Rowan - 7 months

Weight: 16 pounds (35%)

Height: 26.25 inches (30%)

Sleep: We are still sleeping through the night! Sometimes she even sleeps until 730 or 8. It is so wonderful! Naps are getting worse and worse - down to only about 20 minutes. We have got to figure out why the naps are so bad. 

Eating: Normal milk routine but also eats solids once a day at dinner with us. We bought her a highchair so she is big time at the big table with everyone!

Milestones: She is eating solids. She is sitting up completely without assistance. And she has started to learn how to roll and turn herself to get where she wants. Finally loves tummy time! She will be keeping up with those big kids in no time!

Clothes / Diapers: size 3 diapers (could almost use a 4) and 6-9 month clothes

Best Moment of the month: I actually took Rowan and Sloan to the grocery store and Sloan insisted on one of those car driving carts. I typically hold Rowan everywhere. Like, everywhere. But I thought she might think it was fun. She was THRILLED. She sat there, holding on to the steering wheel, turning it like she knew what to do. Every now and then she would slide over and fall on Sloan. It was the cutest. My two littles looking so big.

Favorites: I loved seeing her as a sweet little flamingo for Halloween. Emma wore the same costume. She has this little walker that has a car steering wheel on it and she just loves sitting and playing with that thing. She loves the girls pop-its - which are super popular with the elementary school kids. She has started to notice my phone and really really wants it. I forgot about the stage where you cant have anything in front of them. I took the girls to dinner by myself and tried to eat a taco: one bite and Rowan snatched my plate, almost pulling it off the table. Thats why Dan and I would always switch who holds the baby when we need to eat. It is so cute though - their little hands get so fast and they are so proud of themselves. 

We haven't used a bottle warmer much this time around. We just drop the bottle into a mug of warm water and leave it there for however long and can forget its in there and its always the perfect temperature. No more testing to see if its ready or accidentally getting it too hot. 

Six months - all 4 girls

Rowan - 6 months

Weight: 15 pounds (25%)

Height: 25.5 inches (30%)

Sleep: we are mostly back to sleeping through the night!! We had to make her fall asleep on her own, without us rocking her (so she could learn to fall back asleep when she woke up, instead of panicking and crying). And we had to try soothing her in the crib without picking her up. That means mostly just rubbing her belly and calmly telling her everything is okay while she loses.her.mind until a certain number of minutes are up and then doing it again. And again. Until slowly...well, it never actually works, but she doesn't wake up as much.

Eating: Same milk routine as she has been, but we are just about to add soilds to the mix!

Milestones: sleeping through the night is a big one! She is just about to start solids, which I know she will love. She is rolling back to belly and belly to back. She just can't figure out the double and triple roll to actually get places. 

Clothes / Diapers: Size 3 diapers and 3-6 month clothes - although some are starting to get a little short on her. 

Best Moment of the Month: The first time we put her in the exersaucer. We started it much earlier with the other girls - but just hadn't taken the time to bring it down from the attic yet. When we did, she was THRILLED to have this whole new toy that was hers. She was older and more excited and could play with it. It was so fun to see Rowan so happy!

Favorites: She sleeps like a little angel with her hands behind her head - so her (and her sleeping) are two of my favorites. She has started having a little muslin lovie in her crib that is completely breathable. She rubs it over her face right before falling asleep. Actually, I think her sleeping through the night is my favorite. 

I dont think I have mentioned this: to get her to fall asleep for her nap, we have to bounce her on the yoga ball. She falls asleep so quickly! When we transfer her, she wakes up, so we pick up the entire dock a tot with her in it, and bounce her in the dock a tot until she's back asleep. When we transfer her in the DAT, she doesn't wake up because she doesn't feel us setting her down. It's brilliant. And so bougie. And only takes a few minutes so why not. 

Five months - all 4 girls

Rowan - 5 months

Weight: 14 pounds (20%)

Height: 25.5 inches (60%)

Sleep: Oh man - she has definitely lost her best sleeper crown. She started around 3.5 months waking up early - then she started adding in a 2am wake up, then adding a midnight wake up. I would make her cry for 20 minutes before going in. She is AWAKE. She will stay awake for a full 1.5 to 2 hours. It is worse than she ever was as a newborn. I am not sure how much longer we can survive this. But shes so sweet and cute and smiley when you go in there that you just can't be annoyed with her.

