Olivia's Birth Story

Hey y'all....finally getting around to documenting Olivia's birth story. I am only four weeks late to the party, but let's just say I have been a tad bit on the busy side. I feel so blessed as I write this as I truly felt that I had a great pregnancy and an easy delivery with no surprises or complications. Kev and I thank the good Lord above for helping us welcome our daughter into this world the way he did.

So let me get to it....

  

Let's go back to week 39....that was one for the memory books.

That Monday (38w6d) I went to work as normal but as soon as I got out of my car in the hospital parking lot (where I work), I felt a small leak in my undies (TMI?!?). I thought it may have just been the normal stuff related to pregnancy and didn't think much about it. Well....it happened again. So I called my OB and they recommended I come in and have a peak to make sure it wasn't my water breaking. Up until this point I had no major contractions and didn't feel as though I was in labor.

 

I called Kev who was working from home and we had our first real "run" of practicing getting the hospital bags loaded just in case this was the real thing. He picked me up from work and we headed up the interstate to my doctor's office which is connected to the hospital we would be delivering at. We got there and they did an exam to determine I was basically just peeing my pants and having excessive discharge (again TMI? lol). I was checked again and my cervix was still closed.

False alarm numero uno .....I was slightly bummed. I decided to head back to work because going home would just entail me being stir crazy as ever.

 

So Wednesday(39w1d) came and I was already scheduled for my regular weekly checkup which they wanted me to keep after the false alarm on monday. I was praying there would be some action going on in my cervix, but nope I was still closed and not dilating. At that point, I was convinced I would definitely see my due date and we would be talking about induction at my next visit.

 

Well Friday rolled around and I woke up Friday morning with my undies soaked. I did the normal drill of calling the doc and they insisted I come in right away. Side note - can I just say that every time I talked to the nurse that asked me if "said" liquid in my undies had a scent or was odorless....I understand why they were asking...but nobody needs to be smelling their undies people. Ok back to the real story.....I went in friday and the doc did a thorough exam and said that my cervix was starting to open, but I was much, much more effaced. The doctor also said that she would be surprised if the baby didn't come in the next few days. Hallelujah!!!!

 

I left the MD appt and called Kev and continued my regularly scheduled events for the day. My gal pal, Caitlin, was in town from texas and we had planned on hanging out that afternoon and grabbing lunch. She is also preggo with her 1st child...a sweet baby boy due in December. We spent the afternoon in OTR catching up and talking all things baby.

 

Friday night I went to bed anxious as ever and fell asleep around 930pm and then at the stroke of midnight (Saturday) I officially had my first contraction. I woke up thinking "well that feels different" and they kept happening. By 3am I could no longer sleep and decided to start timing them. They were 10-15 mins apart and very consistent. And then.....the "bloody show" happened at 4am that morning and I freaked a little and called the MD on call. She explained I was probably in early labor and to call back when my contractions were less than 3-5 mins apart and stronger. The contractions continued like clock work all night long getting stronger and closer together. My parents had already made plans to come down on Saturday before the early stages of labor had started.

 

That morning my mom and dad got to our house around 9am and I was starting to get a little uncomfortable, but I could still manage. Contractions continued to be 10 min apart. My mom and I decided to go get our nails done to pass the time and to run some errands so I could walk, walk and walk. Kev joined us just in case. By 5pm that Saturday my contractions were 3-5 minutes apart and Kev and I felt like it was time to call the doctor again. She told me to come in just to be safe. Once we got to the hospital, I was having them every 2-3 minutes and they started to get painful. The nurse checked me and I was only 1 cm dilated.....1 freakin cm maybe 1.5 cm. The doctor told me there was no sense in me laboring at the hospital when I would be much more comfortable at home. I wanted to cry because they contractions were already so close together, but she told me to continue to monitor and call when they were more intense and were regularly 2-3 mins apart.


We headed home and I tried to get super comfortable on the couch. I had to walk around so much and move constantly and I didn't want to disturb Kev's sleep as I knew the next couple of days would be tough if this baby decided to show up. My bestie Dana drove up to NKY that evening and laid with me on the couch all night. She was such a godsend! I get teary eyed just thinking about her holding my hand through that night and sleeping on the couch with me. My brother's girlfriend snapped this sweet photo of us that means everything to me.

At around 500am early Sunday morning I knew I wasn't going to last much longer. I decided to take a warm bath. While I was taking a bath I became so uncomfortable I yelled for Kev. We called the doc and as I was getting ready I had a small trickle run down my leg....I think that I had a small leak and my water was breaking. We headed to the hospital by 6am and went straight to triage again. This time the resident checked me and when she did the rest of my water break in a huge gush all over her and the table. I was officially in labor and dilated to 2 cm. We called my parents and Dana led the charge in keeping them calm. We told Mom and Dana we would call when we got settled in our room.

