Babycakes Olivia Kate

Our new baby arrived almost 3 weeks ago.  We named her Olivia Kate.  She is a treasure.
I went in to the doctor on her due date and he suggested/somewhat insisted that I be induced the next day.  I had several reasons for not wanting to be induced. 1-there is supposed to be a higher rate of c-section when women are induced.  2-I had never been induced before.  3-it seemed too planned and I wanted the excitement of going into labor when the baby was ready.  However, my doctor said I was very favorable for induction and I felt confident of that.  I knew that he really wanted to deliver our baby himself...and I kind of wanted him too also, given my previous negative experience with a unknown dr. who was just on-call.  So, I agreed and we went to Norton's Suburban Hospital at 7am the next morning.  It was exciting.  I had time to get ready and shower, check in and meet the nurses..all without having to be in the pain of labor.  They hooked me up to the machines, started a pitocin drip without any pain meds and waited for the contractions to start.  It didn't take long!  It did hurt, but nothing I couldn't handle.  She turned it up a notch and it hurt a bit more!  But then the epidural nurse came in and hooked me up..from then on it was a breeze.  He told me I had a spine fit for students.  I guess that meant that my epidural was easy to administer!  He rattled off the list of side effects..paralysis/death.. and then said to tell him if I had any ringing in my ears or metal taste in my mouth...I always have found that odd/nerve racking!  Then I was able to relax a couple of more hours and wait for baby Olivia to come.  At 12 pm, Kyle and I were chatting when the nurse came in to check on us.  She looked around and then said..I'll go get the doctor..you're ready to have a baby!  That was quite a surprise since I thought we'd have another few hours to go!  Baby Olivia was born at 12:21 weighing 7lbs 13 oz.  Dr. Penta was able to deliver her easily with no complications.  It was definitely the easiest of all deliveries that I have experienced!  I don't regret my induction one bit!