Eating: Rowan is taking a bottle! Actually, she much prefers the bottle. I left for a baby shower in Greenville and Dan had to keep her and she took some milk from a bottle but not much. Enough to not be hungry. Then, after starting daycare, she's rocked the bottle and wanted one a night too. Knew daycare would figure it out. 

Milestones: She uses her foot to kick things on the toy bar on her bouncer - and idk if thats an actual milestone - but its my favorite because she so proud of herself. She started school this month! And she found her feet and loves to hold onto them and put them in her mouth - and nothing is cuter than this baby!

Clothes / Diapers: In size 2/3 diapers and 3-6 month clothes. 

Best moment of the month: Probably taking her to the beach. She loved the waves on her toes and even though she couldn't enjoy much of the sun, I love the beach so much and really enjoyed showing it to her. I also got quite a few snuggles with a sleepy baby on the beach.

Favorites: This baby seems more high maintenance than the others. I guess maybe because everything is ruined by the 4th that she gets some new stuff. She got some of those weighted sleep sacks so she's all fancy with her new hip sacks. She has a dock-a-tot to nap in. Emma had a DAT but she didn't sleep anywhere so we didn't need an expensive container for her. AND Rowan got a slumberpod tent that goes over a pack and play to make it pitch black. She was so fancy at the beach in her DAT and slumberpod. 

Four months - all 4 girls

Rowan - 4 months

Weight: 12lbs 9 ounces (15%)

Length: 24.5 inches (60%)

Sleep: Rowan has been sleeping through the night this entire month. It has been amazing! Two weeks ago she started waking around 4 a couple nights a week. I secretly loved it because I would pull her in bed with us and snuggle until the other kids were up. But I'm worried its becoming more and more often. 

Eating: Still not taking a bottle and eating 6 times a day.

Milestones: She is starting to use both hands to grab things. It seems like it happened over night - she is now a real baby trying to take things and put them in her mouth. She also has great head control and can use her sit me up seat some. She laughs out loud and we just love that. She also squeals when her sisters are running around and being loud. 

Clothes/Diapers: Size 2 diapers and probably should be in 3-6 month clothes but I haven't gotten those out, so she's still in 0-3 and it's fine. 

Best Moment of the Month: Definitely the first time she squealed when her sisters started to run around. I remember this with Sloan and how she wanted so bad to be part of the excitement of the big kids. And now she is part of that and has her own little sister wanting to be part of the fun. Crazy how fast it goes.

Favorites: Rowan naps in the dockatot - not because she naps better in it, but because we can pick it up to rock her, then lay her in the crib with no "transfer" - ie not waking her up by holding her and then trying to get our arms out from under her. Its a simple act of setting the pillow down. Its comical actually - sitting on the yoga ball, bouncing her, in the dockatot for a transfer. But the other girls napped in a swing at this point, so this can't be any worse. We also have her in a weighted nested bean swaddle - no idea if that matters, but I can't find our old swaddles and it is super cute. This time around we splurged on a baby bjorn bouncy seat and it is amazing for this age. Rowan gets annoyed in the newborn bouncy seats. This one sits up higher and she can be part of the action. If she kicks, it bounces her. She seems to really like it. It also folds flat which is perfect for travel. AND we splurged on a slumberpod so we could share a room with Rowan and Dan could read with his book light without waking her. It keeps it dark in her little tent while we have the lights on. 

Three months - all 4 girls

Rowan - 3 months

Weight: 11 pounds 13 ounces (25%)

Height: 24 inches (70%)

Sleep: Still sleeping great. She just started doing 10-11 hours at night. We're moving bedtime earlier and we started reflux medicine and that took her bed time routine from taking hours to being pretty quick.

Eating: she eats around 6 times a day. Won't take a bottle, but we'll let daycare figure that out.

Milestones: rolling from belly to back and starting to giggle. She also likes to stand with us holding her. And if you lay her back like a baby she will do this big sit up so she can face out like a big kid. She might end up being our earliest sitter.

Clothes/Diapers: starting to outgrow some of her 0-3 in length, and I think we're going to move her to size 2 diapers. 

