One Month

Harper Olivia, I cannot believe that you are already a month old. It has been the fastest and best month of my life. I appreciate all the quality time we have got to have this month as a family. Both your dad and I fall more and more in love with you every day. 

The first week of your life we spent in the hospital while you received some preventative antibiotics. Looking back this was one of the best ways to spend your first week of life. It was the three of us night and day, no distractions from household chores or other things life throws at you. We were also pretty rested for first time parents, since we were at the hospital all day there wasn't much else for us to do when you slept but sleep ourselves. The first days of your life you got to meet some pretty special people as well...your Grandma & Papa James, Old Mama and Aunt Ellen came to visit as much as they could.

Here they all are getting to hold you for the very first time!

 

After 2 days in the hospital, in different rooms, on different floors we got to move to a new room and all be together as a family! Your dad and I were SO happy to be with you.

Everyone came to visit you and see you in your new room. 

You even took a nap with Papa :)

You also wore your first "real clothes", brought to us by one of our favorite NICU nurses. All off the NICU nurses absolutely loved you. One would even come in and just hold you while we ate, cause she liked you so much. 

Your one week birthday was a very special day, as it was the day we got to bring you home! We were so excited to get you home (and sleep in our own bed!). You also got to meet your brothers. It went so well, they loved you and did so good with you. Yuri followed us where ever we went with you the whole first week and Chewie greats you often with kisses.

Your dad stayed home your second week of life to spend more time with you. Also your Grandma and Grandpa Kozlen came to meet you!

I love all the little noises you make, you grunt in your sleep (or when trying to go to the bathroom), you make sighs at us. When you are awake you are so alert, taking everything in with your large, beautiful blue eyes. So many people that meet you, even strangers on the street, all comment on how alert you are at such a young age. The pediatrician told us you are such a calm & alert baby, in a good way. You now notice and fixate on things - like your brother or when your Aunt Ellen comes over. You sleep 3-4 hour stretches. You already have strong neck muscles and have started to head butt us. Ouch! :)

We have found that you love so many things...

Hanging out in your swing and your bouncy seat are top favorites. This ends up great for your dad and I, as it allows us to have many meals together. 

You love your hands so much. They are always up in your face, snuggled up under your chin, sucking on them. I love when you get startled by something - a bump in the road or sidewalk, your swing going fast - you throw your hands up and shake them. 

You love walks, they always put you to sleep :)

Your first walk around Greenlake!

You love snuggling and we love snuggling you back!

You love laying awkward - I think you get it from your brother Yuri. 

You love when we read you books. We often read to you at bed time and it is also part of you and I's morning routine.

You have had so many firsts this month.....

Your 1st doctor visit, at 1 1/2 weeks old you had already gone over your birth weight 

You and I went on our first grocery trip

You had a growth spurt...we survived, with a few tears from both you and I. 

We tested out the moby wrap around the house. We also wore it out a few times.

We took a walk in the Ergo 

That same night we had our first night out on the town. We walked up and down Greenwood/Phinney Ave at Seattle Summer Streets, had a beer at Prost and dinner at the Yard. You did so well!

You watched your 1st baseball game with dad

you took a bottle! and it only took about 30 seconds of trying from your dad. I was barely out of the room. Since then you have taken a few bottles from your dad. 

Your first month has flown by. We cannot wait to see what next month holds!

Harper Olivia Kozlen

Harper Olivia Kozlen was born July 11, 2013 at 6:47 pm. She was 8 lbs, 21 inches long and absolutely perfect.

Stephen and I were instantly in love. 

 I mean look at that face! So perfect. (the tiny one, not mine. ha)

Stephen wrote a great blog post about the labor. You can read it here. A few of my additions are below.

• All the classes we took and none of the first steps they tell you are going to happen did for us. We didn't labor at home for more than 2 hours and there was no 5-1-1 (contractions 1 min long, 5 mins apart, for 1 hour). I woke up to contractions ranging from 9 to 4 mins apart (they are supposed to be consistant before you go to the hospital). Then within a half hour they went to 1 min long, 6 to 3 mins apart. Another half hour and they were 1 min long 2-3 mins apart! 

