Wow! Time really does go by fast! Maybe more so with a baby?! I have often wanted to "catch up" on my blog...have so many great memories to write about, but sadly I let time slip by. I do continue to take many pictures/videos and usually get them posted on Kodak Gallery and/or facebook in a somewhat timely manner. Just this past weekend, I was working on Olivia's baby book and baby calendar. It's amazing she is already 9 mo old!!
I'll try to summarize the last few months as best I can: Trevor had his 1st Father's Day June 21st. The week of June 22-26, Olivia participated in her 1st Kindermusick Camp (an hr class each morning). We decided to purchase wood floors for the downstairs in our home. We got the same wood we placed in Olivia's room. We love it, but it has been quite a process getting it down. Trevor works so hard on many things and time gets away! He still has to figure out what he wants to do with the powder room floor-continue the wood in there or wait and maybe put tiles down? We also painted downstairs this summer. Our den is now a soft blue, kitchen/breakfast area green and our dinning room a golden shade above the white chair railing and a burgendy shade below. We had some great help from friends, Chad & Kate, this summer!
July: Olivia got to see her 1st fireworks right from our front yard! Several folks in our neighborhood had their own fireworks-some right across the street from us in the culdesac. Olivia had her 1st trip to her Granddad's and Nona's in Murfreesboro, NC July 10-13th. On the way home we stopped by a dear friend's home, Ms. Frances Taylor and Grandmother Faircloth's. I remember Grandmother and Oliver had some delicious food for us to eat that evening. I miss Grandmother's cooking SO much!! Olivia enjoyed a few times in our neighborhood pool this summer. :) She started waving "hello" to us around this time.
August: This was an exciting month! I turned the Big 30 on Aug. 7th and family came to stay with us for the weekend. My parents, both sisters and nephew Brayden were able to come as well as almost all the Setzer family. We celebrated Olivia's baptism, Sunday, Aug. 9th. What a special day!! It meant so much to us for all of our family to make the effort to be here for Olivia. We pray God's blessings on our daughter and for us to raise her to know her Savior, Jesus. We enjoyed lots of family time that weekend-talking, shopping, swimming, taking pictures (even made some pictures of Olivia & Brayden on the beach). Sunday after church that weekend, we all had lunch at Magnolia's here in M.B. Special times!! Dennis & Jeanne were gone traveling out west a couple weeks this summer. Olivia's cousin, Lyla, turned ONE, Aug. 24th, and we enjoyed celebrating her day. :)
I started taking Olivia out by myself some this summer. I must confess, I don't really enjoy going out without Trevor. We've basically just been to church or kindermusick. Now that I'm married, I want to be with Trevor when doing things and really miss him when he has to work. Since we both work 12 hr shifts and are working "opposite" days a lot so we can keep Olivia at home-it's been a drastic change in our time!!! We only get 2 days in a row together about every two weeks. :( Their are some advantages to 12 hr shifts, but like all things, their are negatives, too. And taking a baby out by yourself requires getting used to-planning ahead-and boy is that car seat heavy to carry around!! Another challenge going out is Olivia is really not a fan of the car seat-one of her least favorite things. So, when she's in the back seat by herself and I'm driving, she just has to cry sometimes. Since she is able to hold a bottle by herself in the car seat, things have improved! Boy, what a difference that made!! We've sung, "Precious Baby Girl" to her countless times since she was about 3 weeks old in the car. She'd start crying, but if she heard us sing to her, she would stop crying almost instantly! It was almost funny at times how fast she stopped crying when she head "her song".
"Precious Baby Girl"
Mommy loves the baby girl, daddy loves the baby girl
With curly brown hair, deep blue eyes, cute button nose and ten tiny toes.
We love the precious baby girl.
Granddad loves the baby girl, Nona loves the baby girl
All across the miles, they send the baby love because they miss her everyday.
Yes, they love the precious baby girl.
PopPop loves the baby girl, Nana loves the baby girl
Each and everyday, they love to come and see her, just so they can play.
Yes, they love the precious baby girl.
