Holiday Fun

I've been so excited for this Holiday season with Olivia. She is so interested in everything, and it is so much fun to watch her absorb everything around her. We had a lot of fun on Thanksgiving. My Aunt Gina invited us and a lot of our extended family to her house. Olivia loved being around everyone.

Unfortunately, because all of our family was out of town for Thanksgiving, we weren't able to attend the BYU vs U of U football game. It was the first BYU home game that Jeremy has missed in years. I told him he could go, but he chose to stay with Olivia and me and watch the game at his parents house. What a guy!

We were also able to have our annual Christmas party with Jeremy's friends. It's been so much fun to watch everyone's families grow. The first party I went to was after we were married, and there were only 2 kids. Now there are 8!

We are so excited for Christmas with her, and to travel to California for the warmth, the sleep (yay for 4 babysitters!) and to visit my family.

I think I'm in love...

I have the most amazing baby girl. She is really starting to develop a personality, and she is the sweetest thing. She's turned into such a good, easy baby since her reflux has all but completely disappeared. She's had some major adjustments in the past few weeks, and she's handled them so well.

I've been back at work now since November 2. Olivia has done really well adjusting to daycare. I think she actually likes it. There is a lot to entertain her there, and they take really good care of her. We were lucky to get her into the daycare that is on site at my work. So in the mornings, she just comes to work with me! It's nice because I can stop by and see her whenever I want, and it's just comforting to know she is so close. Whenever I have gone to see her, she is always been sleeping or playing, which makes me feel good, as well. Going back to work hasn't been anywhere near as traumatic as I thought it would be.

We had a scary moment a few weeks ago. Olivia had been kind of fussy and just not real happy for a day or two. One night, we just couldn't get her to stay asleep. I thought she just had bad gas, because she was fussy and squirmy. In the morning (which was my first day back at work), I mentioned to my mom (who was out in Utah helping me with Olivia for the first week) that she should try giving her a bath, since that seems to calm her a little and help her pass her gas easier. As my mom was drying her off, Olivia let out a yelp when she touched her toes. My mom noticed that some of them were a little red and swollen. Upon closer inspection, they were wrapped up in a little, essentially invisible string.


I felt so horrible when I found out - I don't know how long it was on her toes. She had an indentation on her toes for weeks after - it was really wrapped tight. I'm just so glad we found it when we did.

Olivia still loves going on walks. One Sunday, we decided to walk to church. We had Olivia in her stroller, and she just sat there beaming. She knew we were going on a walk and she was so excited.


It's gotten really cold, and I still want to take Olivia on walks every now and then because she enjoys them so much, but I worry that she'll get cold. So we bought her a "snow suit" to wear on walks.


Jeremy got out the Christmas lights, and Olivia was so enthralled with them. I can't wait to get our Christmas tree up, to take her to neighborhoods with lots of Christmas lights, and to bring her to Temple Square once all the lights are up.

I just love this expression!

She loves her daddy!

Happy Halloween!

It was Olivia's first Halloween! She got a cute little Halloween sweater and onesie from her Grandma Rose. She wore it for three days in a row, I had to wash it every night!

Olivia was a penguin for Halloween. I had way too much fun parading her around everywhere.

How she fell asleep at our very noisy, loud, bright ward Halloween party, I don't know.

Her daddy can always make her smile.

Going for a walk outside with Daddy, after Mommy almost burned the house down (long story).

She's so grown-up, look at how well she holds her head up! I've been reminded that I haven't posted an update on Olivia's reflux in a while. I'm going to just pretend that the last couple of nights never happened. Her reflux is getting MUCH better. She is actually happy most of the time that she is awake now, and she is sleeping for longer periods through the night. She doesn't make her horrible choking noise as much, and she is eating a lot more, as well.

I am having to pump, and then mix the milk with rice cereal to thicken it up. We also have to add apple and/or prune juice, because the rice cereal gets her a bit constipated. We've been able to take her off most of her medicines, as well, which makes me much more comfortable. I really hated all the medicines she was on. She is sleeping better at night. Every now and then she even sleeps the whole night! She has recently learned to poop on her own (I suppose I always took the art for granted), so Jeremy and I haven't had any unfortunate projectile poop moments for a while (although often we get a blow out of some magnitude).

She is learning and growing and developing so quickly. It's amazing to watch her. Every single day, literally, she is doing something new. We really do love her!

Who knew Winnie the Pooh was so funny?

Olivia has recently discovered her fingers. The other day she was in her bouncer and it sounded like she was getting fussy. I went to check on her, and she was just "yelling" at her fingers.

