Liam is here!

I know it's been a while since I posted, but I think the birth of my son deserves a post! So to start off, I'll share my birth story. :)

On July 3rd (when I was 36 weeks and 5 days pregnant) I had an appointment with my OB and I was 3cm dilated and 75% effaced. With Alia I didn't go into labor until I was 4cm, but I just had a feeling that labor was imminent. I had been telling people how I thought Liam would be coming early, and how I just felt like it would be soon. On the evening of the 3rd, I started having some kind of painful contractions, but I brushed them off as probably nothing. I had an "Irritable Uterus" this pregnancy, which means that I would just have contractions all the time for no reason. On the night of the 2nd I'd had some painful contractions, but they had dwindled after an hour or so, so I wasn't too concerned about the contractions I was having on the 3rd. However, they continued to get stronger and stronger, until I knew I was most likely in labor. So we had Trevor’s dad stay at the house while we headed off to the hospital! By the time they checked me, I was 5cm dilated, and the contractions were getting pretty bad. So they transferred us over to a delivery room, and got me the epidural, which was so nice, because by that point, the contractions were probably the worst pain I’ve ever felt in my life.

By then I was 7cm dilated. Soon after, they broke my water, and a little while longer I was at 10cm. The nurse thought Liam was back to back, so she had me lay in a few different positions to see if we could persuade him to flip over, and it must have worked, because when Dr. Ponder came (she was not my OB, but she was the on-call doctor) she said he was face down and we were ready to try a push. Because I’d told her that it took three hours of pushing with Alia, Dr. Ponder said we would just see what a push looked like, but she wouldn’t get her gown on yet. Well, after one push, she said, “Okay! I’m grabbing my gown! I think this will be pretty quick!” And it was, thank heavens. It took only about ten minutes of pushing for Liam to be born at 2:29am, making it four and a half hours since I'd arrived at the hospital. As soon as he was delivered, they put him on my chest and Trevor got to cut the cord. Once he was weighed and cleaned off, they let me do skin-to-skin and start breastfeeding. He was so alert, and kept sucking for about 40 minutes. I knew right then that he was probably going to be a better eater than Alia. So after we had a little time, they moved us upstairs to the recovery room. I had a small second degree tear this time around, but I could tell I was in for a better recovery than with Alia, because the morning after giving birth, I was ready to be up and moving around. With Alia, I had a bad episiotomy and was confined to my bed the whole next day and it took the full 6 weeks before I had recovered. It's now been a little over a week, and I feel pretty much back to my normal self in terms of healing.

My only struggles right now are breastfeeding and sleeping. He's eating well, but I'm so sore that it often brings me to tears when he eats. I thought maybe it was his latch, but I went to a meeting of Le Leche League and the specialist there said that his latch is fine, but Liam has a lip tie and likely a tongue tie as well, which can make breastfeeding painful for me. At his two week check-up, I'm going to have the pediatrician look at it and decide if it needs to be clipped. Alia had a tongue tie, as well, and breastfeeding was painful all the way up until my milk dried up.

As for sleep, Liam sleeps okay, but he's just up breastfeeding every hour to an hour and a half, so not much chance for me to sleep in between. Also he tends to cluster feed until 1am, which means I get a late start to the night, and then Alia is up at 7am. But as soon as he starts going longer between feeds, I know I'll catch up (well, as much as a mom CAN catch up!).

We're so grateful for Liam and very grateful that the delivery went better than it did with Alia. We're lucky that he was such a good weight (6lbs 11oz) for being early, and that he had no complications. Now if we can get him to survive with Alia wanting to pull his hair and poke him in the eye, then we'll be set!

Liam Trevor Koch

Alia is going to have a little brother!

We had our ultrasound on March 4th, but we had the ultrasound tech put the gender picture in an envelope and seal it so that we could hand it off to my friend, Emily Prieto. Emily then bought some balloons in the correct color and put them in a box and brought them to Alia's first birthday party. After all the other presents were opened, we opened up the mystery balloon box, and out popped blue balloons!

Although it was still an awesome surprise, Trevor and I both had the feeling that it was a boy after our ultrasound. His profile just looked more "boyish" than Alia's did. But we are so excited to have a little boy! Hopefully he's not a crazy as his daddy was, though! Lol!

Here's a video of us opening the box:

 

 

We've had a boy name picked out since we were pregnant with Alia, so unless we suddenly come up with something we like more, his name will be Liam Trevor Koch. Trevor's main requirement for baby names is that they have a good meaning to them, and Liam means "unwavering protector" which we thought was very fitting for our oldest son. I also like it because it's not totally obscure, but it's not really common either (unless you live in the UK!).

Alia's First Birthday!

Well, we made it to one year! It's been a long and difficult road at times, what with sleeping issues and feeding issues, but I wouldn't trade it for the world! Here's where she's at right now:

* She's such a sweet and happy little girl, and VERY sociable!

* She loves to play and smile and tries to get you to copy what she's doing.

