Two Month Check-Up - Our little shorty

Our baby girl is 2 months old!  Crazy.  We had her 2 month check-up and shots yesterday.  Dave was not able to go because of work, and I had to brave the dreaded shots alone with Olivia.  It was not as bad as I had anticipated, but it also wasn't a blast.  She cried, and of course, I shed a few tears as well. 

Olivia now weighs 11.1 pounds, and is 21.5 inches long!  She is our little shorty! 

The check-up went well, and Olivia checks out as completely healthy.  The skin rash/eczema that she had for a week or so has completely clear up!  Thank goodness. 

Recently we have discovered that Olivia loves naked time!  Gammie has been watching Livy for the past two weeks and she has been able to get the most smiles and cooing when Olivia is down for a diaper change and her diaper is off.  Our little nudist :)

She also loves laying down on the changing table in her bedroom without her diaper on.  She just coos and kicks and smiles.  This time with Olivia every morning is one of my absolute favorite times of the day.  Even the mornings we are running short on time to get out of the house for work, I try and take extra time with her when she is in  this calm and happy state. 

My little naked baby. 

We are getting more and more smiles from Olivia and she has great visual focus. 

Right now Olivia is mostly sleeping through the nights.  She will fall asleep for the night around 9 or 930 and will usually only get up once around 2-3 to eat.  She will then go back to sleep till about 5 am.  This is when she is usually up with us for the rest of the morning while we get ready for work.   Although this is usually how nights go for us, once or twice a week she will be extra hungry and get up several times a night to eat.  

I absolutely love the age our little baby is right now and I wish I could freeze her at this stage.  I told my mom that this past weekend and she told me that she felt that exact same way with all of us!  She told me that each time her babies would do something new she felt that way.  I know our time with Livy is just getting more and more precious and I can't wait!

Life After Labor

Some thoughts and experiences since welcoming Olivia into this world....

Being a mommy has been absolutely wonderful so far.  I've seriously loved every moment of these past 8 weeks! I'm so in love with our little girl.  That does not mean that things have been completely perfect and smooth for us, but we have been lucky that any rocky patches we have had so far have not been major crisises.  We've been able to work through everything thrown at us, with most of the tears coming from me.

My maternity leave was the most marvelous thing in the world.  I absolutely loved being able to be home with Olivia all day, everyday for those 7 weeks.  I've been lucky not to experience any serious "baby blues."  During the first couple of weeks after Olivia was born, when Dave had just returned to work, I thought I was going to get a serious case of postpartum depression.  I would cry when he would leave for work, and then cry again around 6pm in anticipation of him coming home.  If Dave wasn't home by 6:10pm, I would call him worried and frantic as to why he hadn't gotten home yet.  Thankfully, all of that passed in just a couple of days, and I'm guessing it was just a lot of the hormones balancing out in my body. 

Speaking of my body, holy moly having a baby does crazy things to your body.  It truly took me about 4 weeks after Olivia was born to start feeling normal again.  I had always thought I would be the type of person to bounce right back after giving birth, but I felt like it was quite the opposite for me.  In those first 4 weeks all I wanted to do was be in sweatpants and be at home.  Luckily, once the holidays were over, that was pretty much all I did.  I think being able to stay at home and rest all day while taking care of Olivia, I was able to finally start feeling normal, and slowly get out of my "hermit" funk.    

Olivia has been an awesome nighttime sleeper.  It took us about 3 weeks to really figure out how to get  her to sleep for her longest stretch of the night.  Dave is the best swaddler and rocker when it comes to bed time, so for awhile he was in charge of getting her to sleep for the night right after she ate.  I would then immediately go to bed to try and get some sleep.  This method would usually allow me to sleep from about 8pm to midnight.  Once I had that solid 4 hours of sleep, I was usually charged up and ready to go for whatever type of night Olivia wanted to have.  She has never been so fussy that we just didn't know what to do, yet.  She has also started to sleep for even longer stretches on some nights.  Those nights I feel like I get even less sleep because I'm in and out of sleep anticipating her to wake up and want to nurse. 

I've realized that co-sleeping is the absolute way to go, for us, at least.  Although Olivia likes to eat several times throughout the night, being able to feed her immediately in bed before she starts crying, allows me to get much more sleep than when I tried putting her in the bassinett the first couple of nights.  Plus, we get a ton of cuddle time in, which has been priceless since my return back to work. 

