1 Month!!!

Hard to believe, but Olivia is one month old now. I can't believe it. Today was her one month check at the pediatrician's. Not only did I have her with me, I took Aidan too. I am bound and determined not to be intimidated about taking them out together by myself and keep taking trips here and there with them. And the doc's office is pretty contained. However, I have come to the conclusion that taking two kids out at the same time is pretty much like herding cats. To all those with multiple kids out there, tons of respect to you and I am in awe of whatever technique you have perfected! Anyway, Olivia is doing great! She is 10 pounds and 4 ounces and 22 inches long. She is 75% all around. Not as huge as Aidan was but she's still good sized. The doctor talked to me about trying to increase the amount of her feedings (funny huh since she's 75% already) to encourage her to sleep longer stretches, especially at night. I think she would like to see her sleep longer than two or so hours at a time and quite frankly, so would I! She also asked if she falls asleep on her own at all during the day. Sheepishly I had to admit no, not really. She likes to sleep while being held just like Aidan did. At night she usually falls asleep as soon as she's done eating but not so much during the day. Although today, she ate 5 oz over the course of an hour and now has been sleeping for about 40 minutes in her bassinet. Cross your fingers that we can repeat that progress again! I talked to her about Olivia's fussiness today. She woke up about 4am and was so fussy. Julien got up and tried to feed her and she kept spitting out the bottle to cry. But then she would be hungry and try to get the bottle back. Then she wouldn't go to sleep. So I took her and went downstairs cause I was afraid that she was going to wake Julien and Aidan, she was being so loud. Eventually she and I fell asleep on the couch. Through the morning she continued to be fussy. The doc said that if it becomes a regular thing to let her know. We talked about a couple things it could be so we'll see. She got one shot, which she cried at initially and then she was fine. I was surprised. I was also surprised at how well I took her getting a shot. With Aidan, I cried and nearly needed to leave the room. Amazing how time changes things. :)

An Aidan update as well. His bday is coming soon. I'm trying to decide what to do for it. He's not having the mega blowout that he had last year. Instead, we got him a fish tank and 4 tetras. I think we're going to have cake and ice cream and invite a couple kids over. Also, we are trying potty training again. I let him pick out his own potty chair and he likes his dino undies Nana got him. So we're trying. We'd like to send him to preschool but can't until he's potty trained. One thing he will get to do either way is going to soccer. I signed him up for Kickaroo class at a place called Vetta. They're known for their sports programs and have a really good reputation. Of course the closer we get to class time, I'm going to call and double check his registration. I've learned from the whole swimming lesson fiasco. But, he'll go on Saturdays with Daddy for eight weeks and learn some basics. They don't really play games yet they just get used to being in class. The next class up he'll go on the field by himself. I really hope he likes it. He loves to kick the ball around and seems to have some natural talent. I really want this to go better than gymnastics! Class starts the middle of September so we'll see! One thing's for sure, it never slows down around here!

3 Week Growth Spurt

This past week has been a challenge. Olivia hit the three week growth spurt. So, that meant a lot of eating, some fussing and gas, and a lot of getting up at night. Monday through Thursday night, I did not get a lot of sleep. Julien was a sweetheart and took Olivia all Friday night. He even slept with her downstairs so I wouldn't hear her and wake up. I really appreciated the sleep as I sorely needed it. I couldn't help but feel a little guilty though. Saturday Tim, Gina, and Ginna came down to visit overnight. Ginna hadn't seen Aidan in about 2 years and we were excited for her to meet her second great grandchild. While they were here, Gina and Tim volunteered to take Olivia Saturday night for Julien and I so we both could sleep. Talk about awesome in-laws! So I was able to sleep two nights in a row. Of course she slept better for them than she did for us all week. They're always better for the grandparents than for the parents, right? :) It was a nice visit. And my house is clean for the most part as we cleaned like maniacs Saturday morning before they got here. Sunday night it was back to normal and I got up with Olivia, who was back to waking up every two hours and being fussy. Last night was better though. She went 2 1/2-3 hours between feedings and fell asleep and a little easier. She seems to do pretty well in her cradle. I'm hoping she'll start going 4 hours between feedings soon. She already eats 3 ounces at a time so you think she could go a little longer in between. She does much better than Aidan did at this age. He slept in his car seat for the first 3 months. She's sleeping in actual designated sleeping area already. :) And he was up every two hours for a while. I remember being very tired with him. Olivia likes to sleep on us though. Especially napping during the day. She doesn't nap for long usually, but she naps longer if she's being held. I hope that changes soon too. I'm trying to be patient but, I'm ready to be on a schedule again. It's so much easier to get things done and it's much less hectic. I look forward to a set nap time for everyone so that I can plan errands and chores. Another thing that would help our day would be if Aidan was potty trained. He still has no interest in it. I really don't want to force the issue but he's going to be 3 awfully soon and still no progress or expressed interest. I'm getting tired of changing everyone's diaper all the time. We may need to try it again soon and see how things go.

