The Baptism

We had Thatcher's Baptism Sunday August 14.  It was a lovely service, that to be honest I hardly remember. I was so busy trying to keep him from fussing that I missed most of it until Father Owensby was reaching out for him.  He of course cried when the water was poured on his head, but for the most part he was an angel... until we sat down again.  After that I spent the rest of church in the bridal room nursing him, and then Aunt KK took him outside for some fresh air. 

After the service we all headed to our house for a little celebration, most of which he slept or ate through.  It was a really nice party, and I think the food and decorations turned out perfect.  I am obsessed with the idea my mom came up with for the chandelier (see photos), those are my family's baby cups, spoons, and rattles.  Also, the flowers were amazing, thanks also to my mom... see I wasn't going to do anything for flowers, but she was right we needed them, so at the last minute she found someone to do them (we could have tried to do them ourselves, but decided paying was better than stressing).  I am so happy she kept pushing me to do it the way I really wanted... silver and china and all.  This really is the only time (with a boy) I can throw the sweet little party I want.  I was this close to just picking up some take out type food and using paper and plastic.

With Our sweet baby boy, wish i had a close up of his gown, it is beautiful, had it made by Embroidered Heirlooms, and it was exactly what i had been looking for.

With his Godmother,Virginia, and Godfather, Kyle.

 

Also another close up I wish I had, the picture in the frame is actually a pencil drawing done by my sister of Thatcher.  It is taken from the picture we sent out with his birth announcements.  She is so talented!

Close up of the flowers, and the items we hung from the chandelier.

TJP's Second Month

 Thatcher's first smile... well the first on we caught on camera.

 He loves the outdoors, we spend almost every evening rocking on the front porch, this night we got together with some of our neighbors and rocked on the side walk while the big kids played in the baby pool and bouncy.  Ross was nice enough to make some yummy pina coladas that helped the adults cool off.

Thatcher meets the Michaud's!  Just a few of the many who love him.

He loves his bath now that we moved him out of the sink for bath time...

Awe, his first friends came to visit... not sure what they think of each other. 

What a wonderful month it was!!  He started sleeping through the night and cooing up a storm.  It gets more fun each day!  I just can't believe how fast time flies!!

TJP's First Month

To try an catch up here are some pictures from Thatcher's first month!

 First family photo...

First day at home... 

Thatcher meeting his godmother, Virginia...

I am 1 month old!!!

Fourth of July at the Lake...

First time in the pool...  Slept the whole time...

The first month was filled with crazy sleepless nights, but every moment was so worth it.  I should have written this during the first month, I guarantee my tone would not have been so chipper, but its all already becoming a blur. 

Looking back at these photos I can't believe how big he is now.. I promise another post coming soon of months 2 & 3!

TJP's Surgery

So like I said in the birth post, we had a minor bump in the road when TJP was almost two weeks old.  He started spitting up sometime during his first week of life.  It was nothing out of the ordinary, but by Monday June 6, he was spitting up more and more.  We still just figured it was normal, but by Wednesday I knew something was not right.  He was constantly throwing up, every 20 minutes, and more.  by the time Kevin got home I had already spoken with the doctor and we had an appointment for the next day, but then it got worse.
He just looked sick, and I could tell he was miserable.  The spit up turned to vomit, and so i called the doctor again.  The nurse on call had me give him 1/2 an ounce of pedialyte every 20 minutes, and she told me if he couldn't keep that down then we had to go to the ER.  I was a mess, I just felt so bad that my sweet baby was so sick.  I couldn't stop crying (I am sure the post-birth hormones weren't helping). 
So he wasn't able to keep the pedialyte down, and so we headed to ER.  I am so glad my mom had called to check on us, and was at the house when we had to make the call to go.  At the ER I was still thinking he must have a stomach bug, until the doctor starting focusing on that he was a first born male.  I just knew it was something else. 
So we had an ultrasound done, and it showed a borderline diagnosis for Pyloric Stenosis.  I would try to write out what that is, but it would be easier to describe if you click here.
We left the ER with an appointment with a pediatric surgeon at 9:00 am the next morning at Sutton Children's Hospital.  At the appointment we were admitted in the hospital and TJP immediately received fluids because he was so dehydrated.  They did another ultrasound Friday morning and confirmed that it was Pyloric Stenosis.  He had surgery at noon that same day, and was awake and out of recovery by about 2:00.  We spent 2 nights in the PICU, and were finally discharged on Sunday afternoon. 
I am pleased to report that he is doing extremely well!  He still spits up, but we have been assured its just regular reflux, and now it is just a laundry problem, and not a medical problem!

