Category Archives: baby #3

Faye’s Birth Announcement

August 6, 2017

I LOVE Faye’s newborn lifestyle photos by Emily Mitton (see the session here!). She did such a good job capturing our family and how adorable little Faye is. I couldn’t wait to get it on a card to send to family and show her off :)

I chose Minted for her announcement because that’s always my number 1. Plus I love that they support independent artists, kind of like Etsy, and their designs are always my favorite. I decided on the “Gallery” birth announcement because I loved how simple and pretty it is! I substituted the font with the font from the “Signature” announcement and the card was complete!

– Faye Ophelia Koch’s Birth Announcement –

Three.

July 28, 2017

Well, we’ve officially joined the “crazy club.” 1. Crazy to have three kids 2. Crazy: as in chaos crazy. Nevertheless, with all the craziness going on, I could definitely add a third crazy 3. Crazy in love! Not to quote Beyonce or anything, but this third kid suuuurely has my heart. Maybe it’s being the baby of the family, there sure is something ultra sweet about Faye that has completely filled up my heart.

Enough gushing. Really. Okay what you really want to know… How IS IT with three?

Someone asks me this almost every day with the same look on their face expecting me to say how hard it is and how tired I am and how much work it is, everything you’d expect if you had three kids, and ~~all~~ most of those things are true, but they’re missing one key thing about all of the 3 kid business – that BABIES SLEEP. Praise the Lord! This is the only way I’m surviving right now!

Faye has been such a good sleeper! She made it 7 straight hours at night for two nights in a row this week! WHOOP! Otherwise, she’s usually around 6. Then she just wakes up to eat quick, chug-a-lug, then right back to bed for another 3-4. So again, THANK GOD for sleepy babies! Plus during the day, she hangs out and has Ivy in her face every second for an hour, then back to sleep. Hallelujah. During her naps is where we get things done!

This has given me enough energy to make it through the day to keep up with these rascals. I’m NOT good at staying home, I get antsy, the kids get antsy, we just have to either get outside, or go somewhere. Faye’s mellow personality has allowed us to keep doing the things we love to do – pool or park day all day errry day! Or the zoo to run these kids wild from animal to animal. Basically anything to maximize our time away from the house and get these kids to use up their energy.

Oh. And popsicles. YAAAAAS. They’ve saved me keeping Ivy and Leo entertained! I need 15 minutes to nurse… POPSICLES. I need 15 minutes to shower… POPSICLES. I need 10 minutes to change because I got breastmilk or spit up everywhere… POPSICLES. I need 30 minutes to cook dinner… TWO POPSICLES. Haha, okay maybe not that extreme! But popsicles have saved me this summer! (I could also replace ‘popsicles’ with ‘ipad’ to be honest! Judge the way you want!)

Mostly, three kids has been about a new routine.

New routines, like, I might just have to throw a kid in their bed without a book because I’m trying to get three kids to bed at the same time. I might just have to clean that mess up later because I have to go nurse. I might just have to get fast food on the way home because it’s easier. I might just have to neglect a kid a little because another kid is screaming. All the things that give you SERIOUS Mom guilt. Your attention is divided amongst another child and it’s tough on everyone. It’s really hard to put Faye down because I just want to hooooooold her and snuggle my baaaaaby, but I try to use her naps to the fullest and take that time to be present with Ivy and Leo. Then her hour awake time before she falls aleep again is when Ivy and I get to play with her, because Leo has NO interest whatsoever #boys

Thankfully kids are resilient and change as we change, after those first few temper tantrums, of course, but eventually they get it.

So, how is it with three? Two to three is definitely harder. I swear, Leo’s had more meltdowns this last month than his whole life. Everything takes so much longer, especially with nursing before we go anywhere. Ivy is curious and asks a million questions in my space and Faye’s all day. Routines get all messed up as we start new ones. I have serious Mom guilt on and off all day as one of the kids is always getting neglected. BUT we’re getting the hang of it. And choosing to be positive and trying to be easy going really does generate a good mood amongst everybody! We’re just going with the flow here and trying to survive.

