Happy New Year to everyone. We ended the year being sick and started it being sick. #winterproblems but we didn’t let it get us down and headed to LA to accompany Jamie on a work trip. Yes! Our first time out of town and away since having Carter. I was pretty excited. While it was mostly work we still got to take in the sites, warm air and delicious food. I am starting a new job this week and we are starting to celebrate my birthday week. We almost always do a cleanse in January but I opted to not this year with our immediate trip away. Frances is wild as ever and becoming more and more her own little self. It’s awesome, as most of you know, watching them grow. Carter is acing all his follow up opponents and turning into his own little self. Sweetest little guy. Gosh he’s so sweet you guys. It’s been a while so I just wanted to get something out there about our latest. As always, sending love!

My last post was extremely late. I am not sure why I didn’t hit post on it sooner so that some of you(who are not on social media) could have known baby Carter had entered the world. As I briefly mentioned, Carter was diagnosed with bacterial E. coli meningitis the day after he was born. I didn’t really tell anyone at first. I had high hopes that our little guy would be given antibiotics and beat it. But after weeks of antibiotics not kicking it’s butt, we all started to worry. Facts we’re being presented and we realized quickly, it was probably more serious then we had imagined.

Carter stayed in the Walnut Creek hospital NICU for three weeks and then he was transferred to the Oakland NICU. We transferred him because it was closer to our house and Oakland had neurological specialists. For those that may not be familiar with meningitis, Carter’s infection was in the fluid that surrounds his brain/spinal fluid. Babies are resilient and come out fighting to live but this infection was in a place that “could” have lasting damage. Carter fought hard, he excelled on every other area a preemie needed. He didn’t have feavers, seizures or other signs that the infection was taking over. He has been eating momma’s milk like a champ and gaining great weight for a preemie.

After 4 MRI’s, 5 spinal taps(I hate to even say that out loud, but it’s what needed to be done) and 8 weeks of antibiotics we left the hospital with no infection. So much of this is the “unknown”, will it come back, has it caused damage? So far, 3 weeks off antibiotics, Carter is thriving and acting everything like a normal little baby. Actually even better considering he was a preemie. We still have months of follow up appointments and will be watching his neurological development.

We are still taking everyday as it comes but getting pretty comfortable in our new life as a family of four. I read somewhere that when your baby has an infection, momma’s milk knows and produces the antibiotics it needs to heal it, I believe that! My milk supply has been great and Carter has been taking all he can get.

Carter came home just over 2 weeks ago on September 13th. He has been nothing but perfect since we brought him home.

I am sorry that some of you may have not known all this sooner but we can’t thank everyone enough for all the prayers, thoughts and love that we have received. He feels that, we feel it!!! I always say I am going to write more on this blog and more about Carter. I really am going to try and keep you more up to date on what’s going on with the Vitts.  It’s a Vitt life!

Here’s to Carter, his health and two blog entries in one week. Yay!!

Xoxo, the Vitts

You guys, we had baby number two! As most of you know(since almost everyone is on social media) we welcomed Carter James Vitt into the world on Tuesday July 11 at 4:03 am. Carter came at 29 weeks and 5 days. Early!!! He weighed 3lbs 12oz and was 17 1/8 inches long. He arrived naturally, from start to finish, in 45 minutes. It was crazy! 

My water broke 5 days before I went into labor. I was admitted to the hospital and we all hoped I would just relax and hang out(at the hospital) for at least a few weeks. I felt good and confident I could cook this little guy a little longer. Obviously he had other plans! It all happened so fast that I was by myself when I had Carter. Jamie was home with Frances and he did not make it in time. I had great nurses to help me through it.

Because Carter was so early when I had him he was pretty much whisked away to the NICU. I was prepared for that going into this but it was still a bummer. Once Jamie arrived, he and I both went down to the NICU to see our little guy. I will say, nothing quite prepares you for what it’s like in the NICU and to have your baby be in the NICU. It is scary! They had to run many test on Carter being so early. One of which did not come back good. Carter came up positive for meningitis. The location of this was in his brain. This meant lots of things, none of which I will write about. We just took everything day by day, stayed positive, prayed and by Carter’s side as much as we could. After about 13 days of mostly scare we finally made it over the hump. Carter was responding to the antibiotics and test were finally coming back negative for further growth. 

Currently Carter is 3 weeks old today and still has 8 days left of his antibiotics. He looks so much better then he did, he’s gaining weight and eating lots of mommies milk! All good things. We have even started some breast introduction for him. There is no set date on when Carter will leave the NICU, my guess is at least late August.  Carter has made great progress and is definitely a fighter, but we have a ways to go. Continued positive thoughts and prayers are always welcome.

Emotionally I feel like I am doing well. Some days are better then others but everyday gets easier and easier in this world of the NICU. My mom is here helping us and my dad arrives today. Having help with Frances is the biggest help for us right now. Jamie is still working and my days are filled with hospital visits, tiny baby snuggles and lots of breast pumping. It all feels very weird to have had a baby but not have a baby at home. While I know our time will come to, I am trying to do a little nesting until we bring Carter home. Let’s just say I didn’t get anything ready for this baby.
P.S. I wrote this 7 days after he was born. Now he is 73 days old and I am finally getting to a post.  I will write more on his infection and what it all means. Thank you all for your love and support!

Baby #2, we are pretty smitten over here at the Vitt’s. Frances is going to be a big sister. I am officially 22 weeks along and into my second trimester. I am felling great and my energy is good. My first trimester was a little rough(as most are) so I am happy to be in the 2nd trimester. Stay tuned for the gender reveal and updates on the painting and decorating of the kids rooms. Super excited to get there rooms together in our new house.

