Newborn Photos

Layna had her newborn photos done ! She was a little awake in the beginning, but finally fell asleep after eating. We had the photos done by Heidi Hope Photography (she's a portrait photographer). These are only preview photos, but I couldn't help but share. They are amazing and beautiful! Heidi said that Layna was a perfect model for each shot and has a perfect round head (thanks to the c-section). Enjoy !

Layna's 1st Christmas

Layna's first Christmas was somewhat a busy one. First we visited Grandma Boyce's family and then went to visit Granpa Boyce's family. Everyone loved her !! She wore her darling Christmas outfit, which only lasted about an hour or two because it was so hot in his aunt's home, but she looked so adorable! We didn't get a family photo, but thats ok. On December 26, we visited Grandma and Grandpa Robidoux and Layna got to meet Uncle Andre and Nicole, and Uncle Austin. She was good, sleepy like usual.

oh my, Layna getting big and she's only 2 weeks old (today !) !! We have had a good amount of nights that we stay up feeding and changing diapers. I feel like I change a dirty diaper every half hour to hour ! Even though gets sleepy after 5 minutes of feeding, sometimes she wakes right up and won't fall asleep, but thats ok during the day. It's amazing how her looks have already changed from the day she was born. Layna's has a doctor appointment today (the one she should've had after a few days of being discharged from the hospital. the nurse gave Mommy some trouble about it, but it's fine now) so, we will see how much she weighs now !

First Few Days Home

Layna's first few days home have been wonderful yet a little tiring ! I can't just seem to get sleep. People say sleep when the baby is sleeping but I feel I have stuff to do and I just can't take naps without worry about her. 

Layna is your typical baby : eats, sleeps, poops, and cries (when she needs one of those). I can watch her all day making all her little faces. She's very expressive with her eyebrows, raising them with curiosity (as if trying to know what's going on) or scrunching them down as if she were angry.  She loves sleeping in her bouncy chair along with sleeping in Daddy's or Mommy's arms.  I would say she sleeps through the night, but that is just because I don't go to bed until her midnight feeding (between 1-2). She isn't on a feeding schedule, we just let her eat whenever, but sometimes that could mean never, so...we have to wake the little sleeping beauty up. She doesn't fuss unless she has a dirty diaper or Mommy takes awhile to feed her. Daddy can easily calm her, especially with his swaddling skills ! No one can swaddle Layna as good as him ! She is definitely going to be a Daddy's Girl !

sleeping in her bouncy chair !

Welcome Baby Layna (pictures)

ready to go home !

I can just stare at her all day !

she's finally here ! (after the c-section in the recovery room)

proud Daddy !!

just born ! such chubby cheeks !! 

[Mommy kind of missed this moment due to throwing up and blacking out  :-(  ]

contractions on the bottom bar thing

Layna Elizabeth is here ... finally !!

Layna Elizabeth is here ! 

Delivery was an experienced within itself ... here is Layna's birth story:

We arrived at St. Luke's Hospital around 7:45am to get induced. I was, of course, shaking uncontrollably. After we were settled in and 600 questions were asked, I was induced around 9. The contractions weren't bad at all, just a tiny uncomfortable every once in awhile. I would give it a 1-2 on the Pain Scale. At 5:30pm, my doctor checked me and I was only 4 cm dilated and still 70% effaced and the baby was only "-2" (she was still really inside of me and not making her way out!)  So, at 5:30pm, Dr. Smith broke my water. The contractions got stronger and frequent - a really uncomfortable pain that I didn't want to get worse ! I would say a 6 on the Pain Scale. I tried my best to cope with the pain, but around 7:15 I was getting prepared for an epidural. They made Dan leave for this. There is only the anesthesiologist and nurse in the room when getting an epidural, so if Dan passed out, there was no one there to catch him. So, I freaked out crying my eyes out and shaking during the preparation, but I finally calmed down when I realized it didn't hurt that much.  The epidural felt *wonderful* can I say ! They said I would be able to feel pressure when have the contractions but there was nothing ! yay ! So, we hung out from 8pm to about 9:45pm before my doctor checked me again. I was only 5 cm dilated, 80% effaced and the baby was still up (-2). Dr. Smith could check my pelvic bone now because I was more relaxed and I couldn't feel anything My pevlic bone was (and still is) too narrow to fit Layna's big head ! So, a c-section was the thing to do now ! I was crying and shaking so much ! Just awful. The c-section wasn't unexpected; I just didn't want it.  The only thing that calmed me down was the reflection of the surgery that I could see in the door window. I saw her head come out and then her body !! Amazing !! Then, when they were putting everything back in and pressing on things, I got super sick and threw up lol ... and I blacked out/passed out for a little. Poor little baby, I didn't want anything to do with her (Dan tells me).   :-(   So, overall, everything went ok.... 

ooh ! Layna's stats are:

weight |  8 pounds 10 ounces

length | 20 inches

arrived at |   10:44 pm

DOB | December 16, 2009

some light brown hair and blue eyes ! the cutest button nose ever and look at those lips ! 

