Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas….we have much to be thankful for this year. 

Our 2013 Christmas card/birth announcement….front...

and back...

Many blessings to you all. 

One Month

We have successfully made it through the first month. I think we are moving in the right direction with sleep. She's now going down around 11-11:30 at night and sleeping through until around 5-6 am. The most frustrating is that she can go to sleep and seem like she is dead to the world and then suddenly be wide awake! It seems like it takes her a long time to go down. I'm

still struggling with swaddling as she still is getting really fussy around 6 pm and can last until she goes down for good at 11 pm. I'm not sure swaddling is our answer but I press on. Nathan has taken to wearing his Bose noise reduction headphones while she's screaming and unconsolable.

We are also still struggling with nursing. She's just not an aggressive eater and nursing still remains the best way to get her to sleep. She is probably getting half breast milk and half formula through the day…so I guess I'll take it. I despise pumping but such is life. She was 8 pounds and 5.5 oz yesterday at the breast feeding support group. (I laugh every time I tell someone about this group…lol!) 

I haven't made the jump to cloth diapers yet. And I'm not really looking forward to it….I have spoiled myself. But, I already bought some cloth diapers before she was born so I'm going to try it out!! 

We are getting better with venturing out of the house. I still have not taken her to Target or the grocery store. The weather hasn't been horrible but the cold weather keeps us inside most of the time. We've ventured to the mall a few times and it makes me wish I could have always shopped with a stroller! How convenient to not have to carry everything!! She does well in the car seat. As much as this kid loves to be held-miraculously she doesn't seem to mind the car seat and usually falls asleep.

She really enjoys bath time and it remains one of my favorite times with her as well. I love washing her hair. It gets kinda greasy throughout the day cause I'm always petting her. She can get pretty crazy bed head- especially if it doesn't dry right. I hope she will end up liking water as much as I do! I'm anxious to see how she does in the red neck pool this summer.

She is still able to wear her newborn clothes (but I fear not for very much longer!). She is definitely starting to fill out. Her cheeks have plumped up and she is resembling my newborn photo more! She is awake more during the day- I don't have great set nap times yet. She still prefers to be held, which can be frustrating. She doesn't really like the swing or her bouncy seat (she will tolerate each for only 15 minutes or so). She doesn't really like tummy time- I keep trying but each session only lasts about 30 seconds before she voices her protest. She really likes to sit up and she has pretty good control of her head and neck. She is pretty good about taking a pacifier and will go to town on it for a few minutes and then abruptly spit it out. She's found her thumb a few times, but sucks on her hands and fingers mainly when she is hungry. 

She's still sleeping in her rock and play (Nathan has still not wanted to put her in her crib as he thinks she's still too little). We have at least graduated to all of us sleeping in our bedroom, so I'm not banished to the guest bedroom with her anymore. 

I had my 6 week check up yesterday and so here she is with Dr. P since we forgot to take a pic at the hospital. 

Newborn photos

Here's a few of Vivian's newborn photos. We were so happy with how they turned out. She was so good for them! Nathan's sweater may still be at the cleaners…during their photos together- she was diaperless- she let it loose on him! Lucky for him he's a veterinarian and good with poop :)

…and here's a picture from Thanksgiving…with her three Great Grandmothers. 

Monthly Photos

Her two week stats- 6 pounds 15 oz, 20.5 inches long, 15th percentile for weight and 50th percentile for height. Nursing is still a challenge and we are nowhere near having a sleeping/feeding schedule (ugh!!). She is a challenge in the late hours of the night between cluster feeding and being a bit colicky. She constantly gives cues of being hungry but then falls asleep when nursing. 

Here's hoping things continue to improve! We made it through the first two weeks!!

First Week Home

Trying out our Boppy pillow…

Our flowers from the hospital...

Daddy giving a bottle. Nursing has proved to be a challenge. She wasn't getting enough from me and she went 12 hours without urinating and 24 hours without defecating. I started to freak out and texted/called Laura (I'm so lucky to have a BFF who's a pediatrician!!)….she talked me down from a ledge and squelched my concerns about using formula. So, we've had to use some formula supplementation. It wasn't how I wanted things to go but we got her back on track. We are back to just using breast milk but I have to pump quite a bit as she still isn't a great nurser. She kind of snacks and is a grazer so it makes for very long nursing periods! But we haven't given up yet! 

We had more visitors….Great Aunt Nancy and Uncle Al came to visit. The Loans have been here and Greer Fry came yesterday to see her as well. 

Aunt Bridget took our newborn photos. We are still waiting for the final edits but they are looking great so far! Vivian pooped all over Nathan during one of their photos! It was pretty hilarious (and messy!) at the time! It will make for a great story to embarrass her with in about 13 years! 

We have LOTS of sleeping pictures….she looks so peaceful! 

I feel like every time I turn around we are washing bottles…either breast pump bottles or actual baby bottles! Mom was fascinated by our 'grass' system for bottle drying. Mom stayed with us for the first week to help out…and was a huge help!

We had our home visit by the nurse/lactation consultant. She drew some blood to monitor her bilirubin levels and jaundice. We had to take her back to the hospital the next day for a weight check after starting the formula supplementation because she had lost a little more weight than they would have liked. She had gained back 1 ounce and so we were in the clear! 

A typical scene at the house these days...

Family photos

My newborn photo….I was about 20 minutes old in this picture and apparently not happy about entering the world! I was born via C- section so Mom wanted Dad to take my picture so she knew what I looked like when I was born. I weighed 9 pounds 8 oz and apparently it was all in my cheeks!

I think this photo looks the most like Vivian…..she definitely had more hair than I did when I was born!

I have yet to see a newborn picture of Nathan. I'll have to raid what few pictures they do have of the boys. 

Gma Julie at 6 weeks of age. 

The Hospital

Our hospital room….it looks kinda messy because I didn't think to take a picture of it until we were leaving. The hospital bed left much to be desired in the comfort department. The hospital food wasn't bad. We had 24 hour room service- we had a menu in the room and could order anything off of it 24 hours a day. We had a nice flat screen TV and whirlpool tub. The tub was nice as they wanted me to soak 2-3 times a day to help aid in the healing process. 

Nathan's bed…I ended up sleeping with Nathan the last two nights cause my bed was so uncomfortable. 

Our room number…

Teeny tiny feet...

Tiny ears…

Tiny fingers...

Meeting Gma Jean...

and Buschy...

Uncle Adam and Aunt Teresa...

Aunt Bridget and Gma Marilyn...

Uncle Nick and Gma Marilyn...

Gpa Terry...

Dressed up for our first ISU game…we couldn't watch it cause the hospital didn't carry the network it was on…we lost anyway- so it wasn't like we missed much. We have lots of room to grow into our ISU game wear. 

The nurse showed us how to give her a bath before we left on Sunday. We were all so ready to get home!! Nathan and I thought the bath would really tick her off but she actually really enjoyed it!

Nathan's Facebook post announcing her arrival. 

On our way home! Nathan drove us home in the Pilot. Mom and Dad were at our house waiting for us with lunch! The dogs were happy to see us! 

Now the hard part begins!!