LINAYA JEAN PEACOCK

Born Tuesday, October 26, 2012 at 4:46 p.m. Weighed 7.1 Pounds and is 19 1/2 inches long. She is beautiful and perfect in every single way! We couldn't be happier to have this sweet angle in our family! 

Linaya Jean Peacock

 

Now for the birth story for those interested 

(But mostly for my own journal purposes)

Since she was due on the 30, and I tend to go to my due date, I scheduled an induction for 1 week early so that I could be home and enjoy Halloween with my family (mostly for Tianna and Adelia's sake)  Still, I had high hopes of going into labor on my own. After having my membranes stripped in the doc's office on the 17th I had mild contractions for days.  I was doing everything I could think of to kick off real labor, including rigorous walks, but I only could muster contractions that would be regularish for a few hours and then stop.  Unfortunately aside from the contractions, I was feeling REALLY really good.

Saturday night they were getting stronger and more frequent-- we went out to dinner in Provo at the Bombay House and seriously considered stopping at the hospital in Payson to get checked because they were getting stronger and were radiating from my back (which is a good indication of them becoming real contractions.)  In the end we decided to just go straight home and get the kids in bed and see what happens. And nothing did. They stopped right around 9 pm.

Sunday came and I woke up feeling exhausted. My back was really achey and I did not feel well.  Again, I thought maybe labor was beginning.  That night we went on a bumpy car ride and contractions started up again.  They were about every 7 minutes for an hour but then they were 10, then 15, then 20 minutes.  I gave up and went to bed.

Monday morning I made an appointment to get my membranes stripped again, get checked to see if any progress happened during the weekend, and see if I could still get labor going before my induction on Tuesday. 

Nope, I was still at 2 centimeters like I had been for 2 weeks. I was SO annoyed that all those contractions had done nothing.  I consigned to the fact that labor wasn't going to come on it's own. It was good though-- it made it so I could spend the rest of Monday making final preparations and my mom was able to come up to stay Monday night and be there for when we needed to leave for the hospital early in the morning.

 There is something calming about knowing exactly when it's going to happen instead of the "Is it time? Was that a contraction? How long did it last? How close are they now?" guessing game we had been playing or days.  

Heading out at 7:30 am

I got checked in around 8:15 am and by 9:30 they started the pitocin. It started out on a low dose and they gradually increased it... before long the nurse came in to turn it back down because my contractions were coming too close.  Pain was still pretty manageable by this time but they asked if I wanted my epidural before my water was broken. 

I really wanted to see if I could do it without an epidural this time.  I wasn't opposed to getting one, but I really wanted to try because both of the other times I just got one when it became painful at all. 

 My doctor came to break my water at 12:00.  I was still only at a 3 but her head was down from a -1 station to a plus 2.  (5 is when baby is out)

It didn't take long before the contractions got harder and harder.  I tried to just concentrate and breath through each one--and squeeze my dear Hubby's hand. 

Around 1:30 pm I was in a lot of pain but still tried to hold out.  During each contraction I would decide it was time for the epidural but as soon as it would subside I would change my mind. I was told the girl in the room next door was about to get her epidural and I could have mine after if I wanted one. First, I wanted to see how much I had progressed.  Figuring I was at least a 6 by now, I couldn't believe I was still only at a 4! Maybe I couldn't do it after all..... 

Another hour went by and I could hardly stand the pain by now. The Pitocin was not very high anymore but my contractions were one on top of the other.  I finally gave Luke the go-ahead to tell them I was ready for the epidural.  

I was only at 5 centimeters now.  

By the time the anesthesiologist came in at 3:00 pm, I WAS SO DONE.  They laid my bed down flat and had me lay on my side.  I just started bawling through each contraction-- actually it seemed more like just 1 big contraction by this point.  

