The Birth Story of Mr. Carson

On Sunday, December 19th we went to a family Christmas party and then headed to Zoo Lights. We had an absolute blast and got home pretty late. As I was getting into bed I noticed I was having consistent contractions. I started timing them and I soon noticed they were 5 minutes apart. They slowly started getting closer together between 3-5 minutes apart and they lasted anywhere from 1 -1.5 minutes. They were not too painful, but the pain that I did feel was different than the contractions I have had in the past. It was more of a burning feeling. After a few hours and we couldn't sleep and the contractions were not letting up we decided to head into the hospital. We took all our bags, but I was just sure they would be sending us back home. I didn't think the pain was bad enough and I thought they would want me to progress more at home.

So finally at 2am we called our mothers. My mom headed to work to get everything done so she could take a few days off to watch Laney and Jordan's mom headed over here to stay with Laney. We arrived at about 3:00 in the morning. While we were there the monitored Carson and found that I was having very consistent, yet weak, contractions every 4 minutes. They were very concerned with the burning I was having, because it was located at the scar of my old C-section. Having had a previous C-section they were worried I could have a uterine rupture and so we all decided to just go in for a C-section. At first they thought it would be a few hours, but before we knew it I was walking into the surgery room at 8am. It was PEFECT, because I didn't have anytime to really think about having surgery and the Lord totally gave me a sense of peace about the whole situation. We were also blessed to have my OB do the C-section.

While it was 8am and everyone was starting a new shift with smiles on their faces telling us good morning it felt like 3am to us, because we had never gone to bed. I walked into the surgery room at 8am by myself. At first you sit on the table and they give you a spinal. I wish Jordan was there for that, but I survived and it wasn't bad at all. When they are placing it you feel the weirdest tingling sensation going down your spine. It wasn't painful at all, but just really weird. Before I knew it I was was getting REALLY numb and it felt good! :) I was in there for about 50 minutes by myself. Jordan came in after I was all numb and they were pretty much ready to start. I was SOOOOO nervous when I had a c-section with Laney, but this time around I felt much more calm and I had an AWESOME anesthesiologist! His name was Mike Theisen (Mike Tyson) he had so many jokes to tell and was singing lines from different songs the entire time. In fact they had music playing in the room, which I found relaxing, and when he was giving me the spinal the song was playing, "Hit me with your best shot" we all found this quite ironic. I started to get nervous when they took my gown and put it in front of my face to block the surgery area. It made me feel a bit claustrophobic and I was wanting Jordan at that point. I started to get dizzy, have cold sweats, and was tempted to untie my hands and rip my gown down and take a few deep breaths. I could almost feel like I was going to panic and I had to concentrate on my breathing. I told Dr. Theisen that I thought I was starting to get nervous and I was getting dizzy and stuff. He made a joke and in under a minuteI was feeling MUCH better. Not sure if he just got my mind off of it or if he gave me something to calm me, but whatever he did it worked. I was completely relaxed again.

Just as the surgery was beginning Dr. Park asked Jordan to say a prayer. So Jordan prayed for the surgery staff, myself, and Carson. It seemed like FOREVER until Carson was born, but from the time surgery started until he was out was about 3o minutes. I didn't feel much pain, but I could feel just the pressure of them working and I could hear them talking quite a bit. Jordan kept talking to me about Laney and Carson trying to distract me, but it worked. Finally they had Jordan stand up and he watched Carson come into this world. He even got a few pictures! We heard him cry and of course there was tears of joy, a wonderful, beautiful, and healthy baby boy. They weighed him in at 7 pounds 12 ounces and he was measured at 18.5 inches long, but at his first appointment when he was 3 days old he was measured at 19.25 inches so we are thinking they didn't measure him correctly the first time. It then took about at least 30 more minutes to sew me back up. Again I didn't feel any pain, I just enjoyed watching Carson get his footprints done and have all of the newborn evaluations done. Jordan held him next to me so I got to talk to him and kiss him. A precious moment I will never forget. The second I heard that cry I was head over heals in love with him and that is the story of how Mr. Carson entered this world :)

Still waiting....

