Olivia Grace Enlow

On February 1st, we finally welcomed our beautiful daughter, Olivia Grace, into this world. She was 10 days late, weighed 9 pounds 6 ounces, was 21 inches long, and was perfect!

My due date was Friday, January 22.  As it grew closer, I started to anxiously await signs that labor was coming. Day after day nothing happened. My due date came and went. Nothing.

 My next doctor's appointment was the next Wednesday (past my due date).  David and I went in planning on telling my doctor that we wanted to be induced on Friday the 29th. Unfortunately for us, my doctor was going out of town for the weekend and we had to wait until Sunday, January 31st. Sunday felt so far away! My doctor, however, said that my body was ready to have a baby and he thought I'd go into labor before that. Wrong! Anyway, we scheduled the induction for Sunday night at 7.  So, we waited.
Sunday finally came. We went to church and spent the day getting everything ready. The hospital called and moved us back an hour to an 8:00 check-in. More waiting. My parents came to our house to sleep over with Austyn and we were on our way! We had a quick dinner at Denny's (which is where we ate before I had Austyn) and we made it to the hospital.

 After getting checked in and hooked up my labor finally started about 9:30.

The doctor came in at about 10 and broke my water and soon after I really started feeling my contractions.

 When I first got started, I was dilated to a 3. They checked me again at about 12:30 and I progressed just a little, I was at a 4. I was in labor with Austyn for 21 hours and I was really really hoping for a shorter labor this time around.

My contractions slowly got stronger and stronger. The nurse said to try to wait to get an epidural until they were very strong and consistent. I wanted to wait as long as I could because I was afraid that it was going to slow my labor down. By about 1 a.m. my contractions were getting worse and I was getting so tired. I just wanted to get a little sleep. I woke David up (just after he had barely fallen asleep) at 1:30 and asked if I should get the epidural. After going back and forth I decided to call the nurse.  I'm so glad I did because right after, my contractions got WAY worse. By 2:30, the epidural was done and I was feeling sooo happy. Seriously I can't tell you how great I was doing after the epidural.

I want to mention that right before I got my epidural I asked David to give me a blessing. It was one of the best blessings he has ever given me. He said some very beautiful and special things about our daughter who was about to come. I'm so very grateful he has the priesthood. It was a very special moment.

At about 2:45, the nurse checked me again and I was still at a 4. I could finally relax and me and David both fell fast asleep. At 5:30, I woke up, and although I didn't have any pain, I could feel pressure with each contraction I was having. I thought it had been odd that I hadn't been checked in awhile but I was grateful because I had been able to sleep. There had been a shift change and at 5:40, a new nurse and a student nurse came in to check again. The nurse said something that sounded like I was at completion. I didn't really hear her and I said, "wait how dilated am I?"  She said you are at a ten and ready to have a baby! I looked over at David who had been fast asleep and said "did you hear that?" He said, "yes!" and jumped out of bed!

Everything after that went by so fast. The nurse called for for the doctor to come and everyone started rolling in equipment.

The nurse had me all ready to go and we started doing some "practice" pushes. I pushed 3 times through one contraction. Then she told me to stop and to not push again. That baby was close! All we had to do was wait for my doctor to show up. As we were waiting, I could tell the nurse was getting a little anxious because the baby was ready to come. Finally, Dr. Housel showed up and it was go time! When my next contraction came he told me to push. I took a deep breath and started counting to 10. I only made it to 3 and she was out! I couldn't believe how easy it was because with Austyn, pushing was so hard for me. Doctor Housel pulled her out and cleaned her up and I heard her first beautiful cries.

Olivia Grace Enlow was born on February 1st at 6:06 a.m. My nurses and doctor all commented on how big she was! I couldn't believe it when they told me she weighed 9 pounds 6 ounces. She weighed almost 3 pounds more than Austyn did.

Not to long after I had her!

We named Olivia after my Great-Grandmother Grace May Dickinson, who was a very special woman. We found out just the day before Olivia was born that Grace was also born on February 1st so they share a birthday! I really don't think it was a coincidence. I also found out later that Grace's best friend and cousin was named Olivia too. It makes her name so much more special to me.

After spending a couple precious hours with Olivia my mom brought Austyn over. It was so neat introducing the new sisters to each other. At first Austyn wasn't quite sure what to think but quickly became excited.

We spent the next night at the hospital and then went home the next afternoon. I couldn't wait to get home and get settled in. While we were waiting to get discharged, it was poor Austyn's nap time and she was getting cranky!  Maybe she was just realizing she wasn't an only child anymore!

We love our little girl so much!  It is still hard to believe I have two kids now, but I am so grateful for each of them. Olivia has been the most wonderful addition to our family.