Monday was Olivia's 3 week birthday and since she is sleeping on my chest right now after her usual 2 o'clock feeding, I decided it is the perfect time to write about the day she came into our lives.
My last post was about the first time we thought we'd be parents and the heartbreak I felt when I was sent home from the hospital. This time started out the exact same way.
On Saturday night, April 19th, I had another gall bladder attack and was in excruciating pain yet again. I had followed a strict no-fat diet and it didn't make any difference. John and his friend gave me a blessing and I managed to get some sleep. The next morning I was getting ready for church and the same symptoms started up again. I really didn't want to go through this again without medicinal intervention, so off we went to the hospital.
After checking in and getting medicated, my doctor decided to try and start me again and if Olivia didn't come by choice, we were going to have to take her with a C-section because my pancreas levels were extremely elevated yet again. To be honest, I was not happy. I had already been down with road and in my heart I honestly thought I'd be sent home again.
Regardless, I allowed them to start me on the pit at about 1:30 p.m. I was dilated to nearly a 2 and had to make the arduous journey to a 10 before I could greet this little girl. Well, hours came and went with John faithfully at my side except for the one moment he ran home to grab some clothes for this little girl to come home in. I was so certain they wouldn't keep me that I hadn't bothered to bring her diaper bag! Some mother, eh?
We watched t.v., talked and I listened to my music and prayed. At around 8 at night I was able to finally get my epidural. That blessed miracle. I will never understand those who go all natural after experiencing the beautiful peace that an epidural brings!
I was still only a 5 for several more hours and while I wasn't in a lot of pain, I was still very uncomfortable. What was the hold up? Why wasn't this little girl coming? Didn't she know how excited we were to meet her? Was she scared to come into this world? Can't say that I blame her. I started praying hard for my body to relax and just dilate to get her here.
I prayed for such a long time and then felt some serious discomfort at 5 a.m. I called for the nurse to help me understand why I was feeling such discomfort and she did a check to see if there had been any change. Surprisingly, she said I was at a 9 and a half and left the room to call my doctor to get there because Olivia was ready to make an appearance!
Suddenly, the room was in a frenzy. Loads of nurses started coming in, adjusting the bed, telling me to breathe, setting up equipment and ordering John to grab one of my legs because he was going to have to help me push. I was really excited, nervous and scared. This was the moment! It almost didn't feel real.
My nurse was fabulous as she coached me through with steady count downs from 10 to 1 and telling me to push, breathe, push, breathe. John held my one leg and another nurse held the other. I felt an incredibly amount of pressure and just wanted to push this little girl right out but my Doctor hadn't arrived yet. I guess the lady next door and I were neck and neck at this point, but I won in the end! My Doctor arrived, sat down, told me to push three more times and then all of a sudden I felt this intense falling sensation and the most beautiful little girl came into view.
She was crying, gray and unfortunately bloody but she was mine. John cut the umbilical cord, the nurses grabbed her and put her on my chest and I stared in awe at this beautiful little creature who I felt so much love for. She was mine. I had talked to her, felt her kick, wondered about her and finally here she was in my arms. I was overwhelmed and so happy to finally have met her.
Olivia was born at 6:28 a.m. on April 21st.and weighed 6 lbs. 15 oz and was 19 inches long. She is perfect.
