Our First Family Vacation

Matt, Olivia and I went on our first family vacation last week to Santa Fe, NM. Olivia and I had never been there before and it had been a very long time since Matt had been there. I found a hotel that ended up being just perfect for us... a 2 room suite that was basically a 1 bedroom apartment with kitchen, family room and separate bedroom/bathroom. It was great because then Olivia could sleep in a separate room from us and we didn't have to worry about waking her up.

She did great on the 5 hour drive down, sleeping about half the time and otherwise being entertained by Mommy. We arrived a little before her bedtime on Tuesday night. On Wednesday we headed to the Plaza to check out the shops. If you are a fan of southwestern art and jewelry then this is the place for you! But I'm not really, so we didn't go into too many stores. We did check out La Fonda, a very nice hotel Matt really wanted to stay at until we saw that the cheapest rooms were $300+ per night! We hung out in the plaza and enjoyed the guitar music playing while we people watched.

Thursday we started our morning by taking Olivia to the pool. This was her first experience in a pool. At first she was a bit unsure, but quickly she was smiling and kicking and having a great time. Then we headed back into town and checked out the San Miguel Mission, Loretto Church and the Georgia O'Keefe Museum. The churches were beautiful and Olivia was great walking around town in her new Baby Bjorn. The Georgia O'Keefe museum was very disappointing because it doesn't show many of her painting. Instead it has rotating exhibits with a few of her painting scattered throughout. Thursday night we went to dinner with a friend of Matt's from college and his family. It was great to meet them, and Olivia was very well behaved as usual!

Friday we headed home, stopping in Taos on our way back. It seems to be a nice town, but it's Plaza isn't nearly as big or nice as Santa Fe's. We walked around and got some lunch and then headed home. It was a much longer trip home and Olivia had one meltdown, but overall she did great considering it took us over 6 hours to get home! This was a great first family vacation and we really enjoyed ourselves!!! Next up... Hawaii in January!!!

6 Month Check Up

I can't believe that Olivia is 6 1/2 months old now! The time is starting to fly by more quickly now. Especially now that she is learning so much every week! Last week we visited her pediatrician for her 6 month check up and to get more shots! The doctor was very pleased with her progress and said she was just "lovely". Here are her newest stats:

Height: 27" (she grew 3" in just over 2 months and is in the 75-90%!)
Weight: 14 lb, 10 oz (25% - same as last time... I think eating some solid food now will help her put on some weight)
Head: 43cm (50%)

Since seeing the doctor last she has:
- Gotten 2 teeth
- Starting to eat solid food (including applesauce, peas, carrots, zucchini, yams, sweet potatoes and pears)
- Grabs at toys and can hold and shake them
- Rolls over from her back to her tummy
- Sitting in her stroller without her car seat
- Getting stronger every week at sitting up on her own

I was also excited because the doctor said that her eyes will remain blue!!! They are a deep blue with a bit of grey in them. I have some grandparents who have/had blue eyes, but neither Matt nor I do, or any of our immediate family, so we definitely were not expecting Olivia to keep her blue eyes. They are beautiful!

She received 4 more vaccinations... one oral and 3 shots. She didn't even cry at all with the first shot and then started to cry about halfway through the second shot. About 10 seconds after the third shot, she stopped crying all together... my little Rock Star continues! I'm so impressed with her! Next visit (at 9 months) we don't have to get any shots!!!

Rolling Over!!!

Olivia rolled over for the first time a couple of days ago!!! She's been getting close recently, but couldn't quite figure out how to get over her arm that is on the floor. But the other day I had her on the activity mat and I noticed she was getting close, so I made sure to watch her. Sure enough, she was able to push past her arm and fully roll over! She laid on her arm for a few minutes but eventually was able to maneuver it out. She's done it several times since then. It just feels like all of a sudden she's learning so many new skills! She's eating solids now sitting in her high chair, rolling over, gotten 2 teeth, grabbing things and sitting in her stroller without a car seat! She needs to stop so I can catch up now!!!

Starting Solid Foods!

