Here is another little video of Payton! It may just be wishful thinking, but I swear she smiled at me... :)
She absolutely loves her bouncy vibrating chair! I love it too, it gives me the opportunity to do a couple things around the house. :)
Payton has a new cousin! Actually second cousin, Kyle's cousin AJ and his girlfriend Mindy had a beautiful baby girl yesterday. Melina Rose Hall, 6 pounds 12 ounces and 19.5 inches. Congratulations AJ and Mindy, and welcome Melina to the Hall family!
Kyle, Payton and I had a fun weekend in Gig Harbor visiting family and friends. We can't believe she is one month old already! Time has seriously flown, but it is so much fun.
Pretty cool setup we had in the "guest" bedroom!
I love this picture--so sweet!
Breakfast time with mommy!
Grandma gave me a bath!
Watching march madness with daddy
Aren't I pretty?
We saw the Casebolts on Saturday, and the Books on Sunday. It was great to see everybody!
It's a little early for her to use it, but great grandpa bought Payton a pink BB gun! :)
Which we were all highly entertained with... future boyfriends beware!
At her one week doctors appointment, Payton's pediatrician noticed a strawberry birthmark on the back of her head, about the size of a nickel. Chelsea had one as a baby too, in fact almost in the same spot. Some grow a lot and some barely at all, and they usually peak in growth at about 6 to 9 months, and are almost all gone by 9 years old. He said we'd keep an eye on it and see what happens, but we're obviously hoping it doesn't grow too much. We've also noticed another little mark by her left eye, which we thought at first was a scratch but since it has been there several weeks now, I'm starting to think it is another little birthmark, maybe a little angel kiss. :) You can see it in some of my pictures above...
Dorky picture of me and Chelsea I know! You can see her birthmark in this one... it really does look like a little strawberry!
Something really special happened to me this weekend. I ran some errands with my mom, and of course by the time I got back I was dying to see Payton. I rushed to the couch where she was laying on Kyle's chest, her head turned away from me, and started talking to her and the most magical thing happened... as soon as I started talking, she lifted her head up and turned around to look at where my voice was coming from! It absolutely melted my heart! She's started to follow people and objects around the room with her eyes too, which is amazing to watch.
The Halls :)
Next Saturday we're going to Albany, Kyle's aunt Pam is having an Easter celebration at her house and Kyle's cousins who live in Boise will be there, and they haven't met Payton yet. Other than that we're going to relax at home and recover from several weekends of travelling with a newborn!
Kyle, Payton and I went to Albany this weekend so family and friends who hadn't had the chance to meet her could see her... we'll be doing the same thing in Gig Harbor next weekend! It was a fun weekend showing off our baby girl. :)
Getting a bath at Grandma's house!
All done!
Meeting Kyle's good friend Alan (one of the groomsmen in our wedding) and his mom Shauna
Hanging with Papa Ron!
We went for a walk on Saturday...
I liked the vibrations!
It's hard to believe that Payton is almost a month old! I don't know where the time has gone, it's unbelievable how fast it's been flying. She's becoming more alert, which is fun, and Kyle and I can't wait until she recognizes our faces and smiles at us. I had a doctor's appoimtment last week, which went really well. She took the tape off, and my scar looks great; you can barely see it! I feel great too, I've been blessed to have such a good recovery. I have to go back in about 4 weeks to see her one more time, and then I'm done... it will be weird not to make regular trips to that office anymore!
Four years ago today, Kyle and I went on our first date! We went to Coldstone Creamery for some ice cream, because we were too poor to go out to dinner. :) In fact, Kyle later admitted that he paid for the ice cream by borrowing money from the March Madness bracket pool that he was running!
Back in the day! :)
So much has happened to us in just four years...
We had an amazing time in college!
Duck games...
Reenactments
Trips with friends!
Getting engaged :)
Graduation
Our wedding! :)
Buying a house
And the best part of all...