* She's just now started to point at things and then try to imitate what I say. She does pretty good with "balloon," "car," "door," "Goo-goo" (since that's the sound I make when I show her her little baby doll), "baby," and "cuckoo" (since I call her my cuckoo baby sometimes), "mama," and "dada".

* She also claps, waves hello and goodbye, and plays peek-a-boo.

* She crawls (it's a very slow army crawl, but still!) but mostly loves to cruise around the furniture.

* She loves to dance and will dance to almost any sort of music if she feels like it.

* She likes to sing her little heart out when she's in her crib and supposed to be sleeping.

* As of today, she now has 8 teeth! Four on top and four on the bottom.

Her party went really well! We had our immediate families, plus Trevor's grandmas and uncle, and a few close friends. We had pink cupcakes instead of a cake, which made it really easy to give Alia one without any frosting (since the poor little girl was still getting over a stomach virus). But she had a lot of fun seeing all the people that she loves and of course the balloons and bright colored decorations. She got some fun new toys and three pretty, new dresses, including one that was handmade by my friend Emily Prieto. We are very grateful for all of our family and friends who have played a part in Alia's life so far. We're so excited to see all the fun changes that she will go through in years to come! (Okay, maybe not puberty... Lol!)

She loved her cupcake!

Checking out her fun new gifts.

Alia loves her grandma!

And she loves bonking heads with Papa.

We were blessed to have family and friends join us.

Her pink birthday cupcakes.

Round Two!

Well, here we are with baby #2 on the way! I'm currently 13 weeks pregnant, so heading into the wonderful second trimester at last. Actually, I don't have much to complain about, because I haven't had any morning sickness, but it will be nice to have my energy back. For those of you who have been wondering, but too afraid to ask, this baby was definitely planned! We wanted our kids to be close in age, with the hope that they will have a strong and special bond growing up like me and my brother did (we're 13 months apart). Alia and baby #2 will be 16 months apart.

I didn't necessarily dislike the OB I had with Alia, but when I heard such great things about Dr. Melissa Brown, I decided to switch to her for this pregnancy, and after just one appointment, I'm so glad that I did! Thanks, Lisa for the great recommendation! Dr. Brown finally made a diagnosis for Alia, since my old OB never did, and as I suspected, Alia had IUGR (Intra-Uterine Growth Restriction). Because of this, the placenta died earlier than it should have, which is why Alia was born so small at so late a gestation. After reading more about IUGR babies, it all just clicks so well. For example, IUGR babies often have gross motor skill delays (10 months old and still no signs of crawling!), they tend to be finicky eaters, and because of their smaller stomachs, it generally takes them longer to be able to sleep through the night. The other thing I thought was funny, is that IUGR babies are usually small except for their heads, which are typically the average size for their age. That explains why my tiny girl has always had a big noggin! Lol!

Anyway, because I had IUGR in my last pregnancy, I have to take baby aspirin everyday to help the placenta stay strong, and I will have an ultrasound some time in the third trimester to check on growth. I'm so glad that Dr. Brown made that diagnosis so that this baby can get the proper care that he/she needs.

A lot of people also ask me if I have a feeling about the gender, or a preference. As for feelings, I don't really have a clue! I guess I've been leaning toward another girl just because this pregnancy has been so similar, but I know that doesn't necessarily mean anything. As for a preference, I'll honestly be happy either way. If it's a girl, then that means Alia will have a sister who is close in age, and they can play princesses and all that fun stuff, but if it's a boy, then I'll know for sure that I'll get one of each gender, and Trevor can have a little mini-me of his own. ;)

Overall, I just feel so blessed that pregnancy treats me well, and that I haven't been too sick to take care of Alia. I'm also looking forward to having two kids and seeing the way they interact and grow together and become friends. Of course, I'm soooo not looking forward to the sleepless nights again, but at least I know what to expect this time!

9 Months Old

Well, actually she'll be 9 months old on Sunday, but close enough. :) I can't believe how big she's getting! Since I haven't updated our blog in a couple of months, I thought I ought to let you know what's going on with Alia these days.

* She sits up great now!

* She still has no desire to crawl. At all. We will put her on her stomach, and she doesn't even try to lift her body off the floor.

* She still can only roll in one direction, but it doesn't seem to bother her, because she doesn't roll to get where she wants, she just rolls depending on whether or not she wants to be on her stomach or back.

* She loves to take baths and will only play with a wash cloth (mostly because she likes to suck the water out of it, but also because she like to whack the water with it, which of course gets everything wet).

* She still only has a tiny bit of hair, but what she has is definitely blond!

* She loves to stand up holding onto to things, like the couch, or our hands. She will walk if we prompt her to, but otherwise just like to stand still.

* She has her two bottom teeth, but her gums are feeling pretty bumpy these days, so I won't be surprised to see a few more pop up soon.

* She is very noisy! She will sometimes just lay on the floor and yell as loud as she can. Not because she's mad, though. In fact, she promptly smiles afterwards, as though she's feeling pretty proud of her lung capacity.

* She still doesn't eat much solid food. She'll eat about 2 oz. of baby food a day, but makes it very clear when she's finished, usually by sticking her tongue out, refusing to open her mouth, of giving me her "angry face".

