Olivia at Two Months

Olivia wasn't feeling well on her two month birthday so cuddles won out over posting. Couldn't let the milestone pass without sharing. She is now 2 months and 7 days old!

Happy Two Month Birthday Olivia

Olivia you have only been in our lives for two months, but it seems like you are already a different little baby. You have gotten so big in the past month and have changed so much. The puffy little features that you had when you were born have settled down, and your starting to get your own little look to yourself. You've started to do so many exciting things, and you are constantly making mommy and daddy smile and laugh so much. There doesn't seem to be anything you do that is wrong, we coo and laugh over every thing you do.

When we went to the doctor this month, we were excited to see how much you had grown. You now weigh 10 lbs. 10 oz, which is fantastic. You are growing so much and are in the 50th percentile for weight. You are 59 cm or 23.2 inches, you've grown almost an inch since you were born. You are such a long baby, and we were not surprised that you are in the 75th percentile for your height. When the nurse put you on the scale, guess what you did, you peed on it. The nurse said you were the third baby today to do it, she was three for three. Dr.Lee said that you are looking fantastic, you are doing everything that you should be doing, and we couldn't be more proud!

Two months brought your first round of immunizations, you received three today and you handled them like a champ. The first one was taken orally and the nurse said if you were not good to take it then that you could have it at your next check up, but you took it without complaint. She was so impressed with how good you were. The other two were in your legs, the first needle shocked you and started some tears and the second one brought them out fully. You let out a big cry, because the nurse said the second needle was the more painful one. Momma couldn't watch, she even cried a little. I didn't like seeing you in pain!

At two months Olivia you continue to amaze and astound us with all the great things you are already able to do...

-You continue to be a great little eater. We reduced the amount of time you were eating a little to see if that helped with your spitting up, it did a little bit. Your spitting up is still sporadic, but it has reduced a little. You like to save the spit up for when we are not expecting it. The other night I laid you on my chest at bed time to get you to sleep. Two minutes after laying down blah, you spit up all over mommy's neck and shirt. It was fantastic! You've sneak attacked daddy and I a few times, but your so gosh darn cute that we can't be mad.

-You've started to do so much better with your crib. We had a few late nights, and you still ended up in bed with mommy and daddy most nights, but we've been trying. Our first big success was a day that you napped four hours in your crib. Mommy had to keep checking on you because she couldn't believe it. You then continued to have more naps in your crib, and although the routine was interrupted by your cold, you still are doing great at napping in your crib. When you go in your crib, we wrap you up tightly, it helps keep your soother in your mouth and you seem to like it.

-You have been sleeping fantastically at night. If you eat around midnight, you will usually sleep until between 7-9 in the morning, it's so nice to get such large chunks of sleep! Daddy and I really appreciate it!

-You have started to focus a lot more on the toys that hang down from your play mat. You enjoy your free play time, and have started clasping and hitting your toys. You get very excited about playing with your toys. Tummy time is still not your favourite, as much as we cheer and encourage you, your just not a fan. Daddy is so good to keep it up and he tries it with you as much as he can.

-You are one strong little lady. When we hold you in our arms you love to stand up nice and tall and hold your head up like a BIG girl. We still have to watch you that you don't bobble too much, but your pretty strong.

-You LOVE the swing. We borrowed one from Nanny Bing and you think it is a fantastic invention. You are so happy when you are in it, you like to stare at the TV or just fall asleep in it. Mommy likes it because it gives her a bit more time to accomplish things around our home.

-You have started to babble and coo so much. It's so much fun to have little conversations with you. You get so excited when we talk back and forth. Your little eyes just light up! It's exciting for mommy and daddy too, we love the sweet sounds you make, we are looking forward to when you start really laughing.

-You are out of your new born sized clothing, mommy was pretty sad to pack it away. We've now been working through all your 0-3 month clothing. We want to make sure that you get to wear everything at least once. Nanny Jackie says your going to think you have to get your picture taken every time you get dressed, because mommy does capture all your cute outfits.

-You own so much clothes speaking of clothes... mommy finds it hard to resist a cute outfit at a good deal. Daddy can't resist a good sports outfit for you. He recently bought you a New York Jets sleeper, it's dark green and it will fit you when your two. We love our daddy he means well!

-You attended your first super bowl event, dressed to support daddy's second favourite team. Sadly they were not successful, the patriots lost, but you sure did look cute in your outfit.

- Bruno Mars "Count on Me" and Boyce Avenue "Just the Way You Are" are still your favourite calm down songs. You have been enjoying "You are my Sunshine" as well. Mostly just the chorus of the song, we sing it lots!!

-You've been baby sat at Nanny Jackie's a few times, and you are always a little angel when you are there. Mommy and daddy hate being away from you, but we are glad you are in good hands when we can't be with you.

-You had your first bottle this month, we bought you this fancy medela breast feeding bottle, and the first time we tried it, it was a battle! Mommy was persistent and you ended up drinking the bottle but the next two attempts were horrible and we gave up on that bottle. We went to the bottle that auntie kathy recommended so much, it was inexpensive, and it worked like a charm, you downed the bottle super fast, and even took it at nanny's without any complaints, again we were so proud!

-You celebrated your first Valentine's Day in month two of your life. We had cards and treats at home. Mommy and daddy have a special valentines shirt, and headband for you. We had a hat for you too but it arrived late. You got lots of cute Valentines from our family, and you sent some out to family and some of your little friends like Josh, Noah, Sawyer and Colston. It was very fun to make our Valentines together. Nanny Jackie took us to visit Nannie and Grampa Bing and our Nelson cousins. It was a fun day!

-You also went to your first birthday party. It was Ella's fourth birthday party, at auntie Sarah and uncle Jaccob's apartment. We had a lot of fun visiting with friends and having ice cream cake. You didn't get the cake but you loved the cuddles.

