Oliver's Birth

Oliver Curtis was born all naturally at exactly 41 weeks at 6:45 AM on April 2.  He is a big boy!

On April 1 (6 days after my due date), I finally felt like Oliver was dropping and labor was coming soon.  By bedtime there were still no regular contractions, so I went to bed around 10:00.  At 2:15 AM I woke up with a contraction and just a feeling like something was happening, so I decided it was time to get up.  I left Hunter asleep and went into the kitchen to clean up a bit and get stuff ready for the kids for the morning.  I started timing the contractions and they were every 6 minutes or so.  I woke Hunter up after a couple of them and we both got ready, finished packing a few last items, and called a neighbor.  We left for the hospital around 3:20 AM and by then the contractions were every 4 minutes.

We got to the hospital in 15-20 minutes (record time, but of course there was zero traffic) and they put me on the monitors.  It was an hour before the hospital OB on call finally came to check me and by that point I was having contractions every 2 1/2 minutes.  He said, "Well, you are at 7-8 cm so you are officially admitted!"  This was around 5 AM, shortly after we finally agreed on a middle name.  :)

I spent 5:00-6:00 sitting on the birthing ball in a delivery room and having contractions every couple of minutes while the nurses asked me a million questions and got a blood sample.  Still, the contractions weren't terribly painful and I was glad I was able to sit on the ball because it was much more comfortable than the bed.  By 6:00 I was at 10cm and 0 station, so the OB broke my water.  I think part of his reason for this decision was that his shift ended at 7:00, but I was ready to have this baby anyway.

Up until it was time to push, I would say it was a pretty easy labor - definitely less painful than my inductions.  Pushing, on the other hand, was rather brutal.  The cord was wrapped around Oliver's neck and the top of his head, so I think that was part of the problem.  It was so tight that as soon as his head was out they told Hunter sorry, but the doctor needed to cut the cord right then.  They immediately took a blood sample from the cord to test for oxygen levels, which thankfully turned out to be fine.  I was only slightly aware that all of this was happening; I was mainly just thankful that his head was out and that I was getting a break from pushing.  I also thought that I was basically done, because that was the case with my other kids - once their heads were out (especially Arthur's rather large one!), the rest of their bodies came out very quickly.  Well, Oliver is much bigger than his siblings and his head really isn't that large, so that wasn't the case.  Finally he was all the way out and they quickly called respiratory therapy to the room.  He was pretty limp and very quiet - and Hunter and I were extremely nervous - but they got him crying and breathing well very quickly.  He was completely fine and his Apgar scores were 8 and 9.  He stayed in the warmer for a lot longer than I would have liked because they were still monitoring his breathing, but finally I got to hold him and nurse him. 

When he was born they told me I had just delivered a toddler and immediately called for somebody to find size 1 diapers.  We were pretty shocked to find out that he was 10 lb, 5 oz!  We were not expecting that based on the ultrasounds.  They didn't measure his length until later, but he is 23.25" long.  (Eleanor was 7lb 3oz, 21" and Arthur was 9lb 1oz, 22".)  One nurse here told me that Oliver is the longest baby she has ever seen!  Despite his size, recovery really wasn't bad.  I had a few stitches but I was walking around by myself just a couple of hours later.  I definitely took advantage of pain meds more than after my other deliveries, but within 4-5 days I was fine.

Oliver and I have different blood types making him more susceptible to jaundice, so they did check his bilirubin levels early on.  He had to go under the lights for about 36 hours, but I was able to stay in the hospital with him the whole time - I think my OB actually released me a day later than she really needed to just so I could be with him.  We were never asked to supplement and the nurses were very helpful and supportive of breastfeeding.  By the time we left 2 1/2 days later, he was fine!

40 weeks and 6 days - just about 12 hours before going into labor.  I had no idea there was a 10+ lb baby in there!

Oliver Curtis

10lb 5 oz, 23 1/4" long, 14 1/4" head

Meeting his big sister for the first time

Meeting his big brother for the first time

Meeting his 'Buela

I love this picture!

Eleanor was SO excited!

Meeting his cousin Evan and Aunt Monica (and his younger cousin due this June!)

And meeting his cousin Julie