More Adventures of Baby Payton!

Last night we met up at Chris Sweeney's house with all the Sweeney family for dinner and to visit. We got to meet Chris and Kacki's kids for the first time, and Elizabeth's new daughter, Caroline. Yesterday we went to Freedom Park & to lunch with some college friends of mine, Julie Evans and Chrissy Anderson, and their kids, and today went to Anne Spring Close Parkway with Celeste & Kyler...we took the dogs and they had a blast! This morning we did a focus group at Britax, testing new car seats and baby carriers with Cheryl and baby Raegan. So needless to say, there is never a dull moment around here! We're having dinner at the Collin's tonight, and plan on going out on the lake some this weekend, and to Marnie and King's crawfish boil/birthday party Saturday night. Payton is averaging waking up only once per night for a feeding, so mom and dad are feeling pretty good, although I think dad is drinking more coffee these days than normal!!

Three Weeks Already!

I can't believe how quickly time is passing! In the past week we've been to visit Neal, Rebecca, Hayes, and Grant Anderson in Raleigh, and we had Payton's newborn pictures taken on Friday. Saturday we went to Rob's "Fam" Jam in Fort Mill, Cheryl's family came to visit us that afternoon, then Jennifer, Dwayne, and Aniston brought us a yummy dinner that night. Sunday Brian helped Dan clean the pontoon boat, and Payton, Emma, Callie, and I watched and played. Sunday evening, Brian's parents came in town to visit Payton, and they took us to dinner. Monday, Payton, the dogs, and I went to the Whitewater Center with Cheryl, Jeremy, Raegan, and Cheryl's parents....then hung out with Missy and Sam on Tuesday. I even managed to jog a little.....today Payton and I went by my office and had lunch with my parents, then we had dinner with the Collins family, and hung out with JB & Greg. The dogs have been loving having me home. Lots of walks, playing, & swimming for them. They've been great with little Miss Payton also.

I think Sweetness is going through a growing spurt this week. She's been sleeping great at night....until last night. She just wanted to eat and eat. We are going to move her into her room and crib this weekend. Hope she transitions well. So far she's been a very easy girl, and we are loving every minute of being parents!!!

2 Weeks Old....Already

Today was a busy day! I had to take Sweetness to the pediatrician this morning to check on her right eye..we've been watching it since last weekend (eyelid is pink, goopy stuff coming out of the corner, & watering a lot). This morning it had gotten pretty bad, and since we're getting her newborn pics taken Friday, I wanted to make sure it wasn't conjunctivitis (pink eye). Turns out, it's a blocked tear duct, which apparently is very common in newborns. We just have to keep wiping and massaging it with a warm washcloth. She weighed in at 9 pounds! Then we met Cheryl and Raegan for a little retail therapy. I wanted to find some cute headbands for the photo shoot, so we visited some baby boutiques and found some cute things. Then we visited my office & went to lunch with Grumps (Granddad Long). THEN...we headed home, fed Payton, & took Callie to the vet for her eye goop...she does have conjunctivitis...so I managed the baby in the car seat AND Callie :) So, it's been a long day, but we are just glad to know our lives haven't been slowed down or rocked too much by Payton. She's going to fit in just fine!!!

A Carolina Girl!!

Today has been a busy day! We managed to get a photo shoot in, and Payton decided she looked better on the "Carolina" side of the blanket than the Virginia Tech side....I agreed. Callie decided Payton was getting too much attention, so she joined in the photo shoot :) They make pretty good models, if I do say so myself!!

Payton Days 10-12

I can't believe we are almost at 2 weeks already. Time is flying faster than I'd like. Payton is now following our voices, focusing on our faces, toys, and her surroundings. She's a great eater and sleeper. In her 12 days, she's been shopping, boating, out to watch live music at Mac's out on the patio, and to the opening of the NASCAR Hall of Fame. She hasn't slowed us down at all! She's fitting into our lives perfectly. Mom and Dad couldn't be happier!!

Pictures..through 9 days old

Sorry for all you non-Facebookers....I've been posting pics there, but not here. So, get your fix! Payton slept from 10:30pm until 3:30am last night, then I had to wake her up at 8:30 this morning to eat. We are so lucky and praying things stay this easy! We've enjoyed lots of visits from friends and family, and had no trouble figuring things out. Payton had her first boat ride at 8 days old, she's developing quite a little wardrobe, & loves being outside. The dogs are being great with her. Mom is doing quite well...we take walks every day....can't wait to be able to run!!!
As of Thursday, April 15th, Payton had regained back to her birth weight! We couldn't feel more blessed....she truly is incredible!

Dress Up!

