Olivia {3 Months Old}

Baby girl!

3 months old!

Love it and so excited for the next few months.

I remember loving months 3, 4, and 5 with Jack.

So much personality and no movement :)

  As I thought, Livvie is getting much easier. 

She is content to chill in the swing, bouncer, or her play mat for quite some time. It's nice to be able to set her down for a chunk of time and do something more than pee without having her scream.

But...she still screams every time we put her in the car?

It's like she knows as soon as we put her in her seat that she's going in the car because she starts to get mad. Then she's fine while I carry her to the car and set her down and get Jack buckled in.

But, as soon as I put the seat in the base, it's a matter of minutes before the screaming begins. And it doesn't stop.

I thought we were on the upswing for awhile there around the 2 month mark because she was starting to go some car trips without screaming.

We're back with the regular screaming now. When we went to Tahoe last week, I pretty much sat in the backseat the whole time, squished between the two carseats, so I could keep her calm. The paci seems to help.

Speaking of the paci, baby girl still loves it! Works magic with her.

Especially when trying to get her to fall asleep.

She fights sleep like none other (so different from Jack who fell asleep so easily).

This girl just doesn't seem to want to miss a thing. She will start getting fussy, so I will work on getting her to sleep, and she just gets angrier and angrier. When I finally give up and let her look around - happy as can be.

Rarely does she fall asleep without a fussy fit. Alas.

Livvie has discovered her hands and loves them!

She is always chomping on them.

She has also started grabbing onto toys while on her floor mat.

Oh, and the TV. Obsessed. She could stare at it all day if we let her.

And, we hit another milestone! 

Livvie rolled over from stomach to back for the first time on July 29th, a little before 11 weeks (right at 2.5 months). 

I was definitely surprised to see her do that, and thought it might have been a random accident.

But, she continues to roll almost every time she is placed on her stomach.

Cannot wait for her to roll back to stomach so I can let her sleep on her stomach because I think she will sleep so much better that way.

 

 

 

Sleep.

Ugh.

So rough.

She is still sleeping awful at night.

Every once in a while I get maybe 4-5 hours, but I feel like we are mostly on the 2-3 hour stretch stint.

To be honest, the nights are such a blur that I hardly remember them come morning...

I moved her into her own room and crib a few nights ago, hoping that she might sleep better there (because Jack started sleeping through the night once I moved him to his room - but I think that's because he also learned to roll to his stomach at that time).

But, her own room has not seemed to make a difference...wah.

 

She's still a super smiley baby - her face just explodes. 

I love just looking over at her, without saying anything, and she is just beaming.

Such a sweet addition to our family.

Jack loves her most of the time, and she is really starting to notice him.

He definitely makes her smile when he 'talks' to her or tries to play with her.

So cute to see them begin to interact. 

Livvie had her 3 month appointment to get her shots today (we are on an irregular shot timeline because we started them earlier than normal - 7 weeks instead of 2 months- because of the whooping cough outbreak going around here).

So...All About Livvie at 3 Months:

Weight: 11 lb, 15 oz (30th percentile)

Height: 23.5 in (40th percentile)

Head: 15.5 in (20th percentile)

Clothing Size: 0-3 Month/3 Month

Diaper Size: 1 or 2 - both fit

Eating: Every 2-3 hours

Napping: 3-4 'cat naps'/day (30-40 min) and usually one long one (1-2 hours)

Likes: Paci, bouncer, floor mat, hands, rolling, bath

Dislikes: The car, sleeping?

Firsts: Rolled at 11 weeks

Love you, sweet girl!

Lake Tahoe {2014}

Every summer for the past eight years, my family has been going up to Tahoe together. For about five years, we stayed at an awesome house in South Lake Tahoe that my dad's boss owned. They started renting it out full time though, so the past two summers we stayed at my sister and brother-in-laws cabin in Tahoe Donner. Last year was a little crazy with six adults and four kids (two which were under one) and only 3 bedrooms. So this year we decided we needed to do separate trips.

Jason and I usually do Tahoe plus an additional trip during the summer, but with a 2 month baby and 22 month toddler, this was all we were willing to take on. Even though we were only going up to Tahoe for a couple of days, Jason still took the whole week off as part of his paid family leave.

