Aili Update: Months Seven and Eight

Hey everyone!

Aili hit the eight month milestone today! We cannot believe it! This little girl has kept us on our toes the last two months. We traveled to Florida the end of September on a plane again and she surprised us by not sleeping at all the flight back, but still did awesome! She also has started creeping (army crawling on her belly) and can crawl a few moments but her arms are still trying to figure it out. Lots of rocking back and forth on her hands and knees but not quite got the hang of it yet. She has had all different kinds of baby food now and her current favorite is pumpkin, apple and cinnamon purée. Very festive for fall! She GOBBLES it up! She also has five teeth now and one more that is working on coming through. Her first Halloween was a big success and she put up with our antics and let us dress her up for our Halloween party and also for her school parade. It has been so fun watching this little girl blossom and grow!! We will be heading down to Florida for thanksgiving time, driving this time. We are looking forward to Aili’s first turkey day and spending time with family and friends! 

Our favorite products:

• Finding Nemo jumperoo 
• Bumpkins bibs for meal time

Thanks for keeping up,

- Olivia :)

Aili Update: Month Six

Hey everyone,

Half a year has gone by of watching this amazing little girl grow and I officially want time to stop. This month has by far been my favorite. Aili is sleeping through the night HOORAY! She puts herself to sleep every night and every nap and Madi and I both can say it is literally LIFE CHANGING. I talked last month about how we used a combo of Taking Cara Babies and the Ferber Method and it has worked so well for us. I was totally against letting Aili cry it out all together, but these methods are not just letting you baby lay there and scream themselves to sleep. If you want to know more, feel free to ask me about our experience. 

Aili has been coming into her own personality so much and loves to babble. At the store, in the airport security line, in the car, once she gets going she doesn't like to stop. She has officially said her first word "da-da". I know, I was a little disappointed it wasn't mama, but she loves her daddy so much and lights up every time he comes into the room that it is so freaking adorable. While her saying "da-da" is probably not associated with Madi at this point, it is super cute, especially when she says it when he is in the room. She is a rolling machine. If you set her down anywhere on the floor, she will be on the other side of the room in less than a minute. She almost immediately rolls onto her belly if you place her on her back, she is a definitely a tummy sleeper like mom! At school she got to go on the outdoor playground baby swing for the first time this month and LOVED it. She also made her first work of art, a beautiful hand painting entitled 'hand paint' LOL. 

We also have a little jet-setter on our hands. This little lady traveled three of the last four weekends. First, we drove to Gatlinburg for great-grandma and grandpa's sixtieth wedding anniversary celebration. We saw beautiful mountain views, ate delicious food and even spotted some black bears! (a little too close for comfort). The next weekend Aili and I flew to Florida to visit her Uncle Reegan for his birthday. She slept the flight there and back! We had a great time in Florida, swimming in the pool, going to Downtown Disney and spending time with Aunt Stephanie, Uncle Reegan and Grammy. The following weekend we met Uncle Jeremy and soon-to-be Aunt Lindsey in Charleston. We had to outrun the hurricane, but while we were there we had beautiful weather and so much fun with our besties. It is crazy to think that on our annual trip last year we were telling them we were pregnant with Aili and now she joined us on our yearly journey with them! This month we are taking a break for traveling for the most part. We will be going down to Florida in a few weeks to visit family while Madi does some things for his blog. Fingers crossed that flight number two goes as well as flight number one!!

Breastfeeding has officially come to an end. We slowly weaned this month, and while it was hard for me to give it up, my supply just wasn't worth all of the time I was spending pumping. Although seeing how much we've spent on formula already it makes me thankful that I was able to breastfeed for the majority of the first six months. I definitely would do it again with our next kiddo down the road, but it is a lot of hard work. The hours spent pumping and cleaning and sorting bottles were exhausting. And I am definitely glad to be able to go to sleep as soon as Aili does if I feel like it! 

I have continued to feel better anxiety wise. I have still been seeing a therapist and that has definitely helped. I also think that the sleep improvement has been a huge help as well. I have been so supported by many other moms who have gone through something similar as well as many of my friends and my family who have been so great at coming over if I feel lonely or need a break. I just want to encourage anyone who has been dealing with PPA/D that as others encouraged me, it will get better. You will get through this. When Aili was 8 weeks old and people told me "around six months to a year it will be so much better" I was totally discouraged. That seemed so far away. And it is a long road. And I do have days where I break down. But it really is so much better. I know it may not ever totally go away, that part of that is being a mom in general, however I do want to tell my other PPA/D moms that it's okay to ask for help, it's okay to be overwhelmed, it's okay to feel what you need to feel. It's also okay to step away from things that aren't helping your anxiety. Your number one priority is that baby and then yourself. I personally had a hard time stepping away from some of my extra responsibilities or feeling like I was constantly disappointing people, but I have been getting better at that. You have to take care of yourself to be able to take care of your baby. YOU'VE GOT THIS MAMA!

