Sick kiddos

Brooke woke up Christmas Eve with a clear runny nose. Thursday it turned into a cough with a nasty nose. Thursday I could tell Peyton was starting to feel bad. She slept for 8 hours straight that night. Her little eyes were red and glossy and she started sounding congested. Friday night she felt hot, took her temp and it was 99.7. I used saline spray in her nose to break it up and try to suction it out, but very little if anything was coming out. Poor thing sounds like a little piggy. Saturday at 1 am, B woke herself coughing and asked for a breathing treatment and Peyton was very congested, so us 3 girls sat in the bathroom with the hot water on while B did a breathing treatment. I got the humidifier cleaned and put it in B's room, since I feel she needs it more than Peyton. We should probably look into getting another one. Peyton's temp has gone down and hopefully B's cough is getting better because we have no more albuterol since Brooke tried to give herself a breathing treatment on her own using 11 tubes of albuterol! Since its a holiday weekend, I'm sure I can't get more until Wednesday. Until then, pray for sleep and healthy kids! Pop Pop and Hammie come in 1 week and we need a sick free house!

6week post partum check up

Went in for my last check up.
131 pounds
Everything looks good! Bladder & incision are healing as expected. I'm released to go back to normal everyday activities.

Christmas 2012

Christmas Eve- skyped with Pop Pop and Hammie so they could watch B open all of her gifts. We left some Christmas popcorn and milk out for Santa, put out his key & said goodbye to Charlie!
Christmas- Santa brought B a microphone and boy does she love it! I will post some videos when we can get her to stop singing with her mouth on it! She eats the mic!

Just a smilin'

I don't see this too often, but so happy when I do!!

Deliveries

Brooke & I decided to make Christmas popcorn for all of our neighbors! (Natural popcorn, white chocolate & sprinkles)
We made the popcorn, put it in little Santa treat bags and headed out!! First up, Rodger, Hazele and Milo. They live in British Columbia,Canada, originally from England. Brooke gave Milo his dog toy and made sure he played with it before we left! They come over and take B on walks with them to give me a little break, which is so nice!
Next stop, John & Susan. They always bring us fresh veggies and fruit they grow in their garden at their other home in Kingman,AZ. Brooke told them Merry Christmas and thanks for her Doll they gave her for Christmas and we were on our way.
Next stop, Charlotte and Gary's. They are from Minnesota. We went in and Brooke had to play with their 2 cats! She kept rubbing Gary's head saying "I made the popcorn just for you!" It was too cute!!
Next stop, Bob's. There was no answer so we headed over to Laurie, Randy &
Kili's. They live in Ontario, Canada. Brooke and Kili played with the new tennis balls she got him and walked around the house checking things out since its been a while since we were over there. There were a few more neighbors we should have seen, but I burned my first batch of chocolate, therefore we didn't have enough popcorn for everyone. Next year :)

1 month check up

10 pounds 12 ounces
22 1/2 inches long
Received first shot- HEP B
I have to change my diet bc she is fussy, gassy, congested, acne/rash & more.
Dr thinks it could be dairy, so starting now, no dairy. I don't know what I'm going to eat!!

Pictures

Happy 1 month to Miss Peyton

Eat.Cry.Sleep.Poop

Peyton Evelyn

3 weeks old!

Wide awake

It's 3am and Brooke just had another coughing attack, so she is laying in bed with me & Peyton. Brooke has been sick since Peyton was born, 3 weeks now. Dr said its allergies, but this cough is not going away. Peyton is awake and always looking to eat! Obviously, I am extremely exhausted, just like all new moms! It definitely doesn't get any easier with the more kids you have. Brooke does not nap during the day and Peyton does not sleep at night, so please tell me when I am supposed to get some rest!! Tony gets a full nights sleep every night. Maybe I need to look into getting a job :-)
Wait, I would still be waking up at night to care for the kids! A mother's work is never done! By the way, can you believe it's December already??

2 week post partum

I went in for my check up for my incision and to hopefully get this catheter out. My incision looks great and is healing well. Dr.Jaacks filled my bladder with saline, took the catheter out and I had to be able to pee it all back to her. This was probably the most important test I've ever taken! In goes saline, out goes catheter, and I gave it all back! I went pee pee on my own!! Woo-hoo! You have no idea how excited I was!

Miss Peyton had her first doctors visit. She weighed 8lbs 8ounces & is a healthy growing girl.

Hospital experience

Apparently having babies is extremely rough on my body. We all know how bad it was with Brooke, so I was praying for smooth sailing with this one, but of course had my doubts.
Tony and I woke up Friday 9th, dropped B off at Fred's and headed to the hospital. Check in time was 930. Checked in and went to the triage room where I was prepped for surgery. They had a hard time finding a vein; hit a valve the first time, blew the vein the second time and got it in my right hand the third time. Same if spot I had for Brooke. I made sure to tell them I was allergic to morphine and had mild hemorrhaging with Brooke. Also my platelet count was down to 95 even after the steroids. The anesthesiologist came in and asked all his questions, told me the that with low platelets there is a risk of spinal bleeding which could cause paralysis, but there are a lot more with general anesteshia. He felt a spinal was best and we had no worries. While he was doing his assessment, he asked me to lean back, open my mouth and stick my tongue out. Wasn't sure why he did that, but when he was leaving he asked again, so I proceeded to ask why he asks that. He said to make sure my airway is easy to access if he has to start a tube. Well, that made me a little nervous because he did not look once, but twice. Great.
The nurse came in to give me my anti-nausea med(zofran) which I took orally for the first 5 months. She gives it to me in my iv and I have a flash back. My arm starts burning and itching and breaks out in hives. Same thing the morphine did with B. They then shoot Benadryl in there and I start getting dizzy and red with slight difficulty breathing. Let me remind you, this is all before the surgery. I'm a little freaked out, but they take me back to the OR to see what the anesthesiologist has to say. We are good and they put me on the bed and while Dr. Jaacks is trying to calm me, the spinal goes in and my legs are numb. I'm all hooked up and ready to go, so in Tony comes! It's always very comforting the moment he holds my hand and sits beside me.
I was freezing and my teeth were chattering the whole time due to that and the meds. I couldn't stop shaking. Then all of a sudden Peyton is out and I hear her cry & I start crying! I have to say there is something about hearing your baby take their first breath and letting out that cry. It is the best part of my pregnancy!

