Lydia Pearl Olson

Well, March 3 started off like any other day. It was a Saturday so Zach and I spent the morning hanging around the house (and calling Dave Westra and Carrie Lyle to wish them a Happy Birthday!)
After lunch we decided to drive to Hamilton to go to Babies R Us and pick up a few last minute things for Baby O. We got to the store, picked up our items, and got into the check out line. Suddenly, I felt a gush of liquid "down there." (I won't go into details for the sake of any men reading this.) I said to Zach, "I think my water just broke....in Babies R Us!" (How ironic is that?)
So I walked to the bathroom trying not to draw attention to myself. Now being that we were in Babies R Us you would figure that most people in there have kids so I knocked on the stall door next to me and said, "Excuse me M'am, are you a mother? Have you given birth before?" This kind, slightly confused, woman replied, "Uh, yes." I then explained to her what happened and asked if she thought my water had broke. She was gracious enough to help me and gave her opinion that yes my water had indeed broke, and I needed to go to the hospital!
I thanked her and awkwardly walked back to the front of the store to meet Zach, who had finished paying for our baby items. He had a big questioning smile on his face as if to say, "So....it is happening?" I looked at him, nodded and said, "We need to go to the hospital."
So Zach and I quickly drove to the hospital, got checked in, and so began the long night of labor.
Here I am energized and ready for the night ahead of us.

Since we were in Hamilton when my water broke, we didn't have any of our stuff with us. So Zach left to drive all the way back to Jarvis and then back to Hamilton with our baby bag and car seat. I was praying the whole time that he wouldn't miss anything. Thankfully he didn't, other than walking many, many laps around the maternity ward with me and my IV stand.
After 8 hours of contractions I had had enough so I got an epidural (Wow, are those amazing! Seriously, whoever invented them...Bless you!) After the epidural we tried to relax, played some Phase 10, and rested a bit. I was only dilated 2 centimetres at this point. After six more hours they checked me again and we were very disappointed to learn I had only progressed 2 more centimeters. The doctor said we needed to start thinking about a C-section because the baby was facing the wrong direction (not breech, but looking up instead of down). She said she would check me again in 3 hours and if I hadn't dilated more, they would start prepping me for surgery.
So we started praying and doing all we could to help the baby turn. My nurse had me lay on my side to encourage the baby to turn. When doing this, there was a patch in the epidural that didn't work and I felt excruciating pain for about 15 minutes. But the pain was well worth it because when I was checked again we knew the baby had turned because I had dilated to 10 cm in just 3 hours! We were so excited we high-fived the doctor and nurse! The doctor congratulated us and said, "Time to push this baby out!"
We got all set up and I asked the nurse how long this pushing phase generally takes. She said to prepare myself for at least 2-3 hours of pushing. So I took a deep breath and tried to mentally prepare for the work ahead. The doctor came in and told me to push at 11:00 am. After one push the head was poking out, and this little person entered the world at 11:07- only 7 minutes after we started pushing! The doctors were shocked and said that was a record. We were shocked too, but more curious to find out the sex of the baby. Then we heard those four wonderful words, "It's a little girl!" We were so thankful and excited...and surprised (we were both convinced it was a boy)! I got to have skin to skin time with her right away which I loved! And then the doctor asked, "So....what is her name?" Lydia Pearl was the answer.




Our first family shot.

Daddy daughter time...

Mom O made the trip out as soon as she heard I was in labor. She is one proud grandma.

Lydia had to get cleaned up. Here she is responding to her first bath.

We are praising God and so thankful for a healthy baby girl. Thank you so much for all your prayers, thoughts, and encouragement throughout this journey. We covet your prayers as we learn and grow as parents and as a family of three.
Labor and Delivery Stats:
Elapsed time start to finish: 19 hours and 7 minutes
Number of laps walked around the ward: 33
My gratefulness towards the inventor of epidurals: Immeasurable!
Number of miles travelled by Zach in a frantic frenzy to get our pregnancy bag to the hospital: 64
Number of hours slept the first night with Lydia: less than 1
Number of tears shed at the sight of Lydia: It was like Niagara Falls in there...
Lydia's weight: 7 lbs. 15 oz.