This little guy has brought us so much joy! Being our third, I have learned to enjoy the little things. I know this short newborn stage will be gone in the blink of an eye. I've been very calm and relaxed, knowing that there is nothing to get all worked up about :)
I love his soft, downy, blond hair... especially when he's fresh out of the bath. The smell of that tiny little head is a scent that I want to bottle up and save forever.
I love his little grunts and moans when he's dreaming. The funny little half-smiles he gives when he has a full belly and is drifting off to sleep, and way his face morphs into ten completely different looks when he's dreaming make me smile.
Carson is my favorite reason to lose sleep. He has been a pretty good sleeper, and usually goes right back to sleep at night after eating. He doesn't sleep for very long stretches, but that will come. So far, he's gotten in a couple of 4 1/2 hour stretches, but mostly I get 2-3 hours between feedings at night. I know this phase is short, so I'm soaking up our night feedings, trying to enjoy being the one thing he needs to be happy in the night :)
I love being home alone with him. Don't get me wrong, I love the time of day when Cooper and Izzy get home from daycare, but the atmosphere in the house is so calm, peaceful, and quiet while it's just Carson and me home for the day. I am soaking it up. We spend our days snuggling, rocking, reading books, playing on the floor, and I know his first real smiles have to be just days away!
I forgot how much of my day revolves around diapering and feeding :) When he's gassy, it's like the end of the world. The boy can scream!!
I love staring at his sweet face and his squishy little lips. His cheeks are so pudgy!! I love how he's starting to hold a gaze for a while, and it seems like he's just thinking about what he's looking at. I think he's beginning to look more and more like his daddy, which I secretly love :) I think he'll end up looking more like Izzy than Cooper... but we'll see!
I love how laying on my chest and listening to my heartbeat calms him down. It is his favorite way to lay, and I can usually get him to calm down within minutes. Even though at his two week check-up, he was a whopping 10 lbs. already, I could hold him all day long!
Carson's First Bath
We had lots of help :)
Such a sweetie
Morning of delivery... and due date, six days later...
With Auntie Amanda and cousin Laura
Our usual position :)
Daddy's forehead!
1 Week old already!!
I love how much Cooper and Isabelle love him.
Izzy loves to feel important--if I tell her I need help with a 'very important job,' I can get her to help me in any way I need. She doesn't hold Carson much, but she does love to lay on the floor by him and read stories or bring him toys to play with. She is slowly warming up to having him around, but she's still two years old. She wants her mommy and daddy time, and she lets us know by being kind of whiny or getting an attitude. But it's getting better each week. I know in no time, they'll be the best of friends.
Cooper is infatuated with Carson. He gives him dozens of kisses each day, and he loves to hold him and check on him. He has started loving to sing to Carson, mostly because it actually does calm Carson down. It's really cute how that little baby boy will just stare at Cooper, sometimes reaching for his face, and quietly listen. Even though Cooper thought the baby would be a girl, he has not once said that he's disappointed or that he wants a girl instead. He loves having a brother!! I love when he says, "Carson is the best baby brother EVER!"
Brothers
Playing together
Story Time
Kisses, kisses, and more kisses
More stories :)
Izzy sneaks in a kiss every now and then, too!
"Mom, I love my brother."
Doesn't it look like Carson is smiling??!!
We love this little guy, and he has already made our lives more exciting, more fun, and more full of love in these first few weeks!!
We welcomed Carson home for his first weekend with us on February 6. We came home to an empty house, as the big kids were still at grandma and grandpa's house. So the three of us enjoyed a little nap, and got settled in. When Cooper and Isabelle came home, we were excited about how excited they both were :)
So, this was Izzy at the hospital. Not too excited about her little brother.
But after a few days to warm up, she decided she'd like to keep him :)
Waiting patiently, with her hands 'ready'
She was very gentle and loving when she got to hold him for the first time :)
Cooper, on the other hand, wanted to cover Carson in kisses from the moment he saw him. When we got home, it was no different...
Very proud big brother
That first evening was spent enjoying our new family. The big kids showed Carson some toys and books, and Jeremy and I started realizing what it meant to be on zone defense.
