Stats-2 week appt.

At Peyton's 2 week Dr.'s visit this is what they found:

He eats great-8lbs 1oz., 20 1/2 inches long
He's got great lungs-he screamed the entire visit
He clots well-they needed blood from his heel and he just wouldn't bleed.

That's our boy!

baths, vomit, pee, and sleep deprivation

Every day is different. That about sums it up. Some days we have a sweet, innocent little baby making cute faces and other days we have a screaming banshee. Some nights I get sleep in 3-4 hour segments and he'll go back to sleep immediately after finishing eating and others I'm lucky to get 45 minutes at a time and will be up for 2+ hours trying to get him to go back to sleep. Diaper changes are an adventure all their own. I can't believe how much a little itty bitty baby can poop and pee. 70 diapers a week from our diaper service is only going to make it half the week this week because little Peyton likes to wait until you get a clean diaper underneath him and then either poop or pee again. My lap has been peed on twice (once mysteriously it appeared all over me and his clothes, but managed to miss the diaper entirely-and that was a disposable). Of course how much comes out is related to how much goes in. Some days that is as often as every 45 minutes that he becomes so famished that nothing will calm his screams except a meal. That equates to an awful lot of poop and pee. Oh, and don't forget the occaisional projectile vomiting that seems like too much to fit inside his little stomach, usually because of hiccups that are so strong they push all the food he just ate out.

But we love it. I wouldn't trade it for anything. Yes, it's hard now that Zack is back at work and I have to learn to balance sleeping, eating, and personal hygeine with calming a crying baby, changing him, feeding him, and trying not to forget that the dog also needs food and to go outside. It's getting easier. I now know mornings are useless because that's when he's fussy. Afternoons I have all kinds of time to get things done while he sleeps. I know, I know, I should be sleeping when he is sleeping, but I never nested while I was pregnant and seem to be now. I have this unbelievable desire to clean everything and organize my whole house. I have the occaisional breakdown where I start crying because I can't calm him or I get frustrated by him not wanting to sleep at night. But I love him and can't imagine life without him when it's only been 2 1/2 weeks. Overall, life is good.

Connie

Update-Day 8

Current weight: 7 lbs 3 oz. Apparently he has no problem with eating as he has gained 1 lb 1 oz since his day four doctors visit (not sure if the doc's scale was right) and his initial loss to 6 lbs 2 oz. I do know this, he weighed in at 6 lb 7.5 oz at birth and now weighs 7 lbs 3 oz.





Billirubin - 14 on day four which is a bit high and slightly jaundice but expected around day four. Day six his Billirubin rang in a solid 9, showing that it was on the downswing and the jaundice is all but cleared up. It's a beautiful thing.





Connie is doing well. She is an amazing mom. She had a great teacher/mentor. As most know, it's hard to establish a schedule this early in the game, but with Me (Zack) returning to work in a week we're trying to get him as consistant as possible. When he sleeps we don't really want to wake him to feed, but we don't want to wait until he's crying due to hunger either. It's a fine balance that we have yet to master. Have we said how cute he is. . . precious.



The above photo is our, "Hey girl, holler back on my cell, I'm trying to catch some z's."

Thanks to all of you following the Peyton's blog. We really appreciate all the kind comments that you've shared.

Update-Day 3

Hi all. Just wanted to give an update on how Peyton, Zack, and I (oh, and don't forget Kodi) are getting along on his 3rd day of life. We are still beside ourselves with joy and actually not too horribly sleep deprived. Neither of us can stop staring into Peyton's face, including Kodi who is still not sure what this thing is and why he makes noises in the middle of the night. I am feeling pretty good. I'm still sore, which I figure will last a couple more days, but otherwise I am on cloud 9. After some initial difficulty positioning for breastfeeding, Peyton and I had a meeting of the minds and have gotten the hang of it. He's eating every 2 hours and I have no doubt once my milk is fully in, he will chunk up quickly. We had a 48 hour follow up appt. with my midwifery yesterday and he had lost 5 oz. since birth, which is good, and he was really good when they pricked his heel to get blood...he didn't even whimper, just sucked on my finger and pooped. Speaking of pooping, Zack is a diaper changing machine, which is necessary because Peyton is a pooping and peeing machine. Zack has been absolutely fabulous. He cleaned the whole house, did tons of laundry, changes Peyton after I breast feed at night, brings me food and drinks while I'm breastfeeding (it seems like that is pretty much my whole day right now), and is just a fabulous Daddy (and he suddenly is a crier;)). Parenting is a learning curve, but actually not nearly as scary as either of us had anticipated. Peyton is such an easy baby, only crying briefly when he's wet or hungry, and is easily settled. I don't think we've heard him cry for longer than about 30 seconds at a time.

