The Birth of Olivia Rose (overdue)

on the 11th of november, my husband and i went to my in laws house.. DH enjoys an occasional beer with his pop. Well before opening a bottle he says, "we're not going to have a baby tonight are we?" i said "nope, drink your heart out"… well we got home and got to bed fairly early. I was determined to go for a walk the next day as per doctors orders as i was supposed to be getting induced on tuesday. Well 1 am rolls around, (it is now the 12th)… and as usual at this hour, i feel like i need to get up to go pee. The second i stand up, i have an uncontrollable gush of fluid come out. I immediately ran to the bathroom and felt slightly embarrassed as i thought to myself that holy crap i've gotten so huge that i cannot even control my own bladder. so i sat on the toilet for a good 10 minutes and couldnt figure out what the heck was going on… finally, when i took off my pj bottoms that i had soaked through walking to the bathroom, it wasnt urine colored or smell, it was clear and mucusy and that is when it hit me like a ton of bricks. I came back to the bedroom and even debated waking DH as i know he didnt get much shut eye after the beers and had a pretty hectic work week. So i sat there another 5 minutes and when the fluid kept gushing out, i knew this was it. It was as if it were out of the movies, the "typical" wake and shake and said "honey, i think my water just broke". He rolled out of bed as i got myself together. We called our Dr and proceeded to grab our hospital bags, laptop and head to the hospital. We got to L&D triage around 1:40am. i was checked internally, went over medical history, the usual. It was now about 2:30 am. At this point i was 3cm and about 50% effaced. They called my Dr to tell him this is the real deal and to head in. From triage we were moved into our own labor suite.. I kind of wish i took pictures of it. It was almost hotel like. Mahogany wood every where, a beautiful rocking chair and a recliner for the daddy to rest on. It was bigger than any hospital room i've ever seen honestly. The baby warmer/clean up station was right there, it was baby ready. It was perfect. My contractions started picking up from about 10 minutes apart to at this point (4 am?) 5 minutes apart. I was promised that i'd get an anesthesiologist to come in and give me an epidural before they put me on pitocin because apparently my progress was super super super slow. Well they flaked and gave me pitocin before the epidural and assured me the Dr would be in shortly to give me the epi. TWO HOURS went by before i got so intolerant of the contractions that i blew my roof and had my husband bug the nurses every 10 minutes until the freaking epi came.  i was not at all prepared for the pain of the epi. I thank goodness i didnt see what was happening to me back there because my husband bless his heart looked terrified. I screamed and cried and just couldnt deal with it. The Epidural REALLY HURT! 10 minutes later (or what seemed like an eternity), it was finally in, i couldnt feel the contractions and i was a happy camper! Things seemed to be progressing well up until I hit 8 cm. I was at 8 cm for a few hours and my doctor started to worry a bit so I had an internal monitor set up. About 30-40 minutes later, it was clear the contractions were picking up and my doctor was happy. He checked me again and I was almost there! He gave me another 20 minutes and said I should get ready because we should be ready to push by then. 10:30 am rolls around, doctor checks me, and im at 10 cm and ready to go. He explained how to push properly and that he estimates we’d be pushing for about 2 hours. After the first several pushes, she seemed to be lowering quite nicely. As her head was crowning, the pressure and pain I felt, even with the epi was definitely unlike anything I’ve ever felt before in my life…. My doctor was an amazing coach. I was so darn exhausted and in pain and out of breath at this point that i started saying that i couldnt do this anymore, i was tired...  I had my dr literally yelling at me to SHUT THE **** UP, DON’T TALK, JUST PUSH!!!! Finally after exactly 33 minutes of pushing, my baby girl was born! A perfect head of hair, 7 lbs 10 oz and 18 1/2 inches long!!!!! PERFECTION!!!!!!!! She ended up tearing me a tiny bit and only got about 10 stitches. It was the most amazing, most surreal experience of my life. I never imagined I’d be able to do this. No matter how many books ive read, tv shows ive watched and instructional videos ive seen, nothing in the world could’ve prepared me for this labor experience. I am so thankful I didn’t get induced and that she came on her own terms at exactly 39 weeks! I have never been more in love in my life. She is absolutely perfect…