September: The first day of this month I got to be "on call", and it worked out that I never had to go into work that day. :) I got my hair cut for the 1st time since Olivia was born, but I made the mistake of getting bangs cut. I've been pulling the bangs back ever since-what was I thinking!?! Olivia was sitting up well by herself at this point. She had been enjoying new foods-stage 1 and 2 baby foods. We've gotten her mostly organic foods and/or ones with DHA added. She enjoys taking about one oz of Vemma Next each day as well. (Children's Vitamins/Minerals). Trevor passed the CPNE this month!! This was the big clinical competency he had to pass for the nursing program. He went to Georgia Sept. 11-13th for this. So, Olivia and I has a couple nights by our self. We were SO proud of him-he did really well that weekend. We went to a "home show" at the convention center. Dennis and Jeanne were helping at a booth with Vemma, so Trevor and I went by to see how things were going. Olivia had outgrown most of her 3-6 months clothes this month. She said her 1st word, Dada!! Kindermusick started on Friday mornings, and she seems to enjoy this time. We had a visit with friends, the Salamanca Family, toward the end of the month. Their daughter, Macy Blue, is just 8 days older than Olivia. So, it's lots of fun staying in touch with them. I love reading the blog their mom, Andrea, writes. She is great with pictures/videos!! A great inspiration to me in this area. Olivia's 1st tooth came in Sept. 29th!
October: Work for me was going pretty well. I am so blessed to work 2 days a week, so I can be home with Olivia the other days. It means so much to know Trevor or his mom can watch her while I am at work. I had continued to breastfeed Olivia, but cut back right much. It was one of the most challenging things I've had to do at work-fitting in time to pump twice a shift!!! I am always SO busy, so finding time to pump took significant effort. My body never seemed to produce much milk by pumping either-would only get 2-4 oz of milk! So, of course we had to start supplementing with formula soon after I started back to work. She's done well on Similac Advance. I was very grateful when Olivia adjusted to nursing mostly at night and early morning. This allowed me to cut back to pumping once a shift at work, and recently I've been able to stop pumping at work! What a relief!! (Just in time too, because the patients I've had lately have been pretty demanding, and I'm often at work late to chart even without having to pump!) I am happy to nurse her as soon as I get home and at bedtime. She's continued to wake about once a night to nurse and then in the early morning she'll nurse.
My Grandmother Faircloth turned 87, Oct 5th!! What a blessing her life has been to my family. I'll always cherish all the summers and holidays I got to spend at her house. And especially grateful for the 3 years I lived with her to attend nursing school at Sampson Community College, 1997-2000.
Olivia continued to do many "new" things: loves to cross her ankles when she is sitting and even sleeping, kisses us on the cheek, making more "sounds"-ahh, grr, uhhh, dadada. We enjoyed shopping for 12 mo size clothes at Once Upon a Child. The owners of this store used to live beside us, and we were blessed to get our crib and changing table from them. It's amazing how much Olivia has grown!! When we first started going out with her "everyone" thought she was "so small/tiny" and now they often guess her at a year old! (she's was just 9 mo old Nov. 12th)
We attended the Warren Reunion, Sat, Oct. 10th. Grandmother Faircloth came also since she lives in the same community my Grandmother Warren did. We miss you Willie!! I was able to get a "Four Generations" picture with Grandmother, Mom, me and Olivia that night. :) We went on up to Murfreesboro that weekend with my parents and stayed there a couple days. Olivia's 2nd tooth was in that weekend (on the bottom). It is lots of fun to see her play with her cousin, Brayden, who is just 11 days older!! This month she sat in the front of a shopping cart with a seat cover-getting to be such a "big" girl! Her 1st swim class at the new YMCA was Oct. 28th. We have a very nice new Y! Trevor and I had our "first date" since Olivia was born Oct. 31. It was nice to have a dinner out and go to a movie (used the free movie tickets my work gives employees on their birthdays).
