Happy Mother's Day!

A big "Happy Mother's Day" goes out to all you mothers out there with the biggest emphasis going to my mom (Grandma Pauline Smith), my sister (Aunt Jennifer Dueweke), Amanda's mom (Grandma Teri Stevens), and of course my beautiful wife and first-time Mother's Day participant, Amanda. Since Amanda spends so much time at home with Olivia, I thought the best gift to give her was an opportunity to get out of the house and get a little something done to make her feel better. So, I got her a half-day of beauty which includes a facial, a massage, and a manicure. I'm sure she'll enjoy it.

Overall, Olivia is doing wonderful! She's sleeping an average of 6 hours at night! That's allowing us to sleep a little more too, but we're still trying to "catch up" from the past four months. In other words, we're sleeping more, but we still don't feel rested. The only problem we're having with Olivia is a very minor one, but it's clearly visible...baby acne. With the temperature going up, Amanda and Olivia both get overly warm and tend to sweat as Olivia feeds which is causing Olivia's face to break out. It's getting better already and Amanda and I are being much more careful about how we handle her and how warm she's getting. We haven't been taking a lot of pictures of Olivia recently because of the acne, but now that it is getting better, we'll resume and we've also started thinking about getting her first "professional" pictures taken pretty soon.

Olivia is also on the verge of smiling and meaning to smile! We've got her to do it a couple times...we caught one of her first smiles on video which was really cool. I'm really looking forward to see her smile really big then hear her laugh. It will make all these weeks of diaper changes, removing stains from soiled clothes (both hers and ours), and late-night feedings worth it.

Here are some recent "unprofessional" pictures of Olivia. Since it's Mother's Day, I wanted to get a few good pictures of Amanda and Olivia. Here are two of my favorite. I also finally got a picture of the three of us! To honor my mom's request, I got a picture of Olivia's legs...in the words of my mother..."dangling like Chirstmas ornaments." I just do what I'm told. :-) Lastly, here is a picture of Olivia with Grandma Teri Stevens.

Less Chaos, More Sleep

It's astounding how quick things can evolve and settle down into a routine. Did I say "routine"?? Yes I did! It certainly appears as though Olivia has gotten herself on a fairly decent schedule...and if you ask me, it started when we put Olivia in the crib. The first night we had her sleep in there, she did very well. We put her down at 11:30pm and she slept until 3:30am. Amanda took care of the needed feeding and Olivia went back to sleep until 7:00am when it was time for another meal. That's the way most of the last week went...until Friday night and last night. Friday night, we put Olivia down to sleep at 11:30pm and she didn't wake up until 5:30am! A whole six hours! Last night, same thing! We put her in the crib at 10:30 and she didn't get up until 4:30am! Hallelujah!! Olivia will generally wake up again sometime in the middle of the morning (around 8 or 9) for her mid-morning snack, but we're very happy with the trend of the past few days and the relatively large block of sleep Olivia is allowing us.

Olivia is growing very quickly too. I did a "guesstimate" weighing of Olivia (I got on the scale, weighed myself, then held Olivia and calculated the difference) and she's up to approximately 11.5 pounds! Our next appointment isn't for two weeks, but based on the little in between weighing, she's growing and gaining quite nicely. Another quick calculation shows she's gaining an average of 1.9 ounces a day!

Amanda is very glad that this Wednesday will be the 6 week mark since Olivia's birth because that means she can start doing more stuff...more specifically, Amanda wants to get back to working out at the gym. The question will be whether or not time and her energy level will be with her in the return to the gym.

That's it for now...everything else is going along just fine. Here are few pictures of Olivia as I close this post...the first one is what Amanda and I like to call "The Sleeping Ninja" pose. The second one is Olivia sleeping in her crib for the first time (you can also see her birthmark on her left forearm...doctor seems to think it will fade over the next few years). The last one is Olivia smiling as she sleeps.

One Month Already??

Holy crap! It's already been a month since Olivia was born! It feels more like a week or two at the most. Absolutely amazing!

