Simon is one month!

Whoa, where did the time go?  Our little guy is still very much a newborn but he's getting bigger every day.  Just two weeks ago he was struggling to gain weight at 2 oz below his birth weight of 6 lbs 7 oz and today he weighed in at 7 lbs 14 oz.  We have to coax him to eat his 2 oz at a time but he does it.  He has progressively more alert time but still sleeps pretty well at night, waking around 2:30, 5 and 8.  Unfortunately with the pumping it takes at least an hour at a time.  Simon can nurse when he's awake and alert but that's still pretty rare.  I'm hopeful he'll catch on as we get closer to his due date.

Hannah is being a good big sister and loves to dole out kisses and supervise diaper changes.  We are settling in to life as a family of four.

Simon's Birth Story

After a busy tax season and having a stomach bug the week before, I took Tuesday, April 16th off work.  I saw my midwife, Jessica, in the morning and she checked me.  I was 1 cm dilated and soft at 35 weeks, which she was not concerned about.  I had lunch and checked in with work before heading out for an appointment with my nutritionist.  After the appointment I went to the gym for a swim before going home.  At 5:15 PM I laid down on the couch for a little nap and woke up an hour later.

I got up to use the restroom and felt a small gush.  I ran to the bathroom and there was some fluid but not that much.  I wasn't sure what to do.  I was standing in the kitchen trying to figure out what to do next when I saw Steve and Hannah pull up.  It was a nice day and they were still outside when I opened the door and told Steve I thought my water broke.  He asked if I had called someone and I said no.  I called my midwife who said I needed to call the OB office and get checked out.  I called and spoke with the office staff who said Dr. L would call me back.  She called back fairly quickly and said I could either come in to the hospital or put on a pad and see what happened.  Hannah was screaming for my attention at this point so I said we would decide and call back.  I called my midwife back and she asked m how it felt compared to last time.  I said it felt very similar.  I really didn't want to go to the hospital and have another preemie but it was clear that's where we were headed.  I called the OB office back and left a message saying we were headed to the hospital.

I packed a few things and Steve made Hannah a bag dinner and called his mom and we were out the door a little after 7.  At this point I was feeling antsy and saying, "We need to go."  We got to the hospital around 7:30 and Steve dropped me off at the maternity entrance and went to park.  The security guard asked me if I needed a wheelchair and I declined.  I went up to the front desk and said I though my water broke.  They looked me up in the system (a lot less paperwork this time!) and got me into a triage room where I put on a gown, got into bed, and got hooked up to a monitor and an IV since I had not had the GBS test yet.  I was swabbed foe amniotic fluid and it was clearly positive.

It felt like forever until Steve and Hannah came in.  Hannah was not in a good mood initially but luckily there was a walk-in closet in the room that kept her entertained while she ate her dinner.  I was feeling some contractions at this point and feeling antsy and wanted to get up.  The nurse left for what felt like a long time. She came back with a resident who finally checked me around 8:20.  I was 5-6 cm dilated.  I asked if I could get up and the nurse said the baby's heart was decelerating with each contraction and they wanted to watch it.  I texted Jessica with this information and she said she was on her way.  I got moved to a labor & delivery room (the same one as with Hannah!) where Steve kept Hannah somewhat contained.  They put an oxygen mask on me because of the decelerations, which freaked me out a bit.  Hannah said it was funny.  Luckily my backup OB, Dr. Garfinkle, came in at this point, took one look at the monitors, and said I didn't need the oxygen.  He also said I could get up.