-You still love to be held and snuggled. Lately you've been so good at snuggling on mommy's shoulder. After you are fed and you are being burped, you'll snuggle right into my shoulder. I love the way you cuddle in and stick out your cute little bum. I could cuddle you like that ALL day.

-You now have a LOVE relationship with bath time, even when momma pours water over your head, you just blink a lot and laugh. You let mommy wash you without any complaint. You also love splashing in the tub, your bath song of choice is "Party Rock" by LMFO. You wiggle and splash it's super funny!

-You had your first real cold, it stressed mommy and daddy out a lot. You would cough and choke and it worried us so much. You would cough up milk and mucus, but we kept getting you checked out by the doctor and he said you were okay. You didn't love the saline that we squirted in your nose, and you were so sleepy. Although you were still your happy go lucky self, you could see it in your eyes that you just were not feeling well. It was cute, we could always tell when you were done coughing because you would do this cute little throat clearing.

- You have been enjoying story time with daddy. He is so good to remember to read to you, he'll always ask mommy to bring him books to read you. His favourite one to read right now, is a Grover book, called "There is a Monster at the end of this Book". He reads it in voices and gets so into the story it is so cute, and makes mommy love him so much more.

Olivia, we just want you to know just how much we adore you. You have both of us wrapped around your cute little finger. You just coo or smile and we melt. We want to remember every little thing you do because you are just so amazing. We want to do everything we can to make you happy. Daddy and I often talk about how lucky we are, we have been blessed with such a good baby. We are a little baffled when you get cranky, because in the first two months of your life it's something that hasn't happened often. Your making it easy on us, and we appreciate you for that. We will probably write this every month, but you have changed our life so much and we just love you with all our hearts. You bring a new kind of joy to our lives and have just made our family so much stronger. Mommy and Daddy just want to work together so much harder to give you the best life possible. We cannot wait to continue to watch you learn, grow and accomplish so many wonderful things!

Hugs and Kisses!

Mommy & Daddy

Olivia at One Month

Happy One Month Birthday Olivia!

Olivia, we can hardly believe that you have been part of our family for one whole month already, but at the same time, we can't imagine what our family was like before you joined it. You have changed our lives so much, and that change has been for the better.

At one month Olivia you are already doing so many things that amaze your mommy and daddy...

-You are a great little eater. You latch on quickly and burp when mommy asks you too. You do spit up quite randomly, and have gotten it all over mommy before, but she loves you still.

-If you wake up from a nap, you are always ready to eat. If you don't get to eat right away you let us know, you have a very persistent cry when you want what you want. We are trying to teach you that you get your bum changed, clothes on and then you get to eat.

-You have been a great little sleeper, usually sleeping about 4 hours at a time, even at night. You wake up without really crying to be fed, do your business and then settle back in to sleep. I think you have spoiling mommy and daddy a bit.

-The only problem with sleep, and that is that you won't sleep in your bassinet. The longest you have gone is about 3 hours, when we all had a nap. You sleep great on the sofa or in the bed next to mom, but that's not something we want to encourage, so we are trying to figure that out now.

-You are a BIG snuggle bunny. You will sleep so well when you are snuggled next to someone, if we put you down, you can sense it and usually wake up which is sweet but frustrating all at the same time. Sweet because it's nice to know you love being next to us and frustrating because it makes it hard to get things done.

-You have the most adorable little face. You have these dainty, little cute features and we could look at your little face all day. You use these little features to make the FUNNIEST faces. Some of our favourites are your big eyes, your cross eyes, your stink eye, your little O lips and your forehead wrinkles. When they are combined it's just the most cute, and funny expressions.

-You are tracking people with your eyes so well. You know mommy, and when she walks past you when someone else is holding you, your eyes follow her. You were quite taken by Dr.Lee at your last appointment, you couldn't stop staring at him.

-You are wearing a mix of new born sized clothes and 0-3 months. What's hard with you for clothes is that you are a skinny mini little lady, but you are long. So most pants don't fit you in the waist and some of your little sleepers are not long enough, but don't worry mommy is still having fun dressing you up!

-You have a love/hate relationship with your soother. You enjoy sucking on things, but you have a challenge keeping it in your mouth and settling down to keep it in your mouth. Once it is there though, you are one happy camper.

-If you can't get the soother you LOVE sucking on your hand and on your arm. I joke sometimes with people and tell them your going to give yourself a hickey on your arm. You are getting close some days.

-You have the softest hair after your baths, if I could give you a bath every day I would, but I don't. Sometimes in pictures your hair looks really dark, Nanny thinks it looks strawberry blonde when she sees you, but other times it looks really blonde, I guess time will tell what your hair is going to be like. There is a little tuft of hair in the back that stands up, it's so sweet.

-You have had your finger nails cut twice, and in both times mommy has only slipped up once and clipped your thumb. She felt HORRIBLE, but you forgave her.

-You love movement. Poor daddy gets home from work super tired, but he will always walk around and bounce with you. It's funny when he tries to sit down, you sense it and wake up, which makes him keep moving. It's too funny. Luckily we like to walk and dance around with you.

-You have had your first sleepover at auntie Kathy. While daddy was away with uncle Jeff we stayed over there and you were cuddled lots by your cousins and mommy was fed so great. You also had your first visit to one of mommy's schools, and every body loved you!

- You have been given a name and blessing at church by Daddy, it was such a special day. Your looked beautiful in the dress Nanny Bing made you and daddy gave you a beautiful blessing. Mommy was so proud of him, and was thankful that he was all hers.

-You have been starting to make more little noises. We laugh often at the sounds you make, from cooing to squawking, from making duck noises to pig noises, we love every single peep that comes from you.

-You calm down well to music, but you already have songs you like or don't like. The two that you calm down to the best are "Count on Me" by Bruno Mars and "Just the way you are" by Boyce Avenue. When mommy sings along you settle right down, it makes mommy smile so much.

