Nostalgia

We found a DVD of old videos of Ingrid today.  She was so small and such a little smartypants!  It made me realize how much I miss hanging out with her.  I love Otis to pieces, but I forgot how nice it was to have one on one time with Ingrid.  She is so emotional and sassy lately, I forget how sweet she used to be!

Anyway, got me thinking of babies and them growing up and how on the one hand I'm glad to be done with bottles and sleepless nights, and on the other hand that means no more squishy 6mo olds with their two little teeth and big chubby cheeks smiling at you.  So I will just look back at pictures instead, that's more economical than having another one, right?

A Face Only a Mother Would Kiss

Otis digs into his food, with GUSTO.  He loves to eat!  And now he knows how to play peek-a-boo, which is cute.  Except when he has food all over his hands, which means then he has food all over his face, his hair, his eyelashes.  Last night we had enchiladas.  This is what enchiladas look like after a game of peek-a-boo:

Ugh, good thing bathtime is right after dinner.  Geez.

Crazy Hair Day

Otis woke up with a crazy do going on yesterday.  The whole day was a bit crazy--lots of wheezing, snot, chapped cheeks, whining and crying.  I am already over winter and it hasn't even started yet.

Birthday Party!

This weekend we went to a birthday party for a little one year old named Milo.  His mom and I used to work together and we ended up having our sons (Milo and Otis, ha!) exactly a month apart.  Here's what they looked like together when we first moved here:

Remember, these guys are ONE MONTH apart! 

Here's what they look like now, I think Otis is doing a good job of catching up!

 We had a good time playing with toys, including a little ball pit.  Kids LOVE ball pits, what a great idea to have at a party! 

They had all kinds of fun things, like curvy straws.  Ingrid was in heaven!

Happy First Birthday, Milo! 

My Otis

I just could not love this kid any more than I do.  He just makes me smile so much, he is such a good baby!  He loves his kitten, he giggles at every little thing, he falls asleep in two seconds (snoring already as you lay him in his bed).  Now that he's crawling it's harder to keep up with him.  Even so, he's still pretty good.  His new favorite thing is to get into Ingrid's Duplos.  He just dumps them all out and makes as much noise with them as possible.  Or he likes to crawl after me when I go to the kitchen.  I can hear him grunting and making funny noises as he makes his way across the dining room.  And then suddenly there he is, staring up at me with his big blue eyes and drooling everywhere.  Love him!

Silly Boy

I have the funniest picture of Otis to share with you.  We were playing in Ingrid's bedroom with Zoey and he reached out to grab at her.  I happened to catch this look:

Ha!

And another cute picture of him in his birthday suit last night before bath time.  Why do I have such skinny kids??  Both of them love to eat and yet have no rolls on them whatsoever.  They must get that from the Liddle side of the family, I was a chunk as a baby.  (Still am, haha!)

One last picture--a girl and her cat.  I can already tell this is going to be Ingrid's pet.  She is in love with Zoey!  She wants to play with her, cuddle with her, pet her, and tonight she even had to include her in the good night hugs. 

The Cottage

The cottage is getting a new kitchen, so it's been kind of a war zone around there.  Hence, we have not been there in awhile.  Today we had to go look at refrigerators so we braved it with the kids.  Luckily it was nice out so we could stay outside.  Hopefully the next week or so will see the end of remodeling and a return to calm.  It sucks when the place to which you go for relaxation is not relaxing...

Is there anything better than a drooly baby in a classic white Gerber tee?

Perhaps it's a muddy girl planting seeds with her Grandma.

They drive me crazy, but I guess I'll keep 'em.

The Monster is 3!

Today is Ingrid's birthday!  I can't believe it's been three years since she was born!  Time flies.  We're having a rainbow themed party on Saturday, which she is mega-excited for.  Today is just going to be low key playing and hopefully napping, as she got up at 5:30am today...

11lbs of Fun.

Otis had his doctor's appointment yesterday and weighed in at an even 11lbs.  Not too bad, he's gained more than six pounds in the past three and a half months.  The doc said he looks like he's catching up rather nicely.

Other things going on these days:  Ingrid has taught herself how to play the Wii.  Seriously, my mom and I watched her play table tennis and she totally won every time she played.  Now she knows how to do the bike game.  It's funny, but also a little worrisome to me since I think she's too young for video games! 

Today we had a playdate with some other Bay View moms.  So funny that they all pulled up in their Subarus!  As one mom put it, either there's a group of lesbians here or a group of moms :)  We had a buncha babies laying around snotting and drooling everywhere.  It was fun.

Milo was here again, and we were laughing at how much bigger he is.  Again.  That will always be funny.  Otis is 11lbs, Milo is one month older and 19lbs!  I dont think Ingrid was 19lbs until she was a year old!

Our friend brought us a play gym thing for Otis to lay on.  He's really into looking at stuff and is supposed to have more tummy time (am I the only mom that doesn't do this??  My doctor said I should be doing 15 minutes a day.  I ne-ver do it!)  Otis was pretty enthralled with all the things dangling above him, and I'm loving that the fabrics are cool and not so babyish. 

