Two Months Old!!

Carson just turned two months old! Already I forget that it's only been 8 weeks since he came into this world! He's sitting up by himself and standing with little assistance for small amounts of time. He's talking so much and we have lots of conversations.  He is so attentive and loves taking in all of the scenery. He recognizes our voices and gives us big smiles when he sees us.  He eats every 2-3 hours and usually has about a 4 hour stretch at night.
We just took him for his two month checkup and shots. I've been dreading this appointment for weeks. Jeff told me he'd get off early so I wouldn't have to be in the room when Carson got his shots. I HATE shots. Jeff held my hand last time I had to get one. So the thought of just hearing my baby screaming because if them made my stomach turn- it was incomprehendable holding my child down to get shots. It didn't look good all day for Jeff to be able to leave early to come but he met me at the doctors office. Thank goodness!! It truly was awful listening to him get 1 oral and 3 shots. Poor baby! I was uneasy having him get all of the vaccines. I did feel a little better because he has so much baby fat! Let me tell you how much: My 8 week old weighed in at 16 lbs 9 oz!!! He is 24 3/4 in long. He looks like he's so much older! I am thankful for his size because I think his shots went better than if he was smaller (well that's what I'm telling myself). He had a fever for the next 24 hours, so we gave him baby tylenol. He was a champ and not very fussy at all. I have such a great 2 month old!

8 Weeks and Growing!

My little man is 8 weeks old!  I can't believe it has been that long since I first met him!  He is definitely bigger and is now smiling and laughing a lot!  He is so much fun!  He loves laying in his crib smiling and cooing at the animals on the mobile (Thanks Beth and Brooke!) or laying on his mat (Thanks Great Aunt Sharon!) and watching the jungle animals (above picture).  This weekend we went to Richmond and spent time with the grandparents and siblings.  They sure did love playing with Carson! It is the best feeling when Carson looks at you and smiles.  I love my little boy.  Here are some pictures from this weekend with the family!

Will Carson be a Duke fan like Uncle Johnny or a UVA fan like his Dad?  Hmmm...not sure I like either option. Go Dukes!

Becky and Sarah stopped by to meet Carson!  It is so special to have such sweet friends who share in our joy!

Carson looks like he has old man britches on.  The bulkiness is from his cloth diapers (which we love btw).

Carson thought he would kick back and watch the tube after a full day of visiting with family.

Although nursing is getting easier and I can now start having bottles for him, last night on the way home Carson decided he was really starving and he had depleted my reserve bottles just an hour before.  I had to pull off and park in a hospital parking lot in Hopewell and nurse him.  Ohh motherhood and my growing boy:)

Our big boy!

Carson is growing so much!  He's got sweet rolls all over the place, and I can't stop kissing those precious cheeks!  He skipped the newborn clothes and went straight into 0-3 months.  Those are too tight now and has to wear 3-6 month onesies or 6 months clothes.  His weight gain also means that he sleeps longer! YAY! The car seat is getting to be a bear to tote though.  I think people feel sorry for me when I am straining hobbling along in the parking lot. People have stopped and asked if I need help.  I am thankful for the generosity of the other Smithfieldians, but I know I just look pitiful.  That is why  I started doing P90X (but mostly so I can hopefully fit into my pre-pregnancy clothes before winter!).  Here are a couple pictures to show how much Carson has grown over the last few weeks!

Carson at 2 weeks

He loves his Pops! (5 wks)

Me and my baby in the cute 6 month outfit Jen sent him! (5 wks)

He loves walking around like that with Dad.  Another 6 month outfit a sweet friend of Jeff's sent. (4.5 wks)

Roll out! Chubby but content baby! Carson at 6 weeks

Happy 80th Birthday Grandma!

This past weekend, we drove two hours to South Hill for Jeff's Grandma's surprise 80th birthday party!  She and Papa were very surprised!  Everyone was there including her brothers and sisters.  Grandma is just the sweetest and reminds me so much of my Gammy:)  Carson, our six week old, did amazingly! Because he eats about every two hours, we had to do some creative planning. (Thanks Adele!) Everyone wanted to get a piece of our little big man.  He did so well meeting all of his extended family!  Here are some pictures from the party taken by Aunt Carrie:)

Carson loves his Grandma!

Birthday girl and Papa!  Carson is one of three great grandchildren!

Four generations!

Carson getting some Aunt Carrie lovin'!

Newborn pictures!!

 For Carson's newborn pictures, we decided to ask our friend, Dani, who was my colleague while I was on InterVarsity staff.  She is a wonderful photographer and was great to work with.  I didn't want his bellybutton thing to be in the pictures, so we decided to wait until it fell off.  These pictures were taken when he was two and a half weeks old.  He looks big in the pictures because he gained 2 lbs in the first 2 weeks and he started out at 9lbs 4oz! 

