This is a very long post about Olivia's birth that I started the day after Olivia was born. Scroll down if you're just interested in the pictures. :)
I was scheduled to have an induction today, but yesterday I went into labor on my own (this is the same thing that happened with Aiden). :)
I started having contractions in the early morning of the 22nd. When Mike found out that I was having contractions he notified his superior that he would not be going into clinic that morning. I didn't think I was really in labor because I had been having on and off contractions since I was 17 weeks pregnant. The contractions were still not really painful and very sporadic. Since there really wasn't much for Mike to do for me, he cleaned the house, did the laundry and took care of Esther and Aiden for me. I got a relaxing shower and had time to really get ready for the day. It was actually a really relaxing morning for me, despite the contractions. By 11 o'clock the contractions were about 10 mins apart. They stayed that way for the next 2 hours. Mike felt like he needed to go into clinic, so I told him I'd call him if anything changed. So he went into clinic. At about 2:30 the contractions started getting closer together. By 3 o'clock I was about to call Mike when he walked in the door. The doctor he was working with (for OB rotation) found out I was having contractions and told Mike to go home. Mike went to finish what he was doing and the doctor got mad at him. He said "Go home now and don't come back to work until after your baby is born!" :) What a good man!
By 3:30 I decided that I really was in labor after all. I made arrangements for the kids to spend the night at a friend's house. I told Mike that we could probably take the kids over to our friend's house after dinner around 5. By 4 o'clock I realized we needed to go to the hospital sooner rather than later. I told Mike that and so he started getting food for the kids. By 4:30 I said we needed to go to the hospital now and I was pretty sure I was in transition labor. Mike still had the 5 o'clock departure time in his head, so he was still moving really slow getting the kids food and everything ready to go. Within 30 mins my contractions went from 8 mins apart to 3 mins apart. We finally made it out the door by 5:15. We dropped the kids off at 5:36 and headed to the hospital, which thankfully was just a block away. Mike tried to make some jokes along the way and I remember telling him it wasn't funny and to just get me to the hospital. Poor guy had no idea how far along I was.
Mike dropped me off at the emergency room at 5:40 and he quickly parked the car. I did a very minimal check in and Mike was by my side in a minute. I climbed in the wheelchair the medical escort had and he rushed me upstairs. At one point there were a bunch of people in our way and so I said "Excuse me! Lady with a baby coming through!" I thought I was funny, but the people looked at me like I was crazy. :)
By the time we got upstairs to labor and delivery I was feeling rather lightheaded from breathing too deeply. But my brain was so fuzzy I couldn't force myself to breathe any differently. Thankfully I was able to communicate to Mike what was going on and he helped me breathe shallower and the lightheaded-ness passed. The nurse was asking me admissions questions, but I could not mentally process most of the words she was saying. The nurse figured out that things were moving fast so she asked me to get on the bed so she could get me hooked up to the monitor. I had one contraction sitting up in the bed and it was torture! I deal with pain best when I can move around still (one reason while I didn't want an epidural).
I could feel that it was almost time for the delivery. Olivia was really low in the birth canal. My brain was still really fuzzy from dealing with the pain, so I couldn't find the words to articulate that to anyone. All I could manage was to yell "BABY!" over and over. When my water broke, Olivia almost came out at the same time. I held my legs together to keep her in and yelled "BABY! NOW!" A resident was just outside my door and she stepped in to see if she could help. She had gotten one glove on to check my cervix when Mike said "No need to check her! The head is crowning!" The resident ran in and didn't even have time to put the other glove on before she caught Olivia. She caught Olivia and then passed her over to Mike to finish with the afterbirth. Mike wasn't scrubbed in at all. He was just holding Olivia up to his hoodie with no gloves, no blankets, nothing. There wasn't time for any of that! Mike clipped the umbilical cord and then put Olivia on me. By this point we had been in the hospital for 20 mins, max. Ha ha ha!
Nurses, residents and eventually a doctor came in and soon the room was buzzing with people. Everyone was shocked that I had the baby so fast. Nevermind the fact that I labored at home for 17 hours. There was one nurse who kept saying "You just shot that baby out!" I got a lot of praise because I really did have the baby on my own. :)
Olivia Jean Larson was born at 5:59pm on January 22nd, 2014. She was 7 lbs 6.4oz and 19.75 inches long. She has a full head of hair that is dark brown at the roots and lighter at the ends. Because the delivery went so fast, her head did not get misshapen at all. Olivia has a good set of lungs and she cried for her first hour and half of life. And then she cried again anytime anyone checked her vitals or poked and prodded her. And boy did she scream during her first bath!
Olivia on the scale.
Olivia's first bath.
All the nurses called Mike the baby whisperer because he could calm Olivia down and put her to sleep so easily.
Look at all that hair! :)
Daddy and his newest princess!
The kids were excited to meed Olivia the first time. :)
Esther wanted to hold her right away and actually held her for about an hour.
When we asked Aiden if he wanted to hold Olivia, he said no and then ran over to the window. "Look dad! We're high up!"
This picture isn't a very good picture but I thought it was hilarious that you could see how wild the kids got after a time. [hint, look at Esther's legs above her head]
Olivia kept pulling her arms out of her sleeves to suck on her hands. :)
Olivia already has her daddy wrapped around her little finger. :)
Our first family picture as a family of 5. :)
My sister made this adorable hat, but it turned out to be a smidge big in the hospital. :)
Me with Olivia getting ready to be discharged from the hospital. They actually said we could be discharged after 24 hours because recovery was going so well. We opted to stay another day so I could rest up a little more. With 2 kids at home, there wasn't much chance of us getting much rest at home. :)
Staying at the hospital was actually really nice. Mike was on a rollaway cot instead of the terrible and hard couch "cot". The nurses did a great job taking care of us. They got me my pain meds when I needed them and they were great at passing me Olivia or getting me some more water when I needed it. :)
We brought a bag of Dove Milk Chocolates with us. Each time a new nurse would come in we'd give them a few pieces. :) Every single nurse said "Oh! I love Dove chocolate!" It was great. :) It helped break the ice and they all quickly warmed up to us.
Another perk of being at the hospital was being able to pick up the phone and order my food. The food wasn't spectacular, but it was good enough and I could order whatever I wanted without having to worry about preparing it or cleaning it up. :)
Headed home. :)
Since we've been home Esther has been a great help with Olivia. She loves holding her. :)
Esther helped me give Olivia a bath at home. :)
Aiden came to help too. :)
All clean!
I came downstairs our second day home and found Olivia like this. Ha ha ha! Mike is so funny sometimes. :)
Every now and then Aiden will ask to hold Olivia. He's warming up to her and is a good helper.
Yeah for being a family of 5! :)
