Broken Blog

I have not forgotten to post. My blog is messed up and I am trying to figure it out. I just wrote a huge post about Father's Day and it won't post. Grrrr....stay tuned.

Father's Day

We celebrated Father's Day this year by surprising Seth (and my dad, Jason, and papa) with a day out to switch things up. We planned a day to Inner Harbor in Baltimore -- good thing we picked a day that was 95 degrees with extreme humidity, huh? :)

We started the day with brunch along the Harbor. We had muffins, turkey and ham roll-ups, fruit tarts, juice, and much more. We found a great shaded spot where no one was around so it was perfect!

Then we headed to the National Aquarium. Our thought was that the twins would love it (as would we!) and it would be nice and air-conditioned. I was even thinking how nice it would be to swaddle Carter once we got in the a/c and have him nap in his stroller. However, we found out we could not have strollers in the aquarium so that nixed that plan right away. And then they decided that the a/c didn't need to be below 75 degrees that day. It was WARM in there. AND we had to carry the little guy.

He was so hot on the walk there that Seth had to hold him like this to get him to go to sleep.

The view of the Harbor from inside the aquarium.

The poor thing was so hot by the end of the day, we had to strip him to his diaper. We rounded out the day with dinner at the Cheesecake Factory (YUM!) - we were hoping to sit inside in the a/c there too but it was a 2 hour wait for a party our size, so we once again sat outside. At least we had some shade!

In all, we had a great day...Carter was super cranky the last part of the day but who can blame him?! It was SO HOT. When we got in the car, he zonked out right away in his diaper with the a/c blasting on him. That's the life, huh? :)

We were glad we got to celebrate Father's Day as a family with it being Seth's first one. We love him and think he's doing a great job as a dad.

Our shrinking son???

So, Carter eats a lot. Well, I should say often. I seriously feel like we no sooner finish a feeding and he's smacking his lips for more. Seth says he has his appetite. I'm starting to believe it more and more each day.

But, this past week, I wonder if he shrunk. I tried one of the many leftover newborn diapers on him (he's been in size 1 for about 3 weeks now) for kicks and giggles and it fit! I was sort of baffled because I was certain we moved him into size 1 when newborns were too small. But they miraculously fit him again...good news for us since that will save our size 1's for when he really needs them.

One month.

Carter, at one month, you:

- Wear size 1 diapers
- Are wearing size 0-3 month clothing
- Weigh 10 pounds, 12 ounces (75th percentile)
- Are 22.5 inches long
- Make eye contact with your daddy and I
- Follow our voices when we talk to you
- Stop crying when we shake the bottle in front of your face before you eat
- Smile occasionally, though not completely consistently yet
- Suddenly like to be swaddled again
- Have learned to like the swing, but mostly only when you are getting drowsy
- No longer care for being in the car too much
- Still continue to hate being in your car seat (we still put you in and RUN to the car to get it moving!)
- Started spitting up slightly after meals
- Eat 3.5 ounces every 2-3 hours during the day and, if we're lucky, every 3-4 hours at night
- Get up twice a night for feedings
- Sleep for about 2 1/2 hours at a time during the night
- Have fussy time around 4:00 or 4:30 in the afternoon and usually again around 8:30 at night
- Have the body temperature of your daddy -- in order to swaddle you, we have to keep you in a short sleeved onesie, in the air conditioning....with a fan

We love you so much, squirt! :)

What's shakin'? One for the baby book.

Today, I got to experience something I never thought I would living in central Pennsylvania: an earthquake. Yes, you read that correctly. This morning at 8:25, Carter was napping in his swing, I was watching TV, and Bentley was sleeping beside me. All of a sudden there was a really loud rumbling sound and the entire house started to shake. My decorations were rattling and things were moving on the walls.

I actually for a brief second thought it sounded like there was about to be a truck into our house. Bentley jumped up and his hair stood on end. He went NUTS barking. Basically, I had no idea what was going on. I looked out the window and saw a few neighbors looking out of their houses too, so I knew I wasn't the only one who felt it.

The shaking lasted about five or ten seconds, and then everything was quiet. I called Seth at work and told him that I knew he was going to say I was crazy, but that I was pretty sure we just had an earthquake. We live near Dillsburg, and they often have small ones so it wouldn't be unheard of.

Within a few minutes, several of my facebook friends had things on their walls about it too, and a few hours later, Seth sent me a link to the local news where it was confirmed that a 3.1 magnitude earthquake hit our area.

Nothing big, obviously no damage, but a pretty cool addition to Carter's baby book -- that he "survived" (haha) his first earthquake at 4 weeks old! :)

Carter's Birth Story

Well, suffice it to say we’ve been awfully busy the past few weeks. In fact, just as I sat down to write this and managed to write “Carter’s Birth Story” (literally, those three words), he woke up and we put it on hold.

But, to be sure that I have it for my memory and for his wife’s (because I’m not sure many guys care), here is his birth story. Beware, it is LONG.

I had been slightly miserable the past few weeks of my pregnancy. Really, the only thing that bothered me was the not sleeping and the swollen legs and ankles. I was lucky enough to not have to deal with Braxton hicks contractions until the very end, though, and never once had a bout of nausea related to pregnancy, so no complaints there!

On May 4, I began having contractions at work. They weren’t intense, and were only coming every twenty-six minutes, so it wasn’t really a big deal. But as the night progressed, they began to come much closer together. As instructed, I called when they were ten minutes apart. They told us to wait until they were five minutes apart, call back, and then head in. At 2:30 a.m. on May 5, we made the decision to head in. It was a fairly uneventful trip in (except for almost hitting a deer on route 322!). We got to Labor and Delivery (L + D), and they checked me in. Within a few minutes, the resident came in, checked me, and immediately said I wasn’t “in active labor” since I was only 2 cm. dilated, and they were going to send me home. In fact, the even told me that I didn’t look like I was in enough pain to be in labor. Um, excuse me?!?!

