He's Here!

Oliver Lloyd Hicks was born at 4:12 pm on April 19th. He was 8 lbs even and 21 inches. This means he was the same length as George but over a pound lighter. He is a waif! He has skinny legs and arms and a little head. My contractions were on and off since Monday when I had my membranes stripped. On Thursday morning, I woke up with a strong contraction, as I had almost every night since Monday. I waited and had another one. After about an hour of this I went out on the couch and timed them. Then I went downstairs and did the dishes since I thought I might go to the hospital and I didn't want to leave them in the sink. Around four forty-five, I got in the shower. When I got out, Glen was awake and asked what was up. I told him I was having contractions and they were anywhere from 3 minutes to 7 minutes apart. I told him he may want to get in the shower. I sent my mom a text around six and told her I thought I might be going into the hospital that morning. I wanted to labor at home for as long as possible but after three days of false labor I was really curious as to whether or not I was really in labor. My mom and dad came over and we packed the car. George woke up just before they arrived. My dad stayed with George and we went to the hospital. We got there about 7 am. The hospital is about two minutes from our house. We checked into triage and I was at a four and a half. They told me to walk around for 30 minutes and they'd check me again. The nurse was definitely not convinced and thought she would be sending me home. I was having painful contractions but I knew better than to show pain since Glen and my mom don't handle my pain very well.

They checked me again and I was at a five so I was admitted. I labored well for a few hours and made it to a seven. I was having really painful contractions that were of course getting worse. But I knew I could handle them because the time between contractions was great! I was playing games and making jokes. However, I then realized that although I could definitely get through the whole labor without drugs, I didn't have to. It was a wonderful thought. I asked for an epidural and got one about twenty minutes later. Then the doctor broke my water. I labored in bed for another hour or so when I felt like I needed to pee and asked the nurse to do the catheter and empty my bladder. She wanted to check my cervix first. I was almost complete and she said the head was "right there". I had a lip on one side so she rolled me over. The feeling of needing to pee did not go away and it was really intense. They had called the doctor and she said to wait twenty minutes and then do a practice push. I said she had better hurry because the baby was coming and I wouldn't be able to stop one I started pushing. She showed up and he was here within 10 minutes and three contractions. It was awesome! They put him right on my chest and wiped him off and suctioned him. The ten seconds it took for him to start crying felt like an eternity. As soon as I heard those sweet cries, my eyes filled with tears. The whole process is miraculous!

When we first saw him, he looked like a smaller version of George with more hair and smaller ears. But now he looks nothing like George did. He looks like my side of the family for sure. And he is so freaking tiny! We came home from the hospital the next day and George has been in love since. He can't leave the baby alone so Grandma takes him to her house for most of the time. We love our baby brother Ollie!