-You've sneak attacked both mommy and daddy when diaper changes have happened. Daddy got the first few surprise pee's that got everywhere and mommy has been able to catch them in the diaper pretty well, although she did get the first poop surprise. Lucky her!!

-You have put weight on well. When you were born you were 8 lbs. even. When you left the hospital you were down to 7 lbs. 9 oz. At two weeks you were up to 7 lbs. 13 oz. and at one month you were over your birth weight, coming in at 8 lbs. 8 oz. We were so happy and proud of your birth weight.

-You and the bath sometimes agree, but sometimes you don't. Mommy tries to wash you as quick as she can, but she's not always fast enough. Other times you are calm and content in the tub, I'm hoping you grow to LOVE bath time.

-We think you'll either play soccer or be a dancer because your little long legs never stop moving when you are awake. They are very strong legs so you stretch and bounce on the often.

-You HATE tummy time and usually cry through the entire time. You have a pretty strong neck anyway, but you just hate exercising it, unless you are propped up on mommy or daddy's shoulder.

-You have ROLLED, it's not common for babies to do it, but your just so strong. You did it the first week we were home from the hospital, but daddy and I missed it. You've been doing it again quite a bit because it is your escape from tummy time, you smart girl.

-You have experienced your first walk in the snow, you were bundled all up and didn't seem to mind the white flakes that were collecting on your carrier. Mommy was worried about slipping in the snow holding you, but she stayed on her feet.

I hope that I have remembered it all, you just do so much that we just want to remember it all.

Olivia, you have brought so much love into our family. Daddy has so naturally fallen into the roll of being your daddy. You have him wrapped around your little finger and he would do anything for you. Mommy can't get enough snuggles from you and could sit and stare at your perfect little face all day. Daddy often says that we make beautiful babies and I would have to agree with him. We both just love you so much. You are such a sweet baby and have such a great disposition. You are easy going, and settle without much fuss. We are so looking forward to watching you learn and grow. This first month has been the start of a great journey for us all. We look forward to helping you become an amazing girl, who is kind, friendly, smart and so much more. We are always here for you, and we would do anything for you. Thank you for coming to our family and making is parents. We love you with all our hearts.

Hugs and Kisses,

Mommy and Daddy

Christmas Day 2011

So this Christmas post is not like any Christmas post of the past. Instead of being filled with the family memories of our time with both our families it is filled with pictures from in the hospital. I would recommend to anyone having a baby, make sure you are not due near the holidays. We felt so thankful and blessed to have welcomed a beautiful healthy daughter into our family but being in the hospital over the holidays STINKS!!

Here are some reasons why being in the hospital over the holidays STINKS:

1. MSI isn't open over the holidays so you can't get baby's health card number to fill our forms

2. The hearing test people are not in, so you have to bring baby back for testing later

3. Not as many visitors because people are busy with their own families over the holidays

4. You miss Christmas Eve family celebrations: movie and Thai food, I'm still bummed about it!

5. You miss seeing family open gifts, and you miss the best meals: Christmas Breakfast & Dinner

Now that I've had my Bah Humbug moments, I did have A LOT to be thankful for this holiday season, and that was the beautiful baby that I spent all of Christmas with.

As I mentioned in my last post, we were in a semi private room which sucked, but my nurse Joelle was amazing that first night. She had to come check me every hour for the first three hours, so I saw her lots. She was so helpful with nursing and just explaining any questions that I had. She was a life saver too, turns out Olivia had some mucus still stuck in her, and Joelle noticed the sound a baby makes when they have it in them, she took Olivia, turned up almost upside down and patted her back to get the mucus out. She then took her down to the nurses station to suction her out a bit. We were a tad nervous, but she called down and told us everything was fine. It made me a bit nervous the rest of the night, but they came quickly any time I called about it. She said most babies will work it out of their systems before they leave the hospital.

After you have your baby for those who don't know, you still have an IV in with fluids, before you can have it removed you have to have two good pea's. Since Kaitlyn had used the catheter on me before I came up to my room, I didn't have to go for hours, and it took forever to have two good pee's that the nurses would accept, so I had to lug the dumb IV pole around with me which was hard in such a small space. I would get up to go the washroom, start walking and then realize, Oh wait the pole isn't with me! Luckily I didn't ver get far enough for it to pull out and hurt me at all. I was thankful Christmas Day afternoon to have it removed finally.

My replacement nurse on Christmas Day was amazing, her name was Rachel and mom knew her. Turned out mom had taught her daughter in elementary school, I always love finding out connections like that. She was such a great nurse too, so understanding and caring. She continued to answer my questions, and she felt that every pregnant mom should have their own room, which was nice to hear because I was still pushing to get into my own room. I guess they hadn't expected as many deliveries over the holidays, so they had closed down half the floors rooms. Well they were wrong, when I was delivering Olivia, Christa had said they had 11 nurses on and 10 women in labour and the numbers didn't stop coming! Rachel had told me that I was on the list for my own room, but I was on the bottom of the list. She said at least I was on the list. She also told me that in the afternoon she took over as like the head nurse or something like that, and that she would work her magic, and she did. In the afternoon another nurse came down and moved Olivia and I to our own private room, but let's not jump ahead. I also found out after the fact that Rachel is my friend Natalie's aunt, but she wasn't allowed to say anything, I wish I had of known at the time she was my nurse.

Since I didn't get any sleep that first night, I spent the time on Facebook and texting Laura out west, man was I thankful for the time difference. I was able to feed and cuddle Olivia lots and it was so wonderful to just have some partially quiet time with her. Christmas morning brought us a few visitors which was so appreciated. Being stuck in the hospital when you know your family is all together is HARD, so the visitors in the morning were so wonderful.

Mom was the first to arrive, she brought us a few Christmas presents to open and she brought Brandon Christmas breakfast since he could order from my menu. She also came to get some more baby snuggles, who wouldn't want those. It was nice to have that little taste of Christmas first thing in the day.

