A life of P and Poo

Well we are over a month into being a new family of four and we are still adjusting. Poor little Peyton has spent the first 5 1/2 weeks of her life not happy and largely due to not feeling well. She was never happy after she was done nursing and would spend most of her time crying and arching her back in pain or spitting up/having projectile spit up on me. The doctor said she had acid reflux and gave me a prescription for Axid to give Peyton 3 times a day. Now call me crazy but the idea of giving this poor child meds for at least the next 4 months of her life seems sad.



Jenna goes to daycare on Monday, Wednesday and Fridays, which makes things easier with just Peyton on those days. Tuesday mornings my mom has been coming up to help me juggle the two kids, give me time to prep everything for dinner and get a shower. Then on Thursday afternoons, both of my folks come up to help with the kids and have dinner with us. They have witnessed the worst sessions of Peyton just being miserable and in turn wearing me out. I joke that she has 4 phases: sleeping, nursing, being burped, and screaming. She does not just sit content and look at the world. My heart just breaks for her as you can tell she is in pain and not happy. She finally wore out and fell asleep in my mom's arms this past Thursday.

Valentine's weekend we headed down to my parents' house, because my grandma Shirley, Aunt Kitty and Aunt Sara we coming into town from Ohio for a visit. I was excited to see them and because it would be the first time we would get to see our niece Kandice since Christmas. Plus my sister-in-law Nicole was finally going to meet Peyton.



Here's a picture of Mimi holding her two new great-grand babies! We call them salt and pepper because Peyton is a solid sweet potato with a very round head and Kandice is a long and thin string bean. Peyton is also VERY vocal and loud, where as Kandice's cry is so sweet and quiet.

Everyone watched/heard Peyton deal with her feeding issues and by Saturday afternoon when she had the worst fit, Aunt Nicole drove to the grocery store and bought a can of Similac Sensitive formula I had told her about. She made sure I knew that she wasn't pressuring me to use it, but she wanted me to have it in case I decided I wanted to try giving Peyton the formula to see if it helped. I gave Peyton her first formula bottle that afternoon and used formula for the next few feedings just to see if it would help. Peyton was a different kid. She wasn't pulling her legs up or crying while feeding. On Sunday I was actually able to capture my first picture of her in weeks where she was awake and just content looking at the world!

So we have now switched to just formula. I feel guilty that she is not getting breast-fed for as long as Jenna did, but it just wasn't working for her or me. The bottom line is she needs to be happy/healthy and I need to be happy and the bottles are just working for us. (I also got a definitive answer when I decided to nurse Peyton on Wednesday and we had the WORST afternoon after that as she was screaming and arching again). Now that she is getting formula Peyton is also sleeping longer, going longer between feedings and she is not as fussy. So we are happy.

Jenna is also starting to embrace her baby sister more. She on numerous occasions has come up to kiss Peyton on her head or her foot. She also has told us that she will teach Peyton things such as how to run and jump.

The biggest thing though that Jenna is going to teach Peyton is how to pee-pee on the potty. We have been working on this with Jenna for over a week and a half now. Every time she goes she is rewarded with a sticker on her sticker chart. She has been doing great, and now we are working on her trying to let us know that she needs to go. Here's a shot of her sporting her new sunglasses that were her prize after a great week of earning lots of stickers. (I am all for bribery if it makes potty training a success!)

Snow in the South

So we woke up to a little bit of snow, which I didn't think would happen. They had mentioned on the news a few days ago that we might get some rain that might turn to snow. You never know when it will really happen down here in the South and sometimes the weather doesn't hit us the same here near Lake Norman as it does in south-east Charlotte where my folks live.
Since it did snow that meant that Jenna's daycare was closed, which meant another day of mommy, Jenna, and Peyton (I was kinda looking forward to Jenna going to school so I could take multiple cap-naps with Peyton, but oh well!) Since we needed to come up with things to keep us entertained, Jenna and I decided we should go play in the snow while we had the chance. We couldn't venture far as I was not about to take a 3 week old out in the cold just to play. This meant that Jenna and I could only play on our deck so that Peyton could stay inside in her papasan seat next to the window so we could keep an eye on her as she slept. Here are a few pictures of our first snow experience. I forgot to take pictures of the brick wall that we threw snow balls onto, but at least we got to make and throw them.

