Three Week Checkup!

Today was a pretty exciting day...for Mom anyway. We went to visit Dr. Erickson for our three week checkup! I had been so anxious to hear what they had to say about Olivia, to ensure everything was alright and on track! Being a first time Mom, I was worried that I was going to miss something, but they reassured me that she is doing great. She weighed 8 pounds 11 ounces, so almost gained two pounds! Dr. Erickson said I should bottle it up and sell it on Ebay! :-) So, she is definitely getting enough to eat which I was worried about. Also, she was 20 3/4 inches long, so she grew an inch already!! Overall, everything looked great and we are right on target. She is in the 50 percentile for her height and weight and the 25 percentile for her head...I think that is what they said?? They also said she should be "regarding our faces, following some movements, responding to sounds by eye opening or stopping extremity movement, and lifting her head while on her stomach"...all of which she is doing!!! So, basically she is perfect! She has become extremely strong lately and has been lifting her head quite a bit on her own! The next doctor visit will be her two month checkup in which she will have to get her shots, so I told Daddy that he will definitely need to be there for that one. I don't think I will do well with that!!

Enjoying the Day!

Today was basically spent showing Olivia off some more. We first went to lunch with Daddy and then went to Oak Grove to visit Grandma. This was our first visit to the school, so all Grandma's friends and co-workers were able to see her for the first time. Boy did Grandma have a great time...she sure is proud of little Miss Olivia! It was right around lunch time when we arrived, so all the teachers were in the teacher's lounge. You should have heard the "awwws" when we walked in! Quite a few of her close friends were able to hold her, and in fact many of them spent quite a bit of time in Grandma's office. We were there for about two hours, and Grandma didn't get much work done in that time...nor did some of the teachers! We got a lot of great advice from some of the other first time Moms that were there, so that was nice! Next it was off to see Great Grandma St. Clair and Aunt Shirley. They were home watching TV, so we were able to visit for a while. Grandma was able to hold her for a little while, so we got some great pictures! After our visiting for the day, it was home to relax!

Visiting Grandpa

Dad was off work today, so we were able to get in town to visit. We met him at Grandma and Grandpa Davis's house and had a great time! He sure was excited to see us and we spent quite a few hours just visiting. Of course, we got some great pictures!!

Celebration...Baby Hopper!

Today we went to lunch with Derrick, Angie, Aunt Shell, Uncle Tim and Kaleigh. The reason for the lunch was to celebrate Derrick and Angie's news of being pregnant! With the arrival of Olivia, we had not been able to get out and celebrate with them yet, so this was a special day! We went to Ruby Tuesday's. Angie had first told us the news the day Olivia arrived. As soon as she got to work, she came right into our room to be there for us! When it was just her and I in the room, she leaned over the bed and whispered that she was pregnant! Instantly, we were both in tears and it couldn't have been a better day! Not only were we going to meet Olivia for the first time, but we were going to be able to experience this with them as well. They had been waiting for a little while, so it was great news!! Lunch was great, although Angie had already started experiencing morning sickness. She was a little like me though, and was curious why they called it morning sickness, cause she basically feels nauseous throughout the entire day. Unfortunately I know exactly what she is going through and feeling and needless to say, I feel bad for her. However, thinking posititvely, it is a great sign that everything is on track! We cannot wait to share in their special day with them as well and to meet Baby Hopper!! She is going to be a great Mom!!

Aunt Jenny's Shower

Tonight we went to Joyce and Randy's for Aunt Jenny and Don's shower..not sure he is ready for the Uncle Don thing yet! I think it would be a little more welcoming had it been Winston that he could be an Uncle for...not sure he is comfortable with Olivia just yet! He is just like Dad in that he has a thing with holding other people's babies...he says that "until they can wipe their own ass" he won't hold them! :-) Typical guy response! However, we had a great time and everyone was able to see Olivia...some were meeting her for the first time so that was special. Casey and Travis were there as well, so we got to see Kyle who is already 5 months. It is amazing to see how big Olivia will be...very soon!! Right now it is hard to imagine she will be tht big, but I know it's coming...sooner than later! We had a great time visiting everyone and Jenny and Don got a lot of great gifts! Hard to believe the wedding is only a few weeks away!!

Baby Emma

Aunt Tara and Emma came to visit today..she has been dying to get over for the last few weeks, so it was great to see them. I took advantage of Tara's "expertise" and couldn't stop comparing Emma and Olivia, and asking a thousand questions! What about this, how do you handle this, when did you feel comfortable with that, etc, etc, etc!!! It was so nice to have her to talk to, and it made it seem like I wasn't the only one going through all the newness of being a Mommy! Of course, we had to get some pictures to compare the two little ones. I cannot believe Olivia will grow that quickly..she seems so tiny right now, but I know it won't be long!

