Oliver.

Oliver.

Oliver William arrived Thursday, April 12th just before 2 am. He's the sweetest thing I've ever laid eyes on, and I can't even begin to explain what it feels like to love something this much. My heart explodes on a daily basis.



The birth was tough. It's probably the hardest thing I'll ever do. Oliver was sunny side up, which equals excruciating back labor. Erik and Sarah (our doula, and I vow to never, ever give birth without her there) couldn't push hard enough against my back to even phase the pain. We made it through without any drugs, thanks to the 101 degree water and doing everything in my power to relax despite wanting to stiffen up and cry. Loud noises helped, too.



Because the baby was so low down in the birth canal, but his head was backwards, he wasn't pushing on the cervix the right way to get it dilated. It's a pretty exact science, this birthing stuff. But, the dude was almost out. This meant that I started having pushing contractions at 5 cm dilated. Technically, you're not supposed to get those until you're 10 cm. One of the more difficult things in life, I tell you, is to not push when you're having a pushing contraction. Take my word for it - don't let it happen to you. Eventually, the midwife tucked away the last little bit of cervix manually (nobody has any boundaries when babies are involved), and we could push. And push. And push and push.



Pushing lasted for hours. Eventually, the contractions started spacing out enough for me to doze off or pass out between them, and according to everyone else, they were only lasting 45 seconds. The midwife suggested I get out of the tub to see if a change in scenery would help move things along again. Sure enough, it did. After about 5 or so pushes on dry land, the baby came out completely in one push, which startled everyone. We didn't get the fancy water birth we envisioned, but if we hadn't got out when we did, I'd probably still be in that tub, pushing aimlessly.



We're all doing well, and I'm recovering slowly. We had some issues with the wound where the placenta had attached to the uterus - it was opening up again, but increased rest seems to have mended that.

And Oliver is amazing.