

Someone stole it right out of your vehicle!! Rod goes up to the van this morning and finds the gas cap dangling and the gas light on. Nice. I'm so glad I didn't fill up yesterday because I thought I could get a better price soon. They couldn't have gotten much!

Morning...again....

So I wake up this morning and it's after 8, and I have a little cuddler snuggled in next to me. That was nice, and considering it was about 2am before I got to sleep it was a much needed sleep in. She probably would have slept longer but my bladder was telling me it was time to pee and that pregnant bladder just can't be ignored! My stirring woke her.

Payton was upset when she realized Rod was gone, she was in tears because she wanted to cuddle Dada. And didn't remember him giving her a "big hug and kiss" when he left. So we decided to call him.

Well, the car broke down and he thinks that it's finished. You've got to be kidding!! One week(ish) before delivery and he's stuck at work with no vehicle....

Panic panic panic.

He thinks the car is done, we knew it's time was limited but were hoping for longer. How are we going to afford another vehicle??

Panic panic panic.

He were looking into Parental leave for Rod so he can stay home longer considering a C-section requires a lot more recovery time. But it has 2 weeks your not paid for and we are scrimping as it is. I just don't see how we can pull it off.

Panic panic panic.

Oh NO!! I just remembered I should be leaving in 15 min for my midwives appointment!!!

Panic panic panic!!!!!!

Yup, you guessed it....

Couldn't sleep. Crazy tired during the day, can't sleep at night. Pay's been restless too, probably up 15 times already. But I was already awake. Going to try to sleep again, at this point I'll take what I can get.

Appointments

So I met with the Dr today. Baby is still very breech, head nice and high up causing all kinds of discomfort. He said the C-Section will be first thing in the morning, I should get there at 6:30 and most likely the surgery will be at 7:30.

I'll be heading back to Maple Ridge tomorrow for my midwife appointment. Then on the 12th for a PAC appointment at the hospital, I'm not quite sure what that's all about except I have to meet with a nurse to go over some stuff?? Apparently this usually happens 2 weeks before surgery but the quickest they could get me in was 3 days before!! Oh well. All the extra driving sucks, why couldn't they just have left Mission's Labour and Delivery ward open??

9 sleeps to go

I am so not a morning person, yet every day that's when I wake. Funny how that happens.

Today is my appointment with Dr. Lampen to go over cesarean info. Which reminds me, where did I put that address?

Headache....please go away......

I was trying to take a few pictures that captured the roundness of my belly, thought I'd share one. This was taken about a week and a half ago.

Hmph....

10 sleeps to go....

Where oh where has my energy gone....oh where oh where can it be????

Still have nesting instincts just no energy to do anything about it. The last 3 or 4 days I've been wildly tired. I could sleep all day! Payton had a rough night but I can't blame her for my fatigue today, I think I would feel this way regardless. I'm refusing to let myself nap today as I have to catch up for this weekends lack of getting anything done. I think Payton is finally asleep, I'm hoping she has a good nap or she could be miserable this afternoon. Oh well. Off I go to empty my dishwasher and start a load of laundry.

Kaylyn posted another preggy photo of me here.

Advice

People who like sleep, or need sleep, shouldn't have kids.

11 days and counting

Today was a laid back sort of day, way more laid back than it should have been! I find I have turned into a neat freak without the energy to actually keep it up. It's been driving me nuts!! I see clutter everywhere!! Oh well, one step at a time!

Payton had her swimming lessons with Dad this morning and I joined them! It was nice to go for a swim, I of course did many somersaults and handstands to encourage the baby to turn, to no avail. Lots of kicks and wiggles but no turning! We played for a long time, it was great fun. Rod liked it when I would float on my back and the belly would pop out of the water, I imagine it was a funny sight!

Anyways I am going to go vacuum and fold some laundry. We borrowed the movie Cars from upstairs so I hope to chill with my hubby and watch that tonight. Exciting I know!!

Kaylyn took some picts of me when I was there on wed, she hasn't sent me any yet to post but there is one here. I haven't taken many this time and haven't posted picts in awhile so that's me 36 and a half weeks preggy!

Friday!! Yeah!!

This week has gone quickly and I'm excited to have my husband home for the weekend. It's my mom's birthday as well so we will be spending some time with her. I'm looking forward to it.

The cesarean is booked for the 15th, they can't give me a time until 3-4 days before but as I'm the only one booked for that day so far it will probably be first thing in the morning but we won't know for sure until that week. I have an appointment with Dr.Lampen to go over everything on Tues so I'll have to write down all my questions before then. I'm looking for advice from all of you who've done this before. Is what you need to take to the hospital different? What is your best advice to speed recovery? Anything else? I have to admit this is causing me anxiety, I know everything will be fine in the end but still it's all so unknown! I am hoping and praying that I don't go into labour on my own now, I really want to make it to the hospital and not have a big panic!

Of course I would like it if baby would flip but part of me really thinks it's not going to happen. Baby is happy where it is and not willing to budge!

So, not counting today or the 15th that leaves 12 days to go at the most until baby is born!! How crazy is that!! Or are you supposed to count today? I don't know. Less than 2 weeks anyways!

Well, I really am exhausted today but I should get something done around here while Payton is sleeping. Have a great weekend everyone!!

Home again home again

So we are home. Everything is pretty much the same. No baby, and baby refused to turn. Baby would turn just a little but move right back as soon as The Dr let up pressure. The Dr said baby was a fighter. Stubborn!!

The procedure itself wasn't to bad. I/baby were monitored for awhile with both the fetal monitors(non-stress test) and the ultrasound. The Dr. figured the bum was settled a little low and baby probably wouldn't be co-operative but was willing to give it a try. They sprayed something under my tongue to help the uterus relax. It was quite uncomfortable and hurt some at moments but wasn't to bad overall. But baby would have none of it and is quite happy sitting were it is. The Dr. said he didn't apply as much force as some Dr's do so that makes his success rate a little lower, but also makes his complication rate lower as well. I was fine with that, I really didn't want anyone yarding on the baby, just giving it a little monitored push in the right direction. Afterwards he checked the baby on the U/S again and they kept me on the fetal monitors for probably an hour and a half. Everything was fine, I've had some slight cramping which I was told was normal considering someone was pushing on my uterus.

We talked a little about what happens now. He wants to schedule me in for a Cesarean for the 15th. He doesn't want to go any earlier to make sure the lungs are fully developed. I have to call his office and confirm tomorrow, as well as make an appointment for next week to go over everything with him. I'm fine with the 15th(it's only 2 weeks!!) and I don't want to rush this baby if it needs more time, Payton was early but that was a naturally occurring early. Of course if I have any signs of labour I'm supposed to get there fast. That's what worries me, getting there in time if I was to go early. I want to be in hospital when this baby comes!! He said that there is still a chance baby will flip, a few do in the last weeks. They will do a confirmation U/S right before the surgery just to confirm.

The midwives gave some other suggestions as to how to continue to try to turn the baby, including positioning, swimming, and acupuncture. The acupuncture weirds me out a little, has anybody heard of or tried it in regards to turning a breech baby? I'll have to do some research on that one.

Anyways, I am very very tired. I have my tea in hand and am heading to bed.

Oh my

Now I'm getting nervous! Nervous about the procedure, nervous it won't work and I'll need a C-section, nervous something will go wrong and I'll need an emergency C-section today.

Sigh...just turn baby turn!!

Will try to update as soon as possible, and those who are wanting phone calls don't freak out to quickly we'll call when we can...promise!