One week old

'

Max is a week old! I know everyone says this, but time flies. He's so mellow, and only fusses when I change his bum. Jayne is adjusting OK. She is pretty emotional, but its nothing a good nap can't solve. She always asks about brother, and where he's at. If he starts to cry she says "oh no, my baby's cryin'" She came into the bedroom to talk to him when he was crying, and I came to make sure he was OK, Jayne was laying on the bed next to him just talking to him. It was pretty cute.

On the downside, Max has Jaundice. His blood levels are pretty high, and he's been on light therapy since Saturday. Hopefully he gets better soon, as much as I love a little glow worm, I'd love to introduce my baby to the rest of the house. Right now he is quarantined to the bedroom.

Max: The whole story

If you don't like reading/hearing about births, feel free to skip this post!

Who: Max William Carpenter
What: Labor
When: March 24th, 2010
Where: Madison Memorial Hospital
Why: To get our baby boy!
Other important facts: 7lbs. 15 oz. 19 in. long, chubby.. Pink and blond

If you read Jayne's story, you know she came really fast, and we barely made it to the hospital. This time we wanted to make sure we left with plenty of time. So on March 23rd, Tuesday night, I was having contractions after spending days bouncing on an exercise ball, walking around.. and eventually taking a tablespoon of Castor oil. I thought I was in labor like 3 different times, but every time I would go to sleep my contractions would stop. My sister Kim came to be there when I had the baby and then take care of Jayne while I was staying in the hospital, but she was on a time limit, after all she has a family of her own. So if I didn't have the baby by Wednesday, she was going to have to go home... we were trying everything we could go into labor. So Tuesday night when I was having contractions, we weren't sure to take it seriously or not. But by about 9:00 we decided that "tonight was the night." We left for the hospital around 11:30pm. I was having regular contractions, but they weren't painful, just sort of annoying. We got all checked in and the nurse came in and hooked me up to a monitor and checked me. I was 5cm dilated and 75% effaced...so they decided to keep me. This time was so different but the same as Jayne. Because we had so much time at the hospital, I got an IV.. and a bag of fluids. I was really hoping to have the baby fast, but I dozed all night, and around 4:00am I was checked again and still at a 5. No progress. I was wondering if this was a false alarm like the past couple of nights, but still had hopes of having the baby that day. My nurse came in and told me they wanted to start me on pitocin, but I didn't want to do that. I asked her if the doctor could break my water instead, and hopefully things would progress from there. She said that they could but I would have to wait until 7:00am because that’s when the doctor would come in and make his rounds. So I fell back asleep and woke up around 7:10am. My contractions hadn't stopped completely, I was having like 3-4 every hour. They weren't strong, but at least they were still there. My doctor came in at 8:30ish and broke my water. Then he wanted to start me on pitocin. I asked if we could just wait and see how things went with breaking the water. He said he would give me an hour to start having regular contractions again. After about 1/2 hour I decided to give the pitocin a try. My sister was supposed to be back at my house by 1:00pm watch a little girl I said I could baby-sit , so we were sort of on a time limit (someone else babysat instead, so Kim didn‘t have to leave). I was given pitocin around 9:00am, and within minutes I started having regular painful contractions. they were 4-5 mins apart and super strong. Like the kind of pain I felt right before I had Jayne. My nurse Jen checked me at 10:00am because I was in a lot of pain and I knew that I couldn't deal with these hard contractions for very much longer. I knew that if I was still at a 5 I would need an epidural. Jen checked and sure enough I was still at a 5. To make things clear, I couldn't get enough oxygen during the contractions, both my arms from the elbows down were numb, I could hardly move my fingers and I felt like I was going to faint. They tried giving my oxygen, but I think that made it worse. and I was really trying to breath deeply, I have been practicing deep breathing for like months now... so anyways. Jen told me that the anesthesiologist was going to be at least 45 mins. I really didn't think I could deal with the contractions until then, they were just super intense. I asked her if she could turn off the pitocin until I got the epidural, and then she could turn it back on. She didn't want to, but I insisted. She told me she would turn it off, but if my contractions stopped she would have to turn it back on. I didn't really care, I just wanted it to stop. My contractions were still hard, and now they were like 2-3 mins apart. So I asked my sister if the pitocin was turned off because Jen had turned the machine and stuff so I couldn't look back and see it. She did, I guess my uterus just needed to be jump started. I was now dealing with the pain by chewing on ice in-between contractions, and I changed my breathing a little to help me focus on getting more oxygen and keeping me calm. about 11:00 Todd the anesthesiologist came in to read me my rights and have me sign away my life to get an epidural. I told Jen that the past couple of contractions I had felt a lot of pressure, and like I could have pushed if I wanted to. She checked my again, and I was at a 9. So I wasn't getting an epidural. I was OK with it, because I was progressed, at least all that pain wasn't in vain and I wasn't still at a 5. Jen called my doctor and told him he had maybe 5 mins to get there, the baby's head was pretty low. Well the next contraction I let out a little yelp and had like an uncontrolled push. They called the doctor again... then it was kind of a blur. Everything went super fast, I had like 4-6 nurses rush in to assist Jen, I was really trying not to push, but that totally wasn't working. the doctor came in and I pushed once and it was like POP! out came his head, and then one more push and out came the rest of the baby. Then the doctor said "whoa." He barely made it. Kim said she's never seen a bed come apart so fast, and I apologized to Jen for not waiting. You can't ignore that kind of urge. Darick stood there and witnessed the whole thing, he knows to just be there.

