Oliver's Birthday

 After several days of false labor, I knew Monday night was going to be the night to head into labor and delivery. After all the contractions I had on Sunday that ended in NOTHING, Monday rolled around without a peep from my little man. Walked a few miles and not a single contraction. This was playing out quite similar to my delivery with Emma. Just after dinner, I started to have more regular contractions and put Emma to bed around 8:30. I was still having some contractions at this point, but nothing too intense. Since I knew the whole check in process took some time, we finally decided to head in to the hospital around 10:30 pm. Contractions were about 6-7 minutes apart but I could still talk and walk through them. I was worried that I wouldn't be dilated enough to get to stay but was at 4 cm upon check-in. Since they wanted contractions to be stronger and closer together, they sent us up to the looooooooong hallway on the labor and delivery floor to walk for awhile. They suggested I walked for an hour or two and return to triage to get rechecked to see if I was dilating any further. Well, the cervical check when I arrived was TORTURE. Seriously one of the most painful things I experienced while at the hospital, so I was bound and determined to walk my ass off and not return to triage until the contractions were about to drop me to the floor. Larry walked by my side for almost two hours. I stopped as needed when the contractions were getting more painful but was determined to keep walking. We probably walked a good 4 miles, baaaaack and foooooorth. The scenery was getting pretty boring. There were 16 sets of turquoise and purple tiles amongst the white tiles on the floor, 6 white tiles between sets. Yep, I stared at the damn floor so much I counted tiles. Lol. We walked from 11:45 pm until about 1:45 am. I stopped and timed contractions on my phone and they were 3-4 minutes apart the whole time we walked but near the end were lasting closer to a minute and a half. My back was starting the hurt and my butt cheek was cramping so I decided to head back to triage and PRAY I had made some progress.

Once back in triage, they said they weren't going to check me and just send me up to the labor and delivery floor. They asked if I could still walk or if I needed a wheelchair. "Oh, I can walk still" I proclaimed. And then I got into the elevator with one of the worst contractions ever and thought that's what I was going to get for being pompous. We got to our room and they checked me. I was pretty disappointed to only be 5 1/2 cm along. I was hoping to have been at least at 6 cm. =( When I had Emma, things progressed so much quicker so I had a feeling we were going to be in for a long night as my little man took his sweet time making his way into the world. It was only 2am on Tuesday morning and I began to get worried that I wouldn't even have this kid until Wednesday.

My IV was put in at 2:30. For once it was not a horrendous experience from a bald paramedic intern so I was happy that the nurse put it in almost painlessly. Contractions were getting stronger so I requested an epidural about 2:45. While waiting, the nurse gave me some Phentanol (again, I never know how to spell this!) through the IV. She said it wouldn't take away pain but would take the edge off and make me feel like I had a few glasses of wine. After that, it took me almost 10 minutes to fill out the epidural consent form as I was a bit loopy. The anesthesiologist came in about 3:15 and gave me the magic medicine. I mean, I respect those that choose to go without medication, but good lord it made me so much more comfortable. The doctor came in to see me shortly after this. Oddly enough, the doctor on-call was the same doctor that delivered me with Emma (There are 5 doctors in my practice that I saw throughout my pregnancy but there are 3 nights a month where they rotate in a doctor out of the practice. I got this doctor both times...what are the odds!). She said she knew my labor went pretty quickly with Emma but she would be back around 6 am to check to see how I was progressing.

At 3:30, after the epidural had kicked in enough, the nurse went to put in the catheter since the epidural left me unable to get out of bed. She said, "Wow, that's a big jump" and low and behold I had reached 8 cm. =) She had me lay on my side and just as Larry and I decided maybe we should catch some shut-eye, my water broke. It felt like a giant explosion and thank goodness for the blanket over me or I probably would have soaked my poor husband like an amusement park ride. I called for the nurse to come back in. "I think my water broke". "Well, I wouldn't be surprised because you are having some pretty crazy contractions up there! I"m going to check you again". Voila, 9 1/2 cm and almost ready to have a baby. She told me to roll over to my other side to help that last piece of cervix move back and said she was going to go get the doctor to come up because I would probably have a baby within the next two hours. By 4:15, I was fully dilated and ready to push. The doctor came in and the nurse said, "Okay, let's set a goal to get this baby out exactly two hours after I put your IV in so push like a champ so he can be born by 4:30." Five or six good pushes later, Oliver was born....2 minutes late according to the nurse, at 4:32 am on Tuesday October 23. After having Emma, I thought it would be impossible to love another baby as much as I loved her. But the feeling was unexplainable and I was so in love with this little boy already I felt like my heart might explode. He laid on my chest for about an hour before they weighed and measured him. 7 lbs 5 oz and 19 1/2 inches long (about 1/2 lb bigger than Emma and 1 1/4 longer).

Not happy about being so cold

First photo of my red-faced little man

Proud daddy and his little boy

Our first family photo (Dang I look tired!)

Skin to skin with Mama

 

Can't help but stare at this little guy! Waiting for sister to come to the hospital to meet her brother

Emma is so eager to hold her brother for the first time!

Love at first sight

"Aw, he's so cute!"

"Guys, his eyes are so beautiful!"

Our new family of four

I was so overwhelmed with emotion when holding my two kids together for the first time.

Taking our little peanut home. He was an angel for his first car ride!

 Oliver turned a week old this morning and I can't believe how quickly time is flying already. I feel so very blessed because he is a wonderful, easy going baby. He still sleeps most of the time and eats like a champ. Fortunately breastfeeding is going much better with him than it did with Emma. I guess that's where the second baby is easier because you know what to expect. Emma adores her brother and smothers him with love whenever she can. She is super helpful and the best big sister ever. I am so filled with joy and love and am loving being home with my new little family. Larry will be home for another week and then I will be on my own during the day. I am excited to watch this little guy grow and to see the kids grow up together. It is such an unexplainable feeling but I want to ride this "high" as long as I can. =)