This week we started to introduce "solid" foods to Olivia. So far it's just the rice cereal so that she can learn how to eat off the spoon and figure out how to move the food to the back of her throat to swallow it. The first 2 days, most of the food just stayed at the front of her mouth and she really didn't get it. She also didn't understand completely about opening her mouth for food, but instead just wanted to suck it off the spoon.

Trying Solids for the First Time

But by day 3, she had it! We are on day 5 now, and she totally gets opening her mouth, taking the food off the spoon and swallowing it! I'm so impressed how quickly she got it!!!

I'm interested in getting this baby food processor that steams, defrosts and purees food for her. So once we get that, we'll start moving onto some veggies, fruits and other items. I can't wait to see what she likes.

Olivia's 1st Tooth

The other day I discovered that Olivia has her first tooth coming in!!! It's already broken through the gum, but I didn't even notice because she hasn't been fussing or having any trouble sleeping! It's her bottom right center tooth and it's sharp!!! I definitely wasn't expecting it since my book said most babies start teething at about 6 months, and I just assumed that because she arrived early, that she would be late doing most things! Guess I was wrong... maybe we have a little over-achiever in our future!!! I'll post a picture of the tooth when it comes in a bit more.

Olivia's Introduction to the Pacific

Last week Olivia and I were in California to celebrate my Grandpa's 85th birthday and to spend the week visiting family and friends. As usual, Olivia was an excellent traveler, sleeping through all the flights.

We took her to The Wedge since a storm had created it's famous huge waves, which I had never seen in person. The waves were amazing and it was an beautiful day at the water. We even put her toes in the sand and she didn't seem to mind!

The rest of the pictures can be found under our pictures link above to the right.

4 Month Check Up

Olivia had her 4 month check up at the pediatrician's office last week. Here are her latest stats:

Height: 24" (50%)
Weight: 12 lbs, 2oz - officially doubling her birth weight! (25%)
Head: not sure of measurement (50%)

She's really improving, especially in her weight... really catching up from being in the 10% to the 25% now! She also got 3 more immunizations and like last time, Olivia was a Rock Star! Only cried for about 10 seconds and that was it!!! She's so awesome!

She smiles a ton now and can talk up a storm... we are just waiting to hear our first laugh! Her neck is getting stronger and stronger and her head wobbles a lot less now. We bought a Bumbo seat for her and she is sitting up in it pretty well!! She's also lifting her head up quite a bit from a laying down position. She's still not grabbing a whole lot right now... mostly just my fingers when I feed her, but that's probably her just working on it.

The doctor was pleased with her progress. She took her off the Prevacid that she was on for the reflux we thought she had and she seems to be doing great without it. She put her on her tummy and had her stand up and was glad to see her strong. I asked about teething and what to expect and she said that all the drooling and fist chewing she's doing lately is probably the start of the teeth moving around. Although it can still be many months before a tooth comes through. We've gotten some teeth rings just in case!

So she's doing great, getting stronger everyday and is a total joy for Matt and I!

Summertime Surgery!!!

Yesterday I went to my OB to have a follow up ultrasound on the fibroids and cyst I have. The cyst on my ovary has not grown, and at the moment is not of concern. The fibroids, however, did grow a bit and at this point I have 2 that are about the size of a grapefruit each! I don't feel them and they don't hurt (my doctor was fairly surprised at that). So we talked about my options... leave them there or remove them surgically.

If I leave them, my doctor says they won't ever get smaller (until menopause), and since they are hormonally stimulated, they can get bigger, especially with another pregnancy. They shouldn't be an issue in getting pregnant, but because of their size and the fact that they can get bigger in pregnancy, they could become painful for me, and once I'm pregnant there is nothing I can do about them.

If I have then removed, it's basically like having a c-section. It's 2-3 days in the hospital, no driving for a week, and no heavy lifting for 6 weeks. It also can mean c-sections for all future pregnancies. She mentioned that fibroids can be a contributor to pre-term labor, which I had with Olivia. She can't say for sure that they cause that, but it's possible.

So Matt and I talked about it... and I think I'm going to have the surgery. The doctor suggested that I give myself a year between the surgery and the next pregnancy so since we plan on trying to get pregnant again in Aug/Sept 2012, this summer would be the time for the surgery. Amazing that I went my whole life without a hospital stay and now within 8 months I'll have 2! So much for avoiding a c-section when delivering Olivia!!

