First Halloween

Olivia has gotten so much bigger; she is almost 13 pounds and she rolls all over the place.  We took her to Bates Nut Farm for her first pumpkin patch.  She is going to be a monkey for Halloween; it is so cute.

First Plane Ride

Olivia's first flight was to grandma and grandpa's house. She did so good; slept the whole time.

Olivia is home!

On April 24th Andy and I stayed in the parent living unit with Olivia overnight before bringing her home the next day. I was nervous about bringing her home (which I now look back and laugh at) so they had us stay at the hospital for a night to get comfortable. The hospital was definitely no frills (two twin beds with mattresses probably as old as I am). Now I wish we would have gotten a good night sleep at home before bringing Olivia home because now I am always tired. The pictures of Andy and Olivia are from the night in the Parent Living Unit.

Olivia is really a good baby but the routine I have been given from the hospital takes a lot out of me. Lactation wants me to breastfeed then give Olivia a bottle and then pump. I feel like by the time I get done with the whole thing it is time to feed her again. I must confess I have started just breastfeeding once a day and the rest of the day sticking to pumping and giving her breast milk in a bottle.

So today (May 5th) Andy and I took Olivia to the doctor and she is one ounce away from being 5 pounds. I love that she is gaining weight; she loves her food!! She is a little chow hound.

Bath Time April 18th

Olivia is almost one month old here. Vonnie (Olivia's primary nurse) helped us give Olivia a bath on Sunday. I can't quite figure out if she enjoys her bath or if she thinks we are torturing her. Olivia is doing so well that she may come home this weekend. She decided to take out her own feeding tube and Vonnie left it out and Olivia has been taking all her feeds by bottle or breast. We found out that Miss Olivia really likes to eat! She definitely calls her own shots; Andy and I may be in trouble when she gets older!

April 14th First Bottle

Olivia received her first bottle today. Andy gave her the bottle and she did great; she ate about 10 mls. The nurse said Olivia did wonderful for her first bottle feeding. Andy did pretty good too.

My birthday

April 13th was my birthday and I got to spend the whole day with my little angel. She is doing so well; she is in an open crib and maintaining her temperature. She is about 3 and half pounds now. We are still doing the dry breast feeding and she does pretty well but falls asleep after a few minutes.

Olivia at 3 weeks old

Olivia was 3 weeks old on Friday. I am not really sure how to count her age because technically she was 32 weeks and 2 days and the nurses and doctors talk about corrected age vs. actual all the time.

Olivia is doing so well and the nurses were telling me that she may be in a crib sometime next week. I am so excited for her to be out of her isolet but it also scares me; her being in there makes me feel like she is extra safe. If she continues to put on weight in a crib and maintain her temperature then the only thing she will have to master is feedings on her own (no more tube through the nose) before she goes home. I can't wait to have her home but we have so much to do before she gets here. We have Olivia's room painted and it looks so pretty (light yellow) with the dark wood but that is about all we have gotten done. Thanks to Monica we at least have a car seat so we can take her home. I can't wait for Olivia to get to know her whole family and not just Andy and I. She is my little miracle and I can't wait to be with her all the time and feel like a real Mom. I desperately want to get to know her and watch her get bigger.

Enjoy the photos we took; they are mostly of her sleeping.