I'm kicking myself that I didn't write down Oliver's birth story (though I don't think I'll ever forget how hard it was to push that kid out), so I thought I should put down Elliot's before I forget that, too. Like my boys themselves, their births were like night and day. Oliver's was hard and I'm convinced that pushing him out was an act of will on my part. By comparison Elliot's was easy. I still catch myself a little bit in shock that I'm the mom of two boys, I was just so sure that Elliot was going to be a girl. But hey, when I'm wrong, I'm wrong! Here's the birth story I posted in a couple of places online.
so my labor started probably really early yesterday morning, but i didn't really realize i was having contractions until i got up out of bed and they got regular really fast. luckily dh had 
decided to sleep in, so he was still around. between like 7 and 8 am things got timable to 10 minutes and an hour later i was at 4 minutes between contractions and they were getting stronger. so my mom came over and we went to the birthing center. i was about 6cm when we got there, spent some time in the tub and then wandered around for a while, got checked again and was just shy of 8cm. i let the midwife break my water and that's when things got really intense, lots of "holy cow this is hard" and "i'll take those drugs now", which just made everyone laugh (omg, i was totally serious, though, i was absolutely unprepared for how much back pressure i had this time - it was crazy!). i finally got the bright idea to get back in the tub, and the next hour was MUCH more bearable. i found a position that let me r
elax, and i mean really relax through contractions, and it was like having an out of body experience. it was almost like when you wake up early in the morning and the radio's on, and you start to have dreams about what you're hearing on the radio, even though you're not really asleep. my mind was just going to the weirdest places and i can't say that i was really present at all. i knew dh was there, and the nurses checked me a few times (and then i yelled at them to turn the hot tub back on! ), but i pretty much just didn't want to move once i found a good position. i started to feel some pressure that could have been pushing pressure, but given that i never go the urge to push with oliver, i didn't want to get out of the tub and start all that until i was sure, so i probably stayed in the tub through like 7 contractions like that. i finally got out because i figured i should pee or have a bowel movement, and holy cow, the urge to push hit like nothing else. i yelled "i'm pushing!" and the nurse ran to get the midwife, haakan came running in, and they 
managed to get me to the bed and on my hands and knees just in time for baby elliot to come shooting out. my midwife called it an "explosive birth". it was frightening just how little control i had over it, and it was literally like 2 minutes of pushing. and despite that giant head, NO tearing at all this time. they laid him down underneath me, i sat back and picked him up, and said "oh my god, it's a boy! and he's blond!" i just kept saying, "i can't believe you're a boy!" i was SO convinced i was having a girl. i'm still a little in a state of shock. he actually looks a lot like my sister when she was an infant, and quite a bit more like dh than oliver does but true to form, i felt WONDERFUL as soon as things were over, and other than walking around with a very sexy adult diaper on, i really don't feel like i just gave birth.
decided to sleep in, so he was still around. between like 7 and 8 am things got timable to 10 minutes and an hour later i was at 4 minutes between contractions and they were getting stronger. so my mom came over and we went to the birthing center. i was about 6cm when we got there, spent some time in the tub and then wandered around for a while, got checked again and was just shy of 8cm. i let the midwife break my water and that's when things got really intense, lots of "holy cow this is hard" and "i'll take those drugs now", which just made everyone laugh (omg, i was totally serious, though, i was absolutely unprepared for how much back pressure i had this time - it was crazy!). i finally got the bright idea to get back in the tub, and the next hour was MUCH more bearable. i found a position that let me r
elax, and i mean really relax through contractions, and it was like having an out of body experience. it was almost like when you wake up early in the morning and the radio's on, and you start to have dreams about what you're hearing on the radio, even though you're not really asleep. my mind was just going to the weirdest places and i can't say that i was really present at all. i knew dh was there, and the nurses checked me a few times (and then i yelled at them to turn the hot tub back on! ), but i pretty much just didn't want to move once i found a good position. i started to feel some pressure that could have been pushing pressure, but given that i never go the urge to push with oliver, i didn't want to get out of the tub and start all that until i was sure, so i probably stayed in the tub through like 7 contractions like that. i finally got out because i figured i should pee or have a bowel movement, and holy cow, the urge to push hit like nothing else. i yelled "i'm pushing!" and the nurse ran to get the midwife, haakan came running in, and they 
