Ollie is 3!

Ollie turned 3 a few weeks ago! He weighs 26 pounds and is 33.5 inches tall. He’s about 5th percentile for weight and not on the chart for height. He’s still only half potty trained, but we are going to try again soon! He naps most days, but has started skipping some. He still has his paci and sleeps in a big boy bed. The transition to the bed was extremely easy.

Ollie loves books! His current favorites are a lego Star Wars book, 20 big trucks in the middle of the street, the goodnight goodnight construction site books, the dr suess books in the big blue book, bear books, Stanley books, maisy books, and pretty much anything about trucks or vehicles.

He also loves playing with characters – paw patrol, pj masks, toy story, Thomas trains, incredibles, pirates, etc. He likes to do stickers, swing, go to the science center and park, and do puzzles. Sometimes he likes to color and paint. we think he might be left handed.

His favorite foods are macaroni, tortellini, pizza, blackberries, raspberries, apples (not cut up), pineapple, strawberries, jelly toast, burgers, and more. He will occasionally eat carrots broccoli and peas. He likes carrots with hummus which he calls “Thomas”. He likes to watch paw patrol, pj masks, and super why. His favorite movie is toy story.

He is so silly and so funny. He loves to make people laugh and tell “jokes”, which usually are some form of saying the wrong word or wrong name. He had quite a temper and gets mad quickly. He isn’t super friendly to people he doesn’t know, and sometimes not to people he does know. He is pretty talkative and speaks well for a three year old. He’s pretty easy to understand and has a good vocabulary. He can count past ten and knows some of his letters. He can also correctly count objects. He is a great big brother to Henry and is so sweet and patient with him. He makes us laugh every day! Happy birthday Ollie! We love you so very much.

Henry – 4 months

Henry is four (and a half) months old! At his check up a couple of weeks ago he was 17 lbs 5oz and 26.5 in, about 90th percentile for both. He wears size three diapers and a mix of 6 and 9 month clothes. He’s huge! His legs are extra chunky but he’s just overall a big baby. He looks like an average size six or seven month old.

He can roll both ways and tripod sit for a few seconds. He has found his feet and loves to chew his hands or anything else. He prefers to face out when I’m wearing him, which is new for me. He is pretty content most of the time, happy to be on his belly or back with some toys and usually at least one sibling giving him some attention! He scoots around in circles and scoots backward too, so we are already starting to have to watch our for the little toys! He seems pretty strong. He coos and babbles a fair amount and babbles sometimes with consonants like mama. So cute

He is still nursing well, obviously. He has been getting distracted easily when eating recently though. Sleep is terrible and he’s up every two hours all night long, wanting to nurse. He can put himself to sleep at nap and night though but it’s not translating to overnight. We stopped swaddling this month. He sleeps in a sleep sack in the co sleeper but we will put him in the rock and play if we are trying to extend a nap or if it’s 5 or 6 in the morning. He also ends up in our bed.

Besides the sleep stuff, he has become a pretty easy baby. He is pretty happy and easy going. He is just adorable and has the cutest eyes and cheeks and hair. He is so loved by everyone and so sweet! We love you Henry!

Henry – 3 months

Henry turned 3 months old last week! We think he weighs around 16 pounds.

He bats at his toys and loves looking at himself in the mirror. He coos a lot and is very chatty. He is content behind out and about and likes to look around at everyone. He also is content to look at his toys on his back for awhile. He likes to be worn facing out, only likes to be facing in if he’s going to sleep.

He eats every 2-3 hours during the day, about 8-9 times total. We have tried a bottle a few times but it has not gone well. He doesn’t sleep great at night still. He goes to bed around 7 or 7:30. I feed him around 10 and then he eats between 1-3. He’s only made it until 3 a couple of times. He wakes to eat again around 5, then for the day at 7:30 or 8. He stays awake for an hour and a half or so. His first nap is about 40 minutes. Then a little cat nap later. Then a nap after lunch for 40 minutes and then I feed him and sit with him while he sleeps more. Then another short nap in the late afternoon.

He’s very cute and everyone loves him so much. His little baby noises are the best. He has started sucking his thumb a lot. He loves when we sing and talk to him. We love you Henry!

Carter – 6 (and a half)

I realized I never wrote about Carter turning six, so here it is, six months late!

At six Carter weighs 39-40 pounds and I forget how tall.

He is still a great eater and loves all kinds of fruit. He also loves tacos. He eats a TON of food.

He was reading by the end of kindergarten and learned to dive down to the bottom of the pool this summer. He also had fun boogie boarding at the beach and hiking in Georgia.

He likes legos, building train tracks, and playing games like blokus, quirkle, chess, sorry, mancala, etc. He pretty much likes anything that involves building or putting things together.