We're doing pretty well...once again, Amanda is the one who's got the raw end of the deal. We now own a Medela electric breast pump and it has helped out a little so far. The problem is for Amanda to get more sleep, she'll need to stockpile milk. At this point, she pumping just enough for me to take one of the overnight feedings and that's it. What she'll probably have to do is feed Olivia the "old fashioned way" for a few days and pump in between so the bottled reserve is built up to the point that it could last more than just a feeding or two.

We're also going to try moving Olivia to her crib tonight for the first time. Until now, she's been sleeping in the bassinet next to our bed. We have come to find out Olivia is a rather noisy sleeper. She grunts, squeaks, and yelps as she sleeps. We refer to this as Olivia having "doggie dreams". For all you dog owners, you know exactly what we're talking about. Amanda is quite sensitive to whatever sound Olivia makes and is constantly waking up because of that. We've got a good baby monitor, so we're going to have a go at Olivia sleeping in her own room tonight. I don't expect to sleep much tonight, but we've got to start this transition some night and tonight's as good a night as any. Wish us luck.

Here are a few pictures of Olivia as she reaches her first milestone...one month with us. This first one was taken after her bath yesterday. Amanda decided to use the blow drier to assist the drying process...and you can see what it did to Olivia's hair!




***This post was supposed to go up yesterday, but I had problems uploading the pictures.

Rough Week

This past week has been rather rough...especially on Amanda. Sleep depravation, frequent baby feedings, and Olivia dealing with quite a bit of congestion (another cold) has left Amanda exhausted and frustrated. Until now, there's been little I could do to help her out...but a hopeful solution will be delivered later on today in the form of an electric breast pump. That will allow Amanda to pump ahead of time which will give me the opportunity to do the overnight feedings and let Amanda get more than two hours of sleep at a time. Amanda's made it through four weeks of pure breast feeding and now it's time to give her a break. Here's hoping everything with the pump goes well!

With the exception of the congestion issue, Olivia is doing very well. We're still in the "eat/sleep/pee & poop" phase of her life...she really isn't doing much else right now. We give her "belly time" and work with her to help build her leg and arm strength. The rest of the time I spend doing stuff around the house like dishes, laundry, cooking, and other miscellaneous tasks I have on my "to do" list. Next week, I go back to work on a "regular schedule". I've enjoyed the time off spending it with Amanda and Olivia. It will be tough going back to work, but there are bills to pay. :-)

Here are a couple recent pictures of Olivia:

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter everyone! I hope all of you had a wonderful Easter. Saturday night, Amanda and I were confirmed in the Catholic church (so was my sister...congrats, Jen!) and we took Olivia along...well, we kind of took Olivia along. We had my mom stay with Olivia in the cry room and it's a good thing we did. Olivia had a healthy fit while she was in there and it took an emergency feeding from Amanda for her to calm down. On top of that, we accidentally left the diaper bag at the house. Oops. Yes, we are still learning and that was a big blunder on our part. Thankfully, we made it through the rest of the two-hour service without any additional incidents. Now that Amanda and I are confirmed, the next step will be to have Olivia baptized. That will probably take place in a month or two. We don't dare do it anytime soon because this time of year, severe weather episodes are notorious for ruining family events.

For Easter, Grandpa Warren Smith sent down a pair of bunny ears for Olivia to wear. Based on the collection of pictures I got of Olivia wearing the ears, she really didn't think too highly of them. Have a look:

Oh well, you can't win them all I guess. Nice try, Grandpa Warren. I do want to say a big "Thank you" to Grandma Pauline Smith (my mom) for being here this past week and getting a lot of things done that would not have been done around here for a long time. Thanks mom!

Olivia's been doing really well...with the exception getting Olivia to understand that nighttime is the time to sleep, not throw a baby party. Somehow, I think we'll be battling this issue for quite some time. Amanda is doing very well too...except for the severe lack of sleep. See above for the reason why.

I have definitely noticed changes in Olivia's appearance from the time we brought her home to now. I also have a new "favorite picture"...it's one I took of Olivia while she was sleeping on our bed. A couple other pictures follow.

The above picture is for my mom who has a strange fascination with Olivia's feet.

