Olivia's birth story

She's here! She blasted into this world completely different than ANYONE anticipated, but she is safe and loved. And let me tell you the story!

As I've said before, we were scheduled for induction on Wednesday night, starting at 7PM. All our bags were packed, Liberty was dropped off at Aunt Connie's, and we headed to the hospital. We checked in, met our sweet nurse April, and readied for the night of fun to begin. They put Olivia's heart rate and contractions on the fetal monitor, placed the induction medicine, signed a whole bunch of forms, and starting the sit in.

I started having mild contractions with some discomfort, but not too bad. Jason and I watched TV, ate dinner, and just hung out. Around midnight, they checked me and found that my cervix had thinned out a bit, but still was dilated to a 1-2. They put in more medicine, and we waited. About 2:30, the nurse came in to adjust the monitor (Olivia's a fan of sneaking off the monitors) and during this fun, Miss Olivia decided to drop her heart rate from its normal 130-140 to 80's. Not fun. I was immediately put on oxygen, given fluid boluses, and flipped from side to side until her heart rate normalized. It only took a few minutes and the nurse went to go call the doctor and let him know of the feistiness of our daughter, which I'm certain he already knew! I WAS thankful that I had just asked for some pain medicine which would have had to be given IV. The IV was already in when they needed to do fluid boluses. Our doctor decided at that point we should start the pitocin a few hours earlier than planned, at 5AM.

At 5, the pitocin was started and we continued to try and rest. Around 5:30, it was turned up a notch and this is where it really started to be fun. Olivia told us she did NOT appreciate this medication and her heart rate dropped again. I was again flipped from side to side and given oxygen and fluid boluses. They also turned the pitocin off. Olivia's heart rate returned to normal and the quiet and peaceful resting continued. At 7:30, my doctor came in to break my water. This is where it became un fun and horrid. My contractions went from 4 minutes apart and mild to every 45 seconds and exceptionally intense. They were to the point where I had tears running down my cheeks and told the nurse to get the anesthesiologist in there ASAP because I wasn't able to handle it after about 5 minutes.

It took about 20 minutes to summon the anesthesiologist. I got my epidural and let me tell you what a relief that was. I was suddenly able to go through a contraction without crying! They were still about 45 seconds apart, but at that point, I could handle just about anything! Unfortunately, Olivia could not. Her heart rate dipped again and the nurses decided to put a heart monitor on her scalp. It showed a heart rate back down to the 80's. My doctor was called and told to get back to the hospital. I got bags and bags of fluid and there were suddenly 4 nurses in the room, each focusing on a different part of me. My doctor walked in the room and said "C-section NOW".

Within about 5 minutes, Jason was handed scrubs and I was being wheeled off to the operating room. I was prepped lightening fast, especially since they checked her heart rate again in the OR and found it to be still in the 80's. My doctor started cutting me open and Jason was let into the room to sit by my head. After less than 5 minutes, our daughter was plucked from my womb, carried by my head, and given to the NICU nurses who had been called down to check her out. After 25 very VERY long seconds, we heard the most beautiful sound. Two small coughs and the LOUDEST screeching wail I have ever heard! The tears of fear that had been rolling down my face turned to tears of joy. Jason took lots of pictures of our beautiful girl and then had a grand time watching the doctor sew me back up! I'd told him that they take the uterus out of the body, place it on the abdomen, and sew it up. Now he got to see it!

After she was cleaned up a bit, the nurses brought Olivia over to me and let me kiss her and then she and Jason went to the nursery to be checked out. I was sewn up and taken to the recovery room. They brought her in to eat and the sweet girl knew just what to do. God made babies so smart! After about an hour, I was wheeled to my post partum room while Jason helped bathe Olivia in the nursery. Jason's dad, step mom, and two sweet boys met me in the room while we all waited for them to bring in Olivia. She was then held by her two brothers, which had been Jason and I's plan all along. I was so thankful that an emergency c-section had not ruined that part of our plan! They were completely enamored. I don't think Andrew wanted to give her up!

The rest of the hospital stay was uneventful. Olivia got to meet SO many family members. Jacob and Andrew ended coming back over on Saturday because they wanted to spend more time with their sister. So precious. We ended up going home on Sunday, even though our sweet girl had a touch of jaundice. Since then, we've had appointments every day this week, mostly to check up on her. We had to get more blood drawn today because her levels had gone up again. She doesn't show any signs of being sick. She eats well, potties on cue, and is an absolute joy to have in our house. Jason has been the most amazing dad. He's such a pro at the baby love, diapering, and general caring for the whims of a post partum mommy. My mom has been here the last four days helping get caught up on the shopping, laundry, cooking, and just general loving on the baby. I feel better every day and am loving all the time with our special little girl.

So much happened so fast on the day of her birth, but I thought I'd list a few things that we are so thankful for.
1. A very pro-active labor and delivery nurse who was vigilant in checking on our sweet girl.
2. The foresight of our L&D nurse to start my IV when she did so I could get fluid when Olivia's heart rate dropped.
3. The fact that I had my epidural when I went to the OR. If I had not had it, I would have had to be put completely under anesthesia.
4. The lactation consultants at Harris HEB who were so supportive and helpful.
5. All the family and friends who have either stopped by, called, or texted their support and willingness to help us anyway they can.

Olivia has changed our family already. Andrew called the other day and asked if she missed him. I love that. I've gone from just me to a family of 5 in less than three years. How blessed am I? I love my life!

Thanks to everyone who supports our family. It means more to us than you know.