August 13, 2020

Birth Story: Happy Birthday Baby Olive

5063 S Cottonwood St, Murray, UT 84107, USA

Documenting as much as I could during my pregnancy journey was one of the main goals I had. Mainly due to the fact that this is my last pregnancy and I really wanted to take it all in (the growing belly, the heartbeat checks, the first kicks, and even the sickness). 

For this journal entry, I'm sharing baby Olives' birth process, but you can also check out my recap of the first trimester, second trimester, third trimester, and the fourth trimester(coming soon). 

Tuesday, August 11 - 9:30 am

Today I'm 39 weeks and my OBGYN has officially scheduled me for an induction. This visit was my last in-office visit and I couldn't help but feel this bittersweet feeling. This is the last time I'll go over this routine (check-in, give a pee sample, get my blood pressure, and weight) then chat with her about how close we are. Lastly, hear babies heartbeat and get checked for dilation. (She checked me today and I was close to a 3 yay) So we were able to get me scheduled for an induction at 39 +2 weeks. 

The hospital had called me the day before to tell me that I’m number one in line and they would call me the day of between 6:00 -11:00 am. The husband and I had a relaxing night of watching the frank Sinatra documentary. Enjoying a yummy dinner in our quiet little home. We finally were able to get some sleep at around 11pm. I think that both of us were too excited to sleep! 

Thursday, August 13 - 5:30 am 

Today our alarm woke us up around 5:30 am. I quickly got up and started to get ready for the day! Even though it is early, I'm feeling such peace and excitement! I get dressed and take one last belly picture for my weekly photo updates I'm working on. Looking at my big belly for the last time and rubbing my hands over gets me a little bit emotional. Once again, I can't believe that this is the last time I'll have a big belly. The last time I'll feel a little human inside me. (don't mind me casually bawling my eyes out).

It's around 6:00 am in the morning now and we still haven’t heard from the hospital so we both decided to take a nice little nap for a couple of hours. Daniel is sound asleep and I'm just looking around our bedroom thinking about how this is the last time it will just be the two of us in here. That baby bassinet will soon have our little human. Ahh! My sister just called around 7:30 am to see how I'm feeling. I just love her so much and the fact that we are the best of friends. I told her that we are waiting for the hospital to call us. I was finally able to get some sleep...

It's 8:30 am we finally get a call from the hospital and they asked me if I was ready to deliver this baby. I exclaimed YES!! At this point, I'm running around the house making sure everything is good to go. I quickly wake up Daniel and tell him it is time so off to the hospital we go. We get checked in and finished the registration process and were in our room by 9:40 am.



Our nurse came in and got all my IVs hooked up and went through all the routine questions to get us ready for birth. And if you read my pregnancy posts then you know that IVs were a huge part of my pregnancy and those little bags kept me going when I thought I was going to die of dehydration due to hyperemesis. The nurse asked us both about our birth plan and to be honest with you, our birth plan has always been pretty single: get baby out safely and try to avoid a C-section. Also: YES to an epidural and yes to skin to skin. 


10:40 am our OBGYN came in to get us pumped and told me that she was going to have the resident come in to break my water. The nurse then put me on Pitocin to get the contractions going. Right before they broke my water I asked for my epidural. See, with both Logan and Lia I knew that it would be best to get the epidural beforehand. So the anesthesiologist came in and got me all set up for the epidural. I squeezed Daniel's hand so hard because I was so afraid of the pain but this doctor was amazing! He did such a great job of keeping me calm by talking to me throughout the whole process. He had me lay on my side which was different from my last two pregnancies as they had me sit up. I honestly didn’t feel a thing besides the initial poke from the numbing injection. Daniel let me hold his hand and squeeze really tight! Once that was over the resident came in to break my water. I'm telling you, get the epidural! 


It’s now 11:20 am and I’m waiting for contractions to pick up and me to be dilated so that we can get our baby girl out! 


Around 12:20 pm our nurse comes in to see where I’m at. She checked me and I'm at 5 1/2. She told me this is great progress and that she would be right back since I'm dialing so quickly.  I tried to sleep but I couldn’t help but look over at Daniel, the man of my dreams. Just sitting on that uncomfortable couch and watching me and being there for me every step of the way. I started to get teary eyes because I’m so damn lucky! (honestly bawling right now just thinking back at all of the things we have gone through these last few months: him being a tech school and not sure he would make it for the birth, me being so sick and him being there and checking on me as much as he could all the way from Texas. Then, to him making me delicious meals when nothing sounds good).


It's 1:40 pm the nurse comes back and this time I’m dilated to a 7 almost 8. She gets really excited and tells our OBGYN that I’m doing so great on my progress and that soon I should be ready to push! 


So around 2:40 almost 3pm, I start feeling sick due to fact that I had yet to eat anything since 7:00 am, and with gestational diabetes, I’ve been so used to eating every 2 hours. I let her know and she gets me some more IV and Zofran. I start to feel better as I take some sips of water. 


At 3:00 pm my OBGYN walks in and says let’s get this baby out! Daniel and I both look at each other and get really excited. I suddenly have all these feelings going through my mind from the last 9 months and can’t believe that it is finally time to meet our little princess! I didn’t care that I have been so sick and had all these issues through this pregnancy because I already knew that she was going to be worth it when I get to see her little face. 


At this point, I’m crowning and get ready to push. My nurse is holding my leg on one side and Daniel is holding the other leg. I told him to look the other way because I know how he doesn’t feel good when looking at blood and such or me in pain. Plus I didn’t really want him to look down there anyway. Haha, so we start the count down to 10. I suddenly remember how I need to push ( It has been 7 years since my last baby) so I start pushing but I start getting really nauseous due to hunger and not having any energy. Right as I turn over to tell the nurse I throw up. It’s okay though, soon after I feel this great energy coming over me and I'm ready to push! So we do the count down two more times and baby girl is out. 


As they lay her on my chest she lets out the sweetest cry and I feel this relief over me. All that anticipation, all the hard work leading up to this moment, and it's finally here. We did it! She is perfect! Baby Olive was born at 3:20 and weighed 6 pounds 10 oz. Just a little bit over her sister but around the same weight! I forget how tiny they are. Feeling her little heartbeat over my chest as she lays there brings all the emotions out once again. Daniel cut her cord with such pride! 


My OBGYN then tells me I did great and no stitches needed or tearing. She gets the placenta out and then goes off to help another momma give birth. The nurse makes sure I'm comfortable and leaves the room to let Daniel and I enjoy skin to skin for the next hour. We both were smiling so big. I enjoyed having her just lay on me where once again I felt her little heartbeat. It's honestly the best feeling in the World! The human body is amazing you guys! 


4 ish pm After being overcome with emotions, taking lots of pictures of baby, it was time to get to our new room. They wheeled us over and we got to get situated while they checked her vitals for us. The next 24 hours were spent at the hospital bonding with our baby girl and thanking our lucky stars for this precious little gift! 



Daniel: Thank you for being the amazing life companion that you are! I can't imagine life without you in it. We make the best team and I appreciate every little thing you do for me and our little family. Olive is so lucky to have a daddy that will be there and shower her with love and affection for many years to come. So hashtag blessed! 


love, 




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