After struggling with infertility for three years, we were blessed with the birth of Matthew and Kayla in March 2011 (by in vitro) , Nathan in October 2013 (by frozen embryo transfer), and Olivia in August 2015 (naturally!). We are loving every moment (well, almost!) of our lives as parents.
Thursday, September 24, 2015
Last night...
...Olivia slept through the night! She had her last feed around 8:30/9pm, fell asleep downstairs and then was transferred upstairs to her basinette when we went to bed around 11pm. I woke up at 7am this morning completely shocked that I didn't have to feed her during the night! The past few evenings she had only been waking up once (around 3am-ish), and then this, so maybe this is the beginning of something good? I'm hoping she does well again tonight, and that this just wasn't a fluke!
Monday, September 21, 2015
23 Months Old
Nathan is almost two...eek! He is growing up to be such a big kid, it's crazy.
The past few weeks we have seen (heard?) Nathan's speech/vocabulary grow in leaps and bounds. He's usually willing to repeat words when asked, and so he is picking up new words all the time. He is easily stringing two words together at a time, and I've also heard three words on occasion. His most commonly said words are "Mandma" (Grandma), "Ahn-ie Tandis" (Auntie Candice), and "Geet-Mandma" (Great-Grandma). After I put him to bed tonight I heard him saying over and over, "Mandma best (Grandma's the best), Ahn-ie Tandis, Geet-Mandma". Seriously...over and over and over. He also says, "Dackdin" (Jackson), "Oh-ya" (Olivia), and "Dan-nin" (Shannon - Kayla's doll)...but can't say neither Kayla (he calls her "Ah") nor Matthew. Silly boy.
Nathan loves to eat and drink. He'll tell me he's hungry or thirsty by pointing inside his mouth. Of all my kids, he's really the only one that ever asks for food or a drink. He loves "duice" (juice). He isn't picky with what he eats at snack time...whether it be fruit ("ah-ole" (apple)) or "tan-nies" (candies).
We have nicknamed Nathan "Banana Boy" because he LOVES eating bananas. He has a banana practically every morning, and will quickly point out to me if there are no bananas left "Buy nana."
At the end of July we set up a twin bed in Nathan's room, in preparation for him moving to it. Over the next month and a half he would sometimes choose to sleep in it at night, but he never actually managed to sleep an entire night in it, often waking up during the night asking to put him back in his crib (which we (ahem, I) did). At the end of August we pushed a little harder for him to always go to bed in his "big boy bed". At the beginning of September I took all of the bedding off of the crib and explained that it was now "Baby Olivia's crib." He wasn't necessarily pleased, but he actually transitioned pretty good. We did have to put a bed rail on his bed because he fell out of bed a few times, but he was totally okay with that. I was also finding that without the bed rail I was laying him down closer to the wall, so I kept waking up at night because he was kicking our shared bedroom wall. Now that he has the bed rail I lay him in the centre of the bed so there's less kicking happening. Our only struggle with him being in a big boy bed is that he has the freedom to climb out whenever he wants. Every night he gets out at least once or twice. So frustrating! Especially when he is out during his nap time! I babysat Jackson (my nephew) one day last week and still had the playpen set up in my bedroom so when Nathan climbed out of bed during his nap today and refused to stay in, despite my warning, I put him in the playpen. I let him cry/scream at me for a good 30 minutes before I talked to him about it and then allowed him to nap in his regular bed again, and he fell asleep right away. Again this evening he climbed out within minutes of being put to bed, so I warned him and put him back in bed. Not a minute later he was out again so I put him in the playpen. After a couple minutes of him crying/screaming I warned him again and put him back in his regular bed...and he fell asleep. Sometimes (all the time?) you just have to be 'the bad guy' in order for kids to learn.
Nathan is quite social, and isn't scared to play with other kids, regardless of their age.
He has also started making it through the entire church service without crying in the nursery!
