Month One... and oohhh what a month it's been

  My sweet angel is 1 month old today!! Wow, the first month has flown by. Granted we have had a few bumps along the way to make it a bit of a blur. Olivia is doing great, she is a very sweet baby and is growing like a weed. At her 2 week check up she weighed 7lbs 14oz!!! Usually babies are just back up to their birth weight at 2 weeks so I guess my baby is an overachiever:) hehe. I haven't weighed her recently but she is definitely growing. I'm guessing she is a typical baby... she sleeps (usually) eats, poops and cries. She loves to take her time with her bottles though.... this child savors her food. It can take up to 45 minutes to feed her and every once in a while she wants more an hour later.. little piggy. I was stressing out about the time it took her to eat because I was just sure something was wrong.... we've tried different bottles and different nipples.... but nothing makes a difference. I decided to get over it and let her enjoy eating... she doesn't spit up at all so maybe it's good she takes her time huh. While I call her a sweet angel... she does have her times when I wonder where she went.... this girl also has a set of lungs which she usually likes to show us in the evenings. My friend Emily saved my life though and let me borrow her Moby Wrap. This piece of cloth is from heaven.... it is just a long cloth that wraps around me and holds her right up against me.... AND my arms are free. As soon as I put her in it she is asleep and I can eat.. do dishes... sleep... whatever I need to do:) Thanks Emily!!!!!! People keep asking me if we have settled into a routine yet? Ummm.... nope... apparently I am not capable of that.... sometimes I can manage to have her in bed by 8pm.... sometimes 11pm... I'm working on it... but as we already know.... Olivia can be a bit stubborn. (not sure where that came from... haha). Here are a few pics of the baby girl!!

she's thinking "would they just figure out what i want!"

Spring dress... she loves the nice weather!!



   Now... for the bumps in the road. The second day Ben went back to work (Olivia was almost 2 weeks old) he was washing a plane after work, fell and dislocated his shoulder!! I was sitting at home waiting patiently for him to come home.... I had been alone all day with the baby... was tired, hurting and ready for some company. Ben calls and says "I need to go to the ER" ummm, what?? Yup... so I was stuck at home and still not allowed to drive. My sister had to come stay with Olivia and Eric had to drive me to the ER to get Ben.  Make a long story short... Ben went to the ortho... had an MRI.... and had to have surgery on his shoulder on St Patrick's Day!!! He is now in this huge sling... and learning to do things one handed. Poor guy needs alot of help!! He should be in the sling for six weeks and then has to go to physical therapy. It is killing him that he cant help me with the baby the way he wants to. But he's trying... here are a few pics of him:)

just got home from surgery

he figured out how to feed the baby... someone else just has to burp her:)



  Needless to say... it's been a little stressful but we have a wonderful family who has been very helpful... thank God!!! Our goal for the second month is for both Ben and I to stay out of the OR:)

Olivia is Finally Here

     Ten days ago my world completely changed....for the better. All I can say is WOW!! What a whirlwind it has been....I am completely blessed by God!! Miss Olivia was stubborn until the bitter end of my pregnancy... she was due on February 17th... and there were no signs of her making an appearance on her own, so we had to evict her:) This landlord was finished and ready to meet her! In a nutshell here is how she made her entrance..... Ben and I went into the hospital at 6pm Sunday February 20th for a cervidil induction. That means I had to get some medicine to get my body ready for labor. Around midnight I started having contractions that were pretty uncomfortable... but for some reason I would not take any pain medicine.... (soooo should have taken some) Therefore, I did not sleep at all Sunday night. At 6am Monday morning they started my pitocin which is a drug to make me contract more.... once the doctor broke my water I felt what REAL pain was (I don't do pain well) so I got my epidural pretty quickly after that!! Here is a picture of Ben and I after my epidural.... I have never seen a smile so big on Ben!!



 Olivia had a room full of anxious family waiting on her.... and she must have known it because she STILL had stage fright. After 12 hours of pitocin and still no sleep I had stopped dilating and I needed to have a c-section. At first I was upset but then got over it quickly because I was so exhausted and ready to meet her. Apparently there were lots of stubborn babies that night because I was third in line for my c-section.... I told Ben it was like waiting on the runway:) Finally at 9:16pm February 21, 2011..... Olivia Grace Hetzler made her appearance!!!!!!

    She weighed in at 7lbs 1oz and was 19 3/4inches long!! My precious angel we have waited so long for was finally here.... I cried when I saw her and Ben was in awe. I was pretty impressed with how well he did in the OR... I thought he would've passed out... but he did great!! The surgery itself was not bad.... I was a little anxious but things went well... cant ask for more than that!! Here is our first family portrait:)

  I need to say a special thank you to everyone who took great care of Olivia and me: Jill, Sarah, Dr Mayo, Jeff and finally Amy who took all the delivery pictures.... thank you guys so much for ALL you did!!! We were in excellent hands the whole time!!!

 We came home on Thursday the 24th and began our adventure as parents without the help of hospital staff.... it has been a learning experience. My patients always say to me "you will have it easy with your kids because you know what to do." UUMMMM... nope.... I'm pretty clueless with what to do with a baby after they go home. Ben and I are learning new stuff everyday... I just want the best for my sweet girl so I have been worrying over everything!! Is she getting enough? Is she sleeping enough? What does that sound mean? It has been an adventure and Olivia has been patient with us:) She seems pretty happy... she is doing wonderful with the exception of some gas pains... but that is NOTHING compared to what it could be. We started giving her some gas drops yesterday and she seems more comfortable.



   Ben has been off with us and has to go back to work tomorrow... he has taken such good care of us!!! He is a wonderful husband and daddy, I could not ask for more!!!!! I am a little nervous about him going back because I am still slow moving and hormonal but my friends assure me this is normal. I think daddy is trying to rest up on his last day off.... he is pretty worn out from taking care of us. (He may kill me for this picture.... but that's what is nice about me doing the blog.... I get to post the pics... hehehehe)



   I thank God each day for my little family.... I am so in love!!!