Family Photos by Todd Westphal

Already August? How did that happen?

Okay, so I'm a bad mother and blog-keeper and its been way too long since I've updated. We just celebrated Brice's 20 month mark and Sloane's six month birthday. It is absolutely amazing how quickly they have both grown up. I'll admit that sometimes it makes me laugh and other times it makes me want to shed a tear. So let's get to the updates, yes?

We haven't had a doctor's appointment for Brice recently, but at his 18 month check up he topped the scales at 30lbs and 34.5 inches. Dr. Lialios predicted that Brice will be at least 6'2" by the time he's fully grown. Scary to think of him being such a big guy! Brice has already made the transformation from a baby into quite the little man. This summer our number one activity has been swimming. He absolutely loves the pool and can spend countless hours jumping in off the side, blowing bubbles and going up and down the steps. His love of the water also keeps us on our toes as he is completely fearless and hasn't yet realized that he has no idea how to swim. Needless to say, we have signed him up for swimming lessons starting in September and we hope that by the time we head down to Florida in November, he'll be doggy paddling along.

Brice is also finding his words, which is so much fun for me. We still enjoy reading our favorite books and now Brice reads along, pointing out the tree in "Runaway Bunny", the cheese in "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" and the baby that looks like his sister in "Everywhere Babies." When I got home from work today, Brice ran up to me, wrapped his arms around my legs and said, "I gotcha!" We've also filled his vocabulary with some random words just to keep things lively... its amazing to hear him say octopus or "awwww man!"

Sloane is also growing like a weed. At her six month doctor's appointment she weighed in at 18lbs, 10oz and was almost 28 inches long putting her in the 90th percentile for both height and weight. She's sitting up on her own and rolling from back to front and front to back. She's also teething like none other. We're still awaiting the arrival of her first teeth and we've determined that its a race between the toppers and the bottomers.

We've had a great summer so far and selfishly, its been my favorite in three years since for once, I'm not pregnant. We've spent some time in New York City going to the Central Park Zoo and visiting friends and we've traveled down to Ocean City for some beach time while we visited the Ladd Family. Joel and I have managed to take in a few date nights too, hitting up the Arcade Fire concert at MSG and seeing the Green Day Broadway show. On one of our post-work walks this week, Joel and I determined that we don't have much to complain about. Sure, we're overworked and underslept but we have a wonderful, healthy family and so much life to live.

So, I promise I'll try to be better about updating with greater regularity. Stay tuned for some updated photos!

Photos: Sloane at 9 weeks and Brice at 16 months

Brice at 16 months and Sloane at 9 weeks on vacation in Florida.
Daddy and Brice taking a stroll at the beach.

Sloane enjoying the bouncy seat in the sun.

Loving the sand and the waves.
Brice training to be a future Olympic gold medalist in swimming.
Sloane's big hair and big blues.
Brice rocking the noodle poolside.

Welcome Home Harvills.

I realized its been quite awhile since I last updated. We just got back from a fantastic trip down to Florida to visit my parents. Brice and Sloane loved the pool, beach, park, playground and zoo. Joel and I even had the chance to go out for a nice dinner on the town. We're finally feeling like human beings again. We've got some tan on our cheeks (the ones on our face, of course) and a couple of nights of great sleep have (temporarily) removed the bags under our eyes. My parents were great with the kids... it was so nice watching them all play together!

Today I took Sloane for her 2 month check up with Dr. Lialios. At just over 9 weeks, she is now 13 lbs and 23 inches long putting her in the 95th percentile for weight and the 75th percentile for height. Dr. Lialios was pleased with her development and she even showed off by holding her head up and giggling. I have to say, Sloane is really shocking us every day. On average, she sleeps 5-6 hours at a clip during the night and one night during our vacation she actually slept from 10pm-7am. I have to believe that this wonderful sleep is payback for the months of sleepless nights that we endured with Brice (or simply setting us up for years of torment when she hits those tough teenage years).

Brice is really growing like a weed as well. He's gone from cute baby to sweet little boy. In the last couple of weeks he's started saying a few words. Mama, Dada, ball, woof woof (for dog), vroom (for car), growl (for bear), shoes, baby (for Sloane) and of course the all important NO are among his favorites. We're working on car, banana, monkey (he does make monkey noises) and a few others. He babbles constantly though, so its pretty funny to carry on a conversation with him. These days he's really into his cars, coloring with crayons (sometimes on paper but most frequently on our hardwood floors) and reading his books. His favorites are Brown Bear, The Hungry Caterpillar, Everywhere Babies and Goodnight Moon. We read them over and over each night so I'm practicing my skills at memorization and animal noises. We've also been doing a lot of swimming and Brice is already comfy blowing bubbles and putting his head under water.

