We (finally) welcomed our baby boy, Oliver, into the world and our family at 4:30 in the afternoon on June 1, 2011. He weighed 7 lbs and 12.5 ozs and was 19.5 inches long. Since he was breached, we ended up having a scheduled C-Section. It was actually nice knowing what day he would come and having time to prepare for it. Our house got cleaned top to bottom, bags were expertly over-packed and Joe and I were somewhat well rested. I may be silly, but I was a little disappointed in not getting to experience labor pains and have Joe massaging my back through it all, but I think it happened for a reason and I am thankful Oliver is here as healthy as can be.
The delivery wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. The worst part was checking in, waiting in the stinky waiting room with loud people for a nurse to take us to prep (1.5 hours of waiting), getting prepped for surgery and getting the IV (which gave me a little bit of a panic attack). The spinal block felt like a prick and the surgery portion flew by. Oliver came out booty first, just like his mama, and was a perfect little boy. He scored high of his APGAR test (9 out of 10) and we couldn't be more pleased.
Our first family picture in the OR
Recovery was tough (lots of throwing up and nausea) and it was weird not being able to feel half my body which I think made the nausea worse. It was almost like being sea-sick and just feeling so disoriented and not myself. Joe held Oliver for the first 3 hours of his life while I got taken care of by the nurse but we were all together in the recovery room. I remember telling Joe at one point in recovery that I could do it again. All the horror stories of C-Sections that I heard were not my experience at all which I am so thankful for.
Oliver Thomas Barnes
Recovering at home has gone well. The first week and a half I needed a lot of help getting up and just felt really weak. Even now, there are still times when I am pretty sore in my belly but I am able to get around and do things by myself now. Joe has been such a sweet and patient husband. I cannot imagine going through all of this without him by my side. I really don't know how people do this alone.
Oliver is such a sweet and easy baby. While I was pregnant, we had so many people telling us how awful the first couple of weeks are (I really don't know why people like to tell you horror stories about things) but we have been really lucky with an easy newborn. Oliver cries when he is cold (diaper changing, baths, etc) but quits as soon as we wrap him in a blanket and warm him up. He gets a little fussy but holding him, putting him in his swing or just talking to him quietens his fussing. We are sure he will not be this easy the rest of his life, but we are truly thankful to be eased into parenting.
sweet Oliver, part one
Oliver has been eating and sleeping in three hour stretches with one four-five hour stretch at night. A few times a day he is alert between feedings and opens his beautiful blue eyes (which we hope he keeps) and really takes in what is going on around him. He smiles in his sleep but not at us yet and I am so looking forward to him hitting this milestone.
sweet Oliver, part two
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