Playing Catch up!

I feel like all of my readers have missed out on so much since I just recently found my love of blogging!  So, my next few posts may be playing a little catch up.  I'd like to share some of our experiences of being new parents!

32 wks. by Whitney Hall

Leaving for the hospital

To start with, pregnancy was not easy!  I had looked forward to being pregnant for quite some time!  I would say, "I can't wait to be fat and be able to set a cup on my belly!!"  Yes, I actually said that.  A LOT!  However, from the very beginning I was very sick!  I lost 9lbs my first month (when I didn't even know I was pregnant yet!) and only gained about 6lbs as of my 5th month!  It was looking as if I wouldn't gain very much weight at all, and then all of a sudden, month 7 came along!  I craved Krispy Kreme Donuts, and conveniently (or inconveniently as it turned out) I passed by it every morning on my way to work!  I started off stopping and getting one chocolate donut and bottle of whole milk.  Then, after about a week, I started getting 2 chocolate donuts, 1 glazed donut (because they were hot!) and a glass of whole milk!  And yes, I ate all of this at one setting, 4 days a week!  So consequently, when I went to the doctor for my check up, he scolded me for gaining 11lbs that month!  Then told me since I hadn't gained much weight to date, that it wasn't that bad, but that I didn't need to let this happen again.  So I didn't have another 11lb month.  I proceeded to have a 12lb month!  Then the following month I went every weeks and gained about 6-7lbs at both of those visits.  Over all, I ended up gaining 46lbs!  The day before I delivered Olivia I weighed 194lbs!  

Olivia Grace 9lbs 4oz

Olivia was due on 9-7-10; And because of how big she measured on the ultrasounds I had had, my doctor wasn't to keen on the idea of me going much past my due date, which I was very thankful for!  However, a c-section was NOT in my birth plan!  I wanted to go into labor on my own, at home, let my water break, at HOME, and then go to the hospital, get my epidural, and push push push!  I had seen my sister give birth to my 2 nephews and I knew she survived so it really couldn't be THAT bad!  However, as we got closer and closer to my due date, I didn't dilate, ephase, nothin'!  Not even the slightest bit!  On 9-6-10 (Labor Day!) I started having contractions!  They were a little sporadic at first, but then started getting a little more closer together and lasting a little longer.  So, in my hopeful state, we went to the doctor on the 7th (my due date) in hopes that I had progressed!  Turns out, I still hadn't done anything and they sent me home.  At this point I was willing to let them induce me if I was "inducible" as my doctor called it, but without progressing at all, it wasn't looking like it was an option.  I continued to have contractions every 10-15 minutes for the next 3 days!  Yes, 3!  And when I went back to the doctor on the 9th, I still had not progressed at all!  Still no dilation, no thinning, nada!  So, we did an ultrasound and Olivia was measuring 9lbs 12oz!  So my doctor started talking c-section.  This was the ONE thing that I absolutely did not want!  He was worried about shoulder distosia (having to break her clavical to get her out) if he tried to induce me and told me that in my present state, an induction could leave me with at least 24 hours of labor.  The long labor part was scary, but I was willing to go through with it.  However, the idea of having to hurt my sweet little girl because of my selfishness of not wanting a c-section didn't sit well with me at all.  He proceeded to tell me if I was his daughter, a c-section would be the only option!  So, we scheduled the c-section for the following morning and the crying began!  I started crying there in the office, cried the whole time I was getting pre admitted, and continued to cry even after Olivia was born!

Although at that point they were happy tears!  The c-section was not at all as bad as I had expected, even though I did have a few complications.  And the end result was the same!  The worst part was not being able to get out of the bed to change her diapers and dress her, but it gave Aaron lots of practice!

Olivia has been the best baby in the world!  And I honestly believe that!  She immediately slept through the night, and by 5 weeks old was sleeping a solid 8 hours every night in her crib!  By about 9 weeks she was sleeping 10 hours in her crib, and since she was 12 weeks she has slept 12 hours every night!  It's amazing!  She never cries, unless she is hungry or if she has been held too much.  Every now and then she has a fussy day, but it's very rare.  My mother likes to joke that I don't deserve such a good baby!  I nursed her for 3 months, until I went back to work.  I tried to pump while at work, but just wasn't able to get enough milk.  Nursing was very easy for me, it was just very tiring.  It takes a lot out of you creating enough milk for a 10-12lb baby!  So we started supplementing one bottle a day when she was 6 weeks old and by 14 weeks she was solely on formula.  I feel like I gave her a very good start and coincidentally she has only been sick once!  And it only lasted about 8 hours :) 

I really don't feel Aaron and I got the "parents of a newborn" experience that everyone talks about.  However, trust me, I'm not complaining!  She has been such a joy and is the absolute love of my life!  She laughs and giggles non-stop and smiles every time I look at her!  I can't wait to see what a beautiful little girl she is going to grow up to be!  And being as perfect as she has been, it really makes Aaron and I question having a second one!  Although, because she has been so much fun, I kinda would like a whole house full!  Currently I'm thinking 4 :)  Although Aaron is thinking I have lost my mind!  I did hate being pregnant!  And I was very fat, hormonal, and extremely uncomfortable!  But the end result makes it totally worth it!  So, maybe in the next year or two we will consider growing our little family!