We had our first outing yesterday. We went to our neighbor's son's 1st b-day party and then out to the midwife appt. and the grocery store. We realized after we were already out that we forgot the diaper bag. We'll have to get used to having a lot more to think about before leaving the house. Tomorrow is supposed to be nice so we are going to try a picnic in the park after Peyton's first pediatrician appt. and a visit to Zack's work.

Thank you to everyone for the phone calls, text messages, and emails of congratulations and encouragement. Several friends have brought food, which is so appreciated since cooking is the last thing either of us wants to do. Grandma and Aunt Cathy were here day 1, but had to go back to Florida. Hopefully Grandma will be back in a few weeks to spend a little more time.

Connie, Zack, and Peyton

Peyton arrives home

ZACK: 4:15am arrive home from Mountain Midwifery after an early morning snack from McDonald's. Peyton slept the whole way home. He was pooped from all the activity today. In our rush to leave we left our bedroom window open. Brr! I had to turn the heater up to bring up the temp that way Baby Peyton could lay down til his next feeding. I drew a bath for Connie to relax before she lays down for a rest.

Connie was awesome last night with the birthing. She was able to have the birth of her dreams by spending nearly all of her 2 1/2 hours in the birthing tub. She labored at home for 5 1/2 hours then we drove to the birthing center. Connie says it was the worst 30 minute drive ever. I must say, I think it was a very pleasant drive.

The drive home was snow filled. Fortunately, the snow is not sticking to the roads yet. We left at the right time. Well I need some shut eye. talk to you later.

Peyton Stats

AUNTIE CATHY: The measurements are in!

Little Peyton Johnson weighed in at 6 lbs, 7 and 1/2 oz. He's 19 inches long with big hands and feet just like his mommy had when she was born. His head measures 13 inches.

Grandma reported Peyton opened his eyes immediately and looked right at Connie. He did not like being taken away from mommy to be measured! He has also already accomplished his first poopoo. :) Mom, Dad, and Baby are now resting comfortably and will remain at the midwifery for another several hours. Grandma is on her way back to the Johnson house with pictures that Auntie Cathy can't wait to see! I'm sure Mom, Dad, and Grandma will have many pictures to post when they come home.

That's about it for now...oh and by the way Zack checked. It's definitely a boy!

He's Here!!!!!

Auntie Cathy is so so proud to announce the birth of baby Peyton!  

No sooner did I post the previous blog than I got the call.  He's here!  He's perfect!

I don't know the details yet because currently mommy Connie is just holding Peyton in the tub.  I could hear him over the phone crying and making noise and it's amazing!  Grandma is crying, Aunt Cathy is crying, other people might be crying, I don't know!  I am told he has a head of dark hair.  

As soon as I get the info I will post his weight and size and such.  But for now, welcome to the world Baby Peyton!

So Close!

Ladies and Gentlemen, 

Hiya, the lovable Auntie Cathy here again.

Peyton is almost here!  The head is crowning!  Oh so close now.  Mommy Connie has been pushing for about a half hour now.  She is so brave!  I'm sure very soon I will get the call that Peyton has made his long awaited appearance.

Send good thoughts Connie's way, she is working hard!

Almost There!

Hello Johnson Baby Fans!

This is your substitute reporter, Cathy. (the aunt, yeah, that's my sister having a baby!!)  Zack is currently otherwise occupied, plus he cannot establish a connection to the internet so I am stepping in for a bit.  Now on to the real news:

Connie, Zack, and Grandma have made the trek to the midwifery earlier than expected.  Connie is moving right along! She is having one contraction after another (we are talking 30 seconds apart here!) and has already dilated 7 cm.  Now that Peyton decided to come out he's in a hurry it seems.  At last report Connie was getting into the birthing tub.  

Doing great so far, and we will keep you posted! 

Birthday Blog

ZACK: So, we just talked to the Midwife. She was very encouraging, saying that we should try and get some rest. (Yea right!). She said that this is probably going to be a long night (I concur). Connie is going to take a short bath then lay in bed in the dark for a while.

Currently she remains at approximately four minutes apart. She is still somewhat sporadic so it maybe a bit (don't tell her that). She was able to talk to the Midwife on the phone during the last contraction so she definitely isn't time to take the journey. If I had to guess (like I'm the expert) I would think we will be making our way to Mountain Midwifery at 9:52pm. (such precision). We'll I'm off to get her some water. Talk to you soon.

And So It Begins

ZACK: Connie's water broke this morning. It wasn't like the movies with a flash flood warning no huge gush, only trickles. Of course she didn't tell me until after noon. I had to call her to see how she was doing to get the scoop that her water had broke.

The current plan is to call the midwife at 7:30pm or before if the contractions get to inside of three minutes apart, one minute duration for one hour. When I arrived home at 5:15pm her contractions were just inside of 15 minutes apart. Currently she is at five minutes appart for one minute.

Things are progressing well. Thanks everyone for checking the blog instead of calling. We'll keep you posted as things progress. Wish us luck.