Picture Time!

This week I had professional pictures taken of Olivia through one of the Mom's groups I've recently joined. I dressed Olivia in these dresses (the blue one is from my friend Nicole, and the USC dress is from Maggie). When she was in the blue dress, she was set in an Easter basket with some over-sized Easter eggs surrounding her. I'm not sure we got any good shots there because she wasn't in the mood to smile, of course.

In the USC dress she was beyond adorable! We set her on a white fur rug so the dress really stood out! She had several smiles during this session, but also wanted her hands in her mouth (her newest obsession!) I know we got one good full body shot and think we may have gotten a few good ones that were close up... I'm hoping to get to see proofs in about a week and then we'll print up a bunch for family! I can't wait to see how they turn out!

All Smiles

Olivia is really smiling a lot these days, which just makes Matt and I melt! If you smile at her (and she's not crying), she'll almost always smile back now! So sweet!!!

Olivia and I ventured to California for the first time last week. I was excited to show her off to extended family and friends. She met her great-grandfather, great-uncle and aunt, cousins and family friends. She was dealing with some reflux issues, so she had a rough start to the week, but as time went by, and the medication started helping, she was a better baby.

My Grandpa was the first to meet Olivia. We figured it would be easier for him to meet her one-on-one before the big family dinner the next night. She was kinda fussy, but it was so great getting to introduce her to her great-grandfather!!!

The family dinner was great and I loved that everyone loved her! Then on Sunday I introduced Olivia to my friends, Tammy and Nicole and their families. It's so great that our kids will all be fairly close in age! On Sunday afternoon, Maggie hosted a casual get together at her house to introduce the baby to her friends and family. It was fun catching up... especially with Matt's friends, Stu and Sarah, who came up from Cardiff.

One of my favorite parts to the visit was seeing Shaye taking such an interest in Olivia. She shared her toys, gave her kisses and showed concern when she cried. At one point, Olivia was crying, so Shaye, without any prompting from anyone else, came over and offered her "Miss Bunny" blanket to soothe Olivia. The sweetest thing EVER!!! I can't wait for them to grow up and become best pals!

We can't wait to visit again... probably in May, and with Matt in tow!

Poor Olivia!

For the past week or two Olivia has been a fussy baby! I thought it was gas, so we got some Mylicon that, at first, was helping. But the last several days she's been fussier than normal. Most of her awake time she has really been straining after feedings. I could tell it was more than just gas... she would grunt, her face would get red and it was obvious there was something wrong with her tummy! It's been really frustrating not knowing what was going on or how I could fix it. So this morning I called the pediatrician's office and got an appointment for this afternoon. After talking with the pediatrician and having her examine Olivia, she said it sounded like a classic case of reflux. So she prescribed some Zantec that I'll give to Olivia twice a day for ten days. The doctor said it's common in premies and she should outgrow it within a few months. I'll start giving it to her tonight and should hope to see some improvement within a couple of doses!

Some updated stats:

Height: 22 1/2"

Weight: 9 lbs, 4oz

Head: 34 1/2"

She's gained 12 oz in the last 2 weeks and has grown 1 1/2" in the last month! She's doing great and the doctor was very pleased with her growth!

Olivia's Big Day

So Olivia had a very big day today! Last Thursday night she had an overnight oxygen test to see if we could finally take off her oxygen tubes. Her first 2 tests didn't go well... she failed them quickly. So I wasn't very optimistic about her passing this time. But about 20 minutes into the test she was still holding her oxygen rate in the 90s! I was feeling relatively hopefully that this might finally be the night. And sure enough, we got the official word from her doctor that she passed the test "with flying colors"!!! So as of this morning, Olivia is wireless! It was weird carrying her around today without having to drag the oxygen cord behind me, making sure I didn't step on it, or keeping the cat from playing with it. And, she's even cuter... I hardly thought that was possible!

