We had been going for weekly appointments since I was put on bed rest. The week before Olivia was born my doctor (Dr. Manning) said that my blood pressure was borderline for being high. She said she wasn't concerned yet but for us to check it throughout the week and if it got high to call and let her know. We didn't think too much of this because the same thing happened the week before and she sent us to Labor & Delivery (L&D) to be checked out. They hooked me up to the fetal monitor and blood pressure machine, took blood and urine samples and after a couple of hours sent us on our way and said I was fine. The rest of the week I felt fine. Our moms were here and we were getting last minute things done before Olivia arrived. On Tuesday morning, August 13th I woke up feeling a little dizzy and had a little headache. I just felt a little off. We took Bella to the vet and on the way home decided to stop by the grocery store so I could check my blood pressure in the pharmacy. It was high. Higher than it should be and high enough for me to call Dr. Manning. We decided to go to CVS to check it just in case the machine at the grocery store was wrong. It wasn't. It was even higher at CVS. I called the doctor and she said for us to go to Labor & Delivery to get checked. Again, we didn't think much of this because we did the same thing the week before. We came home, told our moms we were going to L&D and would be home in a couple of hours. After being at the hospital for two hours and being monitored, our nurse walked in and said,"Well, we are going to have a baby today!" I couldn't believe it and to be honest, I kind of panicked! I looked at Grant and he was in as much shock as I was. She took us to the room where Olivia would be born and got us admitted and all checked in. We called our moms to let them know. We were told that Dr. Manning would be by later that afternoon to see if I was dilated and if not she would start the balloon catheter overnight and begin pitocin the next morning. Our moms came to the hospital and brought our things and hung out with us for a while. Dr. Manning came by around 4:00 and said that I was between 3-4 cm dilated so she wouldn't need to do the cath. Thank goodness! She told me to get some rest and she would see me in the morning to break my water and start pitocin. I was so thankful that she was on call that day. The practice has 7 doctors so we were hoping and praying that Dr. Manning would be able to deliver Olivia. Our moms left early that evening and Grant and I just hung out, ate some dinner and relaxed as much as we could knowing that in less that 24 hours our daughter would be here. I didn't sleep much that night. I was nervous, anxious, excited and so ready to get things going. I was mostly nervous because I could not have an epidural due to my back surgery. The plan was to manage my pain with IV pain medication. Around 6 am, our nurse came in and started getting things ready. We got up and I took a shower because I didn't know when I would have another chance to do so. Around 7:30, they started the pitocin drip and around 7:45 Dr. Manning came in and broke my water. That was strange. She told me to try and relax and she would see me later to deliver Olivia! For about 30 minutes things were good. Our moms arrived at the hospital and I was comfortable. At about 8:15 I started feeling more pain and the contractions were getting stronger and closer. I asked for some pain medicine at that point. I had one injection of Stadol. It was the only pain medicine I received. And it did nothing. NOTHING! By 8:30 I was having incredible pain and couldn't talk through my contractions at all. The pain was unbearable. Our moms left the room and went to the waiting room. As best I can remember, my contractions lasted about a minute or a little longer each and were getting closer together. I tried standing up, lying on my side, sitting up and nothing helped. Grant was so great during this time. He didn't say much but he was being so supportive and I felt so much comfort having him right there. By this point I started getting worried because I didn't think there was any way that I should be having that much pain and pressure after only being on pitocin for an hour. The nurse came in and I asked her to please check me because something was wrong and I was in severe pain with my contractions. Her response?? "It's going to get a lot worse but I will check you in a few minutes." Seriously??? After she did some things on the computer she finally came to check me. She said I was an 8.5 and had a look of shock on her face. Yes. I went from a 3-4 to an 8.5 in a little over an hour. She quickly left the room to find Dr. Manning because Olivia was coming and she was coming fast. Dr. Manning was headed into another delivery but came to us first. Because they didn't expect me to go that fast nothing had ben set up. The nurse and Dr. Manning were opening supplies and getting things ready as quickly as they could. By this point I felt like I had to push. Right then. Dr. Manning told me to hang on and they were working as quickly as they could. For anyone who has ever had a baby, you know when you feel the urge to push there is no hanging on! Finally, I started pushing. I will spare all of the details on the blog because I know I will never forget them, but lets just say I felt everything. Keep in mind that I had only had one dose of pain meds an hour earlier and because she was coming, they couldn't give me more. I think I pushed for 3 sets of 3 pushes and Olivia was here. It was so surreal. Dr. Manning held her up for us to see her quickly, Grant cut the cord and they took her over to check her out and weigh her. The first thing I said was "Is she ok?" And she was. Perfect. 8 lbs 1 oz 19 inches. At one point while I was pushing, Dr. Manning pressed down on the fetal monitor and said "We need to get this baby out now." I was so scared that something was wrong. I think that she couldn't hear her heartbeat so she needed to get her out. Of course everything was fine. From the time I was started on pitocin to the time Olivia was born was just over 2 hours. Nobody could believe it! I was so thankful it happened so quickly. Grant stood with her while she had her bath. I could see her across the room and heard her cry. I wanted to hold her so badly and see what she looked like! Finally, Grant brought her to me. I was immediately in love. She was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen in my life! She was calm and so peaceful. After about an hour, they took us to our post pardum room. Our moms finally got to come in and meet her. My sister and Dad were on a plane trying to make it before she was born but because she decided to come so quickly, they got there shortly after. It was so wonderful to have our family there with us and to meet Olivia. After being there for a while, they went home because we were exhausted. We spent the evening just taking it all in. She was perfect in every way. I never went to sleep that night because I held her and stared at her. I simply could not believe she was mine. I had waited for her for so long and she was finally here. Here are a few pictures...
Our last picture as a family of two!!
Family of three!
We feel so incredibly blessed and are thanking God for this precious miracle. We are so in love and and can hardly remember what life was like without her.
