Peavler Family

Happy Mother's Day Mommy & Happy Birthday Daddy

2009-05-16T20:45:00.003-04:00

Sunday May 10th was Mother's Day of course and Monday May 11th was Jarrett's 25th birthday. We exchanged presents for both on Sunday morning. It was so exciting to have my first mother's day :)

2 month shots

2009-05-10T22:07:00.003-04:00

We went for Abigail's 2 month shots on April 29th. She was 13lbs 1oz, 23 1/2 inches long and in th 95th percentile. The Dr. said everything looked perfect! She did have an ear infection in the right ear. We had no idea! She had not been fussy or anything to let us know anything was wrong. He said it wasn't bad so I guess that's why she hadn't let us know yet. Thanks goodness we went to the dr. when we did. She had been showing signs of allergies...just like Jarrett and I but he said not to worry about that, they will work themselves out. He was right, so far they have.
I know I've been lacking on the pictures for everyone...I need to do better...sorry :(

7 wks

2009-04-16T14:25:00.002-04:00

Abigail is 7 wks old now and growing like a weed. She has changed so much. She's getting in a routine and on a good schedule now. She sleeps 5-6hrs during the night, only getting up once...which is good for us :) She notices our voices of course and recognizes us from different people when she sees us. When she is sleepy, she has started rubbing her eyes with her little hands, which is so precious! She holds her head up but she has done that since the first day in the hospital...she has only gotten stronger with it. She started smiling at about 5 1/2 weeks. Its so fun to watch her. She enjoys tummy time...being on her tummy makes her really happy. I won't let her sleep like that unless its during nap time and she is right beside me. I just don't trust it. I am waiting until she can roll over, which is what the dr advises. Some ppl go ahead with tummy sleeping this early, but I just can't bring myself to do it in her crib during the night. Jarrett is doing well with night shift. It took him a while to be able to wake up without me yelling in his ear or pushing him, ha. I can laugh now that we are past it. In all honestly it drove me crazy for a while. He has been able to bond with her more that we got her tummy troubles fixed and with her smiling and recognizing us. He can enjoy her more. There for a while I think he thought a baby was supposed to just cry and all the time and never sleep, ha. (of course when they don't feel good:)) Me...I'm dreading going back to work and not spending as much time with her everyday. I suppose all new mothers go through this. Just by the time I think I'm getting the hang of things...I have to leave her for work. yuck! Life...what ya gonna do!?! I think thats about it on the updates...in general anyway. Enjoy the pic of Abigail and her aunt Shawna...this was 6.5 wks.

Lunch and playdate

2009-04-04T12:31:00.003-04:00

We had our first lunch date with Amanda and Claire when Abigail was 1 month and 2 days old. We went to Cracker Barrell (yum!) and then went back to the house to hang out. I call it a playdate, even though Claire did all of the playing...Abigail just ate and hung out with Aunt Amanda :) It was still fun and there will be many more to come!

Big 1 (month) pics

2009-04-04T12:08:00.003-04:00

5 weeks

2009-04-02T22:12:00.002-04:00

So Abigail turned 5 weeks yesterday and in some ways it feels like it has flown by and others it feels like it has been creeping by. Many ups and downs but overall very good :) I do have pictures to post but I am being lazy right now. I will be posting them soon, I hope. Last week Abigail and I ventured out on our own to a lunch date. I was very pround of myself :) This week we've had another lunch date, visited my family in perryville and ran errands (even wally world.) I'm feeling very confident in traveling and going out on my own. My major obstacle was carrying the car seat without it hurting my back. I've had constant pain in my back from the spinal. Some days are good, some are bad. Certain things trigger it such as bending over to pick something up or carrying her carseat. Overall I am taking it easy...I just hate worrying about if something is going to cause me pain. Anyway, small steps. I am happy to say that Abigail's Nana (Jarrett's mom) will be keeping her when I go back to work. She will keep her 3-4 days a week and the other day(s) she will go to the daycare 5 minutes from our house.

2009-03-26T12:37:00.002-04:00

These pics are 6 (bottom)and 9 days old (top). When we went for the 2 week check up she was 9lbs 3oz and 20 3/4 inches long. We went back the next week for another weight check and she was 9lbs 11oz. She goes April 29th for her 2 month shots :(