Products we love this month:
- Aquaphor Baby 3 in 1: Long story short, bronchitis led to antibiotics which led to diarrhea which led to diaper rash. This stuff helped clear it up so quickly! One of my friends recommended it and it worked!!
- Infantino 4 in 1 Carrier: we used this so much during our vacations and it was a lifesaver on the plane! 
- Pacifier Clip: This was also another lifesaver while traveling. So simple, but so necessary. 
- iPlay Swim Diaper: We decided to nix the disposable swim diapers and just go ahead and get a re-useable one. So far she hasn't pooped in it (and hopefully won't) but it has worked well for the pool! 

Thanks for keeping up with us,
- Olivia :) 

Aili Update: Month Five

Hey everyone!

Aili girl continues to blossom and grow into her own little person! This month was pretty busy as we made our way up to Michigan to visit my grandparents as we do every summer! The car ride is fourteen hours long, but we broke it up into two days both ways to give ourselves, the dogs and baby girl a break. Aili actually did incredibly well on the way up. She had a few short moments of meltdowns but for being in the car for two days who wouldn’t, am I right? She slept so good in her pack n play at the hotel even though it was my mom, myself and two dogs in the same tiny room as her. I think we were all just exhausted. To our surprise, she did just as well on the way back! I’m praying she has learned the car isn’t so bad, especially with two pups to entertain her in the back seat! She had some cranky time periods while we were in Michigan that lead to TWO teeth popping through her gums! We were so excited for her!

While in Michigan, Aili tried her first food, butternut squash straight from great Grandma and great Grandpa’s garden. She seemed to like it! Since then she has also tried peas and avocado. So far, avocado has seemed to be her favorite! On our trip we had lots of time outside, including lots of sitting on the porch with Great Grandma and lots of pulling weeds and picking crops in the garden with Great Grandpa! 

Breastfeeding and pumping has continued to be an issue. Aili is getting about 50/50 breast milk and formula. I still haven’t found a good solution to my low supply, but tried to add in an extra pumping session when I get home from work when my mom or Madi are home to help watch the baby and that maybe got me an extra ounce. It’s super frustrating, and not at all how I thought my breastfeeding or pumping journey would go considering I started out with such an oversupply. But I’ve heard that from others that oversupply people tend to take a huge hit when going back to work. Pumping every two hours is unrealistic and sleep is way too important to me to wake up in the middle of the night if Aili sleeps through the night. But waking up at 5am and staying up til 10pm to pump is starting to wear on me, especially since the supply just isn’t there anymore. So I’ve decided to slowly start weaning and be done totally by the time Aili hits six months old. Maybe if my supply was there still I would be more motivated, but the hours spent pumping and cleaning parts just is not worth the ounces I’m producing. I’ll let you know next month! 

In the next month we have LOTS of traveling going on. Excited to update you all after that. We will be traveling the next three weekends, so pray for healthy beings so we aren’t miserable while we travel (or when we go back to work/school). 

Products We Loved this Month:

• FisherPrice Sit-Me-Up: Aili lovessss this seat. Our friends gave me a hand me down one and they have one at daycare and she loves to play with the little toys on it
• Bouncer Seat: another staple now that we can’t use her boppy lounger. We bring this all around the house and strap her in and turn on the music. She will sit in it for a bit while we need to get things done!
• Teething toys: now that we have teeth, we aren’t as keen on giving her our knuckle to chomp on to keep her calm! We try to give her something safe to chew on like little play toys or her teething mit to chomp on in the car or while we’re making dinner!

Thanks for keeping up with us,

• Olivia 

Aili Update: Month Four

Hey all,

Wow this month has been a whirlwind. I am back at work full time and as I said in the 3 month blog, we were so so SO lucky to have my mom with us for the whole month of June. It really helped make the transition back to work easier. The first week of July she started daycare which was a huge adjustment for all of us (Nike included, she definitely misses her little baby). So far daycare (which we refer to as school) has gone really well. Aili is happy when she sees her teachers and  when I pick her up she doesn’t look like she’s been crying a lot and usually is content and playing or napping. We also think that she started teething *face palm*. We thought it was too early, but learned that it is not! She is a chewing, slobbery, drooly, poop making machine right now and we are just waiting for the tooth to pop through.

