Olive's birth story
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mrs_n0rris
Posts: 65 Member
Hello all! Olive Julie Monique (middle names after her grandma's as traditional in my family) was born Monday Jan. 20th around 8:30. She was 50 cm long and 6 lb 13 oz, with dark blue-gray eyes and black hair (so far anyways).
We had a scheduled c-section so we knew that would be her birthday and even probably the time beforehand. We had to be at the hospital for 6 am but I could hardly sleep the night before anyways. We got up at 5 and were at the hospital early (just a little excited!
). I have to say, for me the worst part of the operation was the prep. Getting the iv on top of my arm (placement was meant to make it easier for me to care for baby afterwards) and the catheter were not that pleasant. Also the anticipation and not knowing about what the operation would bring just made me uncomfortable. I felt like I was such a wimp about the catheter and iv that there was no way I'd make it through the operation! Silly me, everything was fine. I had a spinal block which worked almost immediately and felt no pain at all during the section. I could feel a bit of pressure but even that was minimal, honestly it was easier than the dentists. I did feel a bit nauseous at the start and I had to use an oxygen mask which I didn't like (I'm a bit claustrophobic and feeling like vomiting wasn't helping that) but I tried to remember some yoga breathing and it all calmed down quickly.
The section itself was really quick. Olive was out and crying in about 10 mins
She cried right away on her own and her score was 9/10 (she had blue hands hence the point deduction) and was a 10/10 at the 5 min check. They held her up over the curtain so we could see her when she was still a bit gooey and then they cleaned her off in the same room and we got to hold her while they stitched me up. I was so happy and overwhelmed I cried right away while my husband just smiled. Once the doctors were all done they wheeled me to recovery and my husband went with the baby to be measured. Apparently she peed on the table and broke the measuring tape (and possibly the scale?). I felt pretty good in the recovery room, just happy and tired and overwhelmed. It didn't take long and they brought her back to me and my husband and our parents came in too. I have to say having our midwives present at the section was so great. They who made sure we got to see/have the baby as much as possible in the first few hours. I even started breastfeeding while in the recovery room and they helped me with a proper latch and all that good stuff.
Afterwards we went back to my hospital room and the baby was measured again and had her vitals taken, etc. Our parents and my husband just stood around saying how beautiful she was and hold fast it went, etc., etc. Once the freezing came out (and I was trying my hardest to get moving, even wiggling in the recovery room) there was definitely some soreness and I couldn't walk too much but the nurses kept me well enough medicated that I wasn't in too much discomfort. Every day since then has gotten a bit better painwise although breastfeeding itself is a tender operation and I have to remember to take the meds regularly (this is one thing it was nice to be at the hospital for).
Unfortunately it hasn't all been rosy. The doctor who delivered Olive was the dad of someone I have known since kindergarten and he was a fabulous doctor. He has been performing the majority of c-sections in our community since 1986 (!) and had a wonderful bedside manner. In the afternoon on the day Olive was born the higher-ups of the hospital came into my room to speak to me, they even went so far as to kick my family out the room (my husband had stepped out). They started out the conversation with "we're sorry to say we have terrible news..." and I was panicked. I thought for sure something was wrong with the baby or something with the surgery had gone horribly wrong. Thankfully it was none of these things, but sadly our doctor had passed away a few short hours after Olive was born. He was in a fatal car accident. After delivering thousands of babies, our Olive was the very last. Although I cried at the time, I think I'm still taking this all in. Things can be so overwhelming these past few days, the good things and the bad, that I haven't had time to process everything.
To add to this tragic accident, a nurse came in the next day and said to me "you know that the baby's heart skips a beat every fifth or sixth time, eh?" My response was NO! I didn't know that. (Disclaimer: while most the nurses I had were great, one or two were kind of douche bags). Thankfully my midwife came in almost immediately after that and checked everything out, explained to me this was very common and got on the phone immediately with a doctor to come confer on the matter. As it turns out Olive's heart doesn't skip a beat, it actually has an extra beat at the end when a lower valve opens when it shouldn't. The new, conferring dr is fabulous. He came almost immediately to talk to me and see Olive, came back several times over my 3 day hospital stay and is very down to earth. He explained again that this would likely resolve itself as she gets a bit bigger but that he wanted to follow up with her to make sure it resolved because we don't currently have a family doctor in the area (we just moved back). Now we have a few more appointments for her heart, she'll have to wear a heart monitor for a day next Monday and go for a heart ultrasound the following week. I'm trying to stay positive, the doctor and midwife really don't seem overly worried and I trust them so hopefully all will be good.
Ok sorry that's so long, but it's been quite the week. Thankfully we're settling in at home now and starting to get into the routine of our new normal. I have to say I love our little girl so much, when I do feel extra sad about things that happen or just feel like crying thanks to the hormones, I snuggle her and my heart feels lighter. My husband too has been a God sent, helping with food and some cleaning and just generally helping me feel better. I hope all the new mommies and mommies to be are doing well!
We had a scheduled c-section so we knew that would be her birthday and even probably the time beforehand. We had to be at the hospital for 6 am but I could hardly sleep the night before anyways. We got up at 5 and were at the hospital early (just a little excited!
