So Close to a Year… Happy 11 Month Birthday

Stats

Alice, you are getting so big and we love it.  You weigh 22 pounds.  You are in 12 month pants, 12 month shirts and 9-12 month onsies.  You wear small socks and size 1 shoes.

Firsts

You had your first Valentines Day, you got some books, some treats and some clothes. You are now saying “Dang” and “Bye” a lot.  You are able to climb on everything now and pull yourself up on chairs.  You started climbing onto the couch and opening every drawer and cupboard.    You finally got your top teeth.  You have been working on your top teeth all month and just this morning three of the four top teeth broke through.  You are learning to throw and catch balls.

 

Tricks

We had a photo shoot with cousin Quinn for Grandma’s birthday surprise.  You had so much fun and hammed it up like no ones business!  You are destroying everything in sight, if there are things neatly put away in your drawers you take it all out, if there are things put away in cupboards you take them out and if anyone especially Quinn stacks blocks you tear them down.  You put your hands up to your cheeks and pose all the time now.

Wrap Up

Alice you are learning new things every day.  You yell and scream and play hard every day.  You are so funny and caring and love to spend time with people.  We totally lucked out in the baby department with you!

Love,

Mom and Dad

A day Late and a Buck Short Happy 7 Month Birthday

 Sorry we are a day late in posting this one, Alice, we just were having too much fun!

Stats

You weigh 18.4 pounds (home scale weight).  You are getting longer and longer last known height was 26.5 inches, but I know you are longer now.  You wear size 6+ month onesies and 6+ month pants.  You look so cute in all of the warm clothes, sweaters and hats!

Firsts

You started your first swim lessons.  You love the pool and you are doing so good with splashing, kicking and dunking your head under the water.  Alice you are by far the youngest in the class, but are more happy and compliant than many of the toddlers.  You said your first word, well kind of.  You have said “MOM” multiple times however you mostly say it when you are distressed or very sad.  I love that you are saying mom however I am not sure how I feel that you whine it when you are upset.  You had tried rice cereal a few times, but this month you officially started eating food.  You have eaten avocado’s, pee’s, squash, zucchini, sweet potatoes and more rice cereal.  You are pretty sure that you like most of the foods, but you know that you love the sweet potatoes! You had your first major ouchie, you bumped your mouth on a tractor trailer.  It didn’t cut through too much, but it did bleed a little.  You cried for like 30 seconds then you were such a big girl and you “brushed it off” and were happy again.  You picked out your first ever pumpkins.  We went to two different pumpkin patches and you had so much fun!  You loved patting the pumpkins and trying to lick them.  Alice you went on your first corn maze, you were more interested in pulling on the drying corn stalks and getting the little dried out corn cobs that were left behind, but hey it’s a first.

Tricks

Alice you still are not crawling yet.  I have a feeling it could be any minute, or another two months.  You are getting better and better at the monkey crawling and you use this method of transportation the most, you still roll too and do this if you want speed.  You get up on all 4’s and do a little hop thing with your legs, which pushes you forward, but you don’t have the confidence to move your arms yet.  Alice, you are such a stinker and you steal everyone’s toys!  You take blocks, books and anything stackable from both Quinn and Sir.  If someone else has it, you most likely want it (I am worried for what is to come).  You are fairly good tempered when we give the toys back to their owners, but you continue to go after them.  You show your disgust for things by sticking out your tongue and scrunching up your nose, or by a fake cough.  You are starting to use a sippy cup all by your self!  You have to help hold your bottle and when you are tired you try to drink your bottle and suck your thumb at the same time.

Other Things

Alice you are a dream come true!  You are sleeping 8-9 hour stretches consistently and are waking only once per night to eat.  You are really liking the idea of sleeping in now that the sun is not up at 6 am.  You are playing more independently and consistently going to some toys while completely ignoring others.  You are funny and smart, you love animals and are very interested in them.  You love your Grandma and Papa Ron and keep them entertained every day.  Aunt Jessi thinks that your hair is getting lighter and lighter and I see more and more red in it. Your eyes are still a dark brilliant blue.  Your look is changing all the time, yet you remain the same beautiful baby that we love.