Around this time my midwife came in and shortly thereafter Steve's mom came to pick up Hannah.  Finally I felt like I could focus.  We got me on the mobile monitors and out of bed.  I headed for the bathroom as I did last time.  I got my feet up on a couple of stools and tried to relax as the contractions picked up.  Jessica and I were chatting between them.  (Steve was gone seeing Hannah off for what felt like a long time.)  After about an hour things picked up and I had trouble sitting still through the contractions and I was complaining that it hurt.  I kept trying to tell myself it wouldn't be much longer and that the baby would be here before midnight.  Around 9:40 Jessica wanted me off the toilet.  She and the nurse had to help me stand at this point.  She had me lean forward on the bed and my legs were shaking.  I also started grunting and felt like pushing.  Dr. Garfinkle came in and wanted me in the bed.  I had a hard time getting in.  He checked me and said I was 9 1/2 cm.

At this point I felt like I needed permission to push.  I asked if it was OK to push at 9 1/2 and if I was in a good position to push.  I got the go ahead and started pushing.  It really hurt.  I was also really hungry, which I commented on between pushes.  Steve held one hand and Jessica the other and I tried to focus on pushing through the pain.  It hurt like crazy but I knew I had to push to end it.  I gave a big push and I could feel the head come out.  Dr. Garfinkle said the cord was around the neck pretty tight and cut it right away.  At 9:58 PM I gave one more good push and the body was born.  I felt a huge sense of relief, and joy as the doctor said "It's a boy!"  Baby Simon was 6 lbs 7 oz and 18" long.  He was a little grunty so after I got to hold him for a minute it was off to the NICU with Daddy while I got fixed up.  It was almost 3 hours before I got to see him again, and 3 days before we got to take our sweet boy home.  

Hannah is One!

It's hard to believe in some ways, but there is no stopping her from growing and learning!  We went to the doctor on her birthday and she is 22 lbs 2 oz and 27.5", a long way from the 5 lbs 11 oz and 18" she was at birth.

Hannah has been crawling for a couple of weeks and it's so fun to watch her make her way across the living room or kitchen floor.  Our floors are cleaner than ever before since she will pick up any tiny thing and promptly put it in her mouth.  She has impressed us with her ability to get under the table without hitting her head.

We think Hannah is saying three words - wow, cat, and block.  It is hard to tell sometimes!  She has one new tooth just barely poking through and #8 is not far behind.  She loves to clap, waves occasionally, and can do some of the movements for Patty Cake.  Peek-a-Boo is still her favorite game. She has a good sense of humor and has become quite a giggler.

It's hard to take alot of pictures these days since she's always on the move.  But I want to share a couple more from her birthday.

Pretty in Pink

First taste of cupcake!

Happy Birthday, Little Sweetie!  We love you!

Hannah is 11 months!

I cannot believe that in one month, my teeny tiny baby will be one. One!

I feel like Hannah has really been growing and changing this month.  She just seems to be putting it all together.  She knows what "clap your hands" means and plays peek-a-boo really actively.  It's adorable.  No new teeth this month but the six she has are fully out and she has been using them to scrape off pieces of apple and melon.  She has also been enjoying corn, beans, rice, cucumbers, shredded carrots and a little bit of chicken.  We had to cut out yogurt because of a persistent rash and it has completely cleared up.  So we are seeing an allergist on the 10th to try to figure out what's going on and if she has any other sensitivities as egg and banana are already an issue. Hannah figured out the straw cup seemingly overnight and can also suck food right out of her pouches.  But purees are not as interesting as they used to be.

Hannah is not crawling and I'm not even sure how close she is...she gets up on all fours but doesn't really know what to do from there.  She is starting to try to pull up, and can stand with support a little bit.  She loves reaching for any kind of contraband - remotes, phones, cords, pens.  She eats paper like a goat and has pretty much ruined her board books.  She continues to be a happy baby who smiles a lot and has one heck of a belly laugh.

We had a pretty busy month.  We finished out of Christmas visit in Vermont and Hannah had her first bath in a big tub.

We celebrated New Year's Eve at home with both sets of grandparents and Uncle John, Aunt Angela, and cousin Sara.  Hannah got more presents and she was pretty excited.  She also ate part of a leaf.

