Carter's Birth Story Part III

We ended up staying in the hospital until the next Tuesday, October 23rd. We had some ups and downs during the stay. I didn't realize how much pain I would be in afterwards. I didn't even get out of bed until either late Saturday or early Sunday. Our first night with Carter wasn't too bad, but the 2nd or 3rd night was pretty rough. He was fussy all night and nothing seemed to make it better. Then on Sunday, the nurse notice that Carter was breathing pretty fast and they wanted to take him to the nursery to check it out. He'd been gone awhile, so Kevin went to check on him and he ended up being down there most of the day being monitored and having a bunch of tests run. But, everything was coming back fine after all the tests and such. They couldn't figure out what was the cause.

I finally got out of bed and out of my room and they wheeled me down to the nursery so I could spend some time with him. It was tough seeing him in there, I can't even image what it would be like to have my baby in the NICU. Finally in the end, they sent him back to the room with us and were just going to monitor him more frequently.

The next day the pediatrician came by and we discussed all the issues going on. Carter by this point had lost about 11% body weight and they don't want it every going below 10%. So we were told to supplement with formula for a bit while we waited for my milk to come in. She also decided with his breathing stuff that she wanted him to get an EKG done just to make sure there were no heart issues. That night she called me with the results and there were a few things that concerned her enough that she wanted us to go by a cardiologist the next day once we were released from the hospital.

We were definitely overwhelmed with all these things at once, but at the same time thankful we still had a healthy baby boy.

The next day we finally left the hospital but had to go straight to the cardiologist. MAN, was that rough for me. I had been in a bed for the last few days, getting up a bit each day, but nothing extensive. Going to the cardiologist was hard. Hard to get in and out of the car, hard to walk into the office. I just felt awful and kept getting worse the longer we were there. My feet were swollen during my pregnancy, but after this, I really couldn't walk they were so swollen. I thought my ankles were going to break.

Good news though was the cardiologist didn't see anything of concern, but wants to see us back in 6-9 months to just double check him.

After that we finally got home and CRASHED! Man was it great to get home. We've now been home for a few weeks and things are going well. Carter is great! I'll post some new pics of him soon.

Carter's Birth Story Part II

So Kevin and got a few hours of sleep and the nurse came and woke us up to prep for surgery. My parents got there a bit early and came by to see me right before we headed back there. Honestly thinking back it was all kind of surreal and kind of a blur. But they made Kevin stay back in the room as they took me back to the operating room. I was a little upset he couldn't be there with me while they prepped me, but I ended up doing ok. Once we got back there all I remember is they got me on the table and gave me the medication for a c-section (I think its a spinal tap). It numbed me from the chest down. Once they finished everything and laid me down and draped all around me, they let Kevin come back.

Kevin came in and sat with me up at my head. Then everything started and went by so fast. Literally a few minutes in, the anesthesiologist was behind me and he said ok you are about to feel a lot of pressure going up to your chest. And as he finished his sentence, then big wave of pressure came over me that hurt and then all of a sudden it was over and Carter was pulled out. All the doctors at the same time go ohh he's a big boy. My doctor said he's glad we ended up doing the c-section.

Again most of it is such a blur and Kevin probably has a better memory of everything but they wrapped him up and showed him to me and then did all his vitals while the doctors then sewed me up. I didn't realize how fast all this took. They say from the time of the incision the baby is usually born within 10 mins and then next 30-40 minutes is stitching me back up.

At some point Kevin and Carter left to get bathed and such and they wheeled me back to a recovery room. I was by myself at this point, but I think I was going in and out of sleep from all the medicine.

My mom came back there at some point and checked on me, and then finally Kevin and Carter came back there and finally got the hold my baby for the first time. I then fed him for the first time. I was in love with the little human. He was perfect and I couldn't believe he was mine!

After I was in recovery for a required certain amount of time they wheeled us all to a postpartum room and all the family finally got to come and meet Carter as well. They did get to see him through the window during his bath though beforehand.

The rest of the day everyone taking turns loving on Carter. I was on such an adrenaline high that I don't think I slept the rest of the day, but I remember that night my eyes kept closing and I had a hard time staying awake but mentally I was on such a high. Physically I was exhausted.

The next few days were an adjustment period and at times difficult as recovering for me was pretty hard. More on that next...

Carter's Birth Story Part I

So I'm finally getting around to writing about Carter's Birth! These past 11 days with Carter have been wonderful, Kevin and I are enjoying parenthood. I thought I'd write out his birth story to help us remember down the road all the details of his birth. I'll probably do this in several parts as it might be a bit long.

