My birth story - born at exactly 38 weeks

On Saturday, September 13th at 2 am I woke up with contractions that went into my back (first time I ever felt that). So I got up and started timing and they were 3-5 minutes apart and very regular, never had one go more than 5 minutes apart. I timed on and off for a few hours while I ran around house getting ready "just in case."

At 6:30 am I called my Doctor and he said time another hour than head to hospital if I had no change. I did and my contractions just got closer so dh  and I went to the hospital around 8 am. The nurse checked me and said I was only 1 cm but 95% effaced. This hospital won't admit patients until they are at least 4 cm dialated.  They made me wait for an hour and they monitored my BP (cause it was a little higher than normal-but it could have been due to the pain) and baby.  They made me walk around hospital for 2 minutes to see if that would get things moving along. 

Checked again i was still only 1 cm so the nurse called my ob and he wanted me to go home and come back after laboring at home some more. The hospital is 30 minutes from home so I didn't want to go anywhere. It was around 12 pm when we got home.But, we did and the ride home was no fun!

My mom and dad were at my house because that morning the furniture was arriving for the baby's room and we were at hospital so my parents went to meet the delivery people.  I helped my mom put the bedding on crib while I was having contractions.  The pain got much worse very fast!  I stuck it out for another few hours, afraid I'd get to hospital and they would send me home again.  When I just could not bear it anymore, dh  called my Doctor and he said I could go back to hospital.

We got to hospital at 5:30 pm. This time I was 5-6 cm and 100% effaced. I couldn't walk through the pain this time and it was very intense. They got me up to L & D very quickly and admitted me. When asked if I wanted the epidural,  I said ABSOLUTELY!!  I can't imagine not getting it. Sitting still through contractions was near impossible but I had while I got epidural. Justin was a little panicked at this point, knowing this baby was coming tonight!  He called all our family and told them what was going on.  My parents, who had drove back home (an hour away), headed back to the hospital.  My 2 sister in laws also arrived and thankfully everyone got there after the epidrual kicked in....ha ha!

By 7:30  pm, I was fully numb and feeling much more relaxed and the nurse said we could start pushing. It was very easy and no pain with the epidural. I pushed for a little over 2 hours.  They told me she had a head full of hair. I had the mirror set up so I could watch the birth.  I did have a 2nd degree tear.

At 9:15 pm, Olivia arrived into the world and it was so amazing! She was 7 lbs 9 oz and 19.5 inches long.

We had a room with a beautiful mountain view and there was a bright full moon (that probably sent me into labor) and we could see it during her birth.

We can't get enough of our sweet baby girl and I look forward to every moment just holding, changing, feeding and watching her! It was simply the best experience of my whole life!