Oliver's Stats

Ollie had his two month check up on Friday and here are his stats compared to four weeks ago:

8/25/08

Age- 1 month

Weight- 8 lbs 11 oz

Length- 21 1/4 inches

Head Circumference-  36 1/2 (I don't know what measurement they use, probably cm)

9/25/08

Age- 2 months

Weight- 11 lbs (50th percentile)

Length- 23 1/4 inches (75th percentile)

Head Circumference- 38 1/2 (25th percentile)

Some things about Ollie:

-He is smiling more and more often and he has the cutest dimples

-He is officially sleeping through the night (it has been about 2 weeks)

-He learned how to kick his legs and use his arms, he loves to kick especially in the bath

-Sometimes when he is sleeping he will smile and giggle, it is my favorite thing

-He LOVES to be outside, we go on walks daily 

-He is holding his head up really well

-He is tough, he got his shots and hardly cried

-He recognizes us and can follow us with his eyes

-He brings us more joy than we could have ever imagined, we love him!

He was so tired after his shots, he fell asleep on me with arms and legs sprawled out

We were running around getting ready on Saturday and I came into our room and Jason had set Ollie up in our bed...so cute!

Baby Photography

I have so many friends that are really getting into photography, and they are all so talented, I'm amazed. Jami came over the other week and we had some fun taking pictures of Ollie. He is not the best subject, in fact, it is like he knows we want him to behave and so he doesn't, but we managed to get some really cute ones.  I really like the black and white pictures (obviously).   These are some of my favorites.  Thanks Jami, I love them!

First Documented Smile

Oliver has been smiling since around 6 weeks, and they are becoming more and more frequent and sometimes with a little giggle.  I just can not get enough of him, he is so adorable.  He is 2 months old this week, and I just can't believe it.   He is such a good baby.   He has been sleeping through the night since about 6 weeks.  I keep telling myself it is a fluke and one of these days he is going to go back to getting up 3 times a night, but it hasn't happened yet.  He is going in for his 2 month appt this week so I will post his stats after that.  I am kind of dreading it since he is getting his immunizations.  Oh well I think two days of a sad baby is better than a lifetime with polio.   

Pacific Grove Triathlon

This weekend Jason finished in his second Olympic distance triathlon, this one was in Pacific Grove (right by Monterey).  His swim was in the ocean with lots of kelp, I was only slightly worried he would drown, but he did great as usual.  The bike ride was along pebble beach following the "17 mile drive". And the run was from Lovers Point in Pacific Grove to the Monterey Bay Aquarium, all very scenic. He wasn't as well trained for this one, with the baby and a new job he hasn't had as much time, but he finished and still felt great (except for his raw nipples).  He thinks with a little more training he will be ready for a half Ironman.  I am just so impressed that he can even do this.  Once again for those who forgot, an Olympic distance is a 1 mile swim, 25 mile bike ride, and a 6.2 mile run.  Jason's mom came down to watch, which was really fun, Ollie loves when Grandma comes to visit!  It is so fun to watch Jason, and we were all so proud of him.

Your going to have to enlarge this picture to see Jason, the swim was two laps around the bouys.  So they swam one lap, got out of the water, run around that rock and then swam the second lap.
We weren't able to be as close during his transitions as we were at the Battle of Midway, so I didn't get pictures at every transition.  Here he is coming in from his bike ride.
Starting the run
Crossing the finish line..woo hoo!!
So proud of our triathlete
What an angel!  Ollie was so good the whole weekend.  He loves being out and about, he only gets cranky when we stay home all day, which means I have to think of reasons to get out of the house everyday, which is good for me too!
Uhhh...please no more pictures!
Jason and his Mom, with the ocean in the background
This isn't the best picture of Ollie but here he is with Grandma, he loves the attention!
Jason and I, I'm still trying to get rid of that baby belly :(
Looking down Cannery Row in Monterey

I loved all the sailboats, if I was one of my artistic photography friends I probably could have made this a really cool picture, but I'm not, so here is a parking lot with some sailboats in the background.

Oliver's Blessing

On Sunday September 7th we blessed Oliver in Auburn. It was a wonderful weekend full of great family and friends. It was great to see so many of Jason's family come from Utah and Idaho. Ollie's aunt Jenny got him the cutest little white tux for his blessing, he looked so adorable. Jason gave the sweetest blessing. I feel so lucky to have such special boys in my life.

This is the adorable face looking up at me every morning
Almost everyone after the blessing
Willow trying to lick Ollie's head

This is a stinky face, but it shows his little tux
The guys and their babies, Scott and Simon, Chris and Willow, Jason and Oliver, Sean and Paige
Our little family
A picture with the great-grandparents
Me and my bestest friends
Our good friends Sean and Spring live in Sacramento so they came up for the blessing, it was so nice of them and it was great to catch up, we miss them being our neighbors
With the grandparents, minus John
The Millers and the Hardmans
Alyssa holding her cousin
Hanging out at the Millers afterwards

Monterey Bay Aquarium

On Saturday we took Ollie on his first trip to Monterey.  We went with our new friends Jami and Layne and their adorable kids. It was crazy busy at the aquarium because of the holiday weekend, but it was still really fun. While in Monterey we stopped at Ghiradelli's for some decadent sundaes and then on the way home we stopped in Gilroy for some delicious In N' Out. Ollie was great, he pretty much slept the whole time, we were worried he wouldn't sleep that night but true to his style he slept for a 7 hour stretch. I love that kid! Last night he slept for 9 hours. While the nights have been great he has had a rough time during the days. He needs lots of attention and cuddling to be happy, which can be really draining at times. Luckily Jason has been home to help.  I don't know if he has a tummy ache or what but it is really sad and I hate to hear him cry.  If anyone has suggestions, I would love to hear them.  