Unfortunately, as sweet as Nathan usually is, he can be quite a bully. He doesn't typically pick on kids younger than him, only those older. Matthew receives the brunt of Nathan's bullying. We tried putting Nathan in timeout as punishment for picking on Matthew, but that wasn't really workng so now we are encouraging Matthew to fight back, not to physically hurt Nathan but to hurt his feelings. This is a new approach and so far, in the few times Matthew has fought back, it's worked, with Nathan coming crying to Jon and I because his feelings were hurt.
If Nathan has unintentionally hurt someone which has resulted in that person crying in pain, he himself becomes very emotional. He also gets very emotional if either Matthew or Kayla are getting in BIG trouble.
Nathan continues to be Jon's little side-kick, always playing hockey with him outside, watching him mow the lawn, or wrestling with him.
The past few weeks we have seen (heard?) Nathan's speech/vocabulary grow in leaps and bounds. He's usually willing to repeat words when asked, and so he is picking up new words all the time. He is easily stringing two words together at a time, and I've also heard three words on occasion. His most commonly said words are "Mandma" (Grandma), "Ahn-ie Tandis" (Auntie Candice), and "Geet-Mandma" (Great-Grandma). After I put him to bed tonight I heard him saying over and over, "Mandma best (Grandma's the best), Ahn-ie Tandis, Geet-Mandma". Seriously...over and over and over. He also says, "Dackdin" (Jackson), "Oh-ya" (Olivia), and "Dan-nin" (Shannon - Kayla's doll)...but can't say neither Kayla (he calls her "Ah") nor Matthew. Silly boy.
(Yes, another boy that LOVES trains!...but he knows that Thomas is Matthew's!)
Nathan loves to eat and drink. He'll tell me he's hungry or thirsty by pointing inside his mouth. Of all my kids, he's really the only one that ever asks for food or a drink. He loves "duice" (juice). He isn't picky with what he eats at snack time...whether it be fruit ("ah-ole" (apple)) or "tan-nies" (candies).
We have nicknamed Nathan "Banana Boy" because he LOVES eating bananas. He has a banana practically every morning, and will quickly point out to me if there are no bananas left "Buy nana."
At the end of July we set up a twin bed in Nathan's room, in preparation for him moving to it. Over the next month and a half he would sometimes choose to sleep in it at night, but he never actually managed to sleep an entire night in it, often waking up during the night asking to put him back in his crib (which we (ahem, I) did). At the end of August we pushed a little harder for him to always go to bed in his "big boy bed". At the beginning of September I took all of the bedding off of the crib and explained that it was now "Baby Olivia's crib." He wasn't necessarily pleased, but he actually transitioned pretty good. We did have to put a bed rail on his bed because he fell out of bed a few times, but he was totally okay with that. I was also finding that without the bed rail I was laying him down closer to the wall, so I kept waking up at night because he was kicking our shared bedroom wall. Now that he has the bed rail I lay him in the centre of the bed so there's less kicking happening. Our only struggle with him being in a big boy bed is that he has the freedom to climb out whenever he wants. Every night he gets out at least once or twice. So frustrating! Especially when he is out during his nap time! I babysat Jackson (my nephew) one day last week and still had the playpen set up in my bedroom so when Nathan climbed out of bed during his nap today and refused to stay in, despite my warning, I put him in the playpen. I let him cry/scream at me for a good 30 minutes before I talked to him about it and then allowed him to nap in his regular bed again, and he fell asleep right away. Again this evening he climbed out within minutes of being put to bed, so I warned him and put him back in bed. Not a minute later he was out again so I put him in the playpen. After a couple minutes of him crying/screaming I warned him again and put him back in his regular bed...and he fell asleep. Sometimes (all the time?) you just have to be 'the bad guy' in order for kids to learn.
Nathan is quite social, and isn't scared to play with other kids, regardless of their age.
He has also started making it through the entire church service without crying in the nursery!
