Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Hibernating

It is still soooo cold outside here in Rexburg! It got down to -27 the other night! BRRRRR! Peyton and I are keeping warm hibernating for the winter while papa bear is out freezing in the cold hiking on campus everyday. Daniel is really liking his schedule this semester. He is taking 14 credits and works 18 hours a week as a peer advisor on campus. He is enjoying his job, there is a lot of downtime, and he gets a lot of his homework done during work which is great. I try my best to keep myself busy with Peyton but it gets really boring being stuck inside our little apartment every day. I have been exercising daily and trying to eat right so that I can fit back into my old clothes. Its tough and frustrating but Daniel keeps me motivated cheering me on from the couch with his tub of chocolate ice cream. It really stinks that he can not work out and eat whatever he wants and stay the exact same size! I feel silly that I have gotten so much bigger since I can't really blame it on my 1 and a half pound baby. :) But the hormonal changes and stress and staying home has all caught up to me and its time to get my old body back. At least it gives me something to do everyday.
Aunt Christen and Uncle Matt came on Monday. It was so great to hang out with them and let Peyton meet another uncle. I think Matt really liked him. I know Christen is in love with Peyton. We're all "chubby chasers" now! :)
On Friday Peyton and I met with the social worker and the lady in charge of the NICU in Idaho Falls to meet and greet and discuss our plans for the new Parent Support program we want to start. They were so wonderful and were very excited that I was so excited about helping them get something going. There is still some red tape to get through before we can really get going, I need a backround check and a TB test before I am allowed in the NICU, but we are at least on our way and I am thrilled to be doing something with our experience.
Peyton is pretty much completely off his oxygen now! We only put it on him if his saturations start to drop or when he sleeps but he has done really well without it for the past four days straight, even at night. It is so nice to have a cordless baby for the first time ever. I can put him in his baby sling and carry him around with me without having to drag a big tank around behind us. I can tell Peyton feels relieved to to not have anything in his nose anymore. We are very excited and are so grateful still at how well he has turned out.
Well, thats a lot of news so I guess I'll stop but I'll keep you posted!

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Its been a while...

Well the holidays are over and we're settled in to our new apartment in Rexburg now. We hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and New Years.

Peyton was blessed in Provo on the 30th of December. It was a beautiful blessing and his daddy did such a wonderful job. We were so blessed and honored to have both sides of the family there for the most part and missed those that couldn't make it. We loved seeing everyone and we are so grateful for the love and support!

Daniel's family came on the 26th of December from Houston and we had a great time with them, especially since we don't see them as often as we would like. Nona graciously babysat Peyton on the 27th so that Daniel's dad, brothers, and I could spend the day snowboarding. The boys had a great time. I on the other hand spent the day falling down the mountain time after time. I was frozen, wet, bruised, and exhausted by the end of the day. I was frustrated that my body just didn't perform like it used to! I hear that having a baby does that to you. Next time, if there is a next time, I think I will take it slower and only go half day. It was fun to get out of the house though regardless of the pain and suffering. :)

We moved on the 31st and arrived in Rexburg that evening. It was 7 degrees outside when we got there. I'm afraid its going to be a long winter! But we are glad to be here and to be finally finishing up school...at least the first half.

Peyton is doing wonderfully. He is over 12 lbs now and is starting to babble and laugh and play. He is on the lowest flow of O2 and I monitor him periodically throughout the day. He is very close to be able to do without it so that exciting. It was quite a hassle to get everything set up for him here but I think its all set now which is a relief.

I contacted the Social Worker at the Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center to see if Daniel and I could volunteer for their NICU parent support group. I left a few messages and finally got a call back on Monday. The social worker there said that as of yet they didn't have a parent group but have been thinking about forming one since they have just recently expanded their NICU to except babies as young as 28 weeks and are working towards further expanding to be ready for babies as young as 23 weeks. She was very excited to hear that I was so interested in helping out and we spent 45 minutes talking about how the parent support group was run in Provo. She told me that she thinks I have great ideas and would be a good person to get their program started. She is going to get the permission and paperwork worked out and she is supposed to call me by next week. Hopefully starting next week I will be able to volunteer there talking to parnets and helping them through their preemie struggles. I'm really excited to put our experience to good use!

Peyton is crying at me so I gotta run! Keep you posted!