Breastfeeding has now become pumping 70% of the time because of work. It definitely has been a challenge. My supply took a huge hit by the second week back to work and we had to use a good portion of our freezer stash. I started trying lots of things to increase my supply, including drinking TONS of water or Gatorade/Powerade (the blue, the red all the tricks), power pumping, pumping pals flanges, and finally lactation cookies. I had dipped down to only making 14 ozs between my early morning 5am pump, work pumps and one evening pump and that was just not working for Aili. So we broke into the freezer stash ast least once a day to give her another 6-8 ozs during the day. Our pediatrician also asked us to start giving her some formula in a bottle of breastmilk once a day. She is SUCH an active baby (literally moving whenever she is awake) and they felt like my breastmilk wasn't giving her enough calories even if she drank 20-25 oz/day (which is our guestimate of how much she is drinking between my breastmilk pumped and nursing). I was definitely sad because my supply up to this point had been SO good. I literally joked with my cousin and mom about selling it on the black market of breastmilk (totally a joke but seriously people make some major moolah). Needless to say, I was disappointed. But, the first few weeks of trying to give her that little bit of it, she hated the formula. She could definitely tell the difference even when we mixed only a small amount (1/2 tsp) with breastmilk to give her the extra calories. We tried different kinds, and found only one kind she would tolerate (and I use that word lightly because tolerate is a lenient word). Luckily she finally started taking it when mixed with water as a regular formula bottle Since trying the new tricks to get my supply up, I now maybe make 16-18 ounces a day instead. Not a great increase. So needless to say I won’t keep buying the cookies and such, but I did make some of my own and add the brewers yeast and flax seed meal that I found on Amazon, into smoothies for good measure. Now that a month has gone by, we will see what her weight is doing Monday at her appointment and how she's held up through the crazy changes that have been going on. When people asked me how long I planned to breastfeed, I always told them my goal is to make it to a year. But I would tell my friends, honestly every day longer that I breastfeed is a win in my book. It is WORK y'all. But I truly believe a fed baby is best, whether that is breast milk or formula. I totally get why some people don't want to breastfeed. Honestly for us, we know there are good benefits to breastfeeding, but the money saving is one of the biggest wins in our book which is why I was so set on keeping it up for so long. My goal is really to just keep going and see what happens. If it dries up in the next month or two, that's okay. We've made it this far. If you have any other tips/tricks for supply, let me know!

Mentally, I have really been struggling. This blog is all about honesty and how I feel about things and I want to be honest about this part of motherhood for me as well. Around about six weeks after delivery, I started to experience really bad postpartum anxiety. I would time every single nap and if it was a minute or ten shorter than supposed to be I would panic and think she would never sleep at night. I would cry at the drop of a hat. I would feel incredibly heavy loneliness. After about a week, I called my mom and asked her to come back. She did about a week later. She has been so supportive. It wasn’t that Madi hasn’t been an amazing Dad, he has. It was just a mental roadblock I couldn’t get over and having another set of hands was what we needed. Then I went to Florida and it got better as I was busy and after that my mom came to spend the month and it got better. But once she left, it came back with a vengeance. Fourth of July weekend I was home four days from work and cried every single one of them. For no particular reason. I just wanted my mom. After that I decided to reach out to our pediatrician and ask to see a counselor. Which I will be doing next week. I think that is the best thing I can do for me right now and hopefully will give me some insight on what I can do to get through this time and enjoy the days I have with Aili and not stress about every little thing so much. 

This month we will be traveling to Michigan to see my Grandparents as we do every summer. We are driving, and it’s 14 hours, but we are breaking it up into two days on the way there and on the way back. We have some fun trips coming up and right now we are just trying hard to stay busy to keep my mind off of the PPA. It helps me significantly to surround myself with other people and keep busy. 

Products I love this month:

- any toy with teethers on it! the Itzy Ritzy hand mit teether was a purchase we made when someone suggested it to use and Aili isn’t in LOVE but she does chew on it

- Fisher Price Sit Me Up (Aili’s new favorite at daycare).

Thanks for keeping up with us,

• Olivia :) 

Aili Update: Month Three

Hey everyone!

Time has continued to fly and we now have a three month old on our hands! This month we had a lot of firsts that we checked off including first time in a pool (at Grammy’s house), first road trip (11 hour drive to Florida) and first day back to work for Mama. 

The long car rides to and from Florida went pretty well, but Aili is definitely not a car loving baby yet. We had a blowout (or two ;) ) on our journey but luckily none bad enough to get all over the car seat! Our trip was great and we saw our families and extended family as well as some of our best friends. It was so good to spend the time with everyone and I’m so glad I took part of my maternity leave to do so! I had been kind of looking forward to getting back into a good routine, which included going back to work. Now that I’m back at work, I’m wondering why I wanted to go back. Just kidding ;). Going back to work has been great. I love seeing my friends and patients again. My work colleagues are truly like a second family for me so it felt so unnatural to be away for so long. I do miss seeing baby girl as much though. We’re pretty blessed that my mom is able to come and stay with us almost the whole month of June so that Aili girl didn’t have to start daycare right when I started back at work. She’s the best! 

Breastfeeding has still been going pretty well. I am a little worried about my supply dropping now that I’m back at work. So far it’s balanced out and we haven’t had to supplement with formula or use any of our freezer stash yet. 

Products I loved this month:

- Milk Snob Car Seat Cover was a lifesaver for us! We used it a lot to let Aili sleep while we were out and about in combination with the shusher or white noise. 

