3 months already!?

Before Olivia was born, I thought I would constantly be updating this blog with new pictures and information about her. Now, I just don't think about updating this blog. Here are a few pictures and updates on Livi girl. I still can't believe she will be 3 months on the 29th. The time is going so quickly.
1 month old
2 months old



Almost 3 months old at Dave and Lauren's wedding


Here are some other random pictures...

This is how Livi usually looks when I go into her room after naptime. Her smile melts my heart everytime!:)


Here she is playing with her favorite toy. I think she looks like she thinks the elephant's foot is a microphone. Is she going to take after her Daddy?



She looks like such a big girl in this picture! Olivia loves her Daddy so much. Anytime he walks into the room she smiles.

Love it when she is cuddly!

*The past three months have been very challenging but extremely rewarding. Olivia is such a joy and we are incredibly blessed. We can't thank God enough for blessing us with a healthy, energetic, and loving baby girl. Here are some highlights of the past three months...
-Livi started smiling around 4 weeks old.
-She slept through the night 3 times at the end of May and 3 times in the middle of June. Most of the time she still wakes us at least 1 time to eat and then goes back to sleep.
-Olivia can sit in her bumbo seat holding her head up for a short period of time.
-Livi likes to pull up and look around the room.
-She enjoys being outside. If she is fussy and we take her outside, she immediately stops crying and holds her head up to look around.
-Around 1 1/2 months Livi started to play the "tongue game" with us. We will stick our tongues out and then she will stick her tongue out at us. She has initiated this game a few times.
-Livi loves to talk to us. She likes to make us laugh!
-Olivia loves her Daddy. Jeremiah can calm her down like no other person can. She starts smiling the moment she hears his voice.
-For a few weeks Olivia has been on a four hour schedule. She wakes up at 7:30a.m., eats, plays, and then goes down for a nap around 9:30a.m. She usually sleeps for 2 hours but sometimes she sleeps for 3 hours! Then she will eat around 11:30a.m., play until 1:30p.m. and then take another nap. She will usually sleep from 1:30p.m.-3:30p.m. Then she will eat, play, take a short 30 min. nap around 5:30p.m., play, and then eat her final feeding around 8:00p.m. I am very thankful that she likes to take long naps during the day!:)
-Daddy always feeds her at 8:00p.m. He likes spending this time with her.
-Olivia has acid reflux. She takes medicine every night before bedtime. When she was very little she woke up every 20-30 min. screaming in pain. We felt so bad for our tiny baby girl. After they put her on medicine (around 6 weeks) she started sleeping better! Thank goodness she feels better most of the time. Sometimes we can tell she is bothered by the acid. She tends to gulp, gag, choke, spit up a ton, and cry in pain. But..we are lucky that most of the time the medicine takes away the pain.
-Ceiling fans have become her new best friends. She can stare at them for hours!
-Livi weighed 10 pounds 10 ounces at her 2 month check up.
-Olivia gets very excited when I make the fish face.
-She now notices her hands and feet.
-Loves to suck on her fingers-most of the time she would rather suck on her fingers then take a pacifier.
-She can't sleep without being swaddled. The miracle blanket has helped her sleep better. She can't break out of it!:)
-Livi hates taking a bath and screams for a while after getting one!
-Olivia likes to watch me work out.
*There are so many more wonderful things about our Livi girl. These have hands down been the best 3 months of my life. It's hard to describe the happiness I feel when I am around my girlie.:) Hopefully I will be better about updating this blog in the future or at least before she is 6 months old!:)

