The debut of Charlie Carter

(aka the "birth story" as so many people in blog world call them)

This little man was set to originally make his debut on August 1, but as I mentioned previously, we moved that date up and made it official for July 31. You can read some of my thoughts the day leading up to when we left for the hospital- yep, lots of emotions going on with the anticipation of his arrival!! But of course, nothing goes exactly as "planned" does it??

After my parents came to get our dogs and a last pregnant meal at Panera with Jimmy's mom, we headed to the hospital to check in. She asked us if we wanted room 290 or 291 and we said 291 because I like odd numbers. Well just seconds later she said "Oops, 291 is already taken- how is 290?" And my optimistic husband said "it's great because 2+9=11". Yes it does Jimmy!!

When we got to the room I would deliver in it was pretty crazy thinking this is where our whole life would change in just a short amount of time!!! We went into to get cervidil that night to help me dilate more. The nurse was super nice (Jimmy liked her because she was Bob Davis' daughter-in-law) but when she checked me - which for the record was pain cry #1, which was odd because that hadn't hurt me before- I was already to 2.5 cm so she said she would have to call the doctor because normally at that rate they wouldn't need to do it and would just send us home. Well then she took my blood pressure and it was pretty high. Enter the pee test for preeclampsia for the 3rd time now - which again for the record, it's really hard to pee in a cup at 10 months pregnant. Test turned out ok, but she said the doctor said no cervidil and we'd move up the start time to 5am versus 8am. She said just hang out tonight and enjoy one last "date night" haha.

Here I am the night before - not hooked up to anything quite yet

Four thirty am rolled around and it was time for my final shower. At 5:15, they started the pitocin and at 6:00, I had my first contraction. Eek - wasn't a fan. At 6:30, to my surprise I peed the bed- oh wait no, I thought I peed but when I called the nurse to check it out, my water actually had broken on its own. Which is awesome!!!

After several more contractions and then throwing up (in which Jimmy had the honor of holding the barf bag), it was time for the drugs. The epidural wasn't bad at all and made it SO much better. That was at 7:30 and I was a 3. My parents arrived at 8:30 to hang out - as it could be a long day!

Next check was at 8:40 and I was a 5...so we were making progress! My parents came into hangout and pass time aka they slept and I chatted with my nurse about Pi Phi because her daughter is going through recruitment at KSU in the fall.  Next check at 10:00, there was no measurement given- just a "ok, you're ready- lets get this baby out".  We were going to start pushing at 11.  Wow- I was in shock and couldn't believe it was actually time!!!

Excited to get this going!!

With just me, Jimmy and our wonderful nurse Debbie in the room I pushed through the contraction based on Debbie's direction and both their support. I did have to tell her at one time I wasn't pushing as hard as I could because I felt nauseous again and didn't want to projectile vomit on her. While she said I wouldn't have been the first person, she appreciated my concern and called for some drugs to help with that.

At around noon, she called my doctor who was just in the other building to let her know we were almost ready. Then we were going to push one more time. We usually did 3 pushes per contraction but on this one I was told to stop at 1. Apparently he was headed out (pun absolutely intended here). When all the nurses and labor support people walked in and said "wow, you're ready"- I knew he was going to make his debut sooner rather than later. A few more pushes after my doctor arrived and all of a sudden, poof, Charlie Carter made his debut into the world at 8lbs and 9.3 ounces.

With a healthy cry and after being cleaned off, he made it to right where he belongs- in his mom's chest. That moment was absolutely wonderful. To be holding this little person that was in my stomach and started out as such a small little nugget with a heart beat had grown and formed into the perfect little man. I lost it.

Now we knew what his name was going to be about 10 min before he was born. We had it narrowed down to Luke or Charlie and after a quick discussion with our awesome nurse, Debbie, we were sold on Charlie. Charles Francis to be exact. When they asked his name and we told the room full of doctors/nurses, they all said it was a very strong name and it sounded like he'd do great things. We said, we can only hope!!!

So after everything was finished up on me, my parents, sister and uncle came into meet him and also fell in love. And let me tell you, it's hard not too when looking at such a sweet baby face!!!

My parents also brought lunch for Jimmy and I which was a delicious Mr. Goodcents penny club that I had been craving for the last 10 months. Pretty delicious!!

The downside was my blood pressure continued to be sky high and if it didn't go down they were not going to let me go to the recovery room. I was told to lay on my left side and take deep breaths and I did. Luckily it kind of came down so then the awesome nurses (seriously cannot say more wonderful things about them) help me go to the bathroom and "walk" post-epidural and then wheeled us off to our recovery room. Jimmy's parents had come up to meet Charlie in the mean time and were so sweet to help us move!!!

And there you have it. Probably more details than you ever wanted to know but things and memories I never want to forget. I had no clue what to expect regarding the child birth process- despite 5 weeks of prep classes. But honestly, nothing could have prepared me for the moment I heard his cry, saw his string bean legs stretch out and felt his warm skin on my skin. It was more than surreal, it was God's wonderful miracle of life that literally changed me. I wanted nothing but the best for my son and knew I would do anything for him.

Also, seeing Jimmy hold him and that wonderful and proud smile, I couldn't have been more in love and awe of this man that gave me this wonderful gift of life. Everyone said it makes you see your husband in a whole new light when you have a baby.  And that couldn't be more accurate - I fell even harder for him as he stood by my side the whole time and was so supportive.  Fatherhood looks great on him- just like I knew it would.

You might be wondering how I remember all these details?  Well Jimmy kept a "baby log" of pretty much everything that happened down to the minute, including comments like "7:04AM: Brittany vomits...a lot."  It was pretty neat to sit down after it was al over and look back on everything that happened and when it did.  He also took 4 videos throughout the process, which are great too.  Check out the baby log.

The funny part?? As we were leaving labor and delivery, the nurses kept saying "congrats, see you guys in 18 months!!"; apparently they thought parenthood looked good on us too!!  We'll see about that.

The rest of our stay in the hospital was great - the nurses were just so fantastic.  We had so many visitors and were so happy to introduce everyone to baby Charlie.  Charlie wasn't too quick to eat or latch on, so that made mom and baby both kind of frustrated.  He ended up losing a whole POUND at the hospital (not the 10-20% that they were aiming for) due to his lack of eating.  That made me pretty sad, but very determined when we got home to put some weight on this guy.  So it was good motivation and by his 5 day old birthday - he was up 5 ounces already from leaving the hospital!!! YEAH!

Here we are leaving the hospital - tried to wear the shorts but his little waist and bird legs made them not stay on!!

I love this picture of us!!

So now we are at home, little Charlie is growing and already over 2 weeks old.  It's crazy to look back and write this post.  I'm now on day 4 of taking care of him on my own during the day and things are actually getting better and better each day.  He's sleeping longer increments at night (which makes for a happy mama) and we are keeping ourselves entertained.  I never thought just literally sitting at home with my sweet baby all day and doing "nothing" really is fun and keeps me entertained.  I just love this little man so much!!