Unfortunately, as sweet as Nathan usually is, he can be quite a bully. He doesn't typically pick on kids younger than him, only those older. Matthew receives the brunt of Nathan's bullying. We tried putting Nathan in timeout as punishment for picking on Matthew, but that wasn't really workng so now we are encouraging Matthew to fight back, not to physically hurt Nathan but to hurt his feelings. This is a new approach and so far, in the few times Matthew has fought back, it's worked, with Nathan coming crying to Jon and I because his feelings were hurt.
If Nathan has unintentionally hurt someone which has resulted in that person crying in pain, he himself becomes very emotional. He also gets very emotional if either Matthew or Kayla are getting in BIG trouble.
Nathan continues to be Jon's little side-kick, always playing hockey with him outside, watching him mow the lawn, or wrestling with him.
Monday, September 14, 2015
Lower Falls Trail
Last week I packed up the kids and headed to Golden Ears to do the Lower Falls Trail. When we arrived there, we were told there was a bear that had been spotted exiting the trail two hours earlier, but that didn't stop us!
The kids were fantastic. Matthew and Kayla practically ran the entire thing, running ahead of us and hiding behind trees, and Nathan would have walked the whole thing but I put him in the stroller about half of the time just so that I could walk faster. I carried Olivia in the Baby Bjorn, and she did fantastic. She fed at home at 7:30, fell asleep in the car and kept sleeping until I woke her up when we were twenty minutes away from being done, just so that I could feed her before the drive home. After she was fed I put her forward-facing in the Bjorn which she quite enjoyed.
Our first stop 20 minutes in. We had a snack and threw some rocks into the creek.
The kids were fantastic. Matthew and Kayla practically ran the entire thing, running ahead of us and hiding behind trees, and Nathan would have walked the whole thing but I put him in the stroller about half of the time just so that I could walk faster. I carried Olivia in the Baby Bjorn, and she did fantastic. She fed at home at 7:30, fell asleep in the car and kept sleeping until I woke her up when we were twenty minutes away from being done, just so that I could feed her before the drive home. After she was fed I put her forward-facing in the Bjorn which she quite enjoyed.
We made it! After seeing the falls we had some lunch and then headed back down the trail.
Wednesday, September 9, 2015
One Month Old!
I can't believe that Olivia is already one month old, but at the same time, I can't believe that she's only one month old. It seems like she's been around forever - we've done so much already! She definitely hasn't slowed us down at all.
Olivia, you now weigh 11lb even and are 23" tall. You are starting to get rolls on your thighs :). You still have very blue eyes and hair on your head, although your hair started to fall out a week and a half ago. I suspect you'll be bald (at least on the top of your head) within the next couple of weeks - all I have to do is brush your hair and it falls out. Like your older siblings, I'm sure it will grow back blonde. A blonde haired, blue eyed girl just like me, maybe? Ever since your umbilical cord came out prematurely (your hand accidentally grabbed it while I was bathing you in Penticton, and you pulled it out/snapped it in half), your belly button remains a super-outie. It's actually starting to get a little less 'outie', which I'm sure you'll appreciate once you decide to start wearing two pieces at the beach! You have a very strong neck. I don't have to be very cautious about your neck flopping all over because you have very good control over it. I even wore you forward-facing in the Bjorn today so you could look outwards and enjoy our hike.
You drink roughly 3.5-4oz of formula every 3 hours. You've had a few evenings where you've had a longer stretch between feeds, but you typically are up every 3 hours. You were a terrible drinker and a huge spitter up until yesterday, when I switched your bottle nipple to one with faster flow. What used to take you roughly 40 minutes to drink now only takes you 15, and I think you've been spitting up less. I'm hoping that continues, because it's gross when you spit up.
