It's birthday time again! My little sweetie is 2. Bear with my reminiscent post, lol

Oh, my precious little crumbcake is 2 years old... and before I go into the festivities, I need to reminisce about her birth.


Sweet Payton Jayne was due on April 30th. Because Morgan was breech and had to be delivered via Cesarean, Payton was scheduled for a Cesarean delivery too, because the hospital in our little town doesn't do V-BAC's. This was actually fine by me because I have a high pain tolerance and Morgan's delivery was a breeze. I barely took any pain meds and healed quickly.


On March 29, 2006, my sister-in-law was in town and so we were at Steve's parent's house, because it was my neice Mallory's.... 11th? birthday. We did a little game about guessing the name, sex of the baby, delivery date, etc. As with Morgan, we didn't know who our little bun was... but I thought, yet again, that I was carrying a boy.


Early in the AM of March 30 Morgan woke up in the middle of the night and I got in bed with her to get her back to sleep. At the time we had already set up bunkbeds in her room, and because I was @9 months pregnant and against the wall, I couldn't get out without fear of waking her, so I just stayed there the rest of the night, lol. I was trapped! Steve was on shift that day, so when he left for work he eventually found me and pressed a kiss to my calf and left for the firestation.


After we got up and our day began.... sorry if this is TMI.... but I lost my mucus plug. eek. With Morgan I never went into natural labor so I wasn't sure if that's what happened, and I had no idea what it meant if it had happened, so I googled it. Yes I did. And I emailed a few people. Yes I did. From my googling I saw that you could lose it a few weeks before delivery so I figured I was fine.


Shortly thereafter I started getting a little crampy. And irritable. And then I started wetting my pants. I didn't think my water broke because after I wet my pants I'd be able to go and actually pee and then make it stop, and from what I understood, when your water broke you couldn't make it stop. This happened a few times, and after a few jammie changes, I started getting worried. Still in denial about the thought of actually being in labor, but worried... and irritated about the wardrobe changes.


I figured I should probably go to the doctor's office and get checked out, so I decided I'd probably better take a shower and shave my legs, lol. At 2, Morgan liked to take showers with me, so she was in there while I was ungracefully trying to shave my legs over a big belly, all the time cramping a little, peeing a little, LOL. I had called the doctor's office and the nurse I was talking to wasn't sure I was in labor, but said I should come in so that they could be sure the fluid wasn't amniotic fluid.


I called my sister and asked her to come over while I popped into the doctor's office. It would be easier if I didn't take Morgan with me. After she got there, I called Steve to get his thoughts. He asked if I wanted him to get a replacement and leave work. I said no. I really didn't think I was in labor! I was 35 and 6/7 weeks pregnant, and my baby was scheduled for a Cesarean delivery on April 18. Family was already coming in from out of town that date.


After peeing again, changing again, LOL.... I grabbed a panty liner and headed to the doctor's office. Seriously. I didn't have anything else! Nothing happened while in the car, so I thought I was fine. I walked into the doctor's office, walked up to the receptionist to give her my name.... and my water broke all over the place. It gushed down my windbreaker pant legs and I just looked down in disbelief, and then looked up with owl eyes to let her know. lol

I was quickly ushered into the office where it was confirmed that my water did break and I was going to have a baby that day. It was March 30. It was a month early. I was 35 weeks and 6/7 days pregnant. My cell phone wouldn't work in the office so I borrowed the nurse's cell to phone Steve, who, fortunately, was NOT in denial and had already scheduled to have someone replace him. He was ready to go.

The hospital was across the street from my OB's office, but they wouldn't let me walk there. I had to get back into my soggy windbreaker pants, and sit in a wheel chair while the nurse zipped me across the street, lol. By the time I was in a room and getting all my vitals taken, Steve had arrived.

My mind was ALL over the place at this point. I didn't bring a single thing with me. Morgan and I hadn't gone out to lunch... I hadn't purchased her a special big sister dollie or told her how much I loved her and how excited I was to give her a sibling, etc. She didn't even know what was going on. And here I was going to have a baby. Today. And she was going to spend the night away from me for the first time. Ever. I was a mess. My family wasn't in town. My sister was going to fly down. Speaking of the sister.... I had posted on my blog about my mucus plug, etc., and she and my mom were already scrambling together to head down when they didn't hear anything more from me. But with Morgan, Alyca had been unable to be in the room with us during delivery, and I had wanted her there to take pictures, etc. We had already scheduled to allow her in the delivery room this time. And she was in Seattle. And I was getting ready to have a baby in Central Oregon, 6 hours away.

My stress level was UP. Way Up. And the contractions were starting to really hurt. And because I was so stressed and unprepared I was not relaxed at all, so it was making it worse. I was expecting another scheduled Cesarean. I was unprepared to work through any kind of labor pains.

I was also in a hurry. The baby's vitals were such that a Cesarean needed to happen rather quickly. And then there was talk of having me transported to Bend, because since I wasn't 36 weeks they wanted me closer to the NICU for the baby, etc. But labor was progressing quickly enough where any talks of transport, VBAC's, etc., were not an option. This baby needed to come via Cesarean anyway.

At one point Steve thought he was being cheeky, and leaned over and said "This is where you tell me you hate me and it's all my fault." I can honestly say that I actually felt that exact emotion right then. I am a very controlling person, and this was NOT the plan. My glare pretty much nailed him to the floor and he didn't do that again, lol.

When Morgan was born Steve didn't watch it at all. He didn't like seeing his SWEET little wife (lol) with her belly open. But he watched this time. And when our baby came out, it was Steve who said "It's a girl, It's Payton!" to let me know who had joined our family.

Payton was 7 pounds 11 ounces and 20 inches long. Seems like a full term baby size to me. But she WAS preemie. She had vernix all over her, which is a sign, she slept the first month, which is another sign. At first I was thinking the dates must have been VERY wrong. Nope. She's an independent girl, and her first act as the little sassy thing she is now was to make daddy have to return the April charm he got for my charm bracelet, lol. For she was a March baby, just like him. There was a moment where she almost headed to Bend and the NICU without me because her sugar levels, I think, were really low, but a determined nurse worked with her for a bit and gave her two doses of what she needed, and my strong girl got to stay with me.

It was a surprising, amazing experience. I got to experience labor! I never thought I'd get to experience any part of the labor process. And fortunately, this time was just as easy as the last with regards to pain and healing.

So that was then. 2 years ago. My baby. And now she's two. And if you are still reading you can continue and see what I did for her birthday party. :)