I'm sad to report that I'm returning to work in just over two weeks. I've really enjoyed my maternity leave and it will be hard to leave my sweet babies at home again. I keep telling myself that I've worked hard for my career and I should be happy to go back as it will make me really appreciate the time that I get to spend with Brice and Sloane on the weekends and at night, but I can't help but feel a bit teary when I think that someone else will be getting to spend all the fun playtime with them during the day. Perhaps we'll win the lottery and we can quit work and move someplace with perpetual sun! Ah, we can dream.

Two Week Update: Harvill South Arrives and Our First Playdate

We've survived the first two weeks. My theory is that at this point, the Mayor of New Babyville should show up at our house and present us with some sort of medal or award (or perhaps a magnum of champagne). Somehow, Joel and I have made it through without argument, home destruction or massive bags under our eyes. I even survived my first night of handling both kids solo. Okay, so I plopped them both down on the couch and turned on Yo Gabba Gabba but hey, you do what you have to in order to get by. Sloane is sleeping and eating well. Brice is sleeping and eating per usual and is a magnificent big brother. We've entertained family and friends and even made it to a few doctor's appointments.

The two week stats on Sloane: She weighed in at 9lbs, 7oz and is now 20 and 1/4 inches long putting her in the 85th percentile for weight and the 75th percentile for height. Dr. Lialios was pleased with her development, muscle tone and alertness and told me that I have a very relaxed baby. Who would have thunk it?

Here are some new photos:

Sloane showing off her long limbs.
Baby Abbie and Sloane enjoying their first playdate. These little girlies are 5 days apart and Leila and I are determined to make them BFFs.
Sweet photo of Daddy and Sloane in one of her few non-pink outfits (yes, Mommy bought this one).
Post bath relaxation.
Sloane and Aunt AJ taking a nap.
Brice thinks Daddy is the coolest toy in the house.
Brice catching a quick snuggle with Aunt Meredith.
Brice on the go... as usual.

Week one photos

Tummy time!
Stretching out.
Tunnel time! Daddy's best purchase yet!
Tunnel makes for static-head.
Looking sweet (and sleepy).

What you come here to see... the photos!

Joel rocking his funky outfit!
Showing off the fully baked belly.
Sloane Laura Harvill, born February 8, 2010 at 1:40pm and weighing 8lbs, 7oz and 20 inches.
Proud father and daughter.
Mommy looking exhausted but happy.
Our sweet girl blowing kisses.
Big brother Brice and little sister Sloane enjoying a snuggle on the couch.

The Happy Harvill Household is Complete!

Apologies for the delay in updating. Needless to say, juggling two children and visiting family members has taken up more time (and energy) than I anticipated!

Sloane Laura Harvill made her appearance on February 8, 2010 at 1:40pm. Our "little" girl weighed in at 8lbs and 7oz and was 20 inches long.

Joel and I went in to this labor and delivery experience anticipating all the things that could possibly go wrong on my end. The c-section would come with complications for me, I would be in more pain the second time around, I would have a reaction to the anesthesia. In all of our discussions, we had never entertained the idea that something would go wrong with our baby. Let me back up and give you the birth story:

We got to the hospital around 11am on February 8 and got set up in the very same room where we waited for the c-section with Brice. The nurses took some blood, hooked me up to several bags of IV fluids and put monitors on my belly to monitor little H2. We were quickly able to see that I was having contractions about every 5 minutes. I knew that I was having contractions, but in the nervous excitement of the morning activity, I wasn't timing or paying attention. By 1pm, Dr. Pendyala came in and told us that we were ready to go. Joel once again donned his fancy outfit (still form fitting and see through) and I walked down the hall to the operating room. Joel waited outside as the anesthesiologist put in the spinal block and within 10 minutes the doctors were in and we got started. I will say that this time around I was more relaxed and chatty. We even started a pool amongst the doctors and nurses as to how big we thought H2 was going to be. The average size was about 8lbs even.