Uncle Jaccob and Auntie Sarah came next. They were on their way to church in Cole Harbour and Bing family festivities before heading to the valley to be with Sarah's family. It was so sweet of them to come on such a busy day first thing in the morning just to meet our girl. I didn't expect anything less from them though, we are blessed to have such a sweet family! They brought us a few little gifts too, which again made it feel a bit more like Christmas.

Sonja was the next to arrive, which meant so much because she had snuck away from her kiddies to visit on Christmas morning. They had been up early and finished all the festivities, so she was able to sneak out without missing too much. She brought Olivia a cute little pink snowman outfit that had ruffles... I LOVE ruffles. She waited so patiently to hold her, and then stayed for a nice visit/chat which I really appreciated on Christmas morning- thanks friend!

Dad had driven over early to pick up my Nanny to bring her in for a visit. He figured it would be the best time to do it before it got too busy in the hospital and at home with family coming over. It was so wonderful to have Olivia meet her great grandmother, I love my Nanny so much and love that dad brought her over so quickly. Dad also got some snuggles in too, because as I mentioned before he loves babies!!

Nanny Jackie getting some Olivia snuggles in

Auntie Sarah, Uncle Jaccob meeting their second niece

Olivia with her great grandmother, my nanny Logan

Olivia with her poppy... he has a soft spot for babies

Miss Olivia enjoying the visits... she still had her bloody little curls at this point of the day

Auntie Sonja getting some snuggles... it was so strange to be in the reverse... I am so used to being at the hospital to meet her babies, so it was strange that she was there to meet my baby! It was a great and exciting feeling!

After that stream of visitors, things quieted down a lot. Brandon had headed home to get some sleep. Since he hadn't gotten much and thought he had to work that night, he needed some rest. So he left, leaving Olivia and I flying solo. It was during the morning and afternoon while I was still in the semi private room that I got kinda blue. I was lonely, which is a hard feeling to have when it's Christmas. I was over tired, and couldn't sleep because I didn't want to leave Olivia unattended, plus I needed to feed her and change her, which was all on me right now. I got teary a few times during that period, but Rachel was wonderful to be understanding. She came whenever I called, and would watch Olivia while I went to the washroom, which was needed and nice of her. I didn't know that TV was included in the room, so I sat just watching Olivia for hours, it wasn't until I got to the private room that I realized that I could have been watching TV the whole time, I was kinda mad about that. My neighbours were sweet though, they had realized Brandon had to leave and offered me any help if I needed it.

During that morning Olivia had a few things done to her. A doctor came in and checked her out, it was then that we learned that she was 22 inches long, which is a pretty good length for a baby, such a long girl. That doctor also changed Olivia for me, since she had a poop while Olivia was in her care, she said it was the only freebie I would be getting from her, she was funny. She would be coming back the next day too because she didn't get to check Olivia's eyes.

Olivia also finally go her FIRST BATH, which I was thrilled about because her hair was all bloody still. She did okay with her bath, but there was some crying involved. The nurse that bathed her was great to show me what to do when we bath her. Then she bundled her all up and put a special little Christmas hat on her, all babies on the floor were getting them that day which I thought was sweet. She looked so cute in her little Santa type hat. She bundled her up in warm heated blankets, which Olivia LOVED! We were interested to see what her hair would be like after it was washed, it was so curly before, but with the hat on after the bath the curls were gone, and they haven't quite come back the same as when she was born. Maybe someday the curls will return. I just loved touching her soft blonde hair after it was all cleaned.

Some first bath tears...

Finally getting her hair washed

My cute baby girl on her first Christmas

I think she looked so funny in this one... just this little head in the bath tub. She is laying next to me as I am typing this and she looks so much bigger now... she needs to stop growing!!

Wide awake after her first bath, muting on her big hands and wearing her cute Santa hat!!

All bundled up in warm blankets after her first bath, she looks like a little burrito.

I could of sat and snapped pictures of her all day, I am just so in love with this little girl!

As I mentioned above in the afternoon Rachel had me moved to my own room, I have never been soooooooooo happy to have my own room. The nurse who moved me down the hall came in and packed me all up, and got all my stuff (and I had a lot) down to my new room! I had to push Olivia down in her little bassinet, which I thought would be easy, but proved to be more challenging, we eventually made it and it was HEAVEN!! It was so nice to be in a quiet room. I was able to organize out stuff, I got a cot for Brandon brought in, and I figured out that TV was free and I began to enjoy the Big Bang Theory marathon that was on Dec 25-26, it was wonderful. It was in my private room that I was able to have my first nap in over 24 hours and it was heavenly. Olivia slept in my arms and I snoozed for about 45 minutes, and I felt 100% better after my nap which was great because we had visitors in the evening.

I was a little bummed that because she was born on a holiday we wouldn't have as many visitors as we would, I was so looking forward to visitors and I'm sure there may have been more if it wasn't a holiday. The ones that came made us feel so special and loved that it didn't even matter. It meant so much that they took the time out of their holiday celebrations to be with us.

The Lantz family were the first ones to visit us in our new private room. Mark, Laura and baby Noah came from celebrations with their family to visit us, and they looked so great. Noah was one adorable Santa, it was his first Christmas as well. Laura and I have been friends since grade primary, I treasure her friendship so much, so it meant a lot to have her family visit. She snuggled my girl, and I hope Olivia will have friends like Laura as she grows up. I wanted to get a picture of all of them with Olivia and when I took the picture I said to them, this is what it would look like if you had two babies, that got a good laugh out of them... they would be cute as a family of four!! Thanks Lantz family for coming to see us!

