A little overdue!

I can't believe Carter is already almost 3 weeks old! It's been in the back of my mind to blog for several days, but as those who have had a newborn can attest, my need for a nap has largely overtaken many of my regular activities. Life has been a little crazy, but in a really good way. Payton has adjusted really well to being a big sister, we're very proud of her. She loves giving Carter hugs and kisses, and always asks where he is when she gets home from school. His crying doesn't bother her at all, which is great! In fact when he starts fussing, she tells me "mom, the baby's crying. I think he wants you." She's gotten to spend a lot of one on one time with Kyle, which is wonderful... except I miss her too. I feel the "mom guilt" that I haven't been able to spend very much time with her, although I know that this stage is short and won't last forever. Anyway, let's get down to the birth!

Kyle and I awoke bright and early on Tuesday, July 9th. Well actually I hadn't been able to fall asleep until about 3am, so when my alarm went off at 4:30 I wanted to stay in bed... but it was baby time! We got up, showered, I was able to put on a little make-up (already so much better than last time!) and then my mom was here. She got to our house about 5am so that she could be here when Payton woke up. I was excited to get going, but also a little apprehensive at the same time; I knew that once I left my house, nothing would ever be the same again. Life as I knew it was about to change!

After getting checked in and taken up to maternity, they had me change into a gown, put me on the baby monitor, and started an IV. Our surgery wasn't for a while yet, so we just kind of hung out. Lots of people came by to talk to us though; the anesthesiologist, the pediatrician who would be attending the baby after the c-section, my doctor, lots of nurses, and Kyle's aunt Pam. We are SO thankful to her, she made the experience such a smooth one, and really helped calm my nerves. She's the OB nurse manager, and even though it wasn't technically her shift yet, she came in to be there during Carter's birth. In fact, she was our baby catcher! More on that in a minute though. I signed a bunch of consent forms, and then they told me it was time to go. Such a surreal feeling, to get up and walk into an OR knowing your baby will be here in just a few minutes! Like I said though, such a different and more relaxing experience than last time. Everyone was so friendly, and we were all chatting, laughing back and forth.

Nervous but ready!

Once I got into the OR and up onto the table, it was time for my spinal block. This was actually the part I was the most apprehensive about, since I didn't really know what it would feel like. I had one before with Payton, but I was in so much pain during that one that I didn't even feel it, and the instant relief I got was worth it anyway. It wasn't too bad though, just a couple big pinches and then it was over. They laid me down, put in a catheter, then someone walked Kyle into the room and we got started!

Before we knew it, he was here. When Dr. McCann got into my uterus she said "I see a chubby cheek!" Then she kept commenting on how big and round his head was, it took them an extra minute to get it out. I actually didn't know when he was delivered right away because Carter didn't even cry, he just kind of sat there and looked at all of us like "huh?" I asked if he was ok, and Kyle said yes, that he was just looking around. Then the crying started! Dr. McCann handed him to Pam, who brought him around to see Kyle and I and then took him over to Dr. Stein, the pediatrician. They cleaned him up and weighed him real quick, then brought him back to Kyle and I.

Hello world!

Pam showing off her new great nephew!

Big boy!

Hanging onto daddy

I may have already discussed this in another blog, but one of the reasons I wanted to attempt a VBAC (which I'm now glad I didn't, with an almost 9 pound baby!) was because I wanted to be able to do skin to skin and try to breastfeed right away, which typically aren't allowed with a c-section. Well, Pam said that Corvallis was moving towards doing that, and she found a pediatrician who was supportive of me trying it. She even had me trial this tube top type thing, which I put on before I went into the OR. I was the first one to do it! When they brought Carter over to me, they just tucked him into this band of fabric around my chest, and that way he was safe and no one felt like he was going to roll off or they had to hold him, and I got to have skin to skin time the whole time they were sewing me up. It was amazing! Everything I wanted it to be. I was so thankful that they let me have that experience, it really meant a lot to me. Carter was ready to eat too, he kept licking my neck; I thought I was going to have a hickey by the time we left the OR! Such a special time though, and I was so glad we got to have those first snuggles. Finally the surgery was over, and they put Carter into a bassinet and wheeled us to our room. 

Cuddle time with mama!

So special...

Our family has expanded!

Very blessed

Kyle's and my mom were there when we got out, Kyle's cousin Sarah was with Payton so that they could come to the hospital and meet their new grandson.

After that they ran home to grab big sister Payton, so she could meet her new brother! I was so excited to see her and show her Carter, but before I could say anything as soon as Payton walked into the room she started talking and informed me that she had seen a dump truck that morning. You know, the important things to talk about. She cracks me up! 

Siblings meet!

