On the 23rd of July, we welcomed Oliver into the world, and he didn't exactly come in kicking and screaming; instead, he was fairly chilled out, a bit like me when I was born.
It was an ordeal, on the Sunday night/ Monday morning, about 12 o'clock, before going to sleep, Aimee started bleeding a bit. We were a bit freaked out, rang the hospital, and they told us to get in ASAP, so we gathered a few things and headed off.
They checked her out and, after a long night of prodding, talking (and worrying), they told us that everything seemed okay, but she was required to stay in until it stopped.
I left Monday evening, came back down on Tuesday Morning and left again on Tuesday night, around 8 o'clock, had some food, and as I was about to go to sleep, I got a call to get back down.
It was about 12 when I made it to the hospital, and I wandered around the empty hospital to find the labor ward, and there I found Aimee lying up and looking uncomfortable.
The labor started, but she wasn't ready to push. Over the next couple of hours, we waited, tried to sleep, chatted, and she managed to get her epidural just in time for the baby to come.
There was one issue with the epidural... it didn't take. Well, it did, but it only made the top of her left leg go numb. By this stage, it was too late to get a top-up, and the show began.
She was told to push, and 15 minutes later, Ollie was born. It was a scary, exciting, and painful 15 minutes, but it was all worth it to finally meet our little boy.
He came 3 weeks early and was 5 lbs 12 ounces. An absolutely tiny little thing, but he's back on some timber now.
I said it before, and I'll say it again. Women are strong creatures, especially Aimee. Honestly, I don't think I would be able to go through with what she had to go through. I did my best to help her, but there is only so much a back rub can do. I held her hand and cheered her on, but I think my occasional "You can do this" cheers only annoyed her.
He has been such a joy. For the past 7 weeks, he has been such a chilled-out little thing.
His cries sound like they're coming from another room, seriously quiet. But he can be loud when he wants to be.
He pretty much wakes for a bottle, goes back to sleep, and occasionally wakes up to have a good look around, and that's about it.
Kaleb absolutely loves him and has taken to the big brother role with ease. No jealousy or vying for attention. When he sees Ollie being held by either me or Aimee, he comes straight over to see him and say hello.
He also dubbed him Ollie-pop, which is heart-meltingly cute.
Some people are born to be big brothers, and Kaleb is certainly one of those kids.
One day, we went into Aimee's workplace to show him off, and as one of the girls was holding him, Kaleb started going nuts, screaming that it's his baby and to give him back.
It was funny, and at least we know they'll have each other's backs.
Kaleb remembered it as soon as we got it out of the attic, and whenever Ollie is in it, he'll go over and play with his cars with him.
He sometimes tries to sit in it beside Ollie, but it's too small for both of them. When we take the baby out, Kaleb will usually say, "Okay, my turn," and hop into it and start fake crying.
Kaleb is really good at not waking or disturbing his little brother when he sees he's asleep.
It's pretty much one of the only pictures we all have together because we're usually too tired or too distracted to think of getting any. But we're making an effort to take as many as we can.
The baby phase doesn't last long.
It's great seeing Kaleb with him; he likes holding him and even comes up and pats his back when he sees us burping him. He gives him doddies and sometimes even tries to feed him bottles.
He names some nursery rhymes he wants me to sing, sometimes it's rock-a-bye, Baby, while I cradle him in my arms, and he goes all out with the theatrics of fake crying and saying goo goo gaa gaa.
Not often, mind you, he still has a lot of independence, but it's funny seeing the odd bit of regression.
They're both great kids, and I think they'll be really good friends as they get older.
I've been meaning to post about him here for weeks now. I feel guilty because I was able to write a good bit about Kaleb, which are great memories to look back on and read about, and poor Ollie hasn't gotten the same journaling.
My laptop died and is still dead, so my posting has been nonexistent for the last 3 months.
I found the culprit of the laptop situation, though a loose screw rattling around in there has most likely blown my board. Now, I'm faced with the issue of trying to replace it (which is expensive), fixing it (which could be an option), or just biting the bullet and buying a new one. (Yeah, Mr. Moneybags, with new laptop money just lying around)
That laptop was the only thing I had while down in the house, as my PC can't fit down there, so my only access now is on here when I'm back home.
I'll figure something out over the next few weeks and get back into posting. The phone is an option, but the laptop is way better. Also, I can have it in the sitting room while we're all hanging out, unlike the pc, which I was thinking of trying to fit in somewhere down there.
It's head-wrecking, but I'll figure something out.
