Leo John Koch // Born June 8 // 8 pounds 3 ounces // 22 inches
I’m working on my photography skills with Leo! Fun to take some newborn shots of him.
And thanks to my friend Marie for helping us with the family photos! Ivy was obnoxious so miraculously we managed to get one good photo :) And she just COULD NOT LET GO of her monkey and book… sooo… they joined us in the photos : /
We have been so busy! As if I didn’t expect that with two kids now, but we have been all over the place lately! No slowing down at all. We are adjusting to two, but it’s going very well. Leo is a really easy baby so far, just goes with the flow… and he has to to keep up with this family! This last weekend we took him to our cabin in Yankton on Friday, then headed north to Lake Madison to spend Father’s Day with John’s family. His sister’s kids, Anna and Nora, are in town and are having a BLAST with Ivy! It is so much fun to see her interact with other kids, I love it. She’s taking advantage of having them wrapped around her finger :) We also had a family wedding on Saturday so lots of relatives got to meet Leo and see Ivy again. It was a busy yet very very fun weekend! Action packed the rest of the summer!
She absolutely LOVES boating! Definitely Daddy’s girl
Love her to pieces!!! SMOOOOCH. All dressed up for the wedding // Ivy’s dress
Anna and Nora doing Ivy’s toes and John’s toes – Happy Father’s Day! Haha
Chillin’ like a villain – look at those pipes! Baby fat… gah <3
And for those of you who were wondering, we made it to BOTH of our concerts! Since I had such a quick delivery, my recovery was just as fast! And Leo was perfectly healthy, so we were able to get out the next day, sort of felt like Princess Kate ;) Minus the stunning looks and barely there baby bump leaving the hospital. Nevertheless, we got out in time for Ed Sheeran the following day! AND we also got to go to Kenny Chesney last Thursday. Yahoo!! It was so much fun and it was just enough time to be away from him before rushing home to feed again. The hubs and I enjoyed a beer (or two, ok… three) together too, hooray!
Today marks 10 MARVELOUS days with our little Leo. It was supposed to be my due date and I’m so thankful that we have already gotten to have 10 days with him!
I admit. I wasn’t a newborn lover with Ivy. I loved when she hit a few months old and started interacting, smiling, giggling, and being silly. The whole just eat, sleep, poop thing wasn’t my thang. But I will have to say, this time around, I am totally smitten. Maybe I was too paranoid or cautious with Ivy that I didn’t take time to just enjoy it, but this time, ahhhh, everything! I’m loving it! There were so many things I forgot I loved about a newborn and am really taking in this time. I know how fast it goes!
10 things to LOVE about Leo
1. His newborn smell. There’s something about it. While they cuddle close to you, they have that sweet new smell. Totally pure and real. I love it.
2. His soft skin and long fingers and toes. I just love running my fingers along his soft arms! I’d give anything for that non-sun torched skin again. And his adorable little fingers and toes! Gah! I love how he holds my finger.
3. His baby hair. That bleach blonde little hair all over his body! Adorable! Ivy’s was pretty dark it was so funny, but Leo’s is bleach blonde. So cute!
4. How he loves to snuggle. Oh this boy is a cuuuuudddler! He loves to be held extra close and tight. And I have no problem with that :)
5. His noises. Oh my gosh the noises this kid makes! Hilarious! Grunts galore. I just die. He sounds like he’s an old stiff man sometimes!
6. How he looks like his Daddy. Everyone says he looks like John and I couldn’t be happier :) Handsome husband = handsome boy!
7. How alert he is. He’s already looking all over! I remember Ivy was always taking everything in and Leo is no different. I love how they seem so curious at such a baby age.
8. How he’s such a good sleeper and eater. He’s been so good at nights! I often have to wake him up to eat still, not bad for this Mommy! And with Ivy, I didn’t get to breast feed her right away or even for the first couple days because of the NICU, so with Leo, I was AMAZED to see him latch on within the first few minutes of life. It was spectacular. Human/animal instincts are incredible. And he hasn’t stopped! He’s a boy alright.
9. How he just takes his sister’s antics. Ivy is ALL over him! Kissing, staring, trying to hold him, it’s great. And he just takes it from her. Tough guy! I’m sure someday he’ll hold his own :)
10. His name. Ok ok, I didn’t LOVE the name before, but now that I’m saying it and calling him my little Leo, I’m obsessed.
Onesie // Blanket here or here
It was really hard to believe that we were going to have our SECOND child any day. I was in disbelief. It had gone so fast. I wanted to savor every second I could to have a little bit of a life still and to enjoy my time with Ivy, giving her maximum attention, because that would be gone soon.
The few days before Leo’s birth, we decided to have people at our cabin, risking going down to Yankton, just an hour and fifteen minutes away, for one last getaway before baby arrived. I figured we would be safe, I wasn’t due until the 18th. We enjoyed the weekend filled with boating, beach, grilling, and tons of playtime! On Sunday, John and I decided what the heck, let’s stay one more night since Monday was my 31st birthday (EEEK!), and celebrate it by boating and basking in the sun. It was a risky decision, because I had thought I had had a couple tightenings going on, but too hard to tell. And I had some things going on down there that I thought, hmm, maybe these are some signs of labor moving in, but, we decided to stay anyways! I just wanted to be on the boat! :)
Of course, I woke up at 1am and sure enough, a contraction. I decided I better stay awake and monitor/time them since I had had a quick labor with Ivy, we would certainly need to head back to Yankton soon if they progressed. Well they didn’t progress or get closer. They were ten minutes apart, then five, then twenty, sort of all over the place. So maybe they’re just Braxton Hicks, I don’t know, I didn’t have any with Ivy, so I was unsure, but something was going on. I decided to let everyone keep sleeping and I’d go shower and start packing us up to head back to Sioux Falls.
