Big Brother

Anthony has been such an attentive big brother.  When people come over he says Livia is his baby.  A is always willing to help when we ask and wants to give her lots of kisses and hugs.  He really likes to share his toys, but Livia told him she only likes to hold two toys at a time and he is ok with that.  Otherwise we find her in her swing with toys piled all over her.  He has been saying things like "Livia likes me" and "she said she wants formula" - we are having so much fun watching him with her. 

6 days old

Ethan and Livia

First few days at home

Welcome Home

Hospital Visitors

Nursery

Ethan Tyler O'Brien

Our sweet nephew Ethan was born on the 10th and has been a great addition to the O'Brien family.  We look like a crazy family always having our babies so close together, but we are excited to see how Ethan and Livia bond over the years.

The Hospital

Welcome Livia!

Well we were quite surprised when my water broke on Friday at 5 AM, but we were prepared as we had planned on heading to the hospital at 5:10 AM for my scheduled c-section. Apparently Livia was ready to enter the world on February 17th, whether we'd planned on it or not! My doctor ended up moving the c-section up since my contractions were close together and quite strong. We got to the hospital around 5:45 and at 6:55 AM Livia Joy Anardi was born. She is a tiny little girl, only 5 lbs 13 ozs and 19" long. She is just perfect and healthy, and we feel so blessed.

The hospital stay went well and we felt very well taken care of by the nurses at Valley. We couldn't have asked for a better experience which was such a relief given the last time we went in to have a baby. Sunday we were able to come home and have been enjoying the time as a family of four. Our wonderful neighbors have brought us dinner every night so far, and all of our time has just been spent relaxing and playing with the kids. Jared is off for five weeks which is going to be really fun. I am feeling great and my recovery seems to be going smoothly.

We have basically disappeared I feel like, as phone calls and emails remain unreturned, but we are having such a wonderful, peaceful time together. I didn't realize until now just how much I had missed out on with Anthony, so I am enjoying every moment of the newborn phase. Livia has been sleeping well at night thankfully. Last night she slept from 9:45-7:30, only waking once to feed. She is so mild-tempered, eats well, and likes to follow our voices around the room. Anthony is so helpful and is really excited to be the big brother. He always wants to hold and kiss Livia and brings her toys to play with.

Thank you for all of the prayers and well wishes. We are doing so well and are just loving this new little addition.

Anticipation

Friday I go in to the hospital to have Livia! The last nine months really have gone by quickly. I was originally scheduled to go in on March 1st, one week before my due date. I've been having consistent contractions for a few weeks now, and at my appointment last week I was 3 cm dilated so they decided to move up the delivery date to 37 weeks. I go in tomorrow for testing to make sure her lungs are fully developed, and assuming everything looks good we'll be set for Friday morning.

We are excited and a little nervous. Please pray that everything goes smoothly and that the transition from a family of three to a family of four goes well. And of course that she will be a great sleeper just like Anthony was!

The pregnancy overall has been fairly easy and uneventful. I'm definitely feeling the effects of the weight gain now and have cut out driving for the past couple of weeks. Taking the wheelchair apart and getting A in the car totally wears me out.

Less than two days until we get to meet our little girl, and we are so looking forward to it!

Snuggle Time

Snow!

 

Anthony was not a big fan of the knee deep snow that he couldn't walk in, but he loved sledding with all the neighbor kids.

Canal for New Years

 Anthony LOVES clams and oysters - it's the craziest thing I've ever seen.  He will eat as many as we let him.  I have to beg him to eat one grape, but clams and oysters he eats like candy.

Anthony and Ella

Christmas Day at the Anardis