Two Weeks Old

Hard to believe Olivia is two weeks old already! It's astounding how fast time has gone by. I'm sure it won't slow down any time soon either. Tuesday, we were concerned that Olivia may have come down with some sort of cold or illness. She was congested and was having difficulty feeding without coughing. So, we called the pediatrician and we went in to have her checked out. Turns out, we were just being over-protective first-time parents. Gee, there's a shocking revelation. So, while we were there, Dr. Scott did her two week check up. She's in the 25th percentile in both weight and length. That means 75% of girls her age are heavier and longer than Olivia, but the fact that she's equally proportionate is a good thing. The amusing part is her head size is in the 50th percentile...so she's already getting a big head! Otherwise, she's in very good health and feeding very well. She currently weights 7 pounds, 9.6 ounces and is 20 inches long.

Now here's something interesting...Jennifer, my sister, sent me my pictures as a baby and the comparison is absolutely incredible! On the left is a picture of me one day old. On the right is a picture of Olivia 9 days old. Amazing, isn't it?

There's no denying Olivia is my daughter...right down to the ears! Her face is a little more round and she has Amanda's nose, but the eyes, mouth, and ears look a lot like mine as a baby.

Here are a few more pictures...the first is Olivia with our friends' baby Jett Longanecker. With any luck Jett and Olivia will be able to play together as they grow. Jett's parents Amy and Jameson (both have their own blogs) are simply awesome people! Hopefully, we can do many things together!!

Grandma Pauline (my mom) arrived here yesterday and she's really enjoying her time with Olivia. She'll be here for a week spending as much time as she can with her new granddaughter.

Here are a couple more miscellaneous pictures of Olivia from the past few days. Enjoy!

Learnin' the Ropes

The learning curve is intense, but it's worth it! Amanda and Olivia have gotten into a good groove when it comes to feeding. I'm handling the burping and diaper changing like a champ. We even got daring and gave Olivia a bath yesterday. That really went off without a hitch as well. Here's a picture of Olivia's first bath!

I'm doing my best to take plenty of pictures now while Olivia is still young...everyone keeps telling me she'll grow up so fast. Here are a few more candid shots of our little sweetpea.

We're Home

We are finally home. We got back to the house around noon on Saturday. Saturday was kind of a rough day. Amanda and I were both exhausted, but Amanda still needed to feed Olivia and I wanted to get stuff unpacked from the hospital stay and clean up around the house a little bit. On top of that, Olivia was having a gastrointestinal problem. In other words, she had gas built up in her digestive tract and it made her fussy and uncomfortable. All that made for a very long afternoon, evening and night. Amanda told me to get some sleep, which I did. She had Olivia sleep on her chest in the recliner. Amanda tried a few things to aleviate the gas problem and by this morning, it was no longer an issue. We think it had something to do with the time in between feedings. Amanda was feeding her roughly every two to three hours. Last night, Amanda threw in a couple additional feedings and that seemed to do the trick. Amanda is doing such a magnificent job as a mom...diagnosing problems, brainstorming solutions with me, and being willing to try different things if the original plan of attack didn't work. She's been such a trooper...but now she needs some rest and that's what she's doing. Amanda took a shower, I massaged her achy back, she fed Olivia, and now is taking a well-deserved nap. We're working on establishing a routine, but it's going to take some time to figure out when things need to happen. We're definitely still in exploratory mode. Here are a few pictures from the past couple of days. The first is the official "we're home" picture of Olivia in her bassinet at the house. The second is me burping my little angel.


Plenty more pictures to come soon. Lastly, thanks to all of you who kept us in your thoughts and prayers over the past 10 months. It means so much to us to know we have friends and family who love and care for us. You've been there for us in the past and we know you'll be there for us in the future. So, thank you for all you've done and all you will do.

What an Amazing Time!

It's simply amazing to watch Olivia. Amanda and I are both addicted to her already! She's such a quiet baby...at least for now. That will change, I know, but I'm doing my best to enjoy just looking at her in such a peaceful state. I'm in awe and I love every second of it.

