Yesterday, November 3rd, Vivian rolled over from her back to her stomach for the first time. She did it while at grandma's, so we didn't get to see it... and she was too tired in the evening for a repeat performance. Hopefully we can get her to do it again this weekend.
She also started blowing raspberries this week. It's super cute when she puffs up her checks and pushes air from way down deep in her belly to make that noise. It's so fun to see her develop day by day.
Friday, November 4, 2011
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Bassinet to Crib
On Sunday, October 16 we decided it was time to transition Vivian from the bassinet in our room to the crib in her room. I thought I would have to rock her to sleep, put her in the crib, then sneak out. Well, when I laid her in the crib she woke up, but to my surprise fell back asleep right away. This is such a huge difference from how she was up to 10-12 weeks. We used to have to hold, walk, bounce, or rock her to sleep every night as she was unable to calm herself (lots of evening crying). I thought that 18 years from
now I was going to have to go to college with her and shush her to sleep every night! But, she now drifts off to sleep every night by herself in the crib. The only downside has been the shorter spans of sleep. In the bassinet she was consistently sleeping a 6 hour span every night. Even 8 hours a couple nights! Now she wakes every 3-4 hours. But this may also be due to a growth spurt. Apparently, just when you think you've got a routine and got it all figured out, the baby changes it up! Well, it's 8:30pm now... Time for bed in the Gratz home.
now I was going to have to go to college with her and shush her to sleep every night! But, she now drifts off to sleep every night by herself in the crib. The only downside has been the shorter spans of sleep. In the bassinet she was consistently sleeping a 6 hour span every night. Even 8 hours a couple nights! Now she wakes every 3-4 hours. But this may also be due to a growth spurt. Apparently, just when you think you've got a routine and got it all figured out, the baby changes it up! Well, it's 8:30pm now... Time for bed in the Gratz home.
Bunny Feet
Vivian loves to watch Jackson as he plays and is learning to crawl. Jackson loves to check out Vivian's accessories... Today at Grandma Jan's he was pulling her binky out to check it out (he has a different kind of binky). 
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Where did the time go?
Well, I can hardly believe Vivian Love (aka Peanut Butter) is already 3 months old! I returned to work this week, so we are all adjusting to a more scheduled life. Vivian is spending her days at Grandma Jan's house, along with her cousin Jackson, who is now about 6 months old. She seems to enjoy watching cousin Jackson play.
Vivian is now smiling a lot, babbling, and discovering her hands. She loves to look at people and toys, and really enjoys when her daddy walks her around the house and shows her things and describes them. She is definitely a happy and healthy baby.
Those first two weeks after she was born seemed pretty easy, other than my body trying to recover. BUT... then weeks 3-8 were very challenging. She would often cry very hard and fight sleep like an angry tiger. Therefore, she would be overly tired and very fussy. However, she has always slept really well at night. I often found myself anxiously awaiting the sunset, as that's when she would finally go into her deep sleep for the night. The day before she was 8 weeks old, the baby fairy came to our house and poured magic dust on Vivian. Since then, she has been calm and happy. She still gets a little fussy in the evenings, but that sounds quite typical from all the other moms I've spoken with. And her cry is no longer a horrible, soul-scratching scream (at least that's how it sounded to her mommy).
Dave and I have thoroughly enjoyed parenthood and love kissing, cuddling, and interacting with her everyday. We are excited for all the stages and ages to come!
Vivian is now smiling a lot, babbling, and discovering her hands. She loves to look at people and toys, and really enjoys when her daddy walks her around the house and shows her things and describes them. She is definitely a happy and healthy baby.
