Oliver Josiah

Oliver Josiah

July 9, 2009

7 lbs. 7 oz

19 1/2 in

Our morning began as planned. I hadn't slept but an hour as the anticipation of a scheduled induction had me busy as a bee with last minute organizing, lots of time praying, and the most joyful of jitters. At the crack of dawn I roused Marty from sleep and he donned the "lucky" yellow Fox sweatshirt that was his attire for Jayden's and Zachary's birth, and we were in the car for our 5:15 check-in at Simi Adventist Hospital.


By 6:30 I was attached to a friendly IV that was slowly dosing me with Pitocin and Marty was reclining in an adjacent chair hoping to reclaim some Zzz. The hospital was calm; I was calm, and ready to wait patiently for the hours to pass until our son would make his voyage into my arms.


My OB strolled in at 7:40 to break my water and then leisurely sauntered out of the room to assist in a C-section. As he left the room he surmised that I'd be receiving my heavily anticipated epidural once the anesthesiologist arrived in 1.5 hours and he hoped to be delivering the baby by noon. Sounded like a plan to me...

But less than 30 minutes later I had Marty studying the computer output to determine the time between contractions -- some were only 45 seconds apart! I was definitely feeling the intensity and made a comment to the nurse that I just might start moaning. She decided then to go ahead and set up the room for the delivery, but wasn't too hurried about it and continued to assure me that my epidural was close at hand.

10 minutes later I could barely breathe and asked for a little narcotic assistance to help me wait calmly for my numb paradise. But before administering the Stadol she gave me a quick exam to see how I'd been progressing.

I will never ever forget the pale, apologetic look on her face when she said "Oh honey, I can't give you this. You're 8 1/2 cm and you're gonna have this baby right now."

Some collection of thoughts and yes, a bit of panic, ran through my mind like this:
"Huh? But I'm just waiting here for my epidural and then I'll have the baby..around noon remember. And i can't have him NOW, my Dr is in surgery, and my mom is at Panera getting breakfast for Marty ..and I'm waiting for my epidural...and we don't have the cameras out, and I'm waiting for my epidural...and HELP!"


Marty called my mom to have her ditch the bagel and hurry! The nurse sprinted out of the room yelling for someone to get Dr. Murphy out of surgery STAT. While she was in the hall I curled in a ball, looked up at Marty and yelled "I'm gonna push him out! He's gonna come out!!" Marty had his moment of panic right about now as he tried to picture himself delivering the baby because had been abandoned with me in the delivery room.

Moments later at about 8:35 Dr Murphy flew into the room with 2 nurses in tow. The next minutes were a blur, but I definitely remember screaming very loudly (as does everyone else in the hospital), chomping down on what I thought was Marty's yellow sweatshirt (see pix below), and as Marty describes it being put in a "time-out" by Dr. Murphy because I was so very loud and decided I didn't want to push after all. But at 8:40 I pushed with all my might and out flew our little boy. Just a fraction of time past it seemed and I was experiencing one of God's miraculous designs for child bearing: the pain is easily, quickly, completely forgotten (and worth it) when a mother's arms are full of the warm, tiny flesh of her child...womb empty, heart overfilled. Dr. Murphy forgave me for my hysteric display of lung capacity. And my husband forgave me for biting his arm -- he even joked about having it tattooed as a keepsake :)
My mom, dad and Zachary arrived to hear Oliver's first cries.
Marty's mom and Jayden wheeled Oliver to my recovery room.
And Jude wheeled me...she was the nurse who cared for Jayden right after her birth.




Uncle Andrew was the first of our siblings to meet Oliver.

Aimee came with flowers for me and chocolates for Jayden and Zachary.

After 2 wonderful nights just me and Ollie I was wheeled back into the reality of our busy life.

Proverbs 19:21

"Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the LORD's purpose that prevails."

Our new family portrait

I think we'll be taking a lot more live video these days...sitting still is not on the schedule!

.......more pix and stories to come about our delicious Oliver's arrival......

3rd of July tradition

Our beautifully warm and sunny day began with a visit from Uncle Andrew. He arrived in his "huge truck" (Zach's obsession) around 11:00 to play with his favorite niece and nephew and to share a meal with us all.Zach was eager to show off his 4 blue fingernails. He had to get in on the action as I festively painted and bedazzled Jayden's nails earlier that morning. Burying Uncle with pillows and Marty's clothes while he tried to rest was gobs of fun! ************************************************************************************Every year the city of Moorpark celebrates America's Independence with a huge 3rd of July fireworks show. Thousands of people descend upon Arroyo Vista Park with blankets, umbrellas, food, family and friends. There is face painting, live music, jumpers and rock climbing walls. But mostly it's an opportunity to spend a few lazy hours hanging out with dear friends and watching the sheer delight of our children as they run around with glee and glow sticks.
Just like last year, at 4:00 we met at the Dewey's and ventured on the mile and half walk with loaded wagons and strollers. But unlike last year we actually were able to stay until the 9:00 fireworks display (the kids were too young to hang last year) and it was totally worth it! Most of Zach's buddies joined us for the festivities. Morgan and Sophia Elder and Taryn Boian are his Thursday Bible Study Buddies.

And Charlotte Ward was his first playmate as a baby.

Jayden was in heaven playing with the "big" girls.

Marty spent a ton of time chasing Zachary on the playground -- He is quite the daring climber and requires constant supervision.

The entire day was a wonderful celebration of our freedom and our family. And it was an excellent distraction from my daily dose of contractions.....:)!!!!!

Father's Day Weekend

Marty excels exceptionally in whatever he commits to accomplish. He is diligent, trustworthy, kind, Godly, funny, encouraging, tireless. He is so many wonderful things, and perhaps the most beautiful of which is that he is the Father to our children. On Friday of Father's day weekend Jayden's preschool classroom put on a breakfast for all the dads. They colored menu's and place-mats and named the restaurant "Dad's Grill". Moms were not supposed to come but I couldn't miss the photo-op! Zachary and I hung out on the playground while Jayden had the time of her life serving pancakes to her daddy -- and of course she had to wear a fancy dress and heals for the occasion! On Sunday morning we let Dad sleep in. While I cooked up breakfast sandwiches Jayden and Zachary imagined up some messy, boisterous, super-fun games on the stairs. Once everyone was up and dressed for church we sat around the breakfast table and read the notes to each other from our "jars of affirmation" and helped Marty open his gifts.
After church we enjoyed the beautiful day in our backyard.

...the cousins finally met!

This will be an exciting summer for the deGrassie family! In just 2 1/2 weeks I will (hopefully) be giving birth to our 3rd child. And this September my brother John and his wife Kelly will welcome their first baby into the world (the 1st actual "deGrassie" grandchild).

Last week little Anna deGrassie and Baby Brother Sarkisian "bumped" into each other for the first time. They had their 1st photo shoot together and brunched at Corner Bakery!