I've never been laying down for an epidural before.  I always forget how much it hurts getting the epidural in.  Soon he told me, "okay you will feel a little electrical jolt feeling."  I felt the shock and immediately I felt a warm wave from my rib cage run down to my toes.  In a matter of minutes he was done and I just felt all warm and tingly.  He wanted me to roll over. I could not move a muscle.

I said, "Wow, I've never been this numb before." He said, "When I came in I could see you were just done.  So I gave you a really strong dose."  It will get lighter as time goes on. 

It felt so good to have some relief from those agonizing contractions... but now I just felt weird.  The numbness almost made it hard to breathe and I was feeling quite nauseated.  The nurse said my blood pressure was getting really low and that is why I was feeling so sick.  She gave me some Fentenyl which helped raise my blood pressure.  

Also she said I was probably progressing very quickly now and that was a big reason for it.  She checked me-- I was a 7.  

A few more minutes with blood pressure dropping, more nausea, more Fentenyl, and then the baby's heart rate started to drop.  I was put on oxygen to help her heart rate.  

And then I started to vomit.  Apparently I had a lot more ice chips water in me than expected because I used 2 of those blue vomit catcher bags.  

Now I was between an 8 and a 9.  

After throwing up I felt better and my blood pressure was stable but the baby's heart rate was not staying up so I just had to keep on the oxygen. 

They let me relax for a little bit and had me just let them know when I felt pressure.  I was regaining a lot more feeling by now and although the pain of the contractions was nearly undetectable I could feel a little pressure and could move my legs more.  Perfect :) 

By 4:00 I was at a 9 and they called the doctor and told him to come over (next door) once his current patient was finished.  

Around 4:30 everyone was prepping to get this baby here. I was fully dilated but still had a little "lip" of cervix.  Since this was my 3rd baby AND mostly because "this baby doesn't like labor" as her heart rate was still struggling to stay up, they decided to just get me pushing.

I pushed through 1 contraction by pushing for 3, ten second pushes.  Then the doctor said the baby slipped right into the perfect position.  

Next contraction I was told to push for 10 seconds and then stop.  He asked if I could see her.  I was trying to see over my belly but couldn't see whatever he was trying to show me. 

He said, okay give a push and then you'll see.

About 5 seconds later our little angle slid out into his hands and he placed her up on top of me.  

At first sight I just started to cry with joy.  The doctor told us to wipe her off but I mostly just let Luke because I was crying too much. 

 It really is such a beautiful, beyond description, experience to see your child for the first time.  

We only got to have her for a few moments though-- she was a blue cast from her oxygen being low for such a long time. They whisked her off to the cart nearby and quickly she pinked right up.  

Meanwhile, I delivered the after birth and for the first time, the doctor showed me the placenta.  I also had a student nurse assisting so I got a real good look at it as he showed her all the workings of it.  It was quite interesting.  But something even more interesting was right behind me getting measured for the first time.

Everyone was shouting out their guesses for her weight.  Since she looked smaller to me than my other babies, I guessed 7 lbs 3 oz.  I was pretty darn close-- she was 7 lbs and 0.8 oz (round up to 7.1)  She was the same length as Adelia and 6 oz smaller.  Tianna was 21 inches and 8 lbs 5.5 oz.  

The older girls were just beyond the drawn curtain.  I could hear them begging to come in.  Once Linaya was wrapped up, Luke moved the curtain over enough to not show them inside the room, but showed them their new baby sister. 

Then brought her over to me.

 Dr. Cameron Anderson (anyone looking for an OB in the Payson area-- he has my recommendation 100%)

My mom told us that when Adelia said the prayer on their food Adelia asked that her new baby sister wouldn't have blood on her face anymore)

It was a good day all in all. I probably wouldn't have said so around 2:30-3:30, but before and after... not a bad way to spend a BIRTH DAY.

Welcome to the world you wonderful little person! 

We love you so so much and are glad you are ours! 

Hunts and Halloween Parties

Tianna's school Fall Break worked out perfectly to coincide with Luke's elk hunt.  We left for Scofield Wednesday night until Sunday.