Grandma Dina

Grandma Dina took the day off work today, so of course she wanted to spend it with little Miss Olivia! It was nice to have her visit and I took advantage of her expertise, and we talked about everything...especially the differences between Shane and Jenny growing up and how Olivia is doing so far. All in all, I think Grandma enjoys being around her (that is an under statement), even if it is just spent staring at her all day!

Back to Work Daddy!

Today was Shane's first day back at work...boy was I nervous at first. I didn't think I was going to do so well today, but surprisingly enough, I handled it quite well. We didn't do too much today, other than relax and try to get a few things accomplished at home. I honestly thought I would spend the day crying all by myself, but I didn't. The past few days were spent thinking about this day, and I ended up being more sad just thinking about it, than I did when it finally came. I did however, call Shane quite a few times throughout the day...as did he. He called and asked how his girls were, which made me feel better. I know it is not going to take too long before I get comfortable in taking her out! Staying at home doing nothing is not going to last too long! We were excited when Daddy came home, and so was he. I think it was a little hard for him as well!

Jenny's Shower...Alpha Park

Today was officially the first day out of the house for Olivia and I. We have gone to the doctor already, but today was a great day out of the house. It was nice, so of course Daddy wanted to go golfing. I was still a little hesitant to drive with her in the back seat all by myself, so I drove Shane to the golf course and sat in back with Olivia. Then, we were on our own! We made it to Alpha Park for Aunt Jenny's bridal shower, and boy was everyone excited to see her! I had a great time and it felt good to get out of the house! Did I mention we got out of the house today!! :-) I actually put on a pair of jeans and it felt great! Obviously with the family there, Olivia was passed around quite a bit, so she had a great time. After the party, I realized that I needed gas! Without having a credit or debit card, I knew that I would have to get her out of the car to pay, so fortunately Dina drove behind me and was able to sit with her while I went inside. Item One to add to the To Do List...get a CEFCU Check + card so I can pay at the pump!! Not that I mind getting her in and out of the car, but I think it will be a life saver! We then went to pick up Daddy and went home!!

Visitors...and More Visitors!

The past few days are kind of a blur...we have been trying to get as much sleep as possible, but it has been a little rough. Basically are days and nights have been spent staring at Olivia, playing with Olivia, changing diapers (Mommy), feeding Olivia, etc. We are having a great time with her, and still cannot believe she has arrived. Today Grandma came over and actually helped to clean up Olivia's room a little bit more. Since she arrived 10 days early, we still had shower gifts covering her nursery floor. So, Grandma helped to put things away and straighten things up a little, which helped tremendously! I had been dying to get in there to do it, but again was having a hard time finding the time!! :-) The past week we have had quite a few visitors, including Aunt Shell, Uncle Tim, Kaleigh, Grandma Dina, Dave, Grandma Vickie, Aunt Jenny, Aunt Pam and Cayce, Crystal and Patrick, Grandma and Grandpa Davis, etc. Rather than detailing each visit, I attached a few pictures from each. We have had a great time watching everyone with her, and have enjoyed the company!!

First Doctor Visit

Today we had to take little Miss Olivia to the doctor to check further for jaundice. They were a little concerned at the hospital that she may have it, so they just wanted to keep an eye on her. Also, they just wanted to see how she was doing overall. Of course, Mommy had to ride in the back seat with her just to ensure she was riding in the car seat okay! As you can see, she doesn't quite fill out the car seat! :-) She did great though, so hopefully it won't be long before Mommy can ride in the front seat again! Surprisingly enough, she was already almost back to her birth weight. She weighed 6 pounds 15 ounes at birth, 6 pounds 9 ounces when she left the hospital, and now was back to 6 pounds 14 ounces. They were not concerned with the jaundice any more, and said her color was great so that was good news! Overall, they basically said she was perfect...which we agreed!! :-)

Home from the Hospital!!

Today was the day when we could bring Olivia home...we were extremely excited, yet nervous at the same time! How were we going to take care of this little baby on our own!? At the hospital, we had nurses there to help us every step of the way, so we didn't really have too much to worry about. In fact, even during the middle of the night after she was done eating, she was able to go back to the nursery so we could get some sleep. Tonight was going to be a different story...we were it! If she cried, we were the ones that would have to attend to her and comfort her! We left the hospital after lunch around 1:00...there was some concern at first cause she hadn't "gone to the bathroom" yet, but that was taken care of this afternoon. One of the nurses was able to help in that department, and she did great from there on out! So, we were free to go. Once we got all of our belongings gathered and loaded up in the car, we were ready to roll. We called the nurses to wheel me out, and I was able to hold her the entire way to the car. So many people wanted to stop to see her, but she just kept moving and we were on our way! Shane had gotten the car seat in the car, although to be honest, I was a little hesitant that it wasn't put in correctly...I, of course had to check that again later! After we got her all situated, we were on our way home! I was a nervous wreck the entire way home and tried not to tell Shane too many times to slow down or not turn too fast! What an experience...I never imagined a car ride could be so scary, but this time we had precious cargo aboard, so we needed to be a lot more cautious!

