Welcome Peyton Dennis Olson!

Finally, a moment to write on my blog! I’ve been anxious to share the story but have been struggling to find the time. I promise I won’t disappear for this long again!

Starting about a week before I went into labor, Steve was super excited -- Pearl Jam was going to be the musical guest on Saturday Night Live! He talked all week about it. Fast forward to that Saturday, March 13^th at around 10:30pm and it was time… for Pearl Jam to perform! We ran upstairs, turned the TV on, and I kid you not, my contractions started during their first performance -- a song called "Just Breathe" (how appropriate for not only me, but for the new life that was about to enter our world!) At the time, I wasn’t sure what they were, but in hindsight, that’s when it all began…

We spent the next hour on the Internet trying to figure out if it could really be. I called my friend Megan, a mother of two, for some more insight and around midnight, I called my doctor, who advised me to go to the hospital… Eeeek!!

We finally got out of the house around 1:30am, and I was 50% sure this was it, and 50% sure we would be sent home.

Right when we got there, I was sent to Triage where they monitored me for an hour. This was the longest hour of my whole labor! My contractions were getting longer, stronger, and closer together (the general rule of thumb) and I wondered how I would cope if I was sent home, as they were beginning to hurt. Meanwhile, Steve was having fun watching the intensity of my contractions on the monitor, and with every one, he cheered for it to be longer and stronger than the previous… with good intentions of course (he was ready to have a baby!) J

Around 3:30am, I had dilated to 3cm and was 80% effaced, and I couldn’t believe it when the nurse said I was being admitted!! It was really happening!!

From then until about 8am, I laid in bed with contractions that became incredibly painful with no epidural. Remember my good intentions of using the tub and garden? Well it didn’t happen! I couldn’t move and didn’t want anyone to see me during a contraction. The nurse urged me to get up and walk around, claiming the force of gravity would be good for me and baby, so eventually I peeled myself out of bed and walked around my room for 30 minutes. Just as I was about to lay back down, my water broke (guess she was right!)

Steve ran and got the nurse, who said my labor was going as perfect as could be, since things were happening in order and on their own at a good pace. That was a confidence booster J I was then at 5cm and was ready for the epidural. God Bless an epidural! And God Bless those who can do this without one!

From about 8am till Noon, I laid happily in bed while family started arriving (talk about perfect timing.) Suddenly at 12 Noon on the dot (when they predicted I’d be ready) Peyton’s heartbeat drastically dropped. What a scary moment. The nurse ran in and all the sudden I was being told to roll to the left (his heart rate didn’t rise), roll to the right (still didn’t rise) then she (kinda) yelled, “WE NEED TO HAVE THIS BABY!” in a panicked tone. What happened was I had four contractions right in a row, and with each contraction, his heart rate naturally drops. Because I had four in a row, it didn’t have time to recover from the last. Somehow after I turned a certain way in bed, it started rising again. By the time it had risen, I was ready to push and from that moment on, I pushed for 40 minutes and at 12:43pm, out came healthy baby Peyton weighing 7lbs, 2oz and 21in! That was The Best moment of our entire lives! All my prayers had been answered and a little miracle was in my arms at last.

“Babies are so fresh from God, you wonder where they leave their wings.”

--Unknown