We'll start with Thursday, October 18th, the day before Carter was born. Kevin's dad and his wife got into town that day and we spent the day with them. I requested Newk's for lunch and then Mexican for dinner. We had a great day leading up to Carter's arrival. That night Kevin's dad went to bed as they had gotten up super early for their flight out to Austin, but Kevin and I stayed up and waited for one of Kevin's sisters, Heather, to get into town. Our plan was to wait for her to arrive and then head to bed to get some good rest before getting up early and heading to the hospital the next day. I was told I couldn't eat or drink anything 8 hours prior to my 12:30pm scheduled C-Section. (Again we had to end up doing a planned C-Section as Carter was showing he may be 9 or 10 lbs.) So my plan was to wake up at 3:30AM and have a bowl of cereal or something so I could have something in my stomach and then head back to bed. My parents and my Aunt Lori planned to drive down early Friday morning and meet us at the hospital.

WELL....around 9:15pm Thursday night, Kevin and I were sitting downstairs in our living room and I was readjusting myself (as I always do since I was always uncomfortable). I was trying to sit up a bit straighter on the couch, then all of a sudden, I felt something warm, like I had just peed on myself. I was like OMG, Kevin, I think my water just broke!! I ran to the bathroom and sat on the toilet but couldn't really tell if anything was still coming out. So I decided to stand on some towels in the bathroom and low and behold, I was continually leaking some fluids! SOOO we called my doctor's after hours and they said to head up to labor and delivery for them to test me and make sure my water actually did break.

I called my parents and they decided to go ahead and head straight down to Austin with my Aunt. We headed to the hospital and Kevin's family waited at our house until they heard from us what to do. After checking in and heading to a triage room, they did several tests on me. The results came back and my water had DEFINITELY broke.

Final Belly Shot...

 Waiting in Triage...

The last look at my big belly...

At this point, I was excited, nervous, and a bit annoyed (in a funny way) all at the same time. See I'm a planner and I had planned out everything leading up to the c-section. Now I was nervous as I didn't know if my doctor was going to get to do the c-section or not as it was probably going to happen in the middle of the night. And I was like, seriously Carter...we have been wanting you to come early for several weeks and nothing. But now my water breaks! That Stinker! So we waited to find out what was going to happen.

The nurse finally came back in and told us we had to wait at least 8 hours after I had eaten or drank anything, so with that math, it looked like we might have Carter around 3AM. But the nurse said the on-call doctor ended up speaking with my doctor and he said if I wasn't in active labor they would try to hold off doing the c-section until 7AM and my doctor would come in early so he could deliver.  This made me very excited as I had been really nervous about having a c-section, but knowing my doctor would be doing it made me feel better. My water had broken at this point, but I wasn't have regular contractions. And really, when the monitor showed I was having contractions, I didn't even feel them.

So we told Kevin's family to get some sleep and they could head up to the hospital just a bit earlier than planned the next day. We then got checked into a labor and delivery room where we'd stay until heading back to the operating room. My parents and aunt came by to say hi once they got in and then headed to get a few hours of sleep as well.

Nurse getting me ready...

By this time it was like maybe 1AM? Kevin was so excited as was I. Surprisingly though I wasn't as nervous as I thought I would be, maybe because I was in shock about how all this was unfolding. In a few short hours, I was going to be a mom and would have a baby boy in my arms. Kevin set up shop in the fold out bed and we tried to get a few hours of sleep before the nurse came in to wake us up around 5AM to prep for surgery.

Ready to be parents...

Pictures of Carter's Birth

Well last Friday, Kevin and I experienced the birth of our first child, Carter Anderson Harwood. To say that we are in love would be an understatement. The last 5 days have been such a joy to have this little one that we created! At times it is so surreal that this little man is ours. We have had our ups and downs over the last 5 days, but they are totally worth it to look at this precious child. I'll post soon a full birth story (when I can find the time, ha) but for now I'll leave you with some pictures from that day!

Tomorrow's the Day...

Well tomorrow is the day...

Tomorrow we finally get to meet our baby boy, Carter! To say we are excited would be an understatement. We have been counting down the days. Carter has been content in there and didn't want to make an early appearance, but thats ok. The planner in me is ready and glad to know what and when everything is exactly happening, so I feel prepared.

Tomorrow our lives change forever. We will no longer be just the two of us. I'm ready, Kevin's ready.

We have been looking forward to this day for such a long time. We had a bit of a bumpy road getting here. Its funny to think back to a year ago today. I was frustrated and sad wondering what was going on with me and my body and praying nothing was going to keep me from having a baby. The planner in me thought I'd already be pregnant at this time last year. But obviously, God had other plans. We had many more lows to hit before we could get to the highs. Hitting those lows though made us lean on God more and trust in Him more than we ever had before. God's plans are perfect and we knew he had a plan for us.

On February 18th, when we saw this...and our lives changed...

We are blessed and so thankful the Lord blessed us with this child. We have been praying for him and praying that someday he'll know the Lord and know that he is blessing from Him.

I've been pretty emotional lately just thinking about when I'm finally going to meet my son. I've bawled my eyes out several times thinking about that moment and just ready for it finally be here. Less than 24 hours.

Pray for us tomorrow. Pray for doctor and nurses hands during the c-section. Pray for Carter that he doesn't have any complications and that he comes out healthy and fine. Pray for me. I've never had real surgery so I'm pretty nervous about being cut open. Pray that I make it through fine without any complications. Pray that my recovery is smooth.