He is reading well and loves the Dog Man books. He also has read a lot of fly guy, elephant and piggie, curious George, and Clifford. He still seems to be numbers oriented and has great number sense.

He is very curious and asks tons of questions. A recent interest has been college football teams and their records and rankings, but not so much actually watching the games. He is logical, silly, thoughtful, helpful, and a good friend and brother.

Henry – 2 months

Henry is two months old! We did his two month check up early, at 7 weeks. He weighed 13lbs 2 oz then, and our scale says he weighs 15 pounds now! He looks like a giant.

He eats every 2-3 hours during the day. He eats twice at night usually between 1 and 2 and 4 and 5. He is usually up a lot between feedings. He sleeps most of the night swaddled in the co sleeper and often moves to the rock and play after one of the feedings depending on how much he’s waking. He also does a dream feed around 10.

He coos and smiles which is very cute. He has found his hands and likes to chew and suck them. He usually has some calm happy awake time during the day now which is nice. He likes to watch the big kids and the birds on the bouncy seat and swing. He tolerates tummy time for awhile and even rolled over once, but it seems that was a fluke. He is quickly outgrowing his 3 month clothes. He loves bath time and hates the car. He likes to be worn and held but also seems to want to be put down sometimes so he can move and kick freely

Henry – one month

Henry turned one month old a few days ago! We think he weighs about 11.5 – 12 pounds, but who knows how accurate our scale is. He is in 3 months clothes and size one diapers and he has been for a couple of weeks already.

Henry loves to be held and walked and really dislikes being put down for any length of time. He wakes up twice to eat at night, around 1 and 4. He eats every two hours during the day, occasionally stretches that to 3. He sleeps swaddled in the rock and play and swing, or on someone. He hates the car seat but loves being worn. He doesn’t have tons of awake time yet, but definitely wants to be held and walked around when he is awake. Or asleep!

He smells amazing, had little furry ears, big dark eyes and is just so extremely cute. We love you so much Henry!

Henry

Henry is here! Born Tuesday, October 23 at 8:24 am, 8lbs 11oz and 21 inches long.

I realize I have written almost nothing about Henry’s pregnancy. There were so many ups and downs, it was a difficult pregnancy. But now he is here and healthy and I know it was so worth it.

I got a positive pregnancy test on Wednesday February 14, right before we headed to Epcot for the day. I had gotten negative tests on Saturday and Monday, so I was a little surprised. Especially because I was bleeding enough that I thought it was my period. I had bright red bleeding all day at Epcot and went in to the doctor for a hcg blood draw the next day. My number was low, but positive. I went in for three more blood draws. None of the numbers were great or doubling every 48 hours, but they were rising.

I had an ultrasound scheduled for March 2. On March 1, I got a phone call from my insurance company telling me my doctor was no longer on my insurance. I would have qualified for continuous care if I had had an ultrasound before March 1. I was extremely upset about having to find a new doctor. I was having more bleeding, so I went in for an ultrasound and paid out of pocket. We could see the sac and a little something.

I found a new doctor and went in at ten weeks. Everything looked fine. Then at 12w 5d I was sitting on the couch when I started bleeding pretty heavily. I thought for sure that that was it. I bled for an hour or so, and then it stopped. I went in that week for an ultrasound and they found a large SCH measuring 8cm by 6cm. The doctor said we would need to keep an eye on it through ultrasounds to make sure it wasn’t effecting baby. It was still there at 16 and 19 weeks, and we couldn’t see it at 27 weeks because it was behind him. My placenta was anterior so I didn’t feel kicks for awhile. They kept measuring him and everything continued to look good, but I was still worried about something going wrong.

At 31 weeks he was measuring over 4 pounds, and at 36 weeks he was measuring 6.5 pounds, so it was looking like he might be a bigger baby. At 36 weeks, I was dilated 1cm and not effaced. At 38 weeks I was 3cm and 60% effaced and lost my mucous plug. At 39 weeks I was the same. At 40 weeks I was 4cm and 70-80% effaced. I had a membrane sweep on his due date (oct 22).

I was pretty crampy all that day, but not having contractions. I went for a couple of walks but was feeling a little defeated. We were talking about scheduling an induction which I really did not want to do. I started having some contractions around 8, but wasn’t sure if they were real or not. I had had several stops and starts, so I wasn’t sure. We decided to head to the hospital and got there around 11. I was still 4cm, but the nurse stretched me to 5 or 6. We were admitted and headed up stairs.

After a couple of hours I was 7-8 cm and in a lot of pain. I was having back labor as well and didn’t feel like it was moving very quickly. I decided to get an epidural and am so glad I did. I got it around 2:30 and by 2:45 it was working. I wasn’t able to sleep, but was at least able to rest. My blood pressure kept dropping and they gave me three doses of ephedrine. They also gave me three doses of antibiotics for GBS. I was having crazy contractions that were lasting 3 minutes so they gave me pitocin to try to regulate them to make sure baby wasn’t bothered by them.