You are SO LOVED by your siblings - Kayla and Nathan in particular. Nathan smothers you. He will come up to you many times a day and give you at least ten kisses on the top of your head. It's not uncommon for you to have boogers in your hair because of him. He also likes to lay right beside you or put his face right in front of yours while hovering on top of you. Kayla loves to hold you. She often asks me in the morning while I'm hustling around trying to get everyone ready for our day if she can hold you, to which I always say, "yes" because you're usually crying. As soon as I put you in her arms you settle right down, and often fall asleep. Kayla loves it, and I love it, too!
You are still sleeping in the bassinet in our room, but I don't think that it will last too much longer. I find I'm waking up as soon as you stir and start to wake up, which makes me want to feed you right away so that I can get back to sleep. It's probably best for you (and for me!) if you're fully awake and crying before I'm awake to feed you. You'll be sleeping in Nathan's bedroom, so hopefully he sleeps through your cries!
You do smile, although it takes some work to get you to. I probably manage to only get one smile a day out of you.
You are slightly spoiled and are stubborn. You know exactly when you are being held and when you aren't, and you aren't afraid to complain if you want or don't want to be held. It's cute :)
Olivia, you are such a blessing to us. You are loved by everyone, and you definitely hold a special spot in our heart as the youngest child. Nathan seemed to have grown up so quick that he is definitely closer developmentally to Matthew and Kayla than to you, so it makes having a baby around extra special. You are a pretty content baby for the most part, so as long as you keep that up you'll keep us happy :) (Kidding! We'll love you regardless!)
Olivia, you now weigh 11lb even and are 23" tall. You are starting to get rolls on your thighs :). You still have very blue eyes and hair on your head, although your hair started to fall out a week and a half ago. I suspect you'll be bald (at least on the top of your head) within the next couple of weeks - all I have to do is brush your hair and it falls out. Like your older siblings, I'm sure it will grow back blonde. A blonde haired, blue eyed girl just like me, maybe? Ever since your umbilical cord came out prematurely (your hand accidentally grabbed it while I was bathing you in Penticton, and you pulled it out/snapped it in half), your belly button remains a super-outie. It's actually starting to get a little less 'outie', which I'm sure you'll appreciate once you decide to start wearing two pieces at the beach! You have a very strong neck. I don't have to be very cautious about your neck flopping all over because you have very good control over it. I even wore you forward-facing in the Bjorn today so you could look outwards and enjoy our hike.
You drink roughly 3.5-4oz of formula every 3 hours. You've had a few evenings where you've had a longer stretch between feeds, but you typically are up every 3 hours. You were a terrible drinker and a huge spitter up until yesterday, when I switched your bottle nipple to one with faster flow. What used to take you roughly 40 minutes to drink now only takes you 15, and I think you've been spitting up less. I'm hoping that continues, because it's gross when you spit up.
{"Mom, take a picture of me holding Olivia!" says Kayla ALL THE TIME}
You are SO LOVED by your siblings - Kayla and Nathan in particular. Nathan smothers you. He will come up to you many times a day and give you at least ten kisses on the top of your head. It's not uncommon for you to have boogers in your hair because of him. He also likes to lay right beside you or put his face right in front of yours while hovering on top of you. Kayla loves to hold you. She often asks me in the morning while I'm hustling around trying to get everyone ready for our day if she can hold you, to which I always say, "yes" because you're usually crying. As soon as I put you in her arms you settle right down, and often fall asleep. Kayla loves it, and I love it, too!
You are still sleeping in the bassinet in our room, but I don't think that it will last too much longer. I find I'm waking up as soon as you stir and start to wake up, which makes me want to feed you right away so that I can get back to sleep. It's probably best for you (and for me!) if you're fully awake and crying before I'm awake to feed you. You'll be sleeping in Nathan's bedroom, so hopefully he sleeps through your cries!
You do smile, although it takes some work to get you to. I probably manage to only get one smile a day out of you.