I can't wait for everyone to meet Carter. As soon as I can, we'll post a picture of him for everyone to see.

Tomorrow's the Day.... God is good!

38 Weeks...Less than a Week to GO!

Well today I am officially 38 Weeks. This time exactly next Friday, we will have just arrived at the hospital to get ready for my C-Section, unless Carter has other plans and starts to come on his own some time this week. (WE REALLY WANT THAT TO HAPPEN!)

This past week has really been the hardest for me throughout my pregnancy. Off and on, I have had this sharp pains in the exact same spot on the left side going around to my back. Monday and Tuesday I was doing pretty well (still waking up about every hour or two in the middle of the night though with some pain). But Wednesday was AWFUL. Usually the pain lasts about 15-20 mins and stops and doesn't come back for another hour or two if at all. But Wednesday it just didn't seem to go away and the worse one was about an hour. I was crying and calling the nurses at the doctor's office. We all seem to be stumped on what the issue is. Everyone feels like it sounds like kidney stones, but all test results come back negative. So who knows. At one point she said she talked to my doctor and he was willing to move my c-section up to TODAY, but after checking the schedule, they didn't have any availabilities. :( I was pretty bummed. I didn't know how I was going to make it through another week of dealing with this pain. In the end she gave me some pain medication and it seems to be working. Yesterday and so far today haven't been as bad. So let's pray it continues this way.

Kevin and I are starting to get really impatient. We really want Carter to be here. Kevin was super bummed he didn't come yesterday. He was really hoping his birthday could be 10-11-12!! Sorry Kevin!! We keep telling Carter how much fun it is outside my belly and he'll like it so much better. But he seems content right now.

I do feel like Carter has dropped now. I look more bottom heavy on my belly than out and I have a lot more pressure. So I hope that means he's coming sooner rather than later. Carter is still moving like crazy, which baffles me because I have no idea how he has that much room to still move alot. It really is like watching my stomach do waves. And lately its starting to really hurt when he is super active. But I'm glad he is moving around, as that helps us know he's still doing well inside there.

Pray for us this next week. Pray for patience, pray for strength for me, pray that my pain stays in check, and pray for a safe delivery and no complications.

Carter....Mommy and Daddy love you so much and we CAN NOT WAIT to meet you. We know you are going to be such a joy in our lives and we are ready start this adventure with you and watch you grow into an amazing person.

Not so Fun Weekend...

On Friday, I officially was 37 weeks, but I ended up having a horrible weekend.

You see in the middle of the night Fri AM, I started having these horrible pains on my left side where my waist line was going horizontally across my back but no all the way to my spine. And the pain even made me feel a little nauseated. I was up all night tossing and turning, walking around, laying on the couch, etc...just trying to find a position where the pain would stop. Finally around like 5:30AM I got in a comfortable position on the couch, propped up by pillows. I ended up sleeping there until Kevin woke up to go to work and then I went back to my bed and sleep another hour and a half. Then all day Friday, I was fine...no pain. I figured I must have just sleep funny, so I didn't bother calling my doctor on Friday.

Well then around 4:30, I started feeling sick to my stomach again, but the baby was moving alot so I figured it must be from him. Kevin and I went and got dinner and then I got home and I got situated on the couch to relax the rest of the night. Around 6:30 or so, the pain came back in the same spot and started getting really bad to the point that I was in tears. I finally decided I should call the dr office. I called their after hours and the nurse was concerned it could be a kidney infection and told me to head up to the hospital to Labor and Delivery for them to check me out.

So we loaded up all our hospital bags and such not knowing if we might have stay or what. We got sent to a triage room and the waiting began. After giving a urine sample, they didn't see anything that would indicate a kidney infection, so the doctor there just said it is probably a strained muscle from my big baby. He gave me an ambien to help me sleep that night and just told me to take extra strength tylenol and I should be good.

Well apparently the ambien didn't work because I was up all night again really hurting alternating between my bed and the couches. Then Saturday around 11:30AM or so, the pain just got so bad that I ended up throwing up. NOT FUN. We decided we should call after hours again. They decided I should head back up to L&D.

We ended up being at the hospital for 7 hours on Saturday and them doing every test under the sun. I got sick several times when the pain would get so bad. It was miserable. For a while they thought it was kidney infection again, but after several other types of tests, they ruled it out and decided I must be having muscle spasms since it would come in waves with how bad the pain was.

They gave me some muscle relaxers and so far it seems to be working and keeping the pain away for the most part, at least not to where it is so bad it makes me sick.

We had our doctors appointment this afternoon and he really would like to get me past 38 weeks before having this baby, so we are keeping our scheduled C-Section for the 19th right now. But he said if I have another episode like I did this past weekend, we may just have to bump it up.

So it looks like I have 11 days left until we meet Carter, unless I go into labor or have an episode like this weekend. I'm ready to meet him!! So let's pray I can get through these next 11 days as smoothly as possible!!