November: The last few weeks we have had our challenges. Trevor especially felt torn with some feelings related to church. He was able to talk with our pastor Ken and this did help Trevor feel better. Since Trevor has a pastor's education and a pastor's heart, our pastor noted that this may be a large part of Trevor's "disconnect" feeling. To try and be a church member when you have the background Trevor does for ministry can be frustrating at times. Another major challenge this month has been a "first" that is NOT fun, sickness!! Poor Olivia had teething and a "cold" going on at the same time. I got home from work Thurs. night, Nov. 5, and realized she felt "warm" and knew something was not right when she was falling asleep in my arms without nursing. She will often fall asleep just rocking with Trevor, but when she's with me she wants to nurse at night. So, we checked her temperature and it was 100.9. Friday morning, Nov. 6th, she woke with a temp of 102. :( Her upper left tooth was coming in. So, for almost of week I was her "nurse" at home-keeping up with her I&O's, checking her diapers often to make sure she was still voiding well, had to "push" her intake, comforting, holding, checking her temperature, giving cooling baths, suctioning, listening to heart and lung sounds, even got a "mediscope" to check her ears (which we've ordred a better quality otoscope to have from now on). You could tell she was miserable! She had no energy, would drink some milk and go right back to sleep. I had to call out of work one day that week myself. Yes, I got a bad cold as well. I take care of sick kids at work often and don't get sick from them....but when you're home 24/7 with your own and not wearing gloves or a mask, I guess I was likely to get sick as well. Trevor felt bad about a day, but thankfully was able to help us both feel better much of that week. We went for extra chiropractic adjustments and took more vitamins, along with all the rest we could get. So, she's missed her swim class and kindermusick the past two weeks. Along with all the cool, rainy days here in M.B. recently, we've been sort of "down"-lack of sun and lack of time out of the house! We also had a few days of "stress" when the hospital was saying they were not going to hire any more family members! Thankfully, he was finally able to talk with the nursing administrator and she verified that Trevor would be "grandfathered" in and able to work at Grand Stand. Goodness!! I was back at work this past Friday and "lucky me" got to float to 2 North. My patients and the staff that day were pretty nice, but things were busy as usual and I had to stay late to chart. I've had four days off work, but we've been inside still most of this time. I didn't feel the best today-took a nap when Olivia did! I'm really ready to feel back to "normal"-getting tired of this lingering stuffy nose and cough. Also, I'm having my second period since being pregnant! The joys of being a woman! Trevor has to study some more, lots more really, so he can get the NCLEX behind him! We pray this works out around the end of the year. We've missed our church family the last few weeks, too!! Yesterday was November 16, Fourteen years since my friend from high school, Amy German passed away. I was blessed to receive a scholarship in her memory when I graduated from h.s., and it paid for a large part of my ADN degree. Special thoughts and prayer go to her parents, John & Jennifer.
As I've been typing this tonight, Trevor is playing with Olivia. She is so precious! Again, it's amazing she is 9 mo old! She is getting quite active! Scoots, gets up on her hands and knees, bending/reaches out to get toys, "crawls" backwards...so not much longer and she'll be crawling all over! (got to get those safety gates up asap along with childproofing the cabinets!) Oh, one thing I forgot to mention-she LOVES the Baby Faith videos I bought last fall when I attended a Women of Faith event with Jeanne. And we read several books each day. She gets a book in the mail every month from the Dolly Parton Imagination Library.
The holidays are now just around the corner! We are looking forward to seeing family. All the Setzer's are coming here to the beach for about a week. :) I pray for everyone's safety during travel and for good health. May we pause and thank God for all he does for us, not just on Thanksgiving, but each day. We are so blessed-even in the "unsettled" times of life. We just need to do our part and trust Him to provide for our needs. What an awesome God we serve!
(maybe one reason I get behind on the blog, is I'm also making Olivia a baby book and First Year Calendar, so it can seem repetative right now...but I do want to try and record our life together) :)
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Holidays Approching!