Then we had a great visit from almost all of the Bing aunties and uncles. Brandon had just returned to us, turned out when he got to work, he didn't have to be there because the place was closed. We were happy to have daddy back with us so much sooner. I was able to get a shower which was amazing and needed Christmas treat. Back to the visit, Brandon's sisters came to meet our girl and brought her older cousin Alexis to meet Olivia. It was so wonderful, aunties Chelsey, Brittany and Meaghan all cuddled and loved our girl so much. Uncles Jason and Ryan also got a quick snuggle in, although it was hard with all those loving aunties there. It was great to just chat with them since I'd been missing everyone so much this morning. It was nice to hear about Christmas and share how we'd been doing. They brought Miss Olivia some very thoughtful gifts, we especially love the blanket she got with her name and a caterpillar on it. Alexis was very cute with Olivia and just wanted to keep giving the baby kisses, it melted my heart. She wasn't 100% sure about her mother holding the baby, but she'll get better with that, it was just a new situation for her. I think Brandon was a very proud daddy showing off his little girl to his sisters!

Auntie Chelsey & uncle Ryan with Baby O... all Chelsey's nurse friends had been amazing to us

I think uncle Ryan was pretty happy to have a turn for a cuddle

auntie brittany with her second niece Olivia Mary

Cousin Alexis giving baby o kisses, it was so cute!

auntie Meaghan holding her first niece on her side of the family

Olivia being loved by the Bing ladies... I love that she has so many amazing aunties and cousins in her life to be examples of what a great girl should be.

Below... uncle Jason getting a quick cuddle!

During the evening we kept getting texts from my loving sister, showing me the delicious meal that I was going to be missing out on. I was pretty jealous, it looked delicious and I could only imagine how it was tasting fresh. It made me so sad to be missing out on the Christmas dinner especially since it was going to be the last one at the Nelson home, since they will have moved next Christmas. It was a full house at their place and it looked like a lot of fun, I wanted the kids to show me all their goodies and just to get hugs from them, I was bummed. Luckily though they made up plates for Brandon and I of dinner and dessert and it was delivered by two more visitors, Mike and Keah. They swapped the twins for the food and headed our way. It was so wonderful to see them and introduce them to Olivia. They both got some snuggles in with the little girl, and again it was just great to chat with them about the holidays so far!

Auntie kiki and Uncle Mike both smiling and happy to meet baby Olivia!

Below, Daddy was happy to be back to snuggle his little girl, he'd missed he while he was at home getting some sleep... we were so thankful to have him back, we missed him just as much!

Our last visitors of the day were Nanny and Grandpa Bing, they were not only welcome visitors, but life savers. When Christmas dinner was brought over to us, there were no eating utensils. Brandon searched the floor, but there was nothing to use, and our nurse couldn't find anything either. So we caught Brandon's family and they saved us, we were starving by the time they arrived!! They also brought us some beautiful flowers and a present for miss Olivia. They got some longer cuddles in with Olivia tonight, which I think both them and Olivia equally loved. The below picture is a Christmas favourite, Olivia and her grandpa in matching Santa hats. Grandpa Bing is like Poppy O'Hearon, they both have HUGE soft spots for their grandchildren. It's quite adorable to see!

We had a quiet night after all our visitors left, as our first full day with baby Olivia came to an end, we were both tired but so happy and filled with so much love for our new daughter. We spent the rest of the night just enjoying watching our daughter, changing her bum and feeding her. She has been a great little baby so far, she just loves to snuggle and be held. She barely makes a peep, and can be so alert sometimes, with her big dark blue eyes open. That night Brandon and I took turns with the baby. We would do shifts of a couple hours so that we both could get some sleep, the other would take care of the baby and watch Big Bang, it was a great system and we both woke up feeling so much better the next day. My first full day as a mommy was a day mixed with emotions, the strongest one being happiness, I love my little girl and am so looking forward to watching her grow.

Hope everyone had an amazing Christmas, I know that this is one that we will never ever forget for the rest of our lives. We were given the best gift any parents could ask for, a beautiful and healthy baby girl. We love you so, so much Olivia Mary!

Olivia Mary Bing: December 24, 2011

I was up feeding Olivia early Saturday morning, while I was feeding her I was reading my friend Emily's blog. Emily had a little girl, Kinley 2 months ago, and I have been enjoying reading her blog about her experiences with a new baby. It made me realize how much I have missed blogging and how much I wanted to record Olivia's life on here so I can turn it into a blog book each year as a special family memory. So I'm back on the blogging train and hope I can keep it up. Thanks Emily for being a great inspiration!

I thought that the best place to start for me would be the birth of our first daughter, Miss Olivia Mary Bing, on December 24th, 2011. To do that though I feel I need to go back one day and start my new blogging goal on December 23rd, 2011.

December 23, 2011

December 23rd, brought snow to Nova Scotia, something I was not excited to see. Being 39 weeks pregnant I didn't want anything to get in my way of getting to the hospital if I went into labour. I'd been lucky during my entire pregnancy to not have had to deal with a lot of snow, and I was thankful for that. I'm a bit clumsy says Brandon, so I was always worried about falling. Although the snow was pretty, it was coming down quite heavily, and not making me happy. Little did I know, it was not going to be the only thing that made me sad that day. It was about mid morning, when the phone rang, it was Brandon's father calling with some news. It was news that we were not expecting to get, and news that we didn't want to hear. Brandon's grandfather Steve had passed away suddenly that morning at his home in Ontario. Brandon and I were both shocked.

We had just been with Brandon's grandparents this summer, and grandpa had seemed to be well. I think I cried for Brandon and I that day, I just couldn't seem to stop. Brandon's grandparents, Steve and Sandie reminded me a lot of my mom's parents, who have both passed away. They are grandparents who are so involved in their grandchildren's lives and love being around them and you can see it on their faces, so loosing grandpa really hit hard. He was an amazing man and will be missed greatly in our family. The picture below was taken in January 2010 at Chelsey and Ryan's wedding, we enjoyed every time Nanna and Grandpa came to visit.