My goal with three is just to embrace all of it. The minute I realized we need new routines and everything won’t be perfect, was the minute I knew I would be okay, WE would be okay. Nothing is right, nothing is perfect, it’s basically a shit show, but I’m going to embrace the shit (pun intended… baby poop diapers, MY GOD) and try be as stress-free as possible and just love on these little kids and enjoy this chaos as much as I can! Our last little baby, gotta hold her as much as possible! And frankly, it doesn’t last forever! These kids grow up too fast!

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Faye // 1 month

July 13, 2017

Faye is 1 month old! Whew that went by fast! She’s been such a good baby, sleeping and eating, awake and snuggling and smiling, then sleeping and eating again. John asked me which baby has been the easiest, and I would have to say her! Although Leo was really easy too, she just seems so calm and good. Thank goodness for our third! Fewf.

Faye has been awake more and more and she started cooing and smiling this week, ADOOOORABLE. I love how they try to talk to you, it’s so cute! I love when they’re in milk coma asleep and crack a smile, pretty much the best :)

Ivy is still obsessing over her! She loves to pet Faye’s hair, haha, and is always asking to hug her. Pretty sweet sister. Leo, well, just lets me know when she’s crying, ha.

Faye is such a big baby! Spent two days in newborn diapers (10 lbs 3 oz at birth!) and has been rocking the size 1, although those seem to hardly fit her too! Thankfully I didn’t have too many newborn size outfits because she wouldn’t have fit in them! I’m anxious for her next appt to see how much she weighs now. She eats like a champ!

Faye has been making it 5.5 hrs at night, thank goodness for one long stretch of sleep!

Happy one month little darling! We love you!

Month stickers from Lucy Darling Shop

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Faye’s Newborn Lifestyle Photos

July 11, 2017

Babies are just TOO cute to not photograph. Their rolls and sleepy eyes and cute little pudgy bodies, gah! Love it all. So I couldn’t WAIT to get some pics of our new little (or big, 10 lbs!) bundle Faye. I wanted to do more of a lifestyle shoot instead of the posed newborn photos, so we booked Emily Mitton and she worked her magic! I was excited about getting the three kids in some photos together as I knew Ivy would cooperate, but Leo was a whole nother story! CRAZINESS. That was one of my first lessons with three… have low expectations! Ha! Just kidding (well, kind of), but really, Leo was a maniac and pretty sure we don’t have one great photo of the three of them, but hey, that’s what “lifestyle” is all about, our “lifestyle,” the chaos and far from perfect life that our house holds. And that makes me love these photos even more! Seeing my kids’ true personalities in these photos makes me cherish them! Thanks for capturing our love for our children and our spunky kids Emily!

So many! Hard to pick a favorite! Her little cheeks are so irresistible. Thanks again Emily Mitton Photography! Love them!

My dress // Ivy and Faye’s outfits were from Target Victoria Beckham collection // Leo’s from Zara

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Faye’s Story

June 22, 2017

Faye, oh, Faye, you are the sweetest little girl. All 10 lbs 3 oz of you, wow you are quite the baby! You sure threw me for a few loops during this pregnancy though! As a third child, I guess that’s what I get, the baby of the family getting her way all the time :) We’re so happy you’re finally here, you were well worth the wait!!

40 weeks + 4 days = My birthday and Leo’s birthday! Also, OVERDUE. There was so much hype on this day! Were were going to have THREE birthdays on June 8?! Well the day came and went, and you decided you wanted your own day. I don’t blame you! :)

40 weeks + 5 days = Ultrasound. Doctor ordered an ultrasound to determine if fluid levels were safe to continue the pregnancy past 41 weeks. All checked out great, so I’ll keep chuggin’ (a very slow chug!) along!

41 weeks = SERIOUSLY.