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Life of a RN....wife and mother
Time is going by so fast with our sweet Olivia! I see it's been over a month since I found time to blog. Olivia is doing so many new things: rolling over both ways now, trying a little baby rice cereal, sleeping about 5-6 hr each night (yea!), smiles often and interacting with us and things around her more and more! Today I gave her one of the new toys she got from a Sunday school friend, Taggies ball, and when I looked back at her she had rolled over from her back to stomach! I moved the ball back near her and she did it again, so then I got the video camera and she actually rolled over one more time, so I got to capture it on video. I had written down April 29th as the first time you rolled over from stomach to your back. The day before, April 28th, you gave us a "first" laugh!
April 30-May 3 Granddad and Nona came to visit. Nona, Olivia and I enjoyed a "shopping" weekend, but it was a little challenging to Trevor to shop and shop! We did go about all day, but we do not do this often. Most of our "shopping" trips out are to Costco & Wal-mart. May 6th Olivia passed the hearing test at Dr. Osman's office. (was required by DEHEC since my sister, Noelle, has hearing loss). May 7th I took my CPR renewal for work and completed my evaluation with my manager. The end of my maternity leave at come! :(
My first Mother's Day was wonderful, but I did miss Trevor since he had to work. Olivia and I went to church at Risen Christ where Dennis, Jeanne and John's family attend. I had lunch with them at church and then we spend the evening with them at their house. Olivia was 9 lbs when I weighed her that day. May 11, we had Olivia's 3 mo photos made at Olan Mills and visited our Mcgraw friends in Conway.
May 12 was my first day back on the floor at work....long days with 12 + hr shifts!!! Olivia has adjusted well since I am back to work, but it is a challenge with the breast feeding. She is growing and needing more and more milk, but my body is not keeping up. When I am at work it's all I can do to fit in pumping twice during my shift. I am sure the pump is not like Olivia nursing from me and also having to go over 5 hr between pumping I'm sure causes my body to think I'm making enough milk. So, we have started supplementing with formula some, but I am glad to say Olivia was exclusively nursed for 16 weeks. Jeanne, my mother-in-law has been a good support during this process. It was totally "new" for my side of the family because my mother did not breastfeed us. I have enjoyed nursing for the most part, just not the times I've gotten terrible "knots" and engorgement issues and sometimes you feel like you are nursing "all day". It is nice at night though to be able to pick her up and nurse her in bed with me and not have to get get a bottle ready in the night. I know their are many benefits to the baby and mom from breast feeding, so I have tried my best. Sometimes Trevor and I have worked the same day, so his parents have been GREAT to help us out and watch Olivia on those days. They have done really well with her, but I guess after 4 kids of their own and now the 9th grandchild they have experience. :) I took you to the bellegrove pool for the 1st time, May 28th with Jeanne. You did great! I guess you felt like it was a "big bathtub". We went to Huntington Beach State Park, Sat. May 30th. My work was having a family day there. We didn't stay long, but it was fun to get out and make a few pictures. Olivia's wt. was 10 lbs on May 31!
June is already half over! It is hot here in S.C. as it normally is for the south, but we have been blessed with several rain showers recently. Olivia tried a little mashed up banana the other day. She seemed to like it best when her daddy would let her lick the banana like a popcicle. We continue to go to the chiropractor once a week and now have a neck exercise piece to use at home. We enjoyed a "date" at the Melting Pot last Monday...yummy!! Olivia is drinking about 20 oz a day now (the measurement Trevor got one day while I was at work, because with nursing that's one thing you don't know for sure). My sister, Martha, and her husband, Ashley, had their 4th anniversary June 11 and mom (nona) had her birthday, June 13th. Sunday, June 14th, our Sunday school class gave Olivia a shower that was very sweet. Trevor was the lay reader and their was also a reception we went to for Rev. Scarlett since she is moving this month. So, we had a busy time at church. Sunday evening we enjoyed dinner at John & Wendy's to celebrate Riley's 4th birthday!! I have been to all her birthday celebrations so far! She is the only person, besides my two sisters during their early years, who I have been with on all their birthdays. Fun times. So, that's the update for now....it's back to work for me again tomorrow! We really look forward to the days we are all 3 together now! Olivia is such a blessing and joy each day! She makes all the adjustments worthwhile!! Oh, one other new thing for us is getting color on the walls in our home!! After growing up in neutral parsonages it's exciting getting some color!! Also Trevor & I saw the Fireproof movie and have almost completed reading the Love Dare together, a 40 day process. I have really enjoyed and looked forward to our evening devotion time. I guess part of our encouragent to grow more in our Chrisitan walk has been having Olivia. We pray for God to help us continue to grow in His love each day and raise our daughter to know Jesus as her Savior and friend. Studying God's Word and praying are key elements to a Chrisitan journey.
