Meet Olivia LaRue
It has seriously taken me so long to sit down and write this post, and I am in tears as I reminisce about that incredible day. I was going back and forth on whether I should share my birth story on my blog, or if I should keep it private. I’m so grateful to all of you who have been following my pregnancy journey, so it only felt right to share the most incredible day of my entire life with all of you!
Our girl arrived on May 2nd. She came into this world weighing in at 6 pounds, 8 ounces of pure bliss and measuring 19 inches long (she obviously takes after her mother in height). After working her way towards her grand entrance all day, she finally arrived at 9:51pm to the sounds of My Girl by The Temptations playing in the background. The moments after she arrived were overwhelmingly emotional. Meeting her marked the most life-changing moment for us, and yet it felt like nothing had changed at all…like she had always been here with us. Just minutes after her arrival, she stared up at me with those big eyes as if to say, “I’m home.”
The day before Olivia arrived, I was officially 39 weeks pregnant and oh so ready to meet our girl. That day I did all the tricks to jumpstart labor: acupuncture, 3-mile walk, pilates, spicy food, oh, and that other thing that I cannot mention (my Grandma reads my blog : )). On May 1st, around 11:30pm, I had my first contraction. I had not felt well all week, so I initially thought it was just an upset stomach. I now know that it was a contraction, and also that my body had been starting to prepare itself for childbirth that whole week. It is truly amazing how our bodies work and know what they need to do.
As the night progressed, the contractions started to come with fury. I started tracking them, and they were consistently about 5 to 7 minutes apart. I contacted my doctor about 1:00am, and she said to try and wait as long as possible to go to the hospital. Finally, at 3:00am, when every other word in my vocabulary was f#@k and the pain was too intense, I told Nick it was time to go.
As I bet you all might guess, I envisioned myself in labor looking glam. So once I knew it was time to go, I showered, put on makeup, curled my hair…I thought I was so ready for this. We got to the hospital and we were greeted with the wonderful news that I was only 3cm!! Are you kidding me, it hurts like this at 3cm and I have to get to 10?!!! The nurse suggested we hang out, walk around, and see if I make any progress. After two hours of walking the hospital hallways, I only progressed to 4 cm. So, we went home. This advice came from my doctor, and it was the best advice ever! I was able to go home, have a home cooked meal, walk in the park outside my house, and try to relax in my bed as best as possible.
At this point, I had not slept in 24 hours, the contractions continued every 5 minutes, and the pain seemed to increase every hour. By 1:00pm, I was literally in tears every time that I had a contraction. I had been in labor now for 14 hours, and I now had a full understanding of why it was called “labor!” After a couple hours of agony, my very smart doctor friend called me and told me to get my ass to the hospital. That was more great advice, as my water broke minutes after getting there.
After that, things became a little easier thanks to a wonderful epdirual from Dr. Jolly (yes, that is the name of the anesthesiologist, how appropriate). That pain relief was much needed for me to get some rest, because it would soon be time for this little mama that hadn’t slept in 36 hours to start pushing. Everyone warned me that giving birth is similar to running a marathon, so I guess this was my final breather before the finish line. After an hour or two of relaxation, my doctor arrived. I was still not fully dilated, but I was ___ effaced, which meant IT WAS GO TIME!
I had anticipated the next part of the labor to be the toughest. I pictured a very “medical” room, doctors and nurses going every direction, numerous machines making loud beeps and noises, etc. However, my labor room was very tranquil and quite beautiful. The lights were dim, Nick had a “push playlist” full of good tunes going in the background (highly recommended), nobody was overly anxious, and we all just seemed to be going with the flow (no pun intended, haha). Between contractions, we hung out and sang along to everything from Salt n’ Pepa to The Temptations. My support team in the room was my rock. I had my husband on my right side, my sister on my left, one awesome nurse, and my amazing doctor. Before I even began to push, I became extremely emotional, knowing that we were so close to meeting our daughter.
I pushed, and pushed, and pushed…for about 1.5 hours. That time was full of lots of tears (of joy), a little pain, and plenty of great cardio. I could feel my baby making her debut with those last few pushes. Once she was all the way out, the room immediately filled with joy. I am not normally an emotional person, but that moment right there was the most incredible of my life, and one that I will never stop thanking God for. I hysterically cried as the doctor put our baby girl on my chest. She was mine. She was ours. Forever. Welcome to the world, Olivia Larue Obie.
My gratitude and thanks go out to all of the incredible nurses at Bozeman Deaconess Hospital. You ladies made my experience better than I could have ever imagined. To my doctor, you truly are a hero and what you do every day is nothing short of a miracle. To my husband, thank you for creating this new life with me. To my sister, you were my rock in that room, my cheerleader. And, to all of our family who patiently waited in the waiting room for hours, you all truly mean the world to me, and little Olivia is so lucky to have your love + support.
xoxo, Lady H
Also, a special thanks to Amelia Ann Photography for capturing this beautiful day!