They start putting me back together and Tony and Peyton head to the recovery room. Apparently there was a problem with my bladder. Scar tissue had attached my bladder to my uterus all the way up on the right side where your bladder shouldn't be. I know Brooke messed up my bladder, but apparently it was a lot worse than I was told. Dr. Jaacks cut it and off and repaired it. Now I am wearing an awesome catheter and carrying around a pee bag. It is probably the most uncomfortable I've ever been! Needless to say, no more babies for this Manning family.

& 3 becomes 4!

Peyton Evelyn Manning
11/09/12
12:39pm
8 pounds 9 ounces ( same as Brooke's birth weight)
20 1/2 inches long

Strawberry blonde hair
Fair complected
Very content
Sleeps, sleeps, sleeps

Random pictures

Someone was feeling a little pink!! She dresses herself and likes to match!!

Morning after Halloween. Candy for breakfast :)

Brooke using my belly as an armrest!! **makes me laugh**

My belly as her canvas for her sticker collage!

BEWARE....

38 weeks

152 pounds. Platelet count 99. Starting steroids to hopefully keep them above 100 so I can have a spinal block. Nothing happening with cervix. ONE MORE WEEK!! I can not wait to meet baby sister and to see how Brooke is as a big sister!! Exciting and tiring times ahead! :)

Halloween

Monday before Halloween, Brooke and Tony carved the pumpkin Brooke got from our neighbors!

HALLOWEEN 2012

Princess Snow White had a great Halloween. We went trick or treating with Tabby and Ameil.

We walked for about 1 hour and Brooke got a bag full of candy and was asleep by 7:30! That was all the trick or treating this mamma could do!! This house was so spooky!! Brooke wasn't scared at all! She went straight for the candy!

37 week check-up

Weight- 150lbs Baby girl looks good. She continues to creep further down, which explains all the pressure & trouble walking. Cervix is still closed. Her heartbeat was 143bpm. The lab messed up my blood work, so I had to go back today to get more blood drawn for my platelet count. Should know Monday where it is at. She is constantly moving around and kicking every internal organ possible! I will say I am very uncomfortable right now and hope these next 2 weeks FLY by! Brooke- We have been going on morning, midday and nightly walks or bike rides (for her). She likes to hunt for animals! She has started carrying her baby around every place we go!

It is finally getting a little cooler, so we have been outside more often. 80's during the day, 50's at night! Looks like someone is ready for Halloween! She came down the slide and this is what her hair looked like! We both laughed at the picture for a long time!!

Working on those fine motor skills!! She built a house out of her lincoln logs; she was pretty proud of it! Two thumbs up :)

Shadows!

Brooke and I were on our evening walk and as we were walking by this brick wall, I saw our shadows and thought it would be a cute idea for a picture. Here you go!!

I changed it to pink and yellow for B! She loved it!

Still growing

I had my blood draw for platelet count yesterday. Should hear back in a few days on the count. Pray it is over 100!! I weighed 147, that's a total of 22 pounds gained so far. Baby is measuring a little ahead. My cervix is still closed. Baby girl's heartbeat was elevated to 170. Dr said spikes are good, but she wanted it to go back down and it wasn't. I will admit I was a little dehydrated yesterday, which was most likely the problem. I drank a bottle of water and had my ultrasound. The heartbeat was back in the 140's. Her head is extremely low, which explains all the pressure and nerve pain! Her estimated weight is 6 pounds 11 ounces (70th percentile). Looks like we will have another 8 pound baby!! Ultrasound tech said her breathing looked great along with everything else! They snuck in a 3D picture,so Brooke could actually see baby sisters face!! She recognized her nose, eyes, and mouth! VERY COOL! Still no name picked out. Other than that, I will post again in 2 weeks!

36 weeks

34 weeks

Baby girl has dropped. I gained 1 pound. Up to 143lbs now! Have a really bad burning sensation under my left breast. It's superficial and hurts to the touch. It is driving me crazy. It's definitely worse than the pressure I'm feeling from this baby. Ready for that to be gone. Dr said it's probably just her kicking something. Baby is measuring 1 to 2 weeks ahead, so they scheduled a sonogram to get estimated weight. Not exactly sure why they would do this considering I am already scheduled for a c-section, but we get another look at this little girl, so I am fine with that!! Brooke got to measure my belly and find the heartbeat. She put the gel on and took the wand and told the PA, "I've got it!" Debbie said, "You sure are a good helper" & Brooke said I KNOW!! so funny! Brooke is measuring her babies belly! She said it wasn't as big as mine :)