Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Sunday, February 04, 2007
Peyton's birthday and what she's like today.
Three short years ago, Peyton entered our lives, and changed us forever.
I remember the day she was born in such great detail, like it happened just yesterday.
A couple of weeks before she was born at a routine OB appointment, the Dr., while feeling around my belly, had this strange look come over his face.
"Hmmm," he said, "I'm not so sure that's a bum."
He was referring to the decent sized lump just below my right rib cage. For a while now, that lump was giving me a bit of grief - trying to burrow into my rib cage and causing me to be short of breath all the time. We thought it was a bum, so I lovingly patted it on a regular basis, encouraging it to move down, just a bit.
But at this appointment, Dr. H. suggested that it was maybe a bit too hard to be a bum - the baby MIGHT be breech.
An ultrasound confirmed it - at 37 weeks, our little one had not yet flipped to be head down.
Without hesitation, we decided to try an ECV - which is a procedure used to flip a breech baby into proper position. Paul & I HAD attended the prenatal classes, but truthfully didn't pay much attention to the whole "c-section" part. After all, we had NO reason to suspect that I'd need one.
So, one our one year wedding anniversary, and with a little bit of nervousness, we went to the High Risk Unit to see a specialist who would attempt to flip our baby. We were ready to deliver that day - this procedure can sometimes bring on labour.
I had a very extensive ultrasound on a more sophisticated machine than I'd been used to, to-date (little did I know, I would be becoming much more familiar with this unit two short years later!) We watched our munchkin sleeping away, comfortably as the technician took all the measurements. Then she called in the specialist, who looked at her report and the baby for no more than 30 seconds before declaring that "this baby has no room to flip" and he turned and walked out of the room.
Ouch. So c-section it was.
Initially I was devestated. This wasn't how women are supposed to have babies. I wanted to experience the surprise of water breaking and tracking down my husband to meet me at the hospital, and naturally (well, ok maybe somewhat naturally) pushing my baby out in a quiet, comfortable delivery room. I did NOT want an appointment card with my baby's birthdate written on it. I did not want to have a baby in a cold, sterile, stainless steely looking operating room. That wasn't in my vision.
Once we found out that the babe would be delivered by c-section, I spent those last couple of days pouring over books and surfing the net - and speaking with everyone I knew who'd experienced it. Knowledge is power, right?
And by the time Wednesday, February 4th, 2004 rolled around, I felt a lot better about the whole thing. I was 38wks + 5 days pregnant, and we were having our baby.
We arrived at the hospital at about 7AM and I went through a battery of tests - blood work, etc. Oh, and an ultrasound to confirm that the baby was still breech. Apparently, if it had flipped itself, I would be sent home to await natural labour. Ya. After fasting and a sleepless night of anticipation - at that point, I'd have been a bit angry! Before we knew it, I was marched into the operating room and prepped for surgery while Paul was suiting up to stand by and watch.
What happens next is something that continues to strike some sadness in me today - I panicked the moment I lost feeling in my lower body. The doctors and nurses were assuring me that what I was feeling was totally normal, but obviously I didn't mentally prepare myself and in the end, the anesthesiologist "upped" my drugs so that I'd be relaxed and comfortable. Which is fine, I suppose, but I remember VERY little about the procedure, and that's what saddens me.
Dr. H. started operating, and Paul was allowed into the room. He walked up to take his position beside my head, and when he leaned in to say "Hi" - I was surprised to see him. Not sure why - I think it was because he was wearing a mask and hat and scrubs, and that put me off.
A short moment later, Dr. Huard announced that the baby was almost out, then "how would you like a girl??" And Paul's response "GOD, yes!" The time was 9:10 AM.
I heard it all, but didn't quite believe it. I didn't believe that the operation was that quick - and I thought that they were joking.
So Paul leans in close and says "did you hear that Kari? We have a daughter!!"
The rest of the time in the operating room remains quite foggy in my mind. After checking her out, and weighing her (7,2) the nurses handed our daughter off to Paul, and the two of them went to the recovery room to wait (and bond) while the OB finished up with me.