Those first two weeks after she was born seemed pretty easy, other than my body trying to recover. BUT... then weeks 3-8 were very challenging. She would often cry very hard and fight sleep like an angry tiger. Therefore, she would be overly tired and very fussy. However, she has always slept really well at night. I often found myself anxiously awaiting the sunset, as that's when she would finally go into her deep sleep for the night. The day before she was 8 weeks old, the baby fairy came to our house and poured magic dust on Vivian. Since then, she has been calm and happy. She still gets a little fussy in the evenings, but that sounds quite typical from all the other moms I've spoken with. And her cry is no longer a horrible, soul-scratching scream (at least that's how it sounded to her mommy).
Dave and I have thoroughly enjoyed parenthood and love kissing, cuddling, and interacting with her everyday. We are excited for all the stages and ages to come!
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Birthday
Vivian Love Gratz was born on Saturday, July 16th at 3:45am.
On Wednesday, July 13th I began to have an achey back at work. I also noticed some different feelings in my head and body... a buzzing in my body is the best explanation. At my scheduled doctor appointment that day, I mentioned these changes. However, I was only about 2 centimeters dialated at that point.
I stayed home from work on Thursday since my back was still quite achey in the morning. But, by late afternoon, I no longer had a backache and felt good. So, I ran a few errands and visited my friend Amanda. That evening I decided I'd be going to work on Friday since I was feeling good.
Well, Friday morning my alarm went off at 6:30am for work. As soon as I began to awake, I noticed cramping feelings. I laid in bed awhile thinking the cramping might be temporary, but it was happening at regular intervals. I got out my iphone and starting tracking these cramps with my contractions app. They were averaging 20-30 seconds long, every 5-6 minutes. By the time Dave was dressing for work, we both began to think this was the 'real thing' so Dave stayed home from work. From that point on, the cramping became definite contractions. As the day went on, they lasted longer and were closer together. At 7:30pm we decided to head out for the hospital since the contractions were lasting 1 minute each and were coming every 3 minutes.
We arrived at the hospital and saw my doctor, Dr. McDonald, even though I hadn't called ahead. She happened to be the house doctor that night at St. Lukes! Once we checked in and were in the room (which feels much like a hotel room at St. Lukes), I got into the jacuzzi bath to help ease the feelings of contractions. I was 5 centimeters. To that point, the contractions were intense but I was able to effectivly relax into them. After the bath, things really ramped up. My water hadn't broke yet so I wasn't progressing past 7 centimeters, despite having very, very intese contractions. I was beginning to question my ability to do it without pain medications. Dave and nurse Sara began to problem solve and give me options to keep me motivated. We decided to have the doc break my water, then get back into the bath. Once the amniotic sac was broke, things really started to progress and I never made it back into the jacuzzi tub. They call this the 'transition' phase when your body goes from 8-10 centimeters. From all the natural births I watched in videos and on television, I knew this was the worst part and every woman really questions her ability to get through this phase without meds. I was in that same frame of mind. Soon, my body was telling me (really forcing me) to push. I knew that baby was ready to enter the world. Unfortunately, I had to do ALOT of pushing to get the baby out, and I really was doubting baby Gratz would ever come out of me. Nurse Sara, Dave, and Dr. McDonald all assured me they kept seeing the baby and knew it had hair. Finally, I pushed that baby's head out and then the body. That's when Dave and I both exclaimed, "It's a girl!" Pretty amazing stuff! She was placed on my belly (and then she pooped on my belly) and allowed a few minutes to get the last benefits of her placenta before Dave cut the cord. She nursed just minutes after birth and was healthy as can be! She was 8 pounds, 2 ounces and 20.75 inches long.
After some time with our new daughter and all the medical stuff that has to be taken care of with me and the baby, we began to call family. No one knew we were even at the hospital, so it was quite a surprise to everyone. First we called our moms, then our dads, then our siblings, then Aunt Donna. Soon we had family there to meet baby Vivian. She has been surrounded by loving family and friends ever since.
As we expected, our life and family has changed forever. But, this is what we have wanted and want nothing else. Feedings (my job) and changing diapers (dave's job) is the new norm. I'm so glad Dave took 2 weeks off work to help me adjust to this new role as mom. Our family and friends have been showering us with food and gifts. I'm especially greatful for the food since I now have an insatiable appetite due to the breastfeeding.