After several missed IV's (and awful bruises to come to prove it) we got all settled in our labor and delivery suite around 830am. The room was HUGE! I was introduced to my saving grace....my nurse Terri who had been a L&D nurse for thirty some years. She was amazing and Kev and I could not have done it without her. We hit it off immediately when we started talking about our pets....the woman has 8 great pyrenees dogs.

We were all ready to go...popsicle in hand.




My mom and Dana met up with us in our labor and delivery room once we got settled. My Dad, brother and his girlfriend (who is like a sister to me) came around 1130 to keep me and Kev company.

I labored on my own till close to 5 cm and was progressing well, but by close to 5 cm I was begging for the epidural. That was the smartest decision I had made all day. If I had it to do over I would have asked a lot earlier. I did have a small panic attack after it took effect because I was so numb and hated not being able to move on my own in my bed. They turned my dose down a bit and then I was golden. They did administer a little bit of pitocin once I got the epi to speed things up a bit and boy did it. I was on track to start pushing around 8pm that evening based on the dilate 1cm per hour rule. However, the doc checked me around 330 pm and I was fully dilated at 10cm. She told me they would have me sit up in the hospital bed like a chair for an hour to let gravity assist with getting baby in the birth canal.

Dana broke out the makeup, chanel perfume, hair spray and teasing comb to get me all ready for Livi's debut while we waited for that hour to pass.

 

I sat up for an hour and was entertained by my amazing husband, family and bestie. I am so grateful they were all there throughout the process. I was so much more calm and collected because they were around me.

 

 

The nurse came back in at 430 and said it was almost time to start pushing. I started pushing at around 440/445 and Baby Olivia was here by 517pm. I pushed for barely over 30 mins ....thank the lord! I am not gonna lie, after that first push I truly thought I would be pushing for two hours. It was so so freaking hard. I may have had an easy labor and delivery, but pushing was the hardest thing I have ever done physically...hands down!

 

My mom, Kev and Dana were in the room with me with a slew of labor and delivery nurses. My mom was so involved with the delivery process. More than I ever thought she would. She held one of my legs alongside my nurse and everything while Kev and Dana coached me at bedside.

 

They immediately put Livi on my chest as soon as she came out. As soon as that precious babe was laid on my chest, I thought my heart would truly explode. I remember her immediately looking at me and sticking her lil bottom lip out....and then I remember looking at Kev...we were both so so emotional. Livi and I just stared at each other. That moment was the best....absolute best!

 

 

They cleaned her up on my chest and baby girl immediately started to root around for the breast. It's so crazy that they know to go ahead and do that.

They took her away for just a few minutes to weigh her and measure her. Kev stayed by her side the entire time.

Livi weighed 7 pounds and 1 ounce and measured at 19.5 inches long. She was perfect.

 

My amazing nurse....truly an angel sent to me that day.

 

We spent another few hours in the labor and delivery room recovering before heading up to our room. The moment Kev handed me a cup full of sprite was pure bliss lol. I was so thirsty and absolutely starving since I didn't eat anything at all that morning.

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Olivia was immediately surrounded by so much love from the moment she came into this world.
She is my parent's first grandchild and Kev's parents first granddaughter....we don't stand a chance.

 

 

 

The next day Kevin's parents and sister came to meet her and visit. My mom also stayed at the hospital pretty much around visitor hours to help us and get us food or anything we needed.

Not gonna lie, being in the hospital was hard....constantly people in and out of our rooms (nurses, doctors, housekeeping, our bff from dietary services that always came at the most un-ideal times, hospital staff.....I was so ready to be home without all the interruptions). I was so over it, in fact, i canceled our hospital pictures with out photographer. I just wanted to get the hell out of there. I requested for the pediatrician to see Livi as early as possible on Tuesday so we could get home. By 3pm Tuesday afternoon we were on the interstate headed home.

 

 

 

I am so grateful for such an amazing labor and delivery with no surprises or complications. Blessed doesn't even begin to describe it. I am also so thankful for the amount of love and support we had on that day from my parents, brother, Brittany and Dana. We couldn't have done it without them. They were at our side meeting every need and took such good care of our sweet puppies.

 

Olivia June has forever changed our lives and we are so ecstatic to be her parents. She's the most precious thing in this world. I never knew this type of love till I laid my eyes on her. It's overwhelming.....overwhelmingly amazing!