Best Moment of the month: Going to the beach! She had her first beach trip. We only went up and back - stayed one night. Rowan did great. It was hot and we kept splashing water on her swim suit to keep her cool. She was so sweet and napped out on the beach. But I'm sure it wasn't her favorite thing to do. The girls had a blast and it was a good practice run before our long beach trip in August. 

Favorites: We have a portable noise maker that can clip to her carseat. It has been perfect for keeping her asleep during errands. Normally one of my kids would yell loudly and wake her up - but this drowns out all the noises and with a blanket over top, she doesn't get distracted by changing light or bright colors. We have been using the large yoga ball to bounce her to sleep. Hold her, sit on the ball and bounce, and she's out. Other than that, Rowan gets held almost all the time, so not too many favorite items. 

Two months - all 4 girls

Rowan - two months

This sweet baby is already two months old! She seems so smart and so much older than a newborn, yet these two months have flown by.

Height: 23.5 inches (90%)

Weight: 10 pounds 3 ounces (20%)

Sleep: this girl is officially sleeping through the night. We start bed time around 8 and she's usually down by 10. It's a process but she sleeps in her crib and usually is left drowsy to fall asleep on her own - although we have to settle her quite a bit. And then she's up for the day around 6. Sometimes there's a 4am wake up in there and I don't mind feeding her at all bc she's already miles ahead of her sisters. I think Emma was 3 the first time she slept this long ;) Honestly her sleeping well has made this so joyful for me. I'm not constantly googling how to get her to sleep and anxious that if we don't get a good nap I'll be up all night. She's been a dream! Only naps in our arms - and this month naps have been getting harder and harder. But she's only little for a little while.

Eating: she eats whenever. Lol. Less of a schedule than the other girls. I try to make sure she gets fed 6-7 times a day bc her weight gain hasn't been what they want.

Milestones: she's really starting to talk. She looks you in the eye to make sure you're paying attention. Very polite. She doesn't like to talk over anyone. And she just works so hard to make these sweet coos and noises. I could listen to her all day. She's really using her hands to reach for things and bring them to her mouth. She seems so old to me. Her head control has been great but we don't do enough tummy time. 

Clothes / diapers: 0-3 months in clothes and size one diapers. She might need to go to a size 2 because she pees so much sometimes it leaks out the diaper on me. Glamorous life I lead.

Best moment of the month: her laughing! We all experienced it at different times. I think Olivia and Dan heard it first. But we all agree that was the best moment!

One Month - All 4 Girls

Rowan - One Month

Length: 22.5 inches (95%)

Weight: 9 lbs 1 ounce (45%)

Sleep: She is a champion sleeper. She really started doing a 5-6 hour stretch at night from the first night in the hospital. After two all nighters, I really needed a slight stretch of sleep at home that first night. When she did 6 hours again - I was shocked and so thankful. 6 hours = 6 hours between feedings. So if I feed her at 9, put her down at 10, she wakes at 3. So it's only 5 hours of sleep. And she has had quite a few nights where she wakes every 3 hours. (so 2 hours of sleep). And she has had a few nights of just not going down. BUT more nights than not include a 5 hour between feeds stretch and usually falling asleep pretty quickly. 

During the day, if we swaddle her and walk around or rock her for 10 minutes, she will usually fall asleep. If something wakes her up - walking or rocking will usually get her back to sleep. This is crazy to us!! Haha. The other girls would not sleep. We would walk or rock for hours and struggle to get them to nap. People would be like "have you tried a paci?" or "what about a noise maker?" And we would say YES - WE TRIED IT ALL. Now we get it. If they had a Rowan as a baby, they were probably thinking "what is wrong with these people - that they can't get them to nap. Swaddle. Noise maker. Rock. It works." 

I also noticed that a ton of my anxiety post-baby with each of the 3 was likely sleep deprivation related. I am feeling so much better than I ever did one month postpartum - mentally. And I think it all has to do with sleep. I am also trying to do less caffeine, so that I can fall asleep during the day and get a little nap in when R naps. I am realizing that sleep really is key. 

Eating: She's a great eater. Not much to say here. She eats about 7 times a day. Every 2-3 hours during the day. Eats at 830pm, up anytime between 1-3am, up again at 6am. 

Milestones: She has given us quite a few smiles. It is our favorite. We have to work hard for them - but we all love seeing her smile. 