You are slightly spoiled and are stubborn. You know exactly when you are being held and when you aren't, and you aren't afraid to complain if you want or don't want to be held. It's cute :)
Olivia, you are such a blessing to us. You are loved by everyone, and you definitely hold a special spot in our heart as the youngest child. Nathan seemed to have grown up so quick that he is definitely closer developmentally to Matthew and Kayla than to you, so it makes having a baby around extra special. You are a pretty content baby for the most part, so as long as you keep that up you'll keep us happy :) (Kidding! We'll love you regardless!)
Monday, September 7, 2015
Walk at Serpentine Fen
Jon and I took advantage of the sunny last-day-of-summer-before-school-starts day and headed to Serpentine Fen this morning for a walk with the kids. I had never even heard of it before, but I'll walk anywhere so long as it's outside in nature!
The kids were hoping to see a lot of birds, but when there weren't any they quickly got tired of seeing the same scenery. Thank goodness we had brought along the single stroller, so we put Matthew and Nathan in the stroller so that I could push them and Jon gave Kayla a piggy-back. Nothing like carrying an infant and pushing 65lbs of kids to help work of the extra pounds I'm still sporting.
The kids were hoping to see a lot of birds, but when there weren't any they quickly got tired of seeing the same scenery. Thank goodness we had brought along the single stroller, so we put Matthew and Nathan in the stroller so that I could push them and Jon gave Kayla a piggy-back. Nothing like carrying an infant and pushing 65lbs of kids to help work of the extra pounds I'm still sporting.
Jon always 'has' to stop at Tim Horton's before we go on an outing. The kids enjoy the TimBits that he buys for them :)
Yes, we were all tired at the end of the walk (which took us about 1.5 hours), but it was worth it! Plus, the kids went to bed without a peep!
Tuesday, September 1, 2015
22.5 Months Old
- Weighs 30.4 lb and wears size 3T shirts, 2T pants, and size 8 shoes. His feet have grown so much over the past few months that he skipped wearing size 7 runners and barely can fit his feet in his 3T sleepers.
- Has really started talking, and is often putting two words together. If you ask him to repeat a word that you've said, he easily does.
- Names he knows: Mom / Dad / Dandis (Candice) / Mandma (Grandma) / Pandpa (Grandpa)
- Matthew and Kayla are called "Ah"
- Absolutely adores Olivia. If she is laying on the floor, he is right there beside her, smothering her in kisses or tickling her tummy. If she cries, he comes to me and says, "Ba-ble" (bottle).
- Still loves playing hockey.
- Loves jumping on the trampoline or down stairs or off of a coffee table.
- Loves bananas. He is affectionately called, "Banana Boy" because he always asks to eat bananas and always points out when we are out of bananas.
- Likes to pick on/bully Matthew, even though he knows he'll get in trouble.
- Loves his cousins. He gets so excited when he gets to see them, even though it's practically every day.
- Loves playing in the sandbox.
- Loves to sit on the counter while I'm preparing a meal, and then he loves to steal pieces of whatever I'm cutting up.
- Loves to get the phone for me when it's ringing, and always assumes that it's "Mandma".
- Is awesome at getting his hair washed. He totally tolerates me spraying his hair and letting the water pour down his face.
- Has learned how to put his face in the bathtub water and blow bubbles.
Monday, August 24, 2015
Olivia's Birth Story and the First Two Weeks
The last weekly pregnancy picture
Saturday, August 8
The whole time we were driving I was filled with dread. I knew (or so I thought!) exactly what was going to be happening to my body over the next day and a half and was not looking forward to it. I was pretty grumpy.
We arrived at Surrey Memorial Hospital around 10:40pm. The nice thing about arriving in the middle of the night was that we got an excellent parking spot in the underground parking :). I didn't have to go through triage because I was a direct admittance due to my polyhydraminous. We were eventually directed to room 230, and we got all ready to meet the Surrey Prenatal Clinic (SPNC)'s doctor on rotation that evening.