Nursing has become one of my all time favorite pasttimes.  I felt like we had a rough start to breastfeeding because it took 5 days for my milk to come in, however, the more I read up on breastfeeding the more I realize that is rather normal.  Those first 5 days were the roughest because she was a very sleepy baby and wouldn't want to wake up to eat.  I wasn't sure if she was getting enough and we weren't seeing the number of wet diapers we should have been.  Concerned about this, we took her to her pediatrician, Dr. P., whom we absolutely LOVE, and we were reassured that Olivia was doing just fine, and to keep trying to nurse her as often as possible.  Not even 12 hours after that visit, my milk came in, and almost everything with our breastfeeding relationship has gone very smoothly since.  My little porker even put on more than 2 lbs between then and when we took her back to the doctor for a skin rash at 5 weeks old. 

It has absolutely killed me having to return to work and be apart from her.  I just made it through my first full week back.  I wish there were a way I could stay home, but unfortunately we need to be a dual income family at this time.  Everyone tells me that it's a wonderful thing for both of us that I return to work, and that she gets to experience daycare.  Part of me knows that is partially true, but another part of me knows that there is no one better than me to care for her day in and day out.  I also am wrecked with that mommy guilt already, I know my return to work is affecting me way more than it's affecting her, but it's still hard to swallow and push through. 

A career change is something I've been really considering, as I would love to become a teacher in the future.  This would take me back closer to my original desire to become a social worker, plus I will be able to work with crazy children, rather than crazy adults. Who knows what the future holds.

Wordless Wednesday

Some of my favorite pictures right now....

5 weeks old today!

Birth Story - Part 2

TMI Warning: I'm writing my birth story with very little censoring. I'm going to try and be as honest as possible, so it may not always be pretty! If you have zero interest in learning anything about my lady parts, I would recommend skipping this blog!


December 7, 2010:  Overnight, I spent most of my time in the bathtub.  The bouancy of the water seemed to be the only thing that provided me any relief during the contractions.  They were definitely getting stronger and I found that in between  the contractions I was able to sleep a little bit while I was in the tub.

Contractions and more contractions, we just never hit that magic formula that we were waiting for.  2-3 minutes apart, lasting at least 60 seconds, and staying that way for at least 2 hours. 

Finally, by around 8am, we had had enough of this laboring at home business, I had reached my mental, emotional and physical limit, and I wanted to go back to the hospital.  We did a repeat of the previous morning. Called the hospital, called our parents, loaded the car, and kissed Thor goodbye.  We went back in on Tuesday morning around 9am.

Luckily, we did not have to do the whole triage monitoring process again, and were immediately admited to L&D.  Once we settled in a nurse checked me for progress.  I had dilated from 3 centimeters to 5, and was now 100% effaced, and baby was at -1 position.  We were staying at the hospital this time, and we were not going to be leaving without our baby.  This thought went through my head quite a few times during the worst contractions, it was a motivator.

Both of us still smiling.

Several thoughts would run through my head throughout my entire labor, 1) I can do this, 2) we will have our little girl at the end of all of this, 3) this is one thing in life that I can't quit, no matter how much I want to, 4) millions and millions of women have done this before me. 

All the parents were informed that we were at the hospital and in full on active labor.  Annette arrived early in the morning and stayed with us a bit.  My family got to the hospital around 2pm in the afternoon.  Everyone took turns walking the halls with me as I worked through contractions so that Dave could get some sleep. 

The day went by in such a blur as I continued to labor all day long.  I was finally checked by a nurse at 5pm, and it was discovered that my body had made zero progress from when we had first arrived.  I was so discouraged.  Luckily, my doctor was around and I was able to discuss with her what we could do to nudge things along a little bit.  She suggested breaking my waterbag, which I agreed to as I felt it was the least intrusive intervention at this point. 

Leaning over the bed, as well as the yoga ball was one of my favorite positions. 

At times a contraction would hit and it would feel best to stay in whatever position I was in, with someone there to physically support me. 

