Olivia's Birth Story

Olivia's due date was November 10th.
{All of my babies due dates were within days of one another.}
Mady's was November 8th and so was Collins. Mady was born October 26th and Collin was October 17th.

So, you can imagine our surprise when October came and WENT and we had NO baby!
We had EVERYONE on high alert, expecting and waiting, on pins and needles for the a phone call one October day...but that day never came! Olivia was to be our first November baby. The closest to her due date; born on November 7th at 12:18pm, 3 days before her due date.

Here is her story:

Now, the another thing worth noting is that with both Mady and Collin's birth my labor starts with my water breaking. I never had regular contractions with either of them and was put on Pitocin once admitted into the hospital with confirmation that my water was broken and my labor was not progressing naturally. Therefore, I expected the same start with Olivia's birth. I actually was a little concerned I wouldn't recognize labor contractions because the only contractions I have felt were pitocin induced.

Well, at 12am on November 6th I felt regular, real labor contractions. No pitocin needed. I waited to see if they progressed for several hours.

I woke Bryan at about 2 am. when my contractions were 8 minutes apart and pretty painful. I had to breathe through them and wasn't able to talk.

At 3:30 am. our babysitter came and we made our way to the hospital.

At 4 am. we were checked into triage in the hospital and I was checked and to my surprise my water was INTACT and I was a 4, almost 5 cm dilated and 80% effaced. They admitted me.

At 5 ish am. we made it to our Labor and Delivery room, our parents were called and made their way to see us. At about 6 am my nurse checked me. My contractions were not real regular; about every 7 to 10 minutes apart and they weren't always painful. When the nurse checked me I was surprised to already be at 7cm dilated. My mom RUSHED to us. My labor usually happens quickly, but again, being induced both previous times it wasn't a true representation of what my body would do "on its own". With this being our 3rd we weren't sure how quick it would happen, however, with that amount of dilation we were thinking she'd be born at 9 or 10 am.

I got my epidural at about 6, 6:30 am. 

My mom got to our room at 7am. I was checked again somewhere between 7 and 9 am and had no dilation progression and my contractions were irregular.

My doctor came in and broke my water around 9 am...thinking this would allow my contractions to become more regular and dilation to continue. Well, at about 10 am they still were the same. I was a 7.

They gave me pitocin, to help things along at about 10 am. Somewhere around 11:30 am.  I was still at a 7 and my contractions weren't regular so they turned up my pitocin a tad and I switched over to my left side and experienced the WORLDS WORST CONTRACTION EVER! It was bad and YES, I had an epidural.

The nurse came back in and I demanded asked nicely that she turn my epidural up. I pretty much told her I kindly explained that if she wanted me to be able to push this baby out, she needed to adjust my levels. She complied. Thank GOODNESS.

She also checked me. It was 12 pm. I was 10 cm! and ready!!! That contraction (ONE CONTRACTION) got Olivia fully engaged and ready to come. It was a doozy. Hah. The nurse called the doctor in and we were ready to push.

I pushed through 3 contractions and in about 10 minutes she was born. She came out pink and SCREAMING!

Now, we did not know Olivia was a girl. We were being surprised about her gender. Everyone (all my family and pretty much all my friends thought "boy").

Needless to say, we were ALL surprised when the screaming baby was a baby GIRL!

In the beginning of my pregnancy, I thought "girl". After about 20 weeks I was thinking "boy".
However, with my crazy emotions and mood swings near the end of my pregnancy...I should have known the baby was a girl.

It took me about 6 hours of Livi's life to truly come out of the shock of Olivia being a girl. We all just continued to say "I cannot believe we had a GIRL!" and what a sweet girl she is.

She weighed 6 lbs 11 oz and was 19 inches long.
Dark hair and big, beautiful eyes. A darling, beautiful little girl.

We are so thankful for Olivia Turner and a healthy pregnancy, delivery and baby.
Thank you for praying and rejoicing with us.

Olivia's Newborn Shoot

Photo cred to the talented Timothy Marsee Photography.

Olivia was 1 week old in these pictures.
Poor thing was not happy about being naked and cold and surprisingly was awake during most of the shoot. So funny.

Here are some of our favs of our sweet newest daughter.

My beautiful daughters

My life. The struggle is real.

but sweet!

really, really sweet.

MY FAV

Gotta love a good cry shot

We love our little Livi.

