Olivia's First Month

I am going to have to break up the next few posts since there are so many changes and os much to share!!

First, we'll start with Olivia's first month. Here are her stats from her one month visit to the doctor (including some photos of the visit) before I jump into a review of her very busy first month!

Height-21.5" (64 percentile)
Weight- 9 lbs 7 oz (64 percentile) which was up from 8 lbs 1 oz at her 2 week checkup!
Head Circumference- 37.8 cm (74 percentile)
Milestones- she learned to breastfeed effectively after starting out with a tongue tie, she cries nice and loud when she is hungry, she can turn her head from side to side during tummy time (with some effort)

In her first weeks, she got to take a few short excursions, including trips to the supermarket, Target, the Library of Congress, and a few restaurants. We were fortunate for a few warmer days in DC, and for the cooler days, we stuck with short outings around the underground mall that was attached to our apartment in Crystal City.

Our first set of visitors came when she was 4 days old. Mom, dad, and Betty were lucky to come during her first few weeks, because she hardly cried at all and mostly slept and looked cute! They stayed from December 24th-January 1st, so they were able to celebrate Christmas and New Years with us. Mostly we ate, cooked, looked at Olivia, and they cheered me on as I battled with the difficulties of the first few weeks of breastfeeding (hands down those were the hardest weeks and the hardest thing I've ever done!).

Yes, those are cankles

Our family photo on Christmas day

My two loves fast asleep in the wee hours of the night- amazing how much Olivia's face has slimmed down since this photo!

Never too early for storytime

One of her early outings to the outdoor space near our apartment

Exploring our nation's capitol

Facetiming with Carlos

Olivia with Auntie Betty, Gong Gong and Popo

After they left, Adam, Olivia and I had a few days alone as our small little family. We went in for her two week check up, where it was a relief to learn that she was gaining weight (with all the challenges of breastfeeding, I wasn't sure if she was even getting anything to eat!). We also got her passport photo taken at the State Department and ran around trying to get her passport application submitted. 

Two weeks old- hard to believe with all that hair!

Daddy keeping his little baby girl warm

Her passport photo- this will stay with her until she's 5! 

After that, Auntie Susan arrived from Jan. 7-12th to help out and to meet her new niece. Susan gave little Olivia lots of love and attention, and provided some great advice as a first-time mama! We also celebrated my birthday with sushi, ice cream, cupcakes, and also making pizza! Fun times!

Bathtime!! Olivia's still not sure if she likes it or not

Getting Starbucks with Olivia

One night our power went out so we called up Nathan and hung out at his place where it was nice and warm! :)

Auntie Susan loves Olivia

Adam filling out the application so we could pick up copies of her birth certificate that we needed to officially finish up the passport printing process

Nathan showing us the mad skills he learned while working at Nicoletti's

 After that, Lexi and John came all the way out from Colorado to visit us. Their visit was filled with good food, good company, and watching a LOT of Dexter on Netflix (thanks Betty, haha). During their visit, Olivia went in for her 4 week check up.

Lexi had the magic touch of calming Olivia and getting her to fall asleep! 

Great way to spend time with friends- relaxing and watching Dexter 

And in case this wasn't enough photos of Olivia, here are a few other favorites from her first month:

Hanging with Stacia

Hollering "I'm hungry mama!"

Diaper change

Olivia's Arrival!

Olivia is now over a month old! I can't believe how fast time has gone by! Just to quickly catch up, I thought I would share some details about what has been going on over the last month, starting with Olivia's arrival.

We headed to the hospital at 2pm on December 20th. The surgery was scheduled for 4pm. We started out in the pre-operation area where I was dressed down to a gown and they monitored the baby's heartbeat after doublechecking that she was still breech. Adam was given some scrubs to wear (XL- only one size option!) and we waited. A few nurses came by to check vitals and prep the IV. The anesthesiologist and the OB that would be delivering me (Dr. Shah) also came by to share what the plan was and answer questions. There were some delays so we didn't end up going into the operating room until after 4:45pm or so. Apparently that day was very crazy- they had a full house!

