Firstborn TAG . . .

My baby girl just had her first birthday. So it only seemed appropriate to post a tag that my friend had on her blog about firstborns. Here is a description of my day one year ago . . . to date the very best day of my life.

Yes, she was born this fat! This is moments after her birth.

BABIES FULL NAME? Aiva Elise Cole

WHY DID YOU CHOOSE THAT SPECIFIC NAME? We wanted something very feminine, different (we didn't know at the time how popular it was becoming), but also timeless. I always loved that name, but Mike didn't. We had already picked out a different name. One day out of the blue, Mike said, "If you could name the baby anything you wanted what would it be?" I told him, "Ava" and he said, "Hmmmm...let me think about that for a couple days." The next day, he said. "Okay, I've thought about it, and I really like it now." His only concession was that we change the spelling, because 'ava' is a word in Tagalog (the language he spoke on his mission) so it weirded him out. So . . . "Aiva" it was. And we thought my first name sounded pretty with it. So there ya go.


WERE YOU MARRIED AT THE TIME? Yep. We'd been married for 2 and a half years when she was born.


WHAT WERE YOUR REACTIONS? Of course we were ecstatic. It actually had taken us a year to get pregnant. Along with that, surgery for endometriosis, and months of hormones and AI with a specialist. It was all so stressful that we actually had decided to "give up" for a while. First month after giving up . . . we got pregnant. I was actually almost 8 weeks along by the time I took a pregnancy test. After so many negative tests, you just can't stand the thought of not seeing those 2 lines so I was putting it off until I was sure. I was at work, and eating my way green-faced through my lunch, after which I ran to the toilet to try to throw it all up. My coworkers rolled their eyes at me and forced me to go home to finally take a pregnancy test . . . "positive." We laughed and cried together when Mike came home. We were so excited.


DID YOU WANT TO FIND OUT THE SEX? Absolutely. We were first told that it was a boy. About a month later, I had a coworker scan me just for fun, and to "make sure" it was "still" a boy . . . nope.


DUE DATE? August 24th, 2007

DID YOU DELIVER EARLY OR LATE? 6 days early


DID YOU HAVE MORNING SICKNESS? Yes. Bad. I threw up every day at least once. Evening was the worst. I think the last time I threw up was the 16th week, and I stopped feeling nauseous at 20 weeks.


WHAT DID YOU CRAVE? Ice cream


WHO IRRITATED YOU THE MOST? Everyone had their moments

WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST CHILD'S SEX? girl

DID YOU HAVE ANY COMPLICATIONS WITH YOUR PREGNANCY? A little bit, though nothing too serious. One month before my due date I passed out at work due to the heat, dehydration, being on my feet too much, and the fact that Aiva was already past the size of a normal full-term baby (though we didn't know it at the time). Luckily I work in a hospital, and they wheeled me down to the ER. After tests showed that I and the baby were okay they made me start maternity leave early. It sucked . . . I wasn't allowed to drive for the rest of the pregnancy, and I so huge, I just sat on the couch and read, crocheted, and watched TV for 3 weeks!


HOW MANY HOURS WERE YOU IN LABOR? 6 1/2 hours. Easy breezy.


WHO DROVE YOU TO THE HOSPITAL? Mike. It was a planned induction so it was nice to have a nice calm morning, driving to the hospital knowing that we were going to have a baby that day.


WHO WAS IN THE DELIVERY ROOM? Mike and my mom.


WAS IT NATURAL OR C-SECTION? Natural


DID YOU HAVE AN EPIDURAL? Heck yes! Except for feeling like a sack of potatoes, it was utter bliss. I will never have a baby without one.


HOW MUCH DID YOUR BABY WEIGH? She was 9 pounds even and 21 inches long! I remember when the doctor handed her to me when she first came out, and I remember just looking at her and thinking, "this girl is HUGE! Is this really what a 7 1/2 pound baby looks like?????" (They did an ultrasound the day before and told me she was around that.)


DID YOUR BABY HAVE ANY COMPLICATIONS? None. It was a beautiful delivery start to finish. The most beautiful moments of our lives.


WHAT HOSPITAL DID YOU DELIVER AT? Davis Hopital in Layton


HOW OLD IS YOUR FIRSTBORN NOW? She turned ONE on August 18th.


I TAG EVERYONE WHO HAS CHILDREN.......