So my thoughts after this ordeal:
I went through mommy boot camp, and I feel much more assured in my capabilities as a mom.  Also, I learned to trust my instincts, I knew something was wrong, even when others kept saying it was normal.  Also, that even mommies need their mommies!  Thank heaven for mine!  She kept me as calm as possible, and was just wonderful through out the entire ordeal.  As was Kevin's mom. This little boy is VERY loved.

Getting fluids...

Waiting to go to Surgery...

Such a brave boy, awake after surgery and so alert...

Finally getting some milk again, after 3 days!!!

It's a Boy!!!

I haven't updated this in a while, and well that is because I have been a tad busy with my baby BOY!!!  Thatcher was born on May 26, 2011 at 2:10 pm.  He weighed 7 lbs 9 oz and was 20 inches long, and is the cutest baby I have ever seen!  I am so in love.... see for yourself, here he is the day he was born.

I can't believe he is almost a month old.  I really meant to update sooner, but we had a little bump in the road when he hit two weeks old,(more about that later) and I am just now getting back into a "little" routine.  I say little because it is very hard to have a routine with a newborn.

So first things first, The Birth:

We checked into the hospital at a little before 5:00 am on Thursday, May 26.  We got to our room and I got hooked up to some IVs and started answering a ton of questions while Kevin went back to the house because I forgot my pillows.  So glad he went back for them, it made me so much more comfortable during the labor and delivery.

At around 5:15 the nurse started the Pitocin, and we were on our way.

 I labored until they broke my water at 7:20 with no change since what I was when I came in, 2 cm and 70% effaced.  The contractions really started to pick up at this point and I asked for pain meds at 8:15, but the baby was still high and I had not dilated anymore so they wanted to wait on the epi, so I received Stadol (sp?) and Phengren and I immediately felt some relief, but not for long.
 After sleeping for an hour or so I woke up to some intense pain.  The nurse called and the doctor let me get my epi, boy was that AWESOME!  I fell asleep for a bit and Kevin went to grab a cup of coffee and I awoke to 5-6 nurses around me putting oxygen on me and having me turn over, because baby's heart rate was seriously low.  They put an internal monitor in and they still couldn't get a good read.  I am actually glad I was a little out of it because I didn't realize how worried everyone was.  I think they may have been thinking of a c-section at this point, and then his heart rate picked back up.  They said it was because I went from 2cm to 5cm and 100% effaced in a very short period and he just didn't handle it well.  I am pretty sure they turned the pitocin down at this point, but as I said I was a little out of it and Kevin was getting coffee..poor guy felt so bad when he got back...He promised never to go get coffee again! 
Pretty much smooth sailing from there, by noon I was 9 cm!  and 20 minutes later I was complete.  I started pushing at 12:40 and at 2:10 baby Thatcher James Payne arrived.  Hearing "its a boy" was an amazing moment!  He was put on my chest immediately and didn't leave our room until late last night for his first bath. 

Here we are, happy family!

Nursery is complete!