It's slowly sinking in that we are now parents... and we couldn't be happier! Vivian Love Gratz is healthy and sweet as sugar.
On Wednesday, July 13th I began to have an achey back at work. I also noticed some different feelings in my head and body... a buzzing in my body is the best explanation. At my scheduled doctor appointment that day, I mentioned these changes. However, I was only about 2 centimeters dialated at that point.
I stayed home from work on Thursday since my back was still quite achey in the morning. But, by late afternoon, I no longer had a backache and felt good. So, I ran a few errands and visited my friend Amanda. That evening I decided I'd be going to work on Friday since I was feeling good.
Well, Friday morning my alarm went off at 6:30am for work. As soon as I began to awake, I noticed cramping feelings. I laid in bed awhile thinking the cramping might be temporary, but it was happening at regular intervals. I got out my iphone and starting tracking these cramps with my contractions app. They were averaging 20-30 seconds long, every 5-6 minutes. By the time Dave was dressing for work, we both began to think this was the 'real thing' so Dave stayed home from work. From that point on, the cramping became definite contractions. As the day went on, they lasted longer and were closer together. At 7:30pm we decided to head out for the hospital since the contractions were lasting 1 minute each and were coming every 3 minutes.
We arrived at the hospital and saw my doctor, Dr. McDonald, even though I hadn't called ahead. She happened to be the house doctor that night at St. Lukes! Once we checked in and were in the room (which feels much like a hotel room at St. Lukes), I got into the jacuzzi bath to help ease the feelings of contractions. I was 5 centimeters. To that point, the contractions were intense but I was able to effectivly relax into them. After the bath, things really ramped up. My water hadn't broke yet so I wasn't progressing past 7 centimeters, despite having very, very intese contractions. I was beginning to question my ability to do it without pain medications. Dave and nurse Sara began to problem solve and give me options to keep me motivated. We decided to have the doc break my water, then get back into the bath. Once the amniotic sac was broke, things really started to progress and I never made it back into the jacuzzi tub. They call this the 'transition' phase when your body goes from 8-10 centimeters. From all the natural births I watched in videos and on television, I knew this was the worst part and every woman really questions her ability to get through this phase without meds. I was in that same frame of mind. Soon, my body was telling me (really forcing me) to push. I knew that baby was ready to enter the world. Unfortunately, I had to do ALOT of pushing to get the baby out, and I really was doubting baby Gratz would ever come out of me. Nurse Sara, Dave, and Dr. McDonald all assured me they kept seeing the baby and knew it had hair. Finally, I pushed that baby's head out and then the body. That's when Dave and I both exclaimed, "It's a girl!" Pretty amazing stuff! She was placed on my belly (and then she pooped on my belly) and allowed a few minutes to get the last benefits of her placenta before Dave cut the cord. She nursed just minutes after birth and was healthy as can be! She was 8 pounds, 2 ounces and 20.75 inches long.
After some time with our new daughter and all the medical stuff that has to be taken care of with me and the baby, we began to call family. No one knew we were even at the hospital, so it was quite a surprise to everyone. First we called our moms, then our dads, then our siblings, then Aunt Donna. Soon we had family there to meet baby Vivian. She has been surrounded by loving family and friends ever since.
As we expected, our life and family has changed forever. But, this is what we have wanted and want nothing else. Feedings (my job) and changing diapers (dave's job) is the new norm. I'm so glad Dave took 2 weeks off work to help me adjust to this new role as mom. Our family and friends have been showering us with food and gifts. I'm especially greatful for the food since I now have an insatiable appetite due to the breastfeeding.
It's slowly sinking in that we are now parents... and we couldn't be happier! Vivian Love Gratz is healthy and sweet as sugar.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)