Owen Lucas

HE IS HERE! HE IS HERE! Owen Lucas Drisko graced us with his presence on 5/13/2010 at 4:11pm. He weighted 7lbs and 12oz and was 20 " long! He weighed the exact amount his sister weighed. :)
The night before I COULD NOT sleep!!! This was pretty common though with me recently, but still frustrating especially since I had to work in the morning. Finally at 4am I got up (gave up) and came out to the couch so I wouldn't bother Sam tossing and turning. I started having very strong, but very irregular contractions. At about 6am I decided I couldn't go to work and given some incidents the previous day I decided to make an appt to see my doctor when his office opened up just to make sure my water had not broken the day before. I started tracking my contraction on my IPhone to see if any pattern was establishing.
Luckily my mom was off work that day and came over to watch Olivia while Sam and I went to the doctor. When we got there he said I was dilated almost 3 and was probably in early labor. My water had not broken, but after some further testing he determined that I was leaking amniotic fluid from somewhere and needed to have baby TODAY!! :) :) I checked in the hospital at noon and was disappointed when they told me I couldn't eat anything (I was hungry). A rule that I later became to appreciate, but I'm sure I would have vomited during some of those contractions. I called my mom and my aunt Jan who was going to watch Olivia while the baby was being born. I told them we would keep them posted, but no reason to rush up here quite yet. I was given Pitocin (which is awful stuff by the way). I was so relieved when I finally got my epidural! At 2pm the doctor checked me and said I was dilated around 5 and it would probably be around 6pm when I would be ready. At 2:40 they checked me and the nurse told me it would probably be about an HOUR! YIKES... rapid, slightly panicked phone calls to my mom and my aunt to get Olivia passed off and get up here NOW! After that I kept feeling the urge to push, but I held off telling anyone until my mom arrived and then it was time! Dr. Weber got there and about 15 minutes later he was here. (4 pushes!) My epidural was pretty weak (per my choice), but it defiantly hurt a little more than with Olivia, so I'm glad it went quick. Everything went smoothly and we announced the much anticipated name.. Owen Lucas Drisko. Owen is just a name we really liked and thought went well with Olivia. Lucas is my mom's maiden name and a name I have always liked. It also went well with Owen. We are so blessed to have two happy healthy children and I thank God daily for these two gifts he has given me and entrusted in me to raise.
As many of you know I was very fearful of what this experience would be like and mean for Olivia. I have to say she has exceeded my expectations as far as embracing this whole experience. It hasn't been without some moments, but for the most part she tells me she loves her brother, wants to give him kisses and helps me burb him. :) She for the most part though is pretty indifferent to him (which for now is fine with me!) and really likes his stuff like his swing, bouncy seat and clothes. Also I have noticed a lot more pretend play from her. She puts her dolly in the swing, brings her milk and takes her picture. It is really cute. Although, now that Sam has gone back to work and the flow of visitors has slowed down there is a few more tears as he requires a lot of my time and you can only do so much while breastfeeding. I need to get better at being mobile while breastfeeding.
Owen is doing great. He is much more mellow than Olivia EVER was. He is sleeping well, but only if held or on his belly. This time I have just embraced this rather than fighting it like I did with Olivia. I know it isn't what is "recommended" but Olivia slept on her belly and I'm guessing he will too. I try to still lay him on his back when he is really really passed out, but usually he wakes up within minutes and cries. He is feeding well and at his doctor's appt on Friday had already gained back 3oz from his discharge weight of 7lbs 6oz. I may try to go to the breastfeeding support group Thursday at Clarian North to get him weighted again since he doesn't have another doctor's appt until the later part of June.
As for now we are adjusting to our new schedule. I am so happy to be off for the summer and actually Owen will be 3 months before I have to go back to work. Perfect timing for someone who works in the schools to have a baby! I had to go back at 8 weeks with Olivia and it was just too soon. I don't know I ever would have been completely ready, but another month will be so nice. Sam has gone back to work and I just try to have a game plan for the evenings. I try to get everyone fed before he leaves, naptime shortly after lunch and then lots of playing outside, walks and visiting in the evenings. Like my blog says.. we are learning as we go!

Easter and Baby Dedication April 2010

Here are some new pictures from Easter and Olivia's church dedication day.

Olivia Jayne 14 Months.

