Fall Is Here

This is the tree outside our house. It is completely bright yellow meaning fall is here! It was a busy summer. Brady and I were able to go home for a couple weeks and visit. It was a lot of fun! Brady got to meet all sorts of family and I was also able to meet up with some good friends. I also spent a lot of time working on our house in Magrath.

Brady with Great-Grandma Ziebert

Brady and Great-Grandma Scott

Brady and Great-Grandma Wilde

Brady and Cody's Aunt Jennifer

While we were home I let Brady taste his first popsicle. He loved it!

Content after his popsicle

Here are a few more pictures of Brady just for fun. Lately he has really begun to enjoy watching cartoons. It has been helpful to be able to plop him in front of the tv for a few minutes while I get dinner on the go...yes I use the tv as a babysitter sometimes...it's wonderful!

My Super Hero Baby

Watching TV

Yesterday I put Brady in his Jolly Jumper to see if he would like it. He doesn't know how to jump in it yet but did laugh and smile when I helped him bounce, for a bit then he got upset. We'll try again in a couple weeks. 

Not sure what to think of his Jolly Jumper

This fall Brady and I will be keeping busy while Cody is at work all day. Every week we get to do fun things like Mommy and Me Yoga on Thursdays, Good Beginnings mom and baby group with guest speakers on Wednesdays, and Book Babies at the library on Fridays. And come November we will be starting Swimming Lessons!! I am super excited about that. Brady loves bath time so I am hoping he will love swimming too!

Storytime

Reading The Little Engine That Could!

It's almost midnight and I'm laying in bed trying to figure out how to use this blogger app. I can't sleep. Tonight I decided to put my baby in his crib in his own room to fall asleep. I didn't think he would last long in there by himself. Turns out he seems to really like his crib and hasn't slept this soundly for a while. I can't bring myself to move him and risk waking him but I also can't seem to sleep. I don't have a monitor and I'm really afraid I won't hear him when he wakes up! It's bitter sweet.
Brady is starting to really grow. I think he is going through a growth spurt because he wants to eat every hour or two all day. And once we finish this pack of newborn diapers he will be graduating to size one! That's probably something only a new mother appreciates and gets excited about. He is 6 weeks and seems to love music. He also loves a nice warm bath! I can alway count on that to calm him down when he is screaming at the end of a long day. He's such a sweetheart!

Being a cutie pie!

All happy after a warm bath for bedtime!

One Month

Today this little guy is one month old! Crazy how quickly time flies now that he is here. This past month has been full of decisions and changes. Just after Brady was born Cody had taken time off work to be home with me and the baby. While on vacation he got a call from a well established company offering him a job. The next few weeks were spent doing interviews, calculations and trying to decide if it was the best option for him and for our family. A week and a half ago he gave notice at his old job and will be starting his new position in a couple days. We are both really excited about this opportunity. The company he will be working for has offered to put Cody through school so in a couple years he will have his parts certificate which is a trade that he can use anywhere. He also will be working monday-friday and will be home around 7 every night which is a huge upgrade from his last job. He won't be working nights anymore, which is probably my favourite thing, and although it will be a bit less money for a couple years until he finishes school, it will definitely pay off in the end. I am very proud of him and excited to have him home every night and weekends too!

Also during this past month we were able to have both Cody's and my parents come to visit and meet Brady! Cody's mom and sister came first about a week after he was born. They only stayed for a short visit but we were able to have a bbq and a good visit. My parents came up last weekend. Here they are cuddling Brady

 It was so nice to have them here. Unfortunately Cody had to work during their visit but they were so helpful and I was sad to see them go.

Brady has grown a ton in the past month now weighing somewhere around 7lbs 10 oz and is finally starting to fit his newborn clothes! We sure love him to pieces (even though it's 1 AM and he is still wide awake....)!

One of his many favourite faces

Taking a Sunday afternoon nap

He likes to open his eyes real wide

Sometimes he reminds me of Fievel from An American Tale: Fievel Goes West.
He also looks like his cousin Spencer sometimes I think.

Relaxing with daddy

Yay! One month!

1 WEEK!

It's been one week since little Brady was born! I think we got pretty lucky with this one. He sleeps and eats like a charm and never cries unless he is hungry or has a dirty diaper. He's a sweetheart! Heads up- I am going to be one of those mother's who blogs mostly about her baby and probably all too often! 