To this day, whenever I think about the two and a half hours after my waterbag was broken, I still shudder.  The contractions got so much more intense and closer together.  They were also still all over the place and ranging anywhere from 2-6 minutes apart.   My mom, sister, and my dad did a lot of walking with me during this time.  I remember being incredibly cranky and short-tempered and I snapped at my dad, for which I apologized for later.  We all laugh about it now, but at the time I felt like I was in a full blown crisis mode and could not stay in control of managing the pain. 

At 7pm, the nurse checked me again and I was still only 5 cen., 100% effaced and the baby had only moved down a little bit.    After much deliberation, discussion with Dave and encouragement from my parents, I asked (begged) for the epidural.  It was such a hard decision for me at the time, I worked so hard to prepare for a natural childbirth, and we had made it so far, but I just could not do it anymore.  I felt like I was beyond the point of being able to relax and allow my body to relax to help facilitate any progress. In between contractions Dave told me a great/silly story and his theory on how women's bodies have evolved.  I remember thinking that I was glad to be able to still laugh and joke with him at this point. 

After I asked for the epidural, I could not get it administered quick enough!  It was not as bad as I had envisioned it would be.  The most difficult part was sitting still through contractions, and the muscle tremors that I was having at this point.  Holy. Moly.  What a world of difference. I was shocked at first that I really was not able to move the lower half of my body, but got used to it after awhile.  The worst side effect that I got was the nausea; I threw up quite a bit.  

A couple of hours later after there still being no diliation progress I agreed to a low dose of Pitocin to strengthen the contractions.  I had started to run a slight fever and Olivia's heartrate was a tad high, so it was now important that things progress at a quicker speed if I had any hopes of having a vaginal delivery.  I was put on oxygen for her heart rate and given cold washcloths to help keep my temp down.

Look how pretty I looked!  And this was after I had received the epidural. 

From 11pm until 5am I finally dilated to 10 centimeters, was 100% effaced, and baby's head was engaged and ready to go.  I did not want to push until I felt the urge to push, and the nurses were completely supportive of that.  So I was able to "labor down," as they kept calling it, for another 2 hours.

I never felt that urge to push that many women say they do.  I felt the urgency to push when I realized that the epidural was beginning to wear off and I began feeling the contractions again.  At 7am, Dave called the nurse in, Tammie, who was absolutely wonderful, and told her that I was ready to go ahead and push.  Tammie quickly broke down the bed and got the room arranged for me to push.  I elevated the bed to an almost completely upright position and got ready. 

Dave was holding one leg and Tammie was on the other and the pushing began.  Then we hit another small roadblock.  Tammie discovered that there was meconium present in the fluids surrounding Olivia, which is very common in overdue babies.  She had to make sure that the pediatrician would be present when Olivia was born so that they could immediately expel any meconium from her nose, throat and lungs.  Learning this broke my heart because I knew that this meant that I would not be allowed the immediate skin to skin contact I wanted so much.  Tammie reassured me that as soon as the pediatrician looked Olivia over she would be given to me.

I continued to push, and once I was very close to pushing Olivia out my doctor was called in and was there for the final pushes as our baby was born.  Finally, after what felt like a very long journey, our baby, Olivia Marie Copeland, was born on Wednesday, December 8, 2010 at 7:50a.m., 8 pounds, 4 ounces, and 19 inches long. 

Olivia started crying immediately after she was born, which is not the preferable thing when meconium is present.  It's prefered that the baby be stimulated as little as possible until they have a chance to aspirate the meconium.  For this reason, Olivia was held upside down for a minute, and then the doctor placed her on me long enough for Dave to cut her umbilical cord.  She was then passed off to the pediatrician who took her to the warmer. She was not very far from my bed so I was able to see everything that was happening. 

While Olivia was being tended to, I delivered the placenta and received several stiches for some minor tears.  Olivia's head was slightly turned one direction when she came out that had caused the tearing. 

I was able to hold her about 10 minutes after she arrived and she latched about half an hour after that. 



We stayed with Olivia for about 2 hours, just the three of us, while they did a couple of the newborn tests on her.  Tammie also showed Dave how to give her a sponge bath and they washed her hair.  Then the fun of introducing her to our folks & family began!

A month has passed since the birth of our baby girl.  We could not be anymore in love with her!  As she becomes more and more alert we love seeing the different things that she has started to do.  We know this is just the beginning of the fun, and are looking forward to all that is to come.