It wasn't long before we were reunited and we started phoning our friends and family. Keeping in mind we didn't know the gender of our baby before she was born, everyone was anxiously awaiting our call.
My mom was the first on our list - the phone was WAY across the room from where I was, so Paul made the call and announced our news - but wait - we hadn't decided on her NAME yet! We'd narrowed it down - although we had a list of 8 girls names (and one boys name!) - we'd narrowed it down to two names prior to delivery. I don't remember what the other name was though!
So my mom asked Paul what her name was, and he relayed the question. And without hesitation, I said "Peyton. Peyton Maya." And Paul repeated it - yup, that would be her name.
Her name...
We struggled - STRUGGLED - with boys names. As I just wrote, we had no problems coming up with girls names, but we searched and searched for a boys name, and never did come up with one that we loved. I believe, in the end, that the only name on our list was Jared. But even that name - can't say it moved me.
As we searched through the boys section in the names books, I came across Peyton. Mentioned it to Paul who thought - uh, ok. Then I said - no NOT for a boy, a girl. And he responed "definitely not." A few weeks later, he brought it up to me. "What do you think of Peyton for a girl??" That's how we came up with her name.
Maya - well, we honeymooned on the Mayan Riviera. I don't think we had a boy middle name picked. Ha.
We spent a couple of hours in recovery counting her fingers and toes and exploring every inch of her body - this little creation of ours. Then we were moved to the maternity ward where we spent the next few days. Almost five days, to be precise - Peyton had some feeding issues in the beginning, but we worked them all out in the end.
I can't believe that 3 years have gone by - Paul & I can't remember what life was like before her. She was the most easiest going baby, she eased into our lives so seemlessly and made this parenting thing seem such a breeze.
What Peyton is like today...
- thoughtful
- intuitive
- VERY polite
- very sweet & loving
- stubborn & bold at times
- bright and eager
- very VERY physically active.
She loves books more than anything else. She's only 3, yet she hides books in her bedsheets (from me) then crouches over to read by her (fake) fish tank light after I've tucked her in. She thinks we don't know, but what am I going to do? I share the same passion (reading before bed) I just didn't expect it to start this early.
She adores her sisters. She's having a bit of a tough time with the whole "sharing" thing, but we're coaching her through it. She looks out for them, and is also very quick to tell on them ;)
She loves princesses, make belief and fairy tales. I do a lot of eavesdropping on her, for a good giggle.
She loves company - and hates to see anyone leave. She wishes everyone would move in with us.
She loves her bling. She's a girly-girl through & through. (Jewellery, handbags, shoes.) But she's also passionate about sports - as far as she's concerned, there's nothing she CAN'T do.
She's confident and not shy or afraid to speak up about anything - Paul & I have started to really filter what we say around her.
By two, she knew her entire alphabet (first upper, then lower case came at about 2.5) and she could count to 10. We're now working on actually printing out her letters, but she's not quite there yet. She can, however draw some shapes (circle, and a good attempt at a square.) She knows all colors and she even understands the concept of matching. Fun times, when a toddler wont wear brown socks with a pink pair of pants ("they don't MATCH, mommy!")
She loves card games (old maid, go fish.) She enjoys any sort of art & craft.
She loves America's Funniest Videos and hates Dr. Phil.
She's been in underwear since early November - even overnight.
She continues to be a wonderful sleeper, sleeping 11 hours overnight and 2-3 hours in the afternoon. And she can sleep through a lot of noise!
She loves to sing and dance and will recruit everyone to do it with her.
She's loving, affectionate and compassionate. At 3, she still asks to be rocked and cuddled. Crawling into bed with mom &/or dad is a true treat. For us & her.
So as a parent, I'm learning that these birthdays are bittersweet - it's sad, in some aspects, seeing your little one grow up. But the flipside is seeing the potential - seeing what she's growing into. And our Peyton makes us proud every day - no doubt we'll be beeming at her for years to come.