Clothes / Diapers: She's in 0-3 clothes and size 1 diapers. She was in newborn diapers and came home in a newborn outfit - but outgrew those pretty quickly. I think we have a little while in our current clothes and diapers. 

Best Moment of the Month: When the girls met her for the first time. My favorite! We have a video on Instagram and Facebook. Emma yelling "she has red hair!" and Sloans shy smile as she's so proud of her baby sister. I could just melt. They love her so much.

Parent of the Month: Me. I wanted to make sure we were getting some vitamin D and she had her days and nights correct - so I would sit in the shade with her. Poor girl got a mild face sunburn. I thought she was hot, but then we compared her face to her arm and she was much pinker. Oops! She's so fair she even got burned in shade. So now we limit our shade time to make sure it doesn't happen again. 

Favorites: not a whole lot needed the first month. We use the boppy to hold her and while breastfeeding. We put her down in the leachco podster. She has an owlet breathing monitor every night bc I would worry too much without it. She's been in her crib since the first week. We do put her in the dockatot for the second chunk of night sleep since it's harder to get her back to sleep then. But we will likely take that away so she doesn't get too reliant.  Swaddle blankets and she sleeps in the swaddle up where her arms are by her face. Other than that, we haven't used much of anything else! 

Rowan's birth story

Rowans birth story actually starts two nights earlier. On April 15th, I went to a neighborhood outdoor wine night. I started to feel pretty bad - and thought it was from sitting too long. With the massive belly, I can't breathe too well when sitting - and that will start to get to me. I headed home right away. Dan and I joke that I can't get out of places - I always chat and say bye a million times - and this time I pulled a Dan and just peaced out.

When I got home, I was convinced I had a horrible stomach bug. I never threw up but felt HORRIBLE. I couldn't lean over the toilet, or curl up because of the big belly. Laying down I was spinning and nauseous. Dan thought I was in labor - and I said "I hope not - I can't imagine contractions on top of this." We finally found some zofran so I could get a little sleep. Still felt bad the next morning - but got up for work.

Later that afternoon, I wasn't as nauseous and got some soup down, but the lower half of my stomach was super sore. It was really weird and, at 41 weeks pregnant, I started to worry something was wrong. I called my OB (hoping he could get me in for an appt before the weekend just to check on the baby - it had been a week since my last appt anyway). He told me to head to labor and delivery. I was NOT going to walk into L&D and them be like "you're here because your stomach hurts?!?" I joined my next work meeting. By 4 or 5, Dan told me to just go in. We could make sure the baby was fine and head into the weekend without worrying. Finally I did. I brought nothing with me and walked right in. Passing all the stands people were saying "good luck!" and "Congratulations!" and I was thinking "will pass you guys again in an hour when I head out of here."

When I got to L&D they had me change into a gown. It was SO GROSS. It had stuff all over it, including a foil lid to a yogurt stuck to it. I asked for another gown, thinking - now they hate me. I am the high maintenance girl with the stomach pain (not a legitimate reason to go to L&D) who now needs a new gown.

The on-call OB was there checking on the person in the room next to me, so I didn't have to wait long. She came in and said "technically you are having contractions - so even though last night probably was a stomach bug, you are 41 weeks. Let's break your water and see if we can get things going." 

Not at all what I expected! I immediately said "I would really appreciate that." I texted Dan. He didn't see it. I called my parent so they would be ready to watch the girls (first time that it wasn't a middle of the night call with them 4-9 hours away!). 

I had my bags packed, so Dan just had to bring them. I knew things would be slow, so there was no rush. He was shocked to find my text about an hour later - haha. 

The rest, there really isn't much to tell. She insisted I get an epidural first (since I knew I wanted one) because she didn't know how fast Rowan would come. After that, she broke my water around 10pm. We had to just hang out, waiting. I could tell Rowan was still really high. And I knew she was "sunny side up" so was hoping she would turn before delivery - as that can make things more complicated. 

My OB was so positive - "I am sure she will just flip, and drop, and come right out when she's ready." In the past, those statements always jinxed things and my babies would do the opposite. The nurse was a little more worried: "I think this is a REALLY big baby." 

As morning came, Dan and I both were getting a little nervous. This was my longest labor so far - and I just thought that since she didn't come on her own, and hadn't come yet - that she just wasn't going to come out. 