10:48pm
Dr. Jackson met with us and checked to see what progress I had made. At that point, I was 2cm dilated and my cervix was about 2cm long. The nurses hooked me up for fetal monitoring to ensure that Miss Baby Struik could handle the stress of an induction. I then had two options given to me. One, I could be induced with Oxytocin. It would limit my mobility because I would have to be hooked up to a drip, but it would work quicker, but could make the induction more painful. The second option was to be induced with Cervadil. I would still have my mobility, and because it would likely take longer to be effective I could try to get a good night's sleep in. I chose Cervadil. I was so tired already due to the long evening in the hospital the night before, and I was dreading a painful labour that I took the 'safe' route. The Cervadil was inserted at 11:25pm and my Mom went back home to try to get a good night's sleep as well. Nearly immediately after the Cervadil was inserted I started having small contractions. They came and went that whole night, sometimes regularly every five minutes, sometimes only every half an hour or so. I definitely did not get much sleep that evening.
Olivia's hospital bassinet, all ready for her!
Sunday, August 9
My mom returned to the hospital just before 7am. I bounced on the birthing ball for a bit and then we started pacing the hallways of the birthing unit.
At 10:15am, my nurse came in to perform more fetal monitoring. At that point my contractions were beginning to become more frequent, and I rated them a four or five on a pain level scale of one to ten.
At 11:15am, the doctor checked me and I was 3 cm dilated and 70% effaced. They broke my water, and then were shocked how little fluid I had. I was hardly polyhydranous! I knew that my labour was going to intensify now, so I re-stressed to my nurse the importance of me having an epidural this time.
At 11:27am, an IV was put in place, and we decided to wait 30 minutes before calling for the anesthesiologist to do the epidural. Having an epidural too early could slow my contractions down, but waiting too long could mean that the anesthesiologist is busy with another patient/surgery.
At 11:45am, the nurse decided to call for the epidural. Thank goodness, because when the anesthesiologist came in at 12:10pm, she said that she was just about to start a two hour surgery!
1:54pm
By 2pm my contractions had slowed down, so they started me on Oxytocin. This only lasted for twenty minutes though because Miss Baby Struik's heart rate began fluctuating, dropping to as low as 99 bpm or going as high as 130 bpm, which they figured was either the result of the stress of being induced or she had the umbilical cord around her neck. The head RN was called in and they had me switch from laying on my back to laying on my left side to laying on my right side (which, by the way, is really hard to do on your own when you can't really move your legs due to the epidural!).
At 2:35pm I complained that I was really starting to feel my contractions again - the intensity that they were prior to receiving the epidural. The contractions, however, were not very frequent (at most every three to four minutes). Dr Wang checked me and I was 9.5cm dilated. No wonder I was feeling the contractions! My cervix was still thin, but Miss Baby Struik was very low.
At 3:05pm I was fully dilated, and was ready to begin pushing. This is where things started to get 'interesting'. My contractions still were not very frequent, so at 3:18pm the Oxytocin was turned back on in an attempt to increase my contractions. With each contraction, I pushed...but I, myself, never felt any progress being made. With my other two pregnancies I had no problem pushing out the baby (Nathan, my brute, was out in 16 minutes). Dr. Wang and the nursing staff started to get very worried that I was not going to be able to get Miss Baby Struik out, and they were keeping a very careful watch of her heartrate which still wasn't very stable. The looming elephant in the room was that I was going to have to get sent for a cesarean...although no one actually spoke those words. At around 4pm they called for the other doctor on rotation that afternoon, Dr. Huckell (she was actually my prenatal doctor with Matthew and Kayla's pregnancy because she deals with the more high-risk cases). Dr. Huckell came into the room with an air of confidence, came to me, and as soon as I had my next contraction she stuck both hands in me and pulled me apart to stretch me wider. Ouch. During my next contraction at 4:09pm, she did the same thing - and with the help of another nurse's set of strong hands Miss Baby Struik was pulled out.
Olivia Margaret Struik was 21.75" long and weighed 9lb 8oz.
