Olive's 1 Month Birthday

I can't believe it has already been 1 month since Olive was born. I can't believe my baby is one month old! I can't believe I survived child birth. I can't believe I survived the aftermath of childbirth. Really though nothing can prepare you. I definitely wasn't prepared for how hard the recovery part was afterward, and I had it pretty easy. I also wasn't prepared for the painful experience of breastfeeding and how frustrating it can be at times. I survived though....well I'm still trying to survive and somehow I think I might make it, this calls for a celebration if you ask me. I have finally felt more like myself the last week. The hormones have made me pretty wacky, or just a witch, take your pick. Poor Glen. Like I said we are surviving, well I guess I can't speak for Glen.

Olive is one month old HOORAY! 

Olive weighs 10 pounds exactly. She has started to smile, no I mean it, she really smiles, she's not just pooping. She loves to eat, sleep and poop, pretty much the basics of being a baby. She loves her swing, sleeping with her parents in the early morning, snuggling, and being held. She loves when people sing to her and she really smiles when someone is in a intense discussion or talking passionately. She really hates books, I try to read to her and she screams, I'm trying not to be worried and am hoping in the near future she will start enjoying them. She also hates tummy time, being poopy, and when people are paying attention to their phones instead of her...okay that last one is more one of her mothers pet peeves but we'll pretend Olive and I are a lot alike.

We have absolutely loved almost every minute of parenting this little diva. I say almost every moment because I'd be lying if I said I enjoy my precious sleep being disturbed. It really is hard work on everyones part trying to raise a diva. Olive is our joy and I can't imagine life without her. Somehow she makes us feel complete. Our family has grown to three and I can't remember what It was like when it was only two of us (actually I can remember but I try not too cause I miss being able to be spontaneous) Really though we love our little Olive and she has changed our lives in so many beautiful ways. I love waking up and seeing her sleeping in her bed next to us. I love hearing her coos and I even love when she does her squeals to let us know that she needs attention. She's such a good natured baby. We are truly blessed and have so much to be grateful for. I don't know how life could get much sweeter. I don't know what we did to deserve such a perfect little person.

Here's her 1 month collage...just so you know we hardly take any pictures of her...just kidding, this is probably 1/3 of the pictures we have, I'm obsessed with her. I'm basically like one of those crazy cat lady's that take a million pictures of their cats but Olive is my cat. Enjoy.

Olive's Visitors

When they brought Olive into me the next morning after her birth I couldn't believe how pretty she looked! Not like she was ugly that night but she was swollen and pretty dirty. They brought her in with a Christmas bow and she had had a bath ( I was basically unconscious with exhaustion when that happened) That day we had lots of visitors!
We loved our hospital. I delivered at Logan Regional Hospital and the nurses and staff were AMAZING! We wished we could stay there longer, with the baby in the nursery at night and the room service :) not really but our stay was really wonderful. We had so many of our favorite people come and see us while we were there, and they helped us celebrate our new Olive Rose!

 

Grandma Trina and Papa Dave

Grandma loves her Olive.

Dad loves his little girl so much!

Glen always looks at Olive with pure love and joy! I LOVE IT!

Aunt Camille

Grandma Nae, Aunt Katee and Uncle Koy

One eyed Olive

Aunt Katee

Uncle Koy

Grandma Lori

Grandma and Grandpa Bennion

Going home! Even Olive is happy about it! (she's smiling!)

We're going home!

Mother Baby room 5 is where it's at!

The beautiful hospital.

