Oliver's Birth Day

April 30, one day before Oliver’s due date: We had had a long, grumpy day. I was 9 months pregnant. Jonathan was stuck at school all day (except for coming home quick to bring me the car to pick up his mom) and missed lunch (never a good thing!). Since we only have one car and Jonathan's patients in clinic took super long, James missed preschool altogether. I just wanted to have the baby! I hadn't showered and was all nasty and was still in my pajamas. Jonathan came home around 1 to find me squatting in the playroom, vacuuming the edges and corners of the floor. He said he couldn't get out of clinic. I'm sure I was very pleasant. Actually I had a small meltdown. Plus I didn't want to drive to pick up Nanna because every time I go to pick someone up from the airport I seem to get yelled at by the security guards. (Seriously, it has happened multiple times!) Plus, I seem to have a bit of pregnancy-induced road rage. But I said "fine" and put on some clothes and maybe some deodorant and drove him back to school quick. Oh and the kids and I hadn't eaten lunch yet either. It was pretty much an all-around grumpy afternoon.

Jonathan’s mom was an absolute godsend and arrived at the perfect time. We were all so glad to see her! Let’s be honest, sometimes you just need a Nanna. She cheered us all up, bought us lunch, and had lots of ideas - from a nice midwife she sat next to on the plane - on how to get me to go into labor! Nanna played with James while Ella napped and I took a shower, then we took the kids for a walk around the neighborhood (one of many I took, hoping to speed up Oliver’s arrival!). According to the midwife Nanna sat next to, I needed to eat eggplant parmesan to help put me into labor...so we went to HEB and got all of the ingredients! After shopping we picked up a very tired and hungry Jonathan from school.

As Nanna and I started making the eggplant parmesan, I started having contractions! They weren’t super strong but they started out and stayed really consistent - about 2 or 3 minutes apart - the whole time we were cooking. They continued as we ate dinner, and they stayed consistent as we put the kids to bed. I timed them as they stayed pretty consistent at 2 or 3 minutes for about 4 hours.

I wasn’t in much pain, but my doctor had told me to go to the hospital when I was having contractions 2 minutes apart for 2 hours. It had been 4 hours, and I had tested positive for Group B Strep, so I knew I needed antibiotics for a certain amount of time before the baby was born, so we decided to just go in. We arrived on the labor and delivery floor of University Hospital at about 11:45 pm - fifteen minutes before Oliver’s due date!

We got all checked in and settled in triage. I have spent more time than I’d like in that triage room - I ended up spending an entire day there in March after a nasty stomach virus left me super dehydrated. I was glad to be there and actually be in labor! My contractions were really starting to pick up and get painful, and I was sure I’d made some progress - but when they checked me after an hour or two I had hardly made any progress. I think I had been about 3 centimeters dilated a few days prior, and was only about 3 ½ centimeters after laboring in triage for awhile. For awhile there I thought they were going to send me home! I was pretty frustrated, because I could tell from the contractions that this was it, and was in more pain than I remember being in with my other kids before getting my epidural. They decided to check me again after another hour or so. After FOUR hours in triage and lots of strong and painful contractions, they finally decided to admit me around 4 am. Finally! I was getting pretty tired of looking at those curtains and hearing the moans of the patients around me. I just wanted to be admitted and have my baby!

We got into our private delivery room and met my cute nurse, Brittany - who looked exactly like my old visiting teacher! - she was impressed with how well I was handling the contractions (she said most women are screaming by that point). The nurses also kept commenting on how surprised and pleased they were that my contractions were so strong on their own and that I didn’t need any pitocin (maybe the eggplant parmesan helped?? haha). I have always said after having my other kids that I wondered how long I could have gone before getting my epidural, because with my first two I felt like I wasn’t in tons of pain and could have handled it on my own for longer. Well this time I feel like I went much longer before getting my epidural, and while it was pretty painful, I am really glad that it worked out this way and that I could experience it more. (But I don’t, by any means, plan on going all natural anytime soon - I do quite enjoy the epidural!)

I finally got my epidural when I was about 6 centimeters dilated. It was 4:30 or 5 in the morning, and the anesthesiology resident came into the room blinking and bleary-eyed, as if he had been up for a couple of days straight. Jonathan and I looked at each other nervously - if this guy was going to stick a needle in my back, he’d better be awake!! Luckily when he came back a few minutes later to actually do the procedure he seemed much more awake. He got the epidural in and I waited anxiously for it to kick in - but it really didn’t! I could still feel every contraction. The anesthesiologist came back and gave me another dose and told me to push the button for more medicine if I wanted it stronger. Finally it kicked in more (although it numbed one side of me more than the other) and I was able to get a little rest.

By about 6 or 6:30 I was 7 centimeters dilated, and the on-call doctor came in and told me that my doctor would be in the hospital for about 2 hours. They wanted to break my water to speed things up a little bit so Dr. Parker could deliver my baby. I agreed and they broke my water. Soon after my water was broken I started feeling very strong contractions again, and with each one came a wave of nausea. Oliver was ready to come, and I needed to push! A midwife came in the room and had me push a couple of times, then realized just how close baby Oliver was to coming, and told me to hold on and not push for a few minutes.! I got to touch his head as he was about to come out and it was definitely a surreal experience! Dr. Parker was hurrying to get all ready and very nearly missed the birth - I had to stop pushing for a few minutes so they could get all ready and it just about killed me! I wanted to push!! Pushing made the pain go away.