Immediately following the birth I started to hemorrhage, but they got it to stop (and after getting bloodwork done the next day it was decided that I did not need a blood transfusion). It took five needles of local anesthetic and countless stitches for them to repair the third-degree tears, but they managed to fix me up.
When I was finally sewn up, the nurses passed Olivia to me, and I cried. It was strange for me to cry because I am not a crier (at all!), but I think the stress of the labour/delivery and the nervousness I had throughout the entire pregnancy just got to me when I realized that Olivia was safely in my arms. It was like it was a huge relief to finally hold my baby girl.
Olivia was covered in vernex. Her hair was matted with it, and it just coated her entire body. Even after the nurses wiped her down she was a sticky mess.
When I was finally sewn up, the nurses passed Olivia to me, and I cried. It was strange for me to cry because I am not a crier (at all!), but I think the stress of the labour/delivery and the nervousness I had throughout the entire pregnancy just got to me when I realized that Olivia was safely in my arms. It was like it was a huge relief to finally hold my baby girl.
Olivia was covered in vernex. Her hair was matted with it, and it just coated her entire body. Even after the nurses wiped her down she was a sticky mess.
At 7pm, my Dad came with Matthew, Kayla, and Nathan. It was cute hearing their little voices come down the hall. Matthew's first comment to me was, "Mom! Your tummy is getting smaller!".
First photo as a family of six!
9:34pm - Olivia's first bath!
Monday, August 10
We were able to get discharged from the hospital by 1pm, and spent the rest of the day at my Mom's. Olivia weighs 8lb 10oz now.
Since being home things have gone pretty well. The timing of Olivia's birth is absolutely perfect, as Jon had just finished teaching summer school on Friday, and has the rest of the summer off (if he wants - there's often work at BLG if he wants it). We have almost a week at home now to adjust to being a family of six and I have time to heal before we leave for our week-long vacation in Penticton. My sole focus at this point is to make breastfeeding work (my others were all bottle-fed with pumped breastmilk), so if Olivia cries, I feed her. It will take some work to get her onto a schedule eventually because she'll be used to being catered too, but it's important for me to make this work so I'm doing everything in my power to make sure she learns how to latch and that I have a good supply.
Thursday, August 13
I took Olivia to see my OB-GYN, Dr. Smith, just as a routine newborn check-up. Everything looked good, and she weighs 8lb 10.5oz. Dr. Smith figures that she is gaining weight.
Friday, August 14
I took Olivia to the public health unit to be weighed again, just to double-check that she is still gaining weight (because if she's gaining, then I know breastfeeding is working well). She weighed 8lb 11.8oz. YAY!
Saturday, August 15
My entire family left early in the morning for Penticton. Olivia was a great traveler! We stopped at Manning Park so she could feed, but other than that, she slept the whole way.
Monday, August 17
Breastfeeding continued. She was feeding every two hours or so, and would take about an hour to feed. Saturday night and Sunday night were rough - it seemed that Olivia was still hungry after I had fed her in the evening, but I had no milk left. She cried and cried and cried until she fell asleep. My dad and I drove out to the health unit in Penticton to have her weighed - she only weighed 8lb 12oz, a gain of only a half ounce over three days. That sealed the deal for me; we immediately headed to Superstore where I bought some formula and bottles. I had always said that if I couldn't get breastfeeding to work then I would do formula - I wasn't going to pump this time around (it's too time consuming with other kids to take care of).
From that day on, I started alternating between breastfeeding her with a bottle of formula to top up, and then solely formula feeding for the next feed to start weaning her from me (or me from her!). The whole process went smoothly. She took to the bottle immediatey, and feeds only took fifteen minutes. All of a sudden I had a lot more time on my hands!
Wednesday, August 19
This was the first day that I didn't take any painkillers, and the swelling/water retention in my feet/legs went away almost overnight. When I first noticed, I felt so skinny since I could actually see my ankles!
A look back over the last two weeks...
