Happy Father's Day!

Here are a couple more pictures of Olivia.

Happy Father's Day - Olivia got here just in time!

Welcome Olivia!

Olivia has arrived and she is BEAUTIFUL! She arrived yesterday and here's the stats:

Date: June 14, 2008

Time: 12:21 pm

Weight: 7 lbs 8 oz

Length: 19"

Ok, so here is the run-down of the big day. Grant and I were playing Yahtzee late Friday night and I was feeling a little crampy. I went to the bathroom around 12:25 and noticed that I was "leaking" . . . oh-my-god "I think my water broke!" It wasn't one of the "whoosh" type breaks, but it definitely broke and was a trickle - pretty constant. Then, right away I started having pretty bad contractions. So we called the doctor's office and they paged the doc on-call and when she called us back - she said to head to the hospital.

So we finished packing pretty quickly and headed to the hospital. In the car we timed the contractions and they were only about 3 1/2 minutes - and they were strong! Wow, this is moving fast!

We got to the hospital around 1:30. We got into our room and checked in pretty quick. They first checked me at around 1:45 and I was 3 cm. I had my IV by 2:15 and my *1st* epidural by 2:30. Unfortunately, it didn't work for me. It only numbed my left leg, not my abdomen or my right side AT ALL. It felt like my right hip was going to explode! So, they tried injecting extra medicine into my epidural twice to try to boost the pain meds - but again, it didn't touch my right side at all. By 3:45 am I was 5 cm along and in much pain!

And by the way, my contractions were coming one right after the other! No breaks! Grant said the monitor looked like a heartbeat! The doctor even put an internal monitor on me and an internal head monitor on Olivia to make sure she was tolerating the rapid contractions and that nothing was wrong since they were coming so fast and so furious! So this was appearing to be an even rougher experience than I had anticipated!

So, they called the anesthesiologist back and he took out my epidural and re-did it for me to try to get it to work better. This would be epidural #2. Shortly after this, at around 5:00 am I was 6 cm. That's when we decided it was time to call the parents and tell them to hit the road! (we didn't want to wake them up in the middle of the night and have them frantically driving through the night!). So, everyone was on their way.

Unfortunately, my *2nd* epidural also didn't work. Same as the first - it didn't touch my right side and I was in a ton of pain! I think it was worse than not having one because all the pain became focused on just my right side. They tried to give me extra medicine again and it didn't work - again! Only to make me very nauseous (like the others did).

At 7:45 am I was 8 1/2 cm. By this time, I was hanging in there without any pain relief and about to climb the walls. This time, a new anesthesiologist had started his shift and he came to try a *3rd* epidural. He tried inserting it a bit differently and we all had our fingers crossed that this would work! They also had me lay on my right side so that gravity would help it get to my right side. It worked! Thank heavens!

I was happy and smiling by 8:10 or so and felt like a new woman! This was heaven!

Then all the parents showed up and we were able to enjoy their company for a little bit. At just before 10:00 they thought I might be ready to start pushing soon so we had them all go down to the waiting room. So They checked me again and I was just about 10 cm, but had one little piece of cervix that was in the way (on the right side). So they had me roll over onto my left side to try to get Olivia to help push up under it to get it to open up right.

The only problem with this was that once I rolled onto my left side to get my cervix to dilate fully, my epidural stopped working on my right side! Ugh, not this again! So, I was back to square one again! They tried once more to boost my pain meds - to no avail! So I had to just deal with the pain the rest of the way!

At around 11:20 they told me I could start pushing! Yeah, let's get this show on the road! So, fortunately, the epidural did at least help with this part! It was much better to push then to deal with the contractions. I pushed for a little bit, then once I figured out how to push correctly, I had her crowning in no time. Time to go get the doctor. He showed up and Olivia was born at 12:21 pm.

Wow, what a long 12 hours! But it was all worth it. She is here and she is perfect! Here are some of her pictures from shortly after she arrived:

Happy Father's day, Daddy!

Nursery Pictures

Ok, and here are the long awaited pictures of the finished nursery. I think it came out really great and cannot wait to see how Olivia likes it! :)

Notice the famous glider is in place and ready to go!

And here are some closer looks at some of the details:

You know I had to throw in a frog somewhere! (Thanks Becca & Chad)

Here's the lamb pictures I painted to match the quilt and the wonderful drawing of Paw-Paw that's Grant's cousin made.

39 Week Belly Shots

Hello again, everyone! Ok, so here are my 39 week belly shots that we took last night. I know you probably can't tell by the pictures, but I'm pretty sure that I've finally dropped! Yeah! Now we wait . . . some more! :)

Enjoy!

39 Week Doctor Appt.

Ok, so I had my doctor's appt this morning and not a whole lot has changed. I am now 1 cm dialiated, but otherwise the same. They almost pulled me out of work because my blood pressure was too high when I first got there, but then they re-checked it before I left and it had dropped *just* enough to let me go back to work. (I had a big work meeting this afternoon!).

Anyway, so other than having to watch for high blood pressure symptoms and trying to "encourage" Olivia's arrival a bit sooner rather than later - not a whole lot going on here. I will eventually get those nursery pics up soon. (I'm aiming for sometime tomorrow). Maybe she'll be here in time for Grant to celebrate Father's Day with her. Keep your fingers crossed!

I'll post some 39 week belly pics later on tonight or tomorrow for your viewing pleasure (or to laugh at me! ha ha). Until then, take care and stay cool!

Way too hot!

Ok, so it has been at least 100°C the last several days . . . and let me tell you - THAT'S HOT!!! Especially when your 9+ months prego and ready to pop! You just walk outside and the heat hits you like a wall - even when there is a breeze, it's not refreshing - it's hot (like a blow dryer on you!) Ugh! I could REALLY do without this heat! Unfortunately there's no end in sight! I guess I'll just have to get her out of my body to feel better! :)

Ok, so Alan and Susan brought the glider and pack-n-play up to us yesterday. The glider matches the room perfectly and has to be THE most comfortable chair I have ever sat in! It is awesome. I'll post some pics of the finished nursery sometime this week so you all can see it. I have worked very hard on it and I think it has come out really nice. Now Olivia just needs to come to use it!

On that subject, still no Olivia. I am trying everything I can to get her out of my body. I've been trying a bunch of old wives tales to progress this labor thing along - no go so far! I did have some pretty good contractions on Saturday afternoon for about 1 1/2 hours then again a little later that night - but it didn't amount to anything! Grant and I have been walking late at night (once it cools a little) - but that's not been working either. I have tried to eat some Gorgonzola cheese (a trick that worked for my neighbor) - didn't work for me. Today I have been drinking some Raspberry Tea - we'll see if that works! I would LOVE for her to go ahead and come - and I know all the grandparents would love to meet her, as well!

Well, I'll keep you posted. Nothing else new going on here. I'll get some pics of the nursery up soon. I have my next doctor's appt. on Thursday - keep your fingers crossed for me to have progressed some by then. I'll let you know!

Until then, take care - I'll be hibernating in the air conditioning!

38 Week Belly Shots

Hello again! Here are my *lovely* 38-week belly pics. As you can see, I am still growing and am ready to pop! Hopefully it won't be much longer! Enjoy!