We started the weekend off by going to Farmer's Market at the Ferry Building in San Francisco.

On Monday we went to Capitola Beach.

  These two - all week. Love.

 

And I love this fun, colorful hotel that lines the beachfront.

 

On Wednesday we headed up to Tahoe. 

Traveling with two babies in no joke. 

So much stuff. 

Two pack-n-plays.

Two strollers (one double and one umbrella)

A bouncer.

A pump.

Lots of beach toys (plus, chairs, tent, umbrella)

And all the normal stuff you would bring on vacation.

We stayed in Squaw at Squaw Valley Lodge and it was great. 

We knew we needed a separate bedroom for Jack since he goes to bed so early and we also didn't want him waking in the middle of the night when Livvie woke.

We got a one-bedroom, which included a full kitchen and living room - about 700 sq. feet. It was perfect. Nothing fancy, but definitely nice, and a pretty good deal.

Plus, the location is so central to everything - 10 miles from Truckee/Tahoe Donner, 6 miles to Tahoe City, and about 15 miles to Kings Beach.

The Truckee River was just two miles from our place, and since we couldn't check in until 4, we walked the kids in the stroller along the river when we got into town.

So pretty. 

 

On Thursday we went to Tahoe Commons Beach. 

Crazy how little water there is in the Lake.

 

 

 While the kids napped, I enjoyed some alone time at the pool.

Jason brought the kids down after they woke so Jack could do some swimming.

He kept giving him and Jack matching mohawks.

That night we went to Tahoe City and walked along the lake.

A thunderstorm was about to start rolling in.

 

On Friday, we drove to King's Beach.

Jack had so much fun playing in the lake here since it was a little deeper.

He kept bending over and dunking his head in the water. So cute. 

 

Baby girl having a blast. Ha.
 

And a much needed family picture!

 

We left around noon and drove to Jason's grandparents, where we spent the rest of the weekend. They live about halfway between us and Tahoe, so we thought it would be a good way to break up the drive home (especially since baby girl screams whenever in the car). Plus, we wanted some of Jason's extended family to meet Olivia.

All in all, it was a great little family vacation. Traveling with 2 under 2 is definitely not easy, but so worth it. We had to come back in the middle of the day for nap time, order dinner in each night, and you still have to deal with a crying baby and tired toddler. But, I so needed to get out of town and have a change of scenery, and I'm glad we did it.

Olivia {2 Months Old}

I usually dread writing the monthly posts, but I have to say, I'm happy to have this last month behind us.

Two under 2 has had it's challenges, especially with this sweet baby girl of ours.

Livvie is definitely a screamer and wants to be held all.the.time.

Weeks 4-6 were especially tough, but we are finally starting to see the light.

Initially I could not put her down to do anything. 

Try to go pee: she screamed.

Try to make Jack lunch: she screamed.

The swing, the bouncer, the floor mat - scream.

The only place she seemed content to be (besides my arms) was on her changing table looking out the window. 

The last two weeks have brought some relief, as I can put her in the bouncer or swing for 10-20 minutes (or more), and she is content.

She has even started falling asleep on her own in the swing, whereas before she had to fuss herself to sleep while I bounced her up and down.

The carseat has been one of her least favorite places to be, so car rides have been quite brutal. But, like with everything else, she is getting better, and we have had a lot of drives now where she hasn't screamed at all. 

But, when Livvie isn't fussing, she is actually really happy. We like to say that her highs are high and her lows are low. She isn't a constant screamer/fusser like some babies. She just really wants to be held a lot. And when she gets angry, she's angry! But, when she's happy, she's very happy. She gives lots of smiles, and we don't even have to work for them. I can just look over at her and they start coming, without even having to talk to her.

She's also very vocal and a big coo-er.