At 1:40pm, Dr. Pendyala told Joel to get ready. All I could hear was the doctors and nurses exclaiming how long her legs were and how big her feet were. I couldn't believe it when they brought her around the curtain. Sloane was so big and beautiful... my heart melted all over again. The nurses took her to clean her off and Joel went to take some pictures and check in on our lovely little girl. This is where the unexpected became reality.

Her first cry sounded more like a gurgle. The doctors let me know that she was a "juicy" baby in that, because she had not entered the birth canal, she has a lot of amniotic fluid in her lungs that had not been squeezed out. They suctioned her nose and her throat several times, but the finally had to administer oxygen to get her pinked up. After several minutes, they took the oxygen away, but Sloane turned blue a second and third time. The nurse finally made a decision to take her to the NICU so Joel went along as they brought her down the hall. I was keenly aware that something wasn't right... the experience differed greatly from Brice's birth where they brought him over to snuggle with me and Joel while they finished the section. I knew that Joel would go and get the information so I was awaiting his return.

Dr. Pendyala closed me up and I was transferred to the recovery room to wait and be monitored. Joel came in and gave me the update. Sloane was having problems breathing on her own. They put her in an incubator and she was on 80% oxygen. The goal was to get her down to room oxygen levels at 21%. I told him to go back to the NICU and stay with her so he did. Despite the chaos, Joel remained calm and matter of fact, something that helped me refrain from completely freaking out.

The hour seemed to drag on but finally I was sent to my room to wait. The doctors were still working on her and they instructed me to wait to go and see her until that evening. Throughout the day her situation improved and by 7pm, Joel went home to put Brice to bed, eat something and wait. At 10pm he came back and the nurses got me in a wheelchair so that I could go down to the NICU to see my little girl. It was so hard seeing her hooked up to the IVs and oxygen but she seemed to be strong and healthy and by that point, she was already down to 30% oxygen. I wanted to hold her and snuggle her, but she had to stay in the incubator.

Needless to say, I hardly slept that night. I was told that the doctors did their rounds at 7:30am and that someone would be in to give me an update on her progress. Joel had gone home and suffered through a rough night with Brice as well, so he slept in a bit while I waited. 7:30 came and went. 8:30 passed. Finally at 9:00 I wandered out to the nurses station to ask for the NICU phone number. I called down and Josette, the wonderful nurse that attended to Sloane during her stay, told me that she was off the oxygen and was eating bottles on her own. She told me that I could come down to feed her. While I was still in substantial pain from the surgery, I walked down the hall on my own. It was so wonderful to see her off the oxygen and IV and ready to eat. The first couple of feedings were difficult. Sloane was still having problems breathing and eating simultaneously so it would take her about thirty minutes to eat an ounce of formula.

While I was feeding her, the doctor on duty came to talk to me. She reported that while Sloane was doing well off the oxygen, there was concern over a skin tab on her eyelid and two bald spots on the top of her head. The doctor wanted to send info to the geneticists at Yale University to determine if there was reason for concern as both "rarities" were located on the head and there was the thought that it might present some sort of neurological defect. Of course, I immediately panicked. I called Joel and questioned why nobody had provided us with this information previously. We were then set to wait again. Our pediatrician came to check on Sloane in the interim. He calmed our nerves slightly but suggested that while the team at Yale might not come up with anything, he had doctors for us to call on our own.

By the end of the day, the doctor on duty let us know that the team at Yale came back with nothing. While there were myriad syndromes that presented these rarities, Sloane was not presenting other symptoms. By evening, Joel and I had resigned ourselves to the fact that Sloane just had a skin tab and some bald patches and in the grand scheme, she was perfect and we loved her and she was strong and beautiful and most importantly, she was ours.

I managed to convince the doctors to release her to the well baby nursery by Wednesday and by that afternoon, Joel was able to bring Brice to the hospital to meet his baby sister for the first time. The nurses gave him a "big brother" pin and teddy bear, which made him smile. Brice took one look at Sloane, lowered his head to hers and gave her a sweet kiss. I could feel the tears welling up in my eyes. My children together. Our family together. Our household complete.

Thursday morning we were all given a clean bill of health and were released from the hospital. Its been a wonderful, difficult, eye-opening first couple of days at home. Joel has remained a rock, juggling daddy, nurse and in-law duties. I am so proud of him and I find myself falling more and more in love with him every day. Brice is already a sensitive and caring big brother. He is interested and loving and I am in awe of how grown up he is. The Happy Harvills have truly become happier.

