Olivia Cate's Pregnancy Story

On June 30, 2013 we received some happy news… we were going to have another baby!  I was thrilled and also very shocked.  Brian and I had already decided to start trying for another baby, but it happened so quickly that it still managed to take me by surprise.  

My first trimester with Olivia was very similar to that of my pregnancy with Jacob – mild “morning” sickness that came in the late afternoon to early evening, and lots of round ligament pain as everything stretched to accommodate my growing belly.

We had our first appointment and ultrasound on July 29, and we heard that sweet little heartbeat for the first time.  We were told that her due date was March 4, 2014 and that everything looked perfect.

On August 26, we went in for our twelve week ultrasound, and the ultrasound technician surprised us by telling us that she was about 85% sure that she already knew the gender and asked us if we wanted to know.  Um, heck yeah we do!  She then told us that she was almost positive that it was a girl, and goodness gracious, did the tears commence!  I knew that it wasn’t a sure thing, though, so I tried to keep my feelings neutral for the next few weeks until we could find out for sure. 

On September 23 we went back for our 16 week appointment and our ultrasound technician, Courtney, announced that she had been right at our 12 week appointment – IT WAS A GIRL!!!!  A baby boy first, and then a baby girl – it was what I had always dreamed of growing up – my little ideal family.  And it was happening!! 

At exactly 14 weeks I started feeling tiny little taps in there – soooo early – and at 17 weeks and 1 day I felt her kick from the outside for the first time.  I knew from that moment on that she was going to be a feisty little thing, and to this day that still rings true!

The remainder of the pregnancy was, fortunately, nothing like my pregnancy with Jacob’s… I felt amazing!!  (You can read more about my somewhat difficult pregnancy with him here.)  A lot of it was because I knew what to expect, so I felt a lot more laid back and I didn’t stress out near as much about every little thing that could go wrong. 

Also, going into the pregnancy I was super fit – I had been doing Jillian Michaels butt and core DVDs like nobody’s business and I was in the best shape of my whole life.  Because my body was conditioned for working out, I was able to continue working out all the way up until around 35 weeks.  I would have continued to the end, but I had to stop due to breathing issues during the last few weeks.  Olivia squished my insides toward the end, and I had extreme shortness of breath during the last few weeks.  I can remember trying to read to Jacob at night and barely being able to get some of the words out because I was so short of breath.  It was crazy.

Other than that, things were great!  I rarely had heartburn, I didn’t have the iron deficiency that I had during my pregnancy with Jacob, and I didn’t have gestational diabetes.  Although, that was a close one – at my 20 and 30 week appointments I had sugar in my urine and I barely passed my glucose test… I passed it by one point!  Yeesh. 

I had the same cravings with Olivia that I did when I was pregnant with Jacob – Simply Lemonade on ice (I never use ice in drinks except for cocktails) first thing in the morning, and Publix Vanilla Frozen Yogurt topped with Dark Chocolate M&Ms every night before bed.  In addition to those two things, I also craved Gala Apples, oranges, Panera’s Fontina Grilled Cheese Sandwiches with Tomato Soup (which they’ve since discontinued and I am crushed), and Panera’s Cinnamon Crunch Bagels with Hazelnut Cream Cheese.  Shoot, I still crave those!  Despite giving in to my cravings most of the time, I only gained 18 pounds during my pregnancy with her.  Only 18 pounds!  I’m very petite anyway, but that was just crazy to me since I had gained 23 pounds with Jacob.

Most of my pregnancy was in the cooler months, so I didn’t have near as much swelling in my feet and ankles as I did with Jacob, and I also got to have a lot of fun with my maternity fashion – sweaters, belts, and scarves.  I documented her entire pregnancy via chalkboard, and that was the best thing that I did!  You can see all of the chalkboards and maternity outfits that I wore for each week here.

At 33 weeks and 2 days I had a bit of a scare.  I started having back pain at work, and a couple of hours into it, it got really bad – so bad that I was in tears and someone from our HR department had to drive me home.  I laid down on the couch thinking that things would settle down, but the pain continued to get worse.  I called my doc and she told me to go straight to the hospital, so my mom left work to get me over there.  I was afraid that I was going into labor, but fortunately it turned out to be hydronephrosis – fluid backing up around my kidney, and not very serious.  Apparently Olivia was cramping everything in there and the fluid wasn’t moving out like it should.

They gave me an IV and pumped the most delicious drugs into my veins.  I could literally feel the medicine as it moved through my veins and it left a trail of warmth and pain relief in its wake.  I felt like I was floating on a cloud… And I can now see why people get addicted to pain killers.  It was crazy and wonderful and I slept like a baby all night long (with the exception of having to get up to pee every hour since they were flushing all of the fluid with the IV) and I was as good as new in the morning. 

After that, the pregnancy was smooth sailing (with the exception of the shortness of breath later on), and I even had plenty of energy to make a lot of the decorations for her nursery. 

My best friend (who was also pregnant at the time) threw a baby shower for me in the last trimester, and I received all of the perfect, tiny, pink things that I had always dreamed of. 

My brother took some shots of the belly and the boys when I was around 35 weeks, and I will cherish those sweet pictures of our little family forever. 

We scheduled the c-section for February 25, 2014.  Since I had such a difficult delivery with Jacob (you can read about that here), my midwife recommended a c-section which is exactly what I was hoping for.  It’s pretty bad when you actually want to have a c-section!  Since I knew that we were opting for the c-section I didn’t have to stress about Olivia’s position.  Although I wouldn’t have even had to stress anyway because she happily nestled head-down just a few weeks before her due date.  As a matter of fact, my midwife said that her head was “waaaay down,” so it’s a darn good thing she didn’t try to come early!  I did have loads of Braxton Hicks contractions with her as well, but since I had already had them so much with Jacob, I knew that it was nothing to worry about. 

Two nights before Olivia’s birthday, I positioned Jacob around my big ol’ belly and I rocked him for the very last time as an only child.  Even though he was only two and a half at the time, he seemed to feel the enormity of that moment as much as I did, and it’s a memory that I know I will never forget. 

*Linking up with Jessi's Design for What's Hap-"Pinning" Wednesday.