Kim holding Max

Dr. Evans and Darick

Our blond Babe

Things I've learned:

*I don't like to be talked to, touched while I'm in labor. I also don't like being mean, so I won't tell you to move, but apparently you can "sense" it. Kim was standing in my line of view once, and she stood there, and then moved cause she realized she was bugging me just standing there. Darick spilled water on my hand while holding my cup of ice, and I totally gave him a crusty look. then realized what I did and told him sorry, I was just upset about the water, but I wasn't mad at him. I was also super annoyed every time Jen would touch me or talk to me cause she always did it while I was having a contraction... but she was a good nurse so she made up for her imperfections

*I would say that I just go from a 5 to a 10 super fast cause it happened both my labors. It was like "all the sudden" I was having a baby. so when the time comes, it comes fast

*I totally love my family even more now, they're the best

Our Little Man

Max William Carpenter

March 24, 2010

11:15am
7lbs 150z.
19 in

chubby and blond... we're so in love!

Feeding the Ducks

"WOW!! Look at the water!"

Living in Idaho Falls can be pretty awesome. Down by the river, known as the "Green Belt" there are tons of ducks and geese. They're a little aggressive when it comes to feeding them. They totally demand bread, and if you don't have any they hiss and squawk at you. Jayne and I went to feed these wild animals with Darick's parents today. It was fun, but I was a little nervous Jayne was going to be carried away. I mean look at the size of these fellas, and if that isn't enough, they would win out on numbers, it's like 100 to one.


The army of birds.

Jayne LOVES it when grandma and grandpa come to visit, she sits on their laps, hugs them, follows them around, asks them funny questions and totally forgets she has parents. She adores grandma and grandpa!

Here's a nice view of the temple from across the River... I love it when the weather warms up, and I can come out of my winter hibernation :)

Knit Skirts

I love baby girls. I love to dress them up, do their hair (the little bit they have), cuddle and love 'em. I love to see those chunky thighs, and cute dimpled knees. With that all in mind I decided to make some cute skirts out of soft knit fabric for the Baby Fair in April. These are just a few... (seriously, I think I'm making about 50!)

The colors available are: Brown, Tan, Hot Pink, Teal, Grey, Purple, and White. I think this might be my favorite project yet! Or maybe its because I've been so wrapped up in boy things, it's refreshing to make things for a baby girl again.

I didn't picture all of the colors together, because the other skirts still need finishing touches, like elastic, flowers or buttons. But they are going to be seriously cute!

Take 2

Are you tired of all the pregnancy posts this week? I promise, next week I'll post some projects... but for now here's a new double the pregnancy picture of Courtney and me. We were both pregnant when I was pregnant with Jayne, and we're in the same boat again. This time I'm 8 weeks ahead of her. So in the following pictures I'm 36 weeks 5 days, and Courtney is 28 weeks 6 days. Courtney thinks she huge, but this is her 4th pregnancy and my 2nd... she's not the "Ginormica" she thinks she is, I think she looks cute pregnant still. Not awkward pregnant like me. However, I was having an awesome hair day... seriously.

"We're still pregnant?!"

Look at those bellies!

"The tummy hug"

36 Weeks

Maybe there's a little too much skin in this picture, but it's my blog right? He's totally pushing up on my right side too... well maybe a less exposed picture next week

So I'm now 36+ weeks, here's the good and the bad...
Good things:
*hopefully only 2 more weeks to go.... but possibly 4, and I pray not 6?
*I'm almost completely ready, he could come today and I think I would survive
*I only have a couple more Dr. appointments... sometimes it bugs me having so many
*I can still walk up stairs
*I can veg at night with a good excuse
*Darick does dishes every night, not just when we run out (dishes are his job- I cook dinner)
*I have rediscovered how much I love pebbled ice from Sonic, and have a cup very often

Bad things:
* I just started to get stretch marks :( hopefully they won't get too bad
*It sort of hurts to move at night, I get really bad nerve pain in my back, and often my leg just drops out from under me, so I limp around, and walk by things I can suddenly hold on to if needed
*I still have a few projects I want to get done, we'll see how it goes
*My feet are super sore all the time, especially my toes

Jayne's Birth Story

This is my sister Courtney and me last time we were pregnant, we're both pregnant now too. It's tho only picture I have of me being pregnant with Jayne (well there's like 8 pictures that we took, but they are all in these clothes within minutes of each other) I just wasn't into taking pregnancy pictures then, I'm not really into it now either, but thought I should document this pregnancy more. In this picture I was 32 weeks, and Courtney was 36 weeks, she had Eli one week later.

