[from the email i sent to my coworkers to let them know Olivia was here]
I was in the office yesterday until right before noon. I had had an appointment the day before (Thursday) that may have gotten things started, but I was very doubtful, as I had only been 1cm and 50% effaced then. I woke up in the morning thinking that I was just in the early stages of labor and that I could go about my usual day. So, I was in the office tying up loose ends, having random contractions that were painful, but I really thought nothing of it. Once I got home and got Trevor from summer camp at the Y (about 12:30) I had planned on remaking the stripped beds, getting lunch, vacuuming the pool and cleaning out my car just in case she arrived later on this weekend. About 1245, it was as if a switch was flipped, so mid-phone call with my father I told him that he needed to leave his office in DC and head to Lake Ridge to get my mom and head down here (still thinking that they'd be here for the delivery). I called my sister Andrea to come and just hang out with me and help me labor through everything. Once she arrived things had taken another turn, I had the constant urge to go to the restroom (unsuccessfully) so we were actually about to get me in the shower or pool to try and relive some tension from it all. It was then that we realized that I was bleeding and that we needed to change our game plan and head to the hospital immediately. Trevor went to my sister Jenn's house and we called our third sister, Krissy on the call list to meet us at the hospital. The ride to the hospital was pretty rough, contractions were 2-3 minutes apart and all in my back. Once we arrived at the hospital about 1:30 we were rushed to a L&D triage room to be checked, where we were informed that all the nurse could feel was my waters bulging and that she needed to get an attending. The attending checked and told me that I was 9 1/2 cm dilated. MY MIND WAS BLOWN! I have no idea how we got there, or that we were there at all. Initially I was told there would be no time for an epidural or spinal catheter and because I was so advanced that IV meds to get the edge off were out. I was blessed (and I am convinced that God set her as my nurse for a reason) that my nurse Jamie realized that while I could probably handle it physically, that I was not mentally or emotionally prepared at the time for all that was going on. The rushed me into the last available l&d room on the deck (Shane and I really need to stop conceiving children when carrier strike groups come home from deployment) and the next thing I knew, Jamie was in my face telling me that I just needed to hold on for a little while longer and that she had gotten the anesthesiologist to come right away and that he would try to do a spinal shot which would get me about an hour and a half of relief to hopefully deliver the baby. That was successful, although having those contractions while trying not to move, curled up on my side while they give a shot in your spine is quite the challenge! Once comfortable, we were able to get to the work of pushing, doing so for about half an hour. Shane was able to call from the ship and was on the phone for the delivery and to hear her first cry. Olivia was born very quickly (10 minutes to spare on the spinal shot clock) and has been doing wonderfully ever since.
Olivia was born at 7 pounds 7 ounces and 20 inches long at 4:08pm. She had a head full of her Daddy's dark hair and looks just like her big brother Trevor [their first meeting will come in a later post]. Just like with Trevor, as soon as she was placed in my arms I fell in complete and total love with her. Of course, I had loved her from the moment I knew she was on her way, but there is something about that moment that you first look into the eyes of your newborn child and hear their tiny cry that that love becomes more real than you ever could have imagined.
There are three people who I couldn't have made it through the day without...my sisters Andrea, Krissy and Jenn. Andrea and Krissy coached and supported me through my labor (do we even call it that when it lasts so short?) and delivery. While no one could have ever replaced Shane as my ideal labor coach, these two women were there to help me find the stregnth that I didn't think I had to do this without him and bring our beautiful daughter into the world. Jenn (and her husband Matt) took Trevor in for the day while we raced to the hospital in a whirlwind. I can't thank her enough for providing the consistency and normalcy that Trevor so needed on a day that his little world would be changed forever--and for Matt taking over so Jenn could race up to the hospital to be with us as soon as she could!
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