Adjusting to Life as a Family of Four

The couple of weeks have all been about adjustment for our family. Managing two at a time has been a little tricky since Nana went home. Olivia is a pretty easy going baby so far. She has difficult nights here and there. Including last night into this morning but, I think gas was the culprit. She seemed much better after a poopy diaper. Anyway, the hardest part has been dealing with Aidan. I knew that this would be a big adjustment for him. His whole world has changed. He had my attention and time 100% of the time before. Now he has to wait cause the baby needs my attention too. So, he's had a hard time listening and following directions. I get tired of repeating myself especially when I ask him to do something I know he can handle by himself. Then today we went to run a couple errands. This was our test run of sorts. It was the first time we really ran errands the three of us. Aidan got a haircut and we stopped at Walgreens on the way home for milk. Aidan did great with his haircut. And he even had to wait 10 minutes for our usual lady. Olivia was asleep pretty much the whole time. (Finally, she had been fighting it all morning.) He got a sucker he was so good. Then we stopped for the milk. We almost made it out without incident. I even paid and was ready to go. Aidan threw a fit over a bag of chocolate covered pretzels. I asked him nicely toput them back. Did he? No. He cried. I took them and put them back for him. He threw himself on the floor at that. So I'm holding Olivia in her carseat, asleep, and the milk. Now I have to figure out how to get him to the car with my hands full and I'm still not able to lift him yet. So I put the milk in the hand that has the car seat too and grab his hand and drag him out. Luckily I was able to pull him to his feet and as soon as we were out of the store he was willing to walk, crying all the way. He was doing so well. I don't know what it was about those stupid pretzels. I hope my patience holds out and we survive this transition.

On a more positive note, Julien has been trying to teach Aidan how to tell knock knock jokes. It's pretty cute. He has one he can tell correctly most of the time. Otherwise, he makes them up and he cracks himself up. I'mhoping to catch it on video and post it. Also, he and Daddy are setting up his birthday present, an aquarium. We went to Petsmart last night and got a bunch stuff for it. I had no idea they were so expensive! Holy cow! This better work out and Aidan better love his fish, that's all I gotta say! He's very excited and having a hard time understanding that he has to wait till the tank is ready before we can get his fish. Life is just hard when you're almost three.

2 Weeks Old

Believe it or not, but yesterday Olivia turned two weeks old. The time is flying already. How is that possible? It seems like we just got her home. Aidan is warming to her but is more interested in his toys and playing. She just doing enough let to be fascinating to him. That will soon change. Olivia is eating a ton and growing everyday. I swear every day, I look at her and and see changes from the day before. She's starting to have decent periods of alertness and wakefulness. This morning she was up for almost 3 hours. Of course, part of that could be cause she likes to sleep on mommy's chest. She's particular about how she's cuddled. She definitely has preferences already. She sleeps pretty well at night. Although last night she had some problems getting back to sleep after eating. When she fell asleep then she was fine. In fact she slept for a stretch of about 3 1/2 hours. That may not seem like a lot but at 2 weeks, I'll take it! It's surprising how we've kind of fallen back into getting up at night. It still makes me tired but, I've adapted surprisingly well. I guess it's like riding a bicycle. I think it's been a little harder for Julien. Although he's stayed up a couple times to do the first nighttime feeding so I can sleep, which I always appreciate. And a couple nights, I did all the feedings so he could sleep all night since I knew he was tired. We're starting to figure out how to adjust our normal routine. Although, Nana left today. Now we're on our own and the hard part starts of figuring out how to manage two. It's not so bad when we're both home. It'll be more challenging when it's just me. Boy, was Nana a huge help! I don't know what we would've done without her. Aidan would've had a tougher time of it. Life would have been harder for me too. She was able to handle all the chores and errands that I couldn't do. I can't wait till I can drive again and vacuum and lift things. I hate feeling useless. But, hopefully the beginning of next week I will be doing some of those things again. I'm not trying to rush. The last thing I need is to be out of commission because I couldn't be patient. It'll be nice when things settle down though. I hope that's soon.

Olivia's First Week

It's hard to believe that a week has gone by already but, Olivia is now 9 days old. Time is already flying by. I guess when you spend 3 1/2 days in the hospital you lose track of time. A couple days after our discharge, we went to the pediatrician for our first visit. Once again, she was gaining weight, adding two more ounces. The doctor looked her over and told us unless there was a problem, we didn't need to come back until her 1 month visit.

Olivia also met the neighbors this week. We had a visit from another one of my friends from playgroup. Her 3 year old son is one of Aidan's favorite friends. So really that visit was more for him. But he needs some extra attention and it was fun to have a chance to talk with Toni. She and her family are moving to Germany in a few months (they're an Army family) and we'll miss them. Nana has been keeping Aidan busy otherwise. What a huge help she's been! I can't imagine what this week would have been like trying to care for Aidan too.

