Oliver's Birth Story: Part Two

If you haven’t read part one of Oliver’s Birth Story, head to this post to catch up and then pop back over here. :)

1:30pm - We checked into the hospital & found our room. They confirmed that my water had broke and we were admitted to have this baby! My nurse checked and I was at 2 cm. They put the monitors on to see how our sweet boy was doing and how frequently I was having contractions. At this point I couldn’t feel any contractions but was having a ton of back pain. I switched into a comfy robe & the nurse came to put in my IV/saline lock. They had so much trouble with my IV a few days prior when I was there, that they had an ER nurse come over to put it in this time. I was so thankful to not have to be poked for an hour all over again!

3:00pm - I wanted to be up and moving so they took the monitors off & we started walking laps around the hospital. Everyone was so friendly and encouraging and they even gave Ry a fresh baked cookie as we walked around. After an hour or so we went back to the room to rest for a bit and turned on HGTV.

4:00pm - I got up again to bounce on the ball for a while. We both were still in awe that this was really happening and were still all smiles.

5:00pm - The nurse asked if we wanted to order some supper. I was surprised & so thankful that they let me eat before the night ahead! We ordered dinner and relaxed for just a bit. Riley watched the contractions on the monitor in awe as each one came and went. They were still not super consistent at this point.

The doctor who would be taking care of Oliver as soon as he entered the world, came in to introduce himself, get to know us and asked about our preferences. I loved that he took the time to do this, and shared how things typically happen after he’s born with a healthy delivery, Lord willing! This put our minds at ease and gave us a little bit of an idea of what to expect.

6:00pm - The nurse came back to check in and see where I was at… I was still at 2 cm. I was SO defeated…six hours into labor... water breaking, bouncing, walking, moving, and still no progress. The nurse called my doctor and warned me that he would probably say it was time to start pitocin since my water had already broke and things weren’t progressing very quickly.

I was starting to feel all of the emotions…exhausted from the past two days of little sleep and my body laboring, defeated that my body wasn’t making progress on it’s own, and so nervous about what was to come in the next few hours.

“The nurse came back to check in and see where I was at… I was still at 2 cm. I was SO defeated…six hours into labor... water breaking, bouncing, walking, moving, and still no progress.”

6:30pm - They started the pitocin and the contractions got intense, FAST. Once they started the pitocin, they said I would need to keep the monitors on for a while to see how my body reacted. Another momma in labor had on the set of mobile monitors, so this meant I had to lay in bed for a while. Not being able to be up and move around through the contractions was so hard. Every contraction I had tears in my eyes and was getting so worked up I could hardly breathe. I was a mess. I looked at Riley through tears and said, “I think I want an epidural.”

Going into labor, my only birth plan was to have a healthy baby & a healthy momma. That was our biggest hope & prayer. I wanted to labor naturally as long as I felt I could, but ultimately just wanted our baby to be healthy and for me to be healthy as well!

For the next half hour I went back and forth on what to do. I wanted to labor naturally, but with the pitocin kicking in, physically and emotionally I was beat. The thought of 18 more hours of this was just too much. Riley was so supportive and said I knew what my body needed, and it was totally my call. I was SO emotional about this. I told him I felt like a failure for not being able to birth him naturally, or at the very least make it farther along before asking for an epidural. He reassured me that, that was the silliest thing, as I was delivering our baby boy into the world and there was nothing weak about that. Our sweet nurse came in and I couldn’t stop crying as I told her I wanted the epidural but felt like it was “too soon”. She was so sweet and reassured me there was no such thing as too soon and that I had been in labor for over 7 hours at this point and that was no small feat!

7:30pm - The anesthesiologist came in and was so wonderful and talked me through the whole thing. Riley and the nurse came over and held my shoulders as she administered the epidural. While she was putting the epidural in, I had three strong contractions. Trying to sit completely still through three strong contractions has got to be one of the toughest things I’ve physically done. ;)

8:00pm - The epidural was starting to kick in and I finally felt like my body was able to breathe for a little bit. The nurse brought me a Sprite and a jello cup and let us relax for a while. She said she’d be back to check on us in an hour, but if we needed anything at all in the meantime to call.

I just have to pause for a moment and shout out labor and delivery nurses and how absolutely amazing they are. I felt like they truly just SERVED us the whole time we were there. It was the biggest blessing. They were all absolutely amazing.

8:30pm - The doctor who would be delivering Oliver came in to introduce himself. My doctor I had been seeing at the clinic wasn’t on call sadly, but we met the doctor who was on call. He shared with us that based on how I was progressing so far, he said not to expect a baby until around noon tomorrow, just to mentally prepare ourselves.

Once again I was discouraged, but was clinging to Jesus & the fact that in the next 16 hours we would meet our sweet miracle one way or another! I knew noon would be cutting it really close to 24 hours since my water had broken, and that if this baby wasn’t out by then, I would most likely need a c-section. I prayed fervently that labor would progress so I could deliver him naturally, but ultimately that Jesus would protect us and bring us peace no matter how he was born!

