Willkommen Baby Oliver

Our newest baby boy has arrived! Oliver Lyons Eckert was born April 11th at 9:47am CET. He weighed 3330g (7.3 lbs) and was 50cm (19 inches).

The Universitatsspital Frauenklinik was great. Dr. Olav Lapaire (who shares Oliver's birthday!) performed the c-section and everything went well (though I did have to receive the spinal anesthesia twice, making me wonder if I'd ever feel my legs again). We had a nice, spacious private recovery room overlooking a gorgeous garden, and the care was much better than I had anticipated (meaning most of the staff spoke English!).

We stayed in the hospital for four days, and Ben and the boys came to visit Oliver and me each day after school. Eli is fascinated with Oliver and enjoyed holding him and asking questions about him. Ethan is a bit more skeptical and enjoyed playing with all of the hospital equipment and jumping on the bright yellow couches.

It was nice to have a few days to bond with Oliver before coming home. In the evenings after the boys went home, we'd cuddle up and watch rented movies together on my laptop. Too sore to reach over and put him in his bassinet, he spent a lot of time sleeping on my chest and I loved every minute of it (but hope he eventually prefers his crib)!

We came home from the hospital on April 14th, and the first hour at home was a pretty good indication of the challenges we are going to face tending to three kids; while Ethan dipped his socks in a toilet full of pee, and Eli ran to his room screaming that I was mean for not letting him carry Oliver, I wondered why I didn't stay the entire 8 days I would have been allowed in the hospital. But Ben prepared a family dinner, we raised our glasses to Oliver and his big brothers and I was happy to be home sweet home with my new party of five. Let the games begin!!