We Love You!!!

Mom and Dad

Half a year down and lots to say about it! A 6 month birthday blog

Half a year down and lots to say about it!

Stats

You weigh 15.8 pounds (according to our scale at home).  You are definitely longer, but we wont know exactly how long until next week when we go to the doctor.  You are still in the size 2 diapers.  You wear 3-6 month onesies, the 6 month ones are still too big.  You wear lots of leggings (6 months) and leg warmers.  You wear 9 month dresses (you are too tall for the 6 month ones and they look like long shirts on you hehe).  You still wear size 1 shoes.

Firsts

You went to the zoo!  You were not too sure what we were doing there, you looked at the large animals and didn’t understand they were real until you met Zuri (the baby elephant).  You got so excited when she started moving around and you finally got that they were animals and they were alive.  You enjoyed the first zoo trip with cousin Quinn, Aunt Jessi, Uncle Dalan, BFF Ali, McKay and of course Mom and Dad. You had your first formula.   Mom and Dad could not deal with the two hour stretches of sleep any longer, you cried it out for the first time.  Alice you did so well, you cried for 2 minutes then put yourself to sleep.  You have been putting yourself to sleep since with very minimal crying!  After meeting with the doctor it was hypothesized that you have a milk/ soy protein intolerance or sensitivity.  The month of dairy free was helpful but just didn’t cut it.  You went 10 days on a soy/ dairy free formula and you rocked it!  You started sleeping for longer stretches (6 hours) and you didn’t have the tummy aches.  Mom started a soy and dairy free diet.  After the 10 days you started breast feeding again.  After 7 days back on the boob juice it was very clear that you were digressing.  Sleeping less, having tummy aches and a ton more gas.  After much discussion, tears and debating mom and dad decided that you would do better overall with just the formula.  So 1 week before you turned 6 months you became a formula fed baby.  You seemed to deal with the transition without problem, mom was a total wreck for about 3 days.  You are now sleeping 7-8 hours at a time without waking up or needing to be fed!!! You went in your first swimming pool.  You loved hanging in the turtle floaty and kicking in the cool water during the hot summer day.  You were able to go on your first splash pad.  Our friends Hammond and Stacy let you play in the water jets that shoot up in the air and you giggled and smiled the whole time.  You watched your first college football games.  You are helping mom and dad cheer on the University of Utah (Go Utes) and University of Montana (Go Griz).  You are not too interested in the games but you love when we cheer and you help us out with that.   You got your first cold 3 days before you turned 6 months old.  You currently have a very slight fever, a very stuffy/ runny nose and a cough.  You are so sad that you don’t feel good, but are surprisingly still very pleasant, just want to be held all the time. 

Tricks

Alice you are almost crawling, you do this half monkey crawl and or you get into the crawling position, your left side works to crawl and your right side just goes limp.  It is funny and adorable, I will never forget it!  You are sitting up on your own.  You last for a minute or so then get distracted with some toy you want so you flop over and steam roll (still your fastest mode of transportation) to it.  I am not sure if you are getting smarter or lazier but you are dragging toys towards you like mad!  You move towards objects then when they are just within reach you stop moving and grab the toys and pull away.  You are iteracting more with cousin Quinn, you are starting to play with her and toys.  You are a tricky little devil though too, you get Quinn to come in close to play then you reach up and pull her hair.  She lets you and still loves you, but you are getting vicious with those hair pulls.  You still put everything in your mouth but are now rubbing them against your gums to sooth your teething little mouth.