Olivia is 14 months old now! I really can't believe it. She is such a joy and I thank God daily for trusting her to me and Sam and adding her to our family. Her are some fun things about Olivia. She says hi to everyone! Especially old men and young (4-8ish) kids at Walmart! It is so funny. Today at Flap Jacks (hers and our favorite breakfast/lunch spot) she was mesmerized by this cute little boy sitting at the table next to us. Some of her other favorite things are dogs. I'm not quite sure why this is. We are total cat people (we have two cats) and she likes our cats, but LOVES dogs. She can hear a dog bark houses away and in response will bark. She also loves loves loves this you tube video Sam found of dogs and asks for it by barking first thing every morning. We have to limit the amount of times she can watch it and do so by saying one time Olivia and she will show us one finger. Then at the end we say bye bye to the dogs. Olivia also loves to be outside. This has been consistent since she was a baby. Many of you know she was a very fussy, colicky baby and one thing that did calm her down was taking her outside even in the cold March weather. She would just look around and stick her tongue out and taste the wind. She still loves to be outside. We have a slide for her and she loves to pick flowers and eat mulch. Her and I have been trying to grow a watermelon plant that we will eventually transfer into our garden and some snap dragons. We also go to the park frequently where she loves to slide. Some other skills she is developing is her ability to feed herself. She loves it when I let her use her spoon on her own. Accuracy is another story, but she gets the concept. I am 4 1/2 weeks away from my due date. We have the new baby's room about 75% done. We have weaned Olivia off her bottles in preparation for this little one. She is sleeping through the night about 85% of the time. When you ask her where her brother is she pulls up my shirt and loves to hug and kiss my belly. I don't think she has a clue actually what a "brother" is and will be in complete shock once I bring home this little baby, but for now she loves him. :) I'm worried about how having this new baby to care for will effect her. She is still very demanding of my time and sometimes will bawl at my legs when I'm cooking in the kitchen or something and can't pick her up or devote 100% of my attention to her. It breaks my heart, but I know she needs to learn to be more independent. (First child syndrome I suppose). I pray for an easy transition for her. I will keep you all posted.

What's in a name?!?

Ok. I guess I should explain the title. Mind you I hadn't really thought about it until I was mid blog set up, so it is just what came to me when I thought of my kid(s) and things I would be blogging about. It may change someday, but for now it is fitting.
Terms of endearment. (Does this thing spell check for me? I hope so) I generally refer to Olivia with a variety of terms of endearment.... sometimes a string of multiple ones. Princess, peanut, pumpkin pie all together is a common one. Plus I call this little boy in my belly peanut too. (I know this could be confusing and cause identity crisis in the future, but I'll figure out who is who later.) Obviously Olivia is princess, baby boy Drisko is peanut and pumpkin pie kinda ties it up. Living, loving and learning as we go is my mantra right now. Olivia has proved to be a wonderful blessing and challenge and I don't always know what I'm doing or even where to start but we just try to live our life, always show her love and learn the trick of the trade as we go. It is great to see things we are trying to implement actually working. Such as, I have been doing sign language with her since about 6 months. Forever and ever she showed no interest or desire for using this and I gave it up for a while, but all of the sudden in the past month or two she is really functionally using several signs. This is great to help her express her needs and wants and decrease the crying, fits and meltdowns. She is learning new signs every week and it is great for her to be able to communicate a little bit even though she doesn't talk yet. I'm so proud of her. Anyways, we are in full force get ready mode for Peanut. Bedroom was painted this week, crib is up. Clothes are being separated/washed and digging out some "gender neutral" clothes from Olivia's tubs. 6.5 weeks to go!

Documenting the present, so I can share in the Future.

I am going to try and start a blog. Every day I think of things I should write down, videotape or take pictures of to remember each moment. This seems like the cool new thing to do and some day it will be fun to share with my kids and to just remember myself. I just wish I could freeze moments in time and dial them up when I need a moment. Olivia is getting so big and I just love all the new things she can do. Like today we went to an Easter egg hunt and the park and she totally got the concept... so cool! BUT.. there are times when I wish I could just hold her and snuggle her when she was two months old again.. if even just for a minute. The little one is getting big in my belly. 7.5 weeks until I'm due. I can't believe this pregnancy has gone so fast. He is so active inside my stomach. I have a feeling he will be an active child just like Olivia. We bought a crib today and this week we are painting and getting his room ready. It will really seem real once I walk into our once "guest room" and see baby boy clothes hanging in the closet and the room all decorated for him. I can't wait to introduce him to the world especially his big sister. I have a huge fear of how to balance the time with the two of them. I hope it is something that is easier then I think and something I can let go of guilt about. Well, this one is a short post as I am just trying to figure out how all this works. Hopefully my next one will kinda back track the past year a little bit as I wish I had started this when Olivia was born. Have a good night!