Driving to the hospital

Waiting to go to the operating room

Walking to the operating room (I have a nice white sheet to cover the open back of the hospital gown

Once we were in the operating room, they prepped my spinal epidural to make sure that I couldn't feel anything from my chest down other than pressure. Sometimes people have side effects like nausea, headaches, or the shakes but I was lucky and didn't experience any of that. Once they gave me the anesthesia, I laid down on the operating table and they brought Adam into the room.

They pulled a curtain right at my chest so I couldn't see anything that was going on (and Adam chose to stay behind the curtain as well). Once the surgery started, everything happened pretty quickly. I talked with Adam while they did the surgery to distract me from what I knew was going on down there (thank you Adam for commenting on the sounds he could hear and the smells from cutting into the skin...so much for distraction!).

Not too long after, this little girl came out! Adam was able to hold her right away and bring her to me after they did a quick wipedown. Then they took some vital measurements. Her APGAR score after 1 minute and 5 minutes was 8 & 9, and she weight 7 lbs 14 oz, and was 20.75 inches.

Hello, world!

Because she was breech and her legs were up by her face in the womb, her legs kept rising up like this- so cute! And look at all that hair!!

Meeting my little companion of 9 months!

Our first family photo! I pulled a neck muscle trying to turn and see her- ouch!

Not too long after, we were brought over to the same area that we were in during pre-operation where we got to spend some time together as a family and also breastfed and did skin to skin. They also put compression devices around my legs to prevent blood clots- they were kept on from post-operation until the next morning. It took a long time before we were brought into our room that we would be staying in for the next few days, again I think because it was a full house due to the holidays. I want to say it was nearly 8pm by the time we were brought in.

Our first nurse who cared for us-she was great! 

Olivia was in a bassinet and roomed in with us for the 3 nights we were in the hospital. On the second night, the nurse did take Olivia over to the nursery for a few hours between 4 and 6am to let us get some sleep (Olivia definitely had the "Second Night Syndrome" so I spent a lot of time that night doing skin-to-skin, soothing her, etc.). 

Being in the hospital was very hectic- every few hours the nurses came in to check my vitals or Olivia's vitals. We also had daily visits from the pediatrician and the OB, and people stopping in to test Olivia's hearing, to get the birth record paperwork started, to bring meals (or calling to get my meal order request), to clean the room, to provide lactation consulting, etc. It really was nonstop around the clock! There were also schedules to follow (feeding Olivia every 2 hours, taking Motrin every six hours, and documenting every diaper change and feeding). Not to mention we also got hospital visitors eager to meet our little one and Facetime/phone calls with family members. Needless to say, I was exhausted by the time we arrived home and was very much looking forward to the calm. 

Adam giving Olivia kisses

Adam doing a diaper change- yes, he is using gloves to wipe her first poop (the meconium, which is sticky and tarlike)

Second night when she didn't want to be put in the bassinet- it's a scary thing to suddenly be taken out of your warm and snug home!

My two precious family members, both swaddled in their blankets

Having her hearing tested- she was fast asleep with little headphones on

Our first set of visitors- the Gamble family!

Stacia and Jason also came to visit! 

More nurse visits

Testing out her lungs

Our hospital room- we were the room on the end, which was nice because there was not a lot of traffic passing by and we were told it was their biggest room so we had lots of extra space. We peeked into a few of the other rooms, and they were definitely smaller and some didn't have a bed for the partner to sleep in.

Last day at the hospital (around 1pm on December 23rd)- very excited to be heading home! It's not a great photo but we were tired and eager to get to our peaceful and quiet apartment! It was raining but not too cold (I didn't need a jacket over what I was wearing). I was relieved because I had been worried about having a winter baby and not having her be bundled up enough.

Our month in review will be coming up shortly.... :)