I can't believe that our sweet little Olivia is two weeks old already. Oh, how time flies! I went to the public health unit again today to weigh her and she weighs 9lb 8.5oz - a weight gain of 3/4lb over one week, and back up to her birth weight!
Olivia is a great baby (but which baby isn't?!?!). So long as her belly is full and her diaper is clean, she is content. She has hiccups daily and makes the cutest grunting sounds when she is trying to poo. Her cry used to be super cute - it was like a muted baby cry - but now it sounds like the typical newborn. She has long, skinny, arms and legs, and has big hands and feet. She drinks 3-4oz of formula every 2-3 hours, and is a spitter (so gross!).
Everyone seems to ask us if we are done having kids...especially now that we have two boys and two girls. So for those wondering, the answer is "I don't know." If you were to ask Jon, he would say "Yes", but I'm not quite convinced. I'm hoping that over the next year(s) we are given some sort of sign because I don't know what to do. Maybe as Olivia gets older and becomes more demanding the answer will become more obvious. For now, we are just enjoying Olivia and treating her like she's the last Baby Struik for our family.
Thursday, August 13
I took Olivia to see my OB-GYN, Dr. Smith, just as a routine newborn check-up. Everything looked good, and she weighs 8lb 10.5oz. Dr. Smith figures that she is gaining weight.
Friday, August 14
I took Olivia to the public health unit to be weighed again, just to double-check that she is still gaining weight (because if she's gaining, then I know breastfeeding is working well). She weighed 8lb 11.8oz. YAY!
Saturday, August 15
My entire family left early in the morning for Penticton. Olivia was a great traveler! We stopped at Manning Park so she could feed, but other than that, she slept the whole way.
Monday, August 17
Breastfeeding continued. She was feeding every two hours or so, and would take about an hour to feed. Saturday night and Sunday night were rough - it seemed that Olivia was still hungry after I had fed her in the evening, but I had no milk left. She cried and cried and cried until she fell asleep. My dad and I drove out to the health unit in Penticton to have her weighed - she only weighed 8lb 12oz, a gain of only a half ounce over three days. That sealed the deal for me; we immediately headed to Superstore where I bought some formula and bottles. I had always said that if I couldn't get breastfeeding to work then I would do formula - I wasn't going to pump this time around (it's too time consuming with other kids to take care of).
From that day on, I started alternating between breastfeeding her with a bottle of formula to top up, and then solely formula feeding for the next feed to start weaning her from me (or me from her!). The whole process went smoothly. She took to the bottle immediatey, and feeds only took fifteen minutes. All of a sudden I had a lot more time on my hands!
Olivia's first bottle
Wednesday, August 19
This was the first day that I didn't take any painkillers, and the swelling/water retention in my feet/legs went away almost overnight. When I first noticed, I felt so skinny since I could actually see my ankles!
A look back over the last two weeks...
I can't believe that our sweet little Olivia is two weeks old already. Oh, how time flies! I went to the public health unit again today to weigh her and she weighs 9lb 8.5oz - a weight gain of 3/4lb over one week, and back up to her birth weight!
Olivia is a great baby (but which baby isn't?!?!). So long as her belly is full and her diaper is clean, she is content. She has hiccups daily and makes the cutest grunting sounds when she is trying to poo. Her cry used to be super cute - it was like a muted baby cry - but now it sounds like the typical newborn. She has long, skinny, arms and legs, and has big hands and feet. She drinks 3-4oz of formula every 2-3 hours, and is a spitter (so gross!).
Everyone seems to ask us if we are done having kids...especially now that we have two boys and two girls. So for those wondering, the answer is "I don't know." If you were to ask Jon, he would say "Yes", but I'm not quite convinced. I'm hoping that over the next year(s) we are given some sort of sign because I don't know what to do. Maybe as Olivia gets older and becomes more demanding the answer will become more obvious. For now, we are just enjoying Olivia and treating her like she's the last Baby Struik for our family.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)