MarRissa Nelson

PSY 1100
Section 1 person paper
Olivia
Dear journal,
Olivia is finally here and I cant tell you how many mixed emotions I have at this point. I
am still recovering from the delivery which was a little over a week ago. We just got home from
the hospital yesterday. We had to stay at the hospital for so long because I had a c-section and
have been recovering and because Olivia was having a hard time eating. She is doing much
better and seems to be getting it!!
When I first found out I was pregnant I was in total shock for a couple months. I didnt
want to admit the fact that I was going to be having a baby. I tried to hide it from my family and
friends for most of the pregnancy but you can only hide it for so long before you are completely
huge and people can see it. My mom found out at eight months and was very unhappy that I
didnt tell her sooner. She said that no matter what she wanted to support me and that no matter
what she was going to be there for me but wished that I would have told her sooner. I was just
scared to tell her and all of my siblings because I didnt want to be judged and I didnt know
what their reaction would be because I am only 18 and had only been married for a short time.
After I told everyone they were all very supportive and made sure I got into the doctor
right away. At this point I was already eight months along. When I went to the doctor he put me
on prenatal medications but was worried about the baby because I did not have any prenatal care
before that point. Which he said is really important because even before a woman is 9 weeks into

her pregnancy the babys structure is almost completely developed (Berger,2010, ch 2., pg.60) . I
was scheduled for an ultra sound the next week and went in and found out that I was having a
girl and that everything including her size looked great. The doctor said that sense I was so far
along in the pregnancy that her lungs were developed all the way and she looked like she was
very healthy(Berger,2010, ch 2., pg.62). Her due date was just three short weeks from the time I
found out the sex. I couldnt believe I was already 36 weeks along. She didnt want to stay in
there much longer after that and came at 37 weeks. She weighed 6lbs. 15 oz.
Olivias genes seem to lean more to her dads side then they do to mine. She looks more
like her dad and her skin in much more similar to her dads. Every human has a total of 46
chromosomes. In which 23 of those chromosomes come from the dads genes and 23 comes from
the moms side(Berger,2010, ch 2., pg.44-48). No matter how many she has from each of us I still
think she looks more like her dad. She has dark eyes and skin which didnt come from me.
Im excited to finally have my baby home and excited to see the challenges to come in
the next little while. I know that its going to be hard but know that I have made it this far and
that no matter what happens everything will be ok. I better go and get something done before the
baby wakes up. Love/Tanisha
Dear journal,
Olivia is growing so fast. Even though the doctors keep saying she is not gaining enough
weight and that she is still at the low end of weight for kids her age it still seems like she is
getting so big! She now weighs 22 pounds. Her body size is changing along with many other
things such as her motor skills, reflexes, her methods of communication, her memory and much
more. She will be two in a couple months and wow time has gone by so fast. She loves to smile

and laugh but if she ever thinks you are laughing at her she acts gets embarrassed (Berger,2010,
ch ., pg.124). Its cute! I cant tell you how grateful I am to have her in my life. When I found
out I was pregnant I was so upset and thought my life was over but really she has been such a
blessing.
Her gross motor skills have developed so much! One minute she is learning how to sit up
and next thing I know she is learning how to crawl and walk. It was so exciting when she took
her first couple steps. We were at my moms house and my brother tom was holding her hands
and I was sitting on the other side of the room and he let go of her and she took a couple steps
and then fell. But she was so eager to get back up and try some more(Berger,2010, ch 3., pg.95)..
She eventually got it and now I cant get her to sit down. She is becoming so much more fun.
She is happy most of the time and loves to gather all of her blocks and stack them as high as she
can get them and then knock them down. She is so cute!!
Another thing that seems to be developing so quickly is her ways of thinking about things
or her brain. She remembers people faces and names and is excited to see certain people. She
knows that when we go to church she gets to play with the other kids so when we get dressed
into church cloths she is always excited. She has been talking a lot more lately and instead of the
simple words she is starting to say much more complex sentence and phrases. It helps because I
dont always have to play the guessing game to figure out what she wants and there have been
fewer tantrums that way(Berger,2010, ch 5., pg.179-180). She is a busy toddler but becoming so
much fun! I will try to write more later if I can find the time. Love/Tanisha
Dear Journal,

