Oliver Thomas

Here is a pregnancy picture the morning Oliver was born: Monday, Nov 24th. I had been awake since 2am with some seriously painful contractions, but knew that it was too early to be admitted into the hospital. I had been having mild/moderate contractions all day Sunday.

Oliver Thomas was born at 3:29 pm, weighing 8 lb 12 oz and measuring 21 inches long. Labor/delivery went fairly smoothly for me, but there was concern about him. My long contractions put a lot of stress on him, causing his heart rate to get dangerously low. When a team of two doctors, a resident, and six nurses or so run into your room, you know they're worried. They had already decided to have the NICU on hand because there was meconium when my water broke. Seriously, one of the biggest reasons I really wanted him to come early was because meconium scares me. (And the sooner pregnancy is over, the happier I am. He came four days after my due date instead. Sigh....) Everyone agreed that delivering him sooner rather than later would be best. Oliver also had the umbilical cord in the crook of his arm, which was a problem because he was reaching his hand up by his shoulder, making it harder to get his shoulders out. It all worked out in the end. And thankfully, Oliver didn't have any meconium in his lungs.
Before I had Leah, I worried that Andrew would pass out since he has a history of passing out in hospitals. He did just fine with her. I didn't even think about it this time around. But I guess I should have seen it coming. There was a couch nearby that he managed to pass out on, so at least he didn't get hurt. I don't know what was wrong with me, but I was a bit out of it for about an hour after delivery. I just kept breathing heavily and couldn't get back to normal. I think if I wasn't trained to breathe correctly because of exercise and yoga, I might have hyperventilated instead. I think my blood pressure was a little low, but I'm not sure. My blood pressure tends to be on the low end of healthy anyway.
Leah slept over at two friends houses during our hospital stay, so she had a great time. They were her first sleep overs (excluding family), so it was really exciting for her. I get the sense that her behavior is better for other people than it is for us, because they said she was great. But she threw a bit of a tantrum when we got home. I'm sure she was exhausted from not getting as much sleep as she normally does.
Andrew picked Leah up so that she could meet her brother at the hospital. She's really excited to have a baby brother. I hope that enthusiasm stays as she realizes how much attention will have to be reallocated in our house. And as she realizes that newborns don't play much.