Olivia's birth story, pics in blog

My due date was November 17, and on November 18, I did a lot of walking around.  My sister and I went shopping and Target and we ate at Five Guys Burgers and Fries.  When I got home, I had an immediate stomach ache but thought it was just the lunch.

Tony got off work at 5:30 and at 6:00 we went to meet our realtor at his office and we filled out paperwork to put an offer on a house.  Tony mentioned to the realtor that he thought I was going into labor soon, but I kind of laughed it off.  We left the realtor's office and went to have dinner at Chili's.

At 7:00 PM at the restaurant, I started having contractions and noticed they were different than the Braxton Hicks ones I had before.  They were stronger and more consistent.  I continued to eat my Buffalo Chicken Sandwich, fries, and dessert!

Later on at home, the contractions were getting stronger and were 5 minutes apart for over an hour. I called my doctor and he suggested I go up to labor and delivery to get checked out.  I wasn't sure that I was in labor but I complied.

In L & D they checked me and I was only 1-2 cm dilated but I was contracting and in early labor.  They sent me home and told me they'd see me the next day.  I went home and went to sleep from about midnight to 6:00 AM, November 19th.

At 6:00 AM I woke up with a painful contraction that jolted me out of bed.  I went to the bathroom thinking I had to poop and I lost my mucus plug immediately.  I knew that things would start rolling from there.  I called my doctor and he told me to come in to the office at 8:30 AM to get checked.   At this point the contractions were getting really uncomfortable and I was starting to feel a lot of pressure.

At 8:30 AM, the doctor checked me in his office and told me I was 3-4 cm dilated and had a low, bulging bag of waters and I was definitely in labor.  He sent us over to the hospital and told us he was on call till 5PM and he'd see us later.

We arrived at the hospital around 9:30 AM and I was admitted.  From about 10AM - 11:30 AM I labored on the "labor peanut" which is basically like a yoga ball for pregnant women.  It felt good, but the contractions were getting stronger.  My mom, dad, and sister had come up to spend time with me and Tony was great about soothing me through each contraction.

At 11:30 AM, the doctor came in and broke my water, and I went to 6 cm dilated when he did that.  That's when the pain started!  The contractions started coming faster and were much more intense. 

At noon, my 1st nurse, Diane brought me Stadol pain medicine for my IV.  It didn't take the pain away, but it pretty much made me relaxed so that I could rest between contractions. I felt drunk, and I kept saying that the medicine was "fantastic".  The contractions were still very painful though, so I asked for my epidural.

At 1:30 PM, the anesthesiologist came in and gave me my epidural. I was worried about this hurting, but it didn't hurt at all. I leaned over on Tony, and the doctor gave me shots of Lidocane in my back to numb the area before he inserted the epidural catheter.  I didn't feel the catheter go in at all.  It took about 15 minutes to kick in, but once it did, the epidural was heavenly.  It took most of the pain away. I could still feel the contractions but the pain wasn't as intense.

During this time, Tony's mom and dad arrived and so did my best friend Tammi.  They joined my and Tony and my mom, dad and sister in the room.  We all sat around and chatted for a few hours.

At 6:30 PM, I started feeling nauseas.  I threw up the apple juice that I had drunk a few hours earlier.  My epidural started to wear off and I started to feel the pain of the contractions again, and they were more intense. I asked everyone to leave the room at this point (except for Tony).

When they checked me, I was bleeding a lot.  The nurse warned me that I may have a placental abruption and that could mean a possible c-section or a very bloody vaginal birth.  They brought out 3 different medications to treat me in case of hemorrhage. 

From 7-9 PM, I was in the transition phase of labor, and I was 8-9 cm dilated.  I was in a lot of pain.  The anesthesiologist came back and gave me a booster, but it never fully worked like it had before. 

At 9PM, I was 9 3/4 cm dilated and they said I could practice pushing.  My mom, Tony's mom and Tony were in the room.  My sister had left, but I decided I wanted her back, so I asked my mom to go get her.  She came and we started pushing. 

The nurse put a mirror in front of me so I could see as I pushed.  This was very motivating because I could see her head coming down and I could see the little sprouts of hair that she had. 

I pushed for an hour and 15 minutes.  It was hard work, but I gave it everything I had.  The pushing was the only relief I had from the painful contractions, so I pushed every second of every contraction.  They were coming every minute at this point. 

At 10:14 PM, Olivia Noelle Wargo was born.  She had the cord wrapped around her neck once and she barely cried.  Tony cut the cord.  They placed her on my tummy for just  seconds for me to see her and then they took her over to the warmer to suction her. I then heard her cry and knew she was ok.  My placenta came out with the next contraction.  They continued to work on Olivia and my mom, Tony's mom and sister were there with her for her first moments of life.  Tony stayed with me as they cleaned me up. I did not bleed like they though I would.  I didn't tear or require an episiotomy.  They did send my placenta away for testing to see why I bled so much during labor. 

Olivia weighed in at 8 pounds 5 ounces and 21 inches long.  My dad and Tammi joined us in the room to meet her then.  It was a beautiful experience to have everyone I loved in there with me as we met our daughter.

We spent two nights in the hospital before we were discharged with a clean bill of health.  Unfortunately, I ended up back in the hospital the next night because I had a shaking/seizing spell.  I found out I had low potassium and an infection.  I am recovering nicely though just a few days later.

The whole experience was unreal and amazing. Tony was an awesome support person, and I was glad to have family around.  The hospital staff was wonderful. 

Now we start the next chapter of our lives, as a family.  It's going to be wonderful.