Friday afternoon

Brian ran home..... (and that's as far as Leigh got with that before we had some visitors arrive, so I'm going to take over from here)

....to see Emma and Callie (our two labs, 7 and 1.5 years old, respectively) and make sure our place was still standing. Thanks to wonderful neighbors, it was in great shape and I got to spend time saying hi to them as opposed to cleaning up to make sure the house is clean and neat for Payton's arrival (not that she cares much...mama hasn't turned her into a neat freak yet!) and took them on a quick walk. Right before I left, I brought out one of Payton's swaddling cloths to introduce them to her scent. Emma, our older, calmer dog sniffed it obediently but disinterestedly as Callie tried to take it from me for a game of tug. So, a pretty overwhelming failure on the 'introduction of scent' front. No worries though, they're both great dogs (I can hear all of you that know them saying, "BOTH??". Yes, both...but it helps when Callie is exhausted.) and we're not worried about how they'll act around Payton. The biggest concern for both of us is Callie jumping up on Leigh when she's excited to see her. Getting in the door will be a carefully orchestrated maneuver that could put military drills to shame.

Back to the hospital to hang out with some more visitors. Andy was here and gone before I got back, then Chris showed up followed by Jennifer with baby Aniston. Next Beth arrived and Chris and Jennifer left. We expect to see Jay and Jen and Britt and Dan (with baby Maddie?) after they get off work.

Definitely looking forward to getting out of here tomorrow morning! Leigh hasn't left the building for more than 20 total minutes since 7:30am Monday morning so I'm amazed how she's able to keep from ripping off her hospital ID bracelet and taking off out the door into this beautiful Charlotte day. The nearly-constant stream of visitors over the last couple days has been a very welcome diversion!

When we leave the hospital tomorrow, we'll be headed.......to the hospital! Yep, Cheryl (who I've mentioned before) with husband Jeremy has gone into labor and expects to deliver within a few hours! Payton and Raegan will be a force to be reckoned with! Be afraid, be very afraid.

Pictures to come! Prepare to melt!

Naptime!

It's mom here....I thought I'd sneak on quickly before I feed Payton again, and try to finally get some sleep. Judging by these two, you'd think Brian gave birth yesterday! We've had friends and family in all day, and after dinner, this is where Payton and Daddy ended up...I've still had no sleep by the way (it's 10:15pm)....

Pictures!!

Wait, how'd that one get in there? Nobody wants to see us! WHERE'S THE BABY?

After the first night.

Well, the first night went pretty well. In the hospital Nursery Payton got her first bath which she pretty much hated, but came out smelling like the proverbial rose, and went under the heat lamp to warm back up to 98.6 degrees before being brought in to us. While she was warming, both Leigh's parents Bob and Beth and friends Cheryl and Jeremy (Cheryl due in 10 days or so) showed up and all came to the Nursery to ooh and aaah (or in this case, awwww) over her and everyone was so amazed over how big she looked! Compared to the other babies in the nursery, some 4 days old, she didn't really look like a newborn at all!

Payton got up to temp. and was ready to come to see us and meet our visitors, but the nurse was giving Leigh and I the rundown about what to expect, Leigh fading in and out as a result of the sheer exhaustion served to her with a nice side of morphine for the pain. We thought when that was finally done 14 hours (30-40 min of real time) later that we'd finally get to see our baby, but the nurses from the Nursery had to come talk to us next before that could happen. By the time we got to see Payton again, it was close to 10pm, our visitors had one foot out the door, needing to work in the morning, and our baby had spent more time away from us than with us since she'd been born. We were less than pleased.

She did finally arrive, however, and we let (made in one instance) everyone hold her before they left and Payton and mommy got some quality time. To our delight, Payton took to breastfeeding very well and got a full belly before bed.
The Nursery had to come get her one more time before bed for a second weighing (and the official length they'd come up with is 21.25") so we got to get ready for bed while she was gone.

She came back having gained (???) an ounce since birth. We're writing that off to a calibration error or a difference in scales because babies typically lose some weight after they're born.

We slept fairly with interruptions for feeding and for checking Leigh's vitals to make sure she was alright. We continue to be amazed at how calm and alert she was and is, happy to look around contentedly, checking everything out.

This morning has been fine as well with a number of checks on her and visits by various medical staff. The lactation consultant came in and talked with Leigh and left very happy with how things were going.

Right now we're just taking a break and waiting on my parents to arrive which should be any second now. I hope everyone is doing well! If you'd like to meet her today or tomorrow here in the hospital, feel free to give us a call and we'll let you know when is convenient for us, otherwise we hope to be home Friday night or Saturday morning.

I know everyone is jonesing for pictures so I'll post a bunch sometime soon!

5:50 PM - Payton Delaney Kugler

We are proud to announce the birth of our baby girl, Payton Delaney Kugler today at 5:50PM. She weighed 8lbs, 6oz (very preliminary and unofficial length: 20.75") and mother and baby are both healthy and happy (happiness a relative term in the case of Payton!).

