3:56PM

Olivia Brielle Campbell

7lb 12oz

19.5 in long

She is beautiful and is very soothed by our voices already.

2:30PM. Fully dilated. Still at station 0 and the doctor wants her to labor down until she gets to a +2 station. They also have her in  funny position now to try and get the baby to rotate around. Once she gets to a +2 station, they will have her push every two minutes until the baby is born.

12PM. The nurse just came in an checked and my wife is at 9 cm already. It’s crunch time. She will be back in another hour to check again, but we are to the point where she can feel the urge to push at any time. She has been resting very well trying to store her energy… she will likely need it soon.

10AM. Doctor finally came in. He decided to go ahead and break her water. INTENSE contractions now. There was an immediate call for an epidural. The anesthesiologist is here doing it now. Finally some relief. I’ve been told this will be my only child now… We’ll see. Great, now comes the catheter. That is something I don’t want to even think about… At least she can’t feel much now. Contractions are peaking much higher.

8:30AM This morning, we have not yet seen the doctor. He was supposed to come in about 6AM to check on things and decide how we were going to proceed, but we have not seen him yet. My wife is starting to have pretty regular contractions now and and when the nurse checked her earlier she was 4 cm dilated and the baby is 80% effaced. The warmer is setup to put the baby in when she comes. I have been trying to occupy myself by surfing the web and watching TV. Hopefully the doctor will come in soon so we can know more about what the plan will be for the day. For now, we wait.

3AM. Starting the Pitocin. My wife is struggling with whether or not to get some kind of pain relief through her IV. She will be able to get an epidural in another hour-and-a-half, but she has been trying to hold off on that. The medicine is starting to take effect as her contractions are becoming more intense. I think she has decided that she doesn’t want to have a baby anymore.

12:30AM Well, we are very close now. My wife has been having a few health issues and been going to the doctor twice a week for monitoring. She has been on bed rest now for almost a month which seemed to be helping things. Today, the doctor did his exam and determined that it was time to get the show on the road. They are going to induce labor starting with some mild drugs tonight. We are now at the hospital. She is trying to sleep right now as she will have a long day ahead of her. We are very excited and it is hard to rest. The nurse will be starting Pitocin (induces contractions) in a few more hours, and the doctor should be in around 6AM to see where we are at. 

It is a funny feeling knowing that your baby will be born sometime later today. I cannot easily describe all the things flying through my mind. It is really all starting to sink in.

Veterans’ Day, 2008. Not too bad if I do say so myself. (We almost made the Marine Corps Birthday Joe!) I can’t help but think about all those that have fought and died for me to be here today bringing a new life into the world.

Fear. What is to come? What will I have to deal with in the near future to raise a baby? What will I have to deal with in 15 years when she is a teenager?! How will I know if I do something wrong? What do I do now? Who will she be? Will I be able to send her to the best schools?

Love. A new life. A part of me. I will pour all that I am into her. She means everything to me already and I haven’t even met her yet. I can’t wait to hold her in my arms and know that she is mine and that this is all real. 

Fulfilled. New purpose, new meaning. New goals and desires. What once was thought important begins to drift away leaving only what is truly important; family. I will have a family. a baby. 

She is sleeping now. I should rest too, but too much to think about. Not much time left.

IT’S A GIRL!!!!!!!!!!

We did it. My wife and I have a baby on the way.

7 weeks into the pregnancy. We are very excited. We were kind of surprised, since, although we have actually been trying to have a baby, we have really been kind of stressed out recently since we have both started new jobs within one month. We did it though, and the baby looks very healthy so far.