Mother's Day Out

I decided to put Naomi in Mother's Day Out one day a week this year. She is going to First Baptist Wylie since it is close to our house, offers a one day a week option and is less expensive than our church. I figured MDO would be good for Naomi to have more socialization, some different learning opportunities, and good practice for school. But, honestly, it's probably only about 33% for her. It also gives Olivia a chance to get some one on one attention. And, in theory, it offers me a chance to get more done than I can with both of them home. So far, I've had doctor's appointments every time which are a lot easier with just the baby in tow.

Anyway, the first day Naomi sorta wigged when I dropped her off. She's always been a social butterfly but the intro of the baby or our being gone at the hospital for a couple days initially caused some separation anxiety. However, she has clearly adjusted. This Tuesday she kicked her legs in excitement, reached out for her teacher and then immediately told me bye with a smile. Plus she's always happy when I pick her up.

Here are a couple pics from the first day of school.

Olivia's Arrival

So here is the story of Olivia's arrival.  It is much less dramatic than Naomi's birth.

A Little Background:
Due to my preeclampsia, we were scheduled for a c-section on Monday, August 20th at noon and a little over 38 weeks.  It was so weird actually packing a bag for the hospital and driving there knowing that we were going to have a baby that day.  Last time I had already been hanging out at the hospital for 5 weeks, so I already had a ton of stuff in my room.  Anyway, our prayers before the pregnancy included: no hospital bed rest, a good delivery, no mag after delivery, and no NICU.  I got to do my bed rest at home with my girl.  I tried to drink a ton of water before delivery (up to my no eating/drinking deadline) so that I would have plenty of urine output to avoid the mag dosage.  And, God blessed us hugely!

Getting Prepped:
I signed a bunch of papers.  They placed my IV, they placed my epidural, they placed my catheter, and gave me some sort of antacid that tasted like concentrated sweet tarts on steroids (yuck).  The antacid made me throw up - a little ironic if you ask me, but I know I'm not the only one.  They gave me something for the nausea.  Somewhere along the way, my BP dropped really low and I started to feel woozy, so they gave me something for that.  Once we were all set to go and the doctor was ready, they wheeled me back.

The Big Event:
I'm so jealous that Brian got to stand up and watch the whole thing.  If there had been a good place for them to place the mirror, I would've loved to watch (yes, I'm weird).  Anyway, everything went smoothly.  They cut me open, took out our beautiful Olivia, tied my tubes, put all my insides back where they belong, and sewed me up.  Our girl weighed in at 6 lbs 3 oz (exactly the same as big sister) and about 19 inches long.  I got to kiss her and nuzzle her for a bit before she and Brian headed off to the nursery.  At one point, I began feeling nauseated again, so they gave me some more drugs for that.  They had a bit of trouble getting all my guts back in, but obviously they managed.  We all hummed along to the anesthesiologists iPod playlist.  The anesthesiologist also took our camera and doubled as our photographer so we got a whole lot more pictures this time.  Good times!

Afterward:
I went to recovery.  I produced plenty of urine and my BP was normal, thereby dodging the mag bullet.  I got to do our first nursing attempt.  We got to go to a normal postpartum room.  Olivia got to stay in the nursery and in-room with us.  We got to have visitors like normal - family and friends came by and I wasn't in a drug induced stupor.  Naomi got to come up and meet her little sister (after which, no toy could possibly distract her).  We got to see the hearing test this time.  We worked on breastfeeding and met with the lactation consultants a couple times.  We were discharged after the standard 3 nights for a c-section.  It was awesome!  It may not sound like a big deal, but when you've ended up unexpectedly going the NICU route the first time and having things just not go as expected period, it is incredibly exciting to have a "normal" experience.  So, praises!

At Home:
When we were discharged (on a Thursday), Olivia was slightly yellow and the nursery nurse suggested that we may want to meet with our pediatrician before the weekend particularly if Olivia was still yellow or any more yellow the next day.  We elected to go on Friday.  They checked her bilirubin and it was just a little under the level requiring treatment and she was down to 5 lbs 6.5 oz (dropped almost a full pound), so they arranged for us to have it rechecked on Saturday and to come back on Monday for a weight check.  We went on Saturday and it had dropped significantly.  We switched pediatricians with the birth of Olivia as I really wanted someone closer now that I had two kiddos - our old doc was about 30 minutes away and the new one is about 5 minutes away depending on the whopping 3 traffic lights in the 1 or 2 mile distance from our house).  I was really impressed with their on-call doc's response.  She did a great job with follow up and I felt we were very well cared for.  On Monday, her weight check showed a 4 oz increase, so doc was happy.  Woohoo!

Now for the Best Part - Pictures! :

Look, I weigh the same as my sister did.  

Daddy looking down at his new baby girl with love in his eyes.

Mommy getting to really meet Olivia for the first time.  

A kiss before they take Olivia to the nursery.  

Naomi looking in on Daddy and baby sister Olivia.  

Love that smile!

Olivia's First Bath

Finally getting to really hold her.  Love her!

Swim Lessons

We signed Naomi up for swim lessons this summer and have continued them for the fall.  She LOVES the pool and now says, "Friday Pool" whenever she sees anyone's swimsuit, swim diapers or just because she's excited about it.  She's made quite a bit of progress lately too and actually kicks pretty well, does well going under water, falling in, and floating on her back.  We're excited to see the progress she'll make this fall.

iPhone Rewind - Playdates

We had quite a few fun play dates over the summer, so here are a few of the pics I snapped:

At the Splash Park with Austin

Playing with a doll at Hannah and Abigail's house

At the Splash Park with Pearson

At the Fairview Fountains with Cousin Nick

Cousin Nick

Lovin' the Water!

iPhone Rewind - Naomi and Daddy

Here are just a bunch of cute shots of Naomi and her Daddy over the past 6 months!

Love these two!

Relaxing and chatting on the phone

Fun at the library on a Saturday

My first driving lesson one Sunday morning

I'm a Bucket Head!

Watching a little TV with Daddy (only lasted a few minutes)

"Daddy, I think these shoes look better on me than you."

First Walk

We took our first walk out in our double jogger today. That is one big stroller, but it glides like a dream (as long as you're not going uphill or against the wind). It went well. After a couple of miles, I started feeling my gluts which was a nice feeling. Kinda hoping I'm a little sore tomorrow. Time to start getting my butt back in shape.

Of course, here are a couple of pics:

Olivia is so small that it looks like Naomi just has a little baby doll in the seat next to her.

iPhone Rewind - ChickFilA Fun

We go to ChickFilA on a fairly regular basis because they are so kid friendly.  Here are some snaps of Bingo Night among other things.  (Note: After 3 attempts at Bingo Night, Brian finally bingo'd once.  Yay!  One round of Trivia night yielded a consolation prize, so we'll take it).