I was 9 cm by 6 or so in the morning. This is also around when they broke my water. I spent a lot of time with the peanut ball to help. They told me to tell them when I felt pressure between contractions but I never really did. I was feeling the contractions through the epidural and felt a lot of pressure during the contractions, but not between. But they came and checked anyway around 8 and it looked like I was ready to push. They got everything set up and told me his head was right there. They also asked if I wanted to reach down and pull him out, which I was excited about.

They didn’t even want me to do a practice push because they thought he would come quickly. I had a contraction, pushed once, and his head was out. I took a breath and pushed again in the same contraction and the rest of him was out! I could not believe how quickly he popped out. I reached down and pulled him up onto my chest and it was absolutely incredible.

We did skin to skin for an hour before they weighed him. He nursed a little bit. We couldn’t believe how big he was when they weighed him! We decided on his name and moved up to a regular room around 10:30 I think. His apgar scores were 9 and 9. He nursed well the first day and struggled some the second day, but he’s doing so well now. We went home on Wednesday afternoon.

He went to the doctor on Thursday and was a little over 8 pounds, which they said was fine. He was also a little jaundiced but they said it was fine.

At one week old he is nursing well and waking up about twice at night. He’s eating every 2ish hours during the day, sometimes more or less. He is so sweet and so snuggly and I have spent almost all my time holding him, which has been wonderful. We love you so much Henry! We are so glad you are here!

Hadley – 4

Hadley turned 4 last month!

She’s been going to school three mornings a week, and enjoys it. She tells me all about her friends and their clothes. The social aspect is her favorite part. She knows most of her letters and can write her name. She asks to do working time at home with me most days, and we do work books and activities while Ollie naps.

She goes to sleep between 7:30 and 8 and sleeps until 7 or 7:30. She usually takes a little nap in the car when we go pick up Carter from school.

She loves to play pretend, read books, swing, and sing. She also likes to dance, play with ponies and dolls, paint, chat, play games, and do puzzles. Her favorite foods are macaroni, pizza, burgers, apples, blackberries, most fruit, cheese, yogurt, bread, etc. She likes any book, toy, or show that focuses on girls, but likes other things too.

She continues to be loving, social, talkative, fun loving, caring, funny, imaginative, curious, snuggly, and people oriented. We love you so much Hadley! Our family would not be the same without you!

Ollie is 2!

Ollie turned two last month! He is about 31.5 inches and 23 pounds, which puts him in the 3rd percentile. He’s in 18 month clothes still.

He is at such a fun age. He is talking up a storm, repeating everything, saying new words every day, and stringing together sentences.

We finally moved him out of our room to a crib in his room all by himself. He’s done really well with the transition, much better than expected. Some crying the first couple nights but not bad! He is also weaned as of two weeks ago.

He loves books, swinging, the park, playing ball, climbing, slides, snacks,snuggling, wrestling, his Elmo and Daniel tiger characters, setting his characters up, arranging play food, puzzles, naming family members and asking about their whereabouts. He has been resisting wearing shoes lately.

His favorite dinner is any type of pasta – lasagna, spaghetti, macaroni, tortellini, whatever. He eats a ton! He also loves peanut butter, blackberries, bananas, yogurt, cheese, blueberries, raspberries, most fruit, and more. His favorite snacks are veggie straws, raisins, applesauce, and granola bars.

He cracks us up. He says funny things and makes funny faces. He speaks in a high pitched voice sometimes that makes us laugh. He is silly and goofy! He is also determined, opinionated, talkative, adventurous, quick to laugh, affectionate, and curious.

I couldn’t imagine life without him. He is such a wonderful, important part of our family. We love you more thank you know, Ollie!

4!

Baby 4 is in his or her way! I was 12 weeks yesterday, baby is due October 22. It’s been a bit of a roller coaster.

We found out on Wednesday, feb 14, before we went to Epcot. I was having a lot of bleeding, went in four times for hcg draws, and they were rising but not really doubling like they should. Had an early ultrasound and saw a little dot and flicker at around 6 days. Had to switch doctors due to insurance issues, which was pretty upsetting for me.

We went again to the doctor at 10 weeks 3 days, and baby seems to be doing well! Heartbeat was in the 160s. I’ve been feeling pretty bad for the last month, which has been made worse by a sinus infection that has been hard to kick. Just lots of fatigue, headaches, and nausea. I’ve gained about a pound I think.

We told the kids after the ten week appointment. They were so excited! Carter and Hadley talk about the baby a lot and have tons of questions. It’s very sweet. We love you little baby!