Oh and as if I haven't had enough health problems lately, I went and got mastitis. If you don't know what that is I will let you look it up, but it basically consists of some serious tenderness of the breasts, a wicked fever, extreme malaise (tiredness), and for me a serious headache. So I have basically spent Sunday and most of the day so far in bed resting. I called the Dr. and got some antibiotics yesterday so hopefully I will be feeling better really soon. I am trying everything to keep my milk from drying up, which also really stinks. So any suggestions about mastitis would be greatly appreciated. I swear I am not a sick person, but lately it is one thing after another.  I decided my body prefers to be pregnant, since my pregnancy was perfect and everything since the birth has been less than perfect.  

  
Me and Jami and her cute twins
Jason is such a cute dad, I love him!
How cool are these jellyfish...the jellyfish were our favorite
Me and my sweet baby
So we took the majority of our pictures with the jellyfish...we are dorks
Ollie with the ladies
At In N' Out, thanks honey for catching me mid-chew
I was trying to keep him warm, hence the burp cloth on his head
Ok I took this picture with my computer's camera and sent it to Jason while we were chatting, I just love his little baseball bum...so cute!

Birth Story and 4 Weeks Old

Well Ollie is 4 weeks today, I can't believe it.  So I guess I should finally post the birth story, not that it is that exciting, but I want to remember it.  

So we went in Wednesday night as instructed.  The hospital is very small and cozy, I loved it.  There are 6 labor and delivery rooms and 8 recovery rooms.  It was me and one other lady there that night, so I had plenty of attention.  They inserted Cervidil around 9:30pm.  Usually they leave it on for 12 hours to let it soften and "ripen" the cervix, then they start you on pitocin.  Well mine began working right away and I contracted all night long.  Not really hard contractions, but noticeable enough that I pretty much didn't sleep a wink (which is even more depressing when your husband sleeps like a rock in a bed next to you)!  They checked on me the next morning, before 9:30, and decided I was contracting enough so they removed the cervidil and left me to see if I would continue to contract without needing the pitocin.  After a few hours my contractions began slowing down, so they put me on the minimum dose of pitocin.  Things picked up a little, but not too much.

Around 1:15pm my Dr came and broke my water.  That was pretty much the weirdest feeling EVER!!  Right away my contractions were harder and closer together.  I don't remember what I was dilated to at this point.  I suffered through those contractions for about an hour and a half and then decided to get my epidural.  I was doing ok (in fact Jason kept asking me if I was sure I needed it yet cause I was breathing through the contractions so well, I guess he expected screaming) but I knew I wanted an epidural so I figured why suffer anymore.  And I am so glad I did.  I honestly don't think I could have had a vaginal (sorry for the terminology) birth without the epidural, more on that later.  After that I was in heaven.  It was like I had to look at the monitor to see if I was having a contraction.  My family was in with me and we were hanging out and having a great time.  It was such a good experience, one I don't think I would have had otherwise. 

Finally around 8pm I was dilated to a 10.  My Dr came in and I started pushing...and pushing and pushing and pushing.  I pushed for an hour and forty minutes.  I was EXHAUSTED!!!  That is why I think I wouldn't have been able to do it without the epidural, if I had been contracting hard that whole time, I would have been too tired to push.  I was barely able to do it with the epidural.  His heart rate kept going up and so my Dr prepared me for that fact that she may need to use a vacuum to get him out.  Luckily she was so patient and I eventually was able to get him out on my own, no tearing, no episiotomy.  My Dr was awesome, so patient and calm and she explained everything so well, I knew I was in good hands.  And all who were in the room with me (Jason, Mom, Jan and Chrissy) were very impressed with her also.  Overall it was a great experience,  I think I will do it again someday :)

Now we have had our sweet little boy for 4 weeks.  I can't believe it, time has flown by.  I wanted to jot down some things about Oliver before I forget them.

-He loves to hold onto your shirt (or chest hair in Jason's case) while you hold him, it is so cute!

-When he makes one of his mad faces he has a dimple in his right cheek

-His left nipple is inverted (I'm sure someday he will really appreciate me telling everyone that)

-He still kicks his legs straight out all the time

- He can lift his head up, and has been since he was like a week old

-He is really good at self soothing, he will just lay in his crib wide awake and not cry

-He loves his binkie

-I think he is starting to recognize our voices

-He has lots of faces that he makes where he looks very concerned about things, they are so funny

-His little smiles make my day

-There isn't a day that goes by where I don't cry at least once just looking at the special little boy we have been blessed with, I love him so much!

And what is a post without pictures?  The theme today is sleeping, since that is what Ollie and I do a lot of during the day.

Ollie's Stats

I took Ollie to the pediatricians office Monday for his two week appt (our pediatrician was off last week so it was actually his 3 1/2 week appt).  Here are his stats:

Weight: 8 lbs 11 oz, up 2 lbs from the last time we were there

Length:  21 1/4 inches

So he is growing and gaining weight.  He already doesn't really look like a newborn anymore to me, to other people he is still really tiny.  He is so fun, we just love him.