Mitch and I celebrated our third anniversary this week, and oh how the time has flown. Three years of marriage, two kids, two years of dental school, two moves and we've only just begun! Since being married I've learned a lot of different things, mostly that Mitch usually knows better than I do and that I should listen to him, even if I do it grudgingly. I've also learned that marriage is a lot different from what I expected. Do you find yourself quibbling over what drawer the utensils are going to go into? That was Mitch and I's first big argument and how trivial it is. Most things that I get mad over are very minor. A great thing I heard the other day was that Satan doesn't care why you are mad, he just wants you to stay mad. So I've been trying not to stay mad, especially trying not to stay mad at Mitch, because like I said he is usually right and I like Laman and Lemual just get mad, because I know he's right! Anyway, my man is awesome, that's all there is to it. He goes to school, comes home and helps with the kiddos, helps with household stuff and doesn't complain about his lot in life. What an example he is to me of fortitude and faith, and lots and lots of patience. I sure love you Mi Guapo. Happy Anniversary and many more to come.

There have been some that have been waiting for the story of little Wesley's birth. Well the short of it is this; He was born.
O.k. now to the long of it. Thursday the 19th my friend Jana Wells was nice enough to put a baby shower together for Wesley and I. Well after talking with all the girls, playing a fun charades game and eating some very yummy cake made my none other than Robyn Larson, I was tired, hot, full and ready to flop into bed when I got home. When I got home I started feeling really light headed and sick to my stomach. I laid on the floor in our dining room and didn't move for awhile trying to will myself to feel better, but soon I was up and vomiting. This went on the whole night, I was restless, nauseated, I couldn't even keep water down and on top of that was having little contractions, which didn't hut but we're just another annoyance on top of being sick. Well, in the morning I didn't feel any better and Mitch and I were worried about me being dehydrated, so we called the doctor on call and she had us go into the hospital so I could at least get an IV into me. We arrived at Community Memorial Hospital on Friday morning and the nurse put a very painful IV into my hand and started me on fluids and also put a stress test monitor on my tummy to see how baby was doing. They monitored him for 4 hours until my doctor came in and looked at the heart rate and what was happening. She told me that it looked o.k. but that she just had a feeling that something was up. She noticed on the graph of his heart rate that every once in awhile his heart rate would plummet, usually with a contraction, then would shoot up and stay up for a long time. So she gave us the choice to either go home and wait for labor to start or to just get it over with right then and there. We opted for the "get it over with" so they moved me into a labor and delivery room, connected me back up to the monitor so they could watch Wesley's heartbeat, gave me a little pill to get my contractions progressing and waited.
The nurse was saying that things might happen fast and if Wesley remained in the stressed out state that he was in that a C- section might be necessary in which case tons of people would come in, there would be little to no time for questions because they would need to get the little guy out. Thankfully, none of that happened, but Wesley's heartbeat continued to be high and sometimes irregular and on top of that my tummy was really hot. I didn't have a temperature, but my stomach was burning up so they knew Wesley must be pretty toasty too.
About an hour after they gave me the little pill the contractions really started in, but I couldn't be up and walking around because I needed to stay within reach of the monitors on my tummy. So we tried rocking in a chair by my bed, but that elevated Wesley's heart rate so the nurse had me lie back down in bed.My contractions were getting to the point where I couldn't handle them any more laying down, I couldn't control my breathing even with Mitch's help in trying to help me calm down and think of something else. I was hyperventilating and my hands were going numb because I wasn't getting enough oxygen, which freaked me out even more because I thought something was seriously wrong. I asked for an epidural and the anesthesiologist came almost right away which was awesome. As he was putting in the epidural I told the nurse I felt like I was going to vomit, and she said that was sometimes caused by the epidural. I threw up, and immediately felt better and my legs started to go numb. For the next hour I drank as much water and apple juice as I could get, I just felt so thirsty, even though they had had me on an IV the whole day, it was good to have something on my stomache. They put in a catheter and I filled the bag pretty quickly. Dr. Hasenyager broke my water and about an hour later I was ready to push. The epidural was wearing off by the time I started to push so I could feel when the contractions were coming and baby Wesley was coming out. At Push number 4 I yelled like a Banchee and Dr. Hasenyager looked up and said "the epidural must be gone, huh?". One more push and baby Wesley was here. Only five pushes and three hours of progressive labor, with an epidural and it's ll over, yeah!! Dr. Hasenyager said she was worried that I wouldn't be a good pusher and that she would have to use the forceps to get him out fast, luckily she didn't have to. After looking at the placenta it was confirmed that I had placental abruption which was causing Wesley stress and why my tummy was so hot, and probably why I was sick the night before.