Leigh has been given pain medication and is pretty tired right now so we'll be welcoming visitors to meet our baby girl tomorrow. So as not to get everyone at once in what will be a MUCH smaller room than you've seen in the pictures, we'll try to schedule everyone in stages with breaks in there for us to get some rest and family time.

Thanks to all who have followed along as we've gone through Babywatch 2010! We'll look forward to continuing to update the blog throughout the years (though probably not as often...) so we can look back and remember the stories.

4:45 Doctors Check

Leigh has continued to feel some pain throughout the two hours since the epidural was placed and the anesthetist has been in a couple times to adjust dosages.

Unfortunately, Dr. Lucas didn't feel any changes when he checked Leigh just a bit ago, but the good news is that we're going to meet Baby K now!

Headed to the Operating Room for a C-section shortly. May be a little while before I can post again, but it should be the one we've all been waiting for!

2 PM Epidural Time

Okay, since it takes a half hour between the time that she orders the epidural and the pain goes away, Leigh has pulled the trigger and is now in preparation. She will get an entire bag of fluid through the IV first to try and combat the low blood pressure that getting the epidural can create. Then, the anesthetist will numb her back where the needle will be put in which is supposed to feel like a bee sting and then there will be some pressure while the needle that carries the catheter to the epidural space by the spine. If you want some more information about how that works, I'll let you check Google. :) I say that because it's 2:30 now and the line has been placed so there's more to talk about! The one funny bit was Leigh, mid-contraction, asking the anesthesiologist not to look at the 'busted biscuit' (look it up if you're not familiar with the term) she's grown since pregnancy. Everyone got a pretty good laugh from that one...I wanted to take video of the process but (no surprise...malpractice potential, etc...they wouldn't let me...oh well. May try and sneak a picture of the result here in a bit...nothing major or gory, just a small line disappearing into her skin. Cheryl, you may not want to look!)

So the pain has gone away by now and just in time because the pain was getting really intense. Now she isn't really feeling the contractions at all. Dr. Lucas came in just after the line was placed and checked the dilation. No change unfortunately...between 4 and 5 cm and the baby's head was still at -3 meaning it still hasn't dropped into the pelvis to really get that dilation going. The Oxytosin is now up to 24 and Dr. Lucas has approved it to go to a max of 25, well over the normal max of 20.

The hope now is that the epidural will make Leigh stay relaxed through these contractions whereas she was tensing up before and not letting the baby move at all. We've set a tentative deadline of 4:30 or so to have some progress or we're back to our other option.

Leigh is going to try and take a nap and I'm going to look for food...more later!

1:30PM

Well, Leigh is having stronger contractions and more regular, about 2 minutes apart. I'm watching this chart to see how 'big' they are. The bottom graph is measuring the tension of her uterine muscles and the ones that go up steeply are the ones that feel the biggest to Leigh. The top graph is the baby's heartbeat monitor and its been sitting around 130 bpm for hours.


They've started getting to the point where they take her breath away, but evidently not to the point where she can't update her facebook status...I waited to take this picture until one was just beginning...typing away!


Leigh has decided that since she's been here for 3 days, she's going to go with an epidural but is waiting as long as possible and wants to get checked before she gets it so she knows how dilated she was when she got it.

11:50 AM

Well, business as usual...having good contractions and hoping they get more and more regular, pushing the baby down so that the 'REAL' ones begin.

Thanks from both of us to everyone that's reading and commenting and giving us well wishes! I really don't have a great feel for how many people are following along but I discover every day that more than I thought are! It's pretty cool!

8:15 AM Water Broken!

Now that I have your attention, here's the deflated and inflated pictures of the Foley Bulb for your viewing (dis)pleasure, as promised:


Thankfully, Dr. Matkins only decided to fill each balloon to 60 mL instead of going to the max of 80. Okay, moving on...

Dr. Lucas came in to see Leigh and got right to business this morning at about 8. Pleasantries aside, he went right in with the 'hook' and broke Leigh's water, noting she's now at about 4-5 cm dilated. Back on Oxytocin now, the contractions are moving right along and Leigh is feeling them a bit more since there isn't the cushion that the amniotic sac had been providing previously. Baby K is somewhat disappointed about these developments and has been moving around quite a bit between contractions.

Traditionally, dilation happens at about 1 cm/hour but Baby K needs to move down a lot before that can happen so we're hoping that these strong contractions continue to get to that rate.

Our main nurse that has been with us all along, Michelle (see, that's her over there on the left!), is leaving after her shift ends at 3 so that's the deadline we're shooting for to get this baby delivered naturally! We're not going to schedule a C-section if we don't get to that time but it would be nice to have this baby while she's here.