thats right!!! we are having ANOTHER BABY!!!! we found out the last week of August...but had NO idea how far along i was (since i had not had any sort of regular period since piper)...so friday we had an ultrasound and found out i was 7 weeks along!!! We were even able to see and hear a heart beat loud and clear!! it was amazing! I am due April 30!!!!!
HI everyone!!! Its been a pretty Crazy 5ish days...so this is the start of the "Piper Chronicles" ;) I will write about Pipers birth story soon, but so many people have been asking about her NICU stay that I thought I would start with that...
Immediately after Piper was born, she was very grunty...I noticed it when she was put on my chest all gooey. They took her to the other side of the room to check things out...which was a total bummer because I really wanted to nurse. Jake of course stayed with her while I was getting all "put back together" ;) A few minutes later, the pediatrician told me that they are going to give Piper an hour to see how she does and if she is still grunty that she will have to go straight to NICU. After an hour of the 3 of us bonding and just loving on each other, they came back in and took her. I truly still had no idea what was the matter. I just knew something was wrong with her breathing. We were pretty scared. We had all these big plans to nurse right away, Jake to get "skin to skin" bonding time and for family to come in and meet the baby and announce the name....well...all that went out the window. We called our family (who went to dinner once they knew she was born) and told them that the baby had to go to the NICU and just to come to the birthing suite when they got back. Without Piper, we announced that it was a little girl and that her name was Piper Ann...everyone was so excited...but of course worried about Piper. The Grandmas were the first to go to the NICU to meet her and to find out what was going on. Jake came back down and explained... Piper had Pneumothorax....which is basically collapsed lung...it happened when she took her first breath in this outside world and her lung could not handle it. They told us that she would have to spend the first 24 hours of her life in the NICU being monitored and x-rayed. Once family left and we got settled into our room, Jake and I headed up to see her....she was so beautiful and I was so in love... first thing the next morning we go see her and they let me nurse!! They told us that the x-rays are not getting any better and she would have to stay there a while. The next two days we were in and out of the NICU, hanging out with family and just trying to recover (yes from 27 hours of natural childbirth...whole other story!! :). Each time we went to see her we expected good news that we would get to take her down to our room and that she was all better...wasn’t happening. Finally Sunday morning we were told the bad news that I was being discharged...but Piper was not. There is nothing like going home from the hospital without your baby! We come home Sunday night around 7pm, take showers, pump, and eat dinner...then we were back up at the hospital till around midnight...just trying to spend every moment we can with her. It was very strange to me to see this "huge", 8lb, post-term, baby with all these tiny preemies. Monday morning Jake and I were back at the hospital by 7am....planning on setting up camp in her little corner and hanging out with her all day long! All day we nursed, she slept on us, we changed her, we just loved on her all day, trying to get as much bonding in as possible...we were really 3 days behind! It was also breastfeeding boot camp! I nursed every time she stirred! and pumped in between that...again i was 3 days behind on that relationship as well. Our nurse came in mid morning and told us...that we would probably get to go home today (Monday) and she started us on the discharge process (paper work, things to read, and videos to watch)...she assured us we would be out of there by 5pm!! WHOOOOO-HOOOO!! wait...6:30pm rolls around and she says...Just kidding there has been a mistake...your not going home...but we are moving Piper to "the village" (its rooms in the NICU that you can spend the night in with your baby)...so you at least can be with her. WAIT JUST A MINUTE!!!!! We were told earlier that morning that the Pneumothorax had resolved and that she was healthy enough to go home??? We asked to speak to the attending doctor....WE WERE NOT HAPPY. But the nurse had to do what she was told and we all moved down to "the village". Once they got us settled in that room...Jake and I broke down...we both just started crying...we were tired, we were angry, and we just wanted to go home with our healthy little girl!!! Jake started praying...and in the middle of his prayer, the attending doctor walks in and says... "I am so sorry guys, but there has been a BIG mistake...you ARE going home!!!!!!!!!" I wanted to kiss that Doctor!!!! There was a miscommunication between the attending doctors on her conditions...but I didn’t care anymore...we were going home!!!! We were home with our little Piper by 9pm last night...and today had just been amazing...a lot of sleeping and feeding....but amazing!!
