Welcome to our world Olivia Preston :)

Gosh! A lot has happened since my last blog! It feels like this past month has been a whirlwind so I'll kind of recap...I'm sure as most of you know by now our little Olivia surprised us by coming 3 1/2 weeks early! I was staying in Baton Rouge with my parents because Josh had to go to Ohio for work for 2 weeks. The day that I got to my parents house(Saturday) I started having Braxton Hicks contractions and that Tuesday at my doctor's appointment she said I was dilated 2 cm and 50% effaced. That whole week I was pretty anxious and didn't sleep well at all because I just felt like it could happen at any time, even though I know some people are dilated for a month and then have to be induced. Throughout the week the braxton hicks continued to get stronger. On Thursday my mom and I went to dinner with my brother and sister in law and as soon as we sat down I started having a contraction. This one was different because it was continuous, was getting stronger, and my back was hurting this time. Thankfully my mom and Lyndsay convinced me to go to the assessment center(at this point I couldn't even stand up straight, but I still thought it might stop as soon as I went to the hospital). I just knew they were gonna tell me it was just Braxton Hicks and to go home. As I was changing into my gown for them to assess me my water broke! At that point I knew that I was having the baby that night or next day and so many things were going through my head! For some reason though I was so upset that I had made a mess in the room lol and was frantically trying to clean up when they nurse came in-I know she thought I was crazy b/c I was rambling and not making any sense! I was shaking b/c my nerves were going crazy and I wanted to call Josh that second and tell him to hurry and get to Baton Rouge! My mom and I were up all night (not that we could've slept b/c the nurses are in so often) praying Josh would make it. I was anxious, but not freaking out like I thought I would-I just felt like he had to be there and by God's grace he was! Fedex was able to find him a flight out the next morning at 5:45 (he couldn't find a flight until the next day!) and he made it an hr and a half before I had to start pushing..talk about just in time! It was the most amazing thing seeing her for the first time and holding her. I tear up every time I think about it. It was so special to me to be able to have my baby girl in the same hospital where all my neices, nephews, and other babies I love were born. I had always pictured having my baby there and being able to have family and friends there with us and when we decided to move to Memphis that was one of the hardest things for me to give up. God is so gracious and allowed me to still have that experience even though we don't live in Baton Rouge now. That following week we stayed with my parents and it was a great, but exhausting week. We had nothing for Olivia in BR with us because everything was at our house in Memphis and it was so amazing how people just let us use whatever we needed of theirs. Carla let us borrow an extra carseat she had, Clair let us use her pack n' play for Olivia's bed, Lyndsay and Natalie brought me tons of clothes, burp cloths, blankets, etc. and so many more people gave us things we needed. It meant so much to us how giving people were and we felt so loved by everything people did. We had a lot of visitors and I had a hard time breastfeeding b/c she didn't suck well at first since she was a few weeks early. She also had jaundice and had to be on the light at home for a couple days which was no fun. After our week in BR we came back to Memphis and my mom came with us to help us get settled. She was such a huge help! I was really stressed coming back because I knew her room wasn't completely organized and I had no decorations for the walls and stuff, pluse we had so much more stuff to take back with us that we'd gotten in BR. My mom helped me clean(actually I probably helped her b/c she did more than me lol), she cut our grass b/c it hadn't been cut in weeks, cooked for us, and got up for some night feedings. It was such a blessing to have her with us that first week especially with Josh going back to work and me being very emotional about being in Memphis. My mom left this past Sunday and Josh's mom and sister and her girls came down to meet Olivia. They were only here for a few days, but we loved getting to see them and them getting to meet her. The last few days have been our first days with just our little family. It's been really sweet getting to be here with her all day just the two of us. It has been harder being in Memphis than it was before she was born, but she also makes being here better too if that makes any sense. I can't wait to find our church home here because I know that will make a huge difference in feeling like we have a place here and will help in meeting people. I'm praying that God will help me to be content here so that I can be the wife and mom he wants me to be. Thank you for all your prayers before & during Olivia's birth-we can't believe how blessed we are that God gave her to us! Oh and I just realized tomorrow was my due date! So funny she wasn't supposed to be here til tomorrow! I'm so glad she didn't wait that long :)