I remember the day she was born in such great detail, like it happened just yesterday.
A couple of weeks before she was born at a routine OB appointment, the Dr., while feeling around my belly, had this strange look come over his face.
"Hmmm," he said, "I'm not so sure that's a bum."
He was referring to the decent sized lump just below my right rib cage. For a while now, that lump was giving me a bit of grief - trying to burrow into my rib cage and causing me to be short of breath all the time. We thought it was a bum, so I lovingly patted it on a regular basis, encouraging it to move down, just a bit.
But at this appointment, Dr. H. suggested that it was maybe a bit too hard to be a bum - the baby MIGHT be breech.
An ultrasound confirmed it - at 37 weeks, our little one had not yet flipped to be head down.
Without hesitation, we decided to try an ECV - which is a procedure used to flip a breech baby into proper position. Paul & I HAD attended the prenatal classes, but truthfully didn't pay much attention to the whole "c-section" part. After all, we had NO reason to suspect that I'd need one.
So, one our one year wedding anniversary, and with a little bit of nervousness, we went to the High Risk Unit to see a specialist who would attempt to flip our baby. We were ready to deliver that day - this procedure can sometimes bring on labour.
I had a very extensive ultrasound on a more sophisticated machine than I'd been used to, to-date (little did I know, I would be becoming much more familiar with this unit two short years later!) We watched our munchkin sleeping away, comfortably as the technician took all the measurements. Then she called in the specialist, who looked at her report and the baby for no more than 30 seconds before declaring that "this baby has no room to flip" and he turned and walked out of the room.
Ouch. So c-section it was.
Initially I was devestated. This wasn't how women are supposed to have babies. I wanted to experience the surprise of water breaking and tracking down my husband to meet me at the hospital, and naturally (well, ok maybe somewhat naturally) pushing my baby out in a quiet, comfortable delivery room. I did NOT want an appointment card with my baby's birthdate written on it. I did not want to have a baby in a cold, sterile, stainless steely looking operating room. That wasn't in my vision.
Once we found out that the babe would be delivered by c-section, I spent those last couple of days pouring over books and surfing the net - and speaking with everyone I knew who'd experienced it. Knowledge is power, right?
And by the time Wednesday, February 4th, 2004 rolled around, I felt a lot better about the whole thing. I was 38wks + 5 days pregnant, and we were having our baby.
We arrived at the hospital at about 7AM and I went through a battery of tests - blood work, etc. Oh, and an ultrasound to confirm that the baby was still breech. Apparently, if it had flipped itself, I would be sent home to await natural labour. Ya. After fasting and a sleepless night of anticipation - at that point, I'd have been a bit angry! Before we knew it, I was marched into the operating room and prepped for surgery while Paul was suiting up to stand by and watch.
What happens next is something that continues to strike some sadness in me today - I panicked the moment I lost feeling in my lower body. The doctors and nurses were assuring me that what I was feeling was totally normal, but obviously I didn't mentally prepare myself and in the end, the anesthesiologist "upped" my drugs so that I'd be relaxed and comfortable. Which is fine, I suppose, but I remember VERY little about the procedure, and that's what saddens me.
Dr. H. started operating, and Paul was allowed into the room. He walked up to take his position beside my head, and when he leaned in to say "Hi" - I was surprised to see him. Not sure why - I think it was because he was wearing a mask and hat and scrubs, and that put me off.
A short moment later, Dr. Huard announced that the baby was almost out, then "how would you like a girl??" And Paul's response "GOD, yes!" The time was 9:10 AM.
I heard it all, but didn't quite believe it. I didn't believe that the operation was that quick - and I thought that they were joking.
So Paul leans in close and says "did you hear that Kari? We have a daughter!!"
The rest of the time in the operating room remains quite foggy in my mind. After checking her out, and weighing her (7,2) the nurses handed our daughter off to Paul, and the two of them went to the recovery room to wait (and bond) while the OB finished up with me.
