Olivia Ellen Barton

Our baby girl made her grand "surprise" entrance into the world on Monday, October 3rd at 2:51 pm after 9 LONG hours of labor.  Since Trevor and Landon's labor times were only 4 and 5 hours, I was in the mindset that this one would go fast.  This is the first time I have had Group B Strep so I decided it would be best to be induced so that I could get on the antibiotics long enough based on previous labor times.  Well, looks like I could have waited a little bit longer and maybe dilated a bit more on my own...and maybe she would have come on her own on October 6th since it snowed that day :)  I was only dilated to a 2* when we got there and with previous ones, I was much further along once I got to the hospital.  (*Not-so-funny side note:  The nurse said I was a 3 when we first got there.  The doctor broke my water 2 1/2 hours later and said I was a 2...yeah, not cool!)  Seven+ hours after starting the pitocin, I was still only a 4+ (I guess not quite enough to call it a 5).  The contractions were already intense but nothing was showing for it.  I got an epidural around noon, knowing this process was going to be longer than I wanted to work through.  I was pretty discouraged already since the couple that came in to be induced at the same time as us had their baby in 3 hours.  Nothing like hearing a baby cry in the next room, knowing you are only at a 2. 

My blood pressure dropped really low and the nurse came in to check on me.  She said "Woah, you are ready to have this baby!"  I had gone from a 5 to a 10 in a little over an hour.  The doctor was called and shortly after I had a sweet baby girl in my arms.  At first I was pretty disappointed that this wasn't my plan of the "perfect labor."  I didn't really want to be induced and I didn't want an epidural, but at the end of the day when you have that perfect baby in your arms, I decided it doesn't really matter.

The doctor asked how we wanted it announced what gender the baby was right after birth.  She wanted to make sure that since we had waited to find out girl/boy that it didn't end up being anticlimactic.  She held her up as soon as she came out and I was SO excited to see that she was a GIRL!!  I wish we would have gotten a picture of the doctor holding her up but the camera hadn't made it's way out of the bag yet :)

They did the bath in my recovery room at the foot of my bed, which was fun to see since they usually do all that stuff (bath, footprints, etc.) in the nursery with the dad.



When I was contemplating having another baby (trust me, it took awhile for me to decide I was ready, but once I knew, I knew), I had this feeling that we would have a girl and I wanted to name her Olivia. I can't remember if it was really a dream or just a thought, but I remember thinking I would have a girl. All throughout the pregnancy people would ask if I knew if it was a boy or a girl since we didn't find out at the ultrasound. I guess I was afraid to say "it's a girl" because I really had this feeling I might be wrong! I needed to prepare myself that there was a possibility it might be a boy. I was SO relieved when she was born!

About her name...
When discussing name possibilities, Ashlee and Brynlee definitely had their opinions about names. They really wanted to name her Ellie. I really wanted to name her Olivia. What about Rob's opinion, you ask? He didn't really have any strong opinions either way for a girl. When the girls mentioned the name Ellie, I thought about Rob's Grandma Jones, whose first name is Ellen. I went back and forth between Olivia Ellen and Ellen Olivia, but decided if we went with the latter, I wouldn't ever be able to call her Olivia. But...if we went with Olivia Ellen, she could have the nickname "Ellie"...because after all, nicknames can be whatever you want, right?? Whatever.  Just agree with me.

Sunday night we were talking with the kids about the baby and how she would be born the next day. Of course, the conversation went to names. Brynlee said "If you name her Olivia, I will never forgive you." Wow. That's a pretty powerful statement. I was really worried she never would. When they came to see her in the hospital, they asked "so what is her name?" I asked Brynlee if it would be alright if we named her Olivia and assured her that she could call her Ellie. She agreed and so Olivia it is. And guess who is the one who calls her Olivia (or Livi)....yep, Brynlee. That stinker.

Olivia was in the nursery when the kids got there. We asked them if they wanted to see the baby now (still not saying he or she since they didn't know yet) or wait until the baby came back into the room. They asked if they would be able to tell just by looking at the baby. I was about to say "well, she has a bow in her hair" but I caught myself. Luckily Rob saved me and said that there was a card in the baby bed that you would be able to tell from.  Brynlee was the only one who wanted to go to the nursery.


You can see from the picture that Brynlee was still acting a little "weird?"  She didn't want to be in any pictures.  This was before I had asked her about the name so you can see why I was a little hesitant to bring it up again.

They were all so happy to see she was a girl! They all wanted a baby sister so there were smiles all around. Don't worry, had she been a boy, they all assured me they would be okay with that as well :)


All Trevor could say was "she's so cute!"

Happy, proud biggest sister...

I love this picture.  I think Brynlee was just taking her all in...

Big brother of a little sister.  Landon asked if she came out with a bow on her head.


Trevor seems SO big to me now.  He kept asking if we could take her home.

Coming home at last.  We had to stay a little longer because of the Group B strep.  I was glad to finally get out of that hospital room!

We're home!!

Three days old...