That night Brandon had to go to work, so I had some time to prepare for Christmas Eve that night. It had been decided through conversation with Brandon's parents throughout the day, that although we were all feeling the great loss, that we would continue on with our planned holiday celebrations. After the holidays some of the family would be heading to Ontario to be with Nanna for grandpa's memorial service. I was able to finish packing for the hospital for both Brandon and I, packing up the Christmas gifts, and packing for the holiday weekend. Brandon was going to be working, so I was planning on staying at his parents home on Christmas Eve. Going to bed that night, little did I know that my Christmas Eve plans were going to be changed drastically!

December 24, 2011

Brandon as mentioned above was working on Friday night, so I had the whole bed to myself which is always nice, especially since my pillows had been taking up a lot of space the past few months. I had been up to the washroom twice throughout the night, and after the first time baby girl got the hiccups which kept me up for a little while. I really enjoyed feeling her little hiccups throughout my pregnancy no matter when they happened. When I got up to go to the washroom the second time, there wasn't anything different. I got back into bed and that's when something didn't feel right. There wasn't any pain, but just something different. So I stood up and all of a sudden I felt wet... not the kind of wet that would make one think they had an accident, but wet as in OH MY GOODNESS MY WATER BROKE! It was 6:47am, I waddled to the washroom, with the phone because I had no doubt that it was indeed my water breaking, I had been worried about not knowing, now that I think about that I just laugh!

The first person I of course call is Brandon, he picks up and in tears I tell him "My water broke, and it's Christmas Eve." His first question was, did it get on the bed, hahha I laughed at that, only my husband would be concerned about that. (It hadn't gotten on the bed) I think he was a little shocked to be getting this call because I wasn't due for three days and we figured I would most likely go over due like most first pregnancies. Plus I had been telling the baby she didn't want to come on this weekend for a long time, but she obviously wasn't going to listen. Brandon was done work in a little over an hour, so I told him to stay until he finished up his shift and then meet me at the hospital.

Mom was my next call, I figured it being about 7am that she would still be in bed, but she picked up and sounded awake. I said "Hi, what are you doing", a good question when one's water has broken to start a conversation right? Anyway mom replies that she was reading and asked what I was doing, thats when I told her about being in labour. She said she would be out to get me as soon as possible! I decided since I had some time, and no real pain that I would get a shower and shave my legs... isn't that what all pregnant women think when their water breaks? So I got myself ready slowly while waiting for me. I received a text from my little sister who had heard the news, and a phone call from my older sister wondering why she heard my news via text from Laura, I just hadn't gotten the chance to call everyone right away. I also during this time called my in-laws to share the news. They were pretty excited to get that phone call. Mom arrived and helped me take my bags down to the car where dad was waiting to drive us both down. I used the car ride to text some friends and of course up date my Facebook status, you can see I had my priorities in order right...hahhaa!!

When mom and I got to the hospital we headed into admitting. Luckily I had pre-registered so the process was quick. I can't believe I am going to post a lot of the pictures in this post because I hadn't gotten to put makeup on so I look especially special, but back to Olivia's story. I had what is called Group B Streptococcus, it's a bacteria that pregnant women either have in their body or don't. Since I had it, that meant that I had to go to the hospital as soon as my water broke so that they could start antibiotics so that the bacteria wouldn't be passed on to the baby. Once I was checked in at admitting, I was taken into an assessment room where the nurse took some of my information from my prenatal record which I loved having in my purse to handover, it made things much easier. She took my blood pressure and then she escorted me upstairs to the 3rd floor, labour and delivery!!

When we got up to the third floor I was taken into a little waiting room to be monitored until it was time to go to my delivery room. It was great to have mom with me, she was a good little photographer as well as fantastic company. While I was in the waiting type room, the hooked me up to a heat rate monitor to monitor the baby and to see if I was having any contractions. I also had an IV started. The first attempt didn't work, but she was able to get it in the second time in my other arm. I don't really love IV's at all, and this one was a tad uncomfortable, just the way it was angled in, but I could survive the discomfort. It was there that I was started on fluids and antibiotics. Mom was a great support, before they could start the antibiotics I needed to eat something because after that I was cut off from food. So she ran down and got me a bagel and apple juice, such a great last meal... hahaha!! It was actually quite delicious.

Brandon's parents had brought him over one of their cars since he didn't take ours to work that night. Brandon was able to drive home, change grab a bite to eat and then meet us at the hospital. I felt pretty bad for the guy, he had worked all night and was super tired. Although he was tired, he was pretty excited too. I encouraged him to grab a snooze, he got a mini one in this room. I was excited when we finally got to move down the hall to delivery room number 10, I didn't enjoy getting up because my water leaked like crazy more, sadly making me look like I wet my pants, luckily though my sweat pants made it not as noticeable!

Waiting in the waiting type room... my belly is looking sooooo BIG! I kinda miss it now...

Although my face looks MASSIVE... this is my belly being monitored!

Daddy arrived... I was really glad to see him!

Below... Daddy gets a little snooze while we waited... he said that was the best nap!

As mentioned above we walked down to delivery room number 10 where I met my sweet nurse Christa. She was amazing, she explained things clearly, she was easy to talk with, she was funny and she helped me through the hard contractions so much. First thing when we were in the room we got all my bags situated and I got to finally get changed into the hospital gear which was much more comfortable then what I had on... some people don't like the mesh hospital underwear, but I'm going to put it out there, I found them quite wonderful! At thins time I was also able to put some makeup on, as my sweet little sister Laura texted me, I needed some makeup so that I wouldn't look so tired. Wasn't that sweet of her! So after I fixed myself up I felt so much better, Christa said the only rule in the delivery room, was that the patient wasn't allowed to look better then her nurse. We had a good laugh about that and I told her that I didn't think she had to worry too much about that, hahah!! Brandon was able to get a little rest in during this time. There was a chair there that pulled out into a full bed, and Christa got him a heated blanket he was in daddy to be heaven!