). I have to say, for me the worst part of the operation was the prep. Getting the iv on top of my arm (placement was meant to make it easier for me to care for baby afterwards) and the catheter were not that pleasant. Also the anticipation and not knowing about what the operation would bring just made me uncomfortable. I felt like I was such a wimp about the catheter and iv that there was no way I'd make it through the operation! Silly me, everything was fine. I had a spinal block which worked almost immediately and felt no pain at all during the section. I could feel a bit of pressure but even that was minimal, honestly it was easier than the dentists. I did feel a bit nauseous at the start and I had to use an oxygen mask which I didn't like (I'm a bit claustrophobic and feeling like vomiting wasn't helping that) but I tried to remember some yoga breathing and it all calmed down quickly.The section itself was really quick. Olive was out and crying in about 10 mins
She cried right away on her own and her score was 9/10 (she had blue hands hence the point deduction) and was a 10/10 at the 5 min check. They held her up over the curtain so we could see her when she was still a bit gooey and then they cleaned her off in the same room and we got to hold her while they stitched me up. I was so happy and overwhelmed I cried right away while my husband just smiled. Once the doctors were all done they wheeled me to recovery and my husband went with the baby to be measured. Apparently she peed on the table and broke the measuring tape (and possibly the scale?). I felt pretty good in the recovery room, just happy and tired and overwhelmed. It didn't take long and they brought her back to me and my husband and our parents came in too. I have to say having our midwives present at the section was so great. They who made sure we got to see/have the baby as much as possible in the first few hours. I even started breastfeeding while in the recovery room and they helped me with a proper latch and all that good stuff.Afterwards we went back to my hospital room and the baby was measured again and had her vitals taken, etc. Our parents and my husband just stood around saying how beautiful she was and hold fast it went, etc., etc. Once the freezing came out (and I was trying my hardest to get moving, even wiggling in the recovery room) there was definitely some soreness and I couldn't walk too much but the nurses kept me well enough medicated that I wasn't in too much discomfort. Every day since then has gotten a bit better painwise although breastfeeding itself is a tender operation and I have to remember to take the meds regularly (this is one thing it was nice to be at the hospital for).
Unfortunately it hasn't all been rosy. The doctor who delivered Olive was the dad of someone I have known since kindergarten and he was a fabulous doctor. He has been performing the majority of c-sections in our community since 1986 (!) and had a wonderful bedside manner. In the afternoon on the day Olive was born the higher-ups of the hospital came into my room to speak to me, they even went so far as to kick my family out the room (my husband had stepped out). They started out the conversation with "we're sorry to say we have terrible news..." and I was panicked. I thought for sure something was wrong with the baby or something with the surgery had gone horribly wrong. Thankfully it was none of these things, but sadly our doctor had passed away a few short hours after Olive was born. He was in a fatal car accident. After delivering thousands of babies, our Olive was the very last. Although I cried at the time, I think I'm still taking this all in. Things can be so overwhelming these past few days, the good things and the bad, that I haven't had time to process everything.
To add to this tragic accident, a nurse came in the next day and said to me "you know that the baby's heart skips a beat every fifth or sixth time, eh?" My response was NO! I didn't know that. (Disclaimer: while most the nurses I had were great, one or two were kind of douche bags). Thankfully my midwife came in almost immediately after that and checked everything out, explained to me this was very common and got on the phone immediately with a doctor to come confer on the matter. As it turns out Olive's heart doesn't skip a beat, it actually has an extra beat at the end when a lower valve opens when it shouldn't. The new, conferring dr is fabulous. He came almost immediately to talk to me and see Olive, came back several times over my 3 day hospital stay and is very down to earth. He explained again that this would likely resolve itself as she gets a bit bigger but that he wanted to follow up with her to make sure it resolved because we don't currently have a family doctor in the area (we just moved back). Now we have a few more appointments for her heart, she'll have to wear a heart monitor for a day next Monday and go for a heart ultrasound the following week. I'm trying to stay positive, the doctor and midwife really don't seem overly worried and I trust them so hopefully all will be good.
Ok sorry that's so long, but it's been quite the week. Thankfully we're settling in at home now and starting to get into the routine of our new normal. I have to say I love our little girl so much, when I do feel extra sad about things that happen or just feel like crying thanks to the hormones, I snuggle her and my heart feels lighter. My husband too has been a God sent, helping with food and some cleaning and just generally helping me feel better. I hope all the new mommies and mommies to be are doing well!
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Replies
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Is that the same as a heart murmur? My daughter had a very mild murmur (some nurses/doctors could detect it and others couldn't) but she outgrew that as well. I work with babies and I can tell you that a lot of born with mild heart issues that clear up quickly.
That is crazy about your doctor. How sad.
Glad you are doing well!!!0 -
Congrats on your new daughter! Glad your c-section went well and I hope that your recover also goes smoothly!0
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Congrats on the birth of your daughter, Olive! That is an incredible story. So sorry to hear about the Dr. Best of luck with the little one and hope you recover quickly from the c-section!0
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Congrats on your little one
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