Meet Oliver Finn Seaman!

Oliver was born on Saturday, April 11th at 6:47pm.  He weighed 10 pounds, 1 ounce, had a length of 20 inches, and has a full head of auburn red hair!

Mom loving Oliver the night he was born

 Last Friday I had an NST and ultrasound scheduled in my OB's office, so I went to that thinking, "Everything is fine, no contractions, no movement, no anything.  With the induction scheduled for monday, we'll just plan on that."  The NST went just fine and I loved listening to his heartbeat.  As soon as the tech started looking at the ultrasound she said, "wow, there is no fluid in there, like, barely any at all.  There's no way the doctor is going to let you wait until your scheduled induction on Monday."  At which point, I was VERY excited, even though my OB was out of town and one of my favorite nurses who was working Friday was off at 7pm.  I saw another doctor in the practice who said I had enough time to go home, grab my bags and Chris, who had left work already to meet me at home, go give Zoë a kiss at daycare (grandma picked her up later), and then head to the hospital!  Chris was a saint and picked up Jimmy John's for me on the way home since I hadn't had a full meal since 10am and I was absolutely panicked about not eating for forever.

First family photo

When we arrived, we met with the doctor on call (also not my OB, but very, very nice) who gave us some induction options.  He got as far as "One option allows you to eat for the first 12 hours, the second option does not" and I picked the first option with eating.  That involved a Foley Bulb insertion (UH, terribly painful, thankful nurse Jehna was there to suggest Fentanyl for me) that would dilate me to 4 cm (I was still only at 1.5) by the morning so we could start Pitocin.  At midnight, the bulb fell out on it's own which meant I was 7 hours ahead of schedule, but we still waited until 7am to start the pitocin (so I could have breakfast!).

By noon, my contractions were getting closer together, but I really didn't really feel them very much.  The new doctor on call, Dr. Cohen, wanted to get a pressure catheter in so we could monitor the contractions from inside (much more reliable source of contraction data).  She did this (very painful thing) twice, and the damn thing didn't work either time.  It would read tests when I took a deep breath and coughed, but never an actual contraction.  While weird, the team said they didn't really like these new catheters and they would continue to watch my contractions with the outside abdomen monitor.  My contractions pretty much stopped being found even on that, so they lowered the pitocin and started over again.  By now, I had had an epidural (after the trauma of the catheter experience, I didn't want to feel it if they had to do it again AND my contractions/cramping was getting uncomfortable), so I couldn't feel a thing.  Around 4pm the doctor came in and wanted to insert another catheter and when she did said that there was a lot of unusual bleeding and, knowing my history with blood pressure and the fact that the pitocin wasn't doing anything for my dilation or getting regular contractions, she would feel better going to the OR and getting the baby out.  I was OK with that!

Ready and excited to go!

So, by 6pm I was being wheeled down to OR 2 (Zoë was born in OR 1) and being prepped for a repeat C-Section.  Because of my first c-section and the surgery for the hematoma I had the day after Zoë was born, Dr. Cohen was worried about the scar tissue on my abdomen, but confident that because this wasn't an emergency c-section that she could take her time in getting baby boy out.  Oliver was born at 6:47pm and after being held up over the curtain, they started cleaning him up and Chris went over to take pictures and watch.  I could hear his voice over by the clean-up area and loved hearing him talk to our new son even though I couldn't see anything.  All of the nurses in the OR kept saying, "he's so big!" "look at how huge his hands are!", etc.  Even Dr. Cohen said, "uh, yeah, didn't you feel how hard it was for me to get him out of your abdomen?  I really had to wiggle him to get him out of there!".  Finally, one of the nurses said, "he's definitely over 10 pounds" and I believe my response to this absolute stranger was, "shut up, he can't be!".  They didn't weigh him in the OR, but when they did back in my room, and sure enough...

First picture with Oliver!

