Olivia Rose

Our dear sweet Olivia Rose arrived last Friday afternoon. We have been so busy enjoying her company and getting adjusted to our new lives together.

Birth story:
As you know I was scheduled to be induced Friday as a precaution for my blood clot history. What a different kind of experience than a natural unplanned delivery. My parents and Carmen were all at home watching C. She got treated to the hilt! I don't think she missed us one bit! That of course put us at ease.
Nate and I took our time getting to the hospital. We checked into the maternity ward like we were checking into a hotel.:) the nurse took me to our room and let us get settled before bringing the dr in for our consultation.
It was decided that pitocin would be the best start for inducing. Induction began at noon. Nate and I tried to rest, watch tv, chat etc.... The impending pain was all I could think of.
Contractions were coming at a steady pace but nothing that was super painful. Finally 2 1/2 hours into it my contractions were strong enough I couldn't talk through them. I was 6cm. An hour later my water broke... That's when everything started happening fast!! My contractions were very close and really painful. I could tell we were only minutes away from meeting our daughter. The nurse who had been with us from the beginning was about to go on a shift change.... She was very familiar with my past delivery and complications. So she stayed as long as she could until the next nurse was there and updated. I really appreciated that!! The urge to push came really quickly. I called for the dr. The nurse said she had to check me first. This of course made me panic as I knew the cause of my last delivery complications was due to an absent dr there to deliver my baby. One nurse mentioned this was my last opportunity for an epidural if I wanted one. I knew this would slow down my delivery so I said YES PLEASE!!
In an instant I was given a spinal/epidural. (Insert a chorus of hallelujahs here. )
The dr came in, got ready, asked me to push... 3 pushes later we meet Olivia Rose. The whole induction took 4 hours. It was a quick one! But we were so ready to meet our little girl.
My first thought when I saw her was "oh wow! She looks just like Charlotte!" they really look so much alike from their baby pictures.
Her stats:
7lbs 3oz
19 3/4in long
Brown hair
Blue eyes
Petite... Newborn clothes are huge on her.:)

I did end up with a second degree tear but it's really not that painful. My recovery this time around is already night and day different from the last one. We are thanking the Lord for that blessing!

Nate is home this week to help out and to enjoy these first few days with the new family. It's been wonderful having this time together. We feel so blessed with these two little girls.

More updates to come. But right now it's nap time!!