The epidural started to wear off and contractions were very intense - so I pushed that epidural button quite a few times for some more pain relief. Its a delicate balance because my blood pressure drops every time - so I can't push it much. My blood pressure was running around 70/40 the entire time - so dropping any lower made me feel AWFUL.

Eventually I felt a lot of pressure - she had dropped! And just before my OBs shift ended, Rowan came out after 20 minutes of pushing at 7:22am. She was NOT sunny side up - so she had turned at some point. Exactly like my OB said. 

She came out looking JUST like Emma and has red hair. Exactly what Emma requested. She was 8lbs 3oz and 21 inches long. So she was not giant like Sloan :). Same length as Olivia, one inch smaller than Sloan and one inch bigger than E. Second biggest baby, but only by a few ounces. 

Everything was so wonderful. Nothing scary. No crazy moments. When I saw her I realized all those kicks were not spiteful - haha - just her sweet self stretching. Immediately in love with this sweet baby. 

With all of the carb control during the last few months of pregnancy, I made Dan get me TWO large fries from Chick-fil-a, So I could throw away all those end pieces and still have a ton of fries - haha. 

We only stayed 24 hours. After being sick Thursday night, up all Friday night in labor, and woken every hour or more on Saturday night (poor nurse who had to come do a midnight CBC in my arm - I was not nice to her) - we wanted out! We had the most wonderful nurses. A huge struggle naming her - with a blindsided birth certificate lady when I burst into tears after signing the FIRST form. Trying to get out in 24 hours with all the checks, all the discharges, hearing screening, newborn screening, vitals, lactation, all the people who have to come in and sign off - we spent barely any time Dan and I discussing names or hanging with Rowan. It was in and out. But we were so glad to get home to our girls - and they were SO excited to meet her!

9 Months Pregnant with #4

I'm writing this 39 weeks pregnant so it's really the past 7 weeks. I actually feel great. I had some weeks in there where I was in a lot of pain and thought I wouldn't make it. But now we are finally in the home stretch - and hopefully sooner rather than later. 

I had to stop lifting stuff and stop bending over to the ground to pick things up in order to really feel better. It meant I couldn't pick up Sloan - but she could still climb in my lap. And I bought a grabber "for the elderly" (amazon description) to pickup around the house. Because if you have kids you know there are one million things to pick up any given moment. 

I've honestly been pretty nervous that she'll be too big. Sloan was 9 lbs. This baby was exactly Sloan's measurements in all categories at the 36 week ultrasound. My doctor would like her out this week (39 weeks) but the hospital has been out of space for awhile, especially having separate covid positive and covid negative rooms. They are only taking the most medically urgent for inductions and it isn't up to the doctors (since there are multiple from each practice), instead it's the charge nurse's decision who gets a room. So an induction before 42 weeks is unlikely these days. Unfortunately, the other hospital in town is having no issues. 

So, even though I feel great and wouldn't mind going over my due date quite a bit - I'm worried about how delivery will go if she's overcooked. She was already 7 lbs at 36 weeks. And 8.5 pounds at her ultrasound this week. 

It's so surreal that we are going to have another baby. I don't think it's actually sunk in. (Maybe bc we've barely talked about what to name her. Or maybe bc I've been in total denial at work. I love my team and am so excited about the work we are doing that I don't want to be out. Don't get me wrong, it's in capable hands, I just selfishly want to be a part of it.) We will legitimately be bringing home another child in 3 weeks and so starts the newborn no sleep, postpartum recovery, breastfeeding, etc. and I just haven't even let that sink in yet.

Emma's 5th Birthday Party

After Olivia's party, Emma really needed one too. This was even trickier because it is February and cold!

We decided to have just the neighbors over - since they had been playing together outside anyway. 

We made individual s'mores kits for each of the kiddos and had the fire pit in our front yard. Also had a cooler of beer/wine and a cooler of juice. Individual snacks and individually wrapped cookies with her favorites - unicorns, narwhals and her name. The kids brought scooters and bikes to ride around in the culdesac. And we had every single person come - a bigger crowd than we thought. 

It actually rained the weekend that we planned on having it and pushed it to the following weekend. Emma was surprisingly good with that. So we had a cake the day of her birthday and her party later. 

And Sloan drank so much juice - that she was a trainwreck by the end. I'm worried about her college days. 