39 week update

quick update.... Had my (almost) 39 week appt today.. I'm officially 39 weeks this saturday! I asked my Dr when is the earliest we can get this baby out. He said that 39 weeks is the earliest.. i reminded him that saturday is the day! He said saturday is not too convenient for him... so this is our plan. He said that we should come back on tuesday and he will do an internal and check how my cervix is.. if it is already effaced, then we can go ahead and induce. if it's hard as a rock, he'll send us home. He said to have sex and do lots of walking to get the cervix to ripen. I am crossing my fingers that when we go back Tuesday he'll give us the green light to induce. I was also informed that he is leaving on vacation the 23rd of november, which sucks because my official due date is the 19th and if nothing is progressing by tuesday, we'd be screwed and i'd have to deliver with his second in command, which i so do not want to do. Plus, if i am induced he said he will make sure i get my epi first, then my pitocin and then he'll break my water and promised a fairly easier labor then if i were to go on my own. This way i can be more relaxed. So please cross your fingers for me as i want to meet my daughter in 4/5 days! EEK! I am so darn excited at the possibility of tuesday/wednesday delivery! omg! :) send me some good ju ju!!

38 week appt.

so i am back from my 38 week appt. Liv is measuring beautifully. She is 7lbs give or take 10%. She has a full head of hair that was very clear on the ultrasound! mad me giggle... hehe.. on another note, they found some protein in my urine and my BP was slightly elevated. Dr told me to check my BP tomorrow. If its 140/90 or over, i call him and we go to the hospital to induce. he also gave a container for collecting urine throughout the day friday. I would have to come in saturday morning to drop it off, have a blood draw and check BP.. they'd get results back that afternoon, if he sees signs of Pre-Eclampsia, then we head to hospital this weekend to induce. If everything will look normal, we are waiting it out. I am a little excited at the possibility of meeting my little girl this weekend!!!! its scary but exciting!! obviously the circumstances wouldnt be the greatest but hey, I get to meet my baby girl. (maybe)... thats all for now folks :)

37 week appt.

today i had another NST done.. Olivia was super reactive... fluid levels are normal and no contractions. Dr says a few more weeks to go. the pelvic pain has increased tremendously! there unfortunately is nothing i can do about them, doctor assures me it will ease up once she is born. We were looking at all the baby pictures hanging in his office today, and the number of babies he has delivered is insane... he told us to find a place on his wall where we will place our picture! hehe... its so surreal that we are so so so close to holding our little girl. i am so ready and anxious!! back next week for more updates!

36 week appt

had my 36 week appointment today. Liv is measuring right on schedule and weighing in at 5 lbs 13 oz. Should be 6 lbs by the weekend! hehe... she is head down, spine is on the left side of my belly and her butt is above my naval with her legs and footsies on the right. the little bump that protrudes occasionally is her awesome little baby butt! i had my NST today, and Liv passed with flying colors. Doctor says there are no signs of labor any where close. So olivia will keep baking for a while longer. My amniotic fluid levels are fine but on the low side so i was advised to drink more fluids. We had an ultrasound as well to measure baby and everything looks great and on target and is progressing the way it should be. My mom swears that even her ultrasound looks like me, which makes me very happy. several weeks to go. i am getting so anxious to hold my little baby butt !!!

35 week appointment update

Today i had my (almost) 35 week appointment. I am actually 34 weeks and 5 days along, but am measuring at 36 weeks. (big baby!) I absolutely love my Dr. He is super smart and honest and witty and i am so grateful he'll be there with me through delivery.

I had my GBS test today (group B strep) where i had internal swabs done which was painless and quick. As of now, i have weekly appointments where i will have the NST done. (Non stress test) where the baby, contractions and myself will be monitored.  this will be done at every appointment and will check for baby's well being as well as her position, heart rate etc.. He said that he won't let me go over 41 weeks. but will try not to induce depending on how my cervix will be. He also said that he doesn't do episiotomies unless absolutely necessary (which made me feel a million times better!!!!!!!!) because i would prefer not to get one but he said he is very careful and neat and will be gentle with me.

I cannot believe this is almost over and i can potentially be holding my daughter in 2 short weeks! EEK!

I am ready to meet her, to hold her, smell her, touch her, kiss her..

push presents...

what a brilliant concept for the mom to be... i remember when my sister in law gave birth to my niece, the family got together and bought her a beautiful tennis bracelet. the idea of something similar was brought up to me and i quickly turned it down. how much jewelry does a girl need? i own quite a bit of it and since i rarely change it up there is just no point in wasting the money towards something like that.. i had something a little better in mind. i've always wanted a macbook pro. well, that is exactly what i received. granted i didn't push anything or anyone out yet, this little puppy is coming with me to the hospital for when i am in labor.  i am now a proud owner of a macbook... where has this been all of my life???