Emery Adele's Birth Story

Emery Adele Olsen

Born January 27, 2014 @ 1:07 PM

7 lbs 14 oz // 20 1/12 inches

The last few weeks leading up to my due date I had been having pretty regular, increasingly uncomfortable contractions coming on and off all day and night. I was hoping they would be helping to move things along, but really no such luck. I was staying at 1 cm after every cervical check and baby girl seemed good and comfy right where she was at...though each doctor would say how low her head was and I would say, "I know! Tell me about it!" :) The doctor that checked me at my 39 week appointment was really positive about still only being at 1cm, saying how lucky I was that I carry my babies so well and for as long as I do. That helped as I walked out of there with a reminder card for my next appointment scheduled the day after my due date.

They told me someone would call about scheduling an induction for the next week if I wanted to go that route. I still had hope she might come over the weekend though and was excited my Mom and baby sister Brinley would be flying in the next day.

Friday, the sweetest nurse called to schedule an induction for Monday evening. She gave me some really sweet second time mom advice and calmed my nerves about possibly having another induced labor, saying that they would take good care of us and make sure we had a beautiful experience bringing our baby girl into this world. She almost made me cry! I felt I had come to peace with being induced and felt better knowing our baby girl would be coming shortly! I wasn't in a rush to get her here anymore and knew she would either come before or not, but for sure we would be getting things started Monday evening! Man, the waiting game is hard!

Later that night my Mom and baby sister flew in from San Diego and then drove from Raleigh straight to our house! Camden was the most excited little boy ever when he heard our doorbell ring and it was his Meema and Auntie Brinley! We gave them a tour of our new lil home and then headed out to get some yummy Mexican food to fill our bellies! We ate at Casa Vallarta and so enjoyed every tasty thing! Food tastes so so good when you are pregnant! Ha!

The next day Scott's Dad drove in from a business trip in Atlanta to be with us for a few days! It was so fun to have family from both sides stay with us before Emery's arrival. We enjoyed a relaxing day of being together and even watched the documentary of Mitt Romney on Netflix. While watching, there's a part where Mitt is eating what looks like Chinese noodles from a take out box in his hotel room. Ever since I saw that I just had to have some type of yummy noodles! So we ended the evening at a Vietnamese place where we all enjoyed our fill of noodles thanks to my undeniable craving for noodles & boy did they hit the spot! Afterwards we stopped for some frozen yogurt and thought our bellies might just pop...well, especially mine!

Went to bed that night feeling very happily full, had a few stronger contractions but nothing too crazy. Sunday came and I stayed home from church, just so tired and ready to have this baby.

Sunday evening we watched another movie together then Skyped and Face Timed the rest of our family. Everyone was curious about an update from the preggo. I told them how we were still just waiting and how I was feeling good, a little too good, for being 40 weeks pregnant.

Then all of a sudden, while talking with my Dad, I feel this gush of water while just sitting there in our easy chair! I didn't say anything for a few minutes, not wanting to give a false alarm...then I felt another gush and another!

I remember not being able to comprehend what he was saying to me anymore and I was just kind of in shock. I took a deep breath and then blurted out to announce, "I'm pretty sure my water just broke!"

Everyone in the room just stopped and I got up to run, or more like waddle into the bathroom. Then everyone, Scott, my Mom, and Brin, followed haha!

Scott nervously/excitedly called my OB office to tell them his water broke {haha he meant his wife's water broke of course} and they said to come on in. The next half hour, from 9-9:30pm, we hurriedly but calmly gathered all our things and just like that we were off to Labor and Delivery. {Well not before going through 3 pairs of pants and socks before I could get out the door!} we also quietly stepped into Camden's room to say good bye and kiss our sweet baby boy's cheeks, spending one last time as a family of three. 

Tears welled up in our eyes all while we were so excited knowing this was it. I was SO relieved things were happening naturally on their own. My body was really doing this and on my due date too!

We got all checked in to the hospital and sent into triage. The nurse there gave me the best, most comfortable IV! I was super appreciative of that! I was still dilated at 1cm but contractions were all of a sudden really starting to pick up and I was doing pretty good relaxing and breathing through it all.

Now things were starting to get real! It was kind of an out of body experience. I couldn't believe I was actually in the hospital and in labor.

Right before my water broke we were talking about how Scott was going to go into a half day of work the next day and would then meet me at my last doctors appointment that next afternoon. We talked about how later Monday night we would head to the hospital for our scheduled induction...but now here we were, Sunday night already admitted and ready to have this baby!

By the time I'm wheeled into labor and delivery it is around midnight and we realized I wouldn't be having her on my due date anymore but so exciting that she was coming very soon!

Contractions starting really picking up around this time. My nurse brought me some ice water and an Italian ice pop! I was super excited because with my induction for Camden's birth I wasn't allowed to "eat" anything!