8 Months Pregnant with #4

This one is tricky. I'm only 32 weeks pregnant (and I want credit for all 32 weeks), but we're just under two months until the due date - so I guess my 9 month post will be 36 weeks - and we'll go from there. Actually feeling great. Besides the furniture moving days or days where I'm on my feet too long - I'm not in much pain. I'm not sleeping much. Usually up around 3am for the day - after peeing 4 times throughout the night. With Emma, I had horrible insomnia. With Sloan, I found these magnesium gummies that cured the insomnia. I thought I was smooth sailing this time around - but the insomnia came back. I am now paralyzed with fear that this one will sleep like Emma did instead of Sloan. Haha! We sure love Emma, but that was a level of tired I'm not sure I can survive again. 

There's not much to do to plan for the 4th. I am keeping a list of snacks I want at the hospital. That's actually my top priority. Snacks. 

Sloan had to come home in a diaper bc she was too big for her coming home outfit. And the hospital has all you need. So no need to pack much. 

The nursery is exactly as it was when all 3 others had it. And we will eventually bring the baby clothes down from the attic and wash them - but that will take like 2 hours. 

Probably should have done a big renovation or something to keep me busy. ;) 

Failed my 1 hour glucose test, and had a scary experience in the 3 hour. My OB said, "I can tell you with confidence that you do not have gestational diabetes. However, your body clearly does not like sugar or carbs - so might be best to stay away." So I have started the gestational diabetes diet on my own (minus taking my blood sugar, pricking my finger, etc.) Did you know a banana has more carbs than you can have in an entire meal? And peanut butter has the amount of carbs you can have in a snack? I am realize how carb heavy so many things are. Upping protein has been hard - but no matter what it will be good for me and this baby. My hospital snacks are currently ALL the candy and sugar - I can have them in 8 or so weeks!

Emma is 5!

She's been talking about it for most of the year - so although I can't believe she's so big, I also kind of thought she was already 5. (Sloan believes that she too is 5) Emma stood on her tippy toes yesterday and said "when I wake up in the morning, I'll be this tall!" Emma has the biggest heart. She is always thinking about others and how they feel. She takes care of our dog, Koda. She makes Dan save and free the bugs that are trapped in our house. She has an incredible emotional maturity, and will call you out if you are not modeling the behavior you've asked of her. Being her parents can be very humbling. She is hands down the most excited about this new baby and constantly hugging and talking to my belly. She is an incredible big sister! New things, change, and hard things can be very difficult for her, and she's working every day on her frustration tolerance. I am so proud of the little girl she is becoming! I can't wait to see what 5 has in store for Emma. And I'm keeping my fingers crossed it's a year without a broken bone! 

7 Months Pregnant with #4

The back pain and hip pain is setting in, but it's not nearly that bad. Part of it, I attribute to still working out. Now - these are not intense workouts by any means. But just keeping the back strong and stretched helps a lot. I am also seeing a chiropractor (that I previously referred to as a witch doctor) which is helping a ton. He also makes me ice my back so Dan and I sit in the living room, after the kids go to bed with our ice packs like quite the old couple. (Dan had shoulder surgery a few weeks ago and will likely be in a sling for 12 weeks - you forget how handy (pun intended) that second arm is in your day to day life). 

We had to move all the furniture out of our room and the office to have painters remove popcorn, paint, and then have new carpet installed. Shout out to my parents for helping us move the big heavy stuff. But I'm pretty proud of how scrappy we are on our own - me with a big belly and Dan with one arm. We will be thrilled to get this finished and our upstairs back together. Right now the nursery holds all of the extra furniture. 

Speaking of, Sloan is completely potty trained and sleeping in a big girl bed in her sisters room! I'll get pictures up of their room once it's finished. When I realized that Dan only having one arm meant that he couldn't help with diaper changes, I was determined to get her out of diapers. She took to it so easily like Olivia did. This is the first time our youngest is potty trained before the new baby. But it's also our biggest age gap between kids. 

Overall this pregnancy is absolutely flying. I'm up around 25 pounds (not bad, but I usually gain 30 in the third trimester, so likely will end up at 55 pounds gained like with Emma). But I do know the last few weeks are the longest and most miserable. Just hoping my hips will hold out until the end.