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| Olivia Grace Johnson |
| Olivia's birthday started out as a pretty typical Thursday. Mark was off work, so I got up to take Michaela to school, ate breakfast, and decided to take a nap since I was still a bit sleepy. Mark, Tristan and I slept until nearly noon, and then got ready to go to my midwife's appointment. At my appointment I asked Pat to do a cervical exam because I'd been having contractions for several days. Thankfully, I'd made a bit of progress from two weeks earlier... my cervix was now 3cm dialated and 60% effaced. Pat proclaimed I was officially "ready", but we both knew that could mean a few hours or a few weeks. I was still tired when I got home, so I decided another nap was in order. I was having contractions, but nothing difficult, so I figured they were a result of the vaginal exam I'd had that afternoon. Since it was so late after my nap, I figured I'd better order out for dinner. As I went to go pick up the pizza it occured to me that I had 4 or 5 really good contractions while I was out... hmm, maybe something is really happening! Around 8:00pm I returned to the house, dropped the pizza on the counter, and had a contraction that made me relatively certain that I was going to have a baby in the next 24 hours. But I didn't want to worry about that just yet... I was starved! After I finished dinner, I noticed a bit of bloody show so I called Michele and my parents to let them know that I was thinking we were finally getting somewhere. Thankfully, Michele was available to come over, and said she'd be over as soon as she got a shower. A few minutes later, Steph called to say that she thought she should come get Tristan before things got too intense. I really thought she was jumping the gun, because I still wasn't convinced that I was in labor yet. My contractions were still few and far in between, and had even spaced out a bit. But I decided to let her do it anyways, because she promised not to be upset if this were a false alarm. Michaela and Tristan helped me clean up while we waited on Steph. Around 9pm , I called Michele and told her now would be a good time to come. She arrived within ten minutes, and immediately started helping me through contractions as they hit. The contractions weren't any fun at this point, but they were certainly bearable. In between contractions, I felt relatively normal and was able to help Mark get the kids ready to go. We left the house about 9:40... Tristan was headed home with Steph, Michaela was riding to the hospital with Michele, and Mark and I were in the van. It was a much more pleasant ride than I'd had going to the hospital when Tristan was born since I wasn't in transition, but it was still difficult enough that I told Mark if we ever have another baby we be having a home birth. My contractions were about 6 minutes apart as we drove, but were still relatively manageable. As we got to the hospital, they definitely picked up. I had one as I got into the parking garage elevator, another as soon as we crossed the street, and another that brought me to my knees outside of the elevator to labor and delivery. A security guard told Mark that a wheelchair might be a good idea, but he declined. That's good, I don't think I could have sat in it anyway! Barb Poole (my midwife) was waiting for me as I got to L&D. She gave me wonderful news... the room with the birth tub was open, so I could have my much desired waterbirth! The nurse seemed to want to take her time about getting me settled, so I insisted that she get my monitoring started. Hospital policy states that laboring moms need to have 20 minutes of monitoring before getting into the tub, and I didn't want to wait any longer than necessary. The very next contraction brought me to my knees, and it wasn't very comfortable. So I took the mattress off the end of the bed and tossed it on the floor to make things more comfortable. From there, I pretty much stayed on my hands and knees because it was the most comfortable postition. Barb and Alicia (my nurse) were so kind and crawled around on the floor with me trying to chase down the baby's heartrate with my contractions. Barb asked to do a vaginal exam midway through my monitoring time because she noticed the heartrate was deceling with contractions. She wanted to make sure that I wasn't completely dilated yet. My exam was exactly what I had hoped for... 6cm, complete effacement, and -1 station. I was actually worried I'd be completely dilated and inelligible for a waterbirth. And then transition hit, and the idea of complete dilation sounded pretty good. I started feeling very nauseated with contractions, and after a couple like that I threw up. Moments later, my water broke and I told anyone who was listening , "I just ruptured!" Barb told me if I was getting in the pool, I had to do it now. She knew that a baby would be arriving any moment, and she knew how important having a waterbirth had been to me. The water felt wonderful, but didn't relieve the pain as throughly as I had anticipated. I had so much pressure it was overwhelming, and could feel my body pushing. Mentally, I thought I shouldn't be pushing because nobody had checked to see if I was complete yet, but I ultimately decided that I didn't care if I should be pushing or not. Michele and Barb reminded me to blow through the contractions, so that I didn't tear as the baby was born. I reached down to assess how much longer I had to go, and was able to feel the baby's head as it crowned. It was slippery, as it still had the membranes attached and lots of vernix. A few more light pushes, and the baby was out. I immediately rolled over from the hands and knees position I was in and saw huge alert eyes staring back at me. I heard conflicting information as everyone looked to see what it was. Michele said it was a boy, and Barb said it was a girl. I was sure Michele was right from the view I had, but it turns out what we were seeing was actually labia and a loop of the cord. It was a girl! Mark told everyone her name was Olivia Grace. I was so glad he agreed to that because I couldn't think of anything I would have rather named her! Olivia floated in the pool with me for a few moments while we tried to stimulate her to breathe. She was so content that she had no need to cry, and so we rubbed her vigorously to try to stimulate her little lungs to take a breath. After a few minutes they took her to the warmer and I stayed in the pool because it felt so fabulous and I knew the after birth contractions would immediately hurt as soon as I got out. Olivia was returned to me a few minutes after the placenta was delivered. She spent the interim time bonding with Daddy and Big Sister Michaela. Everyone was surpised at how different she looked from Michaela and Tristan, very tiny in comparison with very delicate features. She passed her time that first hour by greeting everyone who was present for her birth (Mommy, Daddy, Michaela, Mimi, Pampy, Grandma Freet, and Michele) and sucking on her fingers. She particularly liked sucking on her middle and ring fingers which was quite a funny sight! Daddy and Michaela went to the waiting room to tell everyone (Grandma and Papa Johnson, Aunt Stephanie Sibila, and Grandma Doggie) that Olivia Grace was here. They were all very excited and gave Daddy and Michaela lots of hugs and congratulations. Later on, once Olivia was fed and happy they all came down to our room for a visit. We had planned on doing "alternative triage" like we did with Tristan, meaning the baby never goes to the nursery, but unfortunately there were several babies born right around the same time and the nursery nurses were too busy to come to the room for her assessment. So Mark and I accompanied Olivia to the nursery for her weight, measurements, and bath. We knew Olivia was smaller than Michaela and Tristan, but were very surpirised to hear she was only 6lb 12 oz! It certainly didn't feel like it when I was pushing her out! Overall, it was a fabulous birth... everything I could have hoped for and more! Olivia is a wonderful baby, and I can't wait to watch her grow up and be a part of our family. |
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| Parents: |
| Danielle and Mark |
| Born on: |
| Born February 19, 2004 at 10:45pm |
| Born at: |
| Grant Hospital in Columbus, Ohio |
| Weight: |
| 6lb 12oz |
| Height: |
| 18.75 inches |
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