Before my parents headed home we went out to dinner at our usual spot, The Famished Frog.  Hannah took a nice long afternoon nap and was in a great mood during dinner.  She charmed everyone!

Then Hannah got sick.  It was bronchiolitis, nothing too serious, but we had some pretty rough nights because she could only sleep upright and got nebulizer treatments around the clock.  I was sick too with a pretty bad sinus infection so that was no fun.  Steve and I were about to lose our minds but luckily Steve's mom came to the rescue and sat with Hannah one night so we could get at least a little rest.  We were thrilled to get the all-clear by the pediatrician to go on our long-awaited vacation at the end of the week.

Hannah was an all-star on the trip.  We made sure she got her two naps most days and she went out to dinner almost every night and behaved really well.  She loved the hustle and bustle of the hotel - the people, the music.  The only time she got cranky was if we kept her in the room too long.  We really had a lot of fun hanging out together.  I think this is my favorite shot from the trip because it captures her goofy laugh when she gets really excited.  

I also like this one of my sweet bathing beauty:

We bed-shared on the trip (hello, king bed!) and she slept amazingly well.  So, now we are bed sharing at home and so far, so good.  We are getting a heck of a lot more sleep overall and I feel like a human being again.  We will see how long this phase lasts!  

So, next  is the one-year update.  Crazy!

Kind of random

 What a difference 5 months makes...



Hannah's first bath - 3/11/11



Hannah 8/27/11

Hannah is 10 months!

Wow, double digits!  I can't believe my tiny baby will be one in two months.  Hannah got two more teeth this month for a total of six.  She has also gotten very busy playing.  She likes to check out all of her toys and can roll and pivot to get where she wants to go - everywhere but straight ahead!  She is getting very good at clapping and will do it when we sing the "Clap, clap, clap your hands" song.  She is also starting to wave and vocalizes a lot.

She really likes to turn things over to look at the underside and check out the screw holes and battery compartments.  She seems to find that way more interesting than the actual toy.

We had a busy month getting ready for Christmas.  Hannah made her performance debut at the St. Lucia pageant at IKEA along with her classmates from the Swedish School.  We didn't get any great shots of the pageant but here is one of her in her gingerbread girl outfit.

Of course, Christmas was the big event this month.  I will be doing a separate Christmas post but we had a great time at my sister's house.  Hannah was tired on Christmas Eve (her 10-month birthday) but still had fun looking at her presents.

  

Hannah is 9 months!



I feel like this month was a big one for Hannah.  She has become so much more engaged, and very deliberate in her actions.  We got her a play yard so she can roll around safely and she loves being in there.  We have put up a mirror for peek-a-boo, and used the bars from her baby gym to hang toys overhead. When she gets cranky we just put her down amongst her toys and she is usually happy again.  Her biggest frustration is when something is out of reach - she hasn't figured out that crawling is an option yet.  Penny the cat is her best friend (at least as far as she is concerned!) and they are getting more comfortable together.  Hannah loves it when Penny is close enough to touch! 

We continue to work on crib sleeping.  Hannah is now sleeping pretty well in her crib with an occasional waking around 10 PM for milk, sometimes another one later on just for soothing, milk again around either 2 or 4 AM and then it can get a little tricky until morning.  One night I got her back down after a 4 AM feed and she slept in her crib until 7 - that was a big milestone for us!

Even though Halloween was basically canceled due to power outages from the freak snow storm (Hannah was a champ through 28 hours of no heat, including some 56 degree diaper changes) we had a little celebration at home with Abuelita, Uncle John, Aunt Angela, and cousin Sara the bee.

Hannah also celebrated her first Thanksgiving - with a plate of sweet potatoes, squash, green beans, and a little turkey. 

She enjoyed the day even though there was a shortage of naps.  She also did really well Black Friday shopping, although she got a bit tuckered at the end.

Hannah got three more teeth this month (those uppers were brutal!) and I think she just started working on some more.  Next month she hits double digits - yikes!