Lots of Love,

The Vitts

It’s a new year and I have to say I am happy to see 2016 go. It was a great year for the Vitt’s but let’s be honest, this year kind of sucked! So much death, Syria, standing rock, and Trump (insert crying emjoi here).

With a new year  brings new habits and resolutions. I wrote my goals/resolutions last week. I joined a fitness group this past year and it has been amazing for me in keeping me accountable. So I write to say, we(yes Jamie too, but not Frances) are doing the whole30 the month of January. I look at it like a cleanse/ reset on our finances and health(no drinking allowed! That’s the finance part, plus we won’t be eating out!) below is some of my inspirations/goals and some recipes I have LOVED so far on Whole30.  It’s super clean eating.The first couple of days were hard and I felt tired. Today is day 16 for us and I feel like super women. WE are halfway through!

Anyone else doing fun cleanses this month?

Setting some goals/resolutions for 2017 is fun. Even if you don’t follow through with all of them, it’s good to set them. You have to put it out there! I just read something that said, “95% of people have already given up on New Years resolutions halfway through January”. Wow, Well I’d like to say, not me. I am setting myself up for a good year. Surrounding myself with people who inspire and support me.

Much love to you all!

The Vitts

1.Best Ranch Ever! I will never make ranch with dairy again. The below is too good.

http://www.whole-sisters.com/single-post/2016/05/26/Dump-Ranch

2. I have been making homemade mayo for our chicken salad lettuce cups, That we practically have everyday! So delicious and easy to snack on. I add a little garlic to mine.

I feel so blessed that we got to take a trip to Japan this year. It happened fast. Jamie had to go for work and Frances and I were able to tag along. Jamie had to go for 9 days of work and we were able to stretch it to 14 to play and have family time. Frances and I spent most of dads work days in parks close to were he was working. We explored Tokyo and beyond. Tokyo is big, so we traveled out and around as much as we could. We had a perfect airBNB in shibuya. Very happening Neighborhood. Everyday commute was by train. We ate along the way, were ever looked good. Our neighborhood had good spots. Tokyo is clean and people are kind. It was nice to be in another country(in, what we thought, such harmony) after this election. We traveled to Kyoto on one of Jamie’s off weekends. We took the bullet train. Hella cool. We saw mt. Fugi from the train. What would have been 5-6 hours driving took is 2.5 hours on the train. We saw as many shrines and temples as we could in 24 hours in Kyoto. Frances was a true champ in all of the travels. Not saying it wasn’t easy, she was hard, but we made it work and loved all we saw. Japan holds a very special place in my heart. I look forward to our return at some point. 

Lots of love,

The vitts 

Years ago I started following Megan Small photography on instagram. She is based out of Alameda CA and because of instagram her and I have become friends. She shot our newborn pictures as well. For mothers day, her and I did a trade, I made flower crowns for her mothers day photo shoot and we got a free session! Yeah. Thanks Megan for the great pictures of Frances.Flower crown – flowerandforage.com

Moccasins – freshlypicked.com

Dress – thecrafterco.com

Tights – juneandjanuary.com

Exactly one year ago we had Megan Small of Megan Small Photography take new born pictures of Frances. Because Frances was one month early we decided to do them at home instead of in the hospital. I am glad we did them at home rather then at the hospital. That lighting at the hospital is pretty terrible, as we all know. If you are ever looking for a great photographer in the Bay Area to take family pictures, I highly recommend Megan! 

Frances Ruth Vitt was born on May 2, 2015 at 10:25am at 5lbs 11oz and was 18.5 inches tall. She was born in Walnut Creek, CA at the Kaiser Permanente hospital. It was a vaginal birth that from start to finish took 7hrs. Frances was decided she was  ready to meet us 4 weeks earlier than her due date. She was perfect from the time she arrived and checked out so well on all things she needed. We were only in the hospital for 3 days.

My birth story:

Friday 5/1/2015 MAY DAY – I dropped Jamie off at work around 10:30 am and proceeded to run all my errands for the day, first stop was the doggy store to get balls for Conan. We were going to go to the park and he was all out of balls. It was at the doggy store when I got out of the car it felt like I peed my pants. I just thought it was normal pregnancy “stuff” leaving my body. I mean sometimes things leek!(sorry maybe to much info) Needless to say I didn’t think my water had just broke. I continued on with my day and got all the errands run. When I picked Jamie up from work I told him we had to go to Target so I could get pads. He asked why I needed pads. I told him I had been leaking all day. So much I had to change my pants a few times(too much information?) He suggested calling the nurse to ask if this “leakage” was normal. The nurse told us we needed to come in so they could check things out. We finished our dinner and packed up the car. Not thinking that we would be having a baby in the next 24 hours we even packed Conan(our boston terrier) up with us.

At the hospital, they ran a few tests and determined that my water had broken. Because I had leaked my amniotic fluid they said I was going to need to be induced. I was at high risk of infection with Frances being 4 weeks early. I didn’t want to be induced but they know better then me, so I just did as they told me. We checked into our room and then Jamie took off to take Conan home and to grab a few more things.

They induced around 2am and everything kicked in about 5am. I remember so distinctly Carter(my brother) calling at 6:30am. For some reason I answered the phone. We talked briefly and I told him I was about to give birth, I think he was as surprised as I was. At 7am it all started, contractions like a mother fucker! Very fast and hard. By 10:25 am I had Frances. I pushed nine times total and she was out. I had never given birth before her but it was all manageable and perfect. She was placed on my chest first and then went to dad shortly after. We cuddled as a family and then were moved to a different room. Our friend Melanie was in the room while I gave birth so she took pictures and sent them to family friends. Not much more to say. We were there for 3 days and Frances checked out so good everyday on everything. We had a pizza party for her birthday(Mel and Dustin brought pizza to the hospital) Looking back I would not have done anything differently. It was all perfect. She is perfect!