- Medela hands free pumping bra is a must for going back to work with the frequent pumping sessions 

 Look out world here she comes!! Love watching this baby girl grow!

Thanks for keeping up with us,

- Olivia 

Aili Update: Month Two

Month Two

It’s hard to believe how fast this month went by. We have a two month old!! Aili girl has been progressing so much this month and I can’t wait to see what the coming months have in store!

Sleep has been up and down. She had been doing so good with four hour stretches in her fourth week of life and then had a regression her fifth week of not sleeping well at all. Hard to go down, only sleeping two hours at a time maybe. Not napping well during the day. Extra fussy. But then I took a class from Taking Cara Babies online called “will I ever sleep again” (LOL RELEVANT MUCH??) that is done by a NICU/L&D nurse who’s husband is a pediatrician. It seriously changed our lives. It isn’t sleep training but tricks and tips to help your baby go down on their on in their own space. It isn’t a strict schedule but more flexible to help your baby adjust to life from weeks 5-12 of life and then how to keep things going after that in the 3-4 month class. The FIRST night we did it, she slept 7 hours. No joke. Now she didn’t sleep seven hours every night but she slept better and went down easier. Before this at night she was sometimes sleeping in the pack n play great and sometimes on me because she would not go down in her own space. Same for naps, she now takes 1-2 naps per day in the pack n play. The naps range from 2.5 hours to 30 mins lol but they are on her own and give me time to take a freaking shower and sit without another human attached to me. But she gives you grace to feel like you can also hold your baby for some naps and sometimes she will nap in the car, ALL OKAY. It’s incredibly freeing. So needless to say, if you have a baby and your sleeping isn’t great check her Instagram and blog out but seriously TAKE THE CLASS. Best money I’ve spent on baby items. 

She has been doing awesome with tummy time! She actually enjoys it and is very talkative during it as well! She’s holding her head up a lot and pushing up on her arms a lot for good amounts of time as well. She has rolled belly to back now multiple times as well! Just not consistently yet. This is one of my favorite parts of the day with her! Nike loves to watch her during tummy time too, probably because she’s so vocal during it haha. 

We definitely have been having lots of social smiles and lots of coos and “conversations”. The car rides have been hit or miss. If we keep moving she doesn’t seem to mind it and will fall asleep but if we are stop and go she is NOT a fan. We will be heading to Florida next week and so I will be curious to see how she does on the journey! Hopefully we don’t run into any bad traffic. 

This month has been really hard in the area of emotions. I’ve had some postpartum anxiety and have had a hard time with being alone during the day. There were many times where I would burst into tears for no real reason and would have gripping anxiety about things that aren’t a big deal. Talking to and with people have been really helpful for this and I’m hoping getting back to work and into a routine will help my mental health greatly.

Favorite products this month:

- TAKING CARA BABIES CLASS

- Shussher for on the go car rides or stroller walks it helps her fall asleep for real. Only lasts 30 mins before shutting off and the design is kind of poor because of you set it up the speaker is on the bottom but otherwise we love it! It seriously has made going out so much easier. 

- Haaka silicone milk catcher and manual pump. We got a combo deal on Amazon for these two gadgets (but they weren’t the actual Haaaka brand) and it was well worth the $30. The Haaka is this genius device that you use on the opposite breast to catch your letdown milk on the side opposite of which you baby is feeding. If you are exclusively breast feeding this gadget is SO worth your money!! You can build a small freezer stash from it easily! I wish I would have bought it sooner to have in the early days when my oversupply was really bad before everything regulated. The manual pump is something I never thought I’d need, but now since Aili has had some 8-10 hour nights, I keep it by my bedside and if I wake up before she does (or after 8 hours) I go ahead and use the manual pump and put that in the fridge to avoid clogged ducts and mastitis. SO much easier then getting up and pumping with my electric pump!!!

So that’s it for this month! Now we head into our last month before I go back to work! Can’t wait to see her progress over this month! 

Thanks for keeping up,

- Olivia :)

{Real Talk}: Where Will You Be In 5 Years Part Two

Hey all,

Today my blogpost from five years ago came up on my memories. It was about where do you think you will be in five years? You can read the whole post here, which was funny because it talked about how five years prior to that I thought I would be living a pretty different life. This time I want to look at what I said five years ago: 

“5 years from now hopefully: I will be married to Madi, about to celebrate our four years of marriage anniversary, Nike will be six, Madi will be done with PT school, we will be expecting or have had a child. I hope to still be working as an RN in oncology or obstetrics. Possibly living in Tennessee or North Carolina.”

So this is pretty spot on hah! I married the love of my life May 30, 2015. We are about to celebrate four years of marriage. Nike is six! So crazy! Madi is working now as a physical therapist. I’m still working in oncology as an RN. And we live in North Carolina! So crazy! Five years ago Madi hadn’t been accepted to PT school yet and I hadn’t even graduated quite yet. AND we have had our first baby, Aili Anne. It’s incredible what God does in our lives.

