Oliver's Birth Day and Pics of Nursery

Oliver is 1 month old (plus a day 2 days by the time I finally finished this post)! This has been an incredible month! I can't believe it has already been a month, but I feel like it is so normal to have him here already, as if he has always been here.

My mom got here about a week before Oliver was born, and my dad got here 2 days before. We were expecting him earlier but it was so nice to have her here to help get ready for his homecoming. We did some scaling back of unnecessary stuff around the house. I was so worried about keeping everything clean, but trying to just take the time to relax before he arrived.

Here are some pictures of Oliver's Antique Travel Nursery ready for his arrival. I love the theme, and there are so many special items that were given or created for him.

Thursday, April 3rd, we had friends from Idaho coming by for the day. I spent the morning cleaning...again... and spent a little time with my parents. We went down to the beach and just hung out for most of the day. They were planning on starting their drive back home that evening, but when I got a text from Caryn, they decided to wait and see what was going on. We all would have been sad if they would have missed Oliver by only a few hours.

Caryn's account of the night is on her blog HERE. If you haven't read it, you can take a min a read now, because my account is not as detailed of the specifics.

Caryn text me the afternoon of April 3rd, letting me know after talking to a friend of ours that is a doula (that has been amazing with advice for Caryn especially towards the end of the pregnancy), that she thought her water might be leaking. We decided to go in and have her get checked out. She wasn't having contractions, and we were picking up dinner with our friends, so we decided to wait till she finished dinner with the kids. Just Caryn and I went in, just to see what was going on, and would let Brian and Carlos know if anything progressed.

They hooked her up to monitor her for about "20 minutes". About 7:45, they checked Caryn, to see how dilated, and she was a "tight" 4cm. The doctor that was on duty, knowing Caryn had already had her membranes stripped, tried to do it again, but wasn't able to. They tested the fluid, and it wasn't the water, so they would have released her at that point. However, Oliver had a couple minor variations in his heart rate. Nothing serious, but just something to keep an extra eye on. So, they decided to monitor her for an extra hour. During that time, Caryn was starting to have painful contractions, and Oliver's heart rate still wasn't perfect, so they decided to admit her.

I called Brian, Caryn called Carlos, and we made sure the nurses/doctors were calling Lt. Dell, because she said that she wanted to be there to deliver.

The contractions were getting worse, but when they finally checked her again at 9:50, she was 8 cm, so they were not going to be able to give her any pain meds. I didn't know what I could do to help. I just felt so bad that she was in that much pain. Finally Brian got there, and Carlos got there shortly after. She wanted to push so bad, but it just wasn't quite time yet. Her water still hadn't broke yet either. Finally, they broke her water, and it was just about time, so they started to get everyone in place. Just at that moment, Lt. Dell walked in, threw gloves on, and asked some questions. The plan was for me to get Oliver right away, and be able to do skin on skin. She had me pull a chair way up close to her. After Caryn had a couple pushes, at 10:35pm, Oliver was out, and in my arms! Brian cut the cord, and we were parents!

 They did a quick check on him while he was in my arms, and then after a little while, did his exam. Everything was normal. His weight was 7 lbs 2 oz. Length 17.5 in. **Side note** His length has been questioned by a few different people, because not only did he seem long in ultrasounds, but he was 21.25cm at his 2 week appointment. For me, I will forever say he was 17.5 in. Reason I don't care to question? It doesn't matter, but if the 17.5 in is wrong, then I will never know what he was when born. In this case, I would rather believe wrong information (because in reality it doesn't matter) then have that unknown.

This was such an amazing night! I will never be able to put into words all that I felt.

So happy my parents were here to share this night with us!

And of course, the woman who did the hard work! I know the 2 phrases "I'm sorry!" and "Thank you!" went through my head a million times. I hope they actually came out of my mouth half that number.

This post is specifically about the amazing gift Caryn gave us. But I have to thank everyone who is reading this now. Each of you helped make this happen. Obviously the financial aspect that has and continues with the cost of this "out of the box" way of becoming a family. But also, the prayers and just constant words of encouragement and excitement for us has helped push us each step of the last 2 years. (I just looked, and my first blog post was April 28th, 2012!) 

We thank you THIS MUCH!!!

Oliver Lucas Stone

38 Weeks and Counting....

38 Weeks! This kid can be here any time! Both of Caryn's kids were 2 weeks early, so 38 weeks is kind of when we were expecting Oliver. So, now it feels like we are in overtime.

She has been having consistent contractions for long periods of time often for the past few weeks. It is hard even when she does let me know about them because I don't know exactly what they could mean. Lol! I know the times and numbers in relation to when she should be going in, but I am sure during them you get "a feeling"(not the painful ones) of how serious to take it. Also, we fall between the lines on when to go in to labor and delivery. They say earlier when it is your first, but waiting till contractions are longer and closer together if you have had kids before. Obviously we go off of the fact that Caryn has gone through labor before, and knows kinda whats going on, but I don't. The first couple times she told me she was having contractions, I was ready to walk out the door to the hospital. Lol!

I finally get to go to a doctor's appointment today! The last one I went to was the first one at 12 weeks with the midwife at the Naval Hospital. I am anxious to see hear if the frequent contractions have been helping. Also, I will be happy to physically see where labor and delivery is and how exactly to get there. It is a new hospital, so I don't know where everything is yet.

I am so nervous about everything during labor and just want it all to go so smoothly. I am ...grateful?... (not sure if that is the correct word for it) that I have been there during a delivery at the Naval Hospital before. It was a couple years ago at the old hospital, but I am sure it will be much the same. I am also so grateful that the midwife seems comfortable with and supportive of our unique situation. There are surrogates around here, but they usually wouldn't be seen there for insurance reasons I assume. I am a little nervous about the legal stuff, but not enough to dwell on it. The person that is managing Caryn and Oliver's files right now didn't really know what all the paperwork was that Caryn has been supplying. But we HAVE everything, and WE know what needs to happen, so I will just be making sure to triple check all the papers before we sign anything. I am sure it will all be fine, but it would be a big enough problem if something did go wrong that we need it to go right.

Another exciting event today!?!? Oliver's Nana will be here this afternoon! Can't wait to see my mom!