37 Week Deja Vu

I feel like I've written this post before. Oh wait, I did... at 37 weeks when I was pregnant with Brice. These last few days are starting to seem strangely familiar.

Joel and I went to see Dr. Pendyala yesterday for our 37+ week appointment. Pee in cup, check. Blood pressure, normal. Heartbeat, 130 bpm and H2 was moving like a champion. I asked Dr. Pendyala to do a quickie internal to see if there was any progress as I've been feeling lots of pressure, pain and cramping. She checked. Nothing. Not dilated, not effaced and my cervix was still high and tight. Dr. Pendyala was happy and I was disappointed. I was hoping that all the pain and discomfort would lead to some progress, perhaps open up the possibility of moving the c-section up a couple of days. Alas, nothing.

So we wait. We go back again on Monday for our final, pre-surgery appointment and then we just have one more week to live (read: suffer) through.

Both Brice and Joel have little colds. I took Brice to the doctor yesterday just to check to be sure it wasn't an ear infection as he'd been tugging on his ear for a few days. The doctor told me his ears looked fine, his gums looked good and all that it seemed to be was a little throat irritation. They ran a quick strep test which came back negative. By the time Joel got home from work yesterday, he was feeling awful. He took some Nyquil and retreated upstairs to the bedroom to get a good night's sleep.

So, I think for the most part, we're all done. We're done with feeling like poop. We're done with being sick. We're done with sleepless nights and seemingly never ending days. I get calls from lots of people telling me to relax and enjoy these last few days of being a mother of one, but I'll be honest, there's not much to enjoy. Its very difficult for me to carry or play with Brice and within an hour, my energy is dwindling. The most enjoyable thing we do is go to the pool for family swim hour. Brice loves the pool and I love feeling weightless for a few minutes. Yes, I'm feeling the self pity at the moment. I'm ready for this science experiment to be OVER so that I can get back to being a parent, having a life and doing the simple things like sleeping on my stomach, zipping up my boots or wearing clothing that doesn't include a hefty elastic waistband.

Oh, one piece of good news! We did get a new camera. I'll upload some of the new photos this evening and post them. We're due for a 13 month Brice update!

Well I'm Couch-Bound, Mama

So much for my uneventful last month of pregnancy. Monday night, while driving home from work, I started feeling sharp shooting pains that began at my right hip and continued down my leg to my calf. I got home early, so I asked Graciela to stay a bit longer so that I could take a quick, warm bath in the hopes that the muscles would relax and the pain would subside. The bath seemed to help, so I sent Graciela home and went back to playing with Brice. I put him to sleep and I could feel the pain as it returned to my right side. By the time Joel got home an hour later, I was limping around the house and couldn't make it up or down the steps. I tried getting on my hands and knees so Joel could massage my hip. I tried lying down on the floor with my knees up at a 90 degree angle. I tried walking around the house. Nothing worked. Finally, I gave up and went to bed. The pain became worse throughout the night and by about 1am, I was waking up every hour to get up and move.

Tuesday morning I called in to work to say I would be working from home. The pain was now traveling up my side and I was starting to feel some good contractions. I took a shower and had about two contractions while I stood under the warm water. We called the doctor and she said to try to sit still with my feet elevated. By 1pm, the contractions were coming with some regularity and I was full on uncomfortable. Another call to the doc and we were told to go to labor and delivery at the hospital for some monitoring.

We showed up at the hospital and the nice nurses there got me all hooked up to the machines. The contractions were coming every 9-11 minutes but were not getting any closer or more intense. An internal showed that I was not dilated or effaced, so the contractions were not progressing into true labor. After two hours, we were sent home and told to continue to sit and rest.

Wednesday we went back to see Dr. Pendyala for a quickie growth ultrasound and appointment. The ultrasound tech went quickly, but we were able to get a brief glimpse of our little girl. At 35-36 weeks, she was measuring at 5lbs, 12 oz. Perfectly average! Her lungs were functioning, my fluid levels were perfect, her kidneys appeared to be working and she was head down and happy. Dr. Pendyala was happy with the results. She basically instructed me to stay at home for the remainder of the week. We'll see her again on Monday and hopefully at that point, she'll green light me to go back to work. While its very relaxing being at home, I'm already a little bored and the fact that I can't do much doesn't make this "time off" very fun at all.