Five years from today, April 29, 2024, I hope Nike is still hanging with us at eleven years old. Aili will be five years old, about to start kindergarten in the fall. I hope to still be working in oncology and for Madi to be in a job that he loves. Madi will also be done with residency. Maybe baby number two will be in our lives then also. We hope to have traveled to Europe and taken Aili to Disney World a time or two. Hopefully about to buy or have bought our first home. 

It’ll be fun to see in another five years where our little family is at. For right now we are just trying to enjoy the ride! 

Thanks for keeping up with us,

- Olivia :)

Aili Update: Month One

 Month One

I can’t believe it’s been one month since this little babe was born. Time is definitely flying (even more so when she has great sleep ;)!). Being a mom is such an amazing experience and honestly mind blowing, exhausting and the hardest thing I have ever done. How am I in charge of a life?! It has been a challenge in more ways than one. My type A personality had a hard time at first justifying not getting things done and not really having a schedule. While it was a nice change for the first week, week two I was going crazy. Not sleeping as much and setting even small goals like getting laundry done and then it not happening was frustrating to me.  I also normally hate auto pay for bills because if something is wrong I don’t like the back track to fix it and my type A likes to have control, but auto pay has been a HUGE importance because I don’t even know what day/time it is. I’m definitely only alert and oriented x 2 hah! We missed a payment for our electric bill by two days this month which has NEVER happened before and that’s when I decided auto pay is a go. But by week three I learned that it’s okay to just snuggle with Aili and the laundry and dishes and budget will get done eventually. These days won’t last forever as I know and have been told and I am trying to soak up all the baby snuggles. Does it still drive me crazy? Yes. Am I adjusting? Kind of. 

Below are some updates from this month including things we have really loved this months and that I highly recommend adding to your registry or purchasing if you are looking for ideas! 

Milestones: 

Aili is doing well with tummy time and one day she even rolled over from her tummy to her back and scared the crap out of me! She was on the floor on her play mat but I was not expecting it! She’s got a lot of neck movement and does turning her head from side to side and holds her head up for a bit now! She has been sleeping pretty good most nights. Getting about 2-3 hour blocks but a few nights we had a ROUGH time. It’s so hard going off of one to two hours TOTAL of good sleep at night when she just wants to be held or is having and upset tummy but we have been blessed with a good baby overall! She is starting to have more awake time between day naps and loves listening to Disney Pandora and snuggling. She smiles a lot while she’s dreaming and has giggled a few times in her sleep. 

Breastfeeding Update

- So far so good with breastfeeding! I have been blessed with an awesome milk supply since day one and Aili has had a good latch also! She has *mostly been sleeping in two to three hour spurts at night which has really helped me get some decent sleep. A few times she slept for four hours and I could actually hear the hallelujah chorus in my dreams. I use the Medela pump and I really like it! I’m still learning all the time about breastfeeding and the process of pumping and milk storage but overall it has gone well for us so far!

- If you’re pregnant and want to breastfeed I suggest either taking a class at your hospital OR if you don’t have time to commit to that (like me) then I highly recommend the online course milkology provides! it’s easy to use and you get to keep the info for life! she had great tips and tricks that worked well for me with Aili! It’s pretty inexpensive and you can keep the login forever so you don’t have to rebuy after a certain time!

Favorite Products

- SwaddleMe Velcro Swaddles

I’m obsessed with these. To me they are easy to use and we use them at nighttime with Aili to help her feel comforted and cozy. She has done really well with them! 

- Boppy Pillow and Lounger

These are must haves. The lounger is like a big portable pillow for her to lay in around the house. The original boppy pillow saves your arms for when you have to breastfeed. Both have been so helpful!

- Nest Hatch Noise Machine

I love our nest! It can be controlled by your phone (winning) and the light and music or white noise level is adjustable. The light provides just enough of a nightlight so that I can see what I’m doing when I do the night feedings without waking Madi up and keeping Aili drowsy. The only con is that I wish you could play your own music on it like a regular speaker. 

- WubbaNub paci, but specifically the giraffe one is a good size that Aili can cuddle and because of the contrast of the spots I feel like she can see it better than her bunny WubbaNub (even though the bunny she also has is so freaking cute)

- Moby wrap, literally so freeing. She falls asleep pretty quick when I’m moving in it and it’s the easiest way for me to walk Nike with her. We love our stroller, but in order to get into the grass and the park for Nike and keep Aili happy, the wrap works great! 

We’re pretty dang blessed by this baby girl and are so proud to be given the role of her mom and dad! We can’t wait for the months and years to come!