Life has been so crazy the last little bit. Between all the friends we have had over and all
the play dates we have had lately it feels like we never get a break. Olivia has made a lot of new
friends lately and has been hanging out with a whole new crowd of people the last little while.
She is apprehensive to make new friends and sometimes shy so it has been good. She just started
a new dance class. Which she totally loves! She is also still on the same soccer team and seems
to have a lot of fun with the other girls on her team.
Olivias extracurricular activities are great because it keeps her busy and keeps her
involved with lots of different things. I think it is important to keep her active instead of putting
her in front of the T.V. or having her sit at home not doing anything(Berger,2010, ch.6, pg.206).
Besides me and her dad she doesnt have anyone like siblings to play with when she is at home.
Thats another reason I like to keep her involved with activities with her peers. Her new dance
class is a coed dance class and they are currently learning basic tap steps. Her class does a series
of all different kinds of dance. They started out with tap and next they will go into ballet and then
after that they will learn a little hip hop. Along with dance she is still playing soccer for the same
team called impact. She loves her team and all week she tells me how excited she is for soccer on
Thursday nights. Her team consists of mostly Latin girls but there is a couple other Caucasian
girls. Her team has been doing so many drills lately and she is responsible for remembering all of
the different drills and how they help the whole team. For example last Thursday they were
learning how to keep their eye on the ball while passing the ball back and forth between a
teammate. This was just one of many of the drills they did. I think its good because it really
makes her think.
Olivia always gets really good grades and loves to read and do math. Her class recently
has this new thing called book exchange. The book exchange is where all the kids bring one

book from home to class and share this book with the whole class and tell a little summary about
what the book is about. Then they exchange their book with someone else in the class and take
their classmates book home and read it and share it with their families. Then the next day in class
they exchange again till eventually they have read every book in the book exchange. She is
always so excited to show me her new book and tell me all about what her and her classmates
have learned about that day in school. We usually read the book she brings home together and
most of the time she likes the new book she brought home. Although there is once in awhile
when she brings home a book and says thats a boy book. Most likely because one of the boys
in her class picked it out and its about cars or something like that. Overall she loves to read
though and sounding out words(Berger,2010, ch 7., pg.253-254).
All is going well and as you can tell from what I have written in this entry. Olivia is
becoming such a big kid. She loves life and is very happy for the most part. Life for me is also
going great. Thats all I have time to write for now. Love/Tanisha
Dear journal,
As usual life has been so crazy the last little while. With me getting remarried this past
summer, Olivias dad passing away 2 years ago, adjusting to her new school, and having to deal
with the stresses of being a teenager, I dont know how Olivia does it. She is such a strong
person but the last couple years have been an emotional roller coaster for me and Olivia. She has
had to put up with some major transitions which I know have affected her. (Berger,2010, ch 8.,
pg.289). Adolescence years are so hard but I know she will get through it and stay strong. She is
not one to give into peer pressure which can be a big problem at this age(Berger,2010, ch 10.,

pg.356-358). She likes to be herself and usually does a great job at making good choices. She is a
good kid but regardless teenage years are hard and Im always worried about her.
Olivia is pretty shy and doesnt date all that much. I know that its on her mind but she is
still a young teenager so I dont think she feels any pressure to really be dating quite yet. I have
talked to her a little about the birds and the bees because I feel it is important for teenagers to
have an open communication about sex with their parents (Berger,2010, ch 10., pg.363). That
probably isnt the first thing she wants to talk to her mom about but I would rather her learn the
right things about sex rather than what she hears at school or from her friends. Also I want her to
feel like she can ask me questions if she ever feels like she needs to.
We are just beginning the teenage years and so far she is a good kid. She makes good
choices and loves to be busy. I hope that keeping herself busy will keep her away from habits
like drugs, violence, gangs, ect. that sometimes start during these years. Her being a teenager
worries me sometimes because of those things but like always we take it one day at a time and I
know we will get through it together. I sure do love my Olivia. Love/Tanisha

Work Cited:
Berger, Kathleen Stassen. Invitation to the Lifespan Developmentportal. N.p.: Worth Pub, 2010.
Print.