Olivia Love Steinhauer

Yaaaaay! Yes...I finally gave birth to my sweet Olivia! On the day of Oct 29th, I was out and about with my mom and the girls and wondering when I would have that baby. I was even still questioning if it was truly a she or if we might be surprised with a boy. At a quick stop to a little surf shop that day, I saw a bright yellow sign that said 'OLIVIA' on it and it just kinda gave me a little assurance that it truly was a girl and that maybe it was even the day to meet her. So as the day went on, I of course noticed that I was having contractions but they weren't consistent or intense or anything so I went back to thinking maybe it wasn't actually the day to meet her. Theo was in school all night and got home around 11:15p. I noticed that he was home and reading the bible so I just went back to sleep. I looked at the the clock at 11:30p, right as Theo turned off the light and I suddenly felt a really hard {painful} contraction and a 'pop'! My water broke! I jumped out of bed fast enough to not let water get everywhere, but as soon as I stood up the flood waters came! The crazy hard contractions started coming immediately and with every one I had, more water kept coming out. I knew I didn't have alot of time since I was already feeling some pain.
I quickly called my midwives office to let them know I was going to the hospital, then called my roommate to come home to be with the girls. Funny how the 1 night she was away to house-sit was the big night for us! So my mom waited at home with the girls until Carla got there then drove herself to the hospital. I knew I couldn't wait for her. This too was Theo's opportunity to drive like a nascar driver again...he loves it. When we pulled up to the hospital, Theo dropped me off at the maternity services door and had to go park the van. I went up the elevator myself to try to hurry and get checked in. Now imagine me, having hard contractions one after another, trying to walk while I hold a towel between my legs so I wouldn't leak all over the place. So this nurse walks out from around the corner and sees me standing there by myself holding the towel in one hand, and me holding onto the railing with the other and she says, 'Woah, where did you come from?!' {thinking to myself...hmm...does that really matter right now? I came from home and I need a place to drop this baby!} I just told her I needed a room and asked if I could get there quickly. So she led me to a room and all the nurses were scrambling to get me situated. Theo walked in with my stuff, then Sarah walked in. Mom came in a close 3rd. :) And last but not least, my friend Heather, the 'photog' made it in time. So the nurse girl 'checks' me and I was 4cm dialated and asked if I wanted an epidural. I figured that if everything was so intense and I was only 4 cm, I might be there forever in total misery waiting to get to 10cm, so the epidural was in order. About 10 minutes later I let them know I was starting to feel some pressure in my 'down there' region and they checked me again. {thanks for that...ugh...the second you let them know you feel something, they're so quick to torture you a bit more just to "check" whats happening} Well I was at 6-7cm. I was starting to get the feeling that if this epidural guy {Tarzan as they described him} didn't walk in the door right away, I wouldn't have time for my epi. Well, sure enough he didn't make it. Probably 20-25 minutes from the time they first checked me, I was already at 10cm and it was too late. At that point I was definitly feeling like I needed to push. {It actually felt like I needed to poop. Lovely. There's nothing like telling a bunch of strangers that you feel like you're about to poop right in front of them...horrible.} Luckily these peeps deal with this stuff all the time and are ready for anything. Now I'm on my knees, the back of the bed is up and I'm facing backwards leaning into the bed and holding Theo's hands. This took a ton of pressure off, and let me press my huge belly into the bed to help me push. So I was doing that for a little bit until they couldn't get a read on their little monitor thing of Olivia's heart rate so they made me turn over. I pushed a few times like that and the midwife told me to open my eyes, then there she was! Olivia was half way out when I spotted her in all her glory.... hmmm....maybe not totally glorious but you know what I mean. But it truly was an amazing moment. It was done. She was out and I could hold this precious girl in my arms. It's kinda crazy how much relief you feel once that baby is out. Yeah then the pain comes back with the after birth contractions, hurting nipples from nursing, and everything else...all you moms know what I'm talking about. She's so worth it. Anyways, there's the story...Olivia is finally here! <3