I wrote this the week after she was born and wanted to post this in honor of her first birthday. Hopefully, I will be a better blogger now that we are past the newborn stage and actually have the internet
Olivia Kate came into the world this past Wednesday, July 27, 2011. She was born at 4:51pm, weighed 8 lbs. 9 ozs., was almost 21 inches long and is quite possibly the most beautiful humanI have ever laid eyes on. I might be a little biased. I want to write about the birth experience before I forget how wonderful it was. For those of you that are not aware of how it works, come back another day for a post that is more…hmmm…explanatory.
Background information leading to July 27:
Olivia’s original due date was August 1, 2011. I was ready WAY before that. Being pregnant in
the summer has its perks but holy cow (and I felt like a cow), it is too hot for all that extra weight. That being said, I LOVED being pregnant. Anyway, I went to the doctor July 15 in hopes that I had dilated even more since my previous appt (only 1 cm, but 1 is 1!). Happily we discovered I was 3 cm and 50% effaced (google it if you don’t know). He asked me if I had been having any contractions. I said no but I was thinking, “Sir, this is my first pregnancy. I may be having contractions but since I have never had them, I have no idea what they feel like. I could be super preggo lady and be sailing through labor and not know it or I may not be having any at all so the real answer to your question is, I don’t know!”
When we left, the doctor said, “I will see you next Friday…if you don’t have a baby by then.”
YES! Hope! Unfortunately, as we came to find out, you can actually UNDILATE! What?! Yes, if you are not having contractions (which I obviously wasn’t as I discovered on July 27) , your body can actually regress. How depressing! That weekend, we walked, ate spicy foods, tried other things and still no Olivia. At this point I was so miserable I could have died. I worked the following Monday but then I started my short term leave. My feet were so swollen, it was painful to walk (not to mention I was beyond the waddling stage at this point).
By that Friday, I went to my appointment prepared to BEG to be induced. No begging
necessary…sweet sweet Dr. Drey (yes, that’s his real name) took me to scheduling and I signed up for the earliest appointment I could get…the next WEDNESDAY! Geez, another 5 days. That’s ok, we will have plenty of time to get ready and be prepared. Umm, have you ever met me?
Fast forward to the Tuesday before induction. 11pm and we are packing our hospital bag. Can
you say procrastination? We had to be at the hospital at 6 am which meant we needed to get up at 4:30. Do you think this old girl could fall asleep just like that? Negative. Planned inductions have to have some of the most exhausted mothers because there is no way to sleep when you know it’s the last night of your responsibility free life. I kept saying to myself, “By this time tomorrow, we are going to have a baby (I hope). They are going to let us take her home and we don’t have to bring her back. We are going to keep her and take care of her and turn her into a responsible adult. Are they NUTS?!”
July 27
We left about 5:20 and made it to the hospital with plenty of time to spare. We sat in the truck and
waited until closer to 6 because you don’t want to be the eager beaver. That is until we saw other
waddlers making their way to the doors. Their hubbys even dropped them off at the door. We parked in the north 40 since we were staying for a few days and burned a few calories on the way in. Calories, by the way, that I didn’t have seeing as I hadn’t eaten since 10pm the night before. I am a breakfast girl so needless to say, I was STARVING!!!
After I answered all kinds of questions that have nothing to do with giving birth (do you do routine
breast checks?), they gave me a gown which I begrudgingly put on and then they hooked me up to
several things that beeped and made waves on the screen and started an IV. They started Pitocin
(contraction maker) and we were off. We went through the packet of stuff they left in our room that is
everything you need to know about raising a baby (yeah, right). Seth was thrilled to find the form for the TN lifetime hunting license (ask him about it) in the packet along with a vaccine chart, car seat safety info and “Never Shake a Baby” pamphlet.
A nurse came in and did her checks about 8. I was only at 2 cm and 30% (dang it!) and started my first dose of Penicillin. I tested positive for Group B strep at 35 weeks so I had to take the antibiotics so Olivia wouldn’t get it. That stuff HURTS!!! It’s cold and it burns if they let it drip too fast. I had the nurse slow mine down several times because it was making my entire arm ache. I never felt much as far as contractions but I could watch them on the screen. Dr. Talley-Horne (love her) came in about 11:45 and broke my water. I had heard that it is an unpleasant experience. I never felt a thing. She told me that I would begin feeling contractions much more strongly now and I could call anytime and get an epidural (because I am not a hero and I had nothing to prove).
I made it until 1 o’clock and decided I had experienced enough and was ready for the magic. Seth called the nurse and told her I was ready and she said he would be right over after he got done across the hall. He finally came strolling in about 1:50. Umm, excuse me sir, but where have you been? I’m dying here. By 2:20, I was on cloud 9 and my nurse (who was wonderful by the way) said I should rest and she would be back in a few minutes to check me. By 2:45, I was completely numb (and a bit loopy) and she said I was at 5 cm. We were told typically the progression is about 1 cm an hour so if our family wanted to go get lunch they could go on. She said she would be back in an hour to check again.
By 3:30 I was feeling weird and we couldn’t hear Olivia's heartbeat nearly as well as we had that morning. My nurse came in to check and said I was already at 9 and 100%. Well super, everyone is GONE! Seth made the calls and texts and she said she would be back soon and we would work on pushing a bit. Seth parents showed up at 4 and came into the room. By that point I was in no mood for company and finally gave Seth the “signal” that they needed to leave at 4:10. I asked for my nurse and she came in about 4:25 and said that we were going to give a few pushes to see what happened. My parents finally were there so I was ready.
To be quite honest, I was freaking out about this part. You know that show, One Born Every Minute? I figured that was what was coming next. Screaming, red faces, crying, wet washcloths, etc. Nope. Maybe some red faces and tears but happy tears. Dr. Talley-Horne came in about 4:40 and we just kept going (who was I to say no? I had an epidural and we could have pushed all day long.) Olivia made her debut at 4:51, immediately got to meet her mama and was none too thrilled about the chilly temperature in the room. Seth cut her cord and watched them clean her up and held her for the first time. Her head was perfectly round (which I will admit, was a fear of mine. My sister and her daughter both had some serious cone heads) and she had dark hair and after a minute of crying, she was silent. She hardly cried at all that first day. Of course, she has made up for that first day since then but overall, she only cries when she needs something.
After everyone was cleaned up and put back together again (and they turned off my half empty
epidural…can I get a refund, please?) , we got to spend a few minutes together as a family. Then all
the extended family came in for a quick visit which was a little overwhelming. Think small room, lots of people; hugs for me (sorry my stomach muscles are currently not functioning); numerous comments about how I “did good” (why thank you, it was nothing), etc. It was finally just the 3 of us about 10 that night and I watched a new daddy fall in love with his little girl while we rested and became a family.
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