Nonetheless, she sent us home. I was angry and frustrated and certainly not a fan of that resident. I made a joking (sort of) comment on the way out that they’ll see us later.

We got home at about 5:30 a.m. on May 5. Seth had to go to work and I called off for the day since we had not slept at all and I was having contractions. Throughout the morning, they began to taper off a bit, going from five minutes apart back to ten minutes, which really disappointed me.

However, around lunch time, they really started picking up again. I kept track of the contractions all afternoon…as the day progressed, they went from ten minutes...to five minutes...to four! Seth was at his 2nd job that night. I sent him a text message that said that I could use the moral support and to please come home. At this point, I had been literally huffing and puffing my way through contractions they were so bad. I had already taken four baths and had done just about everything I could. He left work early and came home. By 9:00 p.m., we were heading BACK in…just like I said we would. The contractions were two to three minutes apart for two hours, sometimes even only one minute apart.The whole way in, I could hardly talk in the car. The one thing I did say was that I hoped it was a different resident when we got there.

We got to the hospital and this time, I did request a wheelchair (I refused it the night before). When we got to L + D, I was not very happy to see that it was the same exact team that shift – including the resident. She once again checked me, said I was 4 cm. dilated but that it wasn’t a very significant change over the course of a whole day so they would probably send me home. This time, they said they would give me an hour and check me again. In order to be in active labor, I had to be 5 cm. dilated. When she left, we started walking all around the floor, stopping every twenty feet for me to have a contraction. We used the labor ball…anything to help me dilate faster. And it worked!!!

When she came back in an hour later, she said I was 5 cm. and was being admitted. We were so thrilled!!!! They asked if I wanted my epidural right away or if I wanted to wait it out a bit. Um, now please. :) It took about an hour for the anesthesiologist to get there, which coincidentally was the longest hour of my life. But, oh the relief. I don't care what anyone says, epidurals are heaven.

By the time I got the epidural (which, by the way, could they run through the risks BEFORE you’re in labor so that you don’t have to hear a speech when all you want is the drugs?!), it was about midnight. We were excited to be able to catch some peaceful rest for the next few hours. They came back around 1 a.m. on May 6 and checked me again. I was disappointed to find that I was still only 5 cm. I wasn’t shocked though since I had heard that epidurals often slow down labor. They broke my water and we went back to sleep.

Over the next hour, they came in A LOT to do vitals and whatnot – the nurse said the baby’s heart rate had dropped and that my pulse was going really fast. They were not concerned, but just wanted me to keep moving positions.

At 2:30 a.m. (approximately), I told the nurse that I was really having a lot of pressure (TMI, but seriously like I had to take the biggest poop ever) so they came back and checked again. The resident had a look of shock and said “oh my word, you are completely opened.” I remember asking if that meant I was effaced and she said “nope, you are at ten cm.” We couldn’t believe it. She said he wasn’t too engaged yet, so they wanted to let me “labor down” a bit, meaning they would let my body do some of the work in bringing him down the birth canal so I wouldn’t have to push as much.

By about 3:15 a.m., I told her I was REALLY having a lot of pressure, so she as calmly as could be said “ok dad, wake up and grab a leg, we’re ready to push.” They said we’d just try a few practice pushes to see how I did and if they’d need to turn down the epidural at all. I pushed through one or two contractions and they said I was doing great, so we kept going.

The environment was as calm as could be – just Seth, a medical student, and a nurse. The resident was in and out, but not there the whole time. By around 4 a.m., I felt immense pressure, and all of a sudden everything kicked into action. The resident said “okay great, let’s break down the table, get a baby nurse in here” etc, etc. I don’t remember everything but I was 100% aware that he was just about to be born.

They wheeled some stuff in, gowned up, turned on lights, etc. I pushed two more times and they told me to stop. Within seconds (at 4:10 a.m. on May 6), our little bundle of joy was born.

I’m still amazed at how calm and quick the whole process was.

They immediately put him on my chest and he was SCREAMING, even before Seth cut the umbilical cord. He was big but not as big as I imagined. I guessed 8 lbs., 2 oz. and the nurse said she felt he was only in the 7's. He stayed on my stomach for probably 10 minutes. They did the APGAR tests right there and said he was plenty healthy to hang out there with us for a bit. His APGARS were both a 9, so he was a healthy boy for sure!

When they took him to the warmer, I sent Seth that way with the camera and told him to get TONS of pictures. When he was measured, he was 8 lbs., 3 oz. and 19.5 inches long.

I was cleaned up and done within fifteen minutes and was able to hold him. My epidural wore off very quickly which was fine with me because they I didn’t need a catheter or anything. I asked to go to the bathroom on my own and the nurses came running to help me up. I told them (and showed them) that I had full feeling in my legs and they were working! They were shocked that I was able to walk by myself and wasn’t dizzy or anything.

By 5:30 a.m., I was in the shower, using my yummy body wash!

In all, I was in active labor for just about five hours, so nothing to complain about. Maybe next time, we won’t have to go through all this “go home and wait it out” stuff since the next one will probably be as quick too!!

We’re so thrilled with our little guy. We are blessed beyond comprehension - not only at the precious, perfect little boy but at all of the love and support given to us in the past month (hard to believe that he’s here and that he is already one month old tomorrow).

And as I often sing to his daddy, so I now sing to him:

You are my sunshine, my only sunshine
You make me happy when skies are gray.
You'll never know, dear, how much I love you
Please don't take my sunshine away.