God has truly blessed my life with a wonderful husband and beautiful daughter and I don't think I thank him enough for his many blessings!  I'm so anxious to see where he takes us in the future, but am thoroughly enjoying where we are at now! 

I'm a Blogger!

So I started out blogging close to a month ago with my "semi-vegan diet challenge" and soon learned that I really enjoy blogging!  I wish I had realized this when I was pregnant because it would have been nice to have been  able to keep up with the memories this way!  However, when baby #2 comes along, you can rest assured that there will be lots of blogging going on!

I love that by blogging I can keep people up to date on what is going on in our lives and what we experience from day to day as working professionals, new parents, and best friends.  I know Aaron isn't really into all of this (as he admitted to me today that he hasn't read a single one of my blogs so far!) so you won't be hearing from him through all of this; but maybe one day I can convince him this is an okay thing!

Olivia's first time in the snow :)

So, here is a little of what is going on with us currently.  Olivia will be six months old next week (March 10th) and is wearing size 12 months!  I can't believe how big my little baby is getting!  I almost had a meltdown today in The Children's Place because I went to the area where I normally find her clothes and realized she didn't fit in the "baby" clothes anymore!  She is very mobile now!  She can roll anywhere she wants to go!  She loves to jump and to dance and is looking more and more like me every day!  Although some of her facial expressions remind me of Aaron.  She started saying "mama" about a month ago and I was absolutely thrilled!  However, she recently started saying "dada" and has now almost completely dismissed "mama" from her vocabulary!  Every now and then she will say it (usually when she is mad) but for the most part everything is "dada!"  And of course her Dada is thrilled!

I have worked for TN Retina for going on three years, and although have had some trying times here and there, have thoroughly enjoyed my experience here!  I work with some great people and some WONDERFUL doctors!  A while back I had given my resume to my childhood optometrist in hopes that he might have a position open.  However, he didn't, and I worked out with my boss that I would no longer have to travel.  I was pregnant and very sick!  And traveling in a car 3-4 days a week was not an option for me.  And neither was 9-11 hour days.  So, I took a job doing the doctor's paperwork and helping in clinic when needed at the main office.  When I returned from maternity leave, I decided to work part time and had arranged with my boss to work at the satellite offices close to home and not have to travel anywhere other than the Nashville office until Olivia was older.  However, I found myself constantly being asked to work at our Nashville office and never really got to work close to home as I had hoped.  So, since I was working in Nashville anyway, I decided to apply for a position in our study department that had just recently been posted.  It would be four days a week with very flexible hours and a consistent schedule, which is what I had been longing for for quite some time.  On Valentine's Day I received the news that I had been offered the job and could start training the following week!  I was ecstatic!

Valentine's night, however, came with even better news!  I had just got off the phone with my mother telling her how excited I was to try out this new position with TN Retina, when all of a sudden I received a call from an unknown number.  I normally don't answer calls from people I don't know, but since I have my number listed as the RSVP number for a shower I am hosting here soon, I felt it was best to answer it.  Soon after I answered it I was greeted by my childhood optometrist asking me if I would be interested in a position he has available!  He told me he knew it had been quite some time since I had given him my resume but he just recently had the position open up and would love to talk to me about it!  I was so excited I could hardly even concentrate on our conversation!!!  I have known him since I was in second grade and he is the main reason I decided to go into this field.  I always had such a lovely experience as a patient at his office!  I didn't think I could cut nursing school, so I thought becoming an ophthalmic technician would be a good fit for me!  And sure enough, it was!  And now I am talking with him on the phone about a job opportunity and it seems as if my career has finally come full circle!  We talked about some of the job duties and he explained it would be quite different from what I am currently doing and wanted to know if I would be okay with that.  I ended up interviewing the next day and explained to him my predicament at my current job.  He understood my situation and told me he would be in touch.  Sure enough, I received a call that week from him saying he would like to officially offer me the job but that if I needed a day or two to think about it that would be okay.  So I talked with my family about it, prayed about it, and came to the conclusion the following day as I was sitting in traffic trying to get to work, that this was the best thing for myself and my family!

Jayme and I at the TNR Christmas party 2010

It is a bitter sweet goodbye that I must leave TN Retina this coming Wednesday, March 2nd.  I have learned so much in my time here and have grown tremendously not only as a technician but as a person.  The relationships I have made here mean the world to me and I will truly miss seeing my co-workers!  However, I am so excited to be taking a job five minutes from my house (literally!) where I can come home and eat lunch with my sweet girl and husband.  Never again will I have to get up at 4:00 a.m. so that I can be at work in Nashville at 6:15.  I can't even begin to comprehend how much of a difference this is going to make!  My time with Olivia will such better quality because I won't be exhausted from sitting in traffic for two hours on my way home!  I can not wait to make new relationships at my new job and see what this opportunity has in store for me!  And Aaron is so grateful that he will not have to stress every time he gets a call at work saying the ambulance is bringing in a car crash patient from I-40 west bound.

So, I know this was a little long winded.  But being my first (of many) blogs I felt like I had a lot of catching up to do! :)  I hope you have enjoyed reading this as much as I have enjoyed writing it, and I hope my next blogs will be even better than this one!