Jenna's first steps onto the snow! Thank goodness our neighbor had just given us a pair of boots her daughter had out grown.

Peyton all snugglie inside sleeping.

What's this mommy? It doesn't snow here, I thought you and grandma said we have to go to New Jersey for snow?!

We love snoooowwwww!

This is fun mommy, but let's go inside and get some hot chocolate with marshmellows (which we did)

Jenna just loves her cousin, Brianna Sue. This shot was taken after grandma Jan and grandma Deb had taken then to Chick-fil-A to play and eat lunch.

The Cowley girls just hanging out.

This shot cracks me up. Peyton looks like she is thinking, "What's going on here?!"

Sisters gotta hug!

So I have a new favorite thing. With Jenna, my favorite thing was the swing as she would sit in it for hours and it calmed her. My new favorite thing with Peyton is the Peanut Shell baby sling. I went and picked one up on Saturday morning, by Saturday afternoon it had already paid for itself. As I was getting ready to take Jenna to a birthday party, Josh needed to shower and Peyton decided to have a screaming fit. I put the sling on, got Peyton in it, and within seconds she had stopped crying and was asleep. I was even able to clean up the kitchen before I left. Then on Sunday night Peyton was having another crying fit and we couldn't calm her. Once again I put the sling on, got Peyton in it, and she settled down in seconds. It is a wonderful thing!

Taking it day by day

So we are almost done with the first work week with out having Grandma Deb here with us, and we are taking it a day at a time. Jenna has been back at school (daycare) this week on Mon, Weds, and today. When it is just Peyton and I, I can manage things easily and even sneak in a nap. It's when there are two, that I get a little nervous, especially since Peyton can be fussy.

On Tuesday, my mom came up to help juggle Jenna and Peyton. While she was here, she played with Jenna and helped hold Peyton. This allowed me to get some things done and I even made Stuffed Shells and salad for dinner. When Jenna went down for her nap, I told my mom I had things under control and she could go ahead and head home. Peyton napped while Jenna did, which allowed me to take a break. Then when Jenna got up, we watched some TV and dinner time was not stressful as things had already been prepped and just had to be reheated. I was so amazed at how smoothly everything went, especially since Josh had to work late and it was just me with both kids!

So yesterday (thursday), my mom came back up again to help out with the two kids. Jenna had a very active morning as we played Library. A game I created pre-Peyton where we put books into Jenna's bag, then we would carry them home to read and once read we go get more. After 30 minutes of reading, Jenna and my mom headed outside for a walk and to play at the neighborhood park so I could take a nap. Yeah, that didn't happen. Peyton decided to be wide awake at this time, but I at least was able to take a shower. After lunch and once Jenna was down for her nap, I told my mom I was okay again since Tuesday had been so easy. I also believed that since Peyton had been awake she would probably nap after nursing. This was when my first experience of being tag-teamed by my daughters occured. Peyton started screaming after nursing due to the gas she gets. Once I finally got her settled down, Jenna let me know she wasn't asleep yet and started screaming/crying for me. After I got Jenna settled down, Peyton woke up crying again. So it was another day of me not getting a nap. As dinner time approached, Josh and I realized there was a neighborhood HOA meeting that one of us (by default Josh) needed to attend, so it was just going to be me...what a nightmare! While Jenna was so easy to deal with and calmly watched her new Backyardigans DVD, Peyton decided to "cluster feed" where she wants to nurse at close intervals and even with burping her she got gas. This lead to spells of her screaming. She finally settled down and after a long nurse and before I could get her burped, she decided to throw up all over us. Since I couldn't get her to a point where she was settled enough to lay her down, Jenna was still not in bed by 8:30 when Josh finally got home. Needless to say I was in bed by 9, since I knew I had a long night ahead of me still.

I have officially decided that God has you forget about how hard things are with a newborn in the early stages so that we decide to have more kids. I have to continue to have faith in the fact that this phase will pass. I also need to apologize for not being in vocal contact with friends. I have been horrible with calling folks back. While I still have been online and this might seem odd, that's because I know screaming won't bother the Internet and I can put the Internet on hold for as long as I need to. I have also been trying to stay steady with this blog as it documents our lives and will help me remember how exhausted I felt as the new mom to two kids. Love to you all...

Little bright eyes just soaking up the world.