Sleeping at night has been very inconsistent. I've been trying to put her down between 8 and 9. We'll get a few nights in a row where she'll give us a 5-6 hour stretch, and then she'll seem to revert back to the longest stretch being 3 hours. Her first stretch is 3-6 hours, but then it seems to go downhill from there, and I seem to be up every 2-3 hours after that. She's getting better at going back to sleep right after I nurse, whereas the fist month I seemed to be up with her for 1-2 hours sometimes. There are still nights where she has to sleep on my chest, which I don't like doing, but there really seems to be no other way for her to go back to sleep sometimes.

During the day she's a total cat-napper, usually only sleeping 30-40 minutes at a time. Some days she gives us one long nap around 2-3 hours, but I don't count on those to happen regularly.

In terms of eating, she's a snacker. I would say she eats every 1-3 hours. If she has a good nursing session, she can go 3 hours, but sometimes she doesn't eat very much, so she's wanting to eat again in an hour and half. I would say she averages eating about every 2 hours.

I really do think she is going to be a totally sweet and mellow girl once she gets past this fussy stage. I can already see her coming out of it, and I suspect my 3 month post will be much different.

All about Livvie at 2 months:

Weight: 10 lbs (40th percentile)

Length: 22 in (50th percentile)

Head: 14.75 in (50th percentile)

*measurements taken at 7 weeks (2 weeks before 2 months)

Clothing: 0-3 month/3 month starting at 6 weeks (still innewborn for some onesies)

Diapers: Size 1 (as of 6 weeks)

Eating: Averaging every 2 hours

Sleeping: All over the place: 2-6 hour chunks

First: Shots at 7 weeks

It's crazy to see how different Jack and Olivia are so far. 
First, they look nothing alike as babies. Jack was a total chunk, whereas Livvie is more average. Jack takes after Jason, whereas Olivia seems to be taking after my side of the family.
 Jack was not into the paci, Livvie chomps on that thing and when it falls out, all hell breaks loose.
 Jack was an awesome napper, Livvie not so much. 
Jack attacked the boob while nursing, Livvie just seems to nibble.  
Jack almost always fell asleep while nursing, Livvie almost never.
But like Jack, Olivia is an awful night sleeper and definitely seems to prefer sleeping on her tummy over her back. Hopefully, like Jack, once she rolls and can sleep on her back, she will become an awesome sleeper like he was. 
 
Here's to another month!

Olivia {1 Month Old}

I'm sure I will say this with every post...

But, I can't believe Olivia is 1 month old. 

I mostly call baby girl Livvie or Livvie Lou.
Or we call her squeakers because that's the sound she makes when she cries or fusses.

She is growing quickly and starting to get her own look.

Clearly she is not the most photogenic - she is much cuter in person - I think it is the bug eyes shes got going on.

 Baby girl loves to be held...all the time, especially chest to chest.

She is rarely happy in the bouncer, swing, carseat, or laying somewhere unless she is asleep. We are trying to get adjusted to the sling, as I need my hands to entertain and care for brother.

Livvie started off as a great sleeper the first 10 days or so (going 3-4 hour stretches). The last 3 weeks or so, she has dropped to 2 hour, sometimes 3, hour stretches, so I'm surviving off of coffee and diet coke.

Here are some of my favorite pictures from Livvie's first month.

1 Week 

                                                 
        2 Weeks

                   
  3 Weeks

 

                                                  4 Weeks

 And all about Livvie at 1 month:

Weight: 8 lb, 8 oz (25th percentile)

Length: 20.5 inches (10th percentile)

Clothing: newborn

Diaper: newborn

Eating: every 2-3 hours

Sleeping: 2-3 hours

Firsts: smiled at 4 weeks (but they are VERY hard to come by); bottle at 2 weeks

Likes: being held, pacifier, walks in the stroller

Dislikes: laying on back, diaper changes, the carseat

Livvie Lou, we love you!

Olivia's Birth Story

Our baby girl entered the world eleven days ago on May 15, 2014.

6 lbs, 12 oz and 18 3/4 inches of perfection.

I haven't blogged much the past 9 months - this pregnancy, coupled with chasing a toddler, took it out of me.

I last blogged 3 months ago, with this story of our baby girl.

We thought the bumps in this pregnancy were over after that.

But they continued - and that is where her birth story begins...

