(VERY LONG POST SO TO SKIP THE DETAILS JUST SCROLL THROUGH FOR PICTURES)
Taken right before heading to the hospital
Having Olivia in our family has been amazing and we're so blessed to have her here with us.
I guess her birth story starts September 24th. The night before I was having contractions 3-7 minutes apart consistently since 11pm. I didn't want to rush to the hospital unless it was the real thing so we tried to sleep. Around 1:30 they were still going and I decided to get things packed and shower and see if they would go away. They were still 3-7 minutes apart. They were painful but not too bad. Finally in the morning around 7 we decided to get the boys ready for school and head to the hospital at 8. They put me in a room to monitor the contractions and Matt took the boys to school. Sure enough the contractions were 3-6 minutes apart but they checked me and I was 3cm. I hadn't changed from my appointment the week before. They said they would check me in an hour but knowing I had been having contractions all night and they weren't changing me I wasn't holding out hope. An hour later I was still a 3 so I walked the halls for an hour and they checked again and I was still a 3. I told the nurse I didn't think baby #3 would be the first time I would come in and get sent home. I've never had false labor where you're having contractions but no progress. So I went home around noon and took a nap and by 3pm they just stopped completely.
My next appointment I was 3.5cm but wasn't having anymore contractions that week. My last appointment on Oct. 3rd I was 4cm and he set an induction date for Tuesday the 9th if she didn't come before that. I still hadn't been having contractions or signs of labor. For some reason that night I wanted to make sure I had the house clean and the laundry done for the week to keep on top of things. At 9pm we had just put the boys to bed and I went to switch a load of laundry when I felt my water break. I told Matt and then told the boys their sister would be coming soon. They were then too excited to sleep and they tried to go to sleep while we made arrangements for my sister to come stay at our house with the boys and finish packing. Finally at 11:30pm we headed for the hospital.
I had 2 nurses because one was being trained and so check-in took awhile. The first hour was getting me in a room with monitors and finishing any paperwork and making sure my water had broke. The next hour was a bunch of questioning and seeing what the doctor on-call wanted to do since I wasn't really having very many contractions and was still a 4.
The doctor said to start pitocin so at 1:30am they started an IV and started the pitocin. The nurses said they would be back in 30 minutes to check on me and I could get the epidural anytime. Within 2 minutes the contractions started and were horrible. Matt had been trying to sleep but as soon as they started he heard me in pain and tossing and turning in the bed. I tried holding out knowing the nurses were coming back in only 30 minutes but I couldn't. After 20 minutes I paged them and asked for the epidural. They said they would go and get the anesthesiologist and be back soon then they would up the dose of the pitocin after the epidural. At 2:15 (45 minutes after starting pitocin) they came in and they could see I was in a lot of pain. I told them I had never had pain this bad in either of my labors. The one nurse said to make sure the anesthesiologist was coming right away and right then he came in the room. It took him about 15 minutes to get the epidural in and was doing everything to keep from moving during the contractions. At 2:30am an hour after the IV was started he was finished but it was going to take 10 minutes to kick in. I couldn't hold still during the contractions and they were one after another. The nurses said that maybe my bladder was full and that was making them more intense. They put a catheter in and then said they would check me. The nurse looked at the other nurse and said, "She's complete, she's a 10 and the head is right there!" So by this point the epidural hasn't even kicked in yet and the nurses were joking with me if I wanted a natural birth I was only a couple pushes away. They said if I had another baby I should do it natural seeing how quick it went. At this point I didn't know whether to be grateful they didn't check me first which would have meant no epidural since I was at a 10 or wishing they would have checked me so that I didn't have a choice and didn't have to go through the epidural process when she could have been out so quickly. I had already experienced the worst pain in my life so what was 15 more minutes! Although if I didn't get the epidural I wouldn't have been able to hold out until the doctor came so in the end I guess it was a good thing. The nurses quickly turned me to my side with my knees together to keep her in because I could feel the pressure of her head trying to come out and told me to wait while they told the doctor to come in and get set up.
Waiting patiently on my side thanks to the epidural that was starting to kick in.
The doctor came about 3:20 and wanted to see me push once to see how quickly she would come. He immediately said to stop pushing and put on his gown and set everything up. I only had to push for 3 contractions and she was out and screaming. It was amazing and Matt did great. He was trying to take pictures, video and help me and cut the cord all at the same time.
I couldn't believe she weighed the same as Kaleb when she was a week later at 38 weeks and 4 days. But she was also shorter at 6 lbs. 13 oz. and 18.5 inches and just perfect.
I love that they offer skin-to-skin right after birth and they leave you alone for awhile so you can bond with your baby without other distractions.
It was then time to try feeding her. She was sucking on her fingers right away so I knew she wouldn't have issues with eating and she's been great so far with it. My parents stopped by to see her quickly before we were moved to a room and then they left and were going to bring the boys in the morning.
After eating they put me in a wheelchair and I carried Olivia and we headed up to our recovery room.
They took Olivia to the nursery to do the normal testing and check her out for about an hour and so Matt and I tried to sleep while she was gone. I fell asleep for about 15 minutes but couldn't sleep. Matt was able to get sleep for a couple of hours. At 5:30 they brought her back and they gave her a bath in the room. I've never been able to see them do the bath and even though I couldn't help since my feet were numb from the epidural I loved being able to at least watch.
At about 9:30 my mom and sister brought the boys to the hospital to see Olivia. They were so excited to see her.
They wanted to see her feet.
I love all of her dark long hair and I know she'll probably lose all or most of it but I'm loving it while it's there.
Sleeping is what she does best and I just love watching her.
We had a bunch of visitors throughout the day and Matt went home to take a nap during the afternoon.
Daddy is kind of in love with her too. He did great with taking care of the boys and getting them to school and then taking care of me and Olivia at the hospital.
I was grateful when the epidural wore off and I was able to get around. I felt better than I had after my other deliveries. That night the hospital gave us a celebratory dinner for Matt and I. You get to pick from a different menu. We both had the steak and mushrooms and for dessert we had chocolate mousse cake and cheesecake. The dessert was the best part.
That night my parents brought the boys over to see Olivia again and then Matt left with the boys to head home. Because I felt good and was ready to be in my own house and bed I told them I wanted to leave early on Friday instead of staying 2 nights until Saturday. So at 10pm I sent Olivia to the nursery so I could sleep since I hadn't had any sleep the night before.
The nurses were good about leaving me alone during the night so I could sleep. At 6am they came in to take my vitals and after that I took a shower and went to get Olivia from the nursery. Here we are Friday morning at 6:30. She was ready to eat when I picked her up from the nursery.
After getting the boys to school Matt came to the hospital.
After eating she was wide awake. They took her to take her blood for the jaundice testing and did the hearing test also. Now we just had to wait for the results and we could go home. The nurse came in right as they brought my lunch in and said we were good to go so after eating my lunch we packed up and headed home.
Olivia liked being in her car seat once she was buckled in.
After arriving home the 3 of us took a nap until it the boys came after school. My parents and sister were great at helping watch the boys. Later that night I had to grab a couple of things from Wal-mart so we took a quick trip to the store as a family of 5 and grabbed some Cafe Rio to-go.
So far we've been adjusting well to having Olivia in our home. Ashton likes to check on her and make sure she's okay when she's sleeping and Kaleb likes to hold her. I'm sure the late night feedings will catch up eventually but right now I love feeding her in the middle of the night and it's hard to put her back down. We're all so in love with her and couldn't be happier.