I will leave you with pictures from Pipers NICU stay...
Piper Ann Seaton was born on July 10 at 6:40pm (27hours of labor!!!!). We are so so so in love!!!!
more details to come....
ok...so now to this morning... I woke up at 2:30am to a contraction...FINALLY!! I stayed up for 30 minutes or so to see if another one came...but nothing. I then woke up at 6am to another contraction...i went to the potty and as i was walking back to bed i felt wet "down there" i felt my shorts and they were wet! So i turned the light on and realized there was a softball size wet spot on my shorts...had my water broken??? I started to get all excited and i showed the spot to jake(poor guy;). We did not want to alarm anyone, so we woke up and got dressed. I peeked my head into our guest bedroom/nursery and told my mom that jake and I were "going out to breakfast before he has to be at work". We really wanted to see if maybe contractions would start or we would get more of a sign that my water actually broke, before we said anything. We went to breakfast and then went to walk (yes...again). I was not having any contractions...but I was still leaking small amounts of fluid. So after walking about 20 minutes we decided to call my midwives nurse. I told her that i was 90% sure my water had broken but i was not having contractions and asked her what to do...she suggested to go to triage...just to be safe and find out exactly what is happening. WHOA boy is this it!!!??? So we come home, my mom is in the shower, and we inform her of what we are doing...she is so excited she starts hollering in the shower :) So right at about 9 am we head to the hospital!!! I have one more contraction while filling out my paperwork at triage. Once we get in there, i put on the lovely gown and pee in the cup for them. The nurse hooked me up on the belly monitors and we wait for Ann (my midwife). When Ann checks me she gently gives me the news that the bag of waters are still in tacked and that i probably just peed a little in my sleep :( She also informed us that i am a full 3 cementers, 90% effaced, and the head is at 0 station. So pretty much no progress since Monday. We called our family to tell them that it was a false alarm, and for my family...it was probably best that they headed home and waited until i was actually in active labor :) Jake was really bummed...i mean really bummed, much more then me...don't get me wrong, i am so ready to meet this person too...but i trust my body and i trust this baby, that when every thing is all ready and lined up that its going to happen :) So thats the latest...no contractions since, family has gone home, jake is back to work and we are just going back to life as before these 2 days of a false alarm :)
Well lets pick up at Tuesday morning (where i left off at the last post)... I had no contractions though the night but was still not able to sleep well, so i called dad(who had made it into town at 1am) at 6:30am and told him that he needed to take me to breakfast ;). Daddy took me to Mimis and i had a yummy muffin. After breakfast we came back to my house...i went the the potty...and realized that i had just lost my mucus plug(lovely, right?)!!!!!!!! Mom, me and dad went to northpark mall to walk and see if contractions would start. the 3 of us (jake went to work) walked for an hour...and not one contraction. We come back home and i took a nice long nap. THEN...we heard that my brother was heading here from Texas!! I was so excited that my whole family was going to be together (NEVER HAPPENS)...that i practically forgot the reason why we were all together....and at this point i didn't even care if baby was ready or not....i was having a blast with my family! We went to Jonnies for lunch and saw our friend Bill, who has been begging us to come swim in his pool, so we asked him if we could bring a crew over (my family and jakes family) that night to swim...He LOVED that idea! Mom and i ran a couple of errands, then we came home for another nap for this pregnant lady ;) When Jake got home from work at 5pm the 2 of us went to walk for another hour at the mall...still not one contraction. AT this point (5pm) it had been right at 24 hours after my membranes had been stripped. Which...if it works like its soposto, i should have at least started some regular contractions by now. So in the back of my head i knew it(labor) wasn't going to be happening, and was starting to feel the pressure with my whole family in town, basically twiddling their thumbs (although i never told them to come to town) just waiting for me to have this baby. Jake and I came home (matt was here from texas by now!) and made stir fry for everyone then we got on our swim suits and headed to Bill's house. We had a bit of an impromptu party...between jakes whole family and my whole family we had a blast swimming and chatting and just catching up with each other and day dreaming about this little one...plus the water felt AMAZING on these fat(swollen) piggies of mine ;) After swimming...of course you need ice cream...so we all loaded up and headed to Freddies Frozen Custard...we sat outside on a lovely summer night eating ice cream and chatting till close to 10pm...it was wonderful!! still no contractions...