This is my last belly shot before Olivia joined our family, I was just over 39 weeks in this picture. I loved my belly and feeling her move and kick. I miss it as mentioned above, but now am also enjoying seeing it melt away... hope it keeps melting!!

Me and my sweet nurse Christa... she was the BEST!

Below...Daddy and Mommy to be both resting...aren't we cute in our beds!

Once we got settled in, they started an induction drip. They started the drip because my water had broken and with the group B strep, they wanted to get my labour going. I think if I remember correctly Christa said something like they would increase the amount every four hours or so. My doctor wasn't on this weekend so I had two different doctors for Baby O's delivery, the first one I saw once when she came in to introduce herself, and check me, then she got swamped and I saw her before she ended her shift. My doctor hadn't checked my progress this week because she said if she did she would put me into labour and we were trying to avoid that this weekend, so this was really my first check and wow it was PAINFUL! I teared up big time, and found out I was quite thinned out, but only at about 1 cm, all that pain to find that out, so cheap!

While the contractions were still mild, she recommended me sitting on an exercise ball, which was pretty comfortable for a little while. I managed to sit and bounce on it for a little while, but as the contractions increased the pain began to be too much and I felt like I might fall off the ball, so mom helped me back into bed. As you can see in the below pictures, I was happy on the ball and then the contractions got BAD!! Brandon woke up around the time that the drip had really worked and the contractions were getting unbearable. Brandon, mom and Christa were a great support during these painful times, encouraging me to breathe through the contractions. They didn't want me to hold my breath or hyperventilate which was easy to do with that amount of pain. The induction drip had really worked and Christa even had to turn it down a bit because they were coming on FAST, maybe even like a minute apart. Just as I would finish one contraction the next one would be starting. It was quite an amazing experience to feel the contraction, you can feel it building, reach it's peak and then start to come down. When they end it's such a sigh of relief... too bad the next one would come so soon. I remember that my main phrases through the contractions were, "This sucks" and "This is so not fun", I this "This sucks" was the more well used comment during this time.

I had told Christa I didn't have time to write up a birth plan, which she said was a good thing. She said a lot of people come in with them and want to stick to them to the word, and when things have to change they feel disappointed and upset about not following the plan. I told her the only thing I knew I wanted was an epidural. The thought of a giant needle in my spine did make me a bit nervous, but after the pain of contractions I was READY to have it. I was checked and was about 4-5 cm so they brought it on. It was so hard because your still experiencing the great pain of contractions, and they make you sit up on your bed, and lean over a pillow. You have to sit still through the pain, while the anesthesiologist does their job. I thought it would be hard, but with Brandon's support and the change in position, I actually felt better through the contractions. I had a resident put my epidural in and she was awesome, she was quick and got the job done properly. For all those who are on the fence about getting an epidural or not, I vote GET ONE. It was amazing. You still feel the great pain of the contractions as it kicks in but gradually it starts working, and you slowly regain the ability to normally converse with people. It was a magical feeling.

Brandon found me quite funny after I got my epidural. He thought the drugs affected me in many ways, one way being making me slightly high, because he said I was so funny. We explained that it doesn't have that affect, but that when you go from great pain to no pain, you get a little giddy. I was, I couldn't stop chatting because I could again! You can see my joy in the pictures below. When I had the epidural in Christa wanted to see if I could make it to the washroom to empty my bladder. She said the test was that I had to stand up and squat twice. So Christa and Brandon help me get out of bed and stand. I was feeling pretty confident, rocking back and forth, then Christa helped me squat, hahha I couldn't get back up, and she said I failed, back to bed I went. She had to use a catheter which was the easiest pee of my life, I didn't mind it at all.

We hung out and waited to dilate for the next few hours. I enjoyed a couple of white grape popsicles, updated Facebook and did some texting. Dad I think was antsy being at home, he'd texted for updates throughout the day, but he likes to be helpful, so be brought down some food to mom and brandon which was sweet and visited for a few minutes. Brandon felt bad eating in front of me, but I really didn't mind, I wasn't that hungry and the popsicles were making me happy, although his french fries smelt amazing!!

My sisters are wonderful and kept texting mom and I for updates. Laura was in Calgary and it was driving her nuts not being here for the big day. She wanted pictures and videos sent along with the updates. Kathy was someone who was going to be in the room with us when the baby came, so she kept wanting dilation updates which they didn't do as frequently as she wanted. They limit them because they introduce new bacteria into the area. It being Christmas Eve, Kathy had to come at just the right time. She had things to do in preparation for Christmas as well as activities with her own kiddies. So when I was about 8-9 cm we let her know. Sweet Laura I believe made the comment at this time wanting to know which one I was closer to because in labour being an 8 or a 9 is a big difference. So Kathy and my mother-in-law Laureen headed over together to be with us for the big moment. Brandon didn't want a lot of people in the room, but I got final say and I am so glad they were all there, it was nice to have extra people to talk to and distract me while I waited. It was exciting as they all arrived. I knew if I needed to ask them to leave that they would, and they stayed out of the way of Christa. Mom and Laureen sat in a corner and chatted. Kathy was on one side of my bed and Brandon was on the other it was great!

hanging out on the exercise ball... still happy!

Not so happy now... the contractions were hard!

woohoo for epidurals, they make me happy again!

Brandon attempting to help me with my squat

My big sister arrived, I was excited to see her!

Below... The two grandmothers to be again!!

As the time came to start pushing, Brandon and Kathy got nice and silly, complaining of delivery room smells, which resulted in them both putting on hospital masks, don't they look fancy! Brandon put gloves on just for extra added affect, he almost put a hat on too, he said he wanted to be like Bill Cosby on the Cosby show... he totally kept us laughing! We also found a way for Laura to be included in the special day... Kathy used her iPhone to Skype Laura into the delivery room. So on Christmas Eve all the way in Calgary, my sister got to be in the room for the whole time I was pushing, getting to see her niece when she arrived in this world. Isn't technology just so amazing!

