Olivia arrived by emergency C-Section at 5:00 p.m. on Sunday, December 10, 2006. She came a week earlier than her estimated due date of December 18th and exactly one week after her baby shower.Signs of labor began on Friday evening and lasted through early Sunday morning. Humorously, I ignored the idea that my nesting phase had peaked. I thought I'd be able to have the house decked out and ready to go with completed Christmas decorations and a lit and spruced up Christmas tree. Olivia had something different in mind. Norm had left around 2 am for his voluntary overtime shift when I began having painful contractions and bleeding. The only relief I found was in the sitting/squat position. I spent a great deal of the next few hours going back and forth from the bathroom to the bedroom. My water broke around 3 am. After four phone calls to labor and delivery and almost four hours of laboring at home, I placed a call to Norm.We arrived at the hospital at around 6am. The nurses examined me and I was 4-5 cm. dilated. Thinking I would stick to my birthplan and not opt for drugs, I began to settle in and get comfortable. The nurses began sticking needles in my arms and attaching monitors to my belly to monitor my contractions and Olivia's heart.Once we were settled in our room, Norm began to make calls to the family. Norm and I had decided to invite my parents and Norm's parents during Olivia's birth. Unfortunately, Norm's parents could not be there but came to meet their little granddaughter thereafter. My mom and dad arrived at the hospital fifteen to twenty minutes after the phone call. At this point I was still laboring and dealing with the pain. With each exam, the nurses indicated that I was not dilating as I should and the baby was not progressing. After laboring for about 12 hours, I was given pitocin to increase the contractions and help me dilate quicker. It seems that once the pitocin was administered, the pain intensified. Finally, the pain was so terrible, I decided I needed something to take the edge off and asked for staydol, a temporary pain reliever administered by injection. Moments later, a contraction so intense hit that I yelled for the nurse who was just on her way out the door, "never mind the staydol, get me an epidural now"! I had not wanted an epidural and was in fact terrified of having anything placed into my spine. Fear and pain clouded my ability to breathe and reason. I cried, struggled, and squirmed with each painful contraction as the anesthesiologist attempted to place the epidural. Convinced I was going to fall off the table, the nurse had me lay down and the epidural was placed. Once the epidural began, I was happy.A few hours later, my cousin Julie and two of her three daughters, Laura and Janet arrived. Liz could not be there because she was in Idaho. Janet brought her boyfriend, Travis that I had never met before. What seemed like minutes later, I was given the opportunity to push to no avail. Olivia became stuck in my pelvis at 8 cm dilated. Her heart began to show signs of deceleration. I spiked a high fever and was confirmed to have chorioamniotis, an infection that develops after the water breaks and the baby has not been delivered. It then became pertinent to get the baby out quickly.The one thing that I realize now is that a birth plan was a nice idea yet unrealistic. Once I was in labor, all ideas, hopes, and misconceptions, had to be pushed aside because almost everything that I imagined for Olivia's birth was complete opposite of what truly happened.My precious little angel was welcomed into this world on Sunday, December, 10th at 5:00 p.m. weighing 6 pounds 11 1/2 ounces.
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Olivia is awake more often. She still naps but not nearly as much. Olivia loves to be rocked and cuddled. When mom tries to do laundry, Olivia sits in her aquarium swing and rocks back and forth watching her little fish circle above her head.
Olivia is the most amazing baby. She is so sweet and gentle. She's our little angel. When she's awake, she coos and curiously looks all around. She's a lot of fun. She does sleep much of the time. Thankfully, we've not had too many sleepless nights. It's been quite an adjustment having a newborn at home. I'm discovering there's never enough time in the day to take care of everything. Olivia is such a beautiful blessing in our lives. We are so happy. I'm excited to watch the many changes she will go through and all the excitement each milestone brings. We are so thankful for her!
Olivia arrived by emergency C-Section at 5:00 p.m. on Sunday, December 10, 2006. She came a week earlier than her estimated due date of December 18th and exactly one week after her baby shower.Signs of labor began on Friday evening and lasted through early Sunday morning. Humorously, I ignored the idea that my nesting phase had peaked. I thought I'd be able to have the house decked out and ready to go with completed Christmas decorations and a lit and spruced up Christmas tree. Olivia had something different in mind. Norm had left around 2 am for his voluntary overtime shift when I began having painful contractions and bleeding. The only relief I found was in the sitting/squat position. I spent a great deal of the next few hours going back and forth from the bathroom to the bedroom. My water broke around 3 am. After four phone calls to labor and delivery and almost four hours of laboring at home, I placed a call to Norm.We arrived at the hospital at around 6am. The nurses examined me and I was 4-5 cm. dilated. Thinking I would stick to my birthplan and not opt for drugs, I began to settle in and get comfortable. The nurses began sticking needles in my arms and attaching monitors to my belly to monitor my contractions and Olivia's heart.Once we were settled in our room, Norm began to make calls to the family. Norm and I had decided to invite my parents and Norm's parents during Olivia's birth. Unfortunately, Norm's parents could not be there but came to meet their little granddaughter thereafter. My mom and dad arrived at the hospital fifteen to twenty minutes after the phone call. At this point I was still laboring and dealing with the pain. With each exam, the nurses indicated that I was not dilating as I should and the baby was not progressing. After laboring for about 12 hours, I was given pitocin to increase the contractions and help me dilate quicker. It seems that once the pitocin was administered, the pain intensified. Finally, the pain was so terrible, I decided I needed something to take the edge off and asked for staydol, a temporary pain reliever administered by injection. Moments later, a contraction so intense hit that I yelled for the nurse who was just on her way out the door, "never mind the staydol, get me an epidural now"! I had not wanted an epidural and was in fact terrified of having anything placed into my spine. Fear and pain clouded my ability to breathe and reason. I cried, struggled, and squirmed with each painful contraction as the anesthesiologist attempted to place the epidural. Convinced I was going to fall off the table, the nurse had me lay down and the epidural was placed. Once the epidural began, I was happy.A few hours later, my cousin Julie and two of her three daughters, Laura and Janet arrived. Liz could not be there because she was in Idaho. Janet brought her boyfriend, Travis that I had never met before. What seemed like minutes later, I was given the opportunity to push to no avail. Olivia became stuck in my pelvis at 8 cm dilated. Her heart began to show signs of deceleration. I spiked a high fever and was confirmed to have chorioamniotis, an infection that develops after the water breaks and the baby has not been delivered. It then became pertinent to get the baby out quickly.The one thing that I realize now is that a birth plan was a nice idea yet unrealistic. Once I was in labor, all ideas, hopes, and misconceptions, had to be pushed aside because almost everything that I imagined for Olivia's birth was complete opposite of what truly happened.My precious little angel was welcomed into this world on Sunday, December, 10th at 5:00 p.m. weighing 6 pounds 11 1/2 ounces.