Who is this guy??

Supervising daddy changing a diaper

Giving brother kisses

The look on Payton's face when Carter peed on Kyle for the first time was priceless!

Next I'll post some pics of the proud grandparents meeting their grandson...

And cuddles with daddy too :)

Officially a family of four! Very blessed!

My favorite picture :)

Usually you stay in the hospital for 3 days after a c-section, and we were planning on staying that long... but decided to go home after 2 days this time, for several reasons. My main reason for wanting to stay in the hospital was I figured I would get more rest than I would at home, since I wouldn't be taking care of Payton and doing stuff around the house, and so I should take as much time as I could at the hospital. Well, that didn't really turn out to be the case. I would have just gotten to sleep, and then the pediatric resident would come in to check on Carter. Then the nurse would come in to do his vitals. Then 20 minutes later they would come do my vitals. Then an hour later someone from my OB's office would come in to check my scar and push on my tummy (OUCH). And so on and so on... Needless to say, we were not feeling rested. I completely understand the need for all the interruptions, but we figured with all the help we would have at home we would be fine, plus we were really missing Payton. So we packed up our room and our newborn son and hit the road to Albany!

Off we go! 2 days old

We left the hospital in the afternoon, and actually decided to swing by and surprise Payton by picking her up from school on the way home. She was really excited to see us, and we were excited to see her too! 

So, now we're just adjusting to life with a newborn and a 3 year old. It's quite the adjustment! I've been so thankful that Kyle has been off this whole time, my hat goes off to any mom that has to adjust to this by themselves. Kyle has been amazing, cleaning, doing laundry, and really making sure Payton's needs are met. He's also still working a lot in the backyard, I can't wait to post pictures of that once it's finished! He starts summer school next week, so that will be my real test. Good thing I still have so many grandmas, grandpas, aunts and uncles around to help! :)

So I'll start working on my next blog of our first few weeks at home, and try to get it out as soon as possible... considering this one took me 3 days to write, I'll do it as quickly as I can! Lots of pictures, lots to report. Thank you for all the prayers, thoughts, and kind wishes. We're doing great! Sleep deprived of course, but great :) Blog soon!

Welcome baby Carter!

Baby boy Hall is here! Carter Scott Hall was born on July 9, 2013 at 8:08 am. He weighed 8 Ibs 14 oz and is 21.5 inches long. Coincidentally, that is also Kyle's EXACT height and birth weight; and he was born at the same hospital too! His birth could not have gone any better, it was such a different experience this time. So much more relaxed and laid back, and everyone has been so great to us here. I will post more details about our hospital stay when we get home; until then enjoy some pictures of sweet little Carter man! Thank you to everyone for all the prayers and well wishes!

We're going in! That's a lot of baby in there! 

Getting ready!

He's here! First snuggles with mommy 

One of my favorite pictures the whole day :)

Look at my arm rolls! Chunky baby!

We'll blog again soon!

Last post...

... as a family of three! I feel so many different things about this. Surreal, excited, bittersweet. It felt like my whole pregnancy I just couldn't wait until he was here and it was over, but now that the moment has arrived I'm starting to feel the nerves. I shouldn't really be nervous about the c-section itself because I've been through it before, but... it's still a surgery. I am so thankful that Kyle's aunt will be with us during everything; she's the OB nurse manager where we're delivering, and she is going to be there to make sure everything goes exactly how I want it to. SO great, I appreciate her so much! In fact, she e-mailed me and told me she was putting together my "team", and I trust her completely so I know she'll make sure we're taken care of. You're the best Aunt Pam!

I think a lot of my nerves are actually centered around Payton; how she'll do without us at home for several days, will she feel like I abandoned her, how will she react to her new baby brother. It's funny, when I've gotten together with my friend Jamie and her baby Bradyn, Payton hasn't taken much interest in the baby at all. She's so into her "babies" that I figured she would be all over a real one, but it was almost like he wasn't even there. In fact, I was holding Bradyn one time, and she asked me if I could put "that" down so I could play a game with her! She helped me burp him once and was very gentle, but her interest just isn't really there. Not that it has to be I suppose, as long as she's cool with Kyle and I taking care of him!