Thanks for keeping up with us,

- Olivia :) 

Mama Mondays: My Birth Experience

My Birth Experience

Hey all,

Aili Anne finally made her way into the world and we could not be more in love! Of course this Type A mama’s girl came exactly on her due date (which I thought was hilarious but also amazing)! She shares her birthday with her big cousin London Mackenzie which was my and L’s mom (my cousin)’s goal! I figured it was super cool having the due date of L’s birthday but really though Aili would never actually come on her due date naturally (because they never do) but she did! A lot of people have asked me about my birth experience so I decided to make a post about it to share with you all. CAUTION: Its gonna get personal so if this is TMI for you, don’t read further. It’s also a little lengthy but I couldn’t leave things out!

I had been having Braxton Hicks contractions off and on since about 36-37 weeks, but nothing significant. The first time I felt them I was driving to work and thought to myself “I feel like I’m going to start my period” but obviously was super pregnant so that wasn’t true. They came irregularly until I got to work. That day at work was particularly stressful and I remember writing down the times I felt them and then realized an hour later they had come every 8 minutes for about 40 minutes or so almost to the dot. That made me panic a bit but they had subsided when I stopped, took a breath and drank some water. That’s when I learned these were my first Braxton Hicks contractions. After that I got them randomly but never in consistent pattern like that. I was pretty good at staying hydrated so I didn’t have too much of an issue with that piece of solving the Braxton Hicks puzzle. However, putting my feet up and staying away from stress was kind of laughable advice for an oncology nurse. I am really bad at not getting stressed and feel like sometimes I barely have time to go pee or eat an actual meal let alone put my feet up. But I made an effort to try. And probably did a total of ten times my whole pregnancy hah. 

The Tuesday before my due date I saw the doctor and they said I was 1 cm and 40% effaced. They asked if I wanted them to strip my membranes (basically they shove their fingers around and swipe in the cervix) and I said yes. It was uncomfortable, but I wanted progress. Wednesday came and I was at work and went the bathroom. I was greeted by a surprise, my mucous plug! (Yuck). That got me super excited, and definitely meant progress. But then I was discouraged when I read you could lose your plug at any point and it can grow back if you aren’t really in labor. Saturday I woke up and felt cramping again. I drank some water, went to the bathroom and went to back to sleep. A few hours later in the wee hours of Sunday morning (mid time change may I add) I started to feel consistent contractions that woke me up from my sleep. When people asked me to describe them I tell them it was basically like tightening of my belly plus sharp stabbing cramping in my lower abdomen. Enough that it made me wake up but not what I would consider severe or even moderate. So I tried to go back to sleep and tracked them when I would wake up from them. They were coming about every 20-30 minutes. Throughout the morning they got to be about 12-20 minutes. I got up and took a shower and told Madi and my mom that I was having them but way too far apart to even consider going in. Plus my water hadn’t broken yet so no reason to rush. We had a leisurely day but I was pretty frustrated because they contractions would get closer together and be like 8 minutes apart for an hour then go back to 12 minutes apart for two hours. I walked and walked and finally gave up on the idea that she was coming anytime soon. 

As soon as I texted our friends and cancelled them to come to help with Nike, thirty minutes later I started having what I would call pretty moderate contractions. But they were still 8-10 minutes apart. So I sat on the couch with my little hot pack for my back and had a very sleepless night of these too far apart contractions. About 7:30am I woke my mom up and told her to get get Madi and tell him the contractions we’re consistent about 6 minutes apart and getting more and more painful and intense. Madi walked Nike, we got everything together, and we headed out the door. I was so nervous that they were going to send me home when we got there because my water hadn’t broken yet but had a gut feeling that I shouldn’t wait too much longer to go in.  Our drive was uneventful. There was no screaming at Madi to go faster or anything like the movies, more like me just getting really quiet and trying to focus to breathe through the pain. 