Izzy picked a book to read to Carson, and Cooper wanted to show off his dart launcher
They were anxious to help with the diaper changes at first
More games and toys to teach Carson how to play...
Carson graced us with his arrival on the afternoon of February 4, 2015 at 1:19 PM.
He weighed 9 lbs. 2 oz. and was 21 inches long, with a head circumference was 14.5".
Every ache, every pain, every annoying pregnancy 'side effect' was utterly and completely worth it. This little boy is our newest little love.
Carson, only a couple of hours old
It's hard to believe two and a half weeks have already passed since we brought this little guy home... it's a lot busier with three :) It seems there is always someone who needs me, something to clean up, and something to do other than sit down and focus on my thoughts... but today my singular goal is to get this blog updated. I don't want another day to go by, risking my memories beginning to fade of these beautiful first weeks as a family of five.
The Big Day:
At my 38 week OB appointment, Dr. Weinrich suggested that if we wanted to 'get the show on the road' that we could schedule an induction. In his words, my labor and delivery would be a 'slam dunk' since I was again dilated to 5 cm and both of my first two labors went quickly. He knew my biggest worry was that labor was going to go really fast. I was very anxious and a little scared about the possibility of getting to the hospital too late for a smooth and hopefully painless delivery. (Ya right!). I also tested GBS positive, meaning I would need ideally 4 hours of antibiotics to ensure baby wouldn't pick up the bacteria on the way out. I was not even at the hospital for 4 hours before Izzy was born, so I was nervous. So, we scheduled for the following Wednesday, one day past the 39 week mark, to arrive at the hospital, receive antibiotics, have my water broken, and see what happened.
That was the longest, weirdest week. Having a week to think, worry, and wonder, was almost too much for me :) I was excited, don't get me wrong, but it gave me a little too much time to think and worry. But that Tuesday night, as I left school for the last time for nearly 7 months, I had a huge smile on my face.
We decided not to tell Cooper and Izzy, for fear that something would not go according to plan and the baby wouldn't actually arrive that next day. Also, Cooper would have not been able to think or talk about anything else, so we wanted to spare Kris, our daycare provider, the long day that could have been! Before bed, we got a couple pictures with my baby belly, Cooper and Izzy gave the baby a few last kisses, and I snuggled my two babies into bed. We dropped them off at daycare the next morning and headed to Waconia to meet our new little baby.
The morning of Carson's Birthday... 39 weeks, 1 day pregnant
We arrived at the hospital and were in for a little surprise... apparently in the hour before we arrived, four other women had arrived, thinking they were in labor. So we were told there was a chance my induction would be cancelled if, in fact, all of these women would be in actual labor. So we waited. And waited. We tried not to imagine driving home, me still pregnant, no baby in the back seat, and still waiting. We sat for about a half hour, which felt like an eternity, before another nurse came and told us they were not going to send us home, and that they wanted to get me admitted before all the rooms filled up (I swear the look she gave me said she knew how we were feeling!!). Plus, she was pretty certain all those other women were going to be sent home. So, thankfully, we headed back for the tied-for-first best day of our lives :)
By 8:30, the best nurse on the planet, Tammy, had my antibiotic started, and we had the game plan decided. My doctor would be back at 10:30 to break my water, and we'd go from there. Dr. Weinrich joked that he needed me to avoid giving birth between 2:30 and 4:00, because he had a meeting for his son at school, and that was the only hour or so that he couldn't be with us. It was the joke of the day... and surprisingly, Baby #3 came with more than enough time to spare!! For the two hours, we watched TV, talked, and debated our boy names. We still weren't 100% sure what Baby's name would be if he was a boy. The girl name we'd had locked up for months. 10:30 came, the doctor broke my water, and we waiting some more. By 11:00, I was getting antsy to get out of bed and walk around--I wanted to get things moving! So I got out of bed, and in just a few 'laps' around the birthing wing, my contractions were coming on pretty strong. I wanted to do some laboring on my own, and I didn't want an epidural to potentially stall things out, so I tried to be as tough as I could for a while... The point I knew I was ready for the epidural was when I was kneeling on the floor, leaning on the bed. The contractions were coming pretty strong. The nurse paged the anesthesiologist (the one with the reputation for taking FOREVER to get to his patients), and it was determined that I was just past 7 cm. I got the epidural, and kept waiting for it to really kick in. Well, it never did. I ended up with one numb leg and a numb side of my stomach. Not exactly what I had hoped for.