Today I am 38 weeks pregnant and if you asked me a week ago if I thought I would still be pregnant today the answer would be no....

Last Sunday, the day I was considered full term (37 weeks) I started loosing what they call "the plug" and was having cramping and contractions all day. I was so sure Carson would arrive that week that we ended up skipping church even though we got all the way to the church parking lot. We ran to the store to buy Carson a Christmas outfit and some Christmas jammies. Then we came home and cleaned our house to perfection. That evening we met our parents for dinner at Black Angus to celebrate Jordan's 26th birthday. Then Jordan and I went walking at the mall to get this baby out! At the mall we bought Carson a baby's first Christmas ornament. I continued cramping all night until about 4am as well.

On Monday morning I had to use the bathroom a lot and was nauseous (another sign that labor is close!). I was so sure I wouldn't make it through the entire school week so I wrote sub plans for the whole week. Well the contractions died down and here I am an entire week later still pregnant. I had an appointment on Wednesday and I was still only dilated to a 1cm, but my doctor said that I had thinned out a lot. She said it doesn't sound like a lot of progress, but it actually is. Bah-hum-bug! I am so excited to meet this little guy and I was excited that we may be able to have him a week or two before Christmas so we could still celebrate with family on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day and not be zombies.

Ever since my appointment I have continued to loose "the plug" and I have been having contractions and cramping on and off. Nothing consistent and nothing too strong, but Jordan and I have been trying to take at least one walk a day. This is much more progress than I ever had with Laney, so I may be in for a VBAC instead of a C-section, but only time will tell. Please keep us in your prayers!

My next appointment is Wednesday and I am debating if I should have the doc check me, because that is just 2 days before Christmas Eve and I don't want it to make me progress even more. At that point it would be nice if Carson would just wait until after Christmas, but I know only God has control over when this little man arrives. It very well may be Christmas Eve or Christmas Day and we will all survive, but I know our family would be bummed out as we would to not celebrate with them. However, we would get the best Christmas present ever! :)

Update

Wow... it has been almost 5 months since I have posted! I am going to try and get back into the hang of blogging, but I am guessing Carson will be 6 months old before I blog again. A quick update:

Carson - I am 37 weeks pregnant and my C-section is scheduled for December 30th. I have a crazy hunch that this little guy is going to come early, but I guess we will just have to wait and see! Maybe he will be our Christmas present this year :) My pregnancy has gone really smoothly (praise the lord) and we are all just so excited to meet this little or big guy for that matter and see Laney as a big sister. Carson moves ALL the time. Jordan and I enjoy watching my belly roll around. I can tell he loves to hear us sing, because every time I sing to Laney he seems to go crazy. I am still fairly comfortable with just some pelvic pressure and soreness. I had an appointment yesterday and Carson was low and I was open and dilated to 1cm. This is farther than I made it with Laney when they induced me at 39.5 weeks. My next appointment is on Wednesday.

Laney - At 21 months she is as busy as ever and such a smartie pants. She talks ALL day long NONSTOP. I absolutely love it. She counts to 10 and shouts "YAHHHH" when she is done counting, she enjoys stacking blocks, coloring, tinkerbell, elmo, abbie, and zoe. Bath time is always fun as she enjoys "swimming" and playing with her teaset. She LOVES to sing and always wants us to sing to her. If only one of us is singing she will say the other person's name until they start singing too. Some of her favorites are twinkle twinkle, wheels on the bus, elephant song, early in the morning, and rock a bye baby. She has motions to all of these songs and can sing at least one verse or line for each song. Laney lovea animals especially cats and dogs. About 3 weeks ago Laney started sleeping in a big girl bed, well a toddler bed. We found her straddling the crib twice in a row, riding it like a pony. We decided we didn't want a newborn and then have a toddler with a broken leg, so we nervously made the transition and it was a breeze. She got out of bed one time and tried to open the door. I put her in her bed and told her she needed to stay in bed and she has never tried again. In fact the past two nights in a row I tell her it is bed time and we walk upstairs together and she crawls in bed. She has been taking something into bed with her each night. Usually it is a doll, book, or a stuffed cat. Laney wants to be a big kid so bad and always enjoys watching and playing with the older kids. I really could go on and on so I think I will stop now.