At 34.5 weeks, I went to my bi-weekly ob appointment (The night before I had been at labor and delivery for some bleeding I was having. Thankfully it turned out to be nothing).

I had been measuring normal up until then, but at this appointment I was measuring a week behind.

So, they told me to come back in a week to see if I had grown appropriatley.

When I came back a week later, I had not grown at all and was measuring 33 weeks. They sent me to do a growth ultrasound to get an estimate of our baby girl's size.

The ultra sound had were weighing in at 5lbs even, which I thought was a decent size at 35.5 weeks, but apparently it was only the 14th percentile. The perinatal doctor said the 'concerning' part was that our son was not small, and you usually make babies of similar size, so there could be something genetic going on that was causing her to be small and not grow appropriately. 

He ordered non-stress tests twice a week and ultra sounds weekly to monitor our baby and make sure her activity was normal and that my placenta was doing it's job.

 

So, this was all stressful. After all we went through at her 20 week ultra sound, it was hard to find ourselves in another place of uncertainty about her development. I was told that she had IUGR (intrauterine growth restriction). My doctor did not seem concerned, which was a huge comfort throughout the last few weeks of our pregnancy. However, both my doctor and the perinatologist said that if her weight percentile dropped to the 10th percentile, they would induce me - figuring the baby would be better outside than inside at that point.

At 37.5 weeks, they did another growth ultra sound. Baby girl now weighed 5lb, 12 oz. Again, I thought that sounded good -she had grown 12 oz in two weeks (which was only a few ounces less than she should have). However, this dropped her down to the 12th percentile. The perinatologist said I was barely 'skating along' and would need to be induced at 39 weeks. 

So, 39 weeks came.

Here is how the day went...(which is very similar to Jack's labor)

7:45am - We checked into the hospital and they began hooking me up to the monitors and checking my vitals. My heartrate was literally between 130-150. I was so nervous, not about the labor, but about her health. My mid-wife (who my doctor brought on this last year and does Tuesday/Thursday deliveries for him) came around 8 and calmed me down significantly.

8:45am - Started pitocin. I came in dilated at 3cm, 60% effaced, -2 station.

11am - Got the lovely epidural, although it was not as lovely as the one I got with Jack. The anesthesiologist had a difficult time finding the right spot to put it in, so it took awhile. Then, the epidural hit my right side much more than my left, so I could not move my right leg for the rest of labor, with my left leg eventually losing complete feeling too.

12:30pm - My midwife came and broke my water. At this point, I'm only 4cm, 80%, and still -2.

2:30pm - I was 5cm now. But, they stopped pitocin because my body had naturally started labor and my contractions were too close together for baby to keep up her heart rate. The same thing happened with Jack, so I wasn't too nervous. They gave me oxygen and were re-positioning me a lot to help find a spot that baby liked.

3:45/4pm - I was still at 5cm, and they didn't think my contractions were strong enough to keep things moving, so they started pitocin again. I got a new nurse at 3:30, who happened to work at my ob's office. She noticed that my catheter was blocking my cervix, so she repositioned it. She said as soon as she moved it, my cervix immediately began dilating more.

4:30pm - Well, that seemed to do the trick, because I was very quickly at 10cm. They began getting things set up and ready for baby to come. 

4:40pm - My mid-wife had me do a trial push. I pushed once, and she said stop! Baby girl was about to come out, but the other nurses who were helping with the delivery weren't in the room yet. So, we waited a few more minutes for everyone to get there, including the hospital pediatrician (in case there was something going on with baby girl that needed immediate attention). Once everyone was ready, I pushed for one contraction, and that was all that baby girl needed (so much different than Jack's delivery)

4:49pm - Our Olivia Louise was here. The first thing I heard when they pulled her out was, "That is not an IUGR baby." She was a great size and perfectly healthy.

 

The moment I first laid eyes on her.

We are overwhelmed and overjoyed to have our beautiful, healthy girl here. Her name means Symbol of Peace & Renowned Fighter, and I think it is so appropriate for the journey we had in welcoming her here.

 

 

My midwife, Sonya. I loved having her deliver our sweet girl.

Livvie Lou, we love you!

And our family of four!