Olive's Birth Story

As many of you read on my previous blog post I was having a lot of false labor. People kept telling me, "You'll know when labor is really here." They were right. Christmas Eve we went to Glen's sisters house to spend time with family. They only live 50 minutes from Logan and we didn't want to be at our apartment alone on Christmas. After spending a wonderful day in Salt Lake, Red Iguana and City Creek of course, I started having a few contractions that were quite a bit more painful throughout the day. We went back to Danielle's house (Glen's sister) and spent the night together drinking dirty Dr. Peppers and eating a whole lot of food that is really bad for us. I stayed up late to help Danielle finish wrapping Christmas and about 1:00 am we finished up and went to bed with the magic of all the presents under the tree. When I went to lay down for the night I started having really strong contractions, REAL LABOR, It was definitely here and the false labor I thought was real labor seemed a little amateur compared to this. I thought I would let Glen sleep because he was fighting off a bad cold, and I tried to sleep...that didn't work. My phone was out of battery so I had no idea what time it was. I went downstairs and woke up Renae (Glen's mom, she's the bomb) She got me a phone charger and I went upstairs and started timing my contractions. They were definitely coming but they weren't consistent. We woke up Christmas morning and opened presents, and lounged. I was uncomfortable and I was pretty exhausted as I had been up all night. We didn't want to head back to Logan until they got consistently 5 minutes apart.

Around 4:30 pm they got consistently 7 minutes apart so we decided we better head back to Logan and we made the decision that we would go to the hospital and get checked to see how progressed I was so that both the moms could make plans to come to Logan that night or just wait until the morning. By the time we got to Logan my contractions were 5 minutes apart and getting stronger. We packed our hospital bags, just in case we needed to stay, and then drove to the hospital. We had planned to go through the birthing experience without medication so we wanted to labor at our home as long as possible rather than in the hospital. We went to the hospital and the nurse checked me, dilated to a 2 almost a 3 and 95% effaced...while we were at the hospital my contractions changed, I started to get a little freaked out because I was only at a 2 and they were really painful, I could barely walk through them. I like to think that I was still in control and that I was breathing through the contractions. This was 8:30pm We decided that we better go home, I was starving and wanted to get in a warm bath because the hospital room was freezing. We drove home. By the time we got home (4 minutes later) my contractions were 3 minutes apart and lasting 1 1/2 minutes. I got in the bath and tried to brave this terrible labor thing, really it's terrible. I lasted in the bath for about an hour and a half but it felt like eternity. At this point I can't count how many times I told Glen that I was dying, or at least close to death. This was about 9:33 pm. Contractions were 1 1/2 minutes apart lasting 1 1/2 minutes at this point I'm convinced that this is how woman die in child birth. I wasn't in control.

Now this is were all our plans changed. I made a HUGE mistake, I hadn't eaten or drank anything since I had started into labor. I got so caught up in the excitement and I felt nauseous so I didn't eat or drink anything. Meanwhile I'm  moaning and rolling around in the bath tub and I told Glen that the grandma's better come tonight cause this baby was coming whether we wanted her to or not and then I probably added a few moans and told him once again I was dying. I decided to get out of the bath, when I got out I passed out right on the bathroom floor. Looking back now we know that I was really dehydrated. Glen decided we better go back to the hospital because my color was really bad and he was getting a little worried. At 10:30 We got to the hospital. I passed out at the nurses station again, they gave me 2 bags of fluids and some pain medication to see if I still wanted to go without an epidural. I was dilated to a 3 and 100% effaced. I told Glen that I couldn't do it and that I wanted the epidural, I was seriously so weak and delusional. The best thing I saw that night, besides my child of course, was the anesthesiologist walk in the door to give me the epidural.  They gave me the epidural. My doctor told me he would probably be seeing me in the morning about 4 or 5 am to push. I slept for about half an hour and the nurse came back in to check me and she goes "Oh my, you're at a 10 and ready to push!" And at this time Christmas was officially over because I remember looking at the clock and it was 1:07 and I thought, "Wow she missed Christmas by an hour!" She told me she would be back in an hour to push. She left the room and I still had a lot of feeling even with my epidural, I told Glen I needed to push "RIGHT NOW!" The nurse came back in and my mom had just barely got there. I started pushing. Once it got to the point where they wanted to call the doctor to come in and deliver the little babe I started throwing up, yes, totally disgusting but throwing up is one of the most efficient ways to push a baby out. Throwing up got more done in 30 seconds then I had done in the last 45 minutes. The nurse was holding the baby's head and telling me that I needed to wait 5 minutes for the doctor. Well it hurt really bad but the doctor got there and in just a few short pushes later that little Olive Rose was out and I had sweet relief. She was born 2:14 am 12/26/2013.

