Wednesday, March 27, 2013

olivia - 1 week!



so i'm working on olivia's birth story, but for now i want to document that my little girl is already one week old! i snuck up on nonna (josh's mom) today and asked to hold her, because i wanted to be the one holding her on her one week birthday! and sure enough, at 2:33pm, i held her and started crying, because what else have i done every 10 minutes since giving birth to her!? how crazy this week has been. the range of emotions that i have experienced could never really be documented, but suffice it to say that i just cannot believe that one week of my life could fly by so quickly. i want to cherish every moment i have with her, which is hard when you are going on very little sleep, feeling completely exhausted, and feeling pain all over your body!

i don't have a format for this, and there is no way i will do this every week, so i'll just wing it! 

olivia, you are a great sleeper! you generally fall asleep shortly after eating, and you love to sleep in your crib best. this is hard for your momma because you look so tiny in your crib and i can't be right next to you. your dad and i are still trying to figure out what our nights look like, but we are using the video monitor a lot and trying to let you sleep in there since that's where you are happiest. we don't really have a schedule for now, but you like to eat every 2-3 hours, which is good for your momma since she has more milk than she knows what to do with!

at the pediatrician on monday you weighed 7 pounds, 8 ounces, which is exactly one ounce more that you weighed at birth! clearly you are a good eater! the fact that we seem to change your diaper non-stop also suggests this.

you are one strong baby! you were lifting your head a little right after you were born, and you have the strongest arms and legs! you actually do little leg lifts while you sleep, which we feel the effects of when we go to change you and we can barely close the tabs on your diaper because you won't put your legs down! your arms are also very strong and you love to have them up by your face when you nurse. sometimes it is so hard for me to pull them out of the way! lastly, you are already rolling to your side when you sleep! how do you do that!?

you love to cuddle with anyone, but especially your dad. you are seriously one of the cuddliest babies i have ever seen, which makes me so happy. i just love to snuggle you and stare at you after you finish eating and fall asleep. little drops of milk dribble down your chin and you look completely and utterly relaxed. i stare at all of your features and gently stroke your cheek or arm, and think about how i am the luckiest momma in the world. i love you so much it hurts!

of course this first week has been all about just adjusting to life outside the womb for you. we were in the hospital until the 23rd, and then we've been home since then except for venturing to the pediatrician on monday the 25th. nana came down the day before you were born and stayed until monday, and nonna came on sunday and is staying through the week. you love both of your grandmas so much, and of course they are totally smitten with you! how could they not be!? here are a few pictures from your first week!

nana staring at her beautiful granddaughter 

first ride in the car! 

sleeping on your side in your crib

sunning away your mild jaundice 
i need to get daddy's phone and steal some pictures from there! (like your first bath!) 

Tuesday, March 19, 2013

olivia's due date (march 18th)

warning: this is a big paragraph probably full of run-on sentences. read at your own risk.