Monday, April 20, 2009
Life Cycle
Enjoyed picnic at Market Commons with Jamie, Andrea and their children, Jadon and Macy Bleu
We had two Setzer family deaths and the death of my dear friend, Cindy Gurley since Olivia was born! Trevor's uncle, Curtis Setzer, passed away March 14. We packed up and headed to Lincolnton to be with the family. We stayed at Trevor's Aunt Kaye & Uncle Ron's home the 14th-17th of March. Olivia did pretty well but I do remember times of frustration with having a newborn away from home. She was just a month old...still adjusting to breastfeeding, sleep schedule, and life as parents. I remember we got home Tues. night, St. Patrick's Day, and made a quick cell phone picture (we were all dressed in Green). March 19th was my parents 33rd wedding anniversary. I had my last check-up with Dr. Golden for this pregnancy-all is well. Spring arrived March 20 and March 21 we went to the Taste of the Coast. It was nice to get out of the house some (locally). Trevor cleaned my car the next week, and even took the seats out to clean!! Great job, dear! Cindy passed away Friday, March 27th. March 28th was one year since my grandmother Warren passed away. My grandmother Faircloth has been remarried for 3 years now on March 31 to Oliver Faircloth (she married another man with the last name of Faircloth!) April 1, Wed, Trevor returned to work!! We were so blessed to have the 7 weeks off work TOGETHER! Then on Fri, April 3, Trevor's papaw Setzer passed away! We were able to visit him when we went to Lincolnton for Curtis' funeral, and we got a few pictures of him with Olivia, his 17th great grandchild. So once again, we packed up and headed to Lincolton! We stayed at Aunt Kaye's again this time...Jeanne said "We are getting pretty good at this travel, not sure if that's a good or bad thing". We were certainly sorry to have so many deaths so close together! April 8th Olivia was 8 lb and 13 oz! We weigh her on scales at Poppop and Nana's. April 10th, we went to Wendy's 30th birthday dinner at a restaurant in Market Common's area here in Myrtle Beach. Kirk & Kelly's family came for the Easter weekend, so we enjoyed some time with them. Easter was Sunday, April 12, and we made it to our church for the first time with Olivia. It was nice to get a few pictures of our family together at the church cross and by flowers at Poppop & Nana's. We had a great Easter lunch with family. Trevor was working but was able to switch some time and be off to attend church and have lunch with us. Saturday, March 14, 2009
Our Daughter: Olivia Dale Setzer
I had no idea when I posted last that the next day I would be having the baby!!! Olivia is such a blessing, but of course newborns take lots of care so my posting is behind. =) Trevor took me to the hosp. the morning of Feb. 12 to see if the doctors would be able to turn our baby since she was still breech (we didn't know it was a girl yet!). However, the monitor showed I was in labor and so the version is contraindicated in labor...Dr. Golden said, "so we need to have a c-section"...the tone in her voice made us ask, "Do you mean today?" and she said Yes! Trevor told me later he got really "warm" all over and felt he was going to cry or pass out...but he took a deep breath and called our parents to let them know and was a great support for me. The staff at the hosp. were all great and explained everything to me that was taking place. I was a little nervous about the c-section, but thankfully it all went well.
Olivia Dale Setzer was born 2/12/09 at 12:36 pm. 6 lb 3 oz and 20.5 in. Her head was definitely "wedged" inside me so the doctor said she wouldn't have turned anyway. Right when she came out they did suction her and help her breath a few seconds, but she pinked right up and started to cry. Having the "drape" in front of me while lying on the OR table I couldn't see what was happening, so I remember saying "I don't hear her"...they let me know they were helping her breath a little, so I was certainly praying she was fine...several emotions all in a few seconds taking place....Trevor leaned down to tell me "It's a GIRL" when she came out and I was sooooo surprised!! So many people told me I was having boy, so that made me feel we were. We are very happy to have a daughter and thankful she is healthy!