We arrived at Duke around 9:00am and of course the joint commission came AND was making rounds on the L&D floor, so when we first arrived we had to wait about twenty to thirty minutes to be brought back even though I was the only one in the OB Triage waiting room. We headed back around 9:30am and the nurse was super nice. I changed into a gown and they put on the monitors for the baby and a pulse ox and BP cuff for me. “let’s see if you’re contracting” the resident said. I think I literally would have cried right there if they would have told me what I was experiencing wasn’t contractions lol! Sure enough I was contracting now at about 4-5 minutes apart. They checked me and I was 4cms dilated and 70% effaced. The magic words to get me admitted to the hospital and get this baby train rolling! My nurse started an IV and they did an EKG because of my heart history. Baby girl was having decels so I had to turn on my side and that helped. We moved over to L&D and got settled. Because of joint commission our nursing assignment kept changing but the nurse we ended up with was awesome!! She got me back on the monitors and asked if I wanted an epidural. She said that I was progressing well but if she had to bet she didn’t think the baby was coming before the end of her shift at 7pm. Also because of my heart history there was a good chance that I would have to get one if my heart rate continued to rise during contractions. Since I had already been laboring for over 24 hours at this point but REALLY laboring for over 12, and possibly would have to get one later anyway, I decided to get he epidural. The procedure wasn’t bad at all and worked well. The only problem? They use betadine and since I am allergic to fish I did get itchy all over but no really bad hives. I did tell them about the allergy and they said they really prefer to use betadine and can give Benadryl if I really needed it for the itching/hives so I agreed only because I didn’t want to mess up the sterility of the procedure and some hives are 200x better than an infection in your spine! However when my nurse came to insert the foley I kindly asked for chlorhexidine instead of the betadine. Nobody wants itching down there when you’re about to push out a baby! She gave me a ball thing to put between my legs to help with dilation and I rested for a bit. Things from here moved very quickly. Around 2pm the OB came in to check me and said I was 8cms and asked if I was ready to get moving and we agreed to having him break my water. SO MUCH FLUID! My nurse explained that things were moving faster than they had originally anticipated and that the baby would probably be here rather soon. She told me I would start to feel pressure lower and it would be constant right when the baby was coming. By 3:30 I was feeling so much rectal and vaginal pressure so my nurse called in the doctor and he said “yep she’s ready to push! I will be back shortly”. At 3:45 I told her the pressure was constant and I felt like I needed to push. She asked me to try and breathe through it for fifteen minutes if I could to make sure when it was go time that she was as far down on her own and I didn’t have to waste energy pushing. After five minutes I couldn’t wait anymore, I wanted to push her out! The nurse grabbed one leg and my mom grabbed the other with Madi behind me holding my hand and encouraging me the whole way. 

We pushed for about thirty minutes and Aili came into the world! When they put her on my chest I literally couldn’t believe it. How was this thing inside of me seconds ago?! Aili hung out on my chest for an hour and the little cutie opened her eyes about thirty seconds out of the womb, it was amazing! My mom cut the cord and they delivered the placenta. They took Aili to weigh, measure height and listen to her. After that Madi got to hold her. Around 6:30 my nurse came back in with another nurse. They had taken out the foley in the middle of pushing so my nurse asked if I was ready to try and go to the bathroom. I said yes and said I could walk since all of the feeling in my legs had come back a while before that. I walked to the bathroom, sat on the toilet and got SO dizzy. I told my nurse that I was dizzy and that’s the last thing I remember. I woke up to my mom, a sea of nurses and a concerned Madi who was still holding Aili. They asked if I could talk and I shook my head no and went out again. When I woke up the second time they asked me if I could talk again and I said yes but that I was so dizzy still. They got me on the lift equipment and rolled me back to bed. My vitals were fine at this point and my heart was also fine. They attributed it to not eating for 24 hours and blood loss but said this happens and not to worry. I was pale as a ghost and so sweaty but after some apple juice and pretzels started to feel a little better. 

They made me stay in L&D until about 9pm and then we moved over to the mother baby unit. I still felt pretty dizzy so I got some real food, subway of course! The beautiful turkey sandwich I had been waiting for for about nine months hah! I wasn’t really hungry but made myself eat half of it and took some sips of sprite. Everything from then went really well. I finally regained strength and was able to get up and down to the bathroom with the nurse overnight. I hated being that person calling for help to the bathroom with Madi right in the room, but the nurse told me it wasn’t a request I had to call for help and that they didn’t want me to pass out again alone with Madi. So I took them up on it and agreed to call them the first three times. After that I felt better and Madi, Aili and I had a great first night and got some well needed rest. 

My birth experience was great at Duke and I couldn’t have been happier with my team! Every nurse I had from triage to discharge was so helpful and fantastic to work with! My attending was also amazing and so encouraging. I never felt like I couldn’t say what I wanted or that no one listened to me. Although I wasn’t the person to come in with the five page birth plan, I did have requests that they really helped see through. I am so glad that my mom was there to help and while many people told me that I would want just Madi and I in the room for her arrival, I would never change my mom being there for anything and Madi agreed! I was so happy that things went so well (and so quick by the time I went in!). Our little precious girl is finally here! Now we’re back at home and trying to figure out a routine for our new big adjustment to our lives (and sleep schedule) but this baby girl is a CHAMP y’all. She’s doing so well! 

Thanks for keeping up with us,

- Olivia :) 

Pregnancy Update: 38 Weeks and Counting!

Hey all,

It’s been a hot minute since I’ve written a blog post and honestly the only reason one is getting done now is because I’m home sick from work! Unfortunately I caught a NASTY GI virus this week and Lord I have never been so sick in my entire life. Being 38 weeks pregnant and this sick was also awful. Luckily the doctor said baby girl is doing just fine still and so I am at home again today trying to fully recover so I don’t spread this thing around to anybody at work! Anyway this trimester has also flown by, and I wanted to share some things that I have felt were key to my third trimester with you all as we approach the end of the pregnancy. Can’t believe little Aili will be here so soon! The doctor said it could be anytime now!