Prior to having Olivia, I had always thought that if I was not able to have the med-free birth that I had so wanted that I would be very dissappointed.  Having now gone through having a baby, I know that there was no way I could have prepared for the labor experience that I had.  My birth plan was how I would have liked everything to go according to the textbook average birth. 

Unfortunately, my experience was very far from the average first time birth.  I'm so proud of us and how we handled my labor and delivery experience.  If I had not been so stubborn, we could have had our baby a lot sooner, but I would not change what I went through one bit. 

Birth Story - Part 1

TMI Warning: I'm writing my birth story with very little censoring.  I'm going to try and be as honest as possible, so it may not always be pretty!  If you have zero interest in learning anything about my lady parts, I would recommend skipping the next two blogs!

I've sat down to write my birth story several times.  Motherhood and my own reluctance to actually write it out have considerably slowed down the process.  So here it goes...

At my first overdue doctor's appointment I agreed to my first internal examination to see if there was any progress.  I was 3 days overdue at the time and discovered that I was 0% effaced and there was 0 diliation.  Boy, was that hard to hear.  I knew we could be in for at most another 2 weeks. 

I started having my first contactions late in the evening on December 2, 2010, I was  now 5 days overdue.  Dave and I were on a double date with Mike and Jeani at the Alamo Drafthouse in North Austin to see Unstoppable.   The contractions were very mild and I really did not want to make a big deal about it, but Dave was getting pretty excited and was wanting to time the contractions.  

December 3, 2010 : I continued to have contractions throughout the night and into the morning, they were ranging anywhere from 10-12 minutes apart, and were still very mild.  However, we had a feeling that "this was it."

I knew that because my labor was beginning rather slow we had time to get things done.  So, since it was Friday we both went into work to take care of some things before maternity/paternity leave.  Dave picked me up early and we were going to go home to lay low and see if I was really in labor.   We made a couple of stops along the way to pick of some stuff and the contractions were still going.  At this point, none of them were taking my breath away nor were they making me stop to work through them.

In the early afternoon, things really started to slow down, hardly any contractions.  If any existed, maybe one an hour.  We settled in for the night, watched movies, and just spent time together.  We went to bed rather dissapointed that I may have been in a state of false labor all day. 

One of the ways I passed the time was by making this "birthday" cake.

December 4, 2010:  Then 2am rolled around, and I began having contractions that were so strong that I could not sleep through them.  Dave got up with me, started timing the contractions, and got some of our things together in case we needed to leave for the hospital.  We were told to leave for the hospital when the contractions were 2-3 minutes apart, lasting at least 60 seconds, and continueing this way for 2 hours. They were consistently about 5-6 minutes apart and after about 5 hours or so, they slowed down, again.    We were able to make it through the rest of our day although I would continue to have contractions anywhere from 4-15 minutes apart.  This exact pattern continued for the next 3 days.

December 5, 2010:  Each day we were doing everything we could to keep our minds busy, and moving around as much as we could to encourage my labor to progress.   This included a trip to Marble Falls for lunch on Sunday, and a visit from Dave's family on Sunday evening. 

We thought for sure that we would have had our baby by the end of that weekend, but no luck.  Dave and I were both absolutely exhausted.  I was so incredibly tired, but I could not sleep long enough to get any real rest.  I was getting about 1-3 hours of sleep a night before the most intense early morning contractions would hit.

Dave was as equally exhausted because he was staying up with me, coaching me through most of the contractions.  I truly needed him.  He was timing the contractions when we thought we needed to.  He would apply counter-pressure on my lower back, I was having a lot of back labor, and we would later find out that it was because of the position that Olivia was in.  He would sit in the bathroom with me when I wanted to labor in the bathtub.  He would go on walks with me when that's what I felt I needed, even when it was 3am in the morning.  He was the DJ the entire time, and would play the Pandora station I wanted to here when I wanted to hear it.  And he was encouraging me to continue to move around through the contractions and use all of the positions that we learned in our classes.   

Something else that kept me going and helped to motivate me were physical signs that I truly was in the early stages of labor.  It was on Sunday that I finally lost my mucous plug and had started to have my bloody show. 