Reflections

2009-03-26T12:12:00.002-04:00

So, I've been thinking/pondering/studying/reflecting the last year of my life and all the changes that have taken place trying to grasp it all really. I've come to a few conclusions of my own and thought I would share. I've realized that when people say "you have to experience it to understand," they really mean it when speaking of pregnancy, delivery, recovery and adjustment to motherhood. Words can not explain, help you understand nor prepare you for it. I even thought reading Jenny McCarthy's book, which is very detailed and graphic, was going to help me...and it did to an extent. Friend's and family's personal stories helped to an extent as well but experience is everything. No offense to anyone who offered advice but I've decided that you all lie by omission. Sorry, but its true :) I will be guilty of it as well when I pass on advice. I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that we really do forget how miserable and painful it all is after recovering and we have the precious baby. OR maybe its the whole, "everyone is different," answer that you get alllllllll the time from doctors...which really annoyed me by the way. I've definitely had many ah-ha moments and I'm sure I will continue to do so. Right now I'm still trying to figure out how to care for a baby and live my normal life. lol, by "normal" i mean working, friends and family. Clearly, I have a new normal now and need to let the old normal go...see...I'm still adjusting :) It will come in time...

So Fresh n so Clean

2009-03-26T11:45:00.006-04:00

The first bath was fun :) She was not happy the majority of the time, but it was okay. It was a team effort. I couldn't really maneuver very well with surgery a few days before and Jarrett had never given a bath to a newborn, so it was definitely harder on us than her :)

5 days 4 nights

2009-03-26T11:24:00.002-04:00

The hospital stay was longer than expected. Things went well until thursday afternoon, 2/26/09. My blood pressure began to rise and they had to keep a really close eye on me. They spent most of the time trying to decide if I was experiencing preclampsia and if I should be given magnesium. I was considered "borderline." Anyhow, it was a rough next few days. Abigail spent the nights in the nursery and Jarrett had the previledge of sleeping in the hospital chair/bed...if you would call it that. Finally, we recieved the okay to go home! We were so relieved, but since it was a Sunday...they took their sweet time releasing us. It was nice to be home...unfortunately we did not realize the reality that was about to hit us... :)

Abigail meets her fans

2009-03-20T10:56:00.004-04:00

It was around 1:00pm when I was taken to my room on mother-baby. We were met by Amanda and Shawna in the room who were on "look out" for us to arrive and to let the others know :) Soon after, the rest of the fan club followed in and awaited little Abigail! They couldn't get enough of her!

And then there were 3...

2009-03-19T20:32:00.010-04:00

The experience of being pregnant came and went and it was time for delivery. A c-section was scheduled for Wed. 2/25/09 at 10:30am. My Dr. was predicting Abigail to be 9 lbs, which I had doubts about. She was afraid of complications for me and the baby, so going against my original birth plan, the c-section agreed upon. We arrived at the hosptial to check in at 9:30am. Words cannot describe the nervousness we both experienced. The idea of being operated on while being awake had almost gotten the best of me by the time I was in preop. Somehow, I managed to calm myself down and take in the whole experience. Afterall, there was no going back or changing the situation so I kinda just had to grit my teeth and go with the flow. If you look at the picture in preop, it was pretty obvious I was at my wits end with the pregnancy; both mentally and physically. I'll admit it, I had blown up to a huge balloon, could hardly walk and really didn't care what I looked like or what people thought of my preggie appearance. All I knew was that I was ready to begin the healing process and get back to my normal self. I remember being really conerned about Jarrett getting back to the OR in time before they began the surgery. The nurses had sent him to get the family so they could be at the doors when he passed with the baby. I kept asking them if he would have time to do all of that, if he was given the right instructions and exactly when he would be in there with me. I was still trying to be control the situation from the operating table. (obviously I have trouble letting others be in charge :)) They took me back to the OR at 10:45am and at 11:07am Abigail Faye Peavler was born...9lbs 4 oz and 18.5 inches long. It was such an experience! I will never forget it! Its true...you feel lots of tugging and pressure but no pain. It was the most pressure I'd ever felt in my life, but no actual pain. Although, I was expecting it at any moment. Then there were cries of our new baby girl; I started bawling! I couldn't hold it back! Then Jarrett placed her chubby cheeks right in front of my face and I kissed her head...it was amazing! Jarrett was right by my side through the whole thing. He was so nervous, but held it all together! He took the pics...enjoy!

Pregnancy

2009-03-19T11:55:00.009-04:00

A little background...I found out I was pregnant in June 2008. We had only been married 3 months, it was unplanned and I will admit it, I freaked out. Jarrett did too! It didn't take long and we overcame the freak out stage and became really excited about having a baby! It was a big year for us; we got married, became pregnant and bought a house. Whirlwind! I had an awesome pregnancy with no complications, just the normal stuff. I kept a detailed pregnancy journal but did not keep up with the pictures of the belly like I wanted. I did take a few, which I have posted on here. (20wks, 24wks, 29wks and 39wks) The original due date was March 4, 2009. I did well with the weight gain until the very end. The swelling hit me all at once causing me to gain a lot of fluid weight. I thought it was going by slow but looking back on it...it went really fast!