Olivia's Cousins - Part Seven

And last, but not least. . . .

Kaleb Brodie Snyder, almost 1 month

Favorite Color: Good question!

Hobbies: Eat and sleep…and sleep… and did I mention sleep?

Favorite Toy(s): bouncy seat, mirror, and rattle

Name one thing that you want to teach Olivia: How to play like the boys when she gets older.
Anything about yourself that you would like to add?
I have stock in the formula company, and I belong to the diaper changing club.

I hope I was able to make all of my nieces and nephews feel special by spotlighting them on the blog. You are all very special to me. Because I have had to keep Olivia away from a lot of people, I have also been kept away myself. I take my job as an aunt very seriously and I love you all a lot!

Saturday, January 26, 2008 - Update

Mom and dad said we're going on a trip to the Dillon's drive-thru to pick up my prescription. I hope it's as exciting as our trip to the Arby's drive-thru.

It's hard work to be this cute!

Olivia has been doing better lately. Our latest theory is that she doesn't like her milk/formula warmed up. She prefers it room temperature. It seems like parenting is a lot of trial and error. I just hope that I make the best decisions for her. She has started her Nystatin for her thrush and I hope that clears it up. Has anyone had any experience with that? Does that affect how well they take their bottles?

Logan finally got his marker put out. It looks really nice and I feel so much better knowing that his grave is no longer unmarked. That really bothered me. Grandpa Sailing also put a little fire truck out there for him. I know my parents and grandparents looked forward to having their first grandson/great grandson. The pain of losing him still hurts so much. I don't know if many of you know, but Ryan and I had his name. . .Logan William. . .picked out since 2001. We knew that if we ever had a son, Logan William would be his name. (Ryan's middle name and his dad's first name is William.) We talked many times over the years about him. I remember going house hunting and picking out which room would be Logan's, etc. Of course, we talked about our future daughter as well, but she had many different names over the years. I think we finally decided on Olivia because it flowed so well with Logan. Logan and Abigail just didn't have the same ring to it. I wasn't able to give my son any of the things I wished for him, but I was able to give him the name that we held so dear in our hearts. It's hard to read his name on his grave marker. How did Logan go from being this fictional, future son of ours to our son that has come and gone?

I recently told you about a 24 weeker born recently. Hayden Michael was born in Nebraska and was the great-great nephew of a member at our church. It is with a heavy heart that I tell you that he recently passed away due to a massive brain bleed. My heart aches for his family as I know that loss much too well. Daily I am reminded of what a miracle it is to have Olivia. Please keep this family in your prayers.

Olivia's Cousins - Part Six

Aidan Maccray Snyder, 2 years

Favorite Color: Yellow

Hobbies: Playing cars and trains, playing outside, riding my tricycle and scooter, playing ball, cooking with mom

Favorite Toy(s): Cars and dishes/pretend food

Name one thing that you want to teach Olivia: I want to teach Olivia her ABC’s. (I have already started teaching my brother Kaleb.)

Anything about yourself that you would like to add?
I love the movie Cars and I watch it at least once a day. I know my alphabet and all the letter sounds, and I can count to 15. I am the comedian of the family.

March of Dimes Update

Every Friday I will try to give a sort of progress report on our March for Babies. So far, the following people have joined Olivia and Logan's team:

Shawna, Marilee, Gina and Kerry

We have raised $60 so far. . .well, Kerry has raised $60. . .the rest of us have raised $0. So, Kerry is in the lead. I will try to do something special for the person who raises the most money.

You can help in the following ways:

Click the March for Babies link on the left hand side of the blog and you'll be taken to my personal page. Scroll down to the bottom where it says 'Here's How You Can Help.' You can click Sponsor Me to donate to March of Dimes. Or, you can click Register to Walk to sign up on our team. You'll be given your own personal page to start collecting donations. You can collect donations online or print out a sheet to carry with you. If anyone would like brochures or posters or if you have any questions, please feel free to send me an email.

Thursday, January 24, 2008 - Update

Some days don't we all just need our moms?

Olivia didn't have a very good day today. She was extremely fussy and gassy and just wanted to be held all day long. I couldn't put her down long enough to run to the bathroom. She didn't have a temp and had been satting at 97-100, but I called her pediatrician's office anyway. I just feel like no matter what we do, we can't seem to help her gassiness and her feedings have gotten increasingly worse. We are going to try the soy formula for 2 full weeks. I think something in my diet is causing her problems. With all of the frozen milk that I have, there is no way to determine what I ate on a particular day. We have also determined that she may have oral thrush, which is an overgrowth of yeast. We are starting her on a medication for that tomorrow. Please pray that we see an improvement with these changes.

We also received news that a member of our church family experienced extreme prematurity in her family. Her niece gave birth to a little boy at 24 weeks on January 22nd. I don't have a lot of details right now, but I ask for prayers for this little boy and his family. If Ryan and I can be of any help to this family, please let us know.

I'd better go because Olivia doesn't want to sit in her bouncy seat anymore.

Olivia's Cousins - Part Five

Katie Elizabeth Snyder, 5 years

Favorite Color: Purple (for K-State, of course)

Hobbies: Playing with my dolls and horses, riding horses, playing ball, cooking with mom, beating everyone at Candy Land.