• Chewie wanted to be near me when I was attempting to get comfortable on the couch. Comfort didn't happen but it was nice that he wanted to help me out

• We were mins from walking out the door when I remembered how I wanted to get a picture of me in my last hours pregnant. In my mind this would have happened in the hours of laboring at home we didn't do. haha Instead this picture was taken seconds before/after a contraction when we needed to be walking out the door to the hospital. haha
• In my mind it didn't take almost an hour to walk from the doctor's office to the hospital, it felt much quicker. But it did feel like it took an hour to get an epidural and in reality that was 15 mins. haha
• I had no idea I was having back labor. Looking back at it now all the signs were there, as I could only get comfortable standing with Stephen rubbing my back, but since I had never been in labor before I had no idea that was what was going on! 
• I had been very concerned with back labor and paid extra attention during all the classes on the best ways to labor and deliver with back pain. Too bad I was in too much pain to know what was happening. haha
• Fun fact for you...When my mom delivered me I was sunny side up (back of the babies head facing the spine) as well, giving her back pain AND when my grandma had my mom she was also sunny side up! I knew this fact which is why I was paying attention in class, even though there isn't any proven correlation between how your mother gave birth and how you will. 
• My nurse told me after we did some practice pushes and she thought Harper's head would be able to be turned with delivery that all morning both her and the doctor were sure I would have to have a c section. But with my stellar pushing skills (haha) and the fact that Harper was able to be turned as she was being delivered (she never did turn on her own when I was laboring down) we were able to deliver her vaginally as we intended.
• My nurse was AWESOME. She was no nonsense, told us how it was and was really supportive and helpful. The doctor who delivered was also amazing. They worked so well together you could tell they were a team that enjoyed being paired up when it happened. 
• Stephen was my rock. He was truly amazing and I will never forget the looks on his face while I was pushing. He was so excited and so proud of me it was unforgettable for sure.
• I was unsure of how birth would go, I mean you really have no idea. I would go from thinking "yeah I bet I could do the whole thing natural" to "maybe I'll just get an epidural right off the bat". I really really wanted to stick to my plan of getting to 6 cm and deciding from there. My main reason was I didn't want to be stuck laboring in bed, especially since you have no idea how long it will take you to get to 10 cm. When the doctor first told us I was 3-4 cm the amount of pain I was in I was a little disappointed cause I was thinking there is no way in hell I can make it to 6 with this pain. Walking definitely got me to where I wanted to be and further. I am proud of myself for sticking it out and choosing to walk, even if it was miserable and took an hour. :) 
• Looking back the whole day seem's so crazy and it feels like it went so fast. I labored for 8 hours and pushed for 2 (1 hour and 57 mins actually). I never once said I can't do it. I had my best friend by my side (oh and my mom, dad, sister and mama came and said hello for a while too when I was just hanging out waiting for her to turn). In the end I got to meet the most important person in the world to me. Worth it all I would say. 

After labor was an intense few hours/days. Stephen has also already done a blog on the whole experience you should go read here. 

I was able to hold our sweet Harper after she was born but she was quickly wisked away to the NICU. Stephen went with her and my mom came and sat with me while the doctor finished things up. Once I was able to leave the delivery room and be moved to my recovery room they wheeled me to the NICU to see Harper first. Here we are hanging out for the first time :)

Week 40

Where: International Fountain, Seattle Center, Seattle, WA

Week Recap ~

Our baby girl showed up at 40 weeks and 5 days :) This post was started, but never finished since we went to the hospital before week 40 was completed. Since SO much has happened in the last week and a half a lot of this might just say I can't remember. hehe

• Total weight gain/loss : +41 lbs (my final total)
• Sleep : I can't remember :) 
• Best moments : Harper showed up! Also, my mom, dad and mama were in town and we got to spend a lot of quality time together while waiting for Harper's arrival
• Movement : Does coming out count? haha
• Symptoms : Uncomfortable! I was definitely ready for her to show up. It was getting hard to be comfortable in any position - sitting, standing, laying
• Maternity clothes? : Yes, but really only yoga pants or regular pj pants. 
• Food cravings or aversion's? : I've been craving chicken salad lately, but I didn't want to make it and everywhere I looked places had nuts and grapes in theirs. I HATE nuts and grapes in my chicken salad. My mom made me chicken salad this week though and it is amazing :)
• What I am eating : My mom made some delicious meals for us while she was in town. I think she cooked every day she was over, even when she wasn't making dinner she was preparing something for me. It was so great. Having someone cook for you is always great, but even better when it is your mom. We used the grill a lot to keep the house cool.
  
  
  After our doctor's appointment on Tuesday I was feeling discouraged about when she might show up. My OB had given us this eggplant parmesan recipe, with a fun back story of people eat it and go into labor within 48 hours. She had even experienced this, but as an OB isn't claiming that it actually works she just thinks its a fun story. Regardless we went immediately from my appointment to the grocery store. Both Stephen and I were ready for me to not be pregnant anymore. 
  
  
  Stephen prepared the whole thing himself! Even the sauce was made from scratch. 
  
  He worked incredibly hard on it. It was a very labor intensive meal and took him well over 2 hours from start to finish. 
  