And one more fun thing--side by side pictures of Ingrid and Otis that Tia took.  Keep in mind that Otis is almost four months old and Ingrid was like 3 weeks old in these pictures!  Every time I think he's so big I get a reminder of how wee he really is!  But how much do they look alike here??  So cute.

Meeting Greta

Yesterday we had our friend Sally and her little girl Greta over.  I used to nanny for Sally's oldest two.  We were pregnant at the same time, and then ended up doing the whole NICU thing with our kids at the same time, too!  Greta just got out of the hospital recently, so we finally got to meet her!  She and Otis had fun looking at each other.

It's just so funny how my world is full of people having babies.  I swear to god everyone I know is either pregnant or just had a kid recently.  It's funny how that happens, isn't it?

Last night Otis was being extra smiley.  He was up on Brendan's shoulder and just as happy as could be.  I love that kid.

Babies!

Today we went to a little mama get together.  Ingrid was the oldest there and had to be reminded more than once to be gentle with all the little ones.  I am so used to her rambunctious personality I forget how crazy she really is!!  Orson didn't seem to have a problem with her, though!

Here are Milo and Otis (just like the movie!)  Milo is one month older than Otis, look how huge he is!  He was two weeks late and like 11lbs when he was born, so pretty much the opposite of our six week early 4lb baby.

Hopefully we can get together with these moms and kids often.  Especially when it gets to be nice out and we can play outside!!  Spring is right around the corner, right??

Siblings, and a Growing Baby

Ingrid likes being a big sister.  Sometimes she freaks out when I'm feeding Otis, or if I ask Brendan to deal with her because I'm holding him.  But for the most part she loves him and is a great little helper.  She loves to get diapers or clothes for him, whether I ask for them or not! 

Yesterday we were doing a little floor time with Otis.  He's pretty strong but he'd much rather look at people's faces so he doesn't last for too long.

I was on the computer listing more stuff for the shop when I hear "I can hold my brother all by myself!"  I look over and there's Ingrid, holding her brother.  All by herself.  And walking around on the hardwood floors.  Where she's been known to slip and fall ten times in two seconds.  I had a heart attack and yelled NO NO NO NO NO!!! which made her burst into tears because she had been so proud of herself.  Poor kid thinks she's ready for anything and everything...

But Otis was fine, just wide eyed looking around, like usual.  This kid is growing like a weed!  I'm not sure how much he weighs now, but he just switched over from newborn clothes to 3 month!  How exciting.  And he's outgrown the XS Bum Geniuses we have.  Also, he is just starting to act more like a normal baby and not a sleepy, snoozy newborn.  He smiles and makes eye contact and has started cooing and almost making the wee-est little giggles when you touch his nose or chin.  It's amazing to think he was this tiny little 4 lb. skinny chicken legged thing with tons of hair all over his body to help keep him warm.  Now he has an enormous head and a little fluffy faux-hawk. 

And this kid is a sleeper!!  Hot damn, we deserve a sleeper.  He goes to bed around nine or ten and sleeps until five-ish.  It's amazing.  If only Ingrid could do that.  She's almost three and still gets up three times a night, crying for her blanket or lately it's "I'm so lonely, I really need you, mama!"  God she knows how to tug those heartstrings, doesn't she?

Otis loves his mama-milk!  I just love the drunk look he gets on his face after he eats.

Ahhh, that's good stuff.  The nursing is going extremely well, another thing I'm amazed by.  It's so funny because I see all this stuff about no pacifiers, no bottles, until they get good at breastfeeding.  This kid has had everything in his little mouth and still nurses just fine.  Or takes a bottle.  He doesn't care.  Where did they get this whole "nipple confusion" thing from?  I think the first month of nursing is just hard, no matter what, whether you have pacifiers or bottles or not.  I'm just so glad the hard part is over and now I can just feed him whenever, wherever. 

Dehydration

Whew!  After all the tests they ran on my little 5lb baby, it turns out that he was just dehydrated.  Good that it's nothing serious, but horrible because he had to get so much done to him when all he needed was a heat lamp and a bottle...

I feel bad now that I was so against bottles.  Truth is, I still am.  The drs. kept saying he needed formula to supplement the breast milk, as it has more calories and that's what he needs right now.  But I think that's a lot of crap.  Breast milk is made specifically for him, isn't it?  I get that he needs to eat more often, but it can still be my milk.  I am not paying for formula when my body is overflowing with free milk made just for babies...Anyway, we are now going to do breast feeding and then top it off with a bottle of expressed milk, to make sure he's getting enough.  As long as it's my milk I'm okay with it.  Still hate pumping but I'll do it so I don't have to go through another night at the ER!!

Otis was doing really well last night when I went to visit, hopefully he'll be able to come home Saturday after his antibiotics are done.  And this time I will make sure he gets his feedings and gets enough!!  Poor kid just doesn't realize how small he is, and we keep forgetting how early he was. 

So here's to a better 2011!!  Happy New Year everyone!

We're All Home!

Otis was released from the NICU on Monday afternoon!  That little guy did so well he was only in there for four days!  It was quite the shock to get that call that we could come get him and take him home.  Of course we still didn't have the car seat installed, so I had to struggle with that before I could even leave to go pick up Brendan from work.  No fun.  Our next car is definitely going to have the LATCH system, this using seat belts is for the birds...

