Our babe is 1 month old today!!
Her first month has been a bit of blur, but we have had lots of bonding and sweet sleepy snuggles with our baby girl. She is already growing and changing so much and we are all madly in love with this new little person that we are getting to know.
We hope that all of the hugs, kisses and cuddles have eased Olivia's transition into this world, because I fear for her things haven't been much fun lately. Being born a couple of weeks early meant that Olivia had a little bit of jaundice and after we left the hospital the high bilirubin level made her soooo sleepy that she was not waking up to eat. We were at the doctor's office almost daily for her first 2 1/2 weeks for blood draws to check her levels. My heart broke for our little miss who took the abuse to her tiny feet like a champ. To be able to get rid of the yucky stuff that was making her yellow, she needed to poop it out and that meant she needed milk to help that along. I was trying to feed her every 2 hours and used every trick I had to try to wake her but our little sleeping beauty was content just to dream away, so I had to pump milk and try to rouse her just enough to be able to pass a bottle through her tight little lips. In the end, she just wasn't able to eat enough being as tired as she was and her jaundice was bad enough that we needed to spend the night in the NICU under bili-lights.
I hated every minute of having to take our new baby back to the hospital, but after a tough night of watching her on her little tanning bed she was much better. After a couple weeks of worry, I was a happy mama to have my baby girl waking up on her own and nursing! It was such a relief to finally see her beautiful blue eyes!
After we left the hospital we had a few more days of keeping her on a very strict feeding schedule, but now our little miss is a perfect shade of newborn pink. Bye, bye yellow and hopefully no more visits to the pediatrician until 2 months.
Olivia has been spending lots of time with Pipey while Riley is at school all day. Piper definitely loves having a new baby in our house and she is interested in what Olivia is doing ALL. THE. TIME. I was so ready for Piper to be jealous, but she has completely surprised me by falling into her new big sister role so well!
Now that Olivia is more awake, Piper has made it her mission to keep her from sleeping. She loves to hug and kiss on her, pat her on the head, poke her in the eyes and face, vigorously rock her cradle or car seat, put toys on her in the bassinet or try to feed her snacks. She is really very sweet with her, but just a little too eager to help most of the time. Riley is just pretty much a pro at being a big sister by now and when she's not busy with her school and soccer, she is playing with Piper and loving on Livi. Olivia is lucky to have two big sisters who lover her so much already!
Now that she is eating so well, Olivia has been gaining weight like a champ! Even though sleep has never been a problem with this little one, the doctor finally gave us the okay to let her sleep as long as she wants at night which is a huge relief for both of us, because she will easily sleep a 4-5 hour stretch between feedings. At her 1 month she check-up she weighed 8 lbs 12 oz
She had her first bath and just like her big sissies, she loves the water!
We also had a lunch date with her new cousin Melody who is just a couple of weeks older than her. These two are going to have lots of fun together!
We love having a new little person in our lives and already Olivia is filling the role as baby of the family so perfectly! I can't wait to watch her grow as we get to know her even better!
We love you Miss Livvy!!!!