Our little one's nursery is finally complete, and I am so pleased with the turn out.  We will add some more items once Baby makes his or her arrival, so that we can have a few gender specific items.
I have to give a huge thanks to everyone who helped it come together.  My mom, who purchased the changing table, and had it painted and complete right on time, and also gave me the idea for the nursery rhyme prints!  My sis, Melody, who hung up the baby clothes, and helped me decide where to put everything.  My sis, Kelsey, who gave me the adorable Geaux Tigers picture (especially since she roots for the VOLS).  Mostly though, Kevin, who has been sooooooo patient when I wanted to move things, while hanging pictures, and with all my obsessing making sure it is perfect!

Here are some pictures, hope you enjoy!

View from the door:

Changing table is an old side board found at an estate sale and painted:

Geaux Tigers!!  My old stuffed bunny rabbit, and baby's coming home outfit.

Bookshelf made from old doors.  I found it at a sale when a local store closed, they used it for display.

Artwork made from pages of a 1950s nursery rhyme book.  Cost $1 at a garage sale, just had them framed in ready made frames from Michael's.

Close up of crib, Bratt Decor Park Avenue crib, bedding is custom done by Ve at Louise's Fashions.  I fell in love with the Blue fabric and found the yellow to add some more color.

Glider and picture frame from Medina, pillow and table skirt also by Ve.  Two giraffe prints from mom, table from an estate sale, and lamp from Target.

Little duck toy was mine when I was little!

Closets by Closets in order, this was just a big empty space.  I love that everything will have a place.

Meet Dixie the Giraffe, Kevin insisted we get a big giraffe, this one is Melissa & Doug, found on Amazon.com

And finally a little peak at my growing cloth diaper stash!

34 weeks and a trip to NOLA

We just got back from a long weekend in New Orleans, and it was wonderful!  We arrived on Friday, and after resting a while from the drive, which was not too bad, but not fun this pregnant, we met up with friends for dinner.  We went to August , one of John Besh's restaurants, and it was amazing.  The food was so yummy!  After the long day I went to bed exhausted, and Kevin met up with friends for a while in the Quarter.
Saturday Kevin and I had some room service, and then we headed out to Magazine Street for some serious baby shopping.  We hit up Zuka Baby for some cloth diapers.  It was great to finally be able to shop for these in a store rather than online.  We found some great ones to complete our stash, and found a really cute wet bag.  The girls in the store were super nice and helpful, if you are ever down there, definitely pop in!
After that we went to Baby Bump Maternity  and bought a few more maternity clothes.  I swore I would not purchase any more, but I really underestimated how big I would get.  I finally bought some shorts, I am so glad I did because it is getting HOT here!  I bought 2 more casual dresses and one more dressy dress.  Between friends' baby showers, another party for us, and Easter I will get use out of these for sure, plus two of them will be great for after baby.  The service here was wonderful as well, and everything there was super cute.
We then stopped for lunch, and then did a little window shopping before heading back to Hotel Monteleone for some rest before the main event of our trip... Anna and Scott's wedding.  What a fun wedding!!  Outside in a pretty courtyard with candles all around.  Anna was beautiful,  and it was such a happy occasion.   They had a great band, and I wish I could have stayed till the very end, but I needed to get back and put my feet up!  My feet looked like sausages stuffed into super tiny heels. 
Sunday I woke up feeling refreshed, and we met the Picous and the Mileys across the street at Mr. B's for a wonderful brunch.  I was so excited they were able to drive over and see us.  Its kind of sad, and crazy that this was the last time we will all be able to do this so easily as next time we all see each other there will be 3 more little ones!
After brunch we walked over to Jackson Square to watch Ken finish the Half Ironman.  We spent the rest of the day at Pat O's and then hanging around Ken and Karen's condo before heading to Port of Call for the best cheeseburger ever!
We spent this morning eating beignets and strolling down Royal where we picked up some art work for the house.  We stopped in Baton Rouge for lunch at Sammy's and then finally headed home. 
I am so glad we made this trip, this was the last time we will really be able to just up and go somewhere for a long time! 
Some pics from the trip:

Leigh, Me & Lauren

Kevin, Joseph & Sutton

Me at 34 weeks in front of St. Louis Cathedral