Ready to cheer on the stinkin' Cougs :(

Watching Grandma and Grandpa on the webcam.

Olivia still loves her walks, even though the weather is turning cold. Jeremy and I love this hat, because when she moves her head it looks like the little ears are wiggling.

Netflix and the Wiggles!

Jeremy and I finally caved and got a Netflix subscription while I'm on maternity leave. It is cool because it is connected to the X-box, and we can actually instantly stream movies online through the X-box. Yesterday I decided to search for some children's movies and shows, since Olivia is starting to become even more aware of her surroundings, including the television, and I am wondering what damage I'm doing to her to "allow" her to watch my type of shows (like Law and Order, and the Colbert Report). I got a few infant/toddler videos, and we started by watching Sing a Song of Wiggles.

I must confess, that I think I liked it more than Olivia. She fell asleep right after it started, and I continued to watch the rest of the video. The following day, the same thing happened. I'm wondering why I didn't discover The Wiggles until now. I'm beginning to feel an unwavering devotion to them similar to my love for 'N Sync in high school. Jeremy and I finally caved and got a Netflix subscription while I'm on maternity leave. It is cool because it is connected to the X-box, and we can actually instantly stream movies online through the X-box. Yesterday I decided to search for some children's movies and shows, since Olivia is starting to become even more aware of her surroundings, including the television, and I am wondering what damage I'm doing to her to "allow" her to watch my type of shows (like Law and Order, and the Colbert Report).

My favorite Wiggle is Sam...

Olivia's Busy Week

The past week has been very eventful for Olivia Rose. On Sunday, October 11th, she was blessed in church. She wore a dress that her Grandma Jan made, and her cousins Sofia and Fiona were blessed in. We had a lot of family and friends come to see her blessed including her Grandpa Mitch and Grandma Rose from California and her Uncle Curtice from Washington. She behaved herself very well during the blessing, and her daddy did a wonderful job of blessing her.

Olivia also took her first plane ride from Salt Lake City to San Jose. I was really worried that she would be a terror on the plane and everyone would hate us. She did really well. She slept in my arms most of the trip, and only made a few noises the whole flight. When we were deplaning (is that a word?) the woman sitting right behind be said she didn't even know there was a baby in front of her. Olivia has spent the past week meeting her Uncle Kevin, her Great-Grandma Mary, and of course spending a lot of time with her Grandpa Mitch and Grandma Rose.

Olivia's First Day at Church!

Last Sunday Olivia made her debut at church. She only lasted for sacrament and sunday school - and even then we spent most of the time walking in the halls or rocking in the mother's room.

Olivia has spent some time getting to know her cousins.

And finally, a picture of the Olivia that I know!

The Elusive Smile ...

... has finally been caught on camera!

An Olivia Update

Since we last posted, we've done a lot to try and help Olivia with her acid reflux. We saw a pediatric gastroenterologist who thought that her acid reflux issues were secondary to food allergies. She gave us some special formula for us to give to Olivia for two weeks while I go on a strict dairy-free diet to clear all of the cow's milk protein out of my breast milk. The formula is called an elemental formula, which means that it is an amino acid based formula where the proteins have been broken down to their simplest forms to make them easier to digest. We were told that we should see an improvement in her in about 72 hours, and after two weeks (once the cow's milk proteins had cleared my system), I could start breastfeeding again.

Unfortunately, we soon found out that the formula gives her really bad gas. She had a lot of it, and can't seem to pass it very easily. Our pediatrician taught us a trick to help her out. We take a q-tip and dip it in a little vaseline and then stick it up her bum to help break the seal keeping all her gas in. It's not the most pleasant procedure, but it works. Unfortunately, we have to be very careful because if she also has to poop, the poop can come shooting out quite forcefully and Jeremy and I (and many a blanket) have been casualties to projectile poop.

We've been trying the formula for almost two weeks, and we haven't seen an improvement in her symptoms. In fact, in the past few days, things have gotten worse. She has much more severe and prolonged refluxing episodes, and because of the gas, she now doesn't sleep as well (and neither do we!).

My grandma offered to take her to a naturopathic clinic for a simple procedure where the valve that causes the acid in her stomach to seep into her throat is closed. Although I am unfamiliar with naturopathic medicine, and therefore a little cautious, I decided I was willing to try anything, since nothing we had done so far worked. Today we went in and the practitioner felt her stomach and said that the she could feel the valve actually opening and closing, so it wasn't an issue of her valve being stuck in the open position. Like the pediatric gastroenterologist, she thought it was also related to food allergies. My heart kind of sank at that moment, because we have been trying to treat her for food allergies for a couple of weeks with no improvement. We were given a product called Colic-Ease, which is a gripe water, to try. We've started using it today, and we'll see if there is any improvement.