Mommy - I am busy working with only 5 work days left until next school year. I am SO excited to be a stay at home mom, even if it might be temporary. I am sad however, to leave my co-workers and students. I have the most amazing group of kids this year and my staff at work is awesome. I am sure we will have plenty of play dates as there are currently 7 pregnant people (or more?!?) plus 2 new babies and a few toddlers that are Laney's age. I enjoy playing with Laney and going to do new things with her. I love to introduce her to new things and see her vocabulary expand like wild fire.

Daddy - He is busy working. He started a new crew this summer called, Target Zero. They focus on getting DUIs and they don't respond to the regular crashes and such. He really enjoys his job and is busy working overtime so that I can have an extended maternity leave ( thanks honey!). In fact today is his birthday and he is sleeping at the moment, but Happy Birthday Jordan we love you! In his spare time he of course loves to have mini family getaways and play his xbox.

I guess that is it for now. Hopefully I can updated often and keep them short and sweet :)

Baby Update

12 weeks- The baby was facing upside down

12 weeks - You can see the babies face :)

12 weeks - You can see the hands in the mouth

12 weeks - This is the profile shot

8 weeks- perfect size with a strong heartbeat

At our second OB appointment we got to see our baby on a little ultrasound machine. I was really worried about having twins because my hormone levels were so high. Also, my doctor said my uterus felt farther along than just 8 weeks so she left the room and came back with the ultrasound machine. While I was a nervous wreck as she left, I was SO EXCITED to see our baby! Laney had to come to this appointment with us so Jordan was out in the lobby with her. As soon as my OB started the ultrasound she went and got Jordan herself. We were able to see a little flicker of our babies heartbeat! It was a wonderful feeling to see that flicker. We are just so thankful for the blessings God has given us. Laney on the other hand didn't care much about the ultrasound, she just wanted to grab EVERYTHING that was in sight. It was a good lesson learned that we will try MUCH harder to find child care for my next appointment.

My 12 week OB appointment went great as well. Our baby's heartbeat was 155-160 and she even did another ultrasound for us! It was the most adorable thing, our little munchkin was sucking it's thumb/fingers. It kept putting its hands in it's mouth and then you would see the jaw move. About 2 seconds later you would see the hands come out and then they went right back in the mouth. It really made everything seem so real! It was so exciting to actually see our baby moving and playing in my belly!

Our ultrasound went great as well. They said everything looked good and our baby had a nice strong heartbeat of 155. This rate is much lower than Laney's at that age... so it made me think this one could be a boy. Also, our ultrasound lady said she had a guess at what we were having. She continued to tease us the entire appointment and NEVER told us what she thought it could be. Oh well, hopefully we will find out that information on August 6th at my next ultrasound. As for mommy's intuition I really thought it was a girl, but after the ultrasound I thought it was a boy. Now I am thinking it is a girl again. Oh boy, I really have no clue. Jordan is sure it is a boy and he was SURE Laney was a girl, so maybe he has better intuition than I do?

As for mommy, I am feeling MUCH better. I think it is a combination of entering my second trimester and being on summer break. I was just crabby, exhausted, and always feeling like CRAP. Really there is no other word to describe it. I just felt cruddy all the time. Now, I am feeling much more energized and rested. Thank goodness!

One last thing, I felt the baby move on July 10th for the very first time! It brought back so many memories of my first pregnancy and I was so thankful for this new little blessing in our family. I just imagined what this little baby will look like, if it is a boy or girl, and how much fun our kids will have together. I sure can't wait to meet this baby and I can't wait to see Laney be a big sister.

