Olivia Lori Birk

So I am finally posting about the arrival of Olivia Lori Birk! She totally surprised me by coming a week early on October 24. At about 8:30 I started having some painful contractions, but continued with my day and had a bowl of cereal (which I saw again about an hour and a half later). I was absolutely in denial though because I was so convinced she would come in November. I sat down on the couch and started timing contractions at 8:50 and they were three minutes apart. So I called Adam and he, remembering how fast things went with Emily, got home right away. We dropped Mini and Emmy off at my wonderful neighbor's house and were walking in the hospital at 9:44. I went to the triage room and was at a 4. From there it was get my IV, get fluids and antibiotics, answer a million questions, all the while dying with the contractions. I got my epidural around 11 and they checked me right after and I was at a 9. My water broke at 11:50, and after 4 pushes Olivia Lori was born at 12:11.

Now this is where the craziness started. (And sorry to those of you who have heard everything already. This is basically me journaling.) She came out looking blue and floppy and put her on my chest for about 5 seconds. Then they whisked her off to try to get her breathing. I couldn't really see everything going on from my position being sewed up, but I looked over and they were doing chest compressions (her heart rate dropped under 100). I heard the nurse call the NICU for assistance, then heard her call back and say, "Are you running?!" Some of the worst moments of my life, needless to say. The nurse practitioner from the NICU came and intubated and pulled out a big mucus plug that had been blocking her airway (7 or 8 minutes past birth) and said she pinked up really quickly after that. Her 1, 5, and 10 minute APGARs were 1, 3, and 7. I got to hold her for about 30 seconds then they took her to the NICU and she was on a ventilator until Tuesday morning. Her labs showed beginnings of infection, so they decided to keep her for a week to do IV antibiotics. That week was crazy. It's kind of blur looking back, as I was back and forth from the hospital every three hours to feed her (I wouldn't go in through the night). The only reason we even survived is because my mom came Tuesday and stayed for almost two weeks. We would have died without her!

She came home from the hospital on her due date--Halloween. Mini and Emmy were so excited to meet her! I love this picture of them seeing her for the first time.

Things have gone relatively well since then. I just can't keep myself healthy! I got mastitis last week and was really sick (so sick that I told Adam I'd take labor over mastitis!). Now I'm fighting a yeast infection that makes nursing super painful. Sheesh--I'm just one thing to the next. But overall life is good. We are just grateful to have Olivia home and that she is doing so well. Heavenly Father has blessed us so much. It feels so appropriate to have Thanksgiving next week because I feel overwhelmed with gratitude at how blessed we are. Anyway, my friend Angela came and did pictures of Olivia and I think they turned out so cute! Here are my favorites (plus the one at the top):

And because I know I'll never do it if I don't do it now, here are some pictures from the last couple weeks. Halloween--here's a really tough (and handsome) bailiff, Minnie Mouse, and Super Woman.

Olivia on Halloween

Mini is an amazing sister to Olivia. The first time she heard Olivia cry while I changed her diaper, Mini started to cry too because it made her sad. What a sweetheart!

Emmy is an amazing mommy to Sleeping Beauty (in her left hand). Sleeping Beauty goes everywhere with Emmy--I've never seen a little kid so attached and devoted to something!

Finally, no pictures, but I turned 30! Hooray for a wonderful 30 years! And as Tim McGraw says, "The next 3o years will be the best years of my life..."