It's been a good week! We've been adjusting well to our little boy and couldn't be happier! I have also found the silver lining in having extreme swelling during pregnancy. It makes you feel super awesome when you lose all that water weight and can say you have lost almost 30 pounds in one week. Only ten pounds to go til I reach pre-pregnancy weight! That makes me feel pretty good! 

Brady Harris Peacock

On June 16 at 2:07 PM we welcomed little Brady into our family! And we couldn't have asked for a more perfect baby.

On Friday Cody and I were sitting in the living room trying to decide what we wanted to have for lunch when my phone rang. It was the hospital and they said "we've decided to induce you today so pack a bag and get here as soon as you can!" Cody and I were a bit stunned because we weren't expecting to even talk about an induction date until Monday. We got together a few things and headed to the hospital. Once there I was admitted and they watched the baby's heart rate and movements for over an hour to make sure things were still going well and then the doctor came in and talked to us about the game plan. We were pretty lucky and had a really awesome doctor who was a locum from Calgary so I had never met her. At about 4:45 she came in and broke my water. They started me on oxytocin and then the long wait began.

I tried real hard to have a natural birth and made it through 9 hours of hard labour before I finally caved and got the epidural. It was sweet relief. I believe my exact words were, " I think we should name this baby Epidural." After a very long night the dr came to see us again and finally at about 10 AM I was fully dilated but I wasn't feeling ready to push. They kept upping my dosage of oxytocin to try and make my contractions stronger and closer together but the opposite was happening. They continued to get weaker and farther apart despite the drugs. The baby was also face up making it a very difficult position to deliver so after 4 more hours of monitoring, drugs, and a few trial pushes the dr decided it was time to get the baby out via c-section. One hour later at 2:07 PM little baby Brady was born. I was pretty out of it during the actual procedure but I do remember when they told us it was a boy and when they brought him over to us so we could see him. Most of it is just a blur but I do remember feeling completely overwhelmed and totally in love with my new baby.

He is pretty much the most perfect little boy ever! We are so happy. It has been an adjustment but at the same time it's pretty crazy just how natural it all seems to have him here.

Just a couple hours after being born

Ready to leave the hospital

Enjoying his first car ride!

37 Weeks

Here I am at 37 weeks! It's a pretty cute baby belly if I do say so myself! I have been putting off updating on pregnancy because the past few weeks have been a bit of a whirlwind and we've been in and out of dr. offices, the hospital, and exam rooms, but now things have settled down a bit and we're in the home stretch! 

A couple weeks ago I had gone in to see my Dr because my blood pressure had been high. She sent me for blood work, a non-stress test - which is when they listen to baby's heartbeat and check the movements, and an ultrasound. Everything seemed to be going well and I was excited because it was the day of my baby shower! The shower went really well and was a lot of fun! ...at least that is what all the girls who attended told me. Unfortunately just as I was getting ready to leave the house for the party, literally 20 minutes before it started, my doctor called and told me I had to head to the hospital right now for more tests and to get results. She told me to be prepared to be admitted and possibly sent to Edmonton to be monitored. Fort McMurray is not properly equipped to deal with premature babies. So because of this I was unable to attend my own shower and it was too late to cancel. I was pretty upset about not being able to go but I am very grateful that my friends were all very understanding, especially the girl who was hosting! It was a long night and we were at the hospital for about 6 hours until they decided to send us home and keep close tabs on me from there. 

For the next week I had blood drawn about 5 times and NST's done every other day. I am considered high risk because I have developed pre-eclampsia which basically means my blood pressure is too high and I have protein in my urine which is not normal. I also have what is called polyhydramnios, which is a fancy way of saying there is too much amniotic fluid around the baby. And lastly, I have really high urate levels which continue to climb, indicating that my kidneys just are not functioning how they should and all this puts me at high risk for complications during labour, especially if my water breaks. 

Since then I have been having NST's and bloodwork at least twice a week, and an ultrasound once a week to check the baby and the fluid levels. They are keeping a close eye on me to make sure both me and baby stay healthy. The chances of us having to go to Edmonton are now virtually gone which I am very happy about, and today after my NST I got a phone call to tell me that on Monday I get to sign papers and schedule an induction! The end is in sight! It has been a pretty stressful few weeks and will be until I have this baby but I try to remember that there are a lot of people who are definitely a lot worse off than I am and I should be grateful that I have good doctors who personally take time to call and check up on me. 

I am also very grateful for a pretty amazing husband. Poor Cody has been working straight nights and will be doing so until the baby comes. Between working, cooking, cleaning, and coming to almost all my appts he is pretty stressed out and looking forward to a bit of a break from work when the baby is born. He definitely deserves it.