We had a nice three day visit with my dad, who is a big help. Carter makes a funny noise - Hup Hup - so we joke that's what we are going to name my dad. We are trying to get Carter to sleep in his crib, but every time walked in the nursery, I saw Carter sleeping in his "tree frog" position on Dad's chest!
Today I dropped Carter off with the lady who will keep him when I go back to work. It was heartbreaking! I figured I would cry when I left, but I actually cried before I left! He looked perfectly content sleeping in his swing, but it was still so hard. The lady is a retired pediatrician and a grandmother, so she is well qualified to keep him, and she is very sweet. She keeps three other kids, including my friend's one-year-old and her two-year-old grandson. We set up his pack-and-play in a separate room, away from the other kids.
If only I could move to Canada or Europe and stay home for a year! (or two!).
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Monday, February 25, 2008
5 weeks 4 days
All the books say to sleep when the baby sleeps. What if the baby doesn't sleep!? The little guy usually naps a total of an hour or so while Steve is gone to work, and sleeps 2 to 3 hours at a time at night. However, this morning, he's been napping in his swing for over two and a half hours! Dad tells me that we need to take all the "little blessings" that we can get!
Dad is coming today to help out for a couple of days. I think tomorrow will be "get Erica out of the house day". Dad still doesn't have a "name". We've thrown out "Poppy" and "Granddad". We are thinking of "PawPaw Steve". Right now Dad is using "the big guy that holds me". Let us know any ideas! We finally settled on Bebe (pronounced bee bee) for mom, although I'm not sure the best way to spell it. We picked this over her choices of Birdie and YahYah!
Dad is coming today to help out for a couple of days. I think tomorrow will be "get Erica out of the house day". Dad still doesn't have a "name". We've thrown out "Poppy" and "Granddad". We are thinking of "PawPaw Steve". Right now Dad is using "the big guy that holds me". Let us know any ideas! We finally settled on Bebe (pronounced bee bee) for mom, although I'm not sure the best way to spell it. We picked this over her choices of Birdie and YahYah!
Saturday, February 23, 2008
5 weeks 2 days
Hi everyone! I am going to try to journal the days in the life of Carter so that we can share with everyone how he is doing. Let's see how long I can keep up with it!
Just to catch everyone up to date, Carter was due January 18th. He was born January 17th at 5:01 in the morning at St. Luke's Hospital in the Texas Medical Center. I had been electively admitted the night before he was born to induce labor, but in the middle of the night, my water broke and labor began. Of course, I immediately asked for the epidural, but the anesthesiologist had trouble getting it and ordered me a strong pain medication. It kicked in about the same time the sleeping pill they gave me kicked in. I don't remember anything else for the next 6 or 7 hours!
In the meantime, there was concern about the fetal monitoring strip, and my doctor decided to do an emergency c-section. I seriously don't remember anything from the surgery. Carter was blue and not breathing when he was born, and was immediately intubated and sent to Texas Children's Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. It turns out he had aspirated some meconium. Amazingly, he did wonderfully, and he even managed to take the breathing tube out on his own just hours after they placed it. They kept him in the NICU for four and half days, mainly to observe him and give him antibiotics. Steve would wheel me in to see him several times a day, and they let me hold him starting the first night. Carter was born with tons of hair - he has a "ducktail" of hair that goes past his neck down to the top of his back! One on the nurses in the NICU even gave him a little mohawk. Carter and I were very blessed to get to go home the same day.
The last 5 weeks have been a blessing and a challenge! Our biggest challenge has been feeding issues and colic. We hope we are turning the corner in regards to his colic. His pediatrician suspected a cow's milk protein allergy, so now Carter is on a special (expensive!) formula. We have learned a lot about soothing a colicky baby. A usually sure-fire way to put Carter to sleep is by swaddling, holding him up to the white noise machine, and then rocking him for 10 minutes or so. This should work if he doesn't have a wet diaper and if he isn't hungry. I think he is starting to smile purposefully now, which is very rewarding after 5 weeks of only smiling when he passes gas!
We have been absolutely overwhelmed with support from our friends, church members, and family. There is no way we could have done it without them. Just today, friends from church brought 7 meals (seven!!) for the freezer, and Steve's parents brought us lunch from Jason's Deli!
Please pray for us as we adjust to our new lifestyle. The rest of our life as we know it has come to a screeching halt, and God is showing us the true meaning of selflessness! Godliness is selflessness, so we know God will use Carter to make our character more like Christ. Pray most of all that Carter will grow up to love the Lord. If this is taken care of, everything else will be taken care of! Pray that we will remember that we are enough because He is enough!
Just to catch everyone up to date, Carter was due January 18th. He was born January 17th at 5:01 in the morning at St. Luke's Hospital in the Texas Medical Center. I had been electively admitted the night before he was born to induce labor, but in the middle of the night, my water broke and labor began. Of course, I immediately asked for the epidural, but the anesthesiologist had trouble getting it and ordered me a strong pain medication. It kicked in about the same time the sleeping pill they gave me kicked in. I don't remember anything else for the next 6 or 7 hours!
In the meantime, there was concern about the fetal monitoring strip, and my doctor decided to do an emergency c-section. I seriously don't remember anything from the surgery. Carter was blue and not breathing when he was born, and was immediately intubated and sent to Texas Children's Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. It turns out he had aspirated some meconium. Amazingly, he did wonderfully, and he even managed to take the breathing tube out on his own just hours after they placed it. They kept him in the NICU for four and half days, mainly to observe him and give him antibiotics. Steve would wheel me in to see him several times a day, and they let me hold him starting the first night. Carter was born with tons of hair - he has a "ducktail" of hair that goes past his neck down to the top of his back! One on the nurses in the NICU even gave him a little mohawk. Carter and I were very blessed to get to go home the same day.
The last 5 weeks have been a blessing and a challenge! Our biggest challenge has been feeding issues and colic. We hope we are turning the corner in regards to his colic. His pediatrician suspected a cow's milk protein allergy, so now Carter is on a special (expensive!) formula. We have learned a lot about soothing a colicky baby. A usually sure-fire way to put Carter to sleep is by swaddling, holding him up to the white noise machine, and then rocking him for 10 minutes or so. This should work if he doesn't have a wet diaper and if he isn't hungry. I think he is starting to smile purposefully now, which is very rewarding after 5 weeks of only smiling when he passes gas!
We have been absolutely overwhelmed with support from our friends, church members, and family. There is no way we could have done it without them. Just today, friends from church brought 7 meals (seven!!) for the freezer, and Steve's parents brought us lunch from Jason's Deli!
Please pray for us as we adjust to our new lifestyle. The rest of our life as we know it has come to a screeching halt, and God is showing us the true meaning of selflessness! Godliness is selflessness, so we know God will use Carter to make our character more like Christ. Pray most of all that Carter will grow up to love the Lord. If this is taken care of, everything else will be taken care of! Pray that we will remember that we are enough because He is enough!
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