Vegan Pregnancy Update Week 39: Baby arrives

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Daniel and I are so proud to announce the birth of our son, Oliver Alexander Deane on October 6th 2017 at 5:25pm. His name means “Peaceful Warrior” and we couldn’t have chosen more appropriately. We want him to grow up to stand up for what he believes in, in a kind but strong way. We have waited for you for a long time Oliver and we are so thrilled to take care of you as best we can. We love you with a fierce, unconditional love already.

How Far Along: Baby Oliver was born at 39 weeks 5 days at Novant Presbyterian Hospital. The water birth at Baby + Company “went down the drain” (see what I did there?) but it was the perfect birth for you baby boy. The walk in the Harvest Moon gave Oliver the motivation to get himself outta there!

Size: 7lbs11oz, 20inches long.

Mama’s pregnancy weight gain: 24-26 lbs.

No-baby bump: I think my post-partum bump after a week is about the same size as week 18/19 of pregnancy. The body is so amazing. Daniel is making me laugh so much so I get a lot of light ab exercise everyday!

Exercise: Ummmm, walking around the apartment is enough for now, but we did just take our first walk as a family around the apartment community yesterday. We used the bassinet and loved it- many more walks to come. Also, we have become 100% more popular pushing Oliver around. Seriously, no one used to stop and talk to just Daniel and I on the way to the pool. Rude. But last night, Oliver was attracting people like bees to a flower. It suits me just fine because I LOVE talking to people and I have a serious case of cabin fever at the moment. Daniel, not so much.

How I’m feeling: Ouch, ouch, ouch. Pushing out a baby is soooooooo painful. Extremely rewarding, but ridiculously painful. Trying to sit afterwards is torture. Have I not done enough? I had a second degree tear so I’m supposed to take it easy so it can heal. That’s really hard for me to do, especially on beautiful days like today. I overdid it two days in a row at an appointment and then BuyBuyBaby (I couldn’t help myself). That just made it worse, so I put myself on house arrest to get “back on my feet” soon.

The hormones! Oh! The hormones. I had no idea that post-partum hormones were even more intense than those of pregnancy. Obviously it’s different for every person though. Me – I cry when I hear a beautiful song, I cry when I watch TV, I cry when I pray for Oliver, I cry when I sing to Oliver, I cry when my mom takes Oliver for a walk and I miss him. I.cry.a.LOT. But it’s beautiful tears of gratitude that I have an amazing husband who is such a great dad already, and we have a beautiful son who we get to call “family.”

Cravings/Aversions:

I am so excited that I don’t have acid reflux any more!! Whooohoo! I can eat whatever I want, whenever I want (even right before going to sleep!) with no consequences. #freedom

I still don’t feel like that peanut sauce but other than that I love food! And I had a very small glass of wine! Ok, well it was more like 5 sips then I knew I was done. Haha, lightweight. Oh it was so satisfying.

Food: We are eating like Kings and Queens over here! I’m sure Oliver will be back to his birth weight in no time. Thanks to Anna for organizing the Meal Train for us! Some things we ate this week –

• Cauliflower and lentil soup (Thanks Ensley)
• Loaded couscous and salad (Thanks Mom)
• Veggie Stew with rice (One of the meals I made and froze)
• Corn and fresh herb soup with delicious bread sticks (Thanks Aunty Cheri)
• Cinnamon rolls (Also Aunty Cheri-delish!)
• Muesli
• Cucumber avocado sandwiches
• Fruit (bananas, apples, strawberries)

What I miss: Oliver has been out of the womb for a week now and I have 3 pimples. Whaaaaat?? But I’d rather have three pimples and his sweet cheeks to kiss than have him back in my tummy.

Nursery: Oh dear! The nursery went from a beautifully decorated and organized room to a disaster zone. We have our queen mattress on the floor next to his crib mattress (also on the floor) and it’s been working so well but the nursery’s lost it’s minimalist vibe with all our stuff in there.

Baby Purchases: We went to BuyBuyBaby this week and I could finally go to the boys section and pick out some clothes that weren’t gray or yellow. I’m surprised I didn’t cry because it was so cute to imagine Oliver in all those cute little outfits (that are NOT cheap by the way, even though it’s like a quarter of the fabric than an adult garment. Go figure!)

Can’t wait for: It to be comfortable to sit again. I also can’t wait to go to church and show our baby off to all our friends. The Hospital’s discharge instructions were not to go out into crowded places for 6-8 weeks. I know Oliver’s immune system still needs to develop but that’s a long time folks! How long did you wait?

Thanks for reading along with me during my pregnancy journey! I have loved the comments and really appreciate your support! So, what’s next now that I’m not pregnant anymore?

Much love,

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Read Oliver’s Birth Story here.