Favorite Toy(s): American Girl Dolls, Horses, and Webkinz

Name one thing that you want to teach Olivia: I want to teach Olivia how to crawl.

Anything about yourself that you would like to add?
I am in Kindergarten this year, I have already lost 5 teeth, and I am very competitive! This spring I want to go to riding lessons again. I am a big helper around the house.

Wednesday, January 23, 2008 - Update

I think I've been feeling a bit better these last few days, although I have my good and bad moments. Instead of focusing on the pain of the last few months, I've been trying to focus on the miracle that is my daughter. Even if I'm never able to have any more children, I will forever feel blessed with such an amazing child.

I've tried to find things that have seemed to improve my mood. . .

1) Sleep. I have always needed more sleep than the average person. I've been that way since I was a child. Instead of trying to change into someone who can function on 4-5 hours of sleep, I've just accepted the fact that I need sleep.

2) My decision to stop pumping. Now, that doesn't mean I've stopped. I think something is hard-wired into me. . . MUST.GO.PUMP. You can't just quit cold turkey at the risk of getting mastitis or something like that. So, I've gradually reduced the frequency of pumping. The problem is that I'm only pumping every 6 hours and I'm getting more milk than ever. I think the stress of knowing I don't have to pump has boosted my supply. Then, Olivia decided last night that she wanted to nurse a bit, so. . .who knows.

3) Getting dressed and ready. I don't do it everyday, but it helps.

4) Online shopping. Okay, so I'm not particularly fond of this one, but I'm so excited to find out what I'll be getting each day. A high-chair one day, a new lamp for Olivia another. . .

5) Car rides. Yesterday the three of us went on a road trip to the Arby's drive-thru.

6) Getting involved with March of Dimes. It's a good feeling to know that I can do something to help other people going through similar situations.

7) Ryan found something that gets Poly-Vi-Sol out of clothes. It was so depressing to watch every one of Olivia's outfits get stained. Nothing seemed to get it out. Ryan stained one of her new blankets and knew I would be upset, so he tried to find something to get it out. . .TECH

http://www.techstainremover.com/

We've been a fan of this for a long time for removing carpet stains. It works wonders for this as well. It even works on old stains that have been run through the washing machine!

Overall, I'm hoping to start feeling a little better each day.

Olivia's Cousins - Part Four

Alex Killian Snyder, 7 years

Favorite Color: Green

Hobbies: Collecting postcards, collecting bugs, playing Nintendo DS, reading, playing golf, Character’s for Christ, Children’s Choir

Favorite Toy: Nintendo DS

Name one thing that you want to teach Olivia: I want to teach Olivia how to play Nintendo DS.

Anything about yourself that you would like to add?
I love Halloween and video games just like my Uncle Ryan. I am in second grade. My favorite subject in school is science. I also love math, keyboarding, reading, and spelling. When I grow up I want to be a scientist on NOVA.

Olivia's Cousins - Part Three

Julia Stoaks Glunt, 7 going on 30

Favorite Color: Blue

Hobbies: Dance, Piano, Photography, C4C (Characters 4 Christ), AΔΩ (Children’s Choir), Performing in Musicals

Favorite Toy(s): New Russian Speaking Doll, Masha

Name one thing that you want to teach Olivia: I want to teach Olivia how to talk.

Monday, January 21, 2008 - Update

You smell kinda funny, Jimmy Skunk.

Yes, Spotty the Turtle. . .you are my BEST friend!

Olivia and her Woodland Creature Friends

My latest idea is a clothing line with the premature baby in mind. Olivia has so many outfits that she is going to outgrow before she can wear them. Most premature babies have a monitor with leads or patches that have cords attached to them. Buttoned footed sleepers provide the best outlet for these cords. Footed pants require the wire to go up her leg and out her back which isn't too bad. Regular pants (with no feet) require socks and those are hard to get on because of the lead on her foot. Zippered sleepers are entirely out because the cord would have to come out by her neck which I would consider a safety hazard. These are probably things that only a mother of a preemie would think of. I'm thinking of cutting little slits in the feet of her zippered sleepers.

Olivia's Cousins - Part Two

Rebekah Northrop Glunt, 5 years

Favorite Color: Pink

Hobbies: Dance (Ballet, Tap), Homeschool Preschool, BSF (Bible Study Fellowship), AΔΩ (Children’s Choir), Performing in Musicals

Favorite Toy(s): American Girl Dolls, Movies, Littlest Pet Shop, Little People, Furryville, My Little Pony

Name one thing that you want to teach Olivia: I want to teach her how to walk to the bathroom.

Sunday, January 20, 2008 - Update

On Saturday I was able to get a lot of things done around the house. When you're forced to be in the house everyday, it's nice to at least have it clean. Thanks to my dad who watched over Olivia, I was able to get some things done. Ryan had to work again all day, but I believe his deadline for work is coming up soon so he may get his weekends back.

If anyone has experience with the March for Babies (previously Walk-America) I would love to hear about it. Also, if anyone has any questions, feel free to email me. One question I have is whether each individual walker must sign up on the team roster or if, for example, a husband can sign up, but both husband and wife can walk. Does anyone know?

Olivia continues to do well. She is smiling a lot more and observing the world around her. She should be over 8 lbs by now, but we'll know her official weight when she gets her third Synagis shot on the 31st. What a big girl!