March 29, 2009

I know that Olivia is almost 7 weeks old! I can't believe I haven't posted about her birth or the past 6 weeks on here. Here we go...
On Friday, March 27 my water broke. I didn't know it broke because it wasn't a big gush or even a continuous trickle. It entered my mind that my water broke, but because it wasn't constant (just a little trickle one time) I didn't think it did. Actually, I didn't even tell Jeremiah about it because I didn't think it was something to worry about. On Saturday, March 28 we got up and went to Cardinal Fitness to work out. I walked for awhile and then Jeremiah and I walked around the mall for about an hour. While we were walking, I felt a few more little trickles. Again, they weren't constant. I told Jeremiah and he was upset with me because he said it sounded like my water broke. I told him that it wasn't my water, but I called the hospital when I got home. They told me to walk around my house for another hour, so I did. When I called them back they said it didn't really sound like my water had broken but that I should probably come in just in case. I was so mad because I just knew they were going to send me back home when we got there. Right before we left for the hospital we heard our doorbell ring. We opened it and saw Dave and Lauren standing there! Some of you know that Dave is Jeremiah's best friend and lives in Wisconsin. It was unreal that they were standing at our door at this time. We told them that we were leaving for the hospital and they were so thrilled. It was pretty neat that we got to chat with them for a bit before going to the hospital.
So, Jeremiah and I got to the hospital around noon. They hooked me up to the machines to monitor the baby's heartbeat. Then they tested me to see if my water had broken. Right away the nurse said it had and we were so excited. Since my water had probably broken on Friday night, the nurse told me they wanted to start everything right away. They didn't want me to get an infection. They took Jeremiah and me into our delivery room and hooked me up to pitocin around 1:00. The nurse told me I was having contractions, but I wasn't feeling them. I felt really good and was checking my email and laughing with Jeremiah. Around 3:00 my contractions started to become intense. My parents and Kacy came to the hospital around 4:00 and my contractions started to feel even worse. At this time I was still dialated to 2 cm. Around 6:00 I told the nurse I wanted an epidural. I received the epidural at 7:00p.m. and was dialated to 3 cm. The nurse told us that it was going to be a long night and that we should get some rest. After receiving the epidural, I felt absolutely wonderful! I was laughing and talking with everyone again. Jeremiah's parents came to the hospital around 7:00 as did Kelsy and her boyfriend Casey. It was nice to see everyone and it made the time go by quickly. Around 9:00 Jeremiah and I decided that we wanted to try to get some sleep. So, we sent everyone out to the waiting area. We tried to get some sleep, but we couldn't. We were just too excited. At this time I was a little teary eyed. I was thrilled that we were about to have our baby, but also scared. We also realized that it was the last time it was just going to be us. We knew that our lives were about to change forever.
At 11:00p.m. the nurse came in to check me. She said, "Let's hope for a 5. I hope you are dialated to 5 cm." When she was checking me she realized that I was fully dialated. She said, "Um..we are going to start pushing now." During this time Jeremiah was absolutely amazing. He was so positive and encouraging the entire time. Our nurse was also wonderful. She was very positive and a really great support for both of us. About 15 minutes into labor Jeremiah could see Olivia's head. I thought that we were going to deliver soon, but she jut didn't want to come out. At 1:00a.m. the nurse went to get the doctor. At 1:20a.m. the doctor told me that I had been pushing for 2 1/2 hours and it was still going to be a lot longer before she was born. The doctor told me that I could have her vacuumed out or...and I just stopped her right there. I told her to vacuum her out. I was not about to have a c-section after pushing for that long. So they used the vacuum two times and Olivia was born at 1:40a.m. They laid her right on me and Jeremiah cut the cord. It was so surreal. I couldn't believe that this little baby was our baby! They let Olivia lay on me for about 10 minutes. Then I said, "Don't you need to take her and get her cleaned up?" I don't know why I was so worried about it! They knew what they were doing. While they were cleaning her up, I was taking picture of Jeremiah looking at her. I felt wonderful because the epidural hadn't worn off. I still couldn't feel anything at all. I didn't feel anything during the labor or delivery. I felt a little bit of pain in my back, but that's about it.
After they cleaned her up, Jeremiah went and got my family and his mom. It was so neat to watch them meet Olivia and hold her for the first time. Jeremiah got to go up and watch Olivia get her first bath. At about 3:30a.m. our family left and at 6:00a.m. Jeremiah and I finally went to sleep. We went to sleep for an hour and then started our first day as a family.
While we were in the hospital we had so many visitors. We were happy that so many friends and family were able to meet her.