“Once again I was discouraged, but was clinging to Jesus & the fact that in the next 16 hours we would meet our sweet miracle one way or another!”

9:00pm - My nurse stopped in again to see if we needed anything and set up a bed for Riley to sleep on. She checked me again and I wasn’t quite to 3 cm. She said she would let us sleep for a while, and that she would be back to check throughout the night. The plan was to rest for a few hours and then try the peanut exercise ball around 4am. We both tried to get some sleep knowing we would need it with a long night and day ahead tomorrow.

10:30-11:30pm - I couldn’t sleep. I was so hot and felt like I couldn’t stop shaking. I had Riley turn on the fan and felt like I might throw up. I started getting nervous thinking maybe I was having a reaction to the epidural.

11:45pm - My nurse came in and I told her how I was feeling and she said she was going to check me again just to see if anything was happening. The next words I heard were…“OH MY! You are at NINE centimeters and this baby isn’t waiting until noon tomorrow!” My jaw dropped as I repeated it back to her. I said, “Did you say NINE?!” At this point Riley popped up out of his bed faster than I’ve ever seen, rubbing his eyes and asking the nurse the same thing. :) She said I sure was, and she was going to call the doctor and wasn’t going to let him live it down that he was a little off on his time prediction. ;) We all laughed.

“OH MY! You are at NINE centimeters and this baby isn’t waiting until noon tomorrow!”

Midnight - Everything started to become a blur as they folded up Riley’s bed, called the doctor, wheeled in supplies, and flipped on the lights. I was delivering him in the same room we would be staying in the whole time, so they rearranged the furniture to prepare for delivery.

12:30am - Our doctor came in smiling and sleepy, admitting his prediction was a little off. He said he’d be right across the hall, ready to deliver this baby at anytime!

1:00am - My contractions were about a minute apart and my nurses said it was time to start pushing! I was equally SO excited and also SO terrified. I pushed through two contractions and our sweet baby boy’s heart rate jumped high yet again and wasn’t coming back down. They put an oxygen mask on me and stopped the pitocin. This was all a blur, but my nurses were SO calm and collected and God gave me so much peace through it all.

1:00-2:30am - His heart rate slowly started to come back down, but now contractions had slowed down to 3-4 minutes apart. I pushed for the next hour and a half.. Riley came up and held one of my legs through it all. At one point it was just him and one other nurse in the room and I remember him getting a little nervous, asking her if they needed to get the doctor or at least another nurse. ;)

2:45am - Pretty soon the doctors came in and they wheeled the baby warmer in and I knew it was getting close, but no idea how close. On the first push with the doctor in the room, he said, “Look down, mom!” And at 2:57am, by God’s grace and through uncontrollable tears, I saw our Oliver Leo enter the world. He is an absolute miracle. It was the most surreal thing I’ve ever experienced. Riley and I looked at each other through tears and just kept saying “He’s here! He’s really here!”

“On the first push with the doctor in the room, he said, “Look down, mom!” And at 2:57am, by God’s grace and through uncontrollable tears, I saw our Oliver Leo enter the world.”

Our sweet boy wasn’t breathing right away, so they whisked him off to the warmer to get him breathing and make sure he was doing okay. I remember Riley saying he didn’t want to leave my side and also wanted to be with our little guy. I told him I was just fine, and to go check on our sweet babe!

3:02 am - Just five minutes later they laid him on my chest for the first time and I was sobbing all over again, thanking Jesus over and over again that he was here, that we were healthy, and that I got to be his momma.

3:30am - within a half hour they had everything cleaned up and out of the room and you would have never known a baby was just born in that room!

3:30-5:00am We spent the next two hours just in awe and soaking up every minute of this day we had dreamed of for so long. I nursed and snuggled our precious babe and it was the sweetest time just the three of us. At 5am, Riley took over snuggling Ollie and I slept for an hour or two.

6:00am - We texted our family and close friends and they woke up to the announcement that HE WAS HERE! Getting to share that news with all of our loved ones, after praying and waiting for this little one for so long, will forever be one of my favorite moments!

We ordered breakfast and just hung out together smiling and sleepy eyed, thanking Jesus for the most incredible 24 hours.

My family came to visit later that morning and couldn’t hold back the tears as they laid eyes on their sweet grandbaby & nephew. Watching your parents and siblings fall in love with your baby is the best thing ever. We spent the next few hours talking, taking turns holding him, and just smiling that this day was finally here.

My sweet sister, our favorite photographer ever, did a little “Fresh 48” photoshoot for us in the hospital that afternoon. I will cherish these pictures forever and ever. The Lauren Rose Collective you are incredible.

This day will go down as one of the greatest days of our lives. Oliver Leo, we can’t believe you’re ours. God is writing the most beautiful story of redemption and miracles through you and we are so honored to get to be a part of it. We love you to the moon & back sweet boy!