Amanda is doing very well recovering from her c-section. We should be leaving the hospital Saturday. As I sit here and type this, Amanda is sleeping with Olivia in the cradle at the end of the bed. I am such an incredibly lucky man. God is truly shining down on me and all I can do is thank Him over and over again for all His blessings. Here are two more pictures of Olivia. The first two you can't really see her face very well. With these, you definitely won't have that problem. You can see her self-inflicted scratches pretty well in the first one. Those baby fingernails are sharp! We may try cutting fingernails tomorrow. The second picture is my favorite so far. Remember all the hair the last ultrasound showed? It wasn't wrong!!!

Olivia's Birthday

Olivia Raine Swiatowy

Born: March 29, 2006 at 5:10pm CST
Weight: 7 pounds, 5 ounces
Length: 19.5 inches

Mom and baby are doing great...and dad's doing okay too.

We're Going In!

After this morning's visit to the ObGyn, Amanda decided she wanted to go ahead with the inducing process and the doctor agreed. So, we are headed to the hospital this evening! They will first try to kick the cervix into gear and see if it will thin out enought to cause stronger contractions. If that doesn't get labor started, they will start Pitocin tomorrow morning. If all goes well, Olivia's birthday will be tomorrow! I'll try to post some pictures tomorrow (depending on my level of consciousness). Keep us in your thoughts and prayers!

40 Weeks of Pregnancy...

...and we're still waiting for Olivia's arrivial. At this point, all we can do is be patient and wait. So, we wait...

Not Cleared to Land

After this morning's visit to the ObGyn, the doctor has decided to give it another week before doing anything...that is if Amanda doesn't go into labor naturally sometime this week. The doctor noted some progress, but it has been slow up to this point. Looks like my "spring baby" prediction is down the drain. That's okay...as long as Amanda doesn't have too much discomfort, she is willing to wait it out until Olivia is ready to join us. The biggest problem Amanda is dealing with is hip pain. We're using a combination of heat and massage to ease the pain. That's it for now...we're just waiting like everyone else! :-)

Still Standing By

After those pretty strong contractions last Friday night, things have calmed down quite a bit. That's not to say there's still some progression taking place. Amanda says there's a definite change in the way things feel, and she's still having general cramping, but we still haven't moved to the "full steam ahead" phase. At the last appointment (Monday), the exam showed that nothing has really changed in the last week. That's not all bad because the doctor is on vacation this week. Anyway, just a quick update to let y'all know nothing has happened...yet. More updates will be given as conditions warrant.

It May Be Getting Close

Amanda has had two well-defined contractions in the last 16 hours...one coming late last night and another after dinner tonight. They both started at the top of Amanda's belly and worked their way down. It seems that things may be progressing...not necessarily fast, but they do seem to be moving along now. Tomorrow, Amanda will be at week #38. I took a picture of her today and it may very well be the last pregnant picture I take of her...with this pregnancy, at least. :-) She's come a long way! Let's revisit the past, shall we? Say 24 weeks (roughly 6 months) ago. Here's the picture I took of her at 14 weeks:
Amazing how quickly things change! Thanks to all of you for your love and support! I'll do my best to keep you posted!

Full Term!

Today, Amanda is 37 weeks pregnant and is now considered full term! It's time to place your bets, ladies and gentlemen! What day will she arrive? How much will she weigh? I'm going with March 20th and a weight of 6 pounds, 12 ounces. The reason I'm picking March 20th is because it's the day spring starts and since I proposed to Amanda on the first day of winter, I thought it would be quite appropriate. As for the 6 lbs, 12 oz., spring arrives at 1:26pm, so I just rearranged the numbers a little. Amanda thinks Olivia will arrive on March 25 and weigh 6 pounds, 5 ounces. What do you think? Post your guess! We'd love to see 'em! I may even come up with some sort of prize for the person who guesses closest! Maybe I'll send you Olivia's first soiled diaper!! LOL! :-)

Also, thanks to Damon and Laurie, we now have a Pack-n-Play!

