company, baptism and daycare.. oh my!

We are continuing to adjust to life with a baby. Olivia truly shows us that she is the boss lady and we just smile and go along with it. She is sleeping for about 3 hours at a time, so she sleeps for 3 hours, then is up for about 1 and then we repeat. I am looking forward to the day when I scare myself awake because I haven't heard her cry in over 6 hours! Although, when my mom was here and I was able to sleep for 5-6 hours at a time (as Mimi helped with night-duty), I was almost more tired. Crazy what a baby does!


Phil, Olivia and I with Kayley, Nick and Jack

The swim team started swim season a few weeks ago, so while I was working from home part-time since Olivia was born, it was different to have to leave Olivia and go to work outside of the home. When swimming started, my mom was here visiting, so we didn't have to worry about daycare. After she left, a few moms on the team were awesome and helped watch Olivia when we were in a pinch. Now that Phil and I are in a routine of working, we sadly had to put Olivia in daycare. She is going to an in-home daycare and thankfully it's only part-time, so I don't feel too guilty.

Poppi Bob and Mimi Jean

So, we had 17 days of visitors at the Tiedeman household! My mom arrived first and was 'Super Mimi' with helping around the house and of course spending time with Olivia. My Aunt Mag came for 3 days and we were able to shop, rest and have girl time (sorry Phil). After she left, some friends from college visited from Washington and stayed the night with their little boy. Next to arrive was my dad on a Friday and it was so wonderful to see him hold Olivia for the first time :) Then another friend from college (and Olivia's godmother) arrived on Saturday. Then for the baptism on Sunday, we had 21 people at our house! Olivia did so well during the service and she looked so adorable!  After the baptism, everyone came over to our house for an afternoon of catching up, pictures, snuggling with Olivia and eating :)  Sadly, all good things must come to an end, so after 17 wonderful days, my mom had to head back to Colorado. That meant it was really up to us to take care of this little baby. I think it helped to know that an experienced adult (and nurse) was here, just in case. But, we have now figured out a routine and while I don't know everything about Olivia (nor will I ever), we are figuring things out.


Godmother Kari, Phil, Katie, Olivia and Godfather Joel

This week was Olivia's first week at daycare. As I mentioned, she's only going part-time, so right now that's about 10-15 hours/week. Since I stepped down as head coach, I am on deck a little less and now I only have to write workouts for 2 groups instead of 4. School ended last week, but I still have to complete my written and oral exams. I was scheduled to take the exams in March, but since Olivia came early and I was dealing with the stress of her in the NICU, I wasn't ready to take them. I have to take them by July 18, so I'm not off the hook just yet :) With leaving her at daycare though, I thought I would be fine, since we had to leave Olivia in the NICU and since she had gone to a few swim mom's houses. But, when I was driving to the daycare house on the first day, it hit me that this was different. This was more of a permanent thing. This was the start of something that will probably last for awhile. And will probably turn into full-time once I finish grad school. So, I cried in the car. Then I was fine dropping her off. Then, I cried again when I said goodbye. And I cried all the way to the pool. But I got to smile when the day care provider texted me and asked how I was doing about an hour after I dropped Olivia off. And then I smiled again when she sent me a picture text of Olivia smiling. Thank goodness for good people to take care of babies :) There are so many moms that have to go back to work and I really am blessed that I only work part-time. But it still stinks. Thankfully, day 2 and 3 of dropping her off were easier.


Grandma Sheryl and Grandpa Warren

But, that's been our adventures thus far. Each day brings something new and we are just so excited that Olivia is doing so well! At her 2 month visit, she weighed in at 9 pounds! She's eating well and seems to be doing things right on track. In fact, two nights ago, she pushed herself from her tummy to her back during tummy time. The child HATES tummy time, so I think she just problem-solved and figured that if she could push herself over, then she wouldn't have to be on her tummy. Of course I still worry about her hitting all of the developmental milestones. But then I have to remember that each baby does things on their own time. And since she was a premie, we got hooked up with 'Birth to 3,' which is a service that comes to do checks on her to make sure she's doing okay. And if she needs a little help, they'll provide references for certain areas (whether it's PT, OT, speech, etc). But, we don't think our little girl could be any more perfect :)