2 years old!!!

It is hard to believe that our little baby girl is TWO!  I always seem to find that parenthood is like a black hole, it seems we jumped in and now its two years later, but at the same time it is hard to remember life before kids.  Our lives are so filled with this little bundle of joy that it is hard to imagine life without her.  Although, I do seem to remember a lot more sleep and energy before I had a high energy toddler that let me know what real energy was.

Olivia is a doll like 90% of the time and a terror the other 10%.  It is amazing how quickly her attitude can change and it scares me a little bit a lot about what the terrible twos or terrorist threes may look like. 

She has simultaneously become more lovable and snugly and also more defiant and opinionated. She is obsessed with airplanes and helicopters, baby dolls, and puppies and kitties.  We enjoy nightly walks where she is quick to point out the sounds of airplanes and can spot a puppy from a mile away (I think she gets this one from her mom).

Since my last update, she continues to grow and mature and it has been fun to see.  She has moved into the 2 year old class at daycare, a class she will get to stay in for almost a year and has become quite the teacher's pet to at least one of her teachers.  Miss Dorian (or REN as Olivia calls her), will regularly put down or move other kids when Olivia comes in so she can snuggle her.  Both Olivia and Miss Dorian share a mutual love for cats, so it is no wonder they are fast friends.  We are so very thankful for great teachers to date, but Miss Dorian has an extra special place in Olivia's heart.



Olivia is now regularly using two and three word "sentences" and it is fun to be able to communicate more and more with her.  Her words have surpassed the 50 word mark so I stopped keeping track, but she is quick to repeat words, so Mommy and Daddy have to watch what we say around her!  Our current favorite is when she says "Thank you, Mommy" or "Thank you, Daddy"

A few highlights since her last update:

* We went to Tennessee to see my dad and a bunch of family, we also made a stop in Blacksburg





* Enjoyed the last days of our Busch Gardens pass with Tiffany and her kiddos

* We spent two weeks at Myrtle Beach where Olivia went from hating the ocean and sand to tolerating it by the end of the week, also, she survived her first hurricane!

* She had fall pictures at school and I snapped some at home!



* She went to the State Fair for her second year in a row

* We enjoyed a reunion/play-date with some VT friends, where Olivia made her first trip to Uncle Andy's bar

* We went to the pumpkin patch!

* Her baby doll collection has grown from about 2 to probably 8 now (thanks grandparents!)
* Olivia has now developed the super human strength of 7 men when it is time to go in the car seat, she is like a ninja and will flip over in 1/2 a second so she doesn't have to be buckled in.  I am always slightly amazed while simultaneously being completely annoyed.  Moms, any tips?
* She was the star of Halloween, as many of our neighbors had special treats just for Olivia (yes, she is super spoiled by our neighborhood), she even learned to say "trick-or-treat" by the end of the night

* And most notably, she has been promoted to BIG SISTER!

 

I think it is no coincidence that she was born just the day after World Prematurity Day, so it is a constant reminder where she started and where she is now.  I say it all the time, but all babies are miracles but Olivia was a special kind of miracle.  When I see other moms that are still struggling with feeding tubes, breathing issues, and other linger effects of NICU life, it continually reminds me of just how blessed we have been with Olivia's success and I do not take it for granted!  Our precious baby has truly become a little lady and we could not be happier about it!

BIG NEWS

It has been awhile since my last post but that is for good reason, as we have some exciting news to share!  Olivia has been officially promoted to BIG SISTER, with a new baby arriving *hopefully* late April 2020.

We all may remember the Christmas card I sent out in December 2017 which stated Baby Schinkel would arrive in February 2018 and then I had to pair that with a birth announcement because she came early!  Let's not make that mistake again!  We would not change a thing if it meant sweet Olivia would not be in our life, but her grand entrance certainly took us by surprise.  So we are cautiously optimistic this baby will cook a bit longer!

So far this pregnancy has been much harder than my pregnancy with Olivia.  I am now 15.5 weeks along and still dealing with nausea and vomiting regularly.  "Morning sickness," they say, does the morning extend to 5pm?  I am always super amused by the stories of people that did not know they were pregnant cause for both pregnancies, the morning sickness has started like clock-work at 6 weeks and with Olivia it was just nausea (thankfully) but it went on until around 24 weeks.  I am hopeful this one will stop a bit earlier.  Cause let me tell you, being sick with a high energy toddler and a full time job is not my equation for success.  Poor, sweet Marc has been a great support, picking up my slack and being an all around supportive dad and hubby!

As far as the risk of preeclampsia striking again?  Well to be blunt, we are not sure!  Most of the time, preeclampsia is thought of as a "first pregnancy" disorder, but if you had it with your first, you are at an elevated risk of developing it again, especially if you delivered very early and had it severe (which both were the case for me).  The good news is that some people go on to have relatively healthy pregnancies, and those that do develop it, generally develop it later and milder.  We hope for the former, but will take the later if necessary.  Either way, my doctors have already said they will deliver me at 38 weeks, no matter what, so although baby's due date is May 6th, we know it will be more like April 22 or so when we meet this sweet baby.

We are taking every precaution in the book so have hope for a much better pregnancy.  I have been started on a once daily low-dose aspirin (the only thing proven to prevent preeclampsia, though it only helps about 5% of the time), and am monitoring my blood pressure regularly.  I am also being followed by both my OB and a perinatalogist (a high risk maternal doctor).  So we are in good hands.  Overall, we are told, my likelihood of developing preeclampsia again is somewhere between 15-25%.  Needless to say, we will be more prepared this time around (likely taking a hospital bag to appointments as we get further along, so I don't end up like last time).

But enough with the technical talk, this baby will certainly be a blessing to our family and Olivia has been practicing her big sister skills with her plethora of baby dolls.  I just know she will take her role seriously.  We appreciate all the prayers and hopes for a successful pregnancy this time around, as we add this little pumpkin to our family!