When the time came to push I was a little nervous... you go through labour knowing it's coming but when the time finally comes it's surreal. Once I got into the pushing I was giving it my all. Three big pushes for every contraction. My support team was great, although Brandon didn't want to look down to where the baby was coming from, he was totally by my side holding my hand, giving me water and keeping me cool with a cold cloth. He was a great helper. Christa was off at 7:00pm but she stayed around for a little bit extra just incase I was a quick pusher. Unfortunately I wasn't a fast pusher which sucked because there were only a few private rooms left upstairs, and I wanted a private room (which didn't happen).

I ended up pushing for 2 hours, it was a long and hard 2 hours, but the end result was worth it. It was frustrating because my new nurse Kaitlyn, who was also super great, kept saying how close she was to being out, but I think they were all lying. They kept saying she just had to make it around this last corner... well she was trying to do that for a LONG time. It was getting annoying to hear. In the end, for my last few pushes the doctor had to use forceps to deliver Olivia. I didn't want them at all, but she was so close that she just needed the extra help. Well they were the most intense pushes of the day, I had two nurses pushing my legs back and then the doctor doing her job, I thought my legs were going to break off. Sorry if this is too much detail, but it's for my blog book and memory. Although it was intense, I do remember seeing her kind of coming out, and of Brandon cutting her cord although it is a foggy memory.

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he let me squeeze as much as I wanted...

below... Doctor Bing wiping down my forehead... what a husband!!

They brought in the NICU team to be on stand by where they were using forceps, just to check her out, but she was great. Brandon and Kathy said that when she came out she looked pretty special. She had a cone head, blond bloody curls and here eyes were wide open. They quickly held her up so I could see her, but then they took her over to be check out. Everyone followed along to see her and snap pictures. It was such an exciting team, she had a strong little cry and scored 9/9 on both of her APGAR tests... that's my girl!! Kathy who has had 5 kiddies had never been in the delivery room for another delivery other then her own, was pretty affected by my delivery. She told me after that the doctor was really yanking the baby out of me, the doctor said she wasn't yanking, just gently guiding out... Kathy was like she was Yanking!! Hahha it was pretty funny. I ended up having four stitches, but survived the delivery. Kathy snapped some great pictures of Olivia's first few minutes, Miss Olivia made some great little faces!

The NICU team checking out our little lady...

I call this face, what am I doing here... it's so COLD!

Still pouting a little bit while she was getting checked out

she was such an alert little lady...

she was taking everything in, look at how wrinkly her little fingers are

she looks a little angry in this picture and looks like she has strong words for someone

This was just a great face, classic Olivia!!

So it was official, on Christmas Eve our little family had a new member join it,

Olivia Mary Bing

December 24, 2011

9:00pm

8 lbs 22 inches

Perfect in every way!!

It was love at first sight when we finally got to hold our girl. She seemed so tiny and warm. She had the cutest little eyes and nose, and it looked like she had daddy's dimple in her chin, although I don't think it's there still now. She had a lot of hair for my side of the family, it was blonde, curly and super cute. I got to snuggle her first and have some skin on skin time, and some time to get her to start feeding. Daddy had some time to check her out to and he was in LOVE. He got to hold her next and it was super cute to see him with his daughter. I was even more in love with him that day seeing him as a father. It was super sweet.

Although we could have just kept holding on to her, we did want to let our support team get some baby love. The grandpa's were called and both managed to be at the hospital pretty quickly and both were able to come into the delivery room to meet their newest grand daughter. It was so wonderful to see our little girl being loved by all her family members that were waiting all day to meet her!

Nanny Jackie who had been with us through it all, got some snuggles

Poppy O'Hearon loves his grand kiddies so much, he will steal the baby at any opportunity for a snuggle it's pretty sweet. I love how she is awake in this picture.

Auntie Kathy was a great photographer and even better sister. I am so glad she was there for Olivia's birth, it was so special to have my sister there.

Nanny and Grandpa Bing were very excited about their second grand daughter. I love this picture of them they both look so great and Olivia is nice and alert. I think it's fun too that grandpa has a Santa hat on, to celebrate the festive day our daughter was born.

The first official picture of the Bing family of three

After everyone else took off we had some quiet time as a family. I was able to get a nice hot shower and clean myself up which felt so amazing. Brandon had some daddy time and is turning into quite the natural with the baby. We packed up all our stuff and we headed up to the 5th floor, to our semi private room which made me really sad, but we had our daughter so that made it all better. The room was cozy with another loud family across the room, but we just tried to take in every minute with our new little lady. We didn't get much sleep that night at all, our neighbours didn't know how to use a quiet voice when talking on the phone and the husband snored like a lawn mower it was fantastic. I was over tired, but just couldn't stop looking at my daughter.

Me and my little girl after my nice hot shower

Olivia Mary Bing in her bassinet.

It was an amazing day. Although labour had it's challenges, and discomforts, it was a life changing experience. I found that everyone had prepared me for the worst, that it all didn't seem so bad. I wouldn't change anything because it brought us Olivia in the end. I'm sure there is something that I am missing in here, but I tried my best to remember it all.

I like to think that the emotion of the 23rd, is what started Olivia's journey into our family. When grandpa passed away, I like to think that he was able to meet Olivia and told her that it was time for her to come join our family. I like to tell myself that he knew we were going to need some happiness in our lives right now and that happiness is Olivia. When I heard the news of grandpa passing I was sad that Olivia wasn't going to meet the great man that grandpa was, but this thinking made me happy that she maybe got to snuggle him on her way to join our family.

I am so excited to be a mother and I am so looking forward to sharing all my Olivia stories and memories on here.