Laneyisms

Oh my girl is sure full of personality and spunk, and I absolutely love it! These are some of the things she is currently doing:

• When we "fake" pout, Laney gets all concerned and comes and gives us a REAL kiss right on the lips. She puckers up and makes a smooth sound!
• She is toddling all over the place. No more crawling for her. She is too cute when she tries to run and just giggles, but ends up wiping out.
• She is still VERY into her dolls. She could sit for 20 minutes and feed her baby with her pretend bottles. She sits down and rocks her baby, feeds her baby, and when she wants the baby to sit up, she says "up" and then picks the baby up! I know Laney is going to be a GREAT big sister.
• Whenever Laney does not want to do something she says "All Donnnnneee" and we often hear her say "Uh-OOO" usually when she doesn't get what she wants or she drops a toy.
• She NEVER stops talking. She is always mumbling something and she can say MANY real words. She will often repeat animal names and colors for us.
• She loves to point out everyones eyes and say "eye" with a huge smile of accomplishment.
• Also when you count out loud and she hears you say one, she holds up the number one with her finger.
• Her favorite animal sounds at the moment are a dog, rooster, and cow.
• She is in LOVE with her dogs. She calls both of them Daisy, but is starting to call Roxy - Ra. Every morning I open her bedroom door and the dogs go running in. She just giggles as they sniff her, what a great way to wake up every morning.
• My munchkin just LOVES the outdoors

Ok I could go on and on, but I need to hit the sack. I do not remember being this tired when I was pregnant with Laney. Although, I do remember coming home from work and taking a nap pretty much everyday. That just isn't an option anymore. Maybe that is why I am feeling so exhausted. I feel so guilty, because Jordan has been doing most of the cleaning. Any chance I get "Laney free" while she is napping I have been napping too!

Pioneer Farms

Today I went on a field trip with 32 students. One of which it was his very first day of school. As if it is not exhausting enough going on a field trip with that many kids and feeling like I was constantly counting them to make sure they were all still present I think it is the WORST field trip a pregnant person could go on! I was very excited to go on this field trip as I went to the very same place as a kid, but little did I know what smells would be there to haunt me!

First, they didn't have any regular bathrooms. I had to use an "outhouse", ok folks not a porta potty. I would have been in heaven to use a porta potty. This was a good ol' fashioned outhouse, and let me tell you it smelt like it has been there for 1000 years! Did I mention that besides almost throwing up when I was in there I couldn't find any soap or hand sanitizer!

Second, one area was a barn full of animals. I think that might be enough said, but I did almost step in pig poop. I also had one little boy who found an egg COVERED in yolk and poop. He brought the egg and shoved it in my face and with such excitement he said, "MRS.BAILEY LOOK LOOK LOOK WHAT I FOUND."

Third, we got to go into a cabin and practice doing all the things pioneers would do in houses. One of which was chopping cabbage. Let me tell you how yummy that cabbage smelt!

Fourth, I finally found some soap and water and was able to choke down a bit of my lunch. I was too afraid to drink any water for fear I would have to use that horrible "outhouse" again.

Fifth, I rejoiced when I found a REAL porta potty!! It was just emptied and it smelt just like cleaner! There was no scent of bodily fluids, it was extremely clean, AND it had hand sanitizer! I was now feeling a bit more myself. However, as we loaded on the bus I found out that one little girl wet her pants, because she too was afraid of those "outhouses" and refused to go potty in them. So she decided to go in her pants, well luckily one teacher had a change of clothes in her bag and they were able to get her in some dry clothes. However, her pee soaked clothes stunk up the bus.

Lets just say it was a smelly and exhausting day! I am very thankful for all that I have.

Back into Blogging

Well here it goes...

I am going to attempt to get back into blogging. There is so much to update as I haven't posted since January 3rd. The two most exciting things are that Laney turned one on March 6th andon April 18th we got great news... Laney will be a big sister this December!! More details to come later about that, but these pregnancy hormones are getting to me and I need to hit the sack. My goal is to update about all of Laney's cute things she does and her milestones, and keep you updated on this pregnancy.

9 months and counting!

Right at Midnight!

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas, and a great time ringing in the new year! I am hoping that some of our blog visitors are people who received our Christmas cards, and you decided to check out our family blog. If that is you, could you please leave a comment? That would be great!

