Hazel Faye: 1 Month

Our sweet Hazel baby is 1 Month Old!  My I forgot how quickly the days run together when you have a newborn.

Weight/Length: 8lbs 6oz

Diapers: NBN

Clothing: NBN

Eating: Breastfeeding 8-10 times a day

Sleeping: 2-4 hour stretches

I haven't typed her birth story up but when I do I'll hyperlink it in her next monthly update!

Hazel is pretty easy going (like her sisters before her).  We don't get much awake time with her at this point so we haven't seen her little personality just yet.

SLEEP.  Damn it's so funny how you block out certain phases with raising children or downplay them later on.  For the life of us, my husband and I couldn't remember the newborn sleep deprivation with Scarlett.  Good thing we blocked it out.  I AM SO TIRED.  I think it's the awful combination of being a night shift worker, not sleeping but 1-2.5 hours at a time while pregnant and now breastfeeding a newborn every 2-3 hours but I'm dying.  This sleep deprivation stuff is kicking my butt this go around.  Thankfully my husband is willing to stay up a little the first half of the night so that I can catch a good 4 hour stretch.  I pump at like 7pm then he wakes me up at 11-12a to switch off BECAUSE little miss doesn't quite have her nights/days figured out yet.  Yippee!  I know it will get better, but in the midst of it, it sucks.  Also when you are on your third baby you definitely don't have the luxury of sleeping when the baby sleeps because two other humans depend on you as well.  We have had the incredible luck of having two great sleepers before so hopefully our luck holds out for one more baby.  Each of our kids starting sleeping through the night around 6-8 weeks so fingers crossed!

BREASTFEEDING.  I advocated big time this pregnancy to not have my c/s until 39 weeks, no earlier.  As a labor and delivery nurse I know first hand that the closer to 40 weeks gestation a baby is born the better the breastfeeder they are.  They're more awake at the breast, stronger suck, better latch and more efficient at the breast.  This was the main reason why I begged my OB to let me go an extra week being pregnant.  Crazy reason, right?

She latched great right away and she's been a pretty rockstar feeder.  On our third day in the hospital she caught a cold and was congested for about 2-3 weeks afterward.  Because of that we think she didn't transfer the milk very well and she didn't put on weight like we wanted.  Luckily it cleared up, she got better at breastfeeding and the weight started to come back on!  The weight gain is always a struggle with these breast fed babes in the beginning!  She didn't get back birth weight until week 3, but we made it there eventually!

The older girls just love her.  Poor Scarlett went through some Mama withdrawl our first week, but I can't blame her for that.  We solved it by giving her some one on one time and really carving out some attention for her those first few weeks.  She asks to hold the baby and will say "Ahhhh Baby" while she scrunches up her little nose. Norah has been smitten since minute one.  She's the best helper and baby holder.  She asks DAILY to hold Hazel, talks to her like I do ("Oh baby you want your milk? It's ok, Norah's here!")  It's pretty adorable.  I love the 4 year age gap.  Unfortunately it's the fall/winter season so RSV/Flu is rampant.  We've established rules with the older kids to not touch her face/hands, NO kissing the baby anywhere and "hand tizer" for all when we leave/enter the house. We've kept her healthy this far, I hope we can get to March without any hospitalizations!

In the hospital we celebrated her first Thanksgiving!  Nothing too eventful, but it was great to get us all together for a few hours, even if we were still in the hospital.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Then we celebrated her first Christmas right before she turned a month old!  Such an exciting month!  Of course, little Hazel slept through both, but was still involved just the same.

First pic with Santa

Christmas Eve Hike

Christmas with cousins

Merry Christmas!

Enjoy some pictures of Hazel's first month with us!

Happy due date, Dec 3, 2019

First blow out!

Maka time

2 Weeks Old

First Ped appt at 1 week!

First sponge bath, she loved the head scrub

Big sister came with us to her one month appt!

We always knew we wanted at least three kids and I love it that she's finally here.  Our family feels full and filled with love, loud noises, and so many little hands always asking to hold the baby. We are pretty overwhelmed right now but as these seasons do, this will fade.  Kit and I will get stronger.  The baby will get slightly less needy and we'll adapt.  Right now we're living the life of diapers, baby cries, toddler messes and preschooler games.  Life couldn't get any better.  Welcome to our family Hazel. We just love you!

Scarlett Kay 2 Years Old

Our "baby" is officially TWO!  I can't believe we're into the two's with this one.  She's about 33 inches tall and 24.6lbs.  She's still measuring in the 20th percentile on height/weight but at least she's consistent!  She did have some fluid in her ears from what our ped could see, so like her sister, we're getting a referral to an ENT for some possible ear tubes.  We don't want it delaying her speech.  She's forward facing now and so far NO MORE CAR SICKNESS!  It was a LONG two year struggle with that, poor babe.

First and foremost, this girl LOVES her Mama.  My heart melts when she says "Ma-Ma!" She's always been my #1 fan and I love it.  Especially since her older sister is a complete Daddy's girl nowadays.  She follows me anywhere in the house, has to stand right between my legs every time I pee and is forever standing at my feet with her arms up saying "Uppy!" (Meaning up please!)  She always wants carried and I swear that's why she didn't walk until almost 18 months.

She's a great eater!  She'll try anything once.  Items that she loves that is really weird for a two year old: kale mixed salad and coleslaw.  Her favorites are: cheese, Ritz crackers, grapes, blueberries, waffles, yogurt, fruit pouches and WaWa (water).  She's not a huge fan of scrambled eggs or lunch meat.

