Olive's Birth Story

I never wrote down any details of Alta or Ellie's births and I always wish I had. But I also don't want to get too detailed for the sake of anyone interested in reading...so here is the slightly edited (but still really long) version of Olive's birth. Get ready for a marathon post.

The story actually starts weeks before Olive was born. I had so many contractions throughout my entire pregnancy so I wasn't surprised to find out I was dilated to almost a 3 at the beginning of January. I also "stopped growing" at around 34 weeks; every time my midwife measured my belly it hadn't grown at all. I wasn't concerned because this was what had happened with Ellie, but she still had me get an ultrasound. The baby was measuring very small so everyone started worrying that she had growth problems. It was all sounding way too familiar!

A few days past my due date (I've never gone overdue!) I was dilated to a 5 with tons of contractions but still no real labor. My midwife wasn't comfortable letting me go much longer because of the growth issue and wanted to induce me. I was pretty opposed to the idea so I told her I wanted to wait as long as possible. It was a Thursday, and we agreed to induce on Monday. I would be 41 weeks by then and assumed I wouldn't go that long anyway. The only condition was that I come in every day for a non-stress test to make sure the baby was fine.

When I went into the hospital on Saturday for my non-stress test I was dilated to a 6 with even more contractions. I was sure I would go into labor that night, but I also suddenly felt like if I didn't, I should get induced. My midwife was fantastic and had no problem coming in on a Sunday so we planned on that. We got the girls all ready and Dan's dad came early Sunday morning and picked them up while Dan and I headed to the hospital.

The best thing about going in on a Sunday is that there was nobody there (plus the hospital is new anyway and not very busy) and I had so many nurses excited to help me out! They checked me when I got there and I was at a 7, but still wasn't having strong consistent contractions. The nurses asked a few times if I was planning on getting an epidural and I wasn't sure. I've always wanted to go without (I have no idea why...) but at the same time I'm terrified of pain. Typical Shalane indecision!

My midwife got there and started me on pitocin. My nurse increased the dose every half-hour or so and Dan and I did laps around the unit. Everyone thought things would get started really quickly since I was already so far along, but after a few hours I was getting impatient! My contractions were definitely stronger but when I was checked, I was only at an 8. My midwife suggested we break my water but warned me that it would probably get things going really fast. Earlier she had mentioned that if I wanted an epidural, I should get it before my water broke. At this point I was still undecided, and my midwife and nurse both encouraged me to try without. They were so supportive and willing to help with the pain. Even Dan, who has always been a fan of me getting an epidural, said I should just break my water and get it over with. I walked a few more laps and the contractions started to get really painful and I decided I wanted to be done! My midwife broke my water - which was in itself a horrible experience. Most of my fluid was above the baby so she had a really hard time breaking the bag.

As she was trying to break my water, she mentioned the baby's head was turned slightly the wrong way. As soon as my water broke, baby girl dropped into the right position and within minutes (maybe less), things got absolutely crazy. I have no concept of how much time passed or what was really happening, it was all pretty much a blur of pain! The rest of the story all happened probably within 15 minutes or so. My contractions got very, very intense with hardly a break between them. I quickly decided I did not want to deal with this pain! I said I needed an epidural right away. I was dilated to an 8 1/2 and my midwife called for one but told me there was a good chance it wouldn't have time to work all the way. I didn't care at that point!

The anesthesiologist came in and I sat in the bed while he started getting the needle in. I remember with Alta and Ellie I really didn't like the numbing shot they give you first, but this time I didn't even notice. I couldn't concentrate on anything but somehow getting through each contraction.  The doctor had the needle inserted and was taping everything up when I realized I had been pushing with the past few contractions. I didn't even have the clearness of mind to say anything, and as my nurse told me to lie down (the epidural medicine hadn't been started yet), she yelled "oh...that's the baby's head!". No one was prepared and it was complete chaos. My nurse quickly pushed the code blue (or some color, I don't know what they mean) button to get all the other nurses in, and my midwife was yelling for someone to get her other glove on. All the sterilized tools were still on the other side of the room. Dan was holding one leg and my midwife enlisted the closest person available to hold my other - the anesthesiologist. And suddenly baby girl was out! They put her on my belly and I was almost shocked to see her there. I forgot that I was getting a baby out of this ordeal! It was the absolute biggest relief of my life to be done.

I was surprised when they told me she weighed 8 lbs. 3 oz (and 21 inches long); she looked so tiny! My midwife and all the nurses were pretty surprised too. So much for that Intrauterine Growth Restriction diagnosis! Baby girl hadn't cried yet and the nurses had a hard time getting her to. She was just like Alta: wide-eyed and staring at everything around her, perfectly calm.

When I finally looked up at everyone around me, I noticed there was blood everywhere - on my midwife's face, on all the nurses, on the anesthesiologist, even splattered on Dan's shirt. They explained that when her head came out the cord was draped around her head and as my midwife was pulling it out of the way it snapped, spraying blood everywhere. Dan told me later that it looked like a fire hose (and also a scene for a horror movie). No one had ever seen that happen before. As the anesthesiologist was leaving, he commented that he "usually wasn't around for this part". He definitely got more than he bargained for!

And 15 minutes after she was born, my epidural kicked in.

What a surreal, crazy, intense experience! It was hard and horrible and more pain that I could ever imagine, and yet I loved every minute of it.

Content as can be. Notice her crazy cord stump!

Finally getting a reaction out of her

We held her for a few minutes before deciding that Olive was definitely her name.

 Alta and Ellie came with Grandma and Grandpa as soon as they could!

 Family of five!

I love Ellie in the background:

 My mom came the next day to meet her 18th grandchild:

And Alta loved holding her from the start!

Dan took this picture after her first bath and it's one of my favorites:

We had a fabulous stay at the hospital (for real, the nurses were fantastic) and then took baby Olive home:

We are so happy to finally have her in our family!