Finally they were all ready to go, and I quickly pushed out our sweet little baby boy. He came out crying and slightly purple and perfect. As they set him on my chest immediately after he was born, his little arms were flailing around. I reached my hand up to his and he grabbed onto me tight with his sweet little fingers. It was such a perfect moment. We love our little Oliver so much!

 They left us alone in the delivery room with our boy for a couple of hours after he was born. We held him and got to know him a bit, and I fed him and then he got to meet his Bapa and Jukie in Russia via FaceTime. He is such a sweet baby. I immediately thought that he looks a lot like his sister Ella. He has the cutest little dimpled chin - like his Aunt Liz and his big brother James.

Our stay at the hospital was long and exhausting. We were so grateful that Nanna (and also Grandy, who arrived two days later) was at home with the other kids, because we ended up being at the hospital for three nights - the night I was in labor, and then two nights after that! Because they took so long to admit me, they didn’t get my IV in with the antibiotic for being Group B Strep positive in time for me to get the full dose before Oliver was born. As a result they insisted on keeping us there for 48 hours instead of 24, so they could check on the blood culture and make sure that Oliver didn’t pick up an infection. We were a bit frustrated by this, but there was not much we could do.

While I am grateful for hospitals and doctors and nurses (and epidurals!), this hospital stay was by far the most frustrating. I wished that all of the people who had to come in my hospital room could have coordinated, and gotten everything done within the same time period, instead of waking me up literally every 20 or 30 minutes. I was absolutely exhausted. I understand and appreciate that the nurse needs to come in and check up on me, but it is all the other random people that get very annoying. There were times when a doctor or nurse would come in and ask me questions, and I would be half asleep and have no recollection of what they had even asked me. I also wonder why the resident doctor, along with a med student and some other unidentified guy with a bow tie (maybe they introduced him, but I was asleep...) need to come into my hospital room at FIVE in the morning the day after I gave birth to a baby??

Nanna and the kids came to meet little Oliver a few hours after he was born. The kids were SO excited and were so sweet with their little brother. Ella in particular was just THRILLED with her “dee” (Ella speak for “baby”) and had to come hold him immediately. She is so good at hugging him (sometimes too tightly), giving him kisses (all over his head) and trying to pick him up like a big girl. James was fascinated by his cute little hands and fingers, and insisted on counting his fingers upon his first meeting. I am so grateful for my three wonderful kids.

While my kids were there visiting, the nurse came in, a slightly annoying photographer came in (insisting we were the last ones of the day, then proceeded to do a big old photo shoot including our whole family, then when positioning us for a family picture on my hospital bed she re-positioned James, causing my IV to come out and spill antibiotics on Oliver’s blanket..., then tried to give us this big old sales pitch about $200 photo packages....yeah just kind of an overall annoying experience), as well as a few other hospital personnel for various reasons. That first night we hardly slept a wink. I had strange dreams, interrupted every half hour or so by doctors/nurses, then would fall back asleep and dream about the person who just came in and talked to me in my half-asleep state. Luckily, Oliver was a little angel and hardly cried at all. The baby next-door screamed ALL night long, so we were very grateful for our even-tempered little guy.

I was on some antibiotics via IV for the first 24 hours, and I could not WAIT to get my IV out, take a shower and put on some normal clothes! After all, I could have been discharged that next morning, but was staying because they wanted to keep Oliver longer. My nurse then informed me that they were going to leave my IV in “just in case I got a fever and needed it.” I thought this was absolutely ridiculous and told her to take it out. I got all cleaned up, put on normal clothes and felt like a whole new woman :)

I was grateful during this frustrating sleepy time to have a really sweet nurse for both nights I was there. Her name was Krystel and she was just wonderful, and took great care of me and Oliver. I was also grateful that the second night there was a lot quieter than the first, and we ended up getting a little sleep.

Oliver’s birth was a wonderful experience. In a way it was harder than my other two, but I love that it was a bit more natural - no pitocin, longer time before getting my epidural. I was grateful to be able to feel as much as I did and that I was able to definitely feel when I needed to push.

We brought our Oliver home on Friday, May 3 and were beyond excited to get home! Oliver continued to be an amazing, sweet baby, and still is. He hardly cries, and from the first night home he let me sleep in 3-hour stretches at night. It was absolutely amazing. I got SOOOO much more sleep at home than I did at the hospital. The kids were so happy to have their baby brother home, and we were so glad to be home with our three kids and with Jonathan’s wonderful parents - we couldn’t have done it without them!

When I was at the hospital I saw three little birds innocently playing in a puddle of water outside my window, and for some reason thought of my three sweet kids. I am so grateful for the privilege to be their mother, and to have the responsibility to raise these sweet children. It is a humbling experience and is not easy, but I am so grateful for my life and my role as a mother.

Well our Oliver is just perfect. We can’t imagine life without our sweet boy. We love you Oliver - thanks for coming to our family!