Three Wonderful Years

This past Tuesday, David and I celebrated three years of being happily married. Randomly, it happened to be David's day off, so we were able to spend some extra time together. We decided to take the boys to do something fun out side. I always love going on hikes and had been wanting to do at least a nature walk for a long time. I was going to bring my newly purchased sling to carry Carter in, but I think that it is too big and that I'm going to have to return it.

Next, I thought that we could use the stroller. Once we got there, but before we really saw what the walk was like, David said that he didn't think that the stroller would handle very well, so I got to carry Carter the whole time. Luckily it wasn't too hard of a walk. :) I kept him all bundled up to protect him against the sun. Of course, once we had gone on the trail, we realized that it would have been perfect for a stroller-I guess we'll know for next time!







Mason had a great time. His legs are so tiny compared to ours, but he worked so hard and kept up with us. He walked a long ways, then Daddy offered to give him a ride.


All of that walking must have worn him out because on the way back, he fell fast asleep sitting up on his perch.














That evening, David and I took advantage of a couple gift cards that we had been holding onto for awhile to a fondue restaraunt called The Melting Pot. It's a really fun place to eat-you get to cook your fondue at the table. When we decided to bring Carter along, David was so cute, 'cuz he was concerned that it wasn't fair to Mason not to come.

He quickly realized that it would be funner for Mason to play at Grandma and Grandpa's house. :)




Doesn't it look like Carter enjoyed his night out with his parents? :)











Here he is starting to wake up...the whole Melting Pot experience is 2.5 to 3 hours. Considering that I fed Carter before we got there, he was not able to last the whole time without getting hungry.












Here is the pacifier doing its work.












And here is Carter being spoiled by getting to come out to the restaraunt with us. :)


It may seem wrong that there are more pictures of Carter than of us on our anniversary post, but we didn't want to keep asking the waiter to take pictures, and we are still trying to teach Carter to use the camera.

I am so lucky to have such a wonderful husband! These past three years have been full of happiness and I can't wait to see what the next year holds for us!

Brothers and Friends

Mason is adjusting so well to being a big brother! Of course he has had the expected troubles that come with suddenly having to share mommy and daddy's attention. But, for the most part, he loves to lay next to Carter and just play with him...this play has to be closely supervised, but Mason is beginning to get the idea that we have to be extra gentle around Carter.

I like to think that they are getting to know each other again after a short 22 month separation.

These are some of my favorite pictures of the two of them for the first three weeks or so of Carter's life. By now, there are a lot more, but this is a start! :)

I think it is especially cute that Mason loves to read to Carter. Even though Mason's face is kind of obscure in this picture, I couldn't leave it out 'cuz I think that it's so cute that Carter looks so interested!

Grandma and Grandpa Barker got the three nephews matching jammies for Christmas-of course I had to get some pictures as soon as Carter fit into his.

Long overdue pictures

I'm ending up having to use David's laptop to put pictures up. Obviously we are way behind on pictures-so I'm going to start with my original plan of putting up Carter's 2 week pictures, just 'cuz I think they turned out so cute. I will try to get updated over the next few days...I'm finding it a lot harder to find time to do anything nowadays (for instance I'm doing this instead of taking a shower) so I'll do my best. :)

Carter has always been able to smile since he was born!

Emergency room trip avoided

While I'm waiting to get our camera compatible with our computer again, I decided to post these pictures. They are a month or so old, but I never got a chance to post them before Carter was born, so here it is.







Mason is such a little whirlwind! He is constantly moving and doing things. Our neighbor stopped by today and Mason was just standing there looking at her in the 30 seconds that she was at our door. She exclaimed "I don't think I've ever seen Mason stand still for that long."







Anyways, on a Sunday awhile ago, Mason was bending over to pick up something and banged his head against the hinge of the bathroom door. :( It wasn't bleeding too bad, but the cut was pretty deep. We didn't want to go to the emergency room unless it was absolutely necessary-poor little Mason had enough trauma when he had to get his lip stitched up, plus our copay is 100 dollars. We definitely were prepared to take him if we needed to, but we wanted to make sure it was necessary.

We called up my brother-in-law, Brandon, who has his EMT-and has had plenty of experience with injuries of his own, and asked if we could bring Mason over so he could look at it. Of course, he was happy to help. He said that he thought a butterfly bandage would do the trick. So, he and David went out and got the supplies and bandaged him up.