Other Things

You are a social butterfly who would much rather be out in public than at home with just mom and dad.  If you are having a bad day and we take you out, you instantly become happy again.  You are still totally fine with other people holding you and don’t have that stranger danger sense yet.  Alice you laugh and giggle a lot and are jabbering more and more.  You are starting to jabber and sing yourself to sleep, it is so cute!  When you get tired you start to get giddy and have a giggle fest over the most mundane things, and it is awesome.  Alice we are so lucky that you are healthy and happy.  Your personality is coming out more and more and we love you!

Love,

Mom and Dad

Happy 3 month birthday!

Alice,

Today you turned 3 months old, I can't believe you are getting so big!

Stats: You weigh a little over 11 pounds (according to our scale at home) and are 24 inches long.  You fit into size 3 onesies and most pants (some are still too big around your tummy) however you have to wear a 3-6 month size in dresses (your legs are just too long for the 3 month ones).

Firsts: You went to your first weddings (that's right two of them) and loved getting all dressed up and going out.  Your first parade was the Utah Pride Parade where you got all festively dressed and enjoyed the people, the colors, the noise and eventually the grass and falling asleep during this event.  You went to down town Salt Lake with your Aunt, Uncle, cousin and Auntie... you enjoyed being around the people and being outside.  You were exposed to your first virus (that we know of for sure) and didn't catch it!

Tricks:  You laugh out loud more and more each day.  You especially find Sir funny and follow him with your head all around the room and get a little sad when he leaves.  You roll to your side all of the time and sometimes you roll from your back to your tummy.  You rolled from your tummy to  your back once when you were really mad that I made you do tummy time, but you don't know how you did it, and looked very shocked when it happened.  You hold your head fairly well on your own but get lazy and rest it on us if you can.  You scoot all over the place.  You lay on your back and you bend your knees and then stretch out and arch your back so you slide across the floor.  You also find this action very funny!  You still love your baths and are splashing like a champ.  You have started to sleep in your crib at night in your very own room however you tell us that sleeping in cribs is for suckers most of the time, I am sure you will come around to the idea that your own bed and room are awesome soon.  You are really starting to like looking at yourself and others in the mirror, this makes you smile that wonderful toothless smile and coo.  Alice you are an amazing babbler!  You talk to us all the time, you talk to strangers all the time too, but never when others ask you to initiate the conversation.  You will do whatever it takes to get out of tummy time!  You cry, scream and go limp. But if those don't work at getting you out of it, you start to stand with your legs and balance, or try to at least, on your head.  You are really starting to like books and look at each page intently while I read to you.  You love you cousin Quinn and the two of you talk to each other, hold each other and basicly want to be as close as you can, physically, to each other all the time (it is the sweetest thing ever!)

You were lucky and got to spend time with Grandma LaDene and Papa Ron during the days before their vacation.  You got to spend time with your BFF Auntie Ali during the days when mom and dad were at work for a week.  Then Aunt Jessi, Uncle Dalan and cousin Quinn babysat you for a week too.  Right now your Grandma Saundra is staying with us and getting a turn to babysit while mom and dad go to work.  You have so many wonderful people in your life that are willing to spend time with you and give you all the love and attention one child can handle!

Alice Your dad and I love you so much!  We are excited to see you growing and learning new things every day.  I can hardly believe that we are this lucky and get to have you as part of our family!  Thank you for being a wonderful baby.

Love,
Mom and Dad

2 Weeks Old

Alice, today you are two weeks old! I can’t believe that you have only been on the outside for such a short time, it feels like we have been a family forever. I want to tell you what you what you have been up to, what we have learned about you and give you your physical stats.

Alice you were born Coombs positive. This means that mom has O- blood, dad has A+ blood which means that my blood is incompatible with dad’s. This gave you a 50% chance of being incompatible with me, which you are. This is only going to be a problem for you when you were born and should never be an issue again. What it means is that your blood began fighting it’s self. This made it very difficult for your body to get rid of billirubins (the things that cause jaundice in babies). You were not a good pooper at first, this was not good because that is one of the main ways to get rid of billirubins. We increased your feedings which increased your pooping and you got rid of all of those billirubins!!!