Having a baby is magical. Magical is the only word I have to describe the whole process. Magic that something that large can come out of an area so small, magic that the babies are healthy and strong, magic that our body's can endure such brutality, and the feeling you get when you hold that little baby is, well, magical.

When everything was said and done I don't regret anything. Sure our plans and birth experience didn't turn out the way we thought they would. I didn't go "natural" and looking back I don't know physically if I was strong enough. I was very dehydrated, hadn't slept in 24 hours and I was so exhausted and weak that all I have to say is thank the Lord for modern medicine. Am I disappointed in myself? Hell no. I gave the toughest fight I had in me! For 24 hours I endured labor, and that was long enough for me. Will I try to go natural in the future, I don't know because Olive might be our only child after this, just kidding. I think in the future I now have a realistic expectation of what the pain is really like and so that going without medication would be more realistic...for those of you who can do that whole natural thing, you go girls, I'd rather have shards of glass in my eyes. And don't even get me started on breastfeeding. I'm doing it for my child but no one prepares you...and somehow it's all worth it in the end.

Here's some pictures of our experience!

 Olive Rose born at 2:14am 12/26/2013

 Dad cutting the umbilical chord

 Mom holding Olive for the first time

 7 lbs. 12 oz. 20'' long, almost flung herself off the scale with all the flailing!

I'm posting this so you can see the aftermath of childbirth. It is no joke.

Baby is being Tricky

If you asked me I would tell you that I've been in labor 5 different times! But alas this "false labor" thing really is starting to get me a little frustrated. Just when I think things will kick into gear and the baby will be on her way I'm wrong. The labor stops and no baby comes of it.

Friday December 20- Felt pretty regular contractions while out shopping at Costco with Mom, Dad and Glen. They were coming a lot and were strong and lasting a decent amount but they were not consistent. I went home and went to bed and they stopped.

Saturday December 21- Woke up with contractions again, I was excited thinking that they were good! They weren't painful though so I knew that was a problem. Had them on and off all day. They got stronger that night when I was out shopping with Mom, Dad and Glen. Ate at J-Dawgs (good thing to eat when you think you're in labor huh?) We went home, I sat in the hot tub for about 2 hours. Went to bed and didn't sleep. My contractions would wake me up, uncomfortable but not painful.

Sunday December 22- Decided at 4:00 am it was useless to lie in bed when I wasn't sleeping anyways. I got up and went downstairs (we were at my parents house) I sat around on the couch and about 6;00 am I fell asleep and about 7:30 my mom and dad were up. My Dad went to meetings and My mom and I went on a walk out to Neal's grave to see if It would help get my labor started. We turned back because I thought I was going to go to the bathroom in my pants! By the time we were done with the walk I was having way strong contractions (still not painful) Went to church and I was still having them. We went back to my parents house after sacrament meeting, and the snow was coming down quite a lot and we decided we should head back to Logan, by the time we got there I was having no contractions. Glen and I went and shoveled snow for 45 minutes seeing if that would help get things moving....nothing. Camille and DJ came over and we played games until 1:00 am. Went to bed.

Monday December 23- Slept like a freaking baby. No contractions in the night.Woke up and stayed pretty busy all morning. Went out shopping around noon to stay on my feet. Had my doctors appointment at 2:30 and was looking forward to seeing if I had progressed. Hadn't progressed, he stripped my membranes. We went to the mall and I started having contractions that were actually somewhat painful. We came home after four and a half hours of fake shopping. My contractions got less frequent, still a little painful but not bad. We are bummed. We decided to open presents early because at this rate we will probably be in the hospital on Christmas. I love Glen, he has good taste and I love all my presents! The contractions aren't getting harder or more painful, they're not getting more frequent or consistent. We are just waiting...

