Just one short week ago I became a Mommy. Olivia Ann was born on June 6 at 11:10am. She weighed in at 6 lbs. 14 oz and was 20 inches long. It is still all very surreal. As I write this, I am looking down at my sleeping baby girl and I can't stop smiling. I'm pretty sure it's been this way since the moment she was born and I already couldn't imagine my life without her!!
Here's Olivia's birth story (I hope none of it is TMI for you):
On Wednesday morning, June 5, I had my last doctor appointment. At the appointment, I requested that my doctor sweep my membranes since I was so close to my due date and because my doctor was on call the following day before she left for vacation. I knew that there was a possibility that it wouldn't induce labor so we went ahead and scheduled my induction for June 12 in case it didn't work.
Later that afternoon, I started to have severe cramps. My doctor informed me that this would happen, so I didn't think anything of it and to be honest, I really didn't think the membrane sweep would work and make me go into labor. I figured it was a long shot but I really wanted my doctor to deliver my baby as opposed to one of the other two doctors in the practice.
That evening, I started to have contractions. I started timing them at 9:15pm and they were 4-6 minutes apart. I called my doctor's office and the call center could not get ahold of my doctor after 3 attempts. After nearly an hour, they finally connected me to the midwife on call and she told me that "you're probably not in labor if you aren't crying and can walk through your contractions." She told me that unless I felt it was necessary, that there was no reason to come in. I couldn't believe my ears because I just KNEW that this was it and quite frankly I thought that the midwife could just shove it! At 11:00pm we were out the door. After a quick stop to Burger King (so Jason could get food) and a stop at the gas station (Jason needed a 5 hr energy), we arrived to labor and delivery. I checked in around 11:30pm and was hooked up to the monitor and then we waited.
After about an hour my contractions didn't really seem to pick up. I was starting to feel a bit disappointed because I knew that the nurse was thinking about discharging me because I was not progressing. Luckily, my contractions started to pick up and when the nurses checked me again, I had started to dilate further. Between 1am and 3am, I was dilated from 2cm to 4cm and I was finally admitted and was told that I was not leaving without my sweet girl. I was so excited!!
At 6:30am my contractions started to get very strong. I first had a morphine shot, then another pain killer and finally an epidural. I am not sure why I waited so long for the epidural but was so glad that I got it when I did. The nurses then decided to start me on Pitocin to get things going.
Around 7:30am, my parents arrived at the hospital and a short time later my brothers and sister-in-love arrived. They all got to hang out in my room before things really started to pick up.
Around 10:15am I called my nurse and told her that I really felt like I had to push. She didn't believe me and told me that since I was a first time mom, labor usually lasted hours and that I probably didn't progress much yet but that she would check me "if it made me feel better." I told them that it would, in fact, make me feel better. I was checked and my nurse was quite shocked when she found that I was dilated to 8-9cm. They quickly set up everything in my room, called my doctor and scrubbed up. Somewhere in between all of the madness and tears I told my family to leave the room because I was having a baby. Oh my gosh- I was about to have a BABY!!
The doctor came in and of course my contractions slowed down. We waited a little while and finally another contraction came and I started to push. About 12 pushes (20 mins) later and my sweet girl was in my arms. Olivia Ann was born at 11:10am weighing 6 lbs. 14 oz and was 20 inches long. With Jason by my side and our sweet baby in my arms, it truly was the happiest moment of my life. I was in LOVE!!
Olivia was cleaned up, I was taken care of, and then she was brought back to me and we had some quality family time just the three of us. It was such an intimate time that I truly will never forget. After a while, my family came in to meet the baby for a bit and then we were moved upstairs to a recovery room.
It all went by so fast and the pain really wasn't that bad compared to the overwhelming sense of joy that I felt that entire day. I was on cloud 9. I still am.
We stayed in the hospital for two nights/three days. It was so nice to be taken care of and to get to know this little person that we created. Jason stayed on the couch in my room so it was the three of us the whole time. We had lots of visitors, which was perfect because I couldn't wait to show off my sweet girl.
We arrived back home on Saturday evening. We were welcomed home with tons of decorations, balloons, flowers, posters, etc. It was so sweet of my Mom to decorate our house while we were in the hospital. She came over later that evening and brought us dinner. So sweet!
This week we have just been adjusting to life with a baby. Olivia has been a dream and she is already an amazing sleeper. She is so calm and rarely cries. A perfect little girl! I still can't believe she is mine!
Of course, my Mom couldn't resist and she had a mini photo shoot with Olivia. She got some amazing pictures! Could she be any cuter?!
Thank you all for the well wishes and love sent this past week. We couldn't feel more happy and blessed. This truly has been the best week of my life and I know it is only going to get better from here! Love to you all! xx
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