Friday, November 28, 2008

What we are Thankful for this year!

It can be so easy to take the good things in life for granted and get caught up in the negative. I truly am a very appreciative person and I would like to share with you a few of the things that I am thankful for!

1. Caroline- goes without saying really.=) We prayed so hard for this sweet blessing and now she is here! This Holiday season will be the best yet, just because we get to share it with her... I am SOOO Thankful!
2. Chris- Chris works so hard for Caroline and Myself and I know how lucky I am that he is willing to sacrifice his time with our girl for me to be a stay at home mom!
3. Our Health- Ok... so maybe this is a bit ironic since I just has the ole' Gallbladder out... but we are generally very healthy and I am very grateful for it!
4. Our Job- Business is Great and it seems to be getting better. We are so lucky to be financially secure at a time when the economy seems to be going crazy!
5. Our Family- What would we do without the Family!?! I have been saying this over and over lately! I have truly had to depend on my family since I had Caroline(Thanks Mom!) and when I spent the Week in Florence after my surgery! Everyone had to pitch in with Caroline since I was down and it was a great reminder of how family is always there!
6. Our Friends- Always there, always caring, always the BEST! They have had to be especially patient lately since we have been a bit preoccupied with the baby. They have shared in our joy and have welcomed our wee-one into their lives.

The list could really go on and on! We are So Thankful!!!

Thursday, November 6, 2008

Caroline's Arrival... so, so long!!!

The last post that I wrote was on Halloween night, Friday, just before I went to bed. I woke up Saturday morning around 9 and realized that I was in early labor. My contractions felt different and I just knew that she would be coming soon! I woke Chris up to tell him, but also warned him that we would be staying at home for as long as I could handle it. I jumped to it and ran to target to pick up some final items that I thought we might need and Chris started packing our Cameras and tried to relax by watching Saturday football. I finished running my errands around 1. While my contractions were more painful and "different" they were not in the set pattern that they needed to be in.

We spent the afternoon together relaxing and watching the Florida/Georgia and Alabama Homecoming games on TV. I knew that I didn't want to start making lots of phone calls, getting friends and family overly excited... especially since we had no real timetable and this could go on for days! About halfway through the Texas/Texas Tech Game I was in real pain. I went downstairs and took a long bubble bath to try to help myself relax. I knew my hours at home were coming to a close and I was getting a bit anxious and eager to meet my baby girl! Chris and I attempted to go to bed around 11, but my contractions strengthened further and formed a nice pattern of 1 every 4-5 minutes. I was in a fair amount of pain anyways, but I did want to stay at home for as long as I could since hospitals are so uncomfortable! I had already made a list of the "last minute" things I would need to do when it was time to head to the hospital. First on my list, jump in the shower!

Once we decided that we needed to go to the hospital Chris was ready to go THEN! He called the Dr himself and told her what was going on. Then he called my mom and told her what was going on but told her that we would call her and update her when we found out this was for sure it. Immediately he jumped into super husband mode and started grabbing things we might need for the hospital. There were two problems with this. One, I already knew exactly where everything needed to be packed(which bag an item went in and where that bag went in my small car) and two, I was in the shower getting dressed while Chris was doing this! This led to a bit of chaos once I finished dressing and realized that while Chris had the BEST of intentions, all of my organized plans were dashed!=)

Chris was a bit panicked by how calm I was as we were headed to hospital. I knew just what I wanted to accomplish before I left and Chris was a bit frustrated by this, since he had his own plans! It was around 12:30 by the time we were leaving for the hospital and my husband was hungry! Chris was rushing me along, which I did not like!, and it turns out that he had an ulterior motive. I assumed he was concerned about my well being and the contractions that I was experiencing. Once we were on the road and I was sitting still in my car, my contractions seemed much more intense. Imagine my surprise when my dear husband didn't make a turn towards the hospital and instead decided to make a run for the border! I am referring to an after midnight Taco Bell run! Not kidding folks!!! At no time in all of my planning and building up of this moment did I think that we would be making a fast food stop while I was in serious pain!! All of this to say that I was somewhat irritated with my husband by the time he ate, of course I couldn't eat a thing, and we parked at the Saint Vincents parking lot!

We checked in, met our nurse and she immediately hooked me up to the monitors to see how often I was contracting. The contractions were getting pretty intense and I was getting more and more uncomfortable. They checked me and told me that I was only dilated to 1 1/2. I was shocked!!! I had been in labor all day and was really hurting! How could I have made so little progress?! The nurse then encouraged me to go ahead and take some pain medicine since I was progressing slowly, but was unable to sleep due to the pain. The Nubain they gave me made me feel loopy and absolutely knocked me out! Chris had fallen asleep within the first hour of arriving at the hospital and for the next few hours we just waited to see what progress I was making so the nurse could report it back to the Dr on call.

When the nurse came back to check me around 3am I was still only dilated to 1 1/2 and she said the Dr. on call was going to send me home to labor if I didn't make any more progress. Since they had already given me the "loopy medicine" I could not imagine going home. Fortunately when the nurse came back to check me at 5am I had dilated to 3 and we were told told that they were going to check me into my own room at St. Vincents and that we would indeed be leaving with our little Caroline!