We also had a pediatrician visit today. In the last 2 weeks Olivia gained a full 1 lb!!! Her doctor was very impressed... she went from being in the 3rd percentile to the 10th percentile which, according to her doctor, is a huge jump! She also had her first round on vaccinations, which I wasn't ready for. I thought that we'd have to make a separate appointment for her shots... one that I was not looking forward to. But her doctor said we could do them today or make an appointment for next week. I figured it would be better to just get them over with... and this way I would only have a short period of time to stress and freak out about it! She did so amazingly well... she did cry pretty hard with each of the 3 shots in her thighs... it made me tear up! But in about a minute she was done crying and within 5 minutes she was back in her carseat asleep! So impressive... such a rock star today!!!

6 Week Doctor Visit

Last week I had my 6 week follow up visit with my OB. I was anxious for this visit because I actually wanted to get on the scale... which is a first for me. But my pre-pregnancy jeans were starting to feel a bit big on me so I wanted to find out how much of my pregnancy weight I had lost. Not only have I lost ALL of my pregnancy weight, but an additional 6 lbs!!! I was thrilled! Now I just need to continue this and lose some more weight! I just wish the weather was a bit warmer so I would have more opportunities to take Olivia out for a walk.

My doctor was still able to feel my fibroids that I developed during pregnancy so I decided to get an ultrasound to see what is going on with them as well as the cyst that is on my ovary. So this week I had the ultrasound. Unfortunately, the fibroids have grown in size. Although my doctor (and I) are not that concerned about them since they are on the outside of the uterus (and therefore should be an issue when trying to get pregnant again). But the cyst on my ovary should have disappeared by now and instead it grew in size. I'm a bit concerned about this, so we decided to re-do the ultrasound in 2 months and see what's going on. If it gets larger, then we may have to remove it. So we'll see what happens!!!

The Flowers Visit!

Bethany, Ryan and Shaye came to Colorado Springs this past weekend to meet their niece/ cousin Olivia! We had such a great visit! Shaye is growing so much and was so much fun to have around (except for a few meltdowns!) Shaye loved seeing Nate again... although I'm not sure the feeling was mutual. Last time they visited she was 10 months old and only crawling, so he could escape her by going upstairs. Now she's running all over the place and could follow him upstairs, so Nate had to get more strategic in his hiding! She did great though, and was so cute when she would pet him or let him smell her hand.

We had a pretty low key weekend, mostly just hanging out at home. But we had a few outings to Downtown and Manitou Springs. Shaye got her first look and feel of snow and she loved it! She even got to sled down the driveway! It was so much fun!!! On Saturday night, Bethany's former roomate from San Diego (who now lives in Aurora) came down for dinner. It was great seeing Julie and getting to catch up! Bethany and Ryan made a fantastic dinner and even bananas foster for dessert! Julie was kind enough to take a picture of all of us...

It was so hard to say goodbye to everyone... I get so emotional now when my family leaves. It's really difficult being far away now that Olivia is here. I wish we could just see eveyone whenever we wanted! Maybe someday... in the meantime, we'll have lots of web calls and since I'm not working, I'll try to visit as often as possible! I can't wait to see them again!!

1 Month Old!!!

Today Olivia is 1 month old! I can't believe it! It seems like much longer since I was delivering her! She's doing so great... at her pediatrician visit a week ago, she had gained 8 oz over the previous week which is awesome! The doctor had anticipated 3-4 oz so she was thrilled with 8 oz! She's also grown 1/2" since birth putting her at 20". She's doing a great job feeding... we still are doing a combo of nursing and formula. I'm still waiting for my full milk supply to come in... both my doctor and the lactation woman at the hospital said it could be until her original due date (which is this week) before my milk comes in, so hopefully sometime soon!

We also had a cardiologist follow up appointment this week. All of the issues she had in the NICU are resolving themselves on their own either closing up or already closed. I can't remember all the acronyms of all the parts that were issues, but the cardiologist was pleased with her progress. He also suggested increasing her oxygen in hopes of getting her off it sooner. So in talking with him and the pediatrician, we have increased her oxygen level and will be testing her off the oxygen more frequently... I'm hoping it might only be a few more weeks before she's off the oxygen, but who knows! The doctors don't seem to give us any idea up front which is frustrating! I'll just be glad to have her off so that I don't have to tow around the cord all the time, and try to keep Nate from playing with it like it's a toy!