Speaking of feeding, you love eating! You love it so much and I produce some fatty milk, so you are really loving life. You not only love eating you love sucking on anything, and I do mean anthing. You suck on your binkie, your hand, your blankets, your arm, dad, grandma and anyone else that holds you too. You are a good sucker, you have a loud and ferocious suck that can be heard from across the room.

You are a night owl. Alice you love to sleep, don’t get me wrong, but you only want to sleep during the day. At night you are ready to be up, have people talk to you and look at everything around. You don’t cry much, but you do when it is night and I try and put you down to sleep.

Alice you are a mellow and fun baby. You don’t cry much and when you do, it is only for brief periods of time. You do get fussy for a bit at night when you are tired but don’t want to sleep because dad is home and you want to party with him too. You love looking at the light, looking at me, dad and your grandma’s when we talk to you. You have a great smile and a dimple on your right cheek. You don’t like getting too hot, you like to have your feet and hands out of your blankets and free to move around. You love to be sung to and you like to dance around, well at least be held while others dance with you in their arms.

You went to your two week well child check yesterday and here is what we found out. Alice you weigh 7 lbs 11 oz (this is 9 oz more than you needed to weigh) good for you! This puts you into the 32% for your age. Your length is 21 ½ inches still, so you are in the 44%. Lastly your head is 36 cm, which is in the 56%. Now I don’t put too much stalk into the percentiles however it is interesting to see where you are at on the charts.

Overall, Alice, we love you so very much! Your dad and I are completely in love with you and can’t get enough of you. Your grandparents love you too. They think you are a pretty and mellow child. You are perfect and we couldn’t be happier that you are a part of our lives!

Love,

Mom and Dad

Alice Olivia's Birth, Grandma LaDene's story

A PERFECT DAUGHTER FOR MY PERFECT DAUGHTER!!

After never letting my cell phone out of my hearing for a few weeks -paranoid about missing the phone call, the day finally came when Alice decided to make her grand entry!

The beginning of the event

Nathan and VaRonica came to our house about 6 p.m. March 21^st (as we live close to the hospital) to meet so he and VaRonica could go out to dinner one last time before becoming official parents. When they got back to our house about 8:15 VaRonica called the hospital and was told she could now come in for her induction at 9 pm. The “about to be mom”, the “about to be dad” and the about to be Alice’s “Sellers grandparents” all headed for the hospital.. As most of the “paper-work” had been previously completed VaRonica was quickly settled in Room 325 right after her arrival. Her first nurse was Jenna she was friendly and very efficient. Jesse (the sister-in law) and the other part of the support team arrived shortly thereafter and “Grandpa Sellers” went home

The Middle: Somewhat less than a half hour after having her induction medication VaRonica started labor but as the contractions were hard the baby’s heart rate dropped. The nurse called Dr. Thackeray then following his instructions VaRonica was given another shot to slow things down.