well, olivia's due date came and i did not wake up in labor as i had hoped. off to the doctor we went for our 9:50 appointment. i had hoped that between all the walking and bouncing i would be dilated at least a couple centimeters, but when they checked they said that nothing had changed from the previous week, meaning that my cervix was soft but that. was. it. ugh. are you serious?! so since it was my due date they did a non-stress test and ultrasound just to check and see how everything was going in there. the ultrasound was first, and after waiting for quite a while we went back for the whole goop on the belly shebang. i was excited to see olivia but didn't really expect much since i've heard at this point babies look pretty blobby anyway. sure enough, she looked pretty blobby. we did get to see her profile and her big foot again, and we were told that she was laying on her left side with her arms and legs to my right (hence the feet i keep feeling in my ribs!). we were also told that olivia seemed to have plenty of amniotic fluid so that what good to hear. after lots of measurements the ultrasound tech told us that she was estimated to be 8 pounds and 15 ounces! WHAT!? are you kidding me? what happened to the right on track - average of 7.5 pounds - baby that we've been expecting all this time!? there had seriously been no mention of a big baby until my due date. josh and i were both shocked. then we got to wait some more before they started the NST - which was pretty boring and went fine. olivia wasn't too active and was certainly nowhere near the breakdancing baby she was a couple weeks prior after my sinus meds hyped her up. more waiting and then it was time to talk to the doctor. he basically said that we had 2 options - wait a week or so and see if my cervix was being more cooperative and risk having a baby close to 10 pounds, or go ahead and induce earlier while she was less large and try to force my forgetful cervix into doing what it is supposed to do. he warned that the process may not work since i'm not dilated at all and the whole two-phase induction might have to be repeated. yikes. i sat there totally overwhelmed having no idea what to say, and our doctor shared that there was really no right answer. he decided to check the on-call schedule at the hospital and said that my doctor (not this guy) was on call wednesday so we could set something up for tuesday night and hopefully my doctor would be the one to deliver her on wednesday. i still felt totally overwhelmed and tears were filling up my eyes. again. we didn't really know what to do, and like the doctor said, there was no right answer. so we just went along with what he said and set up our induction to start tonight. i bawled as soon as we got to the car, feeling so overwhelmed at the thought of being induced the following day (today!). i was irritated that there was no mention of a big baby until my due date, and i was irritated that my cervix was not doing it's job. and i was nervous that the induction wouldn't work and they would have to do it again. or that i'd end up with a c-section. fortunately josh was very supportive, and once he had a bit of time to process what was happening, he became extremely positive (as usual) and excited about meeting our daughter in no time. briana also came over in the afternoon to share her experience with the two-phase induction just a few months prior. she was excited and very reassuring! josh and i celebrated our "last supper" last night at logan's, and i even found olivia a couple of black and white board books that i had been looking for at lifeway where we went to walk around afterwards. i laid awake last night thinking endlessly about everything, but i was able to get some sleep. so that's where we're at. i'm still nervous, but i've spent my day cleaning (more!) and finishing up some last minute items. it is nice to know that i'm leaving my house neat and i have all of the laundry caught up. and i have more than enough time to agonize over exactly what i'm taking to the hospital, even though our bags have pretty much been packed for weeks! my mom is on her way here and will be here shortly, and josh is finishing up work for the remainder of the week. i'm still pretty terrified but there's no turning back now! and i know that ultimately God is in control and we will get to meet our daughter soon! let's do this, olivia!

the last bump pic! 


Monday, March 18, 2013

39 weeks!

happy st. patrick's day! 


what’s new with baby: according to my app, little olivia is just over 7 pounds and about 20 inches long! she's continuing to put on fat and is ready to meet the world! come on baby!!! 

what’s new with mom: mom is feeling quite ginormous these days. i've gone into "let's get this baby out!" mode this week - meaning i've tried eating spicy foods, gone on several walks, and bounced on my exercise ball a lot. so far nothing has worked and i'm getting quite inpatient. don't get me wrong, i'm glad olivia likes it in there, but come on. everything went great at the doctor's on monday - my blood pressure was fine and her heart beat was normal. and my ankles have even returned to their normal size this week! i've continued to nest like crazy - meaning i've re-cleaned stuff i cleaned earlier in my nesting phase and gotten even a little more psycho about what is dirty. at least my house is clean! 

wardrobe:

cravings: hmm... i can't think of anything particular. despite filling up faster i have continued to be quite hungry! 

anything hard? definitely the waiting game at this point. i'm quite the planner by nature and i love to know what's coming up next and have my schedule figured out. you can't really do that with a baby! i had really hoped that i would have gone into labor naturally by this point, even though i know that it's not uncommon to go late, especially when it's your first baby. all day i kept telling olivia that st. patrick's day would be a fun birthday, but she hasn't listened. so that's where i'm at. we'll see what the doctor says in the morning! 

best moment(s) of the week: hmm... this week really hasn't been too eventful. lots of cleaning and organizing and a couple good naps. i was definitely excited to get the nursery all finished up at the beginning of this week! and a had a great time hanging out with friends on saturday and josh and i had a fun little date on friday (which ended with UK losing in the SEC tournament - don't they know olivia has a tiny little UK hat to wear!?). and i got an awesome package in the mail from mindy, who crocheted olivia the most precious blanket and little booties. how talented is she!? i can't wait to see those little booties on olivia! 