Once home, it was a little stressful.  Getting into that routine of feeding, diaper changes, dealing with Ingrid, sleeping, changing lots of dirty clothes, pumping milk...it's hard!  I went to pick up some groceries and my hormones hit and I just started crying in the middle of the store.  I felt so overwhelmed and my mom wanted to go home--who could blame her?  Her whole month has been crazy because of us.  But she saw me crying as I brought in the groceries and decided to stay.  Bless her, I needed my mommy another day or two!

Yesterday was much better.  I have the hang of pumping and feeding now, and Otis is a sleeper.  Thank god!  He sleeps in four hour stretches at night so we really only have to wake up once.  It's great.  Ingrid loves her brother, I think the hardest part for her was me being away for so long.  Now that she sees I'm here to stay she's been way better.

Otis is doing well.  He had his doctor appointment yesterday and is only one ounce away from his birth weight.  He's a little on the cold side, though, so last night we did skin to skin.  It was SO comfortable!  We sat on the couch with blankets on us and he cuddled right up to me and warmed up.  I can't get over how much I love him already :) 

Today my mom is going home and Brendan is getting his hair cut, so it's the first time I'll have both my kids by myself!!  I can do it.  Right?

Welcome, Otis!

He's here!! 

He was born Thursday December 16, 2010 at 5:48pm.  He was 33 weeks 4 days and weighs in at 4lbs 14 oz, 17 inches long.  Those are his stats, here's my story.

Wednesday I woke up having contractions.  They went on and off all day long, and when I woke up Thursday they were back.  When they checked me on Wednesday I was 2cm, when they checked on Thursday morning I was 4cm.  So...I was making progress but nothing was regular so they decided to give me a little pitocin to get things moving, much like what happened with Ingrid.  I started Pitocin at 8:30am and then my contractions...stopped.  They didn't really pick up again until after eleven.  I handled them pretty well with breathing, but because I was strapped down to the bed with all kinds of monitors I couldn't get comfortable.  I kinda hate the clinical setting of a high risk labor and delivery floor.

Then things really picked up and it started to HURT, so I opted to get an epidural.  Ahhh, bliss.  The relief from all that pain is really great, and I wish I could be all excited to not take drugs and stuff, but I'm not.  I liked both my epidurals!  Things got kind of crazy, Otis' heartbeat was irregular, they thought he probably had his cord around his neck (which he did) so they made me lie on my side.  I ended up with an IV of pitocin, my epidural, a blood pressure cuff on constantly, the pulse/ox thing on my finger, and monitors on my belly.  I jokingly said ahh, what else could I possibly have on me?  Then I found out--an internal monitor on Otis' scalp, a tube into the uterus to pump fluid since it was so low and they thought maybe the cord was being compressed, a catheter, and finally, an oxygen mask.  Oh my god, it was the most clinical hospital birth, the most opposite of what I had thought of having this time around! 

But everything went well and after a few hours I was feeling pressure, they checked me, I was 10cm, and I got rolled back to the OR.  Again, totally clinical!!  I had four male doctors down there (it's a teaching hospital so I always had four or five doctors in different phases of their schooling...) and two pregnant nurses by my side, and some doctors from the NICU, and finally Brendan.  He said he counted 12 people in the room.  So here I am sitting spread eagle in the stirrups having a baby and people kept coming in and out of the OR, the door to the hallway was open, it was definitely not a place for a modest person!  With three contractions I pushed that little guy out.

He did great right away.  No problems with breathing, he pinked up right away, and he was almost five pounds.  I got to have some skin to skin contact before they whisked him away to the NICU, which was more than I thought I'd get, so I was happy.

Once Otis was gone off to the NICU to warm up and get cozy, my fun started.  My placenta refused to come down so they had to manually remove it.  IT HURT.  People pushing down on my uterus, with hands up to my uterus trying to grab it.  Oh my god, and did I mention that because I had to lay on my side for Otis' heartbeat my epidural stopped working on one side?  And of course that's the side the placenta was on so I felt every single freakin' thing.  I'm more sore from that than I am from actually giving birth...Finally they got it to come out, and I got to go back to my room and relax and be totally amazed that I had just given birth to a little boy that I hadn't planned on meeting for six more weeks!

He is doing great.  Breathing's good, he gets his bloodwork tomorrow and will probably have to be under the blue lights for jaundice.  He has latched on and I got to give him my colostrum I'd pumped, but now there's nothing there.  I pump and pump and nothing.  Two drops maybe.  They tell me it's normal but it's hard to see empty bottles after pumping...Once he gains some weight and learns how to eat properly he can come home.  Until then, we visit in the NICU and spend as much time with him as we can. 

Ingrid got to meet him today:

She was excited to go see him, and then five seconds after we were in there, she wanted to leave.  We'll see how well she does over the next few days!  I'm home now so we'll be back and forth to the hospital but I won't have to sleep in an uncomfortable hospital bed anymore, yay!!  And pretty soon we'll be all together as a family and the real fun will begin :)