Wishing on a Passport: Olive Elizabeth's Big Arrival

She is here! Just 3 days late, Olive arrived at 12:23 on July 7th weighing 6 lbs 9 oz. We couldn't be more excited and so happy. I won't get into all the details but here is a little bit about her birth...

On July 4th at about 2am I had contractions that were 6 minutes apart and painful. We called the doctor and she said to head to the hospital. This was it! We couldn't believe it! We arrived at the hospital, checked in and then it was time to wait. My contractions stayed regular but nothing else was progressing so we walked the halls, and bounced on an exercise ball and still nothing. So after 5 hours at the hospital, they sent us to "labor at home". Well, that was a disappointment! We were so close to meeting our little girl but still had to wait. So for three days I had contractions. They didn't stay regular. but they were still there.
It wasn't until a few days later that we were having dinner and they started to get regular again. All day that day they were about 30 minutes apart, but at dinner they were only 15. By the time Joel and I went to bed at 10:30 they were less than 5 and getting closer and closer! Was this it? Another call to the doctor and she said to come in. This was it!
We arrived at the hospital to find that I was 3cm dilated and within an hour I was to 5. After about 2 hours at the hospital I was given an epidural and it was wonderful. I was able to rest and relax and feel no pain. When I got to 7cm, my labor stalled and the doctor finally gave me a little boost of pitocin (a medicine to speed up labor) and before I knew it it was time to push!
The pushing part I thought would be scary but it really wasn't. It was just me and Joel and a nurse for the majority of it and we had the lights low and it was very calm. The only scary part was that every time I pushed Olive's heart rate would drop and an alarm would go off. In between though the nurse gave me oxygen and it would pop her heart rate back up. Everyone seemed pretty calm about it but after almost 2 hours the doctor came in and thought we should speed up the process. Her head was stuck and with her heart rate dropping it was a good idea to just get her out. The doctor ended up using forceps to grab her, but not before the anesthesiologist came in to give me a boost of pain meds. Because we chose the forceps, our room was suddenly flooded with people. Extra nurses for me and for Olive were on standby for when she actually came out to make sure that her rapid birth didn't affect her. Within a minute she was out and Joel was able to cut the cord and I was able to hold her in my arms. They placed her on my chest and all I could really see of her was her tiny ear and I couldn't believe that she was finally in the world. The hospital gave Joel and I plenty of time to fawn over her before weighing and bathing her. While the nurse was bathing her she said exactly what we were thinking, Olive was perfect!
The rest of our stay at the hospital was wonderful. We loved all the staff at Lutheran and we had plenty of visitors to come see our bundle of joy. It was so nice to get home though, and take a nap while grandma watched her for a bit!
Over the past week, we have had so many people coming to the house to see her and have even had out of town visitors coming from all over to hold her. Last night we had her baptism and Joel decided to be baptized as well. It was very special, so many people coming to bless Olive and Joel on the big day.
Well, that is it for now, Olive is one week today and we can't even remember what life was like without her. God has really blessed us and we are thankful everyday!
Now for the good stuff.... millions of baby pics!