So that's what has been making all of those strange noises I was hearing...

Our sweet neighborhood friend Ms. Bessie and her two kids got Jenna this great big sister gift, which Jenna has loved! Hello Kitty must be the new big thing, because our next door neighbor got her a Hello Kitty DVD.

Daddy successfully giving Peyton her first bottle on Sunday!

week 1 as a family

We have now made it through week 1, but have had a few hurtles to overcome. The expected exhaustion and lack of sleep were expected. What we weren't sure of was how Jenna would handle things. By Wednesday she finally had her melt down. Josh picked her up from school and was told she was not her normal self. She had started to act out and didn't take a nap. Then during the ride home she cried the whole way. She cried through dinner and at one point looked at me, down at Peyton whom I was holding and then at me with a look of "Who is that and why are you holding her and not me?" Grandma Deb saw this too, so we knew that Jenna might need some mommy time. That night I put Jenna to bed and in the middle of the night as I was nursing Peyton I heard Jenna wimper out, "Mommy, I need you!" So once I was done I went up and laid in bed with Jenna for a little bit and we cuddled. Then the next day Grandma Deb spent more time holding Peyton and I tried to spend more time with Jenna and we tried to keep her on her normal schedule. By the end of the day she seemed more like herself and on Friday her teachers at school said she seemed more like Jenna.

Sunday Josh was able to give Peyton her first bottle with no problems, which was a HUGE thrill as we waited too long with Jenna and it was a struggle. Then on Monday, Deb was able to give her 2 bottles. It is so nice to be able to let others share in that special bonding time.

I need to say a BIG thank you to Deb who has been such a help for us. From helping with dishes and laundry to helping with Jenna and Peyton to being someone to talk with during the day, she has been such a life saver as we have been adjusting to two kids as well as me healing. THANK YOU DEB!!! We love you!

A labor of love

Josh, Jenna and I arrived at the hospital at 7:30 Saturday morning for induction and got checked in. It is amazing all of the paperwork that had to be done. Jenna was a trooper and just sang and danced around in the early stage. When the nurse was ready to do my IV and start the pitocin, Josh took Jenna over to play with her friends Ethan and Carly Yates. They started the hormones and hooked me up to the monitors. Even prior to the hormones my contraction were registering on the radar, but they just weren't strong enough.

The contractions progressed along but I was only dilated about 3 cm. I was told I should get my epidural around 11 since the meds man would be in a procedure and wouldn't be available for awhile after that. So the meds man inserted the epidural catheter and gave me a test dose which caused my blood pressure to drop to like 60 over 33. Instantly, I was given another drug, put on oxygen and forced fluids to get the blood pressure back up, all the while the pitocin was stopped. Eventually I was back to normal and was given the real deal epidural in small doses. I was checked again at 2:30 and I was only 4 cm dilated. I cannot complain since there was a movie channel on and we watched Ironman, Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull, and National Treasure 2.

As the contractions progressed I started feeling the pain again, so I was told I could press a neat button and give myself a small dose more of the epidural drug. After 5 hits and no relief, the meds man said he could "top me off" before pushing. Not wanting the pain to be worse during pushing I had some more, but then my legs went completely numb. At one point my leg fell off the bed and I had to ask Josh if it had fallen. It was funny!

The next movie that came on was Baby Momma and we laughed that all day there had been action movies and now it was a movie about babies. So we were certain that Peyton would make her appearance. The nurse came in to check me again and I was fully dilated. My challenge was I was so numb that I couldn't feel to push, so it was decided I would labor down. Finally around 6:20 pm I started pushing and as we were almost there Peyton started to decel and a bunch of nurses ran in as her heart beat was dropping. I was put on oxygen and rolled to my side. Then I had 4 women telling me to push, push, push, push!

Finally at 6:41, Peyton Elizabeth Cowley was born. She weighed 8 pounds, 4 ounces and was 20 inches long. It was a LONG day of labor but well worth the wait. She even arrived with enough time for my folks to still make it to the Carolina Panthers football game.

Here's our first picture of Josh, Peyton and me. Can you tell we are tired?!

Jenna has been having a hard time adjusting now to Peyton being here as she sees that Mom and dad's attention are not fully hers. We are working through this though and thankfully Grandma Deb has been here to help us with everything from laundry to cooking to helping with Jenna.