I'm so thrilled she's doing so well. She's such a sweet and calm baby which is great! She seems to sleep through most anything, and she's been doing pretty well sleeping at night and going for longer stretches between feedings, which I appreciate immensely! Our next pediatrician visit is next week for a weight check so we'll see how much bigger she's gotten!!!

Olivia is Home!

So I'm a little behind on the blogging... but understandable because Olivia is HOME! She was able to come home one week ago after spending her first 2 weeks of life in the NICU. She finally got a hang of the feeding thing and started gaining some weight. Maggie and my Dad helped me get her home from the hospital and then it officially began!!!

So far Olivia's been great... very content, a great sleeper and really improving on her eating! She really only fusses when she's hungry... doesn't even fuss when she's got a wet or dirty diaper! I'm so thankful to have my parents here to help with her and help with things around the house. It enables me to catch a nap on many afternoons which really helps!

So now my days are filled with feedings, diaper changes and my favorite... holding my daughter! We've introduced her to a few people who have come over and of course they all think she's adorable... who could disagree?!

Olivia's Nursery

We've got Olivia's nursery about 90% done now. Thanks to my parents help (it couldn't have been done without them!!) we got the crib, dresser, changing table and glider put together. We also got some cute decorative items put together today, so it's got more of it's "beach" theme. We didn't get the chance to paint or put up the wallpaper border I had hoped, but with Olivia's unexpected early arrival we decided to just skip it. I might order the wallpaper border later and put it up. In the meantime, I think the room turned out pretty cute. We still need a few more decorative items (we need some items for inside the boxes above the crib, her name in wood lettering for above the changing table and some organizing baskets), but I finally feel comfortable bring Olivia home to her room.

Here are pictures taken today of her room:

Our First Family Photo

Here is our first family photo taken by my Dad in the NICU... Olivia temp was a bit low that day so she's got the hat on!

Olivia Update

Olivia is doing really well! We finally have her actual pediatrician looking after her now... she's been out of town over the holidays, so yesterday was the first time she was able to examine Olivia. She said she's actually doing better than expected for her age, which made me feel great! I've been frustrated that things are taking longer than expected... I thought for sure we'd have her home by now! All of her issues have pretty much been resolved... now we are just working on getting her feeding exclusively from a bottle or from me. Our pediatrician says that there is a "Feeding Fairy" that visits the hospital... babies tend to go from being a bit lethargic about feeding to "getting it" and taking everything down practically overnight.

So we feel that the Feeding Fairy has done a fly-by on Olivia because she officially nursed for the first time yesterday! It was amazing!!! I had been trying to breast feed her several times and she would just latch and give maybe a handful of sucks, but that's about all I could get out of her. Then suddenly yesterday I tried again, and she just continued to suck and suck! I was thrilled!!! She nursed for 10 minutes in the afternoon and then 20 minutes that afternoon! Today she nursed again for nearly 20 minutes! I feel like she's finally got this nursing thing figured out. Now we just need to get her to be able to nurse from me and also finish the remaining amount she needs from the bottle. My milk has not fully come in yet, so I'm not able to provide all the milk she needs yet. Now that she's nursing I'm hoping it'll come in soon, although the pediatrician said that it could take until her original due date (February 1st) before she is really nursing full time. So my patience is being tested and we just pray that she won't have to be in the NICU much longer!

What's in a Name?

I realized after I posted my last blogging announcing the arrival of Olivia that I forgot to tell how we finally arrived at a name. Matt and I had been talking about potential baby names for a couple of years actually and never could agree on a single name. So when I got pregnant we suddenly had to get serious about names. Still we really didn't agree on any names... there were a few we each chose that the other "didn't hate". I had brought up the name Olivia at one point and it was one he "didn't hate", but at the time he wasn't in love with it either.

