She's Here: Olivia Kay

Last week we welcomed our beautiful baby girl - Olivia Kay Greathouse! 

Here's her birth story: 

I started having some contractions that I noticed were worth timing on February 24. They became fairly regular & rhythmic, but never got closer together than 7 min apart. I had thought we would be heading to the hospital that night, but no such luck. After about 2 hours or so, they slowly spaced out & eventually stopped. 

I continued about my day as planned come the 25th. I headed to the recitation section for my graduate assistantship training, having no contraction action until I got onto campus around 9 am. As I sat listening to student speeches, I started timing them & like the night before, they were averaging every 7.5 minutes or so. 

By the time noon rolled around, I'd noticed they were getting quite a bit stronger & seemed more frequent - I was right! At this point they were coming every 5 minutes or so. I made my way to my car (which took me 15 min having to stop to let the contractions pass) & headed home to get Greg. 

I kept timing during my drive home & even called Greg about halfway home (we live about 30 minutes from the campus) wondering if I should just turn around & have him meet me. Since I wanted to change & eat, knowing I wouldn't get food once admitted, I finished my drive home. 

When I got home, I checked the contraction timer app I really wasn't paying attention to while driving & contractions had been coming every 3.5 minutes. We hopped in the car as soon as I got home to go straight to the hospital. I called to let them know we were on our way, as well as called our parents & my sister to give them a heads up. 

We managed to get inside to Labor & Delivery, who was expecting us, & signed in at 1:43pm. We got set up in triage and they checked me - already dilated to 8cm! The contractions kept coming! I mentioned I was now considering an epidural, even though I really had planned to not get one, so the triage nurse got me hooked up to fluids so I'd be ready to go when they moved me to a Labor & Delivery  room. Well, baby girl had different plans... 

About 20 minutes after getting into the triage room & getting fluids started, my contractions kicked it up a notch! They went from painful to unbearable with lots of pressure. Nurses rushed in & checked me - 10 cm & water ready to burst! They unhooked everything faster than I could imagine, told Greg to grab our bags & lets go! They rushed me out into the hall still in the triage bed, all while having nonstop contractions. The doctor was waiting for us down the hall. When we got in, she told me "we're going to mode you to the laboring bed, break your water & push!!"

My head was spinning. Greg was confused when he walked in behind us & was immediately told to help. Not even 10 minutes later, just 43 minutes from the time we walked in, Olivia Kay was born!

2:26 pm on February 25 in an unmedicated, fast & furious fashion! She was 6lb 6.5oz and 18.5 inches long. She came out screaming & with a head full of dark brown hair, because that's what our kids like to do! 

My great friend Brooke picked up Greyson from school that day & brought him to the hospital to see us. He was unsure at first, but quickly warmed up to her & wanted to "hold it." He walked around telling everyone that she is baby sister "Olibia" & likes to pet her head. 

She's a great sleeper & good eater already. And of course adorable as can be! Already excited to continue sharing more about all of the fun coming our way. 

Until then, I shall try to finish my last project for my graduate school class while resisting the cuteness sleeping next to me! 

Happy Monday!