I love my baby girl ! she is the most beautiful thing ever !! ..and I'm not just saying that because she's mine... everyone who looked at her told us so !  The picture will be up soon !!

Now, let's watch her grow !!

What a Stubborn Little Thing !

Layna Elizabeth is such a stubborn little thing ! She still is not here yet !!  Her due date was Friday December 11 and it's Tuesday December 15th. I had my membranes stripped on Monday, but I dont think that's going to work. If I don't go into labor by tomorrow, I will be getting induced tomorrow morning. I'm excited she'll be here soon but hopefully being induced won't make labor more painful or longer. 

Layna has been rolling and kicking around this past week though. Elbows and hands and knees and feet sticking out everywhere ! Hopefully she's just "pushing" her way down haha

One more day, then labor time...

hopefully she'll be here by Wednesday night/Thursday morning !

Can't wait for my itty bitty to be here !

"Meaning" of Layna

I came across this..well I actually searched for the meaning of "Layna" and thought I would share. So, here ya go :

Layna (Old French) from the alder grove

[syll. lay-na, la-yna] The girl name Layna is pronounced LEY-Nah. Layna is of Old French and Germanic origin, and it is predominantly used in the English language. 

Layna is a variant of Delaney (English). Layna is, also, a variant of Marlene (German, Polish, and English). 

Layna is not regularly used as a baby name for girls. It is not listed in the top 1,000 names. In 2008, out of the group of girl names directly linked to Layna, Delaney was the most frequently used.

Baby names that sound like Layna include: Laina (Finnish), Leyna (English), Laima (Lithuanian), Lainey (English), Lama (Arabic), Lami (Hausa), Lana (English, Greek, and Russian), Lanae (English), Laney (English), Lani (Hawaiian and English), Lanna (English), Lannie (English), Lanny (English), Launa (English), Laurrane (English), Leana (English), Leanne (English, and Leean (English).

elbows everywhere !

Baby Girl is elbowing me and kicking me everywhere ! She makes my belly bulge out and when you touch the bulge it's this little pointy bump - elbows.... feet... knees... 

i am 1 cm dilated and thinning out a little ... so we are getting there. 

10 more days until Dec 11...

...let's keep waiting a little more ...

ultrasounds should be a night thing

I think that ultrasounds should be done at night when the Baby is most active, and so we could've gotten good pictures the last three visits. Layna is a quiet, shy girl when we go to get her pictures taken !  She let us see her face quickly on the screen, but that's it. and like most babies, she has at least one of her arms/hands covering her face. Silly girl.

The technician told us that her hands and feet are facing the left side; therefore, her back and butt are on my right side. I could've told her that since Layna is always pushing her butt/back out causing my Belly to be lopsided.

Anywho, besides not cooperating, everything looks good. So, we are just waiting for her to come...

three more weeks ! 

*happy Thanksgiving*

Baby Shower

Here are a few pictures from the baby shower...

friends :-)

Mom and me

Mom, Me, my cousin and aunt

the cake looks like Layna's crib bedding set ! it's cute !

the "last" ultrasound

Today was supposed to be the last ultrasound but my amniotic fluid seemed a little low according to the not-so-sure technician; therefore, we have to go back to get another ultrasound done next Thursday. She told us that if it is low, my doctor may want to deliver Miss Layna early, but never said how early. Layna is measuring at 7 pounds at 35 weeks 5 days, so her coming early won't be bad because she is nice and big and healthy ! We will see next week though... maybe she'll be a Turkey baby instead of an early Christmas baby...

and on a side note, the technician assured us the baby is still a girl !

SO BIG !

Baby Girl is definitely getting big in there because belly is GINORMOUS ! the doctor said she should be right on time, and we have our last ultrasound Thursday morning, so hopefully Layna will be awake and moving around for some good pictures. She usually is awake early, so lets hope we can get a good last picture before she's here! 

here is week 35 Belly picture !