We finally made it home and it did feel extremely nice to be in our own house with our own things. We were supposed to have more visitors, but it ended up just being us the entire night which was nice and relaxing. Our little family was all together and we enjoyed spending our first night together. We ended up sleeping downstairs cause I think we were a little nervous to put her in the pack n' play just yet. We wanted her in our view the entire time. Although we didn't get any sleep, cause every single sound she made was new to us and we weren't quite sure how to respond. We definitely didn't want to miss anything, so there we were...up all night! The first of many sleepless nights... :-) Basically, it was spent changing diapers, rocking her to sleep, feeding her, staring at her, not believing she was ours, etc. It was a great night and one that we will never forget!!

Day Two!!

Today was a busy day at the hospital! We had many visitors throughout the day again, including Grandpa, Linda, Bonnie, Grandma, Marc, Grandma, Dave, Aunt Shell, Aunt Jenny, Grandma and Grandpa Davis, Craig, Mandy, Alice, Derrick, and Angie. In between all the visitors, we tried to get a little rest, but also had many of the doctors and nurses around to check on Olivia and me to see how we were doing. We did have a pretty good scare this morning when Grandma and Grandpa Davis were visiting. Olivia had quite a bit of mucus in her lungs that she was still trying to get out, and she was gagging quite a bit while they were there, which made Mom freak out. We called one of the nurses in and she was able to work with her quite a bit while Mom tried to calm down. She actually took her back to the nursery too to work with her some more...and more for my benefit as well, so I didn't have to watch her go through it. Boy am I in for a rude awakening...I was crying over something like that that is so common! However, to give myself a little credit, she was not even a day old yet, so I was still trying to get the hang of the Mommy thing! After that scare, she was back in the room and was better than ever. Throughout the day, we were taught quite a few things like how to give her a bath, take care of the umbilical cord, how not to shake the baby (video), etc, etc, etc. It was quite overwhelming and to be honest, I don't remember half of what they told us. The pediatricians came in a few times to check on her and everything seems to be doing okay. They ran a number of mandatory tests on her, some of which I didn't know anything about. They tried to explain it to us, but again there was so much information thrown at us, that we somewhat took their word for it! We figured they do this every day, they must know what they are doing. I was doing a little better and actually was moving around quite a bit. Getting up and down was the hardest part, but once I was up or down, I was doing okay. It was another long day at the hospital, and we are just looking forward to going home!!

Even More Birthday Pictures...

Here are a few more...what a day!!

More Birthday Pictures...

Here are a few more pictures from her birthday!!!

Olivia's Birthday!