While labor was steadily progressing, I remember having to get up to go to the bathroom a few times which was a new experience while having contractions every few minutes. I tried timing it so it was in between contractions but it seemed like when I got up they were coming closer together and it was horrible getting on and off the bed every time. Scott was right there with me though and it was so comforting having him support me and be totally there for me physically and emotionally....even when he probably felt like he wasn't doing much he was! I just remember being so thankful for his comforting presence. He was an amazing support the whole time.

Contractions were pretty consistent coming every 3-4 minutes and lasting 1-2 minutes each. I got through each one by telling myself if I could just get over each peak I would be fine. I also told myself I could go through any torture for my children and that crazy intense pain coming every few minutes was totally doable.

Well that was until they weren't so doable any more...Around 3 am I was getting super uncomfortable and worried I might never get any sleep that night AND if I was to have a long labor, like last time, I was just going to be super exhausted. I asked the nurse about how long it takes to receive an epidural. She said it would be no time at all and I could get one whenever I wanted. At this point I was at 3cm and was hesitant to get the epidural when I wasn't super far dilated so I told her I would wait.

Well 10 minutes later I was calling her back in, asking for the epidural. I told Scott, "Okay I'm ready. What's the worst that could happen? I feel better?" Haha. We had a good laugh over that between some painful contractions that all of a sudden had doubled up on each other and were coming every minute!

I had one arm behind my back for counter pressure and my other arm gripping the handle on the side of the bed all while really trying to take deep breaths and relax. I felt like with each new contraction I took a different mental approach but nothing was quite cutting it!

The anesthesiologist speedily came in and administered the most wonderful magic juice and immediately I felt relief. I was able to relax enough to rest but trying to sleep while a nurse comes in every 30 minutes to check on you is no easy feat. I also was feeling super anxious and missing my Camden boy for some reason...knowing these would be the last few hours before our baby girl got here. It all just felt like a lot to take in. The nurse came in to administer another round of antibiotics every few hours, since I was strep B positive, and then gave me extra oxygen to help with baby's heart rate and before I knew it the morning light came.

We let my Mom know what was happening and she planned on coming to be with us within the next few hours to be there for the birth. So glad the timing worked out so perfect so she could be there. Also so thankful for our sweet friend Jaime who happily watched Camden and Brinley. 

Every time my nurse checked, I had progressed another 1 or 2 centimeters. They did give me a little pitocin to keep contractions consistent at one point & I then think I was at a 6 around the time my Mom got there a little after 10 am. Scott guessed Emery would make her debut around 1:30 pm & he wasn't that far off. {She came at 1:07 pm after 15 hours of labor.} 

From the morning to about noon we just peacefully waited. I wasn't in any pain at all but started to feel her head coming down and a lot of pressure. The doctor came in to check and I was at a 9 1/2. He was just about to go do a C-Section and wanted to know if I was ready to push soon or if I thought I could wait. I didn't feel like pushing just yet so we decided it would be okay to wait a little longer. Plus I wasn't yet at a 10 and I wanted to avoid an episiotomy this time if I could, which I was very adamant about. 

I couldn't believe I was already feeling the pressure of her head and how fast everything was going. I broke down into tears as the doctor left, just so grateful for God's timing and tender mercies. Everything was going so perfectly. I felt so much love for this sweet babe that was so gracefully making her way into this world. 

The nursing station was all a buzz about how close I was and at one point a few nurses came in to check on me. Guess they were all so excited at how close we were getting. The baby warmer got turned on and the delivery tools were getting prepped. As soon as my doctor was done with surgery I was ready to push. Again, perfect timing. 

At first I had a hard time knowing when to push since I couldn't feel any contractions with my epidural. This epidural was way better compared to the epidural I had with Camden. 100 times better. I could still feel my legs and feet too. My doctor kept saying, "Okay on the next contraction, push." But I couldn't tell when the next contraction was coming, they were being blocked so well, so a few would skip by before I pushed again. That was definitely new since last time I could feel every rough contraction pushing Camden out. Dr. Lowe was so sweet and came to the side of my hospital bed to help coach me through how to push this baby out. 

Within 15-20 minutes, only about 5 pushes later, she was out! I ripped off my oxygen mask so I could see her and held on tight to our sweet baby girl as they placed her on my chest. I couldn't believe how much hair she had and how chubby her cheeks were. She smelled like sweet buttery popcorn & had the brightest eyes. It was so surreal how fast she came out. She was here already! Wow! 

She spent an hour or more on my chest while we admired every cute little feature about her. She scored an 8 then 9 on her Apgar, started nursed like a champ and was just as healthy as could be. 

We stayed the next two nights in the hospital. Scott stayed the first night and my mom stayed with me the second night. We Face Timed with Camden {kids couldn't visit because of the flu alert}, received awesome care and even got to sleep some 3-4 hour stretches. So thankful for a healthy baby and that I was feeling so good.

Emery came with a very sweet and calm demeanor and we couldn't be more in love. It is so much fun dressing her up in cute girly clothes and hearing her dainty cry. We loved bringing her home and having Camden meet his little sister for the first time. Total bliss. Love this little family of ours!