Happy Birthday, little Ollie Augie. This is your second birthday. Your first one was one year ago today. You were born Dec. 9, 2010 -- at home! Quite a feat for you, mommy and daddy and everyone who helped bring you into the world.
Here's mommy's wonderful, play-by-play recollection of the blessed event:
"Oliver August was born the evening of December 9th 2010 at 7:51 pm in a birth tub, in the basement of his home. The day before the birth and actually a couple of days before that even, I was having contractions- they call them prodromoal. They were very manageable and I thought very little of them, despite being very tired. Anyway the day before Ollie came our midwife Hillary came by for an at home check-up, I was 36.5 or 37 weeks depending on who is counting. We have some video I think of me lying on the sofa in our living room surrounded by Henry and Dom while the midwife check the vitals of the baby and me. She offered Henry the opportunity to hold the thing they use to listen to the heart beat. We spoke about how Henry was 36 weeks when he came which put him at 3 weeks early, and reminded her that we hadn't yet received the birth tub. She seemed unfazed and said "you know the baby could come today, tomorrow or two weeks from now, you never know!" Though Dom and I having recalled the surprise of Henry's early arrival stressed that she give us the tub so we could get it set up.
"I don't remember much more about that day other than that night after putting Henry to bed, Dom and I watched Inception. Similar to when I was in labor with Henry I laid on the couch in the basement feeling ever so slightly off and also pretty tired.
"The day Ollie arrived, I was too busy getting Henry's cookie decorating party prepped with Danielle to really notice. Though that morning I was having pretty regular contractions I think... they were still 20 mins apart though so I didn't think much of them. Danielle and I went to the grocery store and got all the last minute items and then I headed home and Nell went back out to Target to get a few more things. At that time I remember it was naptime for Henry and I wanted to take him upstairs and get him settled in but I just couldn't. I tried to get up out of my chair in the living room and knew that I was just too fatigued to carry Henry upstairs and do the whole getting him to bed thing. So I looked at Dom and asked him to do it and then I think Dom said that I should probably text Hillary and let her know about my contractions. I went upstairs and had a bloody show and at that point I called Hillary and let her know the status. She said the same thing she said the day before which was "could be today, tomorrow or two weeks from now" but she also advised me to call her with any changes. She also suggested I take a bath and relax and see if that changed anything.
"At that point I walked downstairs to the basement and told Dom I thought that he better go out and get the materials we needed to set up the birthing tub as I had gotten into the tub for a bit and clocked a consistent 12 mins apart contractions despite relaxing. Or something like that....
"Dom headed out to Home Depot to get the remaining things like a hose for drinking water that could handle warm temperatures and some other stuff that I didn't know about. He was gone for nearly 4 hours. I texted mom and Cobey and told them things were getting exciting but I think I was still in denial about Ollie coming that night-- I was in denial about Henry too.
"Henry slept, I sat in the tub, Nell was at Target now picking up last minute things on the list for the delivery like a heating pad (which was a life savor for numerous reasons) and other stuff.
"By the time Dom got home my contractions were I think 7 mins apart and even though Hillary said call me back when they get to 5 mins apart, Dom insisted I call her. So I texted and said they were 7 mins apart and had been for about 40 mins. She called me right back and said she was on her way to another birth and would swing by to do an exam.
"In the meantime she told me to hop back into the bath tub, this time with a glass of wine! I was very excited about the directives to get in the tub with wine and did so after puttering around for a bit. Dom and Henry were in the basement getting things ready with the tub. Henry was very excited to be having a swimming pool set up in the basement!
"Hillary arrived not long after she called me, pulled me out of the tub and did an exam and said I was 7 cm dilated already and said, " this baby is coming tonight!" we talked about how long from when I went into the hospital to having Henry it was and I told her about 4.5 hours and so she said baby would probably be here in 2-3 hours. It was about 5pm.
"I was shocked, excited and a little nervous but paid more attention to what had to be done in the house. I went downstairs and told Dom I was 7 cm and that baby was coming tonight. Henry was skipping around the pool happy and excited. Nell was helping in the kitchen to order food for us all. Hillary called her team as she decided not to go to the other birth but to stay with me as I was a second time mom and should be going faster than the first time mom she was on her way to see originally. I called Mom and she said she was on her way, and Cobey kept texting me to see if she should come over or if I needed anything. They were all busy celebrating Erich's birthday.
"So we hung out, I stayed focused on Henry and attempted to keep busy by helping Hillary source things in our house as she got set up for the birth. Dom was filling the tub and my body and Ollie were busy getting into position.
W"e ate probably around 7pm and during that time I was struggling to keep at ease during contractions. They got intense at that point but that was really the first time I remember it being so intense that I really couldn't do anything but breathe while they were happening. I looked at Hillary and told her that I thought we had turned the corner and she said "alright let's head downstairs." At that point I remember getting up and walking toward the basement and just before I turned the corner from the kitchen I saw Mom come in the door. I think I barely acknowledged her and headed down the stairs. I made it to the bottom of the stairs before another contraction and had to lean into a pole in the hallway at the bottom while another contraction came on. I wanted to try to use the toilet, but couldn't. Then Henry and I got in the pool together. The water felt nice and Henry was really inquisitive about the whole thing. He, Hillary and I were talking for a few minutes and then I began to feel like I was ready to push. Hillary suggested that I begin pushing and really from there Ollie and my body took over.
"I remember Dom coming down at that point and telling me that he had just spoken to his dad. Mom came down and by then I was screaming bloody murder. The pain was excruciating. But after 10 mins of pushing Ollie was born in the caul. Which means in his water sac. Supposedly this is a very special and spiritual way of being born.
"Hillary pushed him through my legs and put him on my chest and I held him. She rubbed him with a towel and got him to start crying a bit and he lay there in my arms while big brother Henry asked immediately to hold him. He nursed beautifully from the start.
"Aunt Cobey stopped by later that night, and I spoke to Poppa and Mimi. My friend Christina came by to take a few pics as she just lived down the road. They weighed him and took all his measurements and then they left us after staying a few hours to make sure we were ok. And then that night Ollie, Meme and I slept together in the basement bedroom contemplating names for our beautiful boy.
"The next day Mimi and Poppa came by to visit and frankly I don't remember much else!!"
Mommy remembers plenty! Happy Birthday Oliver August Green!
