A Lap Down Memory Lane

Congrats to my cousin Zeb and his wife, Jennifer, who had a baby girl, named Zoe, on Tuesday, May 25. Olivia was very excited for the arrival of Zoe, who will be her newest playmate at Grandma Laux's. Olivia is very lucky to have lots of new friends (aka Zach & Emily's friends having babies) - including Claire, Wilson and now Zoe). We went to visit Jennifer and Zoe in the hospital this week, which happened to be the same hospital where Olivia was born. Being back at the hospital almost 2 months after Olivia was born was a very cool experience for a couple of reasons:

1. Peggy and the Nurses - We had the best nurses while at St. Vincent Carmel. They helped Zach and I learn everything we needed to know to be as confident as new parents can be when taking home their baby. All the nurses were great, but we had a special bond with Peggy, and she was our nurse three of the days in the hospital. She taught us little tricks, such as how to brace Olivia's back when she gets the hiccups (which happens on a daily basis), how to properly secure Olivia in her car seat, and she made sure that we got our rest while in the hospital and made sure I started to heal before heading home. Peggy was not only at the hospital when Olivia and I went to visit, but she was also Jennifer's nurse! Peggy enjoyed seeing Olivia as much as I enjoyed showing Olivia off to Peggy and updating her on Olivia!

2. The Nursery - Jennifer and I took a walk through the labor and delivery area, as well as by the nursery. It was a trip down memory lane for me. Jennifer and I had similar birthing experiences, from being on bed rest for high blood pressure to having to have c-sections when our stubborn babies didn't want to enter the world naturally. Jennifer and I shared our experiences with each other, and I got to see where Olivia's life started and remember all the wonderful memories of those two days.

When Olivia was born, there were very few other babies in the hospital. On the day I visited Jennifer, there had been almost 10 babies born in the previous two days. There had been three babies born just that morning, including one woman who delivered her baby alone at home while her husband was in Chicago and her two older children were asleep! I can't even imagine that, but it was fun to talk to the family and share experiences. I also enjoyed watching the babies being taken through the testing, cleaning and prepping to return to their parents.

It is amazing how quickly the last two months have gone. I know everyone tells you that the time will fly by, and I have been trying to enjoy every moment with Olivia, because she isn't going to stay a baby for too long (just look at the picture of Olivia and Zoe to see how big she has already gotten!!).

Some other fun changes in Olivia over the last month:
1. She now smiles and has even had a small laugh or two when reacting to us. I keep telling her she is going to laugh a lot in this family!
2. She has shown us that she can sleep through the night, which she now does a majority of nights (yeah for us!!) to being able to sleep in her crib instead of a swing (which has just started and I am sure we will still have some nights where we revert back to the swing!).
3. She is gaining control of her head, and this is no easy feet as Olivia has a very cute, but very round and big head to support! Add her chubby cheeks to the equation, and her neck has to do a lot of work. Of course her head still gets out of control from time to time, but she will be holding it up before we know it.

We look forward to all of the fun milestones ahead from rolling over to crawling to walking, but for now, we are enjoying every minute we can and cherishing what lucky parents we are :)

Enjoy the pictures!