1) Sleeping sucks

This is an obvious one because you are just so big and as a stomach sleeper, my hips have been killing me trying to sleep on my sides. Everyone says the lack of sleep will just prepare me for a newborn’s crazy sleep schedule, so that’s the good part I suppose!

2) Baby girl is still moving like CRAZY!

This little one has been SO active! Especially in the mornings and late afternoons/evenings. Seems like she tends to chill out in the middle of the day. We got to do an ultrasound yesterday to check her positioning and although we suspected this, she is head down and in position for birth! I will be curious to see if she is super active like this once she comes but it’s been fun watching her squirm around (and at times uncomfortable) but I have been lucky that even with my anterior placenta we haven’t had to worry about lack of movement with this little one! 

3) NOTHING is fitting my belly anymore

Maternity clothes do fit but if I want to just chill I have basically been in Madi’s clothes every evening. Gym clothes are also a pain. I have only been going to the gym in Saturday’s and we usually walk on the trail (when it’s nice out) on Sundays but I am running out of sports bras and workout tops that fit, so basically my workout tops are Madi's shirts too. Luckily I have a nice husband who has been very understanding when he goes to look for clothes and realizes I have them on ;). I am looking forward to being able to get back into my own tops even if that means it takes a few months post partum, because I was mostly wearing my own clothes until this third trimester. Maternity clothes are AWESOME but also EXPENSIVE and while we know we want to have more kids I didn’t want to drop a lot of money on clothes and I’m glad I didn’t! You can live with a few things of each. Especially if you’re a nurse like me and have to buy maternity scrubs and wear those five days a week anyway. 

4) Nike is still attached to my hip

Once I get home from work this dog does not leave my side. Which is adorable and also so weird. I am excited to watch what she does with the baby. Now that we have the nursery set up and the car seat installed she’s definitely been curious about what these new things are. She loves to lay in the nursery and I find her bringing toys in there while we are gone at work. I don’t think she has any idea about what is going to happen very soon but it’s still fun to watch her be curious. 

5) Nesting is in full swing

Not currently because of this bug, but leading up to this point I’ve been cleaning, organizing, meal prepping like a mad women. I’m excited for my mom to get here next week and have been looking forward to all that is about to come so soon! With madi and I working full time we have a hard time keeping things organized but we’ve both upped our game these last few months and have tried to stay on top of things! The nursery is pretty much done as well (pics to come at some point soon). 

6) We have been so BLESSED by everyone!

We had two beautiful baby showers, one at home with our friends and family in Florida and one at my work at Duke with my work family and friends! Madi's work also surprised him with an awesome gift basket of goodies as well! We are so thankful for everyone's generosity during this process. From hand me downs to amazing gifts, we barely had to spend a dime on things for Aili thus far and can not say thank you enough!

I can’t wait for Aili to get here and for our new journey to begin! Keep us in your prayers during this transition as I’m sure it will be a lot to get used to of course! 

Thanks for keeping up with us,

- Olivia :) 

#BookWorm: Woman in the Window

Hello fellow readers,

Happy 2019! Crazy to think the new year is here! A few months ago I was perusing in the library and saw the book The Woman in the Window by A.J. Finn and was intrigued. The problem was that it was a one week rental and I rarely have time to read a 450 page book in a week these days. However, I was about to go out of town to Denver for work and knew on the plane and at night I would have more downtime than I would at home so I said why not? and picked it up. Let me tell you, it was not hard to get through in a week at all. The plot is about a woman named Anna who lives alone in a massive home in New York City. She has a fear of going outside, and so she passes the time drinking and spying on her neighbors. When a new set of neighbors moves in across the way, she uses her camera with a zoom lens to take a peek at their lives. They seem like a normal family, until one day she sees something that is concerning, something people would not want her to see, and that is where it all begins.

This book was a very fast read, because it was so interesting. Definitely a page-turner. The only thing that I did not like about it was that at the end they threw in a couple of big plot twists that I felt weren't necessary and just made the story's finale a little too much to believe. It was the best mystery/thriller that I had read in a while and therefore I think it is worth your time if you enjoy that genre as well. Another reason to get on it and read now is because it is being made into a movie starring Amy Adams. She also starred in the HBO TV series Sharp Objects based on the book by Gillian Flynn (author of Gone Girl) which was my favorite book by Flynn (see the link here). Both have similar main characters in the sense that both women are raging alcoholics... but totally different plots. Interesting choices for roles that Amy Adams has been choosing considering I always think of her as the princess in Enchanted. But she rocks it!

I have a few more posts about books that I read before the end of 2018 that I will get to soon, but for the most part I have just been going to sleep early and trying to rest and rejuvenate as much as possible before baby girl gets here in March! I was given a few books for Christmas and can't wait to start them! Now that the list is out for book to movie adaptations in 2019 (see the link here) I have added quite a few to my list, but also had almost half of these on my list already. LOVE book to movie adaptations so much.

Thanks for reading with me,
- Olivia :)