Tuesday, March 12, 2013

the nursery reveal

i have to say i'm quite happy with the way olivia's nursery came out. i'm super happy with the color scheme, which was chosen back in november when my mom and i picked out fabric for the quilt i'm working on for olivia. (no, i haven't finished it, but it will be tackled this week if she doesn't come! the top and back are done, i'm just not looking forward to pinning together the "sandwich.")

i think the nursery is definitely for a girl without being GIRLY. there's touches of pink of course, but they are balanced by the neutrals and sage green. and i like that everything came together from a pretty eclectic background - mixes of new (the crib, the curtains, and the chair we got as a GREAT store closing deal), consignment store (the dresser which our friend zach refinished, the lamp, the book shelf, and the small table by the chair), homemade (the bedskirt and pillow made by my mom, the birds painted on the wall by me, the bird painting by me, and the paper mobile made by me), and vintage (the quilt squares above the crib which were originally in a quilt top that was started but never finished by my grandma's neighbor back in the day).

i really should have taken some before and after pics because the nursery was a hot mess back around christmas. oh well. without further ado...





of course there's stuff that will change or be added (i have other ideas that have yet to come to fruition), but as of right now i like that it has enough without being too crazy. if olivia is anything like me she'll have 8 bazillion collections in a few years anyway. i hope she likes her room! 

Monday, March 11, 2013

37 & 38 weeks!


what’s new with baby: baby girl is cooked. she needs to get out. okay, in reality she's about 6.8 pounds and 19 and 1/2 inches long. but seriously, she's ready. or i'm ready and she's nice and cozy in there. 

what’s new with mom: mom is pooped. i've been nesting endlessly, finishing up training for my job, and fighting a sinus infection for over a week. i started feeling crappy half way through my 37th week, and it seriously has continued for a week and a half. it is better, but i'm still blowing my nose. last weekend (my birthday weekend!) i barely left the couch. it was awful. ugh. so that was fun. and 2 days this past week were spent in training all. day. long. all day long and an hour and a half away. all day long and an hour and a half away and blowing my nose. okay i'm done. my ankles have been swelling on and off the past couple weeks which has been bothering me, but the doctor says everything is okay. at my 37 week appointment my blood pressure was a little high so i was nervous about that, but the doctor assured me it was fine, and then at my 38 week appointment (on my birthday - i made josh go to this one!) olivia's heart rate was super fast, but after sitting on a monitor for 20 minutes the doctor assured me that that too, was fine. she was just really active and i had taken some sinus medicine so that could have hyped her up. so really everything is going pretty well, even if i am uncomfortable and whiny and so ready for olivia to come out! 

wardrobe: 

cravings: nothing in particular or out of the ordinary. probably more sweets and stuff i shouldn't really eat. i finally spotted some girl scouts yesterday and ended up getting 3 boxes of cookies. yum. sadly you don't get very many in a $4 box! 

anything hard? definitely not feeling well has made these couple weeks rough. and i am uncomfortable and worn out. it is very difficult to rest with this nesting instinct! it's amazing what's dirty when you're nesting! after 2 exhausting days of training i thought i would rest but i ended up dusting and vacuuming the whole apartment and organizing a bunch of stuff. and a couple days ago i found myself randomly cleaning the inside and outside of my garbage can. and i've been finding uses for all of the attachments on my vacuum all over the house! ugh. i guess i am getting a lot accomplished though! in all seriousness, it seems that things are going well and olivia is quite happy in there. 

best moment(s) of the week: hmm... despite not feeling well, i did enjoy a yummy thai dinner with friends for my birthday, and a prenatal massage and a yummy pizza date with josh on my actual birthday! that massage was quite wonderful. i had been holding onto a massage envy gift card for over a year, and while i'm not quite sure why it took me so long to use it, i'm glad i had it when i've been quite uncomfortable. (i didn't mention it - but i can barely sleep past 5 without having to get up and move to the couch so i can sit with the heating pad on my back!) 

time to come out and meet the world, olivia! :)