Well, December was a GREAT month! I had 2 weeks off, and I enjoyed every moment with my hubby and our beautiful baby girl! As I sit here tonight I am thinking about the alarm clock going off in the morning, and heading back to work. I didn't realize how hard heading back to work would be, but it has got to be easier than when I headed back to work after having 6 months off! Our break was pretty busy! We had 4 straight days of "Christmas". Laney did so well at all of our parties, and even slept 12-13 hour nights. I think she was just plain exhausted. On the days where we didn't have plans, we enjoyed lounging at home in our PJs. During Laney's naps I DEEP cleaned and reorganized my WHOLE house. Also, I spend some time doing some crafts. I have been making bows for babies hair and baby hats. It is something that I find relaxing and I enjoy being "crafty"! One thing that I am most excited about is Laney's new playroom. Our little munchkin is a VERY spoiled girl, and I didn't know what to do with all the toys that she got for Christmas. So, I made a playroom and she seems to be really enjoying it!

Christmas was so much fun. Laney opened the presents a little bit, but did best with gift bags and tissue paper. It was so much fun to hear her scream in excitement when she saw a new present. It was such a special Christmas spending time with our families, and remembering how blessed this little girl is! A few days after Christmas she did come down with a cold, and then she passed it to mommy! Then her cold turned into a fever & ear infection! Poor baby, this was her 2nd ear infection and she was not comfortable at all.

After we started feeling a little bit better, it was time to celebrate 2010! Laney went to bed pretty early, but she woke up at 11:40. So, we got her out of bed and brought her downstairs to come ring in the new year! It was great giving both my babies kisses at midnight!!

Things Laney has done this month:

• Laney got her "two front teeth" for Christmas (the two bottom ones)
• Every time we point the camera at her she crinkles her nose up and wrinkles her forehead and has a VERY cheesy smile.
• She is such a FLIRT, she has really begun watching everyone, everywhere we go! She just stares at them and waits for them to giver her attention and then she smiles or does something silly.
• She loves to clap, and when she hears the words "clap" or "yah" - she begins clapping. Even if the music playing in the background has these words.
• She gives butterfly kisses with her eyelashes. This is something my mom and her do - too cute!
• She loves tapping her hand on her mouth as she says ahhhhhh.
• She even plays peek a boo if she has a blanket. She will keep pulling it over her face, and then putting it back down.
• I know you think I am crazy, but Laney does do some talking!!! It is more the beginning sounds and then the rest has the same syllables and tone. She says: mama, dada, dog, daisy, baby, and Uh-Oh. The last 4 she has just begun saying this week! We know she is saying these words, because she points to the item or is playing with the item when she says these words. It isn't like she is just babbling.
• She is SO mobile. She prefers to stand, and will crawl over to anything just to pull herself up.
• She still thinks the simplest things are funny, and I can't get enough of her laugh that sounds SO FAKE!
• She has recently begun HATING getting her diaper changed! I feel like I have to wrestle a 9 month old every time she needs a diaper changing, ok not every time, but too much.
• She wants to eat ANYTHING that mommy and daddy have, and she isn't too interested in that baby mush anymore. She has tried a lot of new foods this month, and she enjoys pretty much everything as long as it has seasoning or is flavorful. If you give her a plain veggie she gags, and tries to pull it out of her mouth! It is actually quite funny watching her try and pull the food out. But really, how does a 9 month old know when something is bland?!?
• I whistled at her a few days ago, so now it seems like her lips are in a permanent O, because she is a copy cat! She loves to try and do whatever anyone else is doing.
• When she is standing and wants to sit down, she just lowers herself very careful and then just falls to the ground.

We are just having so much fun with our baby girl! It seems like we are constantly telling each other to "look" or "hurry up come here". She is just doing so much everyday, and is becoming quite the ham!

Laney's New Playroom!

YAH!

Clap, Clap, Clap!

Christmas Morning!

Right before Christmas Eve Church Service.

She just melts my heart!

I made Laney some finger foods!

Some of her silly faces!

More silly faces!

And another!

It was snowing! This was the first snow since we drove her home from the hospital. She really liked watching it fall from the sky and land on the ground.

Zoolights! It was FREEZING!!!

Zoolights