Little Olivia was 6 lb 11 oz and 18.1 inches at birth. She came out with a tiny zit/cyst above her right eye (which was gone after a two weeks) and tears in her eyes, which I've never seen in a newborn, and we joked she was a teenager already. Olivia is just perfect in every way, and even though having three little ones is challenging and the newborn phase is hard, Mike and I count our blessings every day for the gifts these children are in our lives.
The boys got to meet Olivia once we were settled into our room. Gma and Gpa Romney stayed with us and took care of the boys while we went to go birth Olivia. The boys were so excited to meet her and Eli is especially in love with his baby sister. Isaac was a little worried about the whole situation--waking up without Mommy home, seeing me hooked up to all sorts of things in a hospital bed, and he's only 17 months old so he didn't really know what to do with the baby. My recover has been hard on him that first week because I just wasn't available and couldn't do much, but we've all learned to adjust more and he loves his baby sister. Both boys want to smother her in kisses and hugs every time they see her. She doesn't always appreciate this, and they don't always have the gentlest touch, but I'm glad to see the love these kids have for each other. Isaac kisses and hugs every time she's in reach, and Eli is always sitting by me, asking to hold her, wanting to touch her soft skin and he loves watching me take care of her. He's a sensitive and sweet boy, and Olivia is lucky to have two wonderful big brothers.
She was born early on a Saturday, not because I went into labor (though I was having contractions), but because I had a great doctor who was willing to schedule the c-section then so my mom could have more time to stay with us. I'm thankful for Dr. Layton's willingness to get up early on his day off, and I am especially grateful for my mom's willingness to come stay with us for over a week so I can recover from the surgery. Our original delivery date was scheduled for Monday morning, but having those two extra days with my mom here and being at home really made a difference for me.
Olivia is practically perfect in every way. She really is. She is just sweet and tiny and beautiful. Mike and I were both amazed at how different a baby girl looks from a baby boy. They brought her to me right away all goopy and everything, and I could see her slender hands and long, feminine fingers. I can't believe they can be so different right from the start, but they are. The boys always had big boy hands and feet, even as newborns, and Olivia really is just girly. It's amazing.
As always the nurses we had taking care of use were wonderful. The recovery room nurse we had was actually the same one we had after Isaac's birth. I know she didn't recognize us, but it was neat to have the same recovery room nurse for both kids.
As I said, the recovery for both Olivia and I went really well. Like we did with Isaac, Mike spent the nights at home and would come down to the hospital during the day with the boys. My mom stayed with me over night in the hospital, and again I am so grateful for all of her help. Olivia gets really hungry and a bit fussy in the evenings. After long days awake with lots of visitors, it was so nice to have my mom there in the evenings to help care for her and let me get some rest, and help care for her all night long too. I know the hospitals always say no sleeping with the baby, but having spent nine months in my belly, I just can't send a baby to their bassinet and let them be fussy. Maybe I miss them as much as they miss me, but if they just want to be held, I do it. So my mom would snuggle her all night until she was wanting to eat, and I'd take her then. And then I'd just sleep with her resting on my legs, my knee bent for a pillow. It actually worked out pretty well for the two nights we were there.
Olivia loves having her hands up by her face. They are always up there, and when she gets hungry she's instantly sucking on her hands. It's really cute. She pretty much came out this way, as she was in the recovery room with her hands up and sucking on her fingers, although it does make feeding her kind of tricky sometimes.
When I was pregnant I noticed a little tremor in my belly every once in a while and I finally figured out what it is! When she stretches, Olivia occasionally gets a little tremor in her foot. It is so cute (can I use that expression enough in this post?).
It's nice having family close, and both Mel (and Hailee) and Carol (and Connor and Fernando) came to see Olivia that first day. And Mel came back with her whole family on Sunday as well. My friend Julia also came to see us in the hospital Sunday night.
I tried to make the experience special for the boys, so I packed some treats to give them at the hospital, as well as new Hotwheels cars that they got from their baby sister. They were very excited to play with those. Mike also did a great job getting me some roses in a beautiful vase, and a little pink stuffed musical giraffe and purple elephant lovey for Olivia. He always tries to get our new babies a musical stuffed animal because he had one when he was a baby (a lion I think).
This baby and recover have been the best ever for our family, and we are so grateful for that as well. Eli's birth was an emergency, and he and I both really struggled afterward. Isaac's birth was good, but I spent the next 24 hours throwing up and he was jaundiced. Olivia came out perfectly, the hospital staff took extra precautions to help me not be so sick (I only threw up a handful of times after!!), and Olivia and I really recovered well. I'd say we were well enough to go home the next day, but it's a required two-day stay at the hospital for c-sections. We were healthy and ready to hit the road on that second day.
We also had some good friends from our ward in the hospital with their baby the same time we were. The Harris family had their baby boy two days before Olivia, and unbeknownst to them or anyone, little Preston had trisomy 13. While it was a heartbreaking experience and one I can't imagine going through, Mike and I were very grateful to be able to spend time with them in the hospital and meet their sweet baby boy before he passed away. They had the Sacrament brought in on Sunday afternoon, and we were able to join them for that in their room. What a wonderful blessing the Priesthood is. I know we feel that somehow Preston and Olivia will always be linked, and I hope she knows she's always got a friend on the other side of the veil pulling for her to make it Home, too. For us, this experience has helped Mike and I really be grateful and humble for the blessings of our children and our family, and especially for the blessings of a temple marriage and eternal family. Despite how hard it is right now with three little ones, often all fussy and needy at the same time, we just can't be anything but grateful for having these children for however long we have them, and so very grateful for the promise of being together for eternity.