well....last night after getting home from our appointment, we double checked to make sure our "hospital bag" was officially packed, changed into comfy clothes and headed to dinner. I didn't want anything to heavy, so i had some yummy soup at Macaroni Grill. While at dinner we decided to go to a movie (to kill time...during this "wait")....yes...a REAL movie, not a dollar movie! Can you believe it! anyway, it was 2 hours until the movie started so we walked and walked and walked at Quail Springs mall...Contractions started as soon as we started walking. I practically had back to back contractions during our walk for a good 2 hours. They were very close together(around 2ish minutes)...but not very intense at all. As soon as we sat down, and got comfy in the movie theater...they pretty much completely stopped. We went to see "year one"...on a side note, i thought it was a waste of money. Anyway, we walked for a while after too and i had about 3 contractions in 1 hour. So we headed home and was in bed by midnight. My mom and my dad both decided to head to OKC late last night, with them being up to 4 hours away I'm glad they did! I was awake by 4am, so i only got about 4 hours of sleep...but I'm actually not surprised at that...i hope to get a nap in today ;)
YESSSS!! We just got back from my midwife appointment...here are the stats...
2-3 centimeters
60% effaced
+1 station
after seeing that baby has started plenty of progress on its own Ann, Jake and I decided that we should go ahead and strip my membranes....soooooooooooooo BABYS COMING!!!!! keep up with baby seatons twitter for more updates....Jake and I are going to go to Northpark mall to walk for like the next 6 hours ;)
I'm sorry to Aunt Heather, Taylor, Erica, Bridget, Katie, Jamila, Emma, Daddy, and Nan-Nan Seaton...but your "date prediction" has come and gone...with no baby ;)
looks as though, my perdiction is the most popular...we will see!!!....
July 5th
Laura-Boy
July 6th
Liz-Girl
July 7th
Mommy-Girl
G'pa Shumaker-Boy
Lindsey-Boy
Mindy-Girl
July 8th
G'ma Shumaker-Boy
July 10th
Carly-Girl
Dear My Sweet Baby...
Today is your due date, although i realize that this is just an estimated time, your daddy and I are quite anxious to meet you! You seem very content right where you are and I'm glad your happy, i just want you to feel cozy and loved whether its still in my belly for a few more days (or weeks!!) or here in this outside world...it can be kinda scary out here sometimes so i don't blame you for taking your time :) Your daddy and I spend this day together, sleeping in, making breakfast, walking at the mall, and going swimming. Everyone thinks we are crazy for going swimming...but it felt very good on mommys belly! We are also going on a due "date" tonight to one of our favorite fancy restaurants, Paseo Grill...yummmm. I love your daddy so much, and have thanked him though out this entire pregnancy for giving you to me! We cant wait to meet you and we love you!!
Mommy
I thought i should document the nursery before it gets crazy around here!! ;) I'm sure once little one is here....it will never look like this again!!
Your baby's waiting to greet the world! He continues to build a layer of fat to help control his body temperature after birth, but it's likely he already measures about 20 inches and weighs a bit over 7 pounds, a mini watermelon. (Boys tend to be slightly heavier than girls.) The outer layers of his skin are sloughing off as new skin forms underneath.
Baby Poll Update...