December 6, 2010: Monday morning, we thought FOR SURE this was it.  Contractions started really picking up at around 1am, and we timed them for a couple of hours.  At points they were as close as 2-3 minutes apart, but really ranging anywhere from 2-6 mintues.  They were lasting at least a minute and were this way for more than 2 hours.  We went for a walk at about 3am to see if they would continue.  The intensity of the contractions had finally reached a point that I would have to stop during our walk to work through them. 

On our walk I had a bit of a breakdown.  I was so afraid of going to the hospital too early and getting sent home. But at the same time, I knew that physically I could not continue to keep this pattern of laboring at home with what felt like zero progress.  I was crying my eyes out, then Dave would talk me down and tell me that I was making progress from the beginning, etc.  Then, I would be okay about that but I would start worrying about something else, and it would start all over.  Finally, Dave said, "we are going to the hospital."

At about 4am, we called L&D to let them know to expect us, and Dave called both of our parents to keep them up-to-date.  We packed up the car, said bye to Thor, and headed to the hospital.

Once we got there, we were put into a triage room so that a nurse could check my progress to determine if I was, in fact, in labor.  My contractions had slowed down considerably and were not as intense.  I thought for sure we would be "sent home."  The nurse checked my cervix and found that I was now 3 centimeters dilated and 80% effaced.  I was considered in active labor at this point, but because there had been such little progress in 5 days, I was very discouraged. 

We were told that they were going to admit us and I could continue to labor there at the hospital.  The thought of that was a nightmare to me.  I was already so uncomfortable that the last place I wanted to be was in the hospital. I asked the nurse if we would be allowed to go home to continue to labor there.  She had to speak with my doctor, who was not currently there, and get the okay.  Once Dr. Chapman gave us the okay to go home and told us to come right back should the contractions get closer together or should my waterbag break. 

People were curious as to why we would leave to go back home if we were allowed to stay and get admited into Labor and Delivery.  I was still sold on trying to have a med-free and intervention free labor and birth.  Being at the hospital any longer than necessary, makes it a lot less likely of achieving that for a multitude of reasons.  Being at home is ideal because you are on your turf, and you set the rules.  Plus, there is a level of comfort at home that cannot be duplicated in the hospital.

At this point, Dave really needed a break, but said he could not sleep if I were staying up to labor alone.  So we called in the reserves!  Annette came over and met us at the house as soon as we got home from the hospital.  She stayed with me in the family room and kept me company.  She was wonderful and applied counterpressure on my lower back during the nasty contractions.  Dave was able to get a good 4 hour nap in.

Just as he was getting up, Jeani, was a saint and brought us over lunch.  She stayed and visited with us for an hour or so.  It was another wonderful way that helped keep our minds busy.

Shortly after Jeani left, my mom got to our house which allowed for Dave to have another nap.  One nap per mom.   Mom and I actually went out and did some shopping.  I desperately needed a change of scenery and the walking would be good for me.  The contractions were finally starting to really pick up again while Mom and I were out, but they continued to plateau at about 5-6 minutes apart.

Labor is not pretty.

After my mom left, Dave and I settled in for another long evening once again.

Year in Review

2010.  A year I know that I will never forget.  It has been a very pivotal year for me in so many ways.  There has been so much change, so much transition and so much growth for me this year.  I feel like this is the year that I have really become a grown-up and even that realization is still setting in some days.

January

This month was the most anticipated month for me, probably ever.  David and I got married on January 9, 2010 and our wedding was more beautiful and more fun than I could have ever imagined!  It was really cold that day, but there was not a cloud in the sky.  We got married, we danced, we ate and we got to spend the day with the people in our lives that we love the most.

Following our wedding, we headed on our honeymoon to Las Vegas for 7 nights and 8 days in the gorgeous new hotel and casino The Aria.   What a great trip!  We really wined and dined ourselves on our honeymoon. 

February

We spent our first Valentines Day as a married couple together.  We went to Mama Roux, a cajun restaurant in Austin, with the Copelands and had a really good dinner. 

We also began to do some more serious house hunting in this month.  This mostly consisted of driving around to the different towns that surround Austin to determine if we would want to live there or not.  I was familiar with Pflugerville, because we were currently living there, and I knew that Round Rock would probably be outside of our price range.  We did not want to live in Hutto.  Then Dave showed me Leander and we decided that this would be were we would focus most of our attention.  The 'Der. 

