Oliver's Story

Our sweet little boy is here! Cue the trumpets and the birds!
Today is his third day with us, and all I want to do is tell everyone who will listen how perfect he is! His hands are so soft, and fuzzy head so dear. He loves to snuggle, which is such a treat, and his appetite is through the roof! Last night he was eating every hour sometimes two and taking in an alarming amount each time.
But let me slow down now that you know the most pressing particulars (he's here, and he's so perfect I could cry) and go back to how we met 2 days ago.
Friday we were scheduled to have an ultrasound, non stress test, and midwife checkup. Just to make sure that his 6 days lateness wasn't taking its toll. He passed the ultrasound with flying colors, but was pretty chilled out during the non stress test (where they hook me up to monitors to measure his heart rate and how he responds to contractions and movement.) We watched him for a while and his activity didn't pick up like they were hoping so my fabulous midwife bumped us to the head of the line for an induction next door.
This was it!
They started me on Pitocen around 2:00 that afternoon. We waited and worked through some milder contractions for most of the day and evening. None of them were effecting much change or progress so we ate a lot of room service and I bounced on a giant rubber ball most of the day. (Oliver was facing sunny side up, so I spent a lot of time on that ball trying to flip him over.)
Awww, if only giving birth was as easy as that. I was actually thinking those exact words when Kent took this picture.
But alas, where is the curse in that? It was about midnight when I began to have a devil of a time. I have no qualms with the epidural, sign me up in fact. But given that he wasn't facing the right way or quite low enough they really wanted me on my feet walking and swaying my hips in hilarious fashion to try and work him on down...something I couldn't do in bed with an epidural. Which meant a hold on the pain relief I held so dear and the most painful hour and a half of my life. One minute on, one minute off, of the most sickening pain. (I won't try and accurately describe it, because besides it being indescribable, what's the point?)
Happily, that hour and a half did the trick and we were barreling toward the finish line now! In comes the saint with the white lab coat and horned rimmed glasses, to give me that most blessed needle.
Such a nice man.
One more hour and then my water broke, it was time to meet this boy.
The Lord was truly merciful to me when he saw fit to gear me with what my midwife and nurses call One Fabulous Pelvis. I've never had so many compliments on my pelvis in my life, and until that point, there was never a compliment that I would be so grateful for. Because this baby was big. Like for serious. Thank you Lord for that endowment. I gladly accept my flat feet and flimsy nails for all my rock star pelvis. Because it was a half an hour of pushing (blessedly brief) before the room erupted in a collective Holy Smokes! This kid is huge!
10 pounds 11 ounces, 21 3/4 inches long, and a 15 1/2 inch head! (That's a big head by the way...you do the math.)
All his apgar scores were perfect, and all I could find myself saying was "He's ok! ... Isn't he?" He really was, and he was finally here!
It was relatively fast, but not easy, and two days of feeling pretty miserable in every possible physical way have followed.
But like any mom tells you, you soon forget all that. Oliver is here and he's better than we could have ever imagined.
Being exhausted, weary, and beat up never felt so good.