Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Nolan’s Birthday

The last two months have flown by as we are learning our new roles as a family of three. Here is story of Nolan’s "overdue" arrival.

Two weeks before my due date my fluid was recorded being low and Nolan was measuring to be well over 8 pound with a large head. The docs gave us the choice to induce early or wait and see how my fluid was measuring at the end of that week. Needless to say we waited and that Friday, we received the news that my fluid was back up and Nolan was good to wait it out. We left for home to wait for his little arrival.

My due date (9/18) came and went, and the days started to trickle by and Nolan showed no signs of coming. I had been experiencing contractions, they would start at 2:30 am and last until 7 am and then stop. It was very frustrating. I tried everything from; eating foods, walking, a massage and pedicure - nothing worked. On 9/24 we went back to the doctor and Dr. Lucas looked at me, smiled and said let's have this baby boy! I had to refrain myself from hugging his neck! The date was set and little Nolan's big day would be Wednesday the 26th. That night we were so excited that I don’t think either of us slept. It was hard to believe that in less than 24 hours we would be parents to a little boy!

Last Bump Pic at 41 Weeks
Paul and I left the house at 6:30 am with the car packed for the hospital. We checked in and made our selves at home in our large labor and delivery room and waited for our nurse to arrive. I just have to say we had the best nurse ever! I really think God sent her to us as an angel. She was amazing! I was started on the meds around 11:30 am. Doctor Brown came in at 12:30 checked my cervix and broke my water. Around 2:00 my contractions really started to kick up. I looked at Paul and said I think I will take my epidural now, being the loving hubby – he suggested that I try to wait another 30 minutes…needless to say fifteen minutes later we placed the request. I think he thought I might break his little pinky finger. I took another 30-45 minutes for the anesthesiologist to show up, but she soon became my new best friend! It took another 15-20 minutes and several pushes on my drip to get my epidural to take into full affect. Lunch came in a form of liquids! I had to keep my strength up after all I was giving birth to a big boy!

Lunch Time

After Epidural

Bonding Time
My parents and Paul’s mom arrived a little after 3. My parents were amazed at how labor had changed. My mom had both my brother and I without an epidural, so they were used to the screaming and grunting of the labor pains. I joked that if they had come earlier they would have seen all of that in full effect! Around 7 o’clock I asked my nurse to check me before she left for the day and my new nurse came on. Sure enough, she looked at Paul and me and said, his little head is right there, you are ready to push. Let’s page the team and doctor. Doctor Brown and the respiratory team arrived and it was go time. Paul was an amazing coach! He coached me through every push and kept telling me what was happening!  I was lucky that my actual delivery only took about 15 minutes and little Baby O came into this world screaming. After the Doctors did a quick check over Baby O, he was placed in my arms - Paul and I were smitten and wordless.

BABY O HAS A NAME ~
We had two names selected and Nurse Deena helped us confirm that Baby O looked like Nolan Paul O’Donohue. So that was the name we selected, however it took us almost 12 hours to be 100% sure and fill out the birth certificate and ss information. I thought our parents were going to ring our necks because we wouldn't tell them his name right away.


We left the hospital a little after lunch on Friday. We headed home as a family of three. We came home to a clean house and a blue balloon on the mail box! Paul and I have to thank all the company who came to visit us in the hospital. It was so sweet and we really appreciated all the visitors.