I took this picture of him and I that night. I don't know why my face turned out so red-I'll just blame it on the pregnancy. :)

These pictures are from a day or two later to prove to child services if any one ever reports us because of all of Mason's bumps and bruises that Mason is a happy, well-loved child. :)

Rolling over and C-section aftermath

I was all set to post this on Friday, when Carter turned 2 weeks complete with cute pictures. Of course, the computer decided that now was a good time not to recognize our camera for some reason so I'm not able to load any thing until David can figure it out. I still wanted to post before this became too old of news.

Also, I have to announce the news that on Carter's 2 week birthday...he rolled over! He has always been very active and kicks he feet a lot. David had put him on his stomach for tummy time and it looked like he was really kicking and almost rolling over. We were joking how funny that would be if he actually did. Then...all of the sudden, we looked down, and he was on his back! He had rolled over! I know that it is possible because my mom said that Diana rolled over when she was 2 weeks old, too. Must be a 2nd child thing...trying to keep up with the older sibling or something. :) Anyways, we haven't been able to get him to do it again, but David and I are both witnesses that he did it! :)

Hopefully pictures will be coming soon!

We are so lucky to have 2 wonderful boys! We have definitely not had a dull moment around here and I am thinking that I am not a fan of C-sections!


Last week, I started feeling a terrible pain in my upper abdomen, just under my ribs, on the right side. It hurt to move and the Percocet couldn't quite take it away. I called the doctor and they said it was normal to feel random pains all over after a C-section. Well, the next day, it got to the point that I was in so much pain that all I could do was lay down, and it still hurt even then. Of course, that was after 5 pm, so we couldn't go to the regular doctor. I did call the after hours advice line. They asked me a bunch of questions and said that I could probably wait until the next day to see a doctor, but to come to the emergency room if I developed nausea, a higher fever or a few other symptoms. They said that they were worried that it might be my gallbladder.

Great, that is not what I wanted to hear! Immediately I started worrying about having to have another surgery and be away from my not yet week old baby. Not to mention my precious Mason was just barely trusting me again that I wasn't going away. And then, poor David-he would have to deal with a wife in surgery, a toddler who is refusing to sleep through the night, and an infant that was used to being nursed every few hours. No, a gallbladder surgery would not be good!



The next day I made an appointment with doctor. Diana must have been inspired to offer to take Mason to play with Levi, something that he loves to do, before I even made the appointment. The doctor asked me a bunch of questions and did an exam and said that she ruled out that it was muscular. She said it was more internal--of course that is not what I wanted to hear. She said that we needed to go to the emergency room right away because it was either my gallbladder or her other suspicion was that it was a pulmonary clot. That, of course, did nothing to make me feel better! If it were a clot, they needed to catch it right away, so we had to head down to the hard-to-get-to hospital once again. My only consolation is that the pain did seem to be getting better compared to the day before. I was so glad that Mason could be at Diana's house already and that he loves it there so much.



I ended up having to get a CAT scan. While we were waiting for the results, my dad made a surprise appearance! It was so good to see him and I appreciate so much that he made the long drive to the hospital in the busiest time of the year for him, tax season! He just couldn't stand not knowing what was happening to me. Shortly after he got there, the doctor came in and said that it was not a blood clot, but that the CAT scan showed that there was fluid in my lungs. She said that things get pushed around during a C-section and somehow, excess fluid ended up in my lungs, which explained why it hurt extra when I inhaled. I was very grateful for this diagnosis because the treatment only involved taking deep breaths to try to absorb the fluid, and to take walks for the same reason.



So now here I am, a week later, and the pain under my ribs is pretty much gone, I still can't lay on my either of my sides, but that is about it. Now it's just the incision that is causing me a little pain, but nothing compared to the pulmonary fluid. I am so grateful that it was not something worse and that I am feeling better.

Typing Contest

92 words

Speedtest

My cousin, Annie, declared a typing war. I think that Katie might be winning so far with 99. How fast can you type?

The details

Well, I've been wanting to write this blog for awhile now, but I'm just getting to it now. I want to record the details about my labor and delivery because this blog is my journal. If you're not interested in that type of thing...just enjoy the pictures! :) (I know I look horrible in the picture to the right, but I just had to put it in because Carter looks so funny! :)

On Thursday, 3/27, around 6:30 or 7, I started noticing what I thought were contractions. When I had Mason, I didn't start to feel contractions until my water had already been broken for 4 hours and I was at the hospital, so I wasn't totally sure. I timed them and they were coming between 10 and 20 minutes apart. I didn't want to let myself hope that I was in labor, 'cuz I didn't want to be disappointed if I wasn't, so I just kept telling myself it was not the real thing.