He arrived August 20th at 6:03pm and weighed 6 pounds 11 ounces, and was 19 1/2 inches long.

The first thing I thought when I saw him was he had a lot of hair!! Baby Wesley had a temperature and they were still worried that he was having problems so I only got to hold him for a little bit before they took him into the nursery to hook him up to oxygen and heart rate monitors. His temperature went down by about midnight and he was off of the oxygen by 2:00am so that I could nurse him. He took right to it the first time, but after that he just was fickle and wouldn't latch on very well. And because he was really small when he was born the nurses and I were worried that he wasn't getting enough to eat. Luckily after the first night and a day of trying a bottle, a dropper, a nursing nipple, he finally caught on and started to nurse like a pro.We were discharged after 48 hours with a clean bill of health. Wesley did lose a pound while in the hospital but luckily gained it back plus some in a week.

We're so glad to have him in our family and he's been such an easy baby, he sleeps he eats, he barely fusses which has been so great. We sure love our little Ruggety Man.

So it's a little crazy to think of where the time goes. This month I turn 25, Mitch and I celebrate our 3rd wedding anniversary and our little Adelaide Anne turns 2. Those two years have gone by so fast. Last week Addie and I were not seeing eye to eye and I just had to remind myself that "this too shall pass" and that in two more years I'll be wondering where my sassy two year old went, ( and probably wondering where my bossy 4 year old came from.) But the good comes along with the bad and Addie sure has been a lot of good in Mitch and I's lives. It would hardly be the Oliver family without little Buggy and oh all the adventures we'd be missing out on! We sure love our little Addie girl and can't wait for all the years of birthdays we'll get to celebrate with her. Happy Birthday Adders!

During my parents visit this message was left on my desktop from my mother along with several songs that I had asked her to write down for me. I had not read it until today and it just happened to be what I was needing, a little pick me up and smile. The first paragraph especially hit me as I try to make good choices as a mother. Perhaps it will bring a little bit of cheer to the lives of others who read it too. There are great little tidbits of wisdom to ponder in it from the author Douglas Pagels and the feeling of a mothers love written in between the lines.


A Wish, A Hope, A Prayer

Imagine yourself to be serving the holiest of beings when you serve your family. Keep nothing back when you feel enlightened by love. Remember that there is an enduring worth to every positive step you take, that the good decisions you make will come back to bless you.
I wish that every one of your days will dawn with a sense of hope streaming in with the sunlight, a sense of strength woven into the winds, and as many things to be thankful for as there are stars in the evening sky.
I hope that the distance between where you are and where you want to be grows shorter every day. I’ll never stop wishing that your journey through this world will be touched by kindness, inspired by wisdom, graced with understanding, and kept safe from all harm. I hope you have a charmed existence, and that your heart will always be an open window to a joy so lasting and deep. Mandy I pray that you will always have an angel watching over you, there to trace on your wonderful face a smile that you can keep.
May you have a day whose moments unfold with peace, with promise, with doors that open on new beginnings, and with windows that look out on a world filled with dreams waiting to come true.
May today not only be a day of duty done and life’s little battles won; may it be a time of joy, of laughter, of memories made and faith renewed. May it be a time when feelings of closeness are sweetly conveyed, when truths are spoken, when smiles appear.
May today be a sweet success. Not in the form of furnishings and wealth, but in the much more dear and valuable ways; good family relations, good times, good health. May you and the loved ones in the circle of your life always know the treasure of togetherness.
May a gentle gladness remind you that there is never too little time to strive or too little strength to climb. May your joys be everlasting, and your beliefs stay steady and deep and true. -DouglasPagels-

. . .for I will go before your face. I will be on your right hand and on your left, and my Spirit shall be in your hearts, and mine angels round about you, to bear you up. D&C 84:88

All My Love,
Mom
Sept. 3, 2010