Meet Olive James

The other day I was in the shower and it hit me; I gave birth to a child. I did that. Not somebody I know, not someone I read about on a blog, ME! It was/is a weird and deeply rewarding feeling. Our Miss Olive joined our family on December 23rd at 10:56am.

We had an appointment on her due date which was the 22nd and my blood pressure was elevated. My doctor asked how we felt about being induced. She said my body was ready but it just needed some help getting started. At that point I was so ready to be done that I didn’t care how she came out as long as she did very. very. soon.

We drove home knowing we were going to come back to the hospital that night to have a baby. It was the longest seven hours of our lives. Luckily, we had my SIL, BIL, and niece come over to help keep us entertained while we waited. I’m so grateful she was there to capture these last few hours of me being pregnant.

We got the hospital at 10pm and at 11 they gave me misoprostol (a pill they put on your cervix to help it soften) with the idea that it would help me completely efface and then I would be put on pitocin in the morning. Well apparently the pill was all I needed because I went into labor on my own at 3am. Seven hours of labor and 20 minutes of pushing later, she was here! It really was an amazing experience that could not have been any more perfect. It’s really true when they say you don’t remember what life was like before you had a baby. It’s like she’s been with us forever (in a good way). She’s constantly making us smile and I can’t even begin to count how many times a day we look at her and say, “Oh my gosh, she’s just so cute”.

At this point she’s already a month old and I can’t even believe it! All through my pregnancy I prayed peace and joy over her and that’s exactly who she is. She’s a happy, content baby who loves to snuggle. We love our Olive so very much!

Photos by: Renascent Photography