After we settled in to our "Birthing Suite" and I was hooked up to everything again, I decided to call my Mother and tell her that things were progressing. I had last spoken with her when we were checking into the hospital but when I called she was actually about 15 minutes from the hospital in Birmingham! Mom, Chris and I sat in my room all morning watching my steady contractions on the monitor. Around 9am the Dr. came in to check me and I was dilated to 4. She told me she wanted me to get to 6 before I got my epidural and that they would continue to give me the "loopy medicine" until then. By 10am I was wondering where the Dr was and wanting my epidural!!! The nurse told me that I was far enough along to get it, but that the Dr would need to be present for me to get it... so we waited... and waited... and waited. At this point, everything becomes VERY fuzzy for me. I remember the nurse coming in and saying we needed to move my monitors around because Caroline was "moving"... The medicine had knocked me out so much that I was in and out of it for quite a while and all I knew was that during this time my Mom, Chris, and the nurse were staring at the computer monitor that showed the contractions and constantly moving the monitors that were strapped to my stomach.

Once I somewhat regained consciousness, since the medicine was wearing off, I started asking where that Dr. was again! Around 1pm they called the anesthesiologist to come to our room and get it going. Through all of this I had a WONDERFUL nurse that really helped me through it! Thank Goodness for her!!! It turns out that the Dr. on call, not my normal Dr. since it was a Sunday, had plans for the night and I was interfering with her getting her hair and makeup done for the evening... I am serious!!! Grrr....Nurse Wonderful had to practically fight to get me my epidural since the Dr didn't want to come back to the hospital.

At 1:30pm I finally got my epidural, which I was surprisingly not anxious about in the slightest. I think it was probably because I was in pain and couldn't wait for it to go away! Almost immediately after the Anesthesiologist stuck me, while I was still sitting up on the side of the bed I got a headache. I asked the Dr. if that was normal and he said "sometimes". After I got my epidural, which was heaven by the way=), they hooked me up to pitocin and I went to sleep for a few hours. Around 3:30pm the nurse came in to check me and said I was almost ready to go and they were going to start prepping the room for delivery! I couldn't believe it! I was so ready to meet my Girl!!!

I started pushing around 4:30pm and the Dr became very focused on the contraction monitor, watching my contractions and Caroline's heart rate as she responded to them. At 5:05pm the Dr announced that if she wasn't born with next contraction then we were going to need to get her out as quickly as possible. I was surprised by this, because as far as I knew, nothing was wrong and it didn't seem like anything was wrong... but I didn't know everything! Fortunately, Caroline was born on the next contraction- with her cord wrapped around her neck twice. I cried, Chris cried, my Mom cried... it was wonderful! Seeing her for the first time, holding her, it was all just surreal. I still get chills just thinking about it:-)

Chris wasn't able to cut the cord since she had it wrapped around her neck and the Dr needed to get it off of her quickly. When Caroline was pushed down with each contraction the cord was tightening around her neck which was putting my little girl in distress. They had figured this out earlier in the day when Caroline was "moving away" from the monitors but Chris and Mom decided it was in my best interest that I not know about this. They could see her heart rate changing on the monitor and this is why it was urgent that we got the girl out pronto!

Chris didn't want to leave my side after our daughter was born... I had to practically force him to go over and be with her. Everything was just happening so fast! They checked her vitals, weighed her, got her prints, cleaned her up and had her in my arms within minutes.

One of the few things that I remember from that day is when they put her in my arms and I just stared at my baby girl and with sleepy little eyes, she stared back... she knew me, her Mommy! Everyone tells you that your life will change instantly when you have a child. They are right. =) I immediately felt a love I had never known before and couldn't help but shed a few tears of joy. She was perfect! We were so blessed! What did I do to deserve this precious miracle?!

Caroline Elizabeth was born at 5:07pm weighing 6lbs 9 oz. She was 19 3/4 in. long and had 10 fingers and 10 toes. Perfect!=) She was a bit jaundiced, but that took care of itself within the first few days.

We had several great visitors at the hospital, but mostly we just spent time together as a new little family. Chris and I just stared at our sweet little miracle and were coming to grips with the reality that our life would never be the same... Caroline always comes first now!


Unfortunately, that headache that began when they gave me my epidural did not go away and only intensified as I recovered. As it turns out the Anesthesiologist had pushed the needle through my spinal column too far and my spinal fluid was leaking and causing this horrible headache... NO FUN! My face was swollen, my head was killing me, and I didn't feel great anyways but somehow that really didn't matter because I finally had my sweet little girl in my arms! I was seriously in a state of euphoria and I am so happy for that! The morning that I was due to leave the hospital I had a procedure done called a "blood patch" to correct the spinal headache. I felt some better as Chris and I left the hospital to carry our baby home.

We recorded the whole thing, and once I figure out how to upload videos I hope to put parts on here. Chris was hilarious. He was extremely cautious on the drive home. It was so sweet! He thinks there should be a special lane developed on roadways for new parents... I agree, so if any of you know how to make that happen, we are all for it!!


We are in Love=)

Pictures of Caroline

Monday, November 3, 2008

She's Here!!!


Caroline Elizabeth Carter arrived on November 2, 2008 at 5:07 p.m.. She weighed 6 lb. 9 oz and was 19 3/4 inches long.

Chris and I are completely in love and cannot get enough of our little girl! More pictures, birth story, etc. soon to come!

We are so blessed!

Saturday, November 1, 2008


How your baby's growing:
Your baby's waiting to greet the world! She continues to build a layer of fat to help control her body temperature after birth, but it's likely she already measures about 20 inches and weighs a bit over 7 pounds, a mini watermelon. (Boys tend to be slightly heavier than girls.) The outer layers of her skin are sloughing off as new skin forms underneath.