I'm sorry to Jenice, Allyson, Stephanie, cousin Jennifer, Ashley, Aunt Cora and Casey...but your "date prediction" has come and gone...with no baby ;)
July 1st
Aunt Heather-Boy
Taylor-Girl
July 2nd
Erica-Girl
Bridget-Girl
Katie-Girl
July 3rd *actual due date*
Jamila-Girl
Emma-Boy
July 4th
Daddy-Boy
Nan-Nan Seaton-Boy
July 5th
Laura-Boy
July 6th
Liz-Girl
July 7th
Mommy-Girl
G'pa Shumaker-Boy
Lindsey-Boy
July 8th
G'ma Shumaker-Boy
July 10th
Carly-Girl
*again, its still not to late...add your prediction to the comments on this post if you want your guess in the poll ;)
June 19th- sorry guys...no baby ;)
Jenice-Girl
Allyson-Boy
June 26th
Stephanie-Boy
Cousin Jennifer-Girl
June 27th
Ashley-Boy
Aunt Cora-Boy
June 28th
Casey-Girl
July 1st
Aunt Heather-Boy
Taylor-Girl
July 2nd
Erica-Girl
Bridget-Girl
July 3rd *actual due date*
Jamila-Girl
Emma-Boy
July 4th
Daddy-Boy
July 5th
Laura-Boy
July 6th
Liz-Girl
July 7th
Mommy-Girl
G'pa Shumaker-Boy
Lindsey-Boy
July 8th
G'ma Shumaker-Boy
July 10th
Carly-Girl
~ITS NOT TO LATE....if you want in on this fun guessing action...just put your prediction in the "comments" on this post and i will add you to the list :)~
Looks like we are well on our way to having a fully cooked baby!! YAY!!! I did a bit of a self portrait session ;) but....we are doing a real maternity photoshoot with this amazing photographer at the end of June....check out his blog under "my favorite bloggers" his name is Randy Coleman, he did such a great job on the Foster girls shoot, i just HAD to use him :) Well...today is the day Lee's and the Bibb's guessed baby Seaton would be arriving...the day is early...but sorry guys i don't think anything is happening today :) 
it seems the younger they are, the more "up" on technology they are! And our little one is right there with them. Apparently my uterus has wireless Internet so baby Seaton started a Twitter!!!
One of my most treasured things on this earth, is a "play by play" diary that my dad kept during my moms labor with me...it is typed on a type writer and in my baby book....it covers everything from who was there, what the weather was like that day, to my moms progression and eventual c-secton, to how he felt the moment he saw me.
Because of that diary, it is pretty important to me that my labor is documented...somehow...we decided the easiest way to do that is to take advantage of modern technology and start a "Labor Twitter" that jake will be able to keep up with from his iphone that he is getting from me for fathers day :) I plan on being able to then print all the "twits" off somehow for our baby book...
So to follow baby seaton on Twitter just go to www.twitter.com/babyseaton I think they plan on tweeting some up until the big day as well :) Plus its a great way for all our family, friends and blog readers to keep updated when things start to happen!!! :)
*baby S really wanted in the photo :)
well we planted the end of march and went through two freezes so we are just now starting to see the fruits of our labor (literally ;). Our strawberry's started showing up first...they are very small and we only get 2 or 3 at a time, we are starting to see small jalapenos peeping out....but our grape tomato's look the best! I think because of the freezes and the fact that we did not want to use any type of fertilizer,and because i have a purple thumb our garden is not exactly flourishing but it is at least producing! But summer has hardly began...the garden still has lots of time! :)
I cant believe i am officially full term!! "full term" is considered anywhere between 37 weeks and 42 weeks...which basically means...any time in the next 5 weeks we WILL be meeting this little person!!!
Now its time for some fun, and a lot of participation from my readers....I have a lot of blog readers...i know i do...people tell me all the time that the keep up with the blog...but...unfortinally hardly anyone ever comments....well I'm challenging all you "non-commenting" readers to comment ;)
Its time to start a "comment poll"....i want to hear every ones guesses...leave a comment and tell me what your prediction is...
1. boy or girl?
2. birth date?
3. and if you want.... name?
cant wait to see who gets the closest!!!!!!
ps. if you do not have a blogger account, you can comment under "anonymous" just make sure to sign your name so we know who you are :)
Your baby is still packing on the pounds — at the rate of about an ounce a day. She now weighs almost 6 pounds (like a crenshaw melon) and is more than 18 1/2 inches long. She's shedding most of the downy covering of hair that covered her body as well as the vernix caseosa, the waxy substance that covered and protected her skin during her nine-month amniotic bath. Your baby swallows both of these substances, along with other secretions, resulting in a blackish mixture, called meconium, will form the contents of her first bowel movement.
At the end of this week, your baby will be considered full-term. (Full-term is 37 to 42 weeks; babies born before 37 weeks are pre-term and those born after 42 are post-term.) Most likely she's in a head-down position.