I have a three day weekend before my maternity leave officially starts, which sounds great in theory but I almost wish I had more to do because the time just seems to drag! We still have a few things to do; install the car seat (kind of important), return some last minute things to the store, that kind of thing. We already cleaned the house, went grocery shopping, and Kyle has done a TON of work on the backyard. I joke that he's nesting too, but it's outdoors. He's ripped up several trees, a big tree trunk, trimmed a bunch of branches, fertilized the lawn, ripped up our deck and started to build a new one... I will definitely be posting pictures of that project once it's done, it's going to look amazing! We're only replacing part of it, because we figured out that there's a patio under part of the deck, which we thought was great and we're going to use it! We also bought one of those big play structures at Costco for Payton, which is a project that will probably take several days to put together too. She's seen pictures of it and calls it her "park", she's super excited about it! She told me she wants to invite her friends over to play on it. Kyle and I have wanted to get a play structure back there, and we thought this would be the perfect summer to do it. On the days when Payton wants to play outside and I don't feel like packing up a bunch of stuff to drive her and the baby to the actual park, I can just sit on a lawn chair in my backyard with the baby and watch her play!

Before... 

... and after! Very excited to have a ready made patio! It really opens up the backyard!

Payton supervising her father's work efforts

We had a good 4th of July, it was pretty low key. We tried to light off fireworks with Payton, but she was NOT having it! If it made noise, she was extremely frightened of it. The only things she liked were those little pop it things that making a popping noise when you throw them on the ground. Eventually my mom took her inside the house, and after a minute her little head popped up in our front window. She was completely ok once she wasn't outside, and even clapped when they went off!

My adoring audience!

The one and only time I touched the sparkler

Things are getting frightening...

Much better inside!

Sweet girl with crazy hair :)

Since tomorrow is officially our last day just the 3 of us I feel like I need to do something to make it extra special... Kyle is super motivated to finish the deck, so Payton and I might just have some mommy daughter time at the pool or something. We're planning on going out to dinner though, just trying to decide where. I'm thinking something light, like soup for me. The really hard part will be trying to sleep tomorrow night! We have to be in Corvallis at 5:30am, so it will be a really early morning. Not that I'll be sleeping anyway I'm sure! My surgery is at 7:30, so any positive thoughts and prayers at that time would be appreciated. I still can't believe we're going to finally get to meet him. I'm really curious to see how much he weighs! I haven't gained nearly as much weight as I did with Payton, so it will be interesting to see if he is as big as she was... my guess is around 8 pounds, but we'll see. I keep thinking I'm going to go into labor on my own, but a big part of me is relieved that it looks like things are going to go as planned. I wanted this experience to be a lot less stressful than the last one, and it looks like that will definitely be the case! I'm looking forward to an overall more relaxed experience this time. We're going to have so much help this time too; our small group has signed up to bring us meals every other day for the whole month (they are awesome!), not to mention having both sets of parents 10 minutes away will be hugely helpful as well. We're very lucky!

So... next time you hear from me, it will be a birth blog! I don't have a laptop anymore so I'm not sure when that will be. We'll be in the hospital for a few days, so it may not be until the end of the week when I'm finally able to blog all the details. I'll try to get one out with all the baby's stats though! Time of birth, height, weight, and of course name :) Wish us luck!

Almost 39 weeks! Can't wait to meet you sweet baby boy!

Congrats Mr. and Mrs. Falk!

Hello everyone, and happy July! I'm so excited this month is here at last. So much has happened since I blogged last, most importantly and happily... my baby sister got married! Congratulations to Richard and Chelsea! It was an extremely bittersweet day for me though, because I wasn't there. I'm still trying to wrap my head around the fact that I missed such a momentous occasion in Chelsea's life, but I am so grateful that she understood and supported why I made my decision.

When I went to the doctor for my 36 week check up, I asked if they would check my cervix for any dilation since my sister's wedding was in 10 days, and it was 4 or 5 hours away. I had told myself that if I was dilated anything greater than a 2 then I should really think about whether or not I should go. I've experienced going into labor when you're out of town, and it was definitely not an experience that I wanted to repeat. So I was extremely excited when she told me I wasn't dilated at all, and no cervical thinning or anything! It made me feel better about going ahead with my plans to go to the wedding. I decided no matter what that I would be making it a day trip, heading up in the morning and heading home when it was over, and just making it a super late night.