Dan and me with the belly :-)

She has chubby cheeks !

The ultrasound today went pretty good beside Baby Girl hiding in the belly. We got a few good 2D pictures, but when they tried to do the 3D ultrasound, you couldn't see her!... we could only see everything she was hiding behind.  I hope she isn't shy, but she's been in bad positions the past few ultrasounds, so we couldn't see her that well. 

The doctor said that kidney looks like it's doing better. Hopefully she is !

Layna is moving like crazy right now.. I wish she was like this this morning ! haha It's probably the nice, warm soup I just ate! MmmMmm Good !

Here are her chubby cheeks ! oh and mind you she weighs about 4 and 1/4 pounds ! SOOO chunky !

we have one more ultrasound before she's born. hopefully she's cooperate so we can get a good 3D picture of her :-)

Appointment with Pediatric Urologist

So, we had the appointment/ consultation with the Pediatric Urologist bright and early this morning. The doctor said that the baby will need an ultra sound done within the first week of Life :-(   Depending what that shows, they will go from there with tests until they figure out what is wrong. Good news : 90 % of babies that this occurs in, don't need anything done. 

tomorrow is another ultrasound day ... 

She moves ... a lot !

last night Layna was moving so much ! first, she was just jabbing at me and tickling me haha. and later, she was like stretching out or something ... my stomach looked like it had something in it that just wanted to come out !  it look kind of cool. these little bumps where she was pushing could just bulge out, or my stomach would totally get misshapen.  so i just enjoyed the sight and "played" with her for a few minutes before Daddy came home.

for the next few days she'll probably move only a little or just not hit me as hard. but its good to know she's still there ! 

oh ! the pediatric urologist appointment a couple weeks ago was rescheduled until this coming wednesday. so.... we'll see how that goes. 

ultrasound pictures

baby's first picture!

{our "chicken" as Dan called her}

a little closer...

scary baby. 

I am definitely not a fan of this picture.

{2nd ultrasound visit}

Her little foot! 

all of baby 

profile.

it's a girl ! 

hopefully she doesnt change into a boy :-(

{so far so good}

not a great picture ... 

she was kind of hiding.

{3rd ultrasound visit}

here's the newest pic !

week_29 !

belly pics :-)

week 15

week 18

week 20

week 23 

new belly pics will probably be up sometime soon especially because one is long due to be taken... along with scanning in the ultrasound pictures :-)

at our week 25 appointment, Baby weighed a healthy 2 pounds 1 ounce - our little chunker ! 

also, i would like to add.... Layna was SO active yesterday !! moving all the time ! and apparently she likes to move when Mommy is sleeping. She's less active today; she probably tired herself out yesterday ! haha

She stuck her butt out !!

Layna stuck her butt out for the first time the other night I was just laying down and I felt my stomach tighten up, but realized only my right side got hard. When I put my hand on my stomach, there was this hard, little bulge sticking out of my belly, and it looked lopsided. she went back into my stomach but a few seconds later she was sticking back out ! crazy!

I definitely think my stomach grew the other day, it feels and looks bigger than last week. oiee ! Ican't wait until it stops growing !!

Unfortunately, I got sick - a cold, nothing flu-like I hope. But it still stinks because I can't take anything unless I call the doctor. Hopefully it'll go away in a few days !

Hii

Hi Everyone,

I thought I would keep you all up-to-date with the Baby, especially when she is here ! I most likely won't have time to call/message everyone to tell them all of her firsts and whatnot. and seeing I live away from you guys (my family) this was a good idea to keep you updated and hopefully see new pictures of her changing "every" day.

Layna Elizabeth is still in the Belly, but will be making her debut in about 3 months. She's 27 weeks old, and LOVES snuggling up on the right side of my ribs. I wake up to her moving, and she sleeps through most of the day, but when it's time for Mommy to go to bed ... Layna is up and moving again. At the last appointment (25 weeks), she was weighing 2 pounds and 1 ounce. Hopefully she's not too big ! She hides from the "camera" and I haven't been able to get good pictures of her, but I did get to see her a little.

I don't know who knows .... but the baby's right kidney has a little problem. I isn't emptying any fluid; the doctor says that the ureter is obstructed near the bladder. We have an appointment with a pediatric urologist, so discuss what to do and whatnot. Hopefully everything will be fine.