Welcoming our daughter!
I couldn't ask for a better husband, partner, or best friend. I've been so lucky that I've gotten to spend the last four years with him, and look forward to many more! :)
Hard to believe, but my beautiful daughter is already two weeks old. We're finally starting to settle into more of a routine, we don't even notice the sleep deprivation anymore! :) Actually we think she's a great sleeper for a newborn, she's been getting up about every 4 hours at night to eat. I usually take the middle of the night feeding, and then Kyle takes the early morning one while I sleep. It's worked out really well so far! Kyle's mom Sue came to stay with me for a couple days, which was so awesome, I loved having her here. She even took Payton for the night so Kyle and I got a FULL nights sleep; I can't tell you how amazing it felt!
Her little personality is really starting to show. For some reason she loves to scratch her face, so we keep mittens on her a lot of the time. She's a big sucker, and so introducing a pacifier to her has been a godsend. She does not like being naked (which Kyle and I are totally ok with!) so diaper changes and bath time are not her favorite. She's always happy afterwards though! :) She loves to be swaddled, even though she likes her arms up by her face. She gets the hiccups a lot, and although they don't seem to bother her, they bother Kyle and I because her little body contorts and it looks terrible!
Video of Payton with the hiccups... sorry it's kind of dark! I'm not sure how to turn it either, I'm a little technologically challenged...
This week was really hard for me. After visits with six different lactation consultants, pumping/feeding/supplementing around the clock, constant nipple pain that was worse than my labor at times (sorry if that's too much information) and Payton still losing too much weight, I had to accept the fact that breastfeeding was not working. Despite all my best efforts I'm still not even producing half of what she needs to gain weight, and that coupled with her tongue thrusting and chomping has made it nearly impossible. The only time she's ever gained weight has been when we've supplemented her with formula, and I can't bear to watch her cry in hunger anymore. This was one of the most devastating realizations I've ever made, I cried about it for days because I feel such immense mom guilt, and like I've failed her, even though it was a combination of both of us. I've been super emotional about it, and have a feeling it will take me a while to get over it... I'm still pumping a couple times a day when I feel full, and I'm so thankful that I can give that to her still, but she is now being mostly formula fed. It breaks my heart, but we had to do what's best for all of us; and a hungry upset baby and an exhausted emotional mom is not good for anyone. I'm hoping that maybe with my next baby it will work out better, and at least I will have a better idea of what to expect. Breastfeeding is such a personal decision, and not really one that I thought would matter to me so much, but it really does. I wanted so badly for her to get all the benefits of breastmilk, but am glad that she at least got all the colostrum, and any breastmilk I've been able to give her is better than none. I think sometimes it's hard to come to terms with the fact that my body wasn't able to do one of the things that it was designed for, but these things don't always go as planned. I told everyone that my birth plan was to not have a birth plan, but I lied when I said I didn't have any expectations. I assumed I would at least be able to have a vaginal birth, which ended up not being possible, and I assumed I would be able to breastfeed for as long as I wanted. When I wasn't able to do either, a part of me felt like I'd failed. I didn't anticipate how much I would intensely love this little person, and how much I want her to have the best of everything. I just keep telling myself that providing her with all the love I can and a stable loving household is important too, and these things will benefit her just as much, if not more. Thank you to everyone who has been so supportive throughout this process, one of my fears has been that people will think I did not try hard enough; please know that I tried my absolute best, and although I'm devastated it didn't work, at this point I'm trying not to beat myself up over it too much. It's taken me a couple days to even get to that point; I think sometimes our toughest critics are ourselves, and that was definitely true in my case. After losing 5 ounces of weight in 4 days, since she's been supplemented on formula she's steadily gained 2 ounces day; yesterday at her doctor's appointment she weighed 7 pounds 14 ounces, so although not quite back up to birth weight, she's definitely well on her way. I just hope she knows how MUCH I love her, and how I will always try to do right by her. Payton and her dad are my reasons for living. :)
Can you believe how much they change in just two weeks?!