  The result...it was so so so good! And 48 hours later I went into labor! Coincidence? Maybe, but something got this labor moving :)
  
  
  
• Exercise : Getting walks in when I can. I don't get too far these days :)
• Gender : Girl! 
• Labor signs : 2cm now! Some more contractions, but nothing large or consistent (this was from our Tuesday doctors appointment) Obviously this changed :)
• What I miss : I can't remember :)
• What I am looking forward to : It was meeting our daughter. The days were getting closer and closer. We even had an ultrasound scheduled to check her out and start discussing what a plan for the following week would be if she didn't arrive. Most likely we would have been induced the following Tuesday. I was very anti induction so I was getting nervous that we were having to start talking about it. I was very glad she decided to come on her own!

Nursery Reveal!

The nursery is finally done! The final curtain was hung on July 6th, our due date. Nothing like finishing just in time. :) Stephen took some nice photos for me to share this weekend as well. Some details have been blurred our or covered up, so you can zoom in all you want you still wont see her name or initials! After she is born I will post a few more pictures so you can see the details with her name. Some of them are diy projects Ellen and/or I completed so of course I want to make sure to share them! And NO Ellen doesn't know her name either. :) Without further ado, Baby K's nursery......

 Crib skirt and curtains handmade by the fabulous Holly Jett! Fabric purchased from Fabric.com

Glider and ottoman from Land of Nod. Rug from Rugs USA. Shelf unit Ikea - Lack bookcase, spruced up with some gold shelf paper! Side table from a consignment store, painted by Stephen. 

The dresser is a Craigslist purchase. I searched and searched Craigslist for a Mid Century Modern dresser to use as a changing table. I missed out on about 5 that sold that I wanted and thank goodness cause this one is way better than all the rest I tried to get.

The changing tray we got at Land of Nod and added balls on the bottom for feet to raise it up some and compensate for a ledge on the back of the dresser. The prints are from Etsy, Land of Nod, Zulily and ones we already had on hand.

The crib is from Wal-Mart and I love it. It is almost identical to a very expensive one I saw at Land of Nod when I was barely pregnant and I fell in love with it. Now I am crazy, but not crazy enough to spend over $900 on a crib! Wal-Mart has some really great cribs at reasonable prices. The mobile is hand made by a man in Portland. It is 5 different types of whales. The tall lamp is a Goodwill purchase, spruced up with paint and glitter. I will get detail pictures of the mobile and lamp up in the next nursery post.

A few more shots.....

Week 39

Where: Greenlake, Seattle, WA - chilling on the water!



Week Recap ~

• Total weight gain/loss : +41.5 lbs
• Sleep : Sleep was hard this week due to the heat wave we had here in Seattle. Unlike the Midwest the heat of the day here doesn't start till around or after 5pm, just in time to get the house hot enough and not cool down for bed time.
• Best moments : Stephen and I had a really wonderful last weekend alone. Even if the baby doesn't come when she is due, this next week starts our flow of visitors coming to meet baby k. We did things over the weekend for us, for the dogs and for the baby. It was a really nice and relaxing, but productive weekend. Pictures way below on all of the things we did. 
• Movement : Nothing different than how she has been.
• Symptoms : Is HOT a symptom? See above and below mentions of the heat wave.
• Maternity clothes? : Yes, if I am wearing many clothes at all. Haha We had a heat wave this week and it made for a lot of pantsless sitting around
• Food cravings or aversion's? : Nothing really different. Still loving some pie, but its too hot to eat a lot.
• What I am eating : Thank goodness for a shaded deck and grill! If we ate at home this week Stephen grilled up dinner. Even though the evenings are the hottest, the sun has moved off our back deck so we would sit out there and eat. It was much cooler out there then in the house.
• Exercise : Lots of walks! I have been trying to walk this baby out. We were deterred some by the heat wave this week. It made for some sweaty walks. 
• Gender : Little lady
• Labor signs : No change from the last two weeks at the dr this week.
• What I miss : Not thinking 80 degrees was 100. We had temps in the 90s this last week and that is just crazy around here. Especially for a place where AC is not standard. I would say I have been missing AC as well!
• What I am looking forward to : Our due date! Also, my family is in town and it will be nice to spend time with them. Hopefully baby k gets excited to spend time with them and decides to show her little face soon!
  
  
  Other Happenings:
  Our neighborhood hosts the largest one day car show in Washington each year. While neither of us are into cars, we only live 2 blocks away so we had to go check it out. We went early while it was still being set up and took the dogs. It was also a good chance to get out and walk before it got too hot out. 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Saturday afternoon we hit up Greenlake for some time on the water. We rented a trampoline that you could take out on the water. It meant that we were just floating around partially in the water. It was awesome. 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Yuri has been ridiculous this week with his cuteness. I had to share a few pics. He is just too cute to handle some days. 
  
  
  
   Snuggling his dad.
  
  
  
   His new favorite spot to lay at night...my hospital bag.
  
  
  
  I am working from home everyday and he will beg to get up on my lap. One day he crawled up onto the table (ok I let him up. shame on me) and he curled up like this while I worked. Too freaking cute!