Oliver's Birth Story- Part 1

I don't know whether to chalk it up to irony that our precious Oliver arrived a week late, considering all pregnancy long we were told how likely it was that I'd deliver early, or payback for the fact that my stubborn husband made his own grand entrance into the world TWO weeks late.

Past 40 weeks! Last belly pic!

Needless to say, when our due date came and went we were shocked, especially considering I was having absolutely NO signs of labor. In fact, other than major swelling in my feet and ankles (praise be for it being summer, since flip flops were the only shoes fitting!) and very, very light cramping for a hot second, I felt great (and by "great" I mean "great for being super pregnant") all the way through us starting the induction process!

My parents had come up the weekend of Oliver's due date, and we had the best time drinking chocolate milkshakes, playing Mille Borne (a card game they used to play when they were newlyweds!), and speculating if "today" would be the day that I went into labor. #falsehope

My dad left that Sunday, and we just knew I was going to go into labor the second he arrived back in Wilmington--but, oh no, Oliver had his own little schedule and all of our guesses about when he'd make his debut were wrong!

Where are you, Oliver!?

We at least knew that if Oliver didn't want to come on his own that we would go back to the doctor the Thursday after his due date (Aug. 20th) to check back in and schedule an induction, which could be for that night, or a night that weekend, just depending on the how many other deliveries were taking place.

One thing that was weighing on my heart all during this time was a devastating loss that my second-cousin had the week before. She was due with her first baby, a baby girl, a week or two before me, and they ended up losing their baby and having to deliver her still-born. My heart broke in a million pieces for them, and even though Kyle and I had the conversation about how for my sake, I almost needed to "numb" myself to their situation to get through Oliver's birth and to try to save my grieving for them until after he came, I just couldn't get it off of my mind. I know the pain of miscarriage--I couldn't (and still can't) fathom the pain of losing a baby at full-term. My anxiety started to take over,  and I decided on Monday to call my doctor and just explain everything that was going on and ask if we could go ahead and just schedule the induction for Thursday, instead of waiting until Thursday to schedule. She was so understanding and supportive, and got us scheduled for induction at 6pm Thursday night.

We would still go see her earlier on Thursday to check my dilation, and if I was 3cm or more, I could just go to the hospital on Friday morning to start Pitocin. If not, I'd check in Thursday night and take a cervix thinner and get a good night's sleep (hah--is that even possible at a hospital!?) before starting the Pitocin.

Obviously, we were also still incredibly hopeful that I'd go into labor on my own! I was trying every trick in the book-- eating tons of pineapple, dragging my large belly out the door for the slowest walks known to man, doing squats--heck, I even tried a labor inducing dance that my friend, Ally, told me about! No success-- just a lot of looking ridiculous ;)

Good gravy, that belly!

Thank you, Kyle, for these very flattering snaps during my labor inducing dance!

My mom stayed around that week to hang out with me, keep me from losing my mind from impatience, and watch Hart of Dixie (we quickly became obsessed!) while Kyle busily wrapped things up at work in preparation for taking a week off once baby boy arrived.

Wednesday night Kyle and I went to bed knowing that it very well could be our last night of uninterrupted sleep for a very long time. We shared a teary moment that I will always cherish before going to sleep--well,  I can't really remember if I slept or didn't--that night feels like it was forever ago!

I don't even remember much about that Thursday day other than that I remember feeling like all of a sudden there was so much to do, even though we'd been "ready" for weeks!

I do remember the amazing lunch my mom, Kyle, and I had lunch at Chipotle before our check-in with my OB. I think because I knew I wasn't going to be eating "real" food for a bit that I savored everything I ate leading up to induction!

Poor guy needed every bit of energy to coach me through that delivery!

Of course, I had made absolutely no progress with my dilation since the week before (I was still just 1cm), and the doc re-stripped my membranes (which wasn't nearly as painful the second time). We got directions about how to check in at the hospital, got all of the information about what Thursday night would entail with the cervix thinner, and were told that I'd be able to eat breakfast and get a shower on Friday morning before starting the Pitocin.

I think Kyle and I just walked around in a daze the whole rest of that afternoon, as we got everything all ready to go! I was told to eat a good dinner before going to the hospital, so my mom, Kyle, and I met his parents for a yummy but quick dinner at Nantucket Grill before Kyle and I headed downtown to Duke Regional (after a quick phone call to my dad, who had just gotten into town arrived at the restaurant in time to grab our parking space as we left!).

The car ride felt completely surreal, and everything was so calm and peaceful as we checked in.

The nursing staff on the Labor and Deliver floor were all so welcoming and treated us like royalty, apologizing frequently for making us wait just a few minutes while they got our room ready. They shared that it had been a crazy past few days on the floor and that we were lucky to be admitted because the couple scheduled for the induction right after us had to be rescheduled, as there were no more rooms left. Whew! Not sure that we would have been too pleased to have had to reschedule--we were beyond READY to meet our sweet baby boy!

After sending a few texts and taking a few selfies, a nurse showed us to our room, and got us all settled in, just in time for shift changes.

We may or may not have overpacked! #firsttimers

Our new nurse, Stacey, was introduced, and the on-call OB came in to check my dilation and explain the process with the cervix thinner. We were told we'd need to wait just a little longer, which was perfect because my parents had arrived just to familiarize themselves with the hospital and the L&D floor. We visited with them a little longer before it was finally time to get the show on the road! We said our good-byes and wished them a good night's sleep, just in time for the OB to arrive to administer the cervix thinner and give me an Ambien to help me get a good night's sleep!

The Ambien obviously worked because I fell right to sleep (poor Kyle, was not as lucky, as he did not get anything to help him sleep and was also toughing it out on the terribly uncomfortable couch in the room).

Around 1am, I was awakened by a gush of water and told Kyle that I was either peeing uncontrollably (which for all I know very well could have been the case!) or my water had broken. We called in Stacey and let her know what had happened. She said that if it kept gushing, then my water had broken, just in time for me to feel another gush as I tried to lay back down in the bed. That was all she needed to confirm that my water had, indeed, broken on it's own! She said that was great and that we'd be able to go ahead and start the Pitocin right then!

We got super excited and hopes of Baby Oliver making his appearance even earlier than anticipated were in full force! I even, at the moment, didn't care that I wasn't going to get my promised shower and breakfast on Friday morning!

This is where things start to get a little foggy for me (thank you, Ambien!). I don't really remember much else about those wee hours of Friday morning, which is why I think this is a perfect place to end Part 1! I'll be back with Part 2 (thanks to the help of Kyle's memory!) soon!

Oliver, words cannot even begin to capture the excitement your daddy and I were feeling on this day! Knowing that we were so close to holding you in our arms---ahhh, happy tears remembering that anticipation!