Around 4:00 pm on Thursday Luke GOT HIS COW! James called down to him on the radio and said some elk were headed his way. Then there was a BOOM and Luke said, "Got it."  1 shot in the neck and she was down.  Yay for Luke! Yay for elk meat! and YAY...... now I could have this baby and it wouldn't interrupt the hunt.

Friday we had Jason, Joy and their girls come up to hang out while the hunting party was out. It was so fun to have them come.  It was a little bit of a bummer to have to leave while they were there.......but it was not a bummer to go where we were going.  We drove down to Orangeville for the evening to attend

THE 2nd ANNUAL GRANDPA AND GRANDMA PEACOCK PUMPKIN PICKING PARTY

This year the girls are, again, some form of Princess.  (Luke says next year they HAVE to be something else. haha) 

Meet Barbie's Princess and the Pauper

Tianna is Princess Annalese and Adelia is Erika the Pauper

 This scary lady was the hostess with the Mostess

Her costume was so great the girl's didn't even recognize their own Great Grandma Peacock

 When Grandpa looks Adelia doesn't. When she does, he doesn't. Go figure. 

 There were crafts, games, treats, and cousin-fun!

It was so much fun. Thanks for the awesome party Grandpa and Grandma. 

And thank you to the rain that brought the hunters in early so Luke could go down with me!

Yesterday the 17th, we attended another Halloween Party with Luke's co-workers and their families.  Dressing up was "optional" and everyone BUT us chose the opt out option.  Luke would have PREFERRED it but thankfully he is willing to humor his dress up loving wife. 

The kids were dressed just as they were for the Peacock's party. 

Long John Peacock and the Preggo Pirate

The party was awesome. We had delicious soup and treats and carved pumpkins.

Thanks Stubbs for being fantastic hosts! 

Elk Hunts, Fall Leaf Hunts, and General Conference

On September 29th, Luke went on a pre-elk hunt scout trip in Scofield.  I had to stay home for a Primary Program practice but later the girls and I were anxious for something to do. (I decided I hate when Luke is gone on a Saturday. It makes it feel like a week day... but worse because I KNOW it's not and I want to be together. Yes, I am selfish like that.)

We decided to drive up Payson Canyon and hike up to The Grotto. I could NOT believe the beauty of the leaves. I had never seen so many red trees together in all my life! 

We decided Daddy HAD to come back up there with us. 

3 Days later for FHE we drove back up the canyon to hike all together. 

It was amazing how many less leaves there were! It wasn't nearly as brilliant as before, but it was still gorgeous and we had a fun little family outing!

Dinner!

Last weekend we had General Conference and went to Scofield.  It also was the opening of the elk hunt.  Luke, his parents, my dad, and a family friend all had cow tags. My 2 brothers, our brother in law, and another friend all had spike tags.  It was quite the hunting crew! 

The rest of us got to relax and enjoy listening to Conference back at the cabin.  I love the refreshing spiritual feast Conference always is. It helps me get out of my apathetic stupor and realign what is most important.  It is such a blessing to be taught by the true servants of God. 

It was especially neat to be watching while such a huge change to the missionary program took place. Now Elders can leave at 18 instead of 19 and Sisters can leave at 19 instead of 21. I was covered in goose bumps. This is just a further testament that the work needs to progress even faster than ever. 

It was very powerful when Elder Cook spoke about the need to raise our own standards in our homes to help prepare these future missionaries.  Tianna was thrilled to hear she can leave on a mission even sooner because she always says to me that 21 is too far away! I love that she wants to serve a mission--  I honestly never had that desire, even when I was 6.  I am proud of her for wanting that.  We as her parents need to work even harder to prepare our children because before we know it, they will be old enough to go. It's a daunting thought though. 

I loved so many of the other talks too, but the one that stands out most to me right now is Elder Hollands powerful talk on "Do you love me?"   Just as Christ asked this question of his disciple Peter, he will surely ask us this question at the day of judgement.  