Loving Livi

Here are some pictures of sweet Livi. Some taken on her 1 month mark.
At her 1 month appointment she weighed 9 lbs 10 oz. (50 %)  and was 20 and 7/8th inches (30%).
Growing right on track and only a few ounces shy of her big brother at the same time. He was 9 lbs and 15 oz at 1 month, however a few inches taller. Mady was 8 lbs and 2 oz at her 1 month (she was my smallest at birth too, at 6 lbs and 6 oz).  Surprisingly, Olivia's head shape is much different than Mady's and Collins. Their heads were always in the 75%, Livi's is in the 42%. Completely normal, just worth noting. Her head shape is adorable, makes her look like a little peanut.  Love it.

Loves sleeping on her belly

Have I mentioned how much they adore her?

Tummy time with some friends

"I'm so over this photoshoot Mom!"

I could kiss her from head to toe!

Livi has been a great baby. She's sleeping well and is very happy during that day to soothe herself to sleep amongst the noise a chaos of our busy life. She is nursing well and eating about every two hours during the day and goes about 4 hours at night. She of course, like most babies has the dreaded "witching hours", but not at the typical 7 o'clock (like Mady and Collin) but at 9 o'clock. Which is hard. We get the big kids down and await a much needed break to only be meet with a fussy baby. Bah. Thank goodness this season is short. I am a momma that thrives on predictability and a schedule. One of the MANY examples of me "dying to self". Her fussy times are really no big deal compared to our other two kiddos. We've only had a few "hard" nights. So we are thankful, because we are TIRED!

Life with 3 kids has been a new challenge for me.
I knew it would be hard....but MAN. Going from 1 child to 2 was easier for me than 2 to 3. Its a magnified glass to the selfishness in my heart. I'm really seeing how much I prefer myself. My schedule, my time, my personal space, my MY MY! Oh my.

Yes. Personal time is normal and even warranted, in some ways.
But it is TRUE and GOOD that the Lord is using child bearing and rearing to save us. This is biblical and man is the Lord using it to sanctify my flesh and teach me to LOVE more like CHRIST.
I'm thankful for this, but as I know, discipline is NEVER pleasant, in fact it's hard...but later yields a harvest of righteousness. Holding to this promise. It is good!

So today, I am trying to draw strength from the Lord and lean into his power to get through the long days because the days may be long, but the years are short. These kids are a blessing to Bryan and I and we are thankful for them and all the ways they are teaching us to cling to Christ.

Party of 5

So we are a family of 5. So weird to say that out loud.
I feel like I am talking about someone else.
Someone much older.
But, here we are. Happens in a blink of an eye. 8 1/2 years of marriage and 3 kiddos.
Our current reality seems so foreign and yet so familiar. Just happened so fast.

I want to reflect more deeply on how all this change has affected us, but really don't have time.
TIME! This is something that has definitely changed. There isn't much to spare.
So while I shovel some food down my throat in time to pick up Mady from school, watch Collin run back and forth from the table "eating and playing" and hear Olivia cry from her swing......I will try to cohesively string a thought together.

One thing I will say is: The Lord has heard and answered our prayers. Every prayer for this transition was answered. The kids are THRILLED with Livi. They love her. Collin, my little shadow was the biggest of my concerns and he barely notices her. When he does he sings softly to her and pats her gently and even asks to hold her. Its so so sweet. Mady, of course feels like she is her own little baby doll. She loves to hold her and kiss her. Talks to her a lot and has even earned some of the first smiles. I am so thankful for this.

I usually struggle with postpartum/ baby blues pretty badly the first month after the baby comes and thankfully I have really been ok. Weepy at moments, but nothing like I usually am. I am SO thankful for this two. Those two things were my biggest prayers and the Lord was kind to answer them in the way I had asked.

Another sweet mercy is Olivia herself. She is a sweet little thing.
She was born November 7th at 12:18 pm, weighing in at 6 lbs 11 oz. 19 inches. She was just an ounce under Collin's weight. So far, she has been a dream baby. Only crying when she gets naked or hungry. I will post her birth story when I have some more time.

Life with 3 is CRAZY. I'll try to post more about this too, when I have more, you guessed it, T-I-M-E.
Haha. This season is long, but short all at the same time.
We covet your prayers. Thank you for all your kind words about our sweetest Livi-love.

Here are some pictures from her first two weeks home:

Her first bath...I had some cute helpers.

We were a not too happy about our first bath

Safe in big sissy's arms.

My hero. He's been amazing. Taking care of the big kids and even staying up with Livi so I can get some uninterrupted sleep. Truly my better half.

Every little girl needs to sleep with an enormous flower, right?

Sorry babe, I just had to. Mady has been enjoying taking some pictures too. Here is a funny one :)

I've so enjoyed having a 5 year old with this baby. She's been such a great helper. I cannot believe I have 2 daughters. What a joy!

Itty bitty Livi. 1 week.

Our Thanksgiving Day

Always sleeping....

Sweetest big brother

My heart outside of my body!!!!

My girls!