So, the breastfeeding.... In the beginning things went great. Olivia was taking to it. Then we came home. That day was successful. That night was terrible. She was up from 3a and trying to nurse often which I was expecting. But she popped off a lot and didn't want to stop nursing. By the next morning, I was so beat up. (FYI, this may get a little graphic. If it's TMI skip down to the end. I won't be offended.)By the end of that day, I was in enough pain that the thought of her trying to latch was terrifying. It was more painful than the incision at that point. So, I pumped for a few days hoping I would heal in the meantime and that I could try it again. But that wasn't happening. So after enough days of pain and bleeding and raw skin, I decided that I would stop. I was hoping that breastfeeding would be this wonderful bonding experience and that I would enjoy it. In the end, all I could do was stress about how I was going to feed Olivia and I wasn't spending any time enjoying her. That wasn't what I wanted at all. I have an incredible amount of respect and admiration for moms who are able to make it work. And I know by bottle feeding, I open myself up to a lot of criticism and judgment. However, in the end I had to be honest with myself and what I was willing to do. Olivia continues to eat like a champ and gain weight. She's sleeping for longer stretches at night. And she's still gorgeous. :)

Olivia's Big Day!

Thursday morning came and we were up at 4:30a preparing for the big day. Nana got in the night before and Aidan was excited as ever to see her. So, as they slept, we got our bag, kissed Aidan goodbye, and drove off to the hospital. As we walked up to the entrance, I could feel the butterflies going big time. (Being up at the crack of dawn didn't help either.) They got even stronger as I was escorted back to a labor and delivery room to get ready. Nurses, doctors, and anesthesiologists all paraded in and out, each with their little spiels for me. Everyone was really nice and very reassuring. I'm very glad the anesthesiologist was so upfront about what complications I could encounter and that there were ways to remedy them. More on that in a minute. So after I had my IV started and signed my paperwork, they gave Julien his scrubs to change into. (He looked so cute. Although he said so himself which wasn't as cute. :) ) I was led back to the OR without him to get prepped. Good thing too, I don't think the Dads should be there for the first 5 minutes, they are the most intense in my opinion. They sat me on the table and gave me the spinal which starts working immediately. Holy Cow! By the time I was laid down I couldn't feel my legs. Then they put up the drapes and get you all set. Except I started feeling weird. Remember those things they said may happen? I started feeling dizzy and nauseous. Then I felt like I couldn't breathe even though I could. The medicine comes far enough up the chest that it messes with a few muscles there and you start to feel panic, even though you are breathing fine. They gave me a couple injections into my IV for the nausea and to help my blood pressure and helped talk me through it. Soon enough I felt fine again. That's when Julien was brought in and the show started. Soon enough I felt tugging and pulling. I could hear the docs talking and hear some suctioning but before I knew it, she was out. I felt immediately lighter. And then she let out quite the cry! Boy can she be loud. I watched her get cleaned and checked. She was 8lbs 4oz, 21 inches, just one ounce off my prediction. Julien even got to cut the cord this time. They stitched me up and let hold her. She even rode with me when they wheeled me to recovery. The nursery nurse gave her a quick sponge bath and gave us our matching bracelets. We tried nursing right away and she seemed to take to it. I was so excited. I was so hoping. So off we were shipped to our postpartum room and by about 10a we were all settled. It made the day seem so long since we got there SO early. We kept trying to nurse and changed a lot of poopy diapers. We made all our phone calls and since the hospital had wifi, even posted pics of her. By the end of that day, they helped me sit in a chair to get out of bed. It actually did feel good. Especially to get out of those stupid compression leg wraps. They help circulate the blood in your legs to prevent blood clots. A little annoying after the first day. Morning of the second day, the took out the catheter (thank god!) and had me walk to the bathroom. That day I kept trying to get out of bed and walk a little. I even took a shower and that wore me out. I had a lot of visitors. Our neighbors the Walters came up twice to see us. Four of my friends from playgroup came and brought us presents. Grandpa Tim arrived Friday night and was able to come visit before visiting hours were over. With Aidan we only had a couple people come by, so it was nice that so many of our friends wanted to come wish us well. Anyway, I tried to keep moving like they said to. Everyday the pain of the incision and bruising got better. And with a lot of help, it seemed that nursing was going well. In fact, I felt good enough to go home on Sunday instead of Monday. The pediatrician was pleased with Olivia as she had gained back an ounce from the weight she had lost. (She went down to 7 lb 10 oz and went back up to 7lb 11oz) I had met with the lactation consultant twice that morning and I was feeling confident. (Of course everything changes when you go home, but that's another post.) So off we went. It felt so good to be home. I couldn't believe that I had spent three days in the hospital, had my first major surgery, and now I had two kids instead of just one. So much change in such little time. Now the hard part begins.