4 Weeks (or Less?) Left

So here we are...roughly four weeks away from the blessed event and the levels of discomfort, excitement, and even apprehension are starting to really go up. We've also been staying very busy with accomplishing a few final tasks in preparation for Olivia. First and foremost, Amanda's health and general well being. As mentioned in my previous post, Amanda is feeling the Braxton-Hicks contractions with more frequency and with greater intensity. This is not only the body's way of getting prepared for "the big push", but also giving Amanda a taste of what's to come. Today, the false-labor contractions were their strongest yet probably for two reasons: One, at the doctor's appointment today, he checked on Amanda's progress which may have exacerbated things a bit (more on the doctor's appointment later). Secondly, we had a record warm day today with highs in the lower 80s and that made Amanda one uncomfortable mom-to-be. The contractions are still erratic and "weak", so there's nothing to worry about at this point. Other than that, she's doing very well.

We've been quite busy the past few days. Saturday, we went to the breastfeeding class offered by the hospital. It was a very informative and enlightening class...maybe more than I need to know, but Amanda got a good bit of information out of it.

Sunday, we did a little shopping. We took back the Roomba vacuum (robotic vacuum) I got her for Christmas because while the concept of the Roomba is good, the functionality of it isn't. It can clean the surface of the carpet, but can't get down and deep clean...especially if you have dogs that shed. We purchased a few more baby items, then Amanda and I went to Outback for a nice dinner date. We're going to try to squeeze in a few more of those over the next couple of weeks while we still can.

Monday, we went to the hospital. Now don't get all jumpy or excited...nothing went wrong and nothing happened. We went there to get all the admitting paperwork filled out and signed so when it is time to go to the hospital, all we have to do is show up. Amanda signed all the necessary forms then we were given a tour of their facilities. I have to say it's pretty nice up there. They have private rooms with the ability to get fairly comfortable, listen to music of your choice (bring your own CDs), even take a bath or shower to help the mom-to-be relax. We also strolled by the nursery...and that's when it hit Amanda that this really is going to be happening very soon. We talked about it later at lunch how seeing those newborn babies in the nursery is the subtle scream that our time is coming quickly.

Today (Tuesday), we had our latest appointment with the doctor and he did a low-grade ultrasound. Unfortunately, we didn't get any take-home pictures with this ultrasound. He used it to make sure Olivia is in the right position (head down) and she is. He also checked to make sure she has enough amniotic fluid which she does. He also estimated Olivia's weight which is roughly five and a half to six pounds. His examination then focused on Amanda and found that she is 50% effaced meaning her cervix has started to thin out and is about half way through the thinning out process. She is not dilated yet, though. The next appointment is March 6th (this Monday) and we'll find out what kind of progress she's made. Speaking of progress, here is a picture of Amanda at 36 weeks:

Just one more thing to add...as the day gets closer, I'll do my best to keep y'all posted. However, the length of the posts will likely drop off drastically. Basically, you can expect quick bursts of information. This will likely be the last lengthy post for quite a while...so wish us luck!

A Quick Update

Just a quick update...I will be posting a full entry either Tuesday or Wednesday after our next ObGyn appointment. This will likely be the last ultrasound before Olivia's birthday. I should have a fresh batch of pics to share as well.

Amanda is doing very well as she begins her 36th week of pregnancy. The Braxton-Hicks contractions (pre-labor contractions...also called false labor) are getting a bit stronger and a touch more frequent, but not to the point that they have any determined rhythm to them. Her back is starting to ache more as well. Other than that, she's doing okay.

One side note to pass along...Warren is out of the hospital and feeling much better (except for some sore ribs). Thanks to all of you who kept him in your thoughts and prayers.

Much more to post early next week!

In a Holding Pattern

I had a difficult time starting this blog entry. Not because there isn't anything going on...trust me, there's plenty of things still taking place. It's mainly because we're at the point in the pregnancy where we are in the "baby holding pattern". I almost feel like we're in a plane with Amanda as the pilot and I'm the co-pilot. We're circling the airport waiting for a runway to clear so we can bring Olivia Airlines flight #1 in for a (hopefully) smooth landing. In the meantime, we're "preparing the cabin for landing" by tying up any loose ends left dangling around. I attended Daddy Boot Camp last week Thursday and that was very educational. They had a couple baby dolls so the guys could practice changing diapers and also had an "empathy suit" so the guys could feel the extra weight and awkwardness their wives/significant others are putting up with. It was an excellent class and I would highly recommend it to any guy getting ready to be a dad.