March

The house hunt continues!  We were on somewhat of a deadline because we were trying desperately to make an offer on a house before April 30 to qualify for the first time homebuyers tax rebate.  So every weekend this month, as well as some week nights, were dedicated to viewing houses.  We were connected with an amazing real estate that was such a help every step of the way.   When it was all said and done we viewed about 45 houses, and made two offers.  The second offer worked out and was the one that got us into our beloved home now.

We also found out that we were pregnant!  It was quite the crazy month that's for sure.  I was secretly very happy that I was now pregnant just before we were about to pack up and move.  Oh, shucks, I couldn't help out that much.  :) A huge thank you was owed to my parents, my sister, Dave's parents, and JonO and Lexie  whoe were all a tremendous help to us during the move. 

Also, Thor was in a scuffle with our neighbor's dogs that ended up being pretty dramatic.  We were very lucky that our other neighbor was home to break up the fight and call the cops.  This almost felt like a sign, that yes, it was indeed to pack up and move on.  Buh-bye, Pflugervile, and hello a couple of more hundreds of dollars in vet bills. 

April

Easter weekend we spent in San Antonio with my family, and Dave's parents joined us.  It's always fun when they get to hang out with my crazy family.  It was at this get together that I told most of my extended family that we were expecting a little one in November!  I gathered up all of the ladies in that the family while we were at the bar-be-que, and I told them I had something I wanted to share.  My Aunt Yolanda said, "you're pregnant?" It was funny that it was even anticipated that early!  So, I let them know, that yes, I was indeed pregnant. 

We also celebrated Dave and JonO's birthday in a longstanding tradition of doing a joint celebration.  I believe they have been doing this for about 6 years now.  We all went bowling, which was a nice change of pace from the other years when we usually go downtown for a night of debauchery. 

Other things that kept us busy this month were the 10K Texas Round-Up, Sarah's dance competition in San Antonio, we closed on the house, and then we started packing up to move.

May

May brought about the big move.  We were (and still are) slaves to our new home. 

We also celebrated Mother's Day in San Antonio with my mom's side of the family.

Sarah had another amazing choir performance that we got to attend in Harker Heights.  This was the first time that I was actually able to hear her sing an entire solo performance, and she was amazing!

Oh! The Lost Series Finale was being shown at the Alamodraft House.  Dave and I were able to buy tickets and see the show as well as the pre-show hoopla on a nice little dinner/movie date. 

June

In June, we had a guest come and stay at our house for a couple of nights...the infamous Storm.  It was a stray dog that Dave and I found in our garage one morning after a particularly bad summer storm.  Poor thing was so scared of the thunder.  We kept him in the garage while we were away at work, and then when we returned and opened the garage he bolted.  Then he returned, then he disappeared again.  Later this month, someone else in our neighborhood found him as well and posted signs looking for his owner.  We got a kick out of those signs. 

Thor turned 2 years old on June 17.  Hard to believe that two years has passed since he joined our family. 

Dave, Sarah, my parents and I all made a trip up to the Dallas-Arlington area to go to Six Flags.  It was so much fun and a nice get away from town. 

We found that that we were having a baby girl!!!

July

We spent most of our weekends away in July.

July 4th, we celebrated in Harker Heights at my parents house.  Barbeque, swimming, family circle time, and lots of eating.

Then Jae and his ladies came into town for a visit.  They visited us in Leander and stayed the night, and then we all headed to San Antonio to visit with more family.

Jenny & Jake Stewart visited Texas and we were able to steal them away from their family for an afternoon.  Sam, Kelly, Dave and I all met them at the Taproom for some good burgers and a great time. 

Dave and I went on a wonderful family vacation with Annette & Reese to Rockport.  We stayed at an adorable little house right on the cove and did a lot of night time fishing.  Unfortunately, we did not catch much, but we still did a lot of good eating on this trip!

This month we really started to focus on working on the nursery because we now knew that Olivia was going to be an Olivia. 

August

I turned 25.  Eh, who cares.

We spent a lot of our time and weekends in the 'Der, or close to.  After a very busy July, I had made that promise to Dave. 