At about 3 am VaRonica’s water broke. She knew it did anyway but the next nurse on duty and a fluid test decided that didn’t happen-it really did- the expectant mom knew her body! When the nurse checked her she told her Alice had had a bowel movement and because of that and the heart rate Alice needed to arrive soon or a C-Section would be needed. VaRonica’s body seemed to respond to orders that Alice must arrive quickly so contractions were now unbelievably close together, seemingly not even allowing her to breathe between each long and hard pain. As her mom, I really wanted VaRonica to ask for an epidural for pain, but for once I kept my mouth shut! I was really afraid that as hard and as close as the contractions were that VaRonica would have no energy left to push Alice out when the time finally arrived. I envisioned several more hours of hard labor followed by hours of pushing. Finally, at a little after 7 am VaRonica asked for an epidural! Yea! As her mom it was hard to see her in so much pain but amazing to see how well she was handling everything. The Dr. that did her epidural was quick and professional even though the body racking pains were so close together. About 20 minutes later when VaRonica could again lay still enough the nurse checked her and she had dilated to a 9. Yep- we knew during the last those few hours the contractions had to be doing something spectacular! Dr. Thackeray came in and checked her then told her he would be back in about an hour. It didn’t take that long until she was at the magic number 10 and was ready to push. Dr. Thackeray was again called and came quickly and got everything set up. At that point Jessi and I got to start helping by supporting VaRonica’s legs while she pushed. Both the nurse and the Dr. said she was doing a fantastic job pushing but Dr. Thackeray found Alice was posterior so pushing wasn’t as productive as it should have been. Dr. Thackeray tried to turn Alice about three different times but as she was perfectly comfortable in the position she was in she wouldn’t turn so he said Alice now needed help to arrive quickly. After discussing options with VaRonica they decided on an episiotomy and a vacuum. The nurse then called two respiratory therapists and an NICU nurse to remain in the room. Yea for my strong daughter and her strong baby-a couple of more pushes Alice was out and I was allowed to cut the cord! Alice was quickly handed from the Dr. directly to the NICU nurse then all three of the specialists quickly cleaned her up and checked her out. As everything was great I was then able to carry my new granddaughter across the room to her mom. Alice didn’t need to be taught what to do as she began breast feeding as soon as her mom held her. YEA!

THE REAL BEGINNING

Alice Olivia Little was born at 11:05 am on 3-22-12. She really is a pretty baby. She has dark brown hair long that is long in the back. She found her tongue and started sticking it out and wiggling it right away. She also found her fist and could be heard “slurping on it” very quickly. Her most remarkable features (at a few hours old) are how intently she stares at whoever is talking to her, her long fingers and her long slender feet.

I’m sure I’ve neglected to include a lot of important things so just a few more items:

1) VaRonica has a supportive and caring husband- in spite of his aversion to needles and blood he stayed with her throughout

2) VaRonica is very lucky to have such a great OB. He is very caring, and professional offering her options and alternatives but letting her make decisions. He even gave her a darling pink baby bib that said “Special Delivery by Dr. Thackeray”

3) VaRonica allowed her mom and sister-in law to be part of her support team.

4) IMC has great staff

5) Nathan’s parents who drove down from Montana arriving very shortly after Alice’s birth

6) VaRonica’s dad who, following VaRonica’s wishes, went out and brought back Sushi for VaRonica before Alice was even two hours old!

It was rough, but i would do it all again.

Wednesday March 21

This morning VaRonica got up and went to work, yup she is still going to work, and I had some last minute things I had to wrap up. But mainly I wanted to have a relaxing day before the madness to come.

I started my day off with some light video gaming. Then I took Sir on an hour-long walk, it was a very nice day. I wanted to tire him out because he was spending the night by himself. I then procrastinated for another short time with video games. P.S. I had some really great games.

It was soon time to start getting everything done. I started slowly, which now looking back I should have done the errands and chores before playing games. After slowly doing this and that, I realized that I needed to pick up my feet. An hour latter I realized that I needed to really move in order to meet with VaRonica on time. For the most part I got everything done that I needed to.

I then drove to VaRonica’s parents and met her there. From there I took VaRonica out on a date to the Olive Garden. This was where I took VaRonica on our first date. Thought it would be appropriate for two reasons. This will be our last time going out before Alice is born. Also I thought VaRonica needed to carbo load. Did I mention that in my haste I forgot to bring my wallet?

We checked into the hospital about 8:30 or 8:45 ish pm. VaRonica’s mother and sister in-law Jessi joined us to complete our birthing team. They started by placing a Hep-Lock into the back of her hand, which meant I took a walk down the hallway so I wouldn’t pass out. Shortly after that she received her first dose of her “ripening” medication. The nurses and doctors mentioned several times that it would take four doses and then she would begin the Pitocin.

