Ollie's Story

(As I said when JJ was born, if you like hearing baby birth stories, read on; if you prefer to think storks drop little pink and blue bundles off to expectant parents around the world, just scroll down to the bottom, where I remind you to enter the Sock Yarn Scarves giveaway!)

Oliver Martin made his unexpected arrival on Friday, August 1, and the whole thing played out much like JJ's birth: I went in for my 39 week prenatal visit, my blood pressure was high so I was sent to the hospital for monitoring. Ultimately, my bp stabilized, but it turned out that I was having mild contractions, and the baby was not responding well to them--his heart rate was dropping and not recovering quickly enough. So, lucky me, I was bound for another csection.

This all happened around 3pm. The doctor first told me the procedure would be done around 7pm, but as the afternoon went on, the baby was not behaving as they hoped, and it turned into "How fast can your husband get here?" CP was, of course, at home with JJ, waiting for my sister to arrive to babysit.

Finally CP arrived and things got underway around 4pm. Oliver made his appearance at 4:39pm, weighing just 5lbs 11oz (anything under 5.5lbs is considered low birthweight, so he wasn't officially low, but definitely small for his age). They measured him at 18", but we've since been to the pediatrician where he's been 19 3/4", so clearly someone made a mistake somewhere along the way.

We finally made it to recovery and were attempting the tricky task of breastfeeding while still mostly numb from surgery when a doctor arrived to explain that Ollie had very low blood sugar and would need to be taken to the NICU. She thought they could get it back up quickly and his stay would be relatively short. So off he went, and I didn't see him again until the next morning, when I was finally allowed out of bed.

Unfortunately, getting his blood sugar up was no easy task. He had an IV for glucose, was being fed formula (and later pumped milk), at one point had a feeding tube--which he kept pulling out--and they even tried putting a line in through his little belly button, but it took nearly a week for his blood sugar to rise and then remain stable without interventions. I was discharged on Tuesday morning, so I spent the next few days living at the hospital, eating crap from the cafeteria and snack machines,  pumping milk behind a curtain, and missing my little JJ back at home. It was by no means enjoyable, but compared to the long stays of other NICU babies, I'm sure it was a piece of cake.

We were finally able to bring Ollie home on August 8, a week after he was born. We've settled in and are all working to adjust to life with a newborn. Fortunately, CP has 4 weeks of paternity leave, which will hopefully make my transition to full time mom of 2 kids under age 2 a little easier!


My knitting time is certainly at a premium right now, but fortunately I can enjoy other knitting-related things, like podcasts, blogging, and giving away yarn! Don't forget to check out the Sock Yarn Scarves giveaway--you have 1 more week to leave a comment on that post and be entered to win!