I'm trying to be better about taking pictures of our little darling...I just need someone to hold the camera and shoot, since I'm always holding HER. :) I've gotten really good at doing things one-handed and you'd be amazed at the pick-things-up-with-my-feet skills I have developed! Olivia is doing really well. Sleep comes and goes, but my body is adjusting to the crazy schedule. She doesn't nurse, but we've been able to keep her on breastmilk by pumping (what a lifesaver the pump is) and she is 'growing like a weed' as Ryan likes to say. 8lbs. 5 Oz. at her last check-up! And cheesy as it may be, I want Olivia to be able to look back and read about the day she was born. So I wrote her a little letter.
Read on if you enjoy this kind of sentimental thing...
Dear Olivia,
I want to remember all the little details about the day you were born, so I have to get them all out now before I forget. I hope someday when you are ready to become a mom, you can read this and know how amazing an experience it can be!
Mondays were always really routine for your dad and me. Dad always worked the closing shift at Home Depot on Mondays, and I usually had Mondays off work, so we always slept a little late. On Monday, December 14, 2009, we got up and got going around 10 am. Dad made pancakes for breakfast and they were delicious! After breakfast, I started going through paperwork and bills that needed to be filed, since the doctor had ordered me to take it easy due to high blood pressure. Dad left for work just before my water broke at exactly 1 pm. I didn’t know for sure that my water had broken, so I called the doctor’s office to see if I could come in and be checked just to be certain (We had just been in to see the doctor on Friday the 11th, at which point we found out that you were in a breech position and would probably have to be delivered by a C-section). The nurse told me to come right in and I met Dad there at 2 pm. After seeing the doctor and having a quick ultrasound, it was determined that we were, in fact, having a baby very soon!
Doctor Rodgers wouldn’t allow me to go back home, but luckily I had most of my bag packed (Dad told me later that he thought I was a little silly for the pile of items that I had been collecting for a couple of weeks, just in case a situation like this arose, but I am so grateful that I did!) so Dad just had to go home and pick it up, which he did once we got checked in at the hospital. We headed straight from the doctor’s office to the women’s center portion of the hospital, through a ‘secret stairway’ that connected the two buildings. We were taken to an exam room where we did paperwork and the nurse named Carolyn hooked me up to some monitors to hear your heartbeat and to watch any contractions that I might be having. It was supposed to be Carolyn’s day off, but she just so happened to be catching up on some paperwork when the department needed some extra help, so the poor woman had to change into scrubs and be the main delivery nurse for you and I on what was supposed to be her day off (I remember her getting a phone call while I was in the recovery room from one of her kids wondering when she would be home).
After Carolyn was put in charge of us, it all went very quickly. It was about 4 pm when they got my IV started and by 4:15 we were walking down the hall to the operating room. Dad had to wait out in the hallway while the anesthesiologist gave me the spinal block and while Carolyn got me draped and ready for the surgery. I can’t remember the anesthesiologist’s name, but he was so pleasant and I didn’t feel any of the needles that I’m sure were very big and probably pretty scary to look at! After the doctors came in and all of the nurses were there, they let Dad into the room and he came and sat by my head. We were both so nervous, but very excited.
Before I knew it, you were out and crying! It was 4:46 pm. They put you on the scale and told me to look over and there you were, legs straight up in the air (from being folded in half in my tummy!). You weighed 7 lbs. 1 Oz, and were 18.5 inches long. Dad went with you to get you cleaned up while they took me to the recovery room. I just wanted to see you so badly and it was such a relief when Dad finally wheeled you into the room. From there, we took a little trip on an elevator up to the mom and baby unit. We were assigned a wonderful nurse named Heidi who took care of us all through that first night, and we had wonderful nurses through our entire stay.
You were such a good baby and it was so special to just cuddle you while you slept those first couple of nights. We left the hospital on Wednesday evening and headed for home!
Your dad and I were definitely the proudest parents that day!