To see all of the pictures, click here!

A Baby Story

I was amazed at how many people wanted to know the details of the hardest but most precious day of my life.  So here it is for my current and future mommy friends:)

I started having strong Braxton Hicks contractions on Thursday, my due date, after my weekly visit to my OB (who did something pretty painful to me at the visit).  By Friday night at 11pm, I started having regular contractions about 4 minutes apart.  I woke Jeff up around 2am and he started running around the house like a crazy man packing.  Since my doctor told us to go to the hospital when the contractions were 3 minutes apart, we braved the hurricane weather and left.  One of our biggest concerns was that to get to our hospital, we had to cross a bridge which gets closed when severe weather hits.  We made it to the hospital around 3am.  When they checked me, I was still only 1 cm dilated and they wanted to send me home.  I greatly protested because not only was I in immense pain but because of the weather.  They consented to let me walk the Mother-Baby Unit for 2 hours and they would check me again.  Jeff was a trooper and walked every step with me holding me up every time a contraction came.  After the 2 hours of walking I was 3 cm dilated and they decided to admit me.  Thank goodness!  They didn't know this but I definitely wasn't going to go home if they didn't admit me. I would've stayed in the lobby until my baby came out!

Once admitted I had a baby's heart monitor, my contraction monitor, a finger pulse checker, and an IV all hooked up to me.  Even though they said I was free to do anything I wanted, I felt like I was on lock down because every time I moved, the monitors moved and the nurse had to come adjust them.  Also, during this time the power in the hospital went out and we were on back-up generators until Sunday morning.  From some sort of litmus test, they determined my water had broken (around 7:30am).  My contractions had slowed once I got in the bed.  I was so thankful to be in a resting position that I didn't care at the time.  Later, I got on the birthing ball.  This was really helpful because it took so much pressure off of my lower back.  It was a little hard for me to stay balanced on the ball simply because I was so relaxed in between contractions I would almost be asleep.  I keep my eyes closed almost the entire time I was in labor because that was how I focused on staying calm and relaxed to help my body progress with labor and for pain control.  Around 6:30pm, the nurse checked me again and said I was about 6-7 cm.  I had done so much work that I couldn't believe I wasn't ready to push this baby out! Because of my disappointment, she had another nurse check me and she said I was only 3-4cm.  Here is where I almost lost it.  My OB was supposed to be coming by at 7, so I told the nurse, pending on what the doctor said, I would need an epidural because I could think of nothing else to help my body progress further (and the fact that I was just dog tired and done with being in pain).

When my OB showed up, she checked me and then there was a huge gush!  There goes my water! I wish the nurse had done that 12 hours ago, but now I had a renewed energy to keep going since I knew that breaking my water could speed things up and the OB said I was about 6 cm.  I truly believe I made Lake Erie on the floor.  I have no idea where all of the fluid came from that came out of me even after my water broke- labor is crazy messy!  A little after 8:30pm I hit the transition phase (where contractions come about every minute and you are going from 8-10 cm).  These next two hours were so so hard.  The entire time I was in labor, Jeff was watching the computer monitor to tell me when a contraction was starting, when I was almost at the top, and when I had reached the peak and it was coming down.  Without his help, I wouldn't have been able to get through this phase.  I had contractions piling on top of each other with no recovery in between.  Once you reach transition, it is supposed to only last like 30 minutes; however, there was a little part of my cervix that wasn't fully dilated unlike the rest of it.  After lots of the nurse's stretching and moving from position to position, at 10:30pm I announced that they had to get this baby out of me because I couldn't take it anymore.  My OB was there and the baby had moved down so much that the nurse told me that I would probably only have to push twice! Best news all day! I really had no idea pushing was going to be so incredibly hard.  I thought that after all the work of getting to 10 cm dilated, the baby would kind of slip out.  I have never been so wrong.  Because of the nurse's earlier stretching and my OB's current stretching, I was in so much pain I had a hard time feeling my contractions so I didn't know when to push half the time.  However, after only 20 minutes of pushing (which, by the way, I think you are supposed to be an Olympic athlete to be able to push for 30 seconds!), his head appeared.  Once his head was out I figured I was done and they could pull him out, but apparently you still have to push the rest of your baby out.  That last push was a piece of cake!  He came out with his arm above his head, crazy boy! After some stitches and cleaning I got to hold my little boy!

It was definitely the longest 24 hours of my life.  I am glad I didn't have any medication and hope to be able to have another unmedicated birth.  He was totally worth it!