So I went about my week, got my hair done, did my nails, and got prepared for Chelsea's big day. Wednesday was my pre-op appointment with Dr. McCann, who is the doctor who will be performing my c-section on the 9th. Kyle went too, so he could meet her and ask questions. I asked again to be checked, which she was happy to do since the wedding was just a few days away. After she was done, she said "you're not going to like what I have to say. You're 4 cm dilated". Kyle said after she said that, you could have heard a pin drop in the exam room. I was shocked. I wasn't dilated at all last week, how was that possible?! I asked her if she was sure, and and she said yep, and 80% effaced. She told me if I didn't want to deliver in Washington, then she couldn't recommend me going that weekend, but the choice was ultimately up to me. As soon as she left the room, I burst into tears. I felt so conflicted; what was I supposed to do?! There was no right answer. All I had to go off of was my previous experience, and the last time I was told I was 4 cm I was holding my baby in my arms 2 days later. Knowing I was that dilated, could I risk my baby being born in a strange hospital, with a strange doctor, especially a c-section? Even though I had only planned a day trip, it would be about 9 hours in the car, and then standing all day in the 85 degree heat. I felt like I knew what decision I had to make, but just the thought of it devastated me. I thought "with my luck, if I don't go I won't have him, and if I do go, I will". Chelsea's wedding is a once in a lifetime experience, but so is a birth, and I had promised myself after how stressful my last one was, that I would never put myself in that situation again. I called and talked to my mom and sister about it, and they both were in agreement that it wasn't worth the risk. As much as it devastated me, the decision was made for me to stay behind in Oregon while Rick and Sue took Payton to the wedding. I felt selfish, but I also felt like I had no choice. Thank you so much to everyone who was so understanding, especially Chelsea. You were so supportive, and I am extremely grateful!

So the car took off Saturday morning without me, and I couldn't even watch it leave because I started bawling. So hard! So to keep my mind occupied I just tried to stay busy around the house. Got to take advantage of any kid free days to get stuff done! I did lots of laundry, organized my room, tidied the house, put some finishing touches on the baby room, returned some things at Target, just puttered around. Kyle worked out in the yard most of the day, he has like 6 different projects he's working on, and he's super motivated! Around the time of the wedding I slipped into my dress, turned on my computer, and got to watch the ceremony through the blessing that is technology. Kyle's brother Tanner held my dad's iPad and I got to watch the entire ceremony! I just think that's so incredible. A huge thank you to Tanner for doing that, because it meant the world to me to be able to watch it live. Not only that, but I even got to give my matron of honor speech via the iPad! They just held a microphone up to the iPad speaker, and I read it to everyone. I was so glad that even though I couldn't be there, I could participate and still feel a part of the ceremony. Technology is amazing! And the part that made me most proud... Payton walked down the aisle all by herself! She is so shy Kyle and I thought there was no way she would do it (she was supposed to walk down with me), but we watched it live in shock and awe as she walked down the aisle, throwing flowers, then even sat on a step by Chelsea and watched the entire ceremony quietly! One proud mama right here! She even turned to my mom after Chelsea and Richard kissed and said "they're married!" So cute! We also heard she was a dancing fool at the reception, and couldn't wait to get the party started. We can't say that part surprised us though... she is a Hall after all :)

Ready for my road trip!

Beautiful bride and flower girl!

So proud of her!

Had to get my use out of my dress! The thumbs up is for you Chels! 

Anyway, congrats to Richard and Chelsea, you had a gorgeous wedding day! I have never seen my sister look so happy and beautiful. As for me... yep, still pregnant. I almost wish I didn't know I was dilated, because now I almost expect something to happen, and I'm becoming impatient that it's not. Not that I have that long to wait anyway... just one more week! My last day of work is Friday, so it's my last week at work as well. Very exciting! I have a feeling this little guy isn't going anywhere, and I'm just going to walk around 4 cm dilated for the next week. That's not a bad thing though; I was really looking forward to the experience of the scheduled c-section to be honest, getting a full nights sleep the night before, getting a shower in the morning, doing my hair and make-up, and feeling prepared as I went in to have my baby with everything I needed. As opposed to last time when I hadn't slept for like 36 hours, had zero make-up on, no overnight bag, and was so exhausted from pushing for so long without medicine that I looked like a zombie, this time I will actually feel ready, both physically and emotionally. We're the first surgery of the day so we don't have to wait long, and then I will have all day (on a full nights sleep) to get acquainted with my new baby. I'm really looking forward to what a different experience this will be! Dr. McCann said that we should only be in the hospital 2 days this time instead of 3, which was also welcome news to hear. I just can't believe we only have one week left until delivery day...

Full term!

It's been in the 90's for the last several days, so I am extremely thankful for our A/C! I can't even imagine what I would be doing without it. It turns on before I even leave for work! It's going to be a beautiful 4th of July, and we're just going to lay low. It's going to be our last weekend as a family of 3; crazy! I have my last doctor appointment before delivery on Wednesday, I feel like I've been going so often that it will be weird not to visit that office all the time anymore! I have to say though, it will be nice not to constantly be weighed for a while :) Although at my last appointment I only gained .2 pounds, so I'm hoping for something similar this time! My total weight gain so far is 32.8 pounds; I didn't want to gain more than 30, so I'm not too far off the mark. I'll let you know how it goes!

Congrats again to Chelsea and Richard Falk, hope you enjoy your honeymoon and I can't wait to hear all about your special day when you get back! :)