He is wonderful!  And of course, HUGE and definitely an unexpected size.  Dr. Cohen said that the surgery went extremely well, all of it, and that probably the reason I wasn't progressing on the pitocin was because his EXTREMELY BROAD SHOULDERS were preventing his head from hitting my cervix to soften it up and dilate it properly (of course).  While his head MAY have been ok with the VBAC, his shoulders definitely would not have been.  :)

Zoë meets Oliver for the first time

Big sister is absolutely in love with him, of course.  She insists on holding him every single day and loves to give him hugs and kisses (sometimes gentle, sometimes with a running start).  I looked back at the blog to find out when Zoë hit the 10 pound mark and it wasn't until about 4.5 months.  So, we think we have about a 4 month old on our hands right now.  ;)  He's HEAVY to hold and definitely doesn't fit into any newborn clothes or diapers.  It was super nice to clean out half of a drawer of his clothes as soon as we came home.

Big sister assumes the holding position

Kisses!

We've got an appointment with a lactation specialist tomorrow at the hospital, but he's really eating very, very well (at least to me he is...in comparison to Zoë, anything is good I suppose).  I'm dealing with the usual aches and pains that comes after a c-section (pain, swollen feet, and now the joys of starting out breastfeeding) but so glad to be home and enjoying our new son.  Zoë is going to daycare full time until the end of the month so she's enjoying her usual routine while we relax and take care of baby brother at home.  Chris is, as always, being a wonderful caregiver and ensuring that I don't overdo anything and that I take care of myself.  He's working from home, too, which will allow him to stay home next week, as well, which is wonderful!  I wish he could work from home all the time (although, he might not get anything done if that were the usual case since I keep trying to talk to him).

Grandma and Oliver

Grandpa with Oliver

Baba, Dedo and Zoë with Oliver

Beautiful Teta with Oliver

Awwww...

Thank you for all of your messages and well wishes as we welcome Oliver into our family.  We are enjoying relaxing as a family and getting into the swing of things as a new foursome, so if you don't hear from us right away we're probably in the throws of a toddler temper tantrum or a newborn poopy diaper/hungry scream.  

Oliver's first tubby time at home

Things an Overdue Pregnant Woman Does Not Want to Hear

40 weeks 5 days, and over it.

1.  "You should try______________________" (fill in the blank with-->have sex, eat pineapple, take a walk, eat spicy food, nipple stimulation, castor oil, massage, or anything else, really).  This baby is going to come when he's ready, none of that is proven to work, and it just annoys us when it's the twelfth time it's been suggested today.
2.  "How are you feeling?"  I know this is super well-intentioned, but guess what, I'm feeling overdue.  That's how I'm feeling.  I'm feeling like I was two weeks ago except worse.
3.  "When is he going to be here?"  If I knew the answer to this question I would post it publicly so you would all stop asking me.  I'm anxious, too, but I have no control.
4.  "You look really uncomfortable."  I am, thanks.

I'm over being pregnant, for sure, and I'm really excited to meet this little boy, but now that we have an induction scheduled for Monday, I'm feeling like there's a plan in place, and if you know me at all, you know I love a good plan.  :)  I have an NST scheduled for tomorrow afternoon just to check on him.  If he comes before then on his own, even better.  :)  We just need a baby and a name and we'll be all set as a family!

Cousins

Angela is here in town and had planned to be here when baby boy was already born, but now she'll get to be here for all of the hoopla.  It was really fun to spend the day with her yesterday and just be lazy pregnant ladies together for the afternoon.  She is 30 weeks today and looks like a gorgeous pregnant lady.

In Zoë news, she's now recovered from her bought of Bronchitis last week (seriously?!) and back to daycare, which seriously makes her so happy.  She has come home every day this week from daycare and been in the best mood.  Ah, it's so good for her.  Her new skills include: counting to 10 (she can do it consistently!  She counted all 10 eggs in her easter basket at the Marina on Saturday, it was very exciting!), opening candy and fruit snacks packages on her own (this is a problem, especially since she knows how to find them in the cupboard in the kitchen) and having a hard time waking up in the morning (she is NOT a morning girl, just like her mother).  She chatters constantly, has been going to bed more easily (not perfectly, but it's better now than it was a week or two ago), and loves to run to the door when daddy comes home from work screeching "Dadddddddyyyyyyyy!".