5 Years

December 22, 2008 was one of the worst days of my life. The day I lost my brother, Neal, in a car accident. This year marks the fifth anniversary of his passing. Although the last five years have been some of the toughest I've faced they have also been filled with so many joyful changes. This past year has been filled with good things and feels as though 2014 is going to be a new start. I feel like 2013 was a huge healing year and that the rut it felt like we were in is starting to be filled with happy things. Things are happier. Although we will never be completely how we were before the accident we can still enjoy life to it's fullest.

Saturday December 21, 2013 

We went out and decorated Neal's grave. We always decorate the pine tree nearby, although the tree isn't the best looking one, it's always nice to have a little Christmas tree nearby. We brought a wreath and some other little goodies. We spent some time there, mostly watching Glen and Emma have a snow fight. I've never been much of the person to get a lot of comfort at the grave site but it's nice to know that his headstone is decorated and ready for Christmas!

 Dad decorating the ugly pine tree :)

Sunday December 22, 2013

I was up all night having false labor. I didn't sleep much. We cried a little and talked about that day five years ago. It was strange because the sky and the snow was falling this day exactly how it was the day Neal was killed.. My mom and I decided to go out for a walk to see if we could get my labor moving a little bit more. We got on warm clothes and went out for a walk, except we should've brought our ice skates because it was SO icy, mom took a nice fall and we laughed until it hurt. We came back and got ready for church because Dad was speaking in their ward. He did such a wonderful job on his talk and made us all cry. We had big plans to make a bunch of goodies and go caroling to some of the elderly people we love. It was pretty stormy and I was still having frequent contractions so we decided to head back up to Logan.  I was hoping that maybe the baby would come so that we would have a reason to celebrate rather than be sad, but it wasn't in the stars because no baby has made an appearance yet!

Mom and I on our morning walk!

Weekly Visits and How to Raise a Horrible Child

We're down to weekly visits with the OBGYN. We went in Monday afternoon and I'm dilated to a 1 and her head is right where it's supposed to be for labor so It literally could be any day....hopefully sooner than later. With all these storms rolling in you never know! People say babies come when there is bad weather. Also enjoy this little article on How to Raise a Loser:

 If a parent wants to raise a child who is self-centered, uncaring, unable to take care of himself and most likely to fail as an adult, just do the following:

1. Give the child everything he wants, let him do whatever he wants whenever he wants but, only after you have first said no and he has whined or thrown a temper tantrum on the ground with kicking and screaming.

2. Whenever your child is accused of wrongdoing, refuse to believe it; accuse others of picking on him, find excuses and defend him at all costs.

3. Don't give him responsibilities. Do everything for him, even wipe his butt, blow his nose, and feed him. This way he'll expect the world owes him everything.

4. Don't worry about promises or commitments to others. Whenever you or your child change your mind, that's okay because it's not your problem.

5. Let him stay out at night as long as he wishes, and don't concern yourself with what he's doing. Trust that he's learning to take care of himself.

6. Fight with your spouse regularly, especially in the presence of your child. Then get a divorce and blame your child for the divorce.

7. Blame your child for everything including your problems.

8. Become a habitual abuser of alcohol, use illegal drugs, preferably cocaine, and refuse to practice common etiquette in your child’s presence.

9. Complain regularly in your child's presence about how unfair life is, how untrustworthy people are, and how people who are racially or ethnically different are the cause of all problems in this world.

10. Never admit to your child that you are wrong, never apologize for a mistake.

11. Never take time to listen to your child or take his wishes into account.

12. Never tell your child that you love him. This way he'll be more prepared for a rough and tumble world, a “dog eat dog world” where only the strong survive.