managed to get me to the bed and on my hands and knees just in time for baby elliot to come shooting out. my midwife called it an "explosive birth". it was frightening just how little control i had over it, and it was literally like 2 minutes of pushing. and despite that giant head, NO tearing at all this time. they laid him down underneath me, i sat back and picked him up, and said "oh my god, it's a boy! and he's blond!" i just kept saying, "i can't believe you're a boy!" i was SO convinced i was having a girl. i'm still a little in a state of shock. he actually looks a lot like my sister when she was an infant, and quite a bit more like dh than oliver does but true to form, i felt WONDERFUL as soon as things were over, and other than walking around with a very sexy adult diaper on, i really don't feel like i just gave birth. the only weird post partum thing
was that around 5pm or so, a child who was at a meeting with her parents upstairs managed to set off the security system and it took a good 15 minutes for them to get it turned off. i was trying to nurse elliot and as soon as the LOUD siren and flashing lights started, he literally passed out and i couldn't get him to wake up. i freaked and set haakan out for the nurse, who took his vitals and roused him a little, but can you believe that he fell asleep with all that? as soon as the siren stopped, he woke up and started crying. that little episode took a good few weeks off my life, it was just so weird to see him respond that way!
was that around 5pm or so, a child who was at a meeting with her parents upstairs managed to set off the security system and it took a good 15 minutes for them to get it turned off. i was trying to nurse elliot and as soon as the LOUD siren and flashing lights started, he literally passed out and i couldn't get him to wake up. i freaked and set haakan out for the nurse, who took his vitals and roused him a little, but can you believe that he fell asleep with all that? as soon as the siren stopped, he woke up and started crying. that little episode took a good few weeks off my life, it was just so weird to see him respond that way! so, like 5 or 6 hours after the birth, we were home. oliver took one look at the baby and sai
d "baby! have it?" and tried to get him out of the carseat, then pitched a fit when we wouldn't let him and spent the next half hour before we put him to bed being very upset about this whole baby situation (poor kid's teething like mad, it was more than an hour past his bedtime, and he hadn't napped well earlier in the day, so he was pretty out of sorts). elliot's nursing like a champ, but i'd forgotten just how hard it can be to get them to latch on and stay latched on at first. i didn't sleep much because it was hot in our bedroom and elliot wanted to be either nursing, pooping (kid's not even 24 hours old and he's pooped 3 times already!), or trying to raise a giant burp, so hopefully i'll get some more sleep today here's some pictures of my new little beauty. i still can't believe i had a boy!
d "baby! have it?" and tried to get him out of the carseat, then pitched a fit when we wouldn't let him and spent the next half hour before we put him to bed being very upset about this whole baby situation (poor kid's teething like mad, it was more than an hour past his bedtime, and he hadn't napped well earlier in the day, so he was pretty out of sorts). elliot's nursing like a champ, but i'd forgotten just how hard it can be to get them to latch on and stay latched on at first. i didn't sleep much because it was hot in our bedroom and elliot wanted to be either nursing, pooping (kid's not even 24 hours old and he's pooped 3 times already!), or trying to raise a giant burp, so hopefully i'll get some more sleep today here's some pictures of my new little beauty. i still can't believe i had a boy!I'm still trying to get a decent picture of the two of them together, but so far Oliver's adapting really well to having Elliot around. He keeps trying to share his toys with him, and the other day in the car when Elliot was crying, Oliver said "Elliot's hungry. Share my grilled cheese sandwich with the baby?" Awwwww... it was so sweet. And a little terrifying since I didn't really want to have to turn around to fish grilled cheese off my newborn while I was driving down the highway. But knock on wood, so far, so good.
Oliver also just had a birthday on May 13, so I got to have a birthday party for him just four days after Elliot was born. Good thing I felt really good after the birth! I'm really glad Oliver was able to have a day that was all about him. This is me and Oliver and his friend Leo looking at one of his birthday books. The day went great, minimal screaming or grabbing of toys (always a concern when another 2 year old is over to play), so I count that as a success. Oliver had no complaints and asked for birthday cake for days afterwards.
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