Our other issue was the middle name. Matt feels that a middle name should be a family surname. I don't have an issue with that, but feel that a family surname seems to fit better on a boy. How many girls do you hear with a family surname as a middle name? I don't know any. I really wanted to have Mae as a girl's middle name for many years. My maternal grandmother's name was Bettymae... I think that is a bad "old lady" name, but have always liked the "Mae" part of it. She passed away in 1996 and is the only grandparent of mine to have passed away. Shortly after she passed away I decided that someday I would love to have Mae as my daughter's middle name in her honor.

Finally in October I brought up Olivia again, and when I said it outloud with Mae, it sounded really nice together. We both suddenly thought that was really beautiful and felt right. We sat on it for a day or two, but decided officially on our 1st wedding anniversary to name our daughter Olivia Mae. We have been so excited at the response people have had to her name. I can't wait to tell Olivia all about her great-grandmother and what a very special person she was!

Olivia Mae Bowdish Has Arrived!!!

Matt and I are THRILLED to announce the arrival of Olivia Mae Bowdish on December 30, 2010 at 7:17am. She arrived 5 weeks early much to the surprise of her parents and family! She weighed in at 6lbs, 2oz and was 19.5" long.

On Wednesday, December 29, my mucus plus came out about mid-morning. According to my book, that meant that labor might start as early as a few days or a few weeks. So I called my parents and warned them that I probably wouldn't make it to January 19th, which was when they originally planned on flying out. But much to my surprise that night, my water broke! I was using the bathroom when I noticed I couldn't stop or control liquid coming out. So I yelled down to Matt to come upstairs and said, "So what happens when your water breaks?" I think the question threw him off... especially once he told me and I told him that I'm pretty sure my water was in the process of breaking! So we called my doctor, and she agreed that it probably was breaking.

So after a quick call to my parents and Matt's Mom, we packed a quick bag and headed off to the hospital. Luckily my doctor happen to be the doctor on call that night which was a great relief to me. She decided that we needed to induce labor because once the water breaks, the baby is exposed to the outside world and the higher the risk for infection. After being induced, I started feeling contractions about half an hour later... but thankfully I really seems to move along! When we arrived at the hospital I was 1cm dialated, but not long after being induced, I was suddenly at 3-4cm! At that point, I was ready for the epidural. What a wonderful drug... expect that after about 2 hours it wore off for me and having the doctor come back in to give me more didn't really do anything at that point. So the last hour or so was really hard feeling those really strong contractions and then pushing Olivia out. Poor Matt really had a hard time watching me in so much pain. But finally (and surprisingly more quickly than I had anticipated), Olivia arrived about 10 hours after my water broke.

I had always said that I didn't want to see the baby until they cleaned her up and everyone thought I would change my mind. They set her on my stomach, but true to my word, I didn't really look at her. I wanted my first true look at her to be when she was cleaned off and wrapped up! She was just beautiful and it was so worth the wait!!! Matt and I were full of tears finally getting to see our daughter in person! I only got to hold her a few minutes before she needed to be taken to the newborn nursery.

On her way up to the nursery her breathing became more labored so they decided to move her to the NICU where she has been since. At first she was on oxygen, which is very common for premies in altitude. But she has been off the oxygen the last couple of days now. I remained on the Labor and Delivery floor for 24 hours because they needed to watch my blood pressure levels which got elevated during delivery. So I had to wait until I was moved up to Maternity to see Olivia. In the meantime, Matt spent lots of time with her and talking with the medical staff about her progress. Getting to finally hold her was so special...

Olivia's main issues now are her high biliruben numbers, which is a waste product for red blood cells, and is common in premies, especially in high altitude. She needs to be under 9, and as of this morning she was up at 16. To remedy this, she is put under bright bili-lites which she didn't like because she had to be unswaddled and couldn't be held. She loves being held, so thankfully the last day or so she's had a smaller bili-lits that can be put across her back and that way she can be swaddled and we can hold her.

The other issue is her feeding. She has to be able to feed exclusively from either the bottle or breast and so far that's been a problem. Mostly because babies with high biliruben numbers that are put under the lights are made to feel sluggish and therefore don't feel like feeding. So once her bili numbers come down, I think she figure out this feeding thing and hopefully will come home!!! We can't wait to have her home and are so thrilled that she's arrived!