13. Teach him it's okay to do whatever as long as he avoids being caught.

14. Always compare him with his brothers and sisters and say to him often “Why can't you be like your brother?” and show obvious favoritism towards the other siblings.

15. Raise your child in a chaotic, unorganized home where little or no routine so his life will be filled with uncertainties and inconsistencies.

16. Physically or sexually abuse your child. This way he will grow up hurt and angry, more likely to abuse others, especially his own children.  

"Plans"

It's midnight and Glen has already been asleep for close to two hours. I laid there in bed with him until he started to breathe really heavy and I was positive he was sound asleep. Then I snuck out quietly and into the front living room where our computer sits. I have too much on my mind to go to sleep right now, and the baby is kicking so hard and moving around so much that It adds to my restlessness. These nights are becoming quite frequent.

Just a little over 8 months ago I found out I was pregnant. I remember telling Glen for over a week that I thought I was pregnant and he kept telling me that I was overreacting and that I needed to give it time. Finally I told him that he needed to go pick up a pregnancy test because I just knew it. He did. I took it. It was positive. We hugged. We cried. We cried because this was not in our "plans". I guess plans change though. It feels like just yesterday that we were hugging and crying and talking about how not ready we were. But it's okay. Eight months down the road and a lot of those feelings have changed. Don't get me wrong, I'm still scared as hell and don't know what we got ourselves into but I can't wait to meet this little baby. I'm trying to be patient and not want to rush her, she will come when she's ready but, I wish she would come out soon! It sounds nice to be able to paint my own toes again and tie my shoes and be able to breathe again. I'm going to be patient and then hopefully she will come in a timely manner.

Our plans have changed. In some ways they've changed in good ways and in other ways it seems like now are plans are inconvenient. Glen is graduating at the end of this month which is way exciting. I was hoping that I could apply this winter for a year LPN program but that's not realistic with a little baby that needs me. So the LPN and RN business is on hold but I will finish it. Glen and I have both been working, Glen full time and me part time, but now with a baby finances will be a little tight because I won't be able to work. So we're moving down to my parents house to live in the little apartment home in the basement. This was the only thing that seemed realistic, especially since we have to move to Med School this summer and we need to get a good chunk of money in our savings to help cushion the costs. Some people might think we're crazy for moving in with them with a brand new little baby but my parents are so helpful that I think they're going to end up being our saviors! If you were to ask me 9 months ago what the plans were, they would not be this. We would stay in Logan for another year, I would do my LPN, then we would move to Med School and then maybe we would have a baby 5 years down the road. Plans change.

I can't help but think of how good our plans are going to be once we get a baby. It seems like our lives are going to get so crazy and hectic but they're also going to be filled with a lot of fun. Plus I think it will be nice to have a little partner while Glen's in Med School so that I don't get too lonely. I get excited when I think about Glen being a dad. He's going to be the best dad. He gave a talk last week in Sunday and I couldn't stop smiling while he was talking. He's so handsome and such a good public speaker. He told lots of stories, scriptural and personal, and I realized how lucky I am. You know when something just hits you all of the sudden you step back and realize how grateful or blessed you are? Well I guess last Sunday I had one of those moments and I realized how lucky, blessed, and grateful I am for Glen. I think because of him i've survived these past 8 months and I don't know if any other man in their right man could've survived the wrath of me. The crying, yelling, and complaining probably would push any sane person over the edge, yet Glen is always there calm and collected ready to listen or run to the store, or listen to me while I complain about school, work or whatever I decided I didn't agree with or like that day. He's a saint.

Well it's late and I probably should be writing my 5 page paper instead of a 5 page blog post, plus this computer chair is giving me an ulcer it's so uncomfortable. Until next time. Who knows maybe the next blog post will be about my birthing experience (may the good lord help me) any day now, any day.