First Bath

Oliver is 3 weeks old today. Yesterday, he had his first bath. At first, he looked a little nervous, but he quickly relaxed and enjoyed the full spa treatment.

Oliver Meets His Nana

Bonnie's Mom flew out to DC to spend the weekend with us. Oliver enjoyed going for walks, reading books, and hanging out with his Nana. Mom, thank you for making the trip to come meet Oliver and spend time with us!

Preview from the "Stupid" Photo Shoot

Oliver had a newborn "photo shoot" yesterday. We do not have all the pictures back yet, but I just got two preview photos. I found this photographer while I was pregnant, and we used her for my maternity photos (which I included a couple preview shots from in a previous blog post). We really liked the maternity pictures we took at the National Cathedral so our photographer suggested that we go back there to take a few newborn shots before going to our place for some more traditional newborn photos. To get the best light, we scheduled to meet her at the Cathedral at 8AM. I stayed up pretty late the night before cleaning to prepare for the photographer coming over and then Oliver did not have a great sleep night. That morning, I am in the bathroom getting ready and Joe is in the nursery (which connects to the bathroom) making the sleeper sofa bed, when I hear him say..."this is so stupid!" I go into the room and tell him we don't have to go if he does not want to and he looks at me confused and says of course it is ok that we go. I looked at him and said, "I just heard you say that this is so stupid." He responds, "did I say that out loud?!?" We both had a good laugh and made it to our stupid photo session. Here are the two preview photos from the Cathedral, one of which is (obviously) a combo with one of the shots from my maternity session.

Oliver's Afternoon in the Big City

We took Oliver on his first mini-excursion yesterday (his 1-week birthday). He had a doctor's appointment and since the doctor's office is in Georgetown, we decided to make a full trip of it and packed the stroller, diaper bag and tried not to panic for our 3-hour adventure. We managed to walk about 2 blocks, hit one baby store, and get frozen yogurt. The weather was perfect and Oliver was a superstar! After about an hour of strolling, we proceeded to his appointment where he got a good bill of health (even after peeing all over the nurse when she took his weight). We even braved a mini-feeding while out.

Rocks, Paper, Scissors...

Oliver is doing well at home.  He is feeding well and sleeping as reasonably well as we could hope.  However, he keeps trying to negotiate more feedings with Bonnie.  I caught him in a game of rocks, paper, and scissors with Bonnie over when he gets to eat next.

Bonnie lost.

Oliver is Home!

Oliver's Journey: Tuesday & Wednesday

On Tuesday, they removed his CPAP and replaced with nasal supplemental oxygen.  He spent Monday and early Tuesday with this supplemental oxygen (just a little) and was fed through his chord IV.  They attempted to discontinue his IV later on Tuesday.  The doctors were concerned that Oliver was not getting enough fluids to process the antibiotics though his kidneys, so he went back on IV fluids. Through Tuesday, Oliver was a breast feeding champion, a natural at the ole' sport. This helped immensely, as by Wednesday he was feeding really well. By Wednesday evening, he was off the IV.  Also late Tuesday, early Wednesday, Oliver was breathing great and came off any air support. Wednesday was another day of Olympic feedings, both by the bottle and by the boob (since he came off the IV, they needed to ensure that he was getting enough fluids so we supplemented with donor human breast milk).  Oliver was clearly partial to the real breast over plastic (as most men are!).  He was doing so great that doctors started suggesting Oliver might be coming home soon... Bonnie has been a champion, feeding and pumping.  Bonnie was discharged on Wednesday and we reluctantly meandered home around 9pm, after Oliver's feeding.  Wednesday night, Oliver got the donor human bread milk and Bonnie was worried he might become a plastic man but her fears were put to rest early Thursday morning when Oliver was excited to say hello to his two, new breast friends. It still looks as though we'll be heading home with him on Friday and we are so happy!  We can't say enough about the staff at Georgetown Hospital, they were phenomenal! Keep your fingers crossed!

Oliver is coming home!

Oliver's Journey: Monday


     Oliver's entry into the world was a little more dynamic than we hoped. After trying to get the record for holding his breath, due to swallowing some bad stuff, he is making a swift recovery.

     On Monday, he was whisked away from us by the Georgetown Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) staff. These doctors and nurses are absolutely phenomenal. They cleaned up his lungs and filled him with antibiotics just to be sure nothing would cause problems. Initially, he was intubated and when the NICU docs went to change out the breathing tube, Oliver made such a vocal fuss the doctors decided not to put the tube back in. So instead they put him on a CPAP machine (note: this is the anti-snoring miracle machine that has saved so many marriages). This was short lived.

Oliver Joseph Marx has arrived on 08/08/2011!

7 lbs, 20" and a full head of hair.  Stay tuned more info. to come...

This was not Bonnie!

The following article courtesy of our good friend James...

Posted at 09:40 AM ET, 08/02/2011

Baby delivered in D.C. traffic jam

By Justin Jouvenal

A woman stuck in a traffic jam in Northeast Washington gave birth Tuesday morning with instructions and encouragement from a 911 dispatcher, D.C. fire officials said.

The woman was caught in a crawl near the intersection of New York and Florida avenues around 6:30 a.m. when heavy labor forced her to make the emergency call, said Pete Piringer, a D.C. fire department spokesman. A tractor-trailer fatally struck a motorcyclist in the area.

It was unclear whether there were any other passengers in the car.

Listen to audio of the 911 call:

Piringer said he 911 dispatcher, who declined to be interviewed, coached the woman through the delivery, and the baby was born before emergency crews arrived. Piringer said he did not know whether the baby was a boy or girl.

Piringer said the mother and newborn were taken to the hospital, where both are doing well.

Dispatchers are trained to handle emergency births and do so regularly, said Lajuan Sullivan, an assistant watch commander for the D.C. dispatch.

“It’s part of our day-to-day business,” Sullivan said.

The Washington Post has requested a transcript of the call. Please check back later for more details.