The Arrival has come and gone
(What a wonderful Birthday Present. Born the day before my birthday.)

Olivia Nichole Rhien 

Born July 30, 2013

6lb 10 oz

19 inches long

 Here I am with about 1 month before she was born. They told me that if I ever felt bigger than I was it was because I was. I had more fluid than baby during this pregnancy.

Bed all ready for her arrival. Hannah loved reading the Olivia book before she was born. 

One last adventure. We took Hannah to the farm at Thanksgiving Point 3 days before Olivia was born. We had planned on going to the Dinosaur Museum a few days later but had to go after since Olivia decide to come 11 days early.

I am all set and ready to get this show on the road. I had been having contractions since Friday, July 26 but they would go away after a few hrs. On Monday night I had a lot more intense and closer together but I just tried to sleep through them. I had an appointment the next morning with my midwifes and thought I would see if they did anything. At my appointment I was dilated to a 5 with a bulging bag. (With Hannah I was only dilated to a 3 when my water broke). The midwife said that I needed to get to the hospital in the next few hrs and if my water broke to get the fast. I went home and got Hannah arranged with one of the Young Women from the ward  and we headed to the hospital around 11am. When I got there I was about the same and my water hadn't broke so they sent me walking to see if I could get the ball rolling. I had to keep switching between Robert and my mom because they were getting tired of my fast walking (so funny!). During one contraction I was leaning against the wall and breathing through it when all of the sudden it was as if a water balloon had popped. Yep that is right my water broke in the hallway. We went to get help and they quickly brought me a wheelchair. I sat down and they started pushing me to the room but noticed the nice trail of water behind me. Yep as I sat down more water kept coming. Lovely!!! They grabbed some towel and  had me hold them in front of me. This got things going faster till I hit an 8. I stayed at an 8 for several hrs and my midwife gave me the option to keep going at this rate (and get pretty worn out) or to give me some pitocin and speed it up. They gave me a little and it really sped it up. Since I was going unmedicated this also make it more intense. I figured I could handle a lot of pain for a shorter period. Olivia arrived about 35 minutes later. I really loved my midwives and loved how amazing Robert was at helping me through each contraction. My mom was also there to help. Last time Robert had a hard time once I started expressing pain and had to leave towards the end. He stood at the door and coached me but this time he was able to handle everything all the way through. Since this is the birth story we did have a funny side note that we all laugh at now. For those of you who don't know: Robert was diagnosed with Aspherber's after Hannah was born. We have learned a lot and grown so much during the past few years. One thing we have learned is how he takes things literally. During labor we had casually discussed that Olivia could be born in about 3 hrs if I continued at the rate I was currently. Well it was much longer than 3 hrs since I got stuck at an 8. Right after they gave me the Pitocin and the contractions started picking up our room phone rang. Robert picked it up and then I heard him say "Send them on back". We all almost in unison said "Who are they sending back?". Robert totally straight forward said "oh just Brian and Neg" (These were two family friends of Robert's) My midwife had no idea what to do and asked what I wanted her to do. She ran into the hall and explained to them that I was in active labor which they didn't expect to hear. I guess Robert had texted them when we originally said it might be 3 hrs and told them to come on over about that time and meet Olivia. I let them in to say Hi and that it would be best to come back tomorrow. You could see their shocked look on their face when they walked in especially when I had a contraction and began yelling "knees, knees" which was everyone cue to push my knees to my chest to take the pressure off my back. Oh man..what a moment. They then said "how about we come back tomorrow?" The midwife said "you are lucky she is calm during childbirth. She is not normal! Most women who are dilated to an 8 would be yelling at you to leave".  The next day when they came back we joked and said they are like family now and I should have had them just stay and help out (since Olivia was literally delivered 15 min after they left). This didn't bother me since I had already had my water break in the hallway.
I say each woman needs to choose what is best for them when giving birth. For me doing it unmedicated is about me overcoming my mind and seeing how strong I really am. It also helps with a faster recovery and I love that I am up and walking right afterwards.  The worse part of it for me is the very end and just making sure I am breathing or like they told me moan like a "cow". yeah that was funny when they told me that but it works. Just doing what you need and making sure that everyone in the room is on board. If you need it quiet then they are to be quiet or if you need "knees, knees" they push on you knees till you tell them.

Hannah meeting her sister for the first time. She has seemed to understand what was happening through the whole pregnancy and called Olivia "owa".

Hannah just loves her sister. Though she is adjusting to having to share the time and having major meltdowns now. Like she says "I learning".

Olivia had to stay in the nursery an extra night after I was discharged because her blood sugar wasn't stable. They let us stay till 11pm and then come back early the next morning. When Robert and I went to visit her before we had to leave for the night she gave us the biggest smile. It sure made leaving her much easier knowing she was happy. We thought she would have to stay till the following night but when we came to see her the next morning they said if her next 2 hr check was high enough she would be able to go home. Her poor feet had so many pokes on them. The next check was awesome so we got to go home with her. Even though she was in staying overnight in the regular nursery and not the NICU it was still hard leaving your new infant in the hospital while you go home. Just not what a new mom expects to have happen. I was grateful,however, that they were making sure she was healthy enough to go home.We have another bridge to cross with Olivia. She was born with a sacral dimple (I didn't know what that was so you can google it too). In the hospital they did a scan and thought that the trace when down towards the tailbone and not up towards the spine. In this case it is typically harmless. They wanted us to consult a Neurosurgeon still. We had that appointment a few weeks ago and they didn't rule out anything at this point. They want to wait till she is 3 months then do an MRI on her and see for sure. At this point we are hoping for the best and the fact that she has movement in her legs and not fluid leaking from the sight is good.

Robert's parents were able to come down 3 days after Olivia was born.