After some painful contractions and about fifteen minutes of pushing, we met our little miracle at 1:19 PM. I was surprised that Jeremy didn't immediately announce whether it was a boy or girl, but he said afterward that he was so wrapped up in making sure everything looked healthy and was in the right places, that he wasn't even thinking to check right away. But, it only took a few seconds to realize it was a BOY! The doctor put him on my chest, and it was love at first sight. Jeremy cut the cord and I just snuggled our baby boy. We noticed right away that he had big hands and long fingers. He also had a full head of downy blonde hair. He took a while to 'pink' up, so his picture debut looks a little blue. But after warming up, he had a perfect and healthy pink complexion. He was quiet, only crying for a few seconds until he heard our voices and felt my snuggles. He made lots of soft grunts and groans in that first hour :) After a while, the nurse weighed, measured and checked him over. There was a little concern about his blood sugar levels, being that he was 9 lbs 2 oz and only 39 weeks, but after the first 12 hours, there was nothing to worry about. We decided his name would be Carson Henry. Carson is the name we'd had on our minds for the previous few weeks, and we thought it sounded great with Cooper and Isabelle. Henry is a special middle name because it's my grandpa's name. I can just imagine the smile Grandpa Henry would have had if he'd have had the chance to meet our kids.
I was thrilled to have another little guy in my life. I was surprised how excited I felt. It was a feeling unlike I felt with either Cooper or Izzy. With Cooper, I felt anticipation and joy, and with Izzy, I felt relief and calm peace. With Carson, I felt almost giddy. I guess I was excited to finally have him, excited to have survived his birth without the epidural I had hoped for, excited for his brother and sister to meet him, excited to have a third healthy baby, and excited for the wild ride that was just beginning. I just couldn't stop smiling. Jeremy was a proud and attentive dad, making sure I was okay, and taking lots of pictures of Carson as he was being checked over. My favorite picture from the labor and delivery room is the one of Jeremy holding Carson for the first time.
Anxiously waiting...
He's here!!!
Hello, little man!
Already looking like a smartie :)
9 lbs. 2 oz. One big little guy!!
Ahhh... excitement and relief... snuggles with mommy!
Carson's First Hour... my little snuggler :)
Proud daddy
We made our phone calls, enjoyed some time alone with our new baby, and made sure Isabelle and Cooper were the first to meet him:
For all the waiting we did to start the day, the rest of the afternoon and evening FLEW by! We had a few visitors that first night after Cooper and Izzy came, and the rest of our family came by the next day. It was a very relaxing stay at the hospital, and visitors stayed for only a little while... probably because they could see just how tired I was :) Jeremy spent Thursday with the big kids, so I spent much of the daytime alone with Carson, snuggling, snoozing, and getting to know him. It struck me as kind of funny... that this was how it was going to be for a while, at least until Carson gets a little older... me with the baby, and dad with the big kids. I don't mind, though. It just reminds me I'll need to make a special effort to get quality time in with Izzy and Cooper.
Our new family of Five!!
Cooper was very excited to hold and kiss Carson. Izzy wasn't... she took a bit longer to warm up!
From the start, Carson was a calm and content little guy. He took to nursing right away, making it very easy. His favorite way to be held was up on my chest. I think my heart beat calmed him down.
One more night in the hospital... rest up for home!
First night snuggling with dad
Enjoying their gifts from their little brother
Mommy's boy!
Big Guy!
Not so sure he likes the seat...
By the middle of the day on Friday, we were headed home with our third little bundle of joy!! We were excited and anxious to get started with the rest of our lives together :)
Here we go, little guy --- are you ready for real life to begin?!?!?