She is at that age where she must have and do whatever her sister is doing.  She mimics her frustrated outburst sounds and body language.  It's both hilarious and cringe worthy.  Gone are the days where we could just give Norah a bite of a cookie and expect Scarlett not to notice!

This girl absolutely LOVES books.  When we escort them upstairs after dinner to wind down in the play room the first thing this girl visits are her piles and piles of books in her room.  She'll grab them one by one, sit, page through them then get up for another.  She'll do this nightly for about 30 minutes then go play with toys with Norah.  We love watching her.  Nightly she requires at least 3 books and she's very particular.  She'll shoo away books she doesn't favor and nestle into your lap for books she does.  It's so funny seeing her so opinionated about her literature.  Her absolute favorites are: Any llama llama short books, Good Night Moon, The Hungry Caterpillar, Big Bed for Giraffe, Baby's First Words and Brown Bear Brown Bear.

In addition to books she loves going outside, water play, baby dolls and dogs!  She really is an animal lover.  She loves our cats but they don't reciprocate too well.  She's into climbing on everything and testing all the boundaries with things she shouldn't be doing.  She loves wrestling with Norah and rolling all over the floor with her.  She loves dancing with her Daddy to the record player and all the spins that come with it.

She's not a huge fan of washing her hair at bath time, long car rides, eating dinner at the table alone, being left alone at all or swimming!

We love her pouty lip when she's sad, that she instantly cries anytime Norah tells her "No!", her contagious laugh, and her amazing open mouth smiles she learned from her sister and Mama.

We love our little "Scarley Harley" or "Lou Lou"!  I'm a little anxious to see her in a big sister role, but we'll all adjust.  We love her SO much and can't imagine our family without her.

Happy second birthday sweet Scarlett!

McBaby 3: 38 Weeks

This week is HUGE for me.  When I was pregnant with Norah, my water broke at 38 weeks 0 days.  When I was pregnant with Scarlett, due to my uterine incision thinning out I had my repeat c/s at 38 weeks 0 days.  I've literally NEVER been pregnant long than 38 weeks 0 days!  Every day this week I know I'm going to be on high alert and taking it as easy as I can!  And enjoying every extra day I get carrying this babe!

This is my LAST week to be pregnant, possibly ever!  I'm so excited and of course a little sad!  I love being pregnant.  My pregnancies are amazing and my body handles it really well.  In case you're wondering, we have NO idea if this is our last baby, but it always could be!  This week I'll be taking so many pictures, so I apologize in advance.

This week I went in for my last Brazilian wax!  I have my last OB check up!  Work my last 3 night shifts in a row before I'm off for 12 weeks!  AND hopefully celebrate our littlest turning the big TWO!  Very busy and eventful week to say the least.

Here's a few photos of what this little one has to come home to!  Baby isn't getting a nursery like the previous two for awhile, but we definitely will love him/her just the same.

Converted our dresser top to a changing table. 

Using the wooden bassinett next to our bed that my Grandpa Joe made for my brother and I with new flannel sheets my Grandma Jacque sewed. 

We can't wait to meet this little baby!!

McBaby 3: 37 Weeks

Just two weeks ish away!  It's SO hard for me to move around at this point, but I'm making due!  This week I worked my 3 night shifts back to back and I was SO exhausted afterward.  I'm not sleeping well anymore because it's a huge ordeal for me to roll to the other side.  I wake up every 1.5-3 hours to rotate in bed and it's tiresome.  I'm up to 25lbs gained so far, seriously the least amount of weight I've ever gained with any of my babes.  Everyone at work thinks baby has seriously dropped over the last few weeks.  I agree because all of a sudden Mama has an appetite back!  Also I've been getting these lightening pains through my vagina when I walk a lot.  Ugh the joys of making a new life haha!  I haven't had my cervix checked yet, mostly out of fear that I'm already dilated.  I really want to try to make it to my scheduled c/s date if at all possible.  Ignorance is bliss at this point!

Everyone in public I encounter whether it be patients at work or strangers at the gym or grocery store asks me "What are you having?  When are you due?"  I really just want a tee shirt made at this point!  Strangers are so funny and peculiar when you're very pregnant.

This week I squeezed in 3 gym sessions!  I'm pretty proud of that at this point.  Just putting on my shoes is a struggle.  I love the looks I get when I waddle into the YMCA this pregnant.  I really should wear a Go Pro to capture all the stares.

This week we got our master bedroom all set up for him/her!  The bassinett is washed and set up, changing pad with D&W are all laid out and some onesies/burp clothes are folded in the top drawer!  We received a Hatch sound machine/lamp as a gift and we're really excited to use it!  I love that it's two in one machine and has a timer with preset settings.

Hospital bag is PACKED!  Outfits for both sexes are in plus comfy clothes for Mama.  I'm still working on clearing off my camera roll on my phone and nice camera.  Must make space for the new baby and all the pictures we'll take.  It's quite a process when I realized last week I haven't cleared off my phone camera roll IN A YEAR.  Oops!

Thank you notes are all sent out from our showers!  I have one more OB appointment next week then that's it!  I can't believe it!  I'm becoming SO excited each day to meet this baby.  I just can't believe we went from peeing on sticks in March to almost delivering this fast!  This pregnancy sped by.  I don't know how we pulled it together, but this Mama feels ready now!