Ok so now onto Jayne's debut into the world

When: June 18th, 2007 at 2:37am

What :Pretty Baby Girl

How: All natural

Stats: 7 lbs. 8oz, 21 in. long.. with some hair

I think I was in denial when I was in labor with Jayners... I knew I was having a baby, but completely ignored the fact. It all started The Thursday before. I went into the doctor for my weekly checkup, and the doctor checked my. I was 3cm dilated and 80% effaced. The doctor told my that he could strip my membranes and put me into labor if I wanted. I was really done being pregnant, but my mom was coming down the following week, and she wouldn't have been very happy if I had the baby before she got there, well on purpose. The doctor said that he didn't think I would make it to my next appointment, and I left merrily on my way. I called my mom and told her all that happened. She was planning on coming down like the following Friday, but changed her mind and was going to come Tuesday instead. So that Saturday I knew I had some cleaning to do, and pretty much crawled around the house all day scrubbing at all the little corners. My mom called me that day and said she was coming after church the next day. Yahoo! I thought. So instead of taking things easy, I did jumping jacks, jump roped, and jumped on my bed for a whole movie. I went to bed very tired, and had an awesome sleep. Sunday morning came and I was having contractions, but not painful.... just tight in the tummy. Church started at 1:00pm and I had things to do there. So I went, and all through primary I had contractions pretty often, every time I stood up, sat down, and in between. About every 7-10 minutes. Then I went to Sacrament meeting, and my friend who was also pregnant sat by me. She was really funny because she was keeping track of my contractions, now they were every 7 minutes. She told me I was in labor, but I had things to do. You see, that Sunday was June 17th, Fathers Day 2007! And Darick's dad was up visiting because my sister in law had her baby the Wednesday before, and so my parents in law were coming over for dinner. Then we were going to play games. So When I got home from church I got down to business and made calzones. Then after dinner we all sat down to play games. It was pretty fun, during our game of Settlers of Catan my mom in law Terri asked Darick what he was doing.... keeping track of my contractions, which were 5-6 minutes apart. It was about 8:00, and my mom rolled in with my little sister in tow. We finished up playing our games, and my parents in law went back to my sister in laws house. At about 9:30 I drove my mom and sister Nancy over to Courtney's house to see baby Eli. Nan hadn't met him yet, and my mom didn't remember how to get to Courtney's place from mine. We stayed about an hour, but by that time I was sort of getting uncomfortable. So we all came back home. I took a hot bath, to ease the contractions, and it totally made them worse! By 12:00am, they were like 4 minutes apart and lasting 1 min. but I didn't want to go to the hospital yet, I just didn't want to be in the hospital in labor, when I could be at home. But by 12:30 Darick went to go wake up my mom. She came upstairs and said "Honey, you're having a baby. We need to go to the hospital" So we started to get ready to leave. With a cup of pebbled ice in my hand we left for the hospital around 1:15am. My contractions were 3 minutes apart and lasting for over a min. We got to the hospital in Rexburg at 1:45am. I was unloaded, and brought to the "labor room" The nurse casually came in to check me, after all this was my first baby. I was dilated to 8cm, and moved in between contractions to the "Delivery Room." By that time the nurse was trying to get an IV in me, and had poked my about 10 times in each hand. But every time I had a contraction, which pushed the needle back out.. I was checked again and was now at a 9. The nurse yelled out to the hallway to get my doctor. She finally got the IV in, but just then, before she could tape it down my water broke. It sounded like a "POP!" and the needle flew out of my hand and the nurse was sprayed with blood from my vein. She said, "well, you aren't getting an IV." checked me again and yelled that the head was crowning, and to get the doctor in here! At the time I didn't want to be touched by anyone, Darick just stood by me. I was thinking that I wanted to be really nice to the nurses, because I've seen those baby shows and all those crazy ladies yelling at everyone, and this situation was NOT their fault. Well My doctor came in, and he looked like some HOBO off the street. He was wearing faded blue jeans, and forest green shirt, and really old tennis shoes. He basically put his arms into his robe thing, put on gloves and caught Jayne. I didn't push at all! She was born less than an hour after we got to the hospital. I then enjoyed a turkey sandwich, cause I was super hungry! and we stayed for 3 days. I've LOVED every minute with Jayners.

Baby Boy Overalls

I think I must be on a boy kick, all my ideas and projects seem to be loving boys. I think babies look really cute in overalls, especially BOY babies. So I used my pattern making skills I learned last semester and came up with these sweet duds. I think they'll fit 0-6 mo? We'll see how long our little man can wear them... when he gets here.

Oh did I mention they are reversible? And I thought that two little buttons on each side would be just as cute as one big button. I think I might make another pair and add more pockets, and maybe some knee pads? Oh Boy!