After a half hour from the first dose, VaRonica began having contractions. Another half an hour she was in full labor. Starting off mild, they grew stronger as the night went on. It wasn’t long until VaRonica was having contractions one after another, with little or no rest time between.

Thursday March 22

Because of the frequency of the contractions VaRonica was given a medication that would counteract the “ripening” medication.

At about 5 am I needed a rest, and passed the torch of support over to Jessi, my sister in law. She looked after VaRonica and I layed down on the couch to rest for a little bit. I love the wormed blankets they have here. But instead of grabbing a blanket, I accidentally grabbed a few receiving blankets (which are small). It is possible that I got about a half an hour of sleep.

By 6 am VaRonica’s contractions had become so painful that she asked for an epidural. It took about a half hour to get someone in to place the epidural. Once again at that time I stepped outside. Maybe it was my fried nerves, or because I was so tired, but I do know that watching VaRonica in that much pain was one of the hardest things that I have ever done. Once I stepped outside and away from everyone I started to cry, just for a moment.

Once the epidural started to work, we were hoping for a moment of respite. VaRonica was now dilated to about 9 cm, and we all started speculating what time Alice would be born. Jessi guessed she would be born around 11:30, she was the closest. VaRonica only got a short rest before she rang for the nurse and told her that she felt like she needed to start pushing.

With the nurses instructions we began to help VaRonica push. But after only a few times, she explained that Alice’s heart rate was slowing every time and it concerned her. She stepped out to call VaRonica’s doctor. Doctor Thackery joined us and we began to help VaRonica with pushing again.

As previously mentioned, I get a little squeamish with blood and needles, and I have also been known to faint. Twice I almost passed out, and two other times I was nauseous. Alice had stopped making any progress, so the doctor used a vacuum to assist. I glanced down and the doctor was holding the compression switch and his gloves were covered in blood. This was the first time I felt nauseous. When Alice came out I had to look. And as I did I had to sit down, this was the first time I almost passed out, (I think I was mainly relieved and happy) I also teared up a little. Moments latter the doctor threw something into a plastic container. Because of the movement I glanced at what he was doing, it happened to be the placenta. This was the second time I felt nauseous. And almost immediately after that I accidentally noticed that the doctor was suturing VaRonica. I saw the curved needle, and his hands covered in blood, the second time I almost passed out.

Jessi began her second task, official photo taker. Alice was handed to VaRonica and after a short time to me. The first thing that I noticed was her eyelashes, the second thing would probably be her blue eyes. Then Alice began to make the rounds to everyone who wanted to hold her. It was at this time that my parents made it to the hospital. We were moved to our new room, and the nurses began to check both VaRonica and Alice, both are healthy and doing well.

When everything slowed down, VaRonica told me to go home and take a nap. I didn’t want to leave them, but I was a zombie. My parents took me to Paradise Bakery for lunch, then we went to my home and I went to bed.

My mother woke me up at about 9 pm, and asked if I was planning on heading back to the hospital. I was shocked and felt a little guilty that I slept so long (maybe four or five hours, I don’t remember now). While I was sleeping my parents took Sir on an hour and half walk, he loves my parents.

I got back to the hospital and cuddled with VaRonica and Alice for a while. Then I insisted that I take care of Alice while VaRonica got some rest. She slept for about two hours, the longest she slept in two days.

A Quinn-tastic Day!

We had the great opportunity to attend a baby blessing today. As most of you know Quinn is my niece and one of my favorite people on earth. Quinn, or the Mighty Quinn was born at 25 weeks and only weighed 15.5 oz. She is now a bright bubbly and very spirited little girl!

Today her and one of her BFF’s Odessa were blessed and it was a wonderful experience. Nathan and I have learned so much from Jesse and Dalan about wonderful parenting and are excited to have them and Quinn a part of our lives! Happy Blessing Day!!!