We went to the easter egg hunt at the Des Moines Marina on Saturday and while Zoë was still not a huge fan of the Easter Bunny, we got some good pictures.  :)  And she was totally into picking up eggs so we had a mini egg hunt in our living room on Easter morning.  She was so much fun to watch and she was actually pretty good at finding the eggs.  Next year I'll actually try to hide them.

Maybe she'll be friends with him next year?

Looking at ducks, a family favorite.

There's one!

Right hewwwwwww!

Grandparents and a spoiled little girl.

Zoë, Dedo and Baba

We had our parents over for brunch and they were kind enough to bring food, too, so that I didn't overEGG(!)stend myself since Chris was a liiiiiiittle bit worried about that (I'm not sure WHY.  I never go overboard with planning or decorating.  Ever.).  It was really fun and such a nice day!

Well, if not before, we should have news about baby boy Seaman on Monday!  :)

Brother?  

39 weeks

Last week's picture

Not everyone's ready for the baby...

Well, we're a week away from brother's due date and there's absolutely no news as to whether or not he's on his way anytime soon.  Chris thinks he'll be here on his due date (the 4th) OR on the 1st as a hilARious joke and I swear he's going to not come before the 9th.  Either way, we're ready.  Hospital bags are completely packed, bedroom is ready, the "getting to the hospital and Zoë to grandparent's house" plan is in place; he just needs to get here!  I really want to finish out this last week at school before spring break, though, to have some good closure to that chapter for now.  The closer I get to my last day at school the more sad I get (and yet, I'm TOTALLY ready to be done for now...but ask me again in the fall when all of my coworkers are going back to school).

Zoë's been sick this weekend (again), so we've been dealing with a lot of clinginess and emotional outbursts.  I'm so glad summer's almost here and that hopefully the long bouts of sickness are almost over.  She has become such a helper.  She loves to help put away laundry, is a good helper when cleaning up, and likes to monitor Fiona when she goes outside to go potty.  She has also started going potty on her own, enjoys turning on the bathroom light by herself and even can get up to the toilet by herself using the stool.  It's pretty great!  Both Chris and I are dreading pulling the diapers back out again for the new baby.  :(

We're still going to gymnastics regularly and Zoë loves it.  She sings the songs from class at home all the time and yells, "Beasties!  Home!" at the top of her lungs in the car randomly which is, admittedly, jarring.  We are so impressed with The Little Gym and would recommend it to anybody.  Zoë loves her teacher, Emily, and will try things for her that we would never do just for us.  :)  We ask her who she's going to see every Saturday and she says, without fail, "Emeee" with a big grin on her face. 

Zoë's first attempt at the bars (nearly three months later!) with encouragement from Miss Emily.

Tonight we dyed Easter Eggs, which Zoë had a great time with.  Here are a few pics of our activities lately, hopefully with our next blog post we'll have more news of our baby boy!

Patiently waiting for the tablets to dissolve completely.

Not as gentle of a drop as would have been preferred.

Putting stickers on the eggs.

Finished products

Help smiling from Dad

"Climbing" outside

Dad was in charge of the trip to the grocery store last week...this is what Z wore.

Counting Down Until Baby

Baby's first sand castle!

Chris turned 30 last month and we had a party for him at Magoos (his favorite bar and place to hang out).  He has been mourning the end of his 20s for some odd reason and really dreading turning 30.  I keep telling him how great they are!  I bought a house AND had a baby (two!) in my 30s...how bad could they possibly be?  He is so incredible.  I love watching him with Zoë and all of the time and hard work he puts into our house and our family is admirable.  I think I especially appreciate him now since I feel like the largest lump on the planet growing this baby and not wanting to do ANYTHING when I get home from school every day.

