One of the gifts I received was a Oliver hoodie from my mother. Oliver is a type of tractor, but in this case, I'll let it represent a damn cute little boy. We have gotten the suggestion that when he is a senior to wear it for his senior pictures. I'll be sure to keep it for him and to keep that in mind.
Due to the stressful labor, especially from everything you have just seen below, Oliver had a hard time coming into this world. Oliver was not breathing to well on his own, and he had to be put under an oxygen tank to help him breath.
Here we are in the C-Section room. After 30 hours of labor, finally, Oliver makes his grand entrance. It was both an exciting and stressful time for Laura and me, but in the end, Oliver is worth it.
Here we are, half way into the labor, and Laura is officially not having fun anymore :( I worked really hard to keep her spirits up and keep her motivated through the process.
As you can see Laura is still looking and feeling good here. Little does she know at this point, what is ahead of her to get our beautiful boy delivered.
Hey, our close friend Tanya put this message together, and it explains things perfectly (She is the best!) I wanted to get everyone updated. Sincerely - Joshua, Laura, and Oliver
Hello All!
I know you have all been waiting to hear about Laura and the baby news! I have the privilege of letting you all know about the newest arrival! IT'S A BOY!!!!!!
That's right; Oliver Robert Gamradt was born on Monday, Nov. 24th at 10:45 pm. He weighed 7 lbs 2 oz. and was 18 inches long. He definitely is a Gamradt and looks quite a bit like Josh. We all think he has Laura's lips though. It was a long road for Laura and Oliver, so I will give you the short version of the story: Laura went in on Sunday night to be 'ripened' and induced. After the cervix ripening didn't bring on natural labor, she was given pitossen, which is the drug to make her contractions come faster. They broke her water, and she labored for about 30 hours, here she was dilated to a 7 (you have to get to a 10 in order to start pushing). About that time, Oliver's heart rate slowed from about 150 beats per minute to 65, which was a major concern. When this happened, the doctors decided that she needed to have an emergency C-section, immediately. So within about 12 minutes, she was rushed into the operating room, and Oliver was born! When he came out, he was slow to breathe normally, so he was given oxygen. They figured out the reason his heart rate had dropped so suddenly was that the umbilical cord was wrapped around his neck, and so as he moved down the birth canal, his cord was tightening as he got closer. After doing the standard baby tests, the doctors discovered that he has a small case of pneumonia, and so he was also put on antibiotics. They think he may have gotten this from the muconium (which means he had a bowel movement in the womb). He is slowly getting stronger each hour, and the nurses said he pooped as much as a grown man this morning! (He is definitely Josh's son!) So, I visited today, and Laura, Josh, and Oliver are all doing well! Laura is quite sore from having back labor and the C-section, but was able to walk around on Wednesday. Oliver will stayed on antibiotics for a week and had been working hard on learning to breast feed. Josh is stepping up to the Dad title very naturally and did fabulous at keeping Laura positive and calm during it all.
Laura was in the hospital and discharged on Thursday, but Oliver had to stay until Sunday, December 1st to make sure his pneumonia had cleared up before going home. Laura and Joshua stayed with Oliver at the hospital until Sunday, and the whole family was released, FINALLY, at 10:30am. I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving and remember to give thanks especially for Oliver, Laura, and Josh.
We started this blog to keep all of our friends and family informed and involved in our crazy journey of being parents to our little man Oliver. We would love to hear from you, so please post a comment! Josh and Laura