Once David got home from school around 8:30, I was still having them pretty consistent every 10 minutes. I kept doing the things I normally do, cleaning up after dinner, the laundry, putting Mason to bed. After Mason was in bed, I decided to lay on the couch and rest and see if they went away. There was a video that they made me watch at one of my appointments about pre-term labor, and that's what they said to do to see if they are the real thing. Well...they definitely kept coming. David kept asking me "are you having one?" when he would notice me all of the sudden jump up and walk around trying to find a more comfortable position. At this point they were about 7 minutes apart, sometimes sooner so we decided to call the doctor. They told me that we should probably come on in.

I was still worried that it wasn't the real thing, and I told her that I didn't want to get there just for them to send me home. She assured me that they wouldn't do that. So, at around 11:30 or so we bundled up Mason, got our bags together and left. I thought about doing a blog on the way out, but decided against it...just for the same reason, I really didn't want to get my hopes up that the baby was coming..I didn't believe that this was really it. We dropped Mason off at my parents house, and the contractions were 4-6 minutes apart at that time. It was a lot harder to bear them when I was strapped in the same position.

The hospital that we have to go to for our insurance is about 45 minutes away, in the middle of Downtown. There are lots of stoplights close together and it seemed like it was taking forever. Especially when the contractions were coming so quickly.

When we finally got there, I went to check in, and they had my information because I had called earlier. The girl told us that they didn't have a room clean, and asked if we wanted to wait (I was thinking...well we're not going home, what other choice do we have?!) She asked how I was doing and I said the contractions were coming every 4 minutes. Apparently I did a good job of convincing everyone that I wasn't in that much pain because they made us wait in the waiting room for 20 minutes while they cleaned up an examination room.

Once I finally got into the examination room, they still didn't believe that I was very far along in labor-they hooked me up to some monitors and said that they would be back in 20 minutes to see if I could stay or not. I asked if I could stand up during the contractions, 'cuz it was a lot harder when I had to lay on the table. The lady said that would be fine. When she came back in 20 minutes, she realized that the readout wasn't good enough because I was standing and said she would have to get another 20 minutes with me laying down.

FInally, she must have realized that I was really in labor 'cuz she said she could check to see how far I was dilated and if I was at least a 5, I could go on up. Well, she was pretty surprised and things started moving pretty quickly when whe realized that I was already dilated to a 10 (or so she thought...she couldn't really believe it, she said, because I was not acting like I was that far along). Just because I wasn't screaming and yelling, and was responding pleasantly to them, no one believed that I was really this close. Anyways, she asked how long I had pushed with Mason, and I told her 30 minutes, and that made her even more nervous. She said we had to get upstairs right now. I immediately asked if I could order my epidural then. She said I probably didn't have time! I was so worried, I asked to please just see if I could get it 'cuz I really didn't want to do a natural birth. She said she would see, but I could tell she didn't really think that I would be able to.

When we got up to the room, there was a full staff waiting for me. They were all prepared to help me have the baby right then. They were going to check me one more time and started hooking up the monitors. This is when everything started to change. They realized that Carter's heartbeat was unusually high...so they got an ultrasound machine out. I didn't realize what was happening until the Doctor said "Your baby's breech...we have to do a C-section". Wow, I was definitely not expecting that. Two days earlier, at my appointment, they had said that he was still head down...no wonder it seemed like he had been moving around a lot!

My water still hadn't broken but they could see that it was close and we didn't have much time before I would want to start to push. I was having terrible contractions at this point and was just so worried that Carter would try to come feet first before they had a chance to do the C-section.

They started prepping me and it was just a whirlwind. THey had to knock me totally out, and I don't remember them even giving me the anesthetic...just all of the stuff right before. When I woke up I was really groggy and the incision hurt a ton! But...baby Carter was now here and so things were looking up!

Now we have another precious little boy and are so happy to have him here!

This is after we got home from the hospital. Mason had been running on very little sleep and he just crashed. He and Daddy had a lot of fun together while Carter and I were in the hospital.