The third trimester is WAY more exhausting than I was ready for.  I've felt like the most lazy person in the world, felt like I can't get enough done by the time this little boy gets here, and know that by the time he gets here I won't get anything done AND it won't really matter at that point, anyway.  :)  Chris has worked so hard on getting both of the kids' rooms done and finished so I could decorate.  With help from Dedo and Grandma again (thank goodness) they've gotten Zoë's new room completely made over (hardwood floors, paint, new trim) and the baby's room re-painted (a glorious orange color) and the furniture for Zoë's room is almost done so Chris can stain it and we can get her old dresser back into the nursery and prepped for baby boy.

It's going to be so weird to bring a baby home from the hospital this time!  Not only because we've already got a walking running, talking, fussing, tantruming toddler on our hands, but because last time around we didn't get to take her home right away and our life revolved around trips to the NICU.  In retrospect, I think those trips were pretty easy (yes, emotionally exhausting, but we weren't ultimately responsible for her care and I could heal from my surgeries without taking care of a baby 24-7).  We're in for a wild, exciting ride and, ready or not, it's going to start in about 3 weeks!

We went to Ocean Shores for the weekend a few weeks ago and had a great time!  The weather was gorgeous (still chilly) and Zoë was fascinated by the water and sand and kites and horses.  :)  It was a fun little getaway just the three of us one last time before baby brother comes.

Our little girl is accomplishing amazing new things, but that's nothing new.  She transitioned to her big girl bed beautifully (really, it couldn't have gone any better).  She LOVES it and doesn't think of the crib as hers any more.  Our only issue has been nap-time lately.  During mid-winter break she napped 2 out of 9 days.  :(  And just when I want to take a nap more than ever, of course.  Her favorite nap-time trick is to poop in her diaper (still has those on during naps and bedtime) and then yell for whomever is home and then hand us the diaper when we open up the door.  This, of course, has led to many, many deep cleanings of her room after multiple similar capers.   Oh, and the last three to four nights have been hour long bedtime marathons ranging from yelling for the potty (HOW does one decide whether or not to let her go potty...wouldn't want to discourage her from going?!), for milk, for her nails to be cut (no lie) and more.  We're still in the early stages of figuring out what the hell we're going to do about this new parenting conundrum...stay tuned.






On a not-so-fun note, Zoë's tantrums are getting a bit more, uh, colorful.  She is definitely strong-willed, sometimes.  I still consider her a pretty darn easy two-year-old, but she's more insistent these days and her new favorite phrase is "hold on" when she's busy doing something and won't do what we ask her to do right away.  It's pretty hilarious but trying when we need to get out of the house.  We've learned that timing is everything (as in...triple the amount of time it takes to get anywhere...).





















We had a wonderful tea party thrown by two of our favorite moms and their boys a few weeks ago to celebrate the new baby.  It was so much fun and Zoë and I were spoiled rotten.  The table was beautiful, the food was yummy, and the company was the best.  The baby group I joined when Zoë was born has been the best thing that has helped to support me in my new journey into motherhood and I love getting together with them and their kids and watching them all grow up together.

Writing letters in the sand.  Teaching moment?  Don't mind if I do...

Dad and Zoë flying our new Olaf kite.  Lots of wind!

Our favorite phrases she says over and over again are:  "Loot" (look), "Hold on", and "OK" (it's adorable the way she puts the inflection into it...she's becoming such a little person).  Also, one of her favorite books now is "Hello, Butch" about how Butch Cougar walks around the WSU campus and people yell "Hello, Butch!" in his general direction.  She LOVES to read it and yell the line, but when she says it, it doesn't sound exactly right if you get my drift.  It's going to be a Seaman Family Video Classic someday, for sure.

23 more days until D-Day...getting so close!