Olivia's Birthday

We welcomed Olivia Marie into this world on Thursday, July 11, 2013.  Her due date was July 22nd, but since she was measuring a week ahead in weight at her last ultrasound we talked to my doctor about inducing early so I could avoid having another large baby (and the recovery complications that come with the big baby). We decided to induce at 38 weeks, 4 days which was only 6 days away from the day we decided to induce early! At my 37+ week appointment I was already 3 cm dilated and 80% effaced, so there was always the possibility she was going to come on her own before we made it to the 11th. 

Last belly shot before heading to the hospital.

We had to be at the hospital at 5:30am.  Here's how the day went (after having to sit in the waiting area for a room to be ready).

7:30 am - started the pitocin, 
7:50 am - doctor came in to break water
10:45 am - epidural #1
11:00 am 4-5 cm dilated and I realize the epidural is only working on the right side of my body leaving the left to feel the increasing intensity and frequency of contractions.  NOT getting my money's worth!
12:10 pm - epidural #2 (yes, take out the old and insert new...there were tears, mostly of frustration)

A random nurse came in a few minutes before 1:00 pm and said our nurses were at lunch and when they got back they would check my progress.  She asked if I felt any pressure, and I said (honestly) no.  Evidently the belief around there was that the epidural just blocks pain but not pressure, so if the baby was descending I would feel it. This turned out to be a false assumption. After she left I asked Jimmy if he had talked to his mom about being present at the birth and he said he forgot. So he sent her a text message that said something like, "Shelley isn't going into labor, but we wanted to know if you wanted to be here when Olivia was born."

Dr. Schmidt came in right at 1:00 pm (literally less than 5 minutes from when the nurse left) and checked my progress and also asked me if I felt any pressure. At this point it was a trick question because when I said, "No" she said she'd be right back with a table and we were going to have a baby. I'm sure I got a somewhat panicked look on my face and I asked (stupidly), "I'm there? Right now?" She just smiled and said, "Don't cough while I'm gone." And sure enough she came back with 4 nurses and they hustled to get everyone gowned and gloved. Jimmy sent his mom a new text message that said, "Hurry, come now!" She came just in time because it only took 3 rounds of contractions/pushes for us to meet Olivia!

The stats: Born at 1:13 pm, 7 lb 6 oz (same as her mama), 19.5" long.  This is also known as the perfect armful.

As a comparison, Nathan was 8 lb 9 oz and 21.75" long.  I am really glad we induced early or baby girl would have had 11 more days to stack on the pound!

Those of you paying attention would have realized that I had a new epidural put in about an hour before Olivia was born.  That means a fresh dose of the medicine went in on top of the first dose.  The result was that I couldn't be moved to a postpartum room because I couldn't feel my legs for hours!  We had intended to wait until we were in that room (and I wasn't hooked up to the scary IV, blood pressure machine, etc) before we brought Nathan up. Instead, we had to make the call around 5:00 pm and sent Grammy to go pick him up from school. He came just before 6:00 pm and brought Olivia her stuffed pig as a present. He walked in carrying the gift bag looking around for her and ignored us. Jimmy asked for a hug and was denied. We told him she was in her bassinet and Jimmy picked him up and showed him baby sister. He looked concerned. At Daddy's prompting he told her, "Hi Olivia.  How are you? Nice to meet you. I have a present for you." Then he said, "I go find Popo." Hmm, that didn't take long. We tried to get him to sit in bed with me, but I think it was a little too scary. I did get a hug and kiss though before we gave him his present from Olivia (a stuffed Mickey Mouse and a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse book). He immediately wanted to read the book with daddy (not mommy) so they sat on the couch and read it a few times. 
While they were reading Grammy got Olivia out of her bassinet so Nathan could see her better. He sat in Lolo's lap and she asked him if Olivia could come live with us at our house.  He hesitated but Grammy said, "Yes!" Because she said yes I guess he figured that was the correct response and when he was asked again he gave a tentative yes, but it wasn't very confident. We also let him hold baby sister, with Daddy and Grammy on standby centimeters away in case he suddenly wanted to divest himself of her.  That was about the extent of his interest in the proceedings, so we sent him home with all the grandparents.  He didn't have a problem leaving us because he knew his Popo was out in the waiting area...rotten child.  

Getting ready to go to school with Grammy.  He already has Olivia's present.

First look at baby sister.

This look says, "Um, I guess she can come live with us...if she has to."

We were finally moved to a different room at around 7:30 pm after a very nervous test run proved I could support myself (with assistance...barely) enough to get to and from the bathroom. Our first night at hospital Olivia was a dream. She slept soundly in her bassinet several long chunks of time so Jimmy got good sleep and I got rest (I was listening to every squeak she made). I felt pretty good headed into Friday, but I'm glad I didn't set my expectations too high because the second night the lady bug had to be held...all night long... This resulted in zombie mommy on our discharge day. 

On Friday we were overjoyed to have several visitors, including the people we love most in Katy.  Lela came in the morning, then we saw Aunt Misty and Mr. Matt (as Nathan calls them) and finally Papa Joe and Boo (Annie Jo) Simmons. I didn't get a picture of Annie Jo holding Olivia (drat!) but I'm sure there will be many more photo opportunities with them in the near future. Nathan also came back up for a quick visit and I got some proper snuggles in this time. 

Where's Nathan?

There he is!!! (Hospital rooms are boring)

We are singing Little Bunny Foo Foo here.

Miss Lela with Miss Olivia.  You'll also notice Olivia's future boyfriend if you look hard enough!

Aunt Misty

We came home Saturday afternoon around 3:30 pm or so and Nathan was very excited to see us.  He helped Daddy carry in Olivia's car seat then proved that he still loves his mama because he wanted me to do EVERYTHING with him! I focused on letting other people hold the princess so I could focus all on him and I'm glad I did.  Poor baby has had his world turned upside down. Brother is adjusting well overall but is acting loud and is a little more disobedient than usual. He wants mommy's attention all the time but doesn't act too jealous when I'm holding her. Well, apart from telling me, "Put her in that," (the bouncer) and, "Don't hold baby sister." But he also demonstrates that he is empathetic because when she cries he usually says, "She wants mommy." He tells Lolo, "mine" when she's holding Olivia and likes to give sister hugs and kisses. I think he'll enjoy being a big brother once we get into a routine that doesn't involve having so many extra people in the house. So far, so wonderful!

"Really? You're doing this to me?

So much trauma...I think I'll sleep on the way home.

Such a big helper already!

Another one!!!

My next post (probably) will include some of Olivia's early firsts...including her first at-home visits, bath and the first daddy diaper fail...stay tuned!