I'll hit the 36 week mark tomorrow and the doctors feel that if I can make it one more week, the baby will be good to go if she decides to come early. I'm all for letting her bake but this discomfort is... well... uncomfortable (and as I am typing this, I'm having a contraction!). So, we've got 25 days to go. Tick, tock, tick, tock.

35 Weeks, 30 Years Old and a Trip to the Pool

First, I want to wish my wonderful husband a very Happy 30th Birthday. He turned the big 3-0 yesterday and I'm so happy that he is finally joining me in the "old fart's club." It was a little lonely being the only club member in the household. We had a wonderful dinner at Rouge last night with Allyson, Eric, Eleana, Dan, Chrissy, Rob and Simon. The food was pretty good but the company, as always, was excellent. So nice to have such a good group of friends. Oh, and I'm never going to forgive Allyson for buying Joel a video game for a birthday gift! What were you thinking? I'm sure I'll find him couch-bound at 3am playing shoot-em-up against 10-year-olds. Good times.

We hit the 35 week mark on Friday and as of today, I have exactly 28 days to go until the big c-section (unless H2 decides to bless us with an early appearance, although we're not holding our breath). I'm feeling HUGE, none of my clothes are fitting me, sleep is pretty much non-existent and this heartburn crap really needs to end ASAP. I know that I'm in the home stretch and I'm thankful to see the end in sight, but I really wish the pregnancy gods would play nice and give me a day or two reprieve. I've forgotten what its like to be able to catch my breath and see my feet and even shaving my legs is a task (a task that I am still doing every day, thank you very much).

We've got a doctor's appointment with Dr. Pendyala and an ultrasound scheduled for Monday, January 18. This is the 36-weeker so they'll take some measurements of H2, look at the amniotic fluid and attempt to give us an idea of how much she'll weigh on the big day. I went back to look at Brice's measurements from this appointment and they were putting him at 8lbs, 3oz. This was pretty accurate as they say that babies gain about 5oz per week at this point and he was almost 9lbs at birth at 39 weeks. Please feel free to place bets this time around on how big or small you think little girlie is.

Joel and I also took a major step this week and we joined the New Canaan YMCA. I figure, once this second baby is born, I really have no excuse to continue avoiding the gym as I've done for the past two years. They've got a great swimming facility and it will be nice to also take some spin and yoga classes again.

We decided we'd jump right in (literally) and we took Brice to the family swim hour on Saturday. Let me start by telling you that getting into our suits and into the pool was a workout unto itself. Joel decided to lift weights for a bit before going swimming, so I went with Brice into the women's locker room. I got him undressed and put on his swim diaper, at which point he burst into tears. I had a feeling he was getting hungry, so I pulled a bottle out of my bag and shoved it into his mouth. We sat on the floor while he ate... in his swim diaper...which is not absorbent at all. I prayed that he would not pee all over the floor. Finally I was able to get him in his bathing suit. Now it was my turn. For anyone who has spent time with me over the last few weeks knows that I move at a snails pace. Trying to get boots off, pants off, underwear off and bathing suit on while managing a 13-month-old was challenging. There was a moment when my foot became lodged in my underwear at the exact moment that Brice decided to peek under one of the changing room curtains. I'm not sure if Brice's face or my half-naked pregnant body scared this poor little old lady more as I grabbed him just as he was about to pull back the curtain.

We made our way out to the pool. I sat Brice on the side and hopped in. Joel was right. Feeling weightless was WONDERFUL. I brought Brice into the pool and we bopped around for a few minutes when once again, he started to cry. I was determined to get him to spend some time swimming, so we sat on the side for a bit while he calmed down. One of the nice lifeguards brought over some rubber duckies for Brice to play with and I'm not sure what the connection was, but all of a sudden, he was all smiles. We played with the duckies, dunked our heads under, he jumped off my shoulders into the water and even held on to the kickboard. He was a real champ in the water and Joel and I were so proud of him for being fearless. My plan is to try to take him once a week going forward so that by the time we go down to Florida, he's a real swimming master. Yes, this is part of my master plan to breed a future Olympic swimmer.

So, we'll update more after our doctor's appointment next week. Let's hear it for big, healthy babies!

Pele, David Beckham, Landon Donovan and now introducing Brice Harvill!