Welcome Olive Mae!

Throughout this pregnancy I have planned on having a natural, unmedicated childbirth since there is the possibility that we could have more children during the time that we will be in Africa. I wanted to know for myself that I was capable of giving birth naturally, and I just wanted the experience and challenge of doing so. And what an experience it was- I would not do have done it any other way!

As Olive's due date approached, I did become slightly more anxious that I would have to be induced, and fearful that I would not be able to manage the pain if I was. I decided to try to take matters into my own hands and try just about every natural "labor-inducer" out there. I will spare you the details, but let's suffice it to say that some of them were not fun! Oh, and don't order shrimp at a Mexican restaurant, no matter how spicy it is. Derek suffered from the effects of that one, too...


 visiting with friends our last weekend as a family of 3!

 Olive's "fair warning" notice/threat of induction...I guess it worked! 

 Anyway, maybe it was the eggplant parmesan that I ate on my due date that finally kicked things into gear. I started having contractions at about 11:30 on Monday night. My sister (who also served as my rock-star doula) came over soon after and we paced the neighborhood through the night. Finally, around 6:30 the next morning Derek packed up the car and we headed to the hospital. Contractions were about 3-4min apart, had gotten stronger as the night went on, so I felt like I was probably making pretty good progress.


see...labor isn't all that painful the whole time. Much of it is waiting, waiting, waiting!

When I got admitted into the outpatient triage area we discovered that indeed I was making good progress as I was already 5cm and contractions were picking up. They got me settled into a room and my dr. predicted that we would have our addition maybe by early afternoon! As time wore on, things slowed down a bit. And then slowed down some more...and then slowed down even more. This was very discouraging as I had thought that with it being my second child, and having no interventions, and since the first stage of my labor had progressed fairly quickly, certainly this would be a fairly quick delivery process!

Pacing the room at 8cm, trying to lure Olive out with a cute little warm hat to wear :)

Then I hit 8cm and sat there. FOR 3 HRS! I was trying all kinds of labor positions, pacing the room, doing everything I could to speed the process along. Jenn and Derek were amazing, right by my side, never took a break to eat, go to the bathroom, anything. I could not have done it without them. Finally we found the right position, and little Olive made her descent.

After 20 long hours of labor, Olive Mae gracefully entered our lives at 7:26pm, weighing 7lbs 3 oz, and 19 inches long. She was a beauty from the moment I laid eyes on her, and worth every single pain I went through to get her there. 

For some reason, she didn't seem as excited to see me as I was to see her!

 Mama and baby after a long hard day's work!

 I think this girl probably did just as much work as I did!

 My awesome dr. who sat in the room with me for 3.5 hrs waiting for me to deliver!

 Introducing Big Sister & Little Sister

Proud Daddy

Welcome to our family, Miss Olive Mae Webber!