We've officially been home from the hospital for a week, and I honestly don't know where the time has gone! The days all seem to run together, probably because we're doing the same thing over and over again, every couple hours... :)
Although super rewarding, it's been a trying week as well. I feel like breastfeeding has been one step forward, two steps back. When we went to the doctor's office she had begun gaining weight again and was well on her way to reaching her birth weight, but Kyle and I visited the lactation consultant today and her weight has gone down again, to what it was when we left the hospital. Turns out that we finally corrected her suck, but in the meantime my milk supply has dwindled. So, I'm back to pumping again after every feeding, and we're supplementing her feedings with breastmilk from a bottle. It's been an emotional couple days, I just wanted so badly for this to go smoothly. I have to keep reminding myself that it's not an uncommon problem, but it's hard when you feel like you can't supply your baby with what she needs. I know if I just keep at it it will get better, but it's an exhausting process. I feel lucky because Kyle is super supportive, and so are all our friends and family members... she (and I) are lucky to have you guys!
One thing that's been nice about being home is getting out of the house, even if just for a walk around the neighborhood for some fresh air. Kyle and I went to Target today, and I never thought an outing to Target would feel so special! :)
Out on her first walk!
Dad pushing the stroller
Tomorrow is Payton's due date, and it's weird to think that I could still be pregnant and that she wouldn't be here; it's already hard to imagine life without her.
We call this "the milk coma"
Hanging out with daddy!
If you're interested in viewing Payton's hospital photos, you can go to a website called www.our365.com. For some reason it won't find her by the family name, but if you search by hospital (Providence Portland Medical Center) and her birthdate, you'll be able to see them. My mom, excited grandma that she is, has already ordered a CD so we can burn copies for those of you who would like them. :)
My mom in law Sue is coming to stay with us for a couple days tomorrow, and I'm really excited! Kyle has school and class all day, so we'll get to have girl time... plus, someone excited to hold the baby means mom gets to take a nap! :) Hope you're all having a great week!
Hello from baby central! I started this blog two days ago, and I'm just now getting around to posting it... It's been a busy couple days, much more busy than I ever realized it would be. Everyone tells you that your world will revolve around eating, sleeping and pooping, and that is no exaggertaion!
Brand new!
Proud mommy and baby
Little angel
Probably one of the worst pictures ever taken of me lol... proud aunts and uncles!
Chillin in her bassinet
Becoming more alert everyday!
The moms!
All pinked out!
One of my favs...
So cute, I love this one! She's been loving her swing...
Payton had her first doctor's appointment today, and it went really well. Kyle and I really like the pediatrician we chose, and he said she looks great! When we were visited by the lactation consultant in the hospital, we discovered she wasn't really sucking when feeding; she was "chomping", which means she wasn't getting the milk she needed and it wasn't too pleasant for mom either... we didn't figure it out though until she was a couple days old, and as a result she lost 10% of her birth weight in the hospital. So we had to supplement a little bit with formula and I'm pumping after almost every feeding, but I think we're finally starting to get the hang of it! She's been gaining weight too, so the doctor was really pleased with that. It was a rough couple days, but I think we've finally turned a corner. I really wanted to be successful at breastfeeding, so I am so relieved and hope that it only gets better!
She's only been a part of our lives for six days, but we never thought we could love someone so much. She's already starting to show personality, which is so much fun. We call her "houdini" because although she loves being swaddled, she somehow magically is able to free her hands every time, no matter how tight it is! Her legs and arms are really strong, and can make changing a diaper really challenging. :) It's been a lot of work, but worth every second. My mom has been staying with me and has been the biggest help ever, I don't know how I would have gotten through this week without her!
I'll try and post more pics periodically when I have time! Time to nap...
She absolutely loves her bouncy vibrating chair! I love it too, it gives me the opportunity to do a couple things around the house. :)