As planned, we started calling everyone this morning at 5:00 am to let them know we were at the hospital. A few were upset we hadn't called last night, but really there was not much they were going to do. My contractions hadn't started yet, so we were just waiting and trying to get some rest ourselves. At 5:00 am, my contractions had started but were not really that strong. I actually indicated to my Mom, Dina, Shell, etc. that they could take their time coming in cause I felt it was going to be a long day. Although, little did I know that once that petocin kicked it, it was going a lot faster than expected. It didn't take long for me to dilate and we were well on our way. By the time people started arriving, I was having contractions and they were starting to get a little more painful. Angie arrived at about 7:00 or so, and she indicated right away that if I wanted an epidural, I needed to get it quickly cause the anesthisiologist was getting ready for another surgery, and he may not be able to get out for a few hours. So, the clock was ticking. I was dialted to about a 5 or 6 and was simply waiting for him to arrive. I could tell Angie was getting nervous that she wasn't going to be able to get him to come in, although she was trying extremely hard. The pain was pretty terrible at this point, and unfortunately Shell arrived just at that time. She was having a hard time watching me in pain, as was everyone else. I didn't want to be one of those women who was crying and screaming in pain, but I sure felt like I could. There were times when I wanted Shane to be close and hold my hand or apply pressure to my back, and then there were times when I pushed him away. I remember pushing my Mom's hand away too...sorry about that! I really was just trying to get through each contraction, and it was starting to become unbearable. I just tried to tell myself it would all be over soon...and well worth all the pain. Finally, almost two hours later, the doctor was able to give me the epidural, and it couldn't have come at a better time. He was a god send, and I could have given him a hug right then and there! I had been so worried about the epidural itself, but at that time, it didn't matter. The pain I was having was far worse than any needle could have caused! Once I received that, I was much better...and a lot better company to be around! After that, I progressed pretty quickly and before we knew it, it was time to push. Everyone had to go outside and it was just Shane, Angie and I for the next three hours. We started pushing around 1:15. Shane was wonderful, and he did better than I could have ever asked. It was also extremely nice to have one of my best friends there to help out. She was able to know exactly what I was thinking just by looking at me, and I didn't have to say a word. She could tell after three hours that I was ready to have this baby, and did all she could to get Dr. Mueller there. In fact, I think she called about 3 or 4 times to get him to come to the hospital. Little did we know he was at the office trying to get some last minute work done. When he finally arrived, he was able to do the episiotomy pretty quickly and we had our little Olivia. What an emotional experience! Shane was able to get pictures right away, and the first time we saw her, she was bright eyed and looking right at us. It was amazing...words cannot describe it. They took her to the table to get her cleaned up, and Shane went with her. Angie kept telling me to look at Shane, cause that it about the time he got emotional as well. It was awesome to see how happy he was! She was born at 4:13 pm and weighed 6 pounds 15 ounces and was 19 3/4 inches long. She had quite a bit of dark brown hair and was very bright eyed. Everyone commented on her color, cause it was amazing as well. We knew everyone was waiting outside to hear her cry for the first time...the pictures are proof of that. Not to mention during the course of the three hours, they asked if they could come in numerous times! :-) Unfortunately, they had to wait....but not too long! The grandmas were the first to come in to see her, and it wasn't long before the aunts filed in next! However, Daddy didn't want to give her up, and they looked but weren't able to hold her...Daddy was too proud! Shortly afterwards, we indicated the rest of the troops to come in, so we had quite a filled room! It was nice to have everyone around, and they couldn't stop smiling. I, on the other hand, was an emotional mess and couldn't stop crying! In fact, I was able to talk to my Dad and Scott on the phone and was pretty emotional! I couldn't believe I actually did it, and got through it! Once it was all over, they needed to move us to another room, and after everyone left, we were able to move. It was a little more difficult for me at first than I thought it would be, but we managed. As we were being rolled down the hall, Uncle Tim arrived. We had quite a few visitors that day and night, and it is somewhat of a blur, but what a day!!! We were able to get some sleep that night, and every time they brought her in to eat, she did wonderful. It didn't take her long to catch on, and she became a pro. After she ate, they took her back to the nursery so we could get some rest. However, that was pretty tough to do...I didn't want her to leave! But, we knew we needed some sleep as well. I had to wake Daddy up each time she came in cause he was out of it most of the time, but was excited to see her and didn't want to miss out! All in all a very beautiful day and we cannot believe she is finally here!!

Water Broke!!

Well, little did I know when I met with my boss this afternoon for my performance review, that I would not be coming back to work. I certainly hope that doesn't affect my rating! :-) In fact, the last thing we said to each other being leaving for my doctor's appointment was that we "would freak out" if he tells me I am close and need to stay home! But, he didn't get a chance to do that. I left work about 2:00, immediately after my EPR, and went to my normal doctor's visit. Dr. Mueller said everything looked great, as he always did, and actually said I hadn't progressed any more than I had last week. So, for all I knew, I had ten more days to get things ready for your arrival. However, you had a different idea in mind. About 8:00 this evening, I started to sense that my water was leaking. I got off the phone with Angie, and had actually had a discussion about my water breaking and how nervous I was that it might happen at work. Well, all that talking must have sparked something, cause later that night I realize my water had broke. I wasn't sure at first and actually took a shower...good thing...because I was just going to wait to see how it progressed. It wasn't a "gush" like you always hear about, but it was just leaking. In fact, I called Angie back and talked to her a little more about it. She thought it was a possibility and told me to walk around the house to see if it progressed any more. About 11:00 that night, Shane and I just decided to get to the hospital to check it out...just in case. Well, by the time we got the car loaded with our bags, the car seat, etc. I could tell it was time. When we got to the hospital, Angie had already called them to let them know I may be coming..what a great friend...and nurse!! They got us checked in and by that time, there was no question my water had broke. Although, I was not having contractions yet so they put me on petocin. About 2:30 in the morning, they got us to the delivery room and got us situated. We tried to get some sleep and talked about calling everyone at 5:00, knowing everyone might be getting up for work and would need some time to call in backups! Looks like tomorrow will be the big day!!!! There are so many emotions going on right now...we're happy, nervous, scared, excited, anxious...all of the above!! We cannot wait to meet you Olivia!!!! This is the last time I will look like this...

Getting Things Ready...

The last few weeks have really gone by way too fast. There is so much to do before your arrival, I feel like I am running out of time very quickly. We have really been working hard the last few weeks to get the final touches done on your room, getting everything organized, getting caught up on work and trying to get prepared for my maternity leave. I feel like there is so much more to be done and I am never going to get it all done! I just recently started working with my backup on the stuff at work, so that is making me feel a little better, but I still have a lot to do. Did I mention there is a lot left to do!!!