Happy First Birthday to my incredibly smart and determined daughter, Olive. I decided to write Olive a letter each year for her birthday. As I sit down to write it, I'm already crying. This year has been a year to remember for so many reasons, but for us, it will be because it was Olive's first year filling our lives with extra joy. We even got a bonus day since it was a Leap Year. As I'm doing the morning show, I'm thinking of where I was this time last year. I had Jake write down my birth story, so I wouldn't forget, and I already had forgotten so many things. This was Jake's rundown:
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Woke up around midnight, pretty consistent pain, couldn’t get comfy.
Woke up again at 1a, unbearable pain, little bit of blood, called doctor.
Measured contractions for next hour and called doctor again, told us to come in
Packed stuff up, Linda (Jake's Mom) came to stay with Dillon, rolled out (I (Jake) forgot Boppy 😒)
Arrived at hospital around 3a, checked in, got checked and confirmed I was in labor, moved into a labor room around 3:30a, and got the epidural at 4a. Calmed the pain quite a bit.
Got a little nap in. 9cm by 6:15a, brushed teeth and hair, have weird yellow “peanut” pillow between legs to get pressure going, but things are cruising.
Around 7a contraction’s slowed a little, got a little Pitocin to speed things up. Napped for an hour or so
Doctor came in and checked around 8:50, and she was all the way down, and could feel the head! Time to push.
They had me (Jake) hold her (Falen's) leg, and she gave a huge push, and the Dr said “this is going to be fast” - pushed 2 more times over the course of the next 15 min, and out popped Olive at 9:13a :)
Went straight to mom for some skin to skin. I (Jake) cut the cord, and they got mom cleaned up. Olive cried a good bit right away, and we were instantly in love.
Around 9:45 Olive got her first ever bath, first ever shots, and started training to feed.
They moved us up to our room to stay the night around 11am
We relaxed for a bit and settled in. That afternoon around 3pm, Grandma Linda, Uncle Dave, Auntie Hannah, and big bro Dillon came to visit :)
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Throughout the months, I've written little milestones. I am also thankful I did that because I forgot so many already.
Olive 1 Month: You hold your head up (you’re so strong). You are so happy when you first wake up
SO many smiles! You love sleeping on mommy’s chest
Olive 2 months:
You love making breakfast with Daddy in the morning. You love your bumbo seat You smile and coo and absolutely melt our hearts. You have started drooling more and sucking your hands
Olive 3 months
You laughed!! Saturday 12/21 was your first laugh. We almost cried it made us so happy to hear! You can almost sit up by yourself. You started sleeping in your crib at night You are obsessed with your toy, Tomy!
Olive 4 Months
Your hands are in your mouth non-stop. You are sucking your fingers and drooling like crazy. You’ve had belly laughs, and now you’re doing raspberries! You love standing in the toy station your Aunt Kara got you, and your second favorite toy is Sophie! Tomy is still #1! You are very chatty like your mom.
Olive 5 Months
You rolled from your back to your tummy! 2/1/2020. You learned to sleep through the night. We took you out of your swaddle at night, and you’re in a sleep sack when you sleep. You can sit up all by yourself. You love making raspberries (fart noises with your mouth) and yelling at us. So many things have happened this month.
Olive 6 Months
You’ve had sweet potatoes and Oatmeal now! You are scooting and trying to crawl! You have great belly laughs. You’re so interested in your puppies. Loves playing with toys including chewing on everything
First tooth 4/10/20
Olive 7 months
You are crawling! You are pulling yourself up. You are standing almost all by yourself. You got your second tooth. You love seeing yourself in the mirror. You got your bike trailer and went on your first hike at Taylor’s falls
Olive 8 months
You got your top two teeth and the two on both sides of those are now poking through! You’ve had spaghetti and love it.
You echo mommy singing Frozen. You dance now! You now have a convertible car seat!
Olive 9 Months
You went to the beach for the first time (Martha’s Vineyard), and you loved the pool. You love clicking your tongue. You took your first steps. You love talking to yourself in the mirror. You said yeah, mama and didi. You Love reading. Favorites are everything is mama, ba ba la la and Olive Twist.
Olive 10 months
You are full on walking now. Your favorite word is doggy. You love dancing (Whitney Houston is a favorite) You love running around outside with your shoes off
Olive 11 months
You are crawling up steps, you pat your dad’s back in the morning when he gets you up. You’re learning colors, and you whisper certain words like “pretty”. You have mastered mommy finally! You got your third tooth on the bottom (9/14/2020). You clap when we clap and say "Yay!"! You moved into your new house!
I want to thank you again for any tip, gift or kind word you've given us. We are so thankful for Olive. As someone who swore she'd never have kids, I am so thankful every day to call Olive my daughter. She's shown me what is truly important.