i debated back and forth on whether i should write about the birth of our sweet olive or not. my thoughts included; "no one reeeally cares to hear all the gory details do they?", "well... maybe olive will want to read about it one day", and "am i really going to sit down with a pen and paper and write as much as i would type?".
the answer to that last question is no, so here goes nothing.
i woke up around two am on Sunday the eighteenth of March--five days past my due date--when i figured it was just time to use the restroom, like always. something felt different though, i was having contractions that were pretty uncomfortable, but not to the point where i was screaming or even ready to wake up the husband; yet they were unpleasant and i knew i wouldn't be sleeping the rest of the night. after a few hours of surfing the web, reading every blogged birth story i could find (trying to find out what it was like for everyone else) and laying in dark silence... i decided to go upstairs, shower and put on make-up. what? i think i was a little out of my mind, thinking that make up would be important at the time.
it got to be around 7:30 when i finally nudged warner "hey, i've been having contractions since two". his response to any sort of contraction had been "how far apart are they?" for weeks. he was pretty terrified that i would just not tell him about it, and that he would end up having to deliver the baby in the car or something. the contractions still weren't that horrible, but they hadn't stopped and i didn't really know what that meant. we decided to give it a go at the hospital, even though my worst fear was to go and be sent home.
well we went, and were sent home after two hours. i was at a one. i won't go into the details of what a one means, cause i don't really like even saying i was at a one. uh, but it seems important, so i'll keep it in here. doc said the nurse could give me a morphine shot since i was on no sleep, and it seemed like things were at least starting to develop. in my sleep deprived state i gladly accepted. we sadly left, but the nurse said she wouldn't be surprised if she saw us back there tonight and kept saying "you will know when you need to come back". i was pretty morphined by the time we got home, i could barely walk in the house, and later i found pieces of tree in my bed that apparently had gotten stuck in my hair on the way in the house.
after four hours of sleep the morphine had worn off for the most part and i was definitely in pain, i was a little nervous though that it wasn't enough pain to go back in. i showered again, and even sat down for sunday dinner with my family, but i couldn't even eat, talk, or enjoy the great conversation. these contractions were waaay worse, and pretty consistently four minutes apart. after putting it off for as long as possible i turned to warner and said "i think it's time to go".
it was around 5:30 by the time we got back to the hospital, the same nurse from earlier came in the door. she looked a little skeptical, and i was hoping, hoping, hoping that i wouldn't be made a fool and sent away again. she got me all hooked up and checked everything out, i was at a four! sooo much relief, and then so much reality hit. i was staying, they were getting me a room, i was having a baby today.
they wheeled me into my new room (everyone should have babies at orem community, best rooms) got me a new nurse and called my doctor. i went into this whole labor thing undecided about quite a few things, not that i hadn't thought about it, but i didn't want to be dead set on something and have it not turn out the way i wanted and be disappointed in any way. i hadn't decided whether i wanted an epidural or not, buuuut i got one, and i am very pleased with my decision. i was able to be calm and relax, even though i was unable to keep my eyes open afterwards when the nurse was telling me important things about birth certificates and social security cards. that's what husbands are good for right? oh, and i never want to know what happened in my back to get my body numb, like ever. i would probably pass out, actually i know i would, good thing i wasn't thinking normally. anyways, the epidural was nice, and it made it so i could have pitocin and speed the process up.
things started to go really fast after that, like reeeeeal fast. i was at a six, then a nine, then i was ready to go. doctor was on his way, and my nurse told me to start pushing. my water never broke, or maybe it did, or maybe there wasn't very much water? anyways, there wasn't a clear time of when that happened, and they saw that olive had, had a bowel movement in the womb, yuck. i think that should have made me pretty concerned, but there were so many nice reassuring people in the room that i felt like everything was going to be ok. the pushing part i really don't remember much of, it was all kind of a blur. i remember warner being next to me, acting like a giddy little boy, so excited about the whole process. i remember my nurse talking in her new jersey accent telling me i better stop pushing cause she could see hair and the doctor wasn't ready yet. i remember the room being transformed and the wizard of a respiratory therapist walking in getting set up wearing a t-shirt and jeans, at first i honestly thought he was just some guy messing around in my room, until he told me as soon as olive was born he would take her and do some stuff to make sure she didn't have too much liquid in her lungs from the above stated bowel movement, and i trusted that he knew what he was doing.
next thing i knew i heard a babies squeaky cry, and i saw the respiratory therapist doing awesome things to olive, like tossing her around cleaning out her lungs. i saw warner, and the amazed look he had on his face, like he couldn't believe what just happened, and i couldn't believe that i was so cool with him seeing what he just saw. he was so excited, and so happy to see olive, he even thought of recording her first cry and sent it to her grandparents, aunts and uncles who were eagerly waiting to meet her. i have never seen such a proud daddy. as for me i was just laying there, trying to see what was going on, but really just waiting to see my baby girl. then they put her on my chest, and it was the happiest thing. i didn't cry, all i could do was just be happy that she was finally here.
olive mae jarman started this phase of her life on sunday, march 18th at 10:05 pm. she was a solid eight pounds, and 21 inches long. she is just the nicest baby, she is cool with just about everything, and doesn't stop making her parents the happiest people.