Not everything is all bad, however. Olivia is really growing (although she is still tiny), and has started smiling at us (mostly Jeremy). She is a major snuggler, and loves to nuzzle her way into our necks. We'll post some more pictures soon!

Some more pics of O

Acid Reflux Nightmares...

It's been a while since our last post, and we have a good excuse. We have a very demanding little one-month-old, with a very unpleasant medical condition: acid reflux.

Olivia was diagnosed with acid reflux around 2-weeks of age, and in the past couple of weeks, it has gotten worse. She is currently taking three medications to try and control it: she takes Zantac twice a day, Prevacid once a day, and usually gets some Mylanta anytime she eats. We brought her to Primary Children's Medical Center where they x-rayed her after she took some barium. She apparently refluxed 5 times in 1 minute, which indicates some pretty severe acid reflux. The pediatrician said that it was unlikely that there was much else we could do for her outside of waiting it out, but he wanted us to go see a pediatric gastroenterologist just in case.

She now has to be fed in a sitting up position, and we have to keep her upright for at least 30 minutes after a feeding. Unfortunately, she still spits up quite a lot, and her acid reflux still bothers her regardless of what we try.

The worst part of it all is the sleeping (or lack thereof). She now can't sleep on her own, because she refluxes so bad. When you lay her down, you can literally hear the acid coming up her throat. It makes her cough, clear her throat, and choke. It is absolutely the worst sound in the world. We have tried to sleep her propped up at an angle, but it seems that we can't get her high enough, without her slipping down. So Jeremy and I now take shifts at night holding her upright so that she can sleep. It makes it difficult for us to sleep, of course, but it is better than a screaming baby in pain.

We have an appointment with a pediatric GI at Primary Children's Medical Center on Tuesday. I spent the past week searching for a pediatric GI that could see her in quickly. The first one I called didn't have an opening until Oct 30. I called another, and could get in on Oct 6. A third one I called had an opening on Sept 21. Luckily, I put her name on the cancellation list at all the clinics, and one called with an opening next week. Hopefully there is something they can do for her (and Jeremy and myself!). We'll keep you updated!

Here's a video of one of her happy moments, right after the bath (she loves her baths!). Jeremy and I love this noise that she makes.

Some of our Favorite Pictures

Olivia's first bath in the nursery at the hospital ... not happy!

Spending time with Daddy in the nursery.

Chillin' with Momma in our room at the hospital.

A little tiny ear.


AAAAAAH!!!


This is her princess pose.


Cuddling with Momma at the dinner table.


Just got done with her first bath at home.

Delivery

After about a half hour of pushing, the doctor decided that I needed a little bit of pitocin because my contractions were coming about 5 minutes apart, and that was leaving just enough time between contractions for her to climb back up. Soon after receiving the pitocin, I had several contractions that came about 2 minutes apart, and labor was progressing well. However, my next contraction didn’t come for about 10 minutes, and then they started up again about every five minutes apart. Over the next 3 hours, the same irregular contractions occurred, even though I was getting more pitocin. The nurse and the doctor said they had never seen something like this, but it looked like my body was responding to the pitocin for a while, and then somehow counterbalancing it. By 3:00, I was getting really exhausted (I had been pushing for almost 3 hours), and really frustrated. The doctor told me that when I became too tired, we could use some interventions (ie vacuum) to help get her out. I was reticent to use it, because it seems kind of scary, and I wanted to do it on my own, but my doctor said that they use it just to help guide the baby out, focusing on getting the baby’s head past the pelvic bone. By 3:15, I still had not made much progress, so I decided that I needed the help. The nurse and the doctor were in my room within a couple of minutes and had us all hooked up to the vacuum. After a couple of contractions, I heard the nurse say, “Oh, she’s cute!” I remember wondering how she would know that, since we just started pushing again. Right at that time, I saw a little head appear and a tiny little body follow. I couldn’t believe she was out so soon. They put her on my stomach for just a few seconds, and took her away pretty quickly because when my water broke, there had been some meconium. They spent a good 15 minutes working on her in the labor and delivery room. She cried right away, but they really wanted to make sure that her lungs were clear. After about 15 minutes, they took her to the nursery so that they could check all of her vitals, give her a bath, and really make sure everything was OK with her lungs. Jeremy went with her to the nursery, and I stayed in my room and got all sewn up! She was in the nursery for two hours, I didn’t get to see her until 5:30, so I was really anxious. But I knew she was in good hands, and I knew that Jeremy was there, and that if there was really anything serious, he would let me know.