Last picture of just the two of us. This was taken after I received the epidural!
This was taken right after she was born. Jeremiah holding Olivia for the first time.


Olivia Ann Cox-7 pounds 2 ounces. 18 1/4 inches long.



This was taken right before we left the hospital.


Our first night home.

Mother's Day

I can't believe it has been 6 weeks since our little Livi girl was born! I know I haven't posted anything since she was born. In the next few days, I will try to post about the first 6 weeks. It has been crazy, but so rewarding and fun. Olivia is so adorable and we just can't get enough of her.:) For the past week or so Olivia has started to smile at us. It's really cute!
Today is my first Mother's Day and I am just so thankful that God has allowed me to become a mother to this wonderful baby. I don't take it for granted that God has truly blessed Jeremiah and me with Olivia. Even though the past 6 weeks have been rough, I wouldn't trade a single moment for anything. Being a mommy is absolutely fantastic. It's moments like this (the video below) that makes the sleepless days/nights worth it. It's moments like this that make me wonder how people don't believe in God. How else do you describe the love I have for this little girl or the joy that fills my heart when I am with her. Here is a video of her laughing at me when I am singing to her (who wouldn't laugh at me..I'm a horrible singer!:)). I just wanted to share this because I think it's precious!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/33432161@N02/3516102387/

38 weeks

Last week I started going to my weekly doctor's appointments. My doctor checked me and said I was dialated to 1 cm and 50% effaced. That afternoon I started to get horrible pains in my leg and back. I think the baby shifted and was sitting on a nerve. It was a pretty miserable couple of days. I could barely walk because the pain was so intense. After a few days the pain stopped coming as frequently. Throughout this past week I would get those pains every once in a while. At the end of this week I had much more energy then I did last week. I've also had alot of pain in my hips which has made it hard for me to walk. People are telling me that it just means I'm getting ready for labor-woohoo! Yesterday, Jeremiah and I went to our weekly doctor's appointment. She said that I am still 1 cm dialated and 50% effaced. Nothing has changed since last week. When we left the office, I started feeling those instense pains again! So, I believe the pains come from me getting checked by the doctor. Ugh! I had them all last night, but I feel better today. I think I'm going to deal with these pains until she comes. I've had such a wonderful pregnancy and I know I've been very blessed. So, I can't really complain if I have these pains for a few weeks!
Today Jeremiah and I arranged a few things in the baby's room. Then he put the bouncy seat and pack n' play together. We are ready for her to come! My mom and dad came today for lunch. They brought us my grandma's rocking chair which my dad refinished for us. It is beautiful and looks fantastic in our nursery!
Also, Friday was my last day of teaching until May 26! My class threw me a baby shower yesterday and I received many great gifts. It was sad to say goodbye to my kids, but now I'm even more ready for our little girl to come into this world. We still have about 2 weeks until our actual due date, but I hope she comes early! :)

38 weeks and growing

My dad refinished my grandma's rocking chair for us. I love it! Here is a picture of it..

37 weeks

Here are pictures of me at 37 weeks...

36 weeks

Here are some pictures of me at 36 weeks...

Church Baby Shower

On Sunday, Amy and Erin threw a baby shower for Jeremiah and me. Many people from our church came to the shower. It was an absolutely wonderful time! They had ordered cute (and delicious!) cupcakes, had a prayer journal for us, and also had people "bid" on our due date. It was fun to hang out with so many of our friends from church. Jeremiah's mom and my parents were able to make it too. We received so many fantastic gifts and now I think we feel ready (well as ready as we can be!). I've said this many times before, but we are just so blessed to have such amazing people in our lives. We are especially thankful to be in such a great church community. A big "Thank you" to Erin and Amy. We are very thankful for both of you!:)
The delicious cupcakes!

Jeremiah and Jon

Carol (Jeremiah's mom), Jeremiah, and me

Dad, me, Jeremiah, and Mom


Jeremiah and Charlotte (our Goddaughter) Erin, me, and Amy