September

September was most definitely a month of some serious nesting for both Dave and I.  Dave took on several homes projects that he wanted to get done before baby arrived.  Our family room was arranged and wired with surround sound.  Dave & Reese also installed an overhead microwave, and then he bought a grill.

I was now becoming a little more serious about the fact, that holy crap, we are going to have a baby.  Some of the big furniture pieces for our nursery were bought by our parent and assembled by us. 

Our 10-week Bradley birthing classes started this month. 

October

My baby shower in San Antonio was hosted for me by my sister, mom, and grandmother.  It was so much fun and I was so happy with the love and support all of my family members showed us.

More shopping! Shopping and more shopping.  Seriously, we shopped like crazy this month for Olivia and really stocked up on things we thought we would need once she arrived.  By the end of October, I felt good and prepared to bring a baby home. 

November

This was definitely a month of waiting.  Everything that we did this month was usually accompanied by, "this could be the last time we do such and such."

Mike, Jeani & Reese came into town from overseas!  We got to spend so much time with them, it was wonderful!  I was so glad they were able to be in town and wait with us on the arrival of our little girl. 

Diane, one of Annette's friends, hosted a wonderful baby shower for Jeani & I.  We were showered with a lot of great new outfits and toys for both of our babies. 

Thanksgiving was spent with the Copelands and Annette cooked an amazing dinner.  Lots of eating, spending time together and football watching.

My due date came and went.

December

Sweet, sweet December 2010.  The month that our little Olivia was born!  Our Thanksgiving baby slowly become a Christmas baby.  She had a dramatic entry into this world as I had quite the labor experience (I will eventually blog more about that.)

She was born December 8, 2010 and has truly changed our lives.  This month has been a whirlwind.  Becoming a mom has been one of the most fulfilling experiences imaginable, and I'm only 3 weeks into it!

Jae, Claudia and Ava were in town for a couple of weeks and we spent a lot of time with them.  Christmas was in San Antonio this year. 
We've been able to spend time with both sides of our families and introduce Olivia to much of her crazy family.

Overall

New Year's Eve night, as we settled in for the evening, it sort of hit me on how much our lives have changed in a year.  This year has definitely been a whirlwind and some of our lives biggest milestones happened in 2010.  It's hard to believe that last year at this time Dave and I were not married and today we are parents.

Everyone likes to say at the changing of the calendar year that this coming year is going to be their year.  I truly feel like 2010 was our year and after having such an amazing year I don't want it to stop!  I want to make 2011 "our year," again.  Now, that does not mean I want to repeat any of the things that made 2010 so wonderful, no more babies for a couple of more years!! However, I do look forward to more milestones to come.

I look forward to all of Olivia's "firsts."  I can't wait till we all get to watch as she growns and starts sitting on her own, rolling over, babbling, talking, scouting, crawling, and those first steps.  All of those awesome things that babies do and make their mommy & daddy so proud.  I don't want to take any of those moments for granted. 

Resolutions for 2011? Eh...most definitely get back into shape and lose the rest of this baby weight.  I'm aiming for running at least a half marathon in November 2011 (San Antonio Rock and Roll Marathon) or February 2012(Austin Marathon) , depending on how my training schedule works out. 

Other than that, I would like to focus on our family, spending time together, and being the best mommy I can be.  We are so blessed by having all of Olivia's grandparents nearby and I'm excited that she will grow up being able to have a relationship with all of them.

So another year down, and another one just beginning.  So much in the past year to smile about, and so much in the future to look forwad to.

Introducing Olivia Marie Copeland

December 8, 2010, 7:50 a.m.

8 pounds 4 ounces

19 inches

She is an absolutely wonderful baby!  We have to actually wake her up for feedings, but she is really good at letting us know that she is hungry once she is awake.

She is now two and a half weeks old and it is crazy how quickly time has flown by.  Each day I feel like she changes ever so slightly.  She had her two week doctor's appointment on Wednesday, December 22, 2010  and the following were her stats:

8 pounds 9 ounces

20 inches

When we went to her two-day-old doctor appointments she had loss some weight and the doctor really wanted to see her get back to her birth weight by 2 weeks.  No problem there!  She has been nursing like a champ.