The Big 5

It's been 5 amazing years. I love our anniversary, I get to reflect on pictures and moments from that wonderful day that changed my life forever, for the better. It's crazy to see what we have accomplished in 5 years, and how we have grown together. I love this guy more and more each day, and I love our life together. It's nothing glamorous or elaborate, but I love our simple routine and love filled life we have built.

Luckily my mom was in town for our anniversary so we could enjoy a dinner out. Thanks to two babies very close together, our last two anniversaries have been spent with newborns and oddly enough, me having mastitis. We had a good laugh about that, and are looking forward to next year when things aren't so crazy :) I love that we took our picture in front of our picture of the Logan Temple. Eve calls it the "castle where  mommy and daddy got married, and mommy was a princess". She thinks the big white dress and veil makes me a princess...she's so darling, I love her.

Greta turns 2 weeks old

Wow, 2 weeks old. It has been a bit of a roller coaster. It seems to have gone by so fast, too fast. But reflecting back, lots has happened. Around her 5 day check up, things looked great, she had gained weight, was a very content and very sleepy baby. Two amazing things right? Wrong. 

She had initially gained weight, however, due to the excessive sleepiness nursing was always a bit if a challenge. She was very jaundiced, but that wasn't out of the ordinary, I guess. Well, we had to have a follow up visit at the pediatrician s office, just protocol for how jaundiced she looked. So two days later we went. 

Well, she had lost weight. Uh oh. So they did a blood test to check her bilirubin levels and veal the jaundice. So we amped up her feeding to try to get her to gain. Well the next day, we got a call. Jaundice was up, so we went back. Lost more weight, and took another blood test. This time as they took the test, Greta only yelled for a small second, then she slept through it. Turns out she's so weak, that's why she had a hard time eating, nursing was too exhausting for her, then my supply was going down, and causing her jaundice to spike up even further. 

So we started supplementing, and I started pumping and giving her what I could with a bottle. But that wasn't enough, she had still lost weight, so we had to go spend over night at the hospital. Greta was put under the UV lights to help her body get rid of the jaundice. Apparently it's just a domino effect, as the jaundice goes up, their energy goes down, causing them to eat less, causing their jaundice to go up, etc. 

so we spent the night waking every 2 hours to feed, but keeping her in the uv box or tanning bed as I like to call it. The poor thing was so sleepy, it took her about 45 mins just to get through 2 oz. The nurses were so helpful, and thrilled to have a newborn in the pediatric wing. And I guess I said I wanted another day at the hospital right? The help, the room service and all that. Well, I'd give it all up for a healthy baby, obviously.

But it all worked out, after about 24 hours in the hospital her bilirubin went way way down and the doc let us come home. We just had to monitor very closely how much she was eating. 

So now at 2 weeks, she is back to herself :) She is up beyond birthweight! 7 lbs 8 oz, and just over 20 inches long. She can now take a bottle much easier, and only getting formula about once or twice a day. I finally got the green light to stop waking her up at night to feed her, let her wake herself up....hallelujah !!! Just last night, she let me get a 3 hour stretch of sleep, it's a miracle. Her color is much better, still a bit yellow in her eyes and face, but the doctors think that will pass soon. 

Greta had her first bath, and screamed for most of it, typical newborn. But we still had to document :)

It's been amazing having her in our life. I never could have imagined having 3 kids, but now we can't imagine life without her. She's amazing. Eve is absolutely obsessed with her, she sings songs about how much she lives her baby Greta, and how sweet and small she is. She wants to hold her ALL the time, the second I come downstairs from feeding her, Eve dashes to the bathroom and comes out saying, "I washed my hands! You can smell them! (That's how we check) Can I hold Greta now?!" It's so cute how much she adores her. Graham, well, he doesn't really get it yet. He is interested by her, he gets this mischievous look, and tries to smack her, but I think he does that because he gets a reaction out of us. Other than that, he's more interested in her car seat laying around than Greta. 

Greta, you are delicious!

Daddy time

Daddy rocks, he really is the best. The kids have had such fun spending a ton of time with Braden. He has been such a champ, they do fun things every day. they go to the park, aquarium, dinosaur museum etc. Eve always comes home with so much to tell me, and she tells it with such excitement! It's been a nice routine, he gets up with them, gets them dressed, fed, and out on an adventure. They come home early afternoon and all 5 of us take a nap. It's complete bliss. I love him and the great dad he is, the kids are having so much fun with him. And did I mention it gives me a chance to sleep in, and take a nap?! Amazing...the kids are even finding that they can play with each other harmoniously from time to time, who knew? Gold star for our daddy!