41 + 1 day = Our very last day with you. We decided to be induced the next day, as Doctor Hermanson was on call and I so wanted to experience a birth with my own OBGYN. This day was weird, knowing you would be here tomorrow. Eerie, but exciting. I really didn’t want to be induced since I have had quick natural labors with the other two, but the farther past 41 weeks I got, the more scared I was getting that something would go wrong. Safe just to get you out! That night I tried ALL THE MYTHS again to try to induce labor. I read through this article to learn more natural ways to induce labor. I wish we could have stripped my membranes, but I was Group B Strep Positive so we couldn’t do that : / So, I attempted some of the other ones to try to get some contractions moving! Including the nipple stimulation! The method that I hadn’t tried yet up to that point.

41+2 days = Finally at 2:00am, I woke up, having some contractions, YAY!!! Induction was supposed to be at 12:00 Noon that day, Tuesday, June 13, so I was pumped to finally go into labor naturally! They were a few minutes apart already and getting stronger quickly, so I woke John up, we packed the car, called the grandparents to come over, and headed to the hospital at 3:00am. I was so excited to finally meet her!

3:15am – I progress really quickly, and I needed to get at least one dose in of the Group B Strep antibiotic, so we were headed up to our room to get settled into labor and delivery. I was a 6 already when we got there. Yay! My contractions were getting close and stronger and were were close to meeting her! I kept breathing deeply through the tough contractions.

4:30isham – I all of a sudden felt the urge to push! I told John to get the nurse and sure enough, I was a 9 and they started rushing in the equipment to set up for delivery! I would be pushing soon!

I gave one or two big pushes and out she came! Well, just her head, and this was scary! Her shoulders were stuck! The doctors and nurses started yelling frantically to push again quickly and hard to get her out. I pushed one more big push, and out she came! We waited for that newborn cry… but it wasn’t coming, finally after a good 5-10 seconds, she wailed! WHEW! I guess she was pretty stunned from being stuck that it took her a little bit to come to. But that little cry, a check over by the nurses quick, and finally she came to me to snuggle skin-to-skin! THE BEST.

All the staff was saying, “Whoa, big baby!” They all guessed 9-9.5 pounds. GEEZUS, really?! Only to find out when we actually weighed her, that she was 10 lbs 3 oz! WHAAAAT. How did I have that baby in me?! And how did I get her out?! And I didn’t tear at all! WOW! Bodies are pretty amazing aren’t they… thank god she was my third child!

LOVE HER HAIR. Ivy and Leo didn’t have anything but a tiny bit of peach fuzz! So this hair is pretty exciting for us :) So cute!

Whew, another natural labor for the books! From contractions starting at 2am, and birthing her at 4:40am, I am pretty lucky to have quick labors!

And then for her name… man we struggled this time around! John has been all about Faye for months (it was a best friend of John’s mom growing up is how he thought of it), but I couldn’t really grasp the name for a long time. We had Ava, Esther, and Chloe as our other major front runners, but when I came across this blog about the name Faye, I really started to love the name. So finally we were starting to agree! Ha! Then we went with my favorite Lumineers song, “Ophelia,” as her middle name. I’ve loved that name since I heard that song years ago, and it’s getting more and more popular, but it was too long for a first name since we love short names, but I love it for her middle name! Faye Ophelia :) Our little lady.

Faye Ophelia Koch
June 13, 2017
10 lbs 3 oz
21 3/4 inches

WHEW!

She looks huge here!!!!

Proud Daddy xoxo

First family meeting! Ivy is IN LOVE!

Daddy’s Little Girl

Grandma Betsy (John’s Mom) and Grandma Caleen (my Mom) loving on Faye!!!

After her first bath! Nurses put that bow on, haha, too cute!

We got to leave the next day and Ivy couldn’t be more obsessed! She’s going to be such a good big sister. Already taking care of Faye so much and helping Mommy. Love my girls!

Thank you for all the well wishes from friends and family! We appreciate all of your support and love! So glad we’re all happy and healthy. Xoxo, Koch party of 5! EEEEK! :)

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