Welcoming Olivia Louise

I know this is a little late, but here is the story of Olivia's birth.

It was raining that night. After one of my many potty breaks during the night I felt something strange - kind of like my water breaking. (They say "you just know" when your water breaks. And its true. I can't really explain it, I just knew.) However, I didn't know quite what to do. I wandered around my house, trying to fix a leak, changing the laundry, and wondering whether or not to wake up Chris. In the end, I woke him up and told him to pack our hospital bags.

When we got to the hospital they only had two rooms left.  It appears that the weather really can affect pregnancy and birth.  The nurses told us that when the barometric pressure lowers, uterus pressure rises and can cause water to break.

Once we got to the hospital, Chris was nice enough to jot down a quick play-by-play.  Here it is, in all its raw glory. :)
 

2:09 The huge storm breaks Kara’s water and she wakes me up.

2:10-3:00 We hurry and throw all our stuff in our hospital bag and get in the car.

3:00-3:20 Chris drives to LDS hospital sad that he did not receive even one police escort on the way. Trying to lure the police along he goes 75 on Beck street and even runs the red light by the capital. I guess even the police don’t like to stay up too late.

3:20 We are admitted to the hospital to reduce the risk of infection from Kara’s water breaking and they tell us she is 90% effaced and 2 cm dilated and the baby is LOW.

3:30-5:30 We go for walks around the labor and delivery unit and Kara gets to munch on some juice and crackers because everything looks great with the baby. Other than that we try and fail to catch a little sleep before the real fun begins.

5:30-6:30 More of the same stuff. Our nurse tells us that Dr. Holmes (OBGYN) has a 4 hour policy, where after 4 hours of broken water if contractions are not substantial then pitocin is administered.

6:30 Kara's four hours are up.  She gets an IV inserted in her wrist and pitocin added, and the waiting game begins…and continues…and continues.

7:30 After one hour of oxytocin Kara is starting to feel some stronger contractions and our nurse was replaced off of her night shift for Susan, our new nurse. Any chance of sleep is now a thing of the past so they say, unless you get an epidural which is looking better and better to Kara.

Contractions started to happen regularly after the oxytocin and Kara was not liking the feeling of them. At first they weren’t too bad and Kara was feeling confident in her strength. The nurse asked if she wanted an epidural and she said she thought she was going to be ok. By 8:30 Kara was totally done with this pain and said she was ready for the epidural, however the anesthesiologist was in a C-section.  We were told we were the first on his list after he finished. They told us he would be done around 8:45. So, we waited, and 8:45 came and went as did 9:00 and 9:30. By this point Kara was in so much pain. When a contraction came around she would just bear down and squeeze my hands and practice all of her breathing techniques…at once.

Kara after getting the epidural

Finally the epidural came around 9:45 but even then it took a while to take effect and Kara was having a hard time getting comfortable. After finding a position and elevating her in the bed the epidural was at full force around 10:30. At this point she was checked again for progress. She was dilated to 6 centimeters and was 100% effaced. We were both wiped from being in the hospital this long and blessedly fell asleep for a couple of hours.

At 12:30 when we woke up, the nurse came to check on Kara again and said she was dilated to a 10 and at a +2 stage - translation, ready to push!

After getting all the equipment and doctor there Kara started pushing at 12:55 and at 1:23 beautiful Olivia was born. 6 lbs 6 oz and 20 inches long!

Immediately after Olivia was born, the nurses whisked her away because she had a lot of fluid in her lungs.  They suctioned out her mouth and throat and made sure her vitals looked good before bringing her back to Kara. 

Olivia getting the fluids suctioned.

Probably the best part of the entire day was the time that we spent just after with each other. All the nurses and doctors had gone, our parents were outside waiting, and Kara and I were alone with our beautiful new daughter, together, supporting and caring for one another. There wasn’t a lot of talk or conversation, I just remember looking at Olivia and Kara and realizing how great my life truly was. It was a time to ponder each other and this new addition to our family. Of course I made up cheesy tunes to sing to Olivia to keep her entertained and welcome her to our family.

 
 

After this moment of bliss came a whirlwind of family to see the new baby. It was tiring but very welcomed, and I was grateful to see that the entire family was so welcoming of our new addition. Kara’s parents came, my parents came, Kara’s brothers and sisters came, it was amazing to see all the love that this brand new baby was getting from all these strangers.

It was an amazing day that has changed our lives and we feel so blessed!  More of the story to come (along with pictures)!