It was very powerful to me. I know there is so much more I need to be doing. 

A few other gems from the weekend. 

Adelia fell asleep on my parents bed while holding hands with Uncle James. So precious!

Between Sunday's session my awesome sister took a few pictures for us in the pretty fall leaves. Adelia is only 9 months old and Tianna is only 3 in their personal pictures on our living room wall. It is past time for some updated ones since now Adelia is 3 and Tianna is 6! While we were at it I wanted a good old Maternity style family picture and one of the girls with my huge belly. They turned out so great! I can't wait to show them off :)

 We loved being able to spend time with both sides of our families at once! It really was a wonderful weekend in a beautiful, relaxing place. 

Now, can't wait until Wednesday night to go right on back to the cabin. Luke has 2 days off for the hunt and it just so happens to be Tianna's school fall break. 

WIN-WIN!

Pets and Projects

Here are some random pictures of our crazy pets (and yes, the kids count too)

 The girls torture the poor cat. They can't walk by him without picking him up and he hates it! But hey, what's a pet for if not to dress up, harass, and or treat like a baby doll?  Sorry Willy, get use to it.

I heard a strange scratching sound coming from the window. Wondering if it was a bird or something I opened up the blinds and found Spidey Cat.  Copper was so confused.

Did I mention dressing up the pets?  Luke always gets mad when the kids put pink tutu's and stuff on Copper... but he can't complain if it's a blue sweatshirt then right? 

(actually Mom did it this time) he was so cold he wouldn't get out of his bed. I saw the sweatshirt and thought he should try it on for size :)

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I've been trying to finish up some projects before the baby comes....... 

When Tianna turned 2 I turned her crib blanket into a twin sized quilt for her big girl bed.

It ended up costing so much for the fabric and then being a HUGE undertaking for my non-sewing self.   So when it came time to buy a crib set for Adelia I found one I could utilize the pieces for the quilt materials some day.

She hasn't slept in her crib for about 18 months now, but I still haven't made her crib-blanket-turned-big-girl-quilt  because she sleeps in our full-sized "guest bed." I don't even know when she will get her own sized bed.. but I needed to get this project off my mind.

(and yes, it felt ridiculous to be ruining 1 baby bedding set just so I can have another baby girl who will need one. But I started this tradition, I gotta stick to it, right?)

As I sat down trying to figure out how to go about turning the crib set into a twin-size quilt

(this is both Tianna's transformed crib blanket and Adelia's crib set)

Genius struck!
If only I could find 1 more blanket, I could just sew the bumpers on and be done with it! Easy peasey!!
............... or so I thought. First I had to find another crib blanket off the Internet from an out of production crib set. Finally tracked one down, paid more than I wanted to (but far less that the material would have)
And then...as it turns out, it's quite difficult to sew a quilt and bumpers together. It's VERY thick. I broke so many sewing machine needles!

3rd problem-- the bumpers were just a bit too short on each side.  Luckily I found the missing valence (curtain thingy) and revamped it into the extra piece. I was going to use the sheet and make something up-- this turned out much better!

In the picture it doesn't even look straight, but that is because it wasn't sewed together yet-- it does look better now.

After more than a month of staring at it and avoiding it......... I finally finished this project during General Conference weekend.  It wasn't really that hard (besides the thickness and broken needles) but I just couldn't stay focused on it.  I'm glad it done though--------- for whenever we can get her into a normal twin sized bed.
And when we know what her bed is actually like, I might add the dust ruffle to the edges to make it wider (and cuter!) but for now. I'm DONE! yipppeeeeeeeeeee!

While avoiding my quilt project, I took some time last week to paint this cute Halloween decoration.  I bought it 2 summers ago at a yard sale and since we were just moving in during Halloween last year, it didn't get painted.  You can't tell but there are little glittery accents on the pumpkin and moon. 

Now that I've finished the quilt, decorated the house for fall, and gotten all the newborn stuff ready, I guess now it's just wait for baby time.