* She says "dada", "mama", and "baba" (whatever that's supposed to mean) but I don't think she connects the words to anything yet.

* She likes it when we mimic her sounds. For example, she loves to click her tongue against the roof of her mouth, and then will watch us expectantly until we do it, too.

* She got to go in a baby swing at the park, and loved it! She also loves to see/be around other babies.

* She likes to take her toys, one-by-one, out of her toy basket and look them individually.

* She is such a happy little girl most of the time, and has such a funny little personality. Trevor and I love her big grin, because she always scrunches up her nose. We are so blessed to have this little girl in our life!

Where'd You Get Those Peepers?

So one thing that provides a constant source of amusement for me is all the comments that Alia gets on her eyes. It seems like it's either the first or the second thing that anyone says when the see Alia.

"Wow, look at those eyes!"

"She has such big eyes!"

"Oh, what beautiful eyes!"

The other day I was telling Trevor that I pretty much just wait for people to make one of these comments. Well, soon after saying that, we got into an elevator with two ladies. They commented on how cute she was, but there was no "eyes" comment. I was a little put-out, but then after they got off and walked around the corner (but before the elevator door closed) I heard one of the ladies say, "Did you see how big her eyes were?" I turned to Trevor and gave him a "told you so" look. :)

The funny thing is, neither Trevor nor I ever had eyes like that when we were babies. But it's by far her most defining feature. I wonder if they'll always look a little big, or if they just look that way now because she's so little still. Only time will tell, I suppose!

We didn't die...I just haven't posted in awhile

A picture of Alia from our recent family
portaits by Amy Bennion.

Wow, I haven't posted since June, and here it is, September. Well, I guess I should probably update!

Alia is doing great. She was sick last week, and ended up having a bladder infection, poor thing. She's feeling much better now, but is still on antibiotics. She'll be 6 months old this Sunday, and somehow I always imagined that she'd more more mobile at this point. She doesn't roll around, and still doesn't want to sit up on her own (although she LOVES it when we stand her up, and really likes to spend time standing in her jumper). She still cries when we put her on her tummy, and will only roll over as a last resort to get back on her back again. The last time we had her weighed and measured (when we took her to the pediatrician when she was sick) she weighed 13 pounds, 3 ounces, and was 26 inches long.

Isn't she cute in her little Zippy?

A big accomplishment for us lately has been weaning Alia off of her swaddle. She was swaddled every night and during naps, and for a long time it really helped her sleep better. Then she got stronger and would start busting out of her swaddle...however, she would then cry because she was un-swaddled. So she couldn't sleep with it or without it, and it was making bedtime a real hassle. We tried going cold turkey, but she woke up screaming bloody murder in the middle of the night and wouldn't calm down until we re-swaddled her, so that only lasted one night. Finally I came across this genius invention from another mom with a swaddle-addict baby, called a Zipadee-Zip. It lets babies move around more, but still gives them the snug feeling of being swaddled, and it has saved my bacon. Alia will play around for awhile, suck on her hands, and then eventually fall asleep. I will say that she still doesn't nap quite as long as she did swaddled, but it's a fair trade. Now, she'll wake up in the middle of the night, and instead of me rushing in their to re-swaddle her, she'll sometimes just play for a little while and then go back to sleep. We've also stopped swaddling her while we feed her (we had to for a long time because she would constantly whack the bottle out of her mouth, or would get distracted by the bottle and stop eating) and she's doing great with that, too. Overall, the whole process has gone so much better than I was expecting.

This was one of the family pictures that Amy Bennion
took for us a few weeks ago.

Trevor and I are doing great. I was pretty sick a few weeks ago, and still don't know exactly what it was, but I was struggling to eat and keep food down for a week. I've also had two killer migraines int he past few weeks, which is a bummer. I actually experienced a migraine aura with one of them, for the first time in my life. It looked like TV static in the bottom left of my left eye, and I was thinking, "Oh my gosh, what's wrong with my eye?!" and then the headache hit, big time, and the mystery was solved. I might go see a neurologist if these migraines don't let up.

Trevor got called to be the Ward Mission Leader a few weeks ago, and is enjoying the calling so far, although it means less time for us to be together int he evenings, since he now has a few appointments with the missionaries every week. But it's worth it.

In other news, my sweet sister-in-law, Whitney just got married to Corbin Skinner. We're so happy for them! Also, my other sweet sister-in-law, Lisa, just moved with her family to Washington D.C. since her husband, Dan, is going to law school there. Oh, and another shout-out to one of my best friends, Courtney, who just had her second baby a few days ago. Logan Garcia is a real cutie!

Well, I'll finish off this post with a few more pictures of "The Cuteness" (aka Alia).

Enjoying a banana

Enjoying her toes

Enjoying her fingers

Remember when she used to snuggle up in my lap?
Well, now I have to have a pretty secure grip on her, because
she tries to dive off my lap and onto the floor. 

Sometimes she drops her toys on her face and
just can't be bothered to move it off her face.

Reading with Daddy. She loves to be read to!