Father's Day 2012

Josh celebrated his first Father's Day as the daddy of two beautiful little girls! First, we dedicated Olivia to the church. It was a special celebration and we are so very thankful for our church.


Josh and Olivia after she was dedicated.

After church, Julianna gave Josh his Father's Day gifts. A bottle of cologne from mommy, a picture plaque from all 3 of us, and an art creation by Julianna. He loved all of his gifts!

Josh continued his Father's Day by going to a Greensboro Grasshoppers baseball game with my dad, my brother, and my brother's two little boys. Josh brought home a souvenir hat for Julianna.



Happy Father's Day to a wonderful husband and a fabulous father!

Olivia- 4 weeks old

Our Olivia is 4 weeks old. She's still eating about every 2 hours during the day but in the past few nights, she's been going at least 3 hours between feedings. She's sleeping in her swing for the most part and I have a nice spot for "sleeping" on the couch. One of my biggest mommy worries with having a toddler and a newborn is that one will wake the other and I'll have 2 non-sleeping, fussy children. Thankfully, Julianna has only woken up during the night twice in the past 4 weeks.

Olivia- 3 weeks old

Olivia is 3 weeks old. This past Sunday, she went to church for the 2nd time. But church was super special this time. It was at the park. It was so nice to enjoy church outside and the weather was just perfect.

I took Olivia to the doctor for a checkup this week. Our sweet girl already weighs 9 lbs. 1 oz.! She was 7 lbs. 11 oz. at birth and she's exclusively breastfed so I'm so really happy that she's gaining weight so well. She's definitely our little piggy! She still wakes up about every 2 hours to eat and spends most of the day/night sleeping, eating, or pooping. She's started cooing a little this week and it sound so sweet.

Happy 3 Weeks, Olivia Grace!

Olivia's Birth Story

The day before Olivia was born, 40 weeks 2 days.

On the morning of May 16 (40 weeks and 3 days), I couldn't sleep. I was awake at 3 am. I was so uncomfortable. I started having contractions that were about 10 minutes apart. By 6 am, they were about 5-7 minutes apart. I called the doctor's office after hours line and the nurse recommended that I head to the hospital. My contractions weren't strong or painful, just uncomfortable but the main reason she wanted me to go was because I had group B strep so I would need to get antibiotics into my body before I would be able to deliver. The nurse wanted to be safe since I was 3-4 centimeters dilated the day before.

Josh being silly in our first room before being admitted.

Josh's mom came over to stay with Julianna and we headed to the hospital. I was checked right away. I hadn't made any progress since the day before and the contractions were very sporadic, sometimes 10 minutes apart and sometimes 5 minutes apart. My doctor was already at the hospital and she told me to get breakfast and walk around the hospital for a couple of hours. So we did just that. We walked and we walked and we walked. I even had a delicious pink, strawberry flavored waffle from the hospital cafeteria. After 2 hours had passed, I went back to be checked again, no progress. But the doctor thought I would make progress if my water was broken so she went ahead and admitted me to the hospital. At that point, we knew we were going to leave the hospital with a baby girl!

A cute bench we found on our hospital walk.

I was in my labor and delivery room by 1pm. It felt like it took forever to get there. We had to wait awhile because all of the rooms were either occupied or getting ready to be cleaned. Lots of babies were ready to come into the world that day!

Settled in my room.

So the picture above is when I was all settled into my labor and delivery room. My sweet nurse got me some crackers and jello because I was so hungry.

My doctor and I after she broke my water.

The doctor broke my water about an hour and half later. I started having a few more contractions but nothing really painful (notice my smile in the picture above) and the contractions still weren't helping me make any progress as far as dilation goes. I took a nap and then around 5:30 pm, my doctor decided to give me pitocin. I wasn't happy about getting pitocin- it wasn't in my birth plan but my doctor believed it was the best option so we went ahead with it.

The evil pitocin.

The pitocin was evil but it did the trick. Within 15 minutes of getting it, I was contracting every 2 minutes. Crazy, painful contractions. Every 2 minutes for the most part but occasionally they were coming every minute. I was by myself when this happened. Josh stepped out to get some dinner. I have a pretty good pain tolerance but not when it comes to pitocin. My pain was unbearable and I was in tears. I asked for the epidural about an hour after I got the pitocin. There was no need to suffer. I needed the strength to push later and I wasn't going to have the energy to push if I had to fight this nasty contractions.

My little Olivia with my doctor.

Once I got the epidural (around 7pm) everything progressed REALLY fast. I was 4-5 cm around 7pm but by 8:30 pm, I was fully dialated at 10 cm! I started pushing right away. It was much harder pushing this time compared with Julianna. I thought I was going to pass out so I had to get some oxygen. Josh helped me so much. He counted for me and held my hand. I couldn't have done it without him there beside me. After 30 minutes of pushing, the doctor was concerned because Olivia was stuck. She said we can either do a c-section or I can suction her out. Of course, we went with the suction and on the next push, she was here! The cord was wrapped around her neck and it was preventing her from coming out.

Holding Olivia for the first time.

Seeing her for the first time was priceless. Such a beautiful moment. All of the pain, so worth it. She's worth it. Olivia was 7 lbs. 11 oz. (much bigger than we ever would have guessed) and 20.5 inches. She shares a birthday with her uncle Adam, as well as a cute dimple in her chin. Welcome to the world, sweet Olivia Grace!

Our first family photo as a family of 4.

Two is too much fun!

Julianna is learning and enjoying life more than ever right now. She's become even more verbal since her baby sister arrived. It's so much fun listening to her talk and express herself. She's picking up on everything! She enjoys singing her ABC's (leaving out letters here and there), counting 1, 2, 3, and 8, and 10, and she particularly loves the color yellow- when you ask her what color something is she always shouts yellow.

On Memorial Day, we setup her little pool in the front yard, as well as her UV protection tent. We didn't plan on letting her play outside until after naptime but when she saw the pool in the morning, she went in with all of her clothes on. After naptime, she revisited the pool in proper attire.

Olivia- 2 weeks old

Miss Olivia turned 2 weeks old this week. She's growing oh-so-fast and getting even prettier everyday. Her skin is much less yellow now so that's great. I believe the jaundice is pretty much out of her system. Her umbilical cord stump fell off this week too so she was able to take her first real bath in her bathtub. Tubby baths have been going much more smoothly- she did not enjoy sponge baths at all. Julianna has been such a big helper, especially with bathtime. Olivia is still nursing very well and stills enjoyed eating about every 2 hours - which equals one tired momma but it's all worth it!

2 Weeks Old