It wasn't long before we were reunited and we started phoning our friends and family. Keeping in mind we didn't know the gender of our baby before she was born, everyone was anxiously awaiting our call.
My mom was the first on our list - the phone was WAY across the room from where I was, so Paul made the call and announced our news - but wait - we hadn't decided on her NAME yet! We'd narrowed it down - although we had a list of 8 girls names (and one boys name!) - we'd narrowed it down to two names prior to delivery. I don't remember what the other name was though!
So my mom asked Paul what her name was, and he relayed the question. And without hesitation, I said "Peyton. Peyton Maya." And Paul repeated it - yup, that would be her name.
Her name...
We struggled - STRUGGLED - with boys names. As I just wrote, we had no problems coming up with girls names, but we searched and searched for a boys name, and never did come up with one that we loved. I believe, in the end, that the only name on our list was Jared. But even that name - can't say it moved me.
As we searched through the boys section in the names books, I came across Peyton. Mentioned it to Paul who thought - uh, ok. Then I said - no NOT for a boy, a girl. And he responed "definitely not." A few weeks later, he brought it up to me. "What do you think of Peyton for a girl??" That's how we came up with her name.
Maya - well, we honeymooned on the Mayan Riviera. I don't think we had a boy middle name picked. Ha.
We spent a couple of hours in recovery counting her fingers and toes and exploring every inch of her body - this little creation of ours. Then we were moved to the maternity ward where we spent the next few days. Almost five days, to be precise - Peyton had some feeding issues in the beginning, but we worked them all out in the end.
I can't believe that 3 years have gone by - Paul & I can't remember what life was like before her. She was the most easiest going baby, she eased into our lives so seemlessly and made this parenting thing seem such a breeze.
What Peyton is like today...
- thoughtful
- intuitive
- VERY polite
- very sweet & loving
- stubborn & bold at times
- bright and eager
- very VERY physically active.
She loves books more than anything else. She's only 3, yet she hides books in her bedsheets (from me) then crouches over to read by her (fake) fish tank light after I've tucked her in. She thinks we don't know, but what am I going to do? I share the same passion (reading before bed) I just didn't expect it to start this early.
She adores her sisters. She's having a bit of a tough time with the whole "sharing" thing, but we're coaching her through it. She looks out for them, and is also very quick to tell on them ;)
She loves princesses, make belief and fairy tales. I do a lot of eavesdropping on her, for a good giggle.
She loves company - and hates to see anyone leave. She wishes everyone would move in with us.
She loves her bling. She's a girly-girl through & through. (Jewellery, handbags, shoes.) But she's also passionate about sports - as far as she's concerned, there's nothing she CAN'T do.
She's confident and not shy or afraid to speak up about anything - Paul & I have started to really filter what we say around her.
By two, she knew her entire alphabet (first upper, then lower case came at about 2.5) and she could count to 10. We're now working on actually printing out her letters, but she's not quite there yet. She can, however draw some shapes (circle, and a good attempt at a square.) She knows all colors and she even understands the concept of matching. Fun times, when a toddler wont wear brown socks with a pink pair of pants ("they don't MATCH, mommy!")
She loves card games (old maid, go fish.) She enjoys any sort of art & craft.
She loves America's Funniest Videos and hates Dr. Phil.
She's been in underwear since early November - even overnight.
She continues to be a wonderful sleeper, sleeping 11 hours overnight and 2-3 hours in the afternoon. And she can sleep through a lot of noise!
She loves to sing and dance and will recruit everyone to do it with her.
She's loving, affectionate and compassionate. At 3, she still asks to be rocked and cuddled. Crawling into bed with mom &/or dad is a true treat. For us & her.
So as a parent, I'm learning that these birthdays are bittersweet - it's sad, in some aspects, seeing your little one grow up. But the flipside is seeing the potential - seeing what she's growing into. And our Peyton makes us proud every day - no doubt we'll be beeming at her for years to come.
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