The worst part after the c-section was the itching I had as a side effect from the spinal medication...so thankful when that was over by lunch the next day. Yes, it was difficult getting out of bed the first time, but no where near as bad as after my car accident! I am recovering well. We are both so thankful for this time out of work to adjust to parenthood.
We were blessed to have my parents stay with us a week after she was born. It's wonderful living here in Myrtle Beach with part of the Setzer family and two girl cousins are here for Olivia to grow up with. Our church family has been very caring and we appreciate all the calls, emails, visits, gifts for Olivia and the great food. We are so blessed in many ways!
I have been able to breastfeed Olivia so far...a challenge at times, but I know it's very benefical for her and me in many ways, so I am trying my best to stick with it. She has grown well for her first month (wow, already one month old!). She is now about 6 1/2 lbs (up from her wt. loss to 5 1/2 lbs after birth), head 14.5 in, and length 21.25 in.
We were able to visit my sister Martha's family last weekend, so the new cousins got to meet. It was a lot of fun being with everyone-just really tiring traveling with a newborn, so we didn't even leave the house Tues. after we got home Mon. night.
Monday we were able to visit my friends Dan & Cindy Gurley. Cindy has been fighting cancer for about 9 years. She is at home right now and hospice has been helping some, esp. with her pain meds and trying to get them adjusted for her. It meant a lot for them to meet Olivia. Cindy has been such a great friend and really like a "second mom" to me. We are praying for her to have pain relief, rest and peace. Olivia also got to meet her Great Grandmother, Pauline Faircloth. Grandmother made us a delicious dinner Mon.-very sweet of her and her husband Oliver.
Trevor's uncle, Curtis, has also been fighting cancer and is not doing well. It seems he is at the end of this life. We are trying to make plans to go and be with the Setzer family during this time of grief. I pray the Setzer family feels God's love and peace during this time and for safety for all those traveling in the next few days.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
My Nephew: Brayden Chase Smith
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Happy New Year 2009
January came and is now almost over! I have continued to work 2 days a week at the hospital. Staying busy going to the ear doctor, OB and chiropractor. Everything is about the same so far with our baby. Trevor and I went to an infant care and breastfeeding class, Sat, Jan. 10. The hospital has an education office, Health Finders, at Coastal Grand Mall here, so that's where our class was. We taught Sunday School Jan. 11 and I read the scripture at the 11 am service. Jan. 11 was my grandmother Warren's birthday, and this was the first year without her. Dennis and Jeanne went on a cruise this month and enjoyed that even though it was cold. We even had a little SNOW here in M.B.! (just enough to say we saw some!) On Mon, Jan. 19th, at our OB apt. we had an u/s and our baby is breech. The baby weighted about 4lb 12 oz then. I have been doing exercises to help the baby turn along with going to the chiropractor for adjustments. The Webster technique used by chiropractors is supposed to relax the ligaments and help the baby turn. Last Sat. night I got terribly sick with n/v and diarrhea, yuck!! I had cramps all night and Sun. am when I still couldn't keep anything down we called the on call dr. and Dr. Markley had me come on in to the hospital. The baby and I were monitored all day, and I got 2 liters of IVF along with a shot of terbutaline to relax my uterus so the small amount of contractions I was having wouldn't lead to labor. Sunday, Jan. 25th, was my dad's birthday. Thankfully, I felt much better after rest this week. I went back to work on Thursday and work again tomorrow, Sunday, Feb. 1. It's amazing another month is already here! Martha is about to have her baby! If she doesn't go into labor before, she is going to the hosp. in G'ville to be induced Mon. am! How exciting that Brayden will soon be here! The first grandchild for my parents. Trevor and I hope to go see them soon! We pray they have a safe delivery and that our baby will turn soon. Mostly, we pray our baby will be born healthy and baby and I stay well no matter how it gets here!
