Roderick

October 25, 2012

Roderick Jon Oliver

7 lb. 10 oz. 19 inches long

First moments...

This is his "Yuck! What is all over me" face

This is his preacher "Praise the Lord" face

Daddy and Rod
We especially love that you can see my toes peeking out of the blanket in the background.

Grandma Oliver meeting Rod for the first time

Doctor Balanzich

Story behind his name: We just liked the named Roderick. We always planned on having one of our boys be named after my dad and Steve's grandpa (even though he spells his name John-we still count it).The middle name was originally going to be something else though for this baby.  But my sister Amber named her daughter's middle name after my mom (Victoria/Vickie) and since they were born only a month apart we thought it was only fitting to keep Jon and Vickie together.

Warning: I am going to be giving my labor and delivery details now. So stop reading if that disturbs you.

My due date was October 30th. I thought for sure I would go over because I went a week over with Spencer and had to be induced. I went to a Doctors appointment on Tuesday, the 23rd and he said I was only 1 cm dilated.  He said I would probably go over on this one too. Then on Thursday morning, when I was still in bed I started having contractions. They weren't very strong and were very sporadic but they didn't feel like braxton hicks. I had random contractions all day. Steve wasn't very sympathetic because he just figured it was still the braxton hicks contractions. I finally stopped complaining to him because I wasn't getting any pity. In the back of my head I started getting a little nervous, so I spent most of the day cleaning and trying to get last baby preparations done and my hospital bag packed. I also made Steve install the baby seat and clean out the car. About 4pm I decided to go shopping for a few things I needed. I went to 3 different stores-the whole time having random contractions. They were starting to get more and more uncomfortable. Finally at 6 I settled down on the couch to watch my hour of Wheel of Fortune/the news and Jeopardy. As I was sitting there watching my shows it seemed like the contractions were getting almost painfully uncomfortable and it seemed like they were coming in regular increments. I called my sister Amber to let her know what was going on. She said, "let's time them while I'm on the phone with you." So I would tell her when I was having one and then we would watch the clock while we talked until I had another. The contracts were about 7 minutes apart and coming regularly now. At this point it was about 6:50pm and Steve was leaving to go to a 7pm class. I told him I didn't know if he should go because my contractions were more regular now. He said it was going to be a short class and he was sure I'd be fine, so he left. (He later told me he mis-understood what I was saying and wouldn't have gone if he had realized they were that close together). I hadn't taken a shower that day and I decided if I was going to have a baby I didn't want to be doubly disgusting. So I got in the shower and my contractions were definitely more painful now. I didn't have a clock in the shower so I lost track of how close together they were. When I got out and dressed, I called Amber again and this time the contractions were 5 minutes apart. Amber reminded me, that's when you're suppose to head to the hospital. I hung up and called Steve. It was 7:30pm. Luckily it really was a short class and Steve was already on his way home. I called my dad, told him I thought I was in labor and was wondering if we could bring Spencer over to spend the night. I started blow drying my hair and finished packing my hospital bag. Steve got home and started getting Spencer's things together. (I hadn't thought to pack a bag for Spencer-duh.) He took off to go take him, with great urging from me to hurry. I sat down and started watching tv to distract myself. I got scared and called Amber again. This time when we timed I was only 3 minutes apart and they were very painful. I started freaking out. I called Steve again and he was on his way back. It was 8:10 at this point. Finally he got home and we drove to the hospital (which was luckily only 3 minutes away). We headed into labor and delivery and I told them I thought I was in labor. They took me into a delivery room and a little while later Cheryl, my nurse, came in and started asking me, what felt like, a hundred questions. What's your birthday, How far along are you, is this your first pregnancy,when did your contractions start, etc. etc. This whole time I'm having contractions but I'm breathing through them really well and staying calm so I'm pretty sure she didn't realize how far along I was because I was so calm. Finally about 8:45 she checks me and said, "Wow. How long were you in labor for your first?" Me: "10 hours". Cheryl: "This one isn't going to be 10 hours. You are already 8 cm dilated " I wanted an epidural so she rushed to go find the anesthesiologist so he would have time to get me going. About 9pm they finally had an IV in me and I was sitting on the edge of the bed to get ready for the "good stuff". The anesthesiologist marked where he was going to insert the needle and was getting the rest of his stuff ready when I suddenly had a very strong contraction with a lot of downward pressure. I told the nurse what I was feeling and she had me lean back and put one leg back on the bed so she could check me. I was completely dilated and ready to go. I was closing my eyes through another contraction and heard her say "Where's the doctor?"  --- "He's 5 minutes away." Then my water broke. And because of the position I was in, it got all over the room, including all over my nurse. Then I hear the anesthesiologist "Ok well I guess I'll pack up. But I can stick around in case you need me to catch" ---and the nurses saying "Ok are we ready." --- "Katie don't push. Breathe through it. Don't push." --- "Dr. B is here." etc. etc. I'm thinking the whole time. "Man why didn't we get here earlier so I could have drugs." Then the pushing began. Which was awful. I've heard people say, that have had babies naturally, they like pushing because they can push against the pain. In my opinion-they are crazy. It was the pain of the contractions with the added bonus of trying to push something through something else-way too small for it. I was moaning and crying and and thinking bad words and saying over and over "This hurts so bad". At one point I said, "I can't do this. The babies gonna get stuck." Dr. B. kinda chuckled and said "Katie you can do this. The baby is not going to get stuck." Everyone was saying what a good job I was doing and I was thinking "Shut-up I'm not doing a good job!" and some other mean things. I decided I am not a very nice when I'm in pain. Finally one of the nurses got stern with me and said "Katie! You have got to to hold your breath and push with everything you have. You can rest later. Right now you have to push!". Well I thought some more bad things at her but it worked and I got serious and right before I was about to curse this wretched baby for what he was doing to me...He was here. And he was perfect. Well he peed on the doctor and then on me....but he was perfect.