Amanda and I were supposed to go to a breastfeeding class this past Saturday, but she felt sick with a sore throat and was simply worn down...so we'll attend the next available class in another week or so.

The appointment with the ObGyn on Monday was uneventful. The next appointment will be on the 28th and it will include the next ultrasound. Monday we also went out and purchased the last wave of items needed before Olivia graces us with her presence. Included in the purchase were diapers, wipes, crib and bassinet sheets, thermometer, children's Tylenol, and more hand sanitizer (I guess you can never have too much of that stuff). A big thank you goes out to my dad for picking up the tab from this last mini shopping spree.

Tuesday was of course Valentine's Day and it was also my Dad's birthday...Happy Birthday Dad!!! For Valentine's Day, Amanda got me three different types of chocolate collections. As a verifiable chocoholic, that's just what I needed. I'm sure my waistline will thank me later. For Amanda, I bought her some flowers and a card...but I also did some of the things around the house that she wanted to do but simply didn't have the time or energy to get finished. The biggest thing I did was put the finishing touches on the nursery. I bought a couple power strips for all the nursery items that require electricity...and the number of items totaled more than the number of plugs available. I put up the curtain rod and valence. I put all the toys away and the tools in their proper places. The result is: The nursery is now fully baby ready. Here is the last batch of pictures of the nursery before Olivia makes her arrival:





Everything is looking good...especially my gorgeous bride and mother-to-be! I got a little ahead of myself in the previous blog entry when I said it was week 34...that was actually week 33. This is now week 34:

One more thing before I wrap up this entry...this morning, my stepdad Warren (he's the one who was such a big help in getting the nursery painted) became dizzy and briefly passed out at my sister's house in Indiana. He was taken to the hospital where he's being monitored, but is doing just fine. It appears that Warren's body told Warren's hard-working mind and spirit to take a break for a few days! Still, I'd like to ask everyone to keep Warren in their prayers. Thank you very much! More to come soon!

The Clock is Ticking

Sorry for the long time between posts. It's been a busy couple of weeks with generally small things going on, but with so many of them stacked up back to back to back, it really starts adding up quickly.

First, we had another ObGyn appointment back on the 30th of January. Everything is as it should be with our next appointment coming up February 13th. After that, Amanda will be making weekly visits to see the doctor. On or about February 20th, we will be having one more ultrasound (the "low-grade" version) to make sure Olivia is ready to come into this world. Now the question is...are we ready for Olivia? For the most part, the answer is "yes". We have a few more small items to purchase before she gets here, but in general we're about as ready as we're gonna be. Other than a possible set of drawers, the nursery is done too. Here's a picture of the nursery with the crib, changing dresser, and glide rocker (with a nightstand just off camera to the left side of the rocker) all set up:
With the exception of sleep depravation, almost always feeling overheated, and not ever seeming to get enough to eat (Olivia is just taking every last calorie!), Amanda is doing pretty well. We got a good dose of birthing education this last weekend. After the class, we went to Wal-Mart and bought a birthing ball (one of those large exercise balls) since Amanda liked the way it worked when we tested it out in class. Tomorrow (Thursday), I'm going to "Daddy Boot Camp", a baby education class strictly for the guys. On Saturday, Amanda and I are going to breastfeeding class. I don't know if I should be going or not, but all this stuff just fascinates the hell out of me, so I'm planning on going for the educational value if nothing else.

I'll certainly be trying my best to keep y'all updated better over the next few weeks. It's all starting to blur together and my mind is turning into a bowl of oatmeal, so please excuse me if my ramblings seem to wander off on some weird tangent. Once the Daddy Boot Camp and breastfeeding classes are done, I'll post another update. Until then, here's Amanda at 33 weeks: