I know its a little late *11 weeks late!*, but I thought I’d write about how I came into the world. I needed help from mummy because I dont remember it all. So, she’s going to write all about the day I was born!
Sunday, December 7th, I woke up at about 9:30am to a painful contraction. Being as I never had any contractions up until this point, I didnt really know what was going on. I called Russ and told him I was having mild contractions every once in awhile. He was at Magee visiting a friend who had her baby on the 5th. When he got home, I was showered and ready to go walking. They said to walk a lot to try and get your contractions moving. We went to Giant Eagle and then to Target. I was sitting in the car and I was getting them every 10 minutes or so. My mom was scheduled to land in Pittsburgh at noon. I was planning on going out to the airport to meet her, but I was afraid something would happen and I’d have to go to the hospital. So, I went home and relaxed.
My mom was dropped off at our place around 1-2pm. I told her I thought I may be in early labor and she rubbed my belly and told OK that its time to come out now because Gramma is here. The day and evening went on without too much excitement. My contractions were coming every 5-10 mins or so but they werent painful. Russ called my doctor and she said I should come into triage to get checked out and see where I was. We packed everything into the car, including my mom, and headed to Magee. It was around 8:30 or so when we got there. I was put into a room and hooked up to moniters. You could see that I was infact having contractions. The doctor came in and checked me and I was 2cm dilated and 80% effaced. (I was 8 days overdue at this point and I was 1cm dilated at the doctors on Friday) He said he’d come back to tell me whether my doctor was going to admit me or send me home. He came back and told me to go home. I started to cry because I was so tired of being pregnant and I just wanted SOMETHING to happen. So, we pack back into the car and get home around 10. My mom told me to take a shower and get some sleep. While I was in the shower, my contractions got a little worse. I got into bed and I got HIT with the painful contractions. They were still irregular and I was NOT getting sent back home so I just stuck it out at home until I knew it was time to go.
I couldnt get comfortable in bed, so I propped myself on the wall and was dosing off between contractions. I kept an eye on the clock, and they were coming every 4 minutes or so. At about 4:30am, I told Russ it was time to go to the hospital. I was in a lot of pain and they were coming back to back, and I’d get a break for about 5 mins, then it would cycle again. Russ got everything packed into the car, and my mom helped me get dressed because it was just too hard for me to do.
I got in the car and we were off to the hospital AGAIN. I turned the radio off and Russ didnt say anything the whole time. I was just trying to picture happy things to get me through the pain. We got to the hospital around 5am. I was checked in and put on monitors again. A male doctor came and checked me. I screamed because it hurt so bad. I was 5cm and 100% effaced. I was being admitted! I started bleeding and got scared and made Russ get the nurse. She said it was normal and it was time to have a baby! I got wheeled to my Labor and Delivery room at about 5:45am. Nurses were coming in and out having me sign this and finger print that. One of them asked “Do you want an epidural now?” I said “YES!!!!” As I was waiting for the doctor to come do my epidural, I got an IV placed and started the antiboitics started since I was positive for a bacteria that could have harmed Olivia. I got my epidural at 6am. It was a peice of cake and I even did it through a contraction. It was great except for it made me shake pretty bad. Russ said I looked like a wet dog shaking. At about 9:30, my doctor came in and told me that she’d check me and then at about 11 she’d break my water. While she was standing there filling out paperwork, I felt a ‘pop’ and I said “I think my water just broke.” She checked and sure enough it did! She said I was 8 cms dilated.
I had some visitors from then until about 11am. Everytime I would get a contraction I felt a lot of pressure. Then it was just contant pressure. I told my nurse and she said she’d get the doctor. She came in and checked me and I was fully dilated and ready to push. She said it could take up to 3 hours to push and I was not out of the c-section woods yet. So, my nurses and Russ helped me hold my legs and I started pushing at about 11:30am. Price is Right was on in the background. At about 12:35, my nurses told me to stop pushing and called the doctor. It seemed like FOREVER that she got there. I pushed for 2 contractions and Olivia was born at 12:42pm. She was plopped onto my belly and I asked if she was still a girl. They wiped her off and took her to the little baby warmer to get get cleaned off and weighed.
After about 30 mins of my doctor stitching me and nurses getting things cleaned up, I finally held my little girl for the 1st time. I couldnt believe that this little person grew inside of me and was now in my arms. 