We headed back around 8:30am, stopped for a quick Starbucks, and I drove us home while John answered a bazillion voicemails. The contractions still weren’t bad or close together. They were getting a little more uncomfortable, but nothing major.
We got home around 9:45, John headed to his office to get a bid out quick because I was sure I had a couple hours still since they still weren’t close together or bad (in denial… good strategy, haha), well then by about 10:20, they were all of a sudden UNBEARABLE, STRONG, and a minute apart, lasting a minute. WHOA. Came out of nowhere! John got home, we quickly packed our bags, which we hadn’t done yet, which was a really bad decision! I couldn’t think with my contractions so strong and close! I don’t even know what I threw in there! Anyways, my Mom came over to take care of Ivy at 11:00am and we were at the hospital by 11:15am. The contractions were rough and uncomfortable, but I was breathing through them.
They offered me a wheelchair and I declined, remembering with Ivy that I thought I probably still had an hour or two of labor, well I was wrong. As we were walking upstairs, all of a sudden I felt like I needed to start pushing! EEEK! So I took the wheelchair offer, and we booked it up there! They brought me to the triage and I sort of panicked telling the nurses no I don’t need to be here, I need to push! The assured me that they HAD to check me and of course, I was dilated to a ten and ready to push! HOLY CRAP.
The nurses raced us to the delivery room, doctor scrubbed up all ready, and told me I’d be having this child any minute. WHAT! Still in shock. With Ivy I had labored for an hour and a half at the hospital, then pushed for an hour before she even arrived! So I was expecting something more like that again. WRONG. Well, just four hard pushes later, and we heard Leo cry… that sweet sounding newborn baby cry… the best cry ever. He was here.
Leo John Koch // Born Monday, June 8, 2015 // 11:38am //8 pounds 3 ounces // 22 inches
They laid him on me immediately and John and I just looked at each other like, DID THAT JUST HAPPEN?! We could not believe it. Both thinking, WHOA, that was close.
If you know Ivy’s birth story, you know we had to go to the NICU because of fluid on her lungs. Leo came out very blue and I panicked and begged the doctor and nurses to suction him out really well and asked about his color. They assured me that was a normal color and he was already turning pink and looking great. No NICU this time? THANK GOODNESS. Huge relief.
We had it our way this time. A perfectly healthy little baby boy. ON MY BIRTHDAY!
I soaked up the skin-to-skin, exactly what I had been looking forward to since I was robbed of it with Ivy. I held him so tight, glancing over every baby wrinkle, counting fingers and toes, enamored with his adorable looks, and falling in love with our new little baby boy. It was just how I wanted it. How each mom deserves to have it. Cuddling with their new, perfect, healthy baby.
I could not have been more happy at that moment. We finally had him. Our baby boy. What a spectacular birthday present! The best!
It was an insane 20 minutes of birth. I only tore “skid marks” I guess is what they called them, so I needed just one stitch. I have healed up much faster this time and barely had any swelling. I remember them asking me later if I had scanned in a birth plan, and I laughed like, nope. My birth plan was to wing it, and that’s exactly what I did. The Doctor was hilarious. She told me I “dropped it like it’s hot!” Haha! I apologized for rushing them and told them next time I’ll come in sooner, but she just laughed and said, that’s how every birth should be! We love these kinds! I actually did too. Just walk in, and have the baby. It was pretty nice! I’m SO thankful! FEWF!
Later that evening, I couldn’t WAIT to see Ivy and introduce her to Leo! She strolled in with Daddy and I immediately started crying. So overwhelmed with feelings and emotions! I was incredibly happy to give her a sibling but also a bit sad for having to share time now. She crawled up on the bed and wanted to see him right away. She was so adorable with how tender and loving she was! SWOON. She gave him kisses and really wanted to hold him. I was captivated by their interaction and visualizations of their times together in the future danced in my head. Siblings really are the best.
And that’s Leo’s story. Fast and furious. Exactly how I imagine him to be… :)
Ok, so YES, we had a baby. And I’ll get to that. BUT, the weekend before was so much fun that I couldn’t skip it! And there were some really great pictures, soooo, obvs had to include them. Plus, it was my birthday weekend and we had a few friends at our cabin in Yankton. Beach and boating were highlights. Oh, and ice cream :) SAYONARA MATERNITY SWIMSUIT!!
ikat maternity swimsuit // toddler swimsuit // men’s swimsuit
I just can’t help but look at her cute tush in that suit! Good thing her buddy Bear is too into his sand ;)
It was Quinn’s first time to the sand and she was a natural! She dug right in! Go Quinn!
The girls and their daddies. Who is loving this beach thing more?! :)
Matt and Marie and little Quinn
Ivy’s first time tubing!!! She loved it! Big Mable tube
Summer favorite – hard ice cream in a cake cone! RAINBOW SHERBERT ALL DAY
My little explorer. She’s discovered the weeds that you blow and all the fluff comes off – she couldn’t stop picking them. She’s for hire, folks! ;)
EEEEK! And then the next day I had a baby! CRAZY! We barely made it back from Yankton Monday morning before he was born! It’s so bizarre to me that one day you’re big and pregnant and the next day you have a teeny baby. Humans are so interesting! Koch party of four now – WHEW!
To be continued… I’m busy snuggling Leo xxoo