1 month

dear carter,
i can't believe it's been a whole month already. your 1st couple weeks of life were pretty rough. you had to go to the doctor's office for the first four days after you were born to get poked in the heal. you were getting jaundice and they wanted to test your billirubin count to make sure it didn't get to a dangerous level. thankfully, buy the 4th day your numbers were down. however, that same night we had to take you to the hospital because you got a fever. they did all kinds of tests on you...poking and prodding and you were such a trooper. you had to be admitted and were there for 4 days. thankfully, you ended up just having a virus and your fever broke and we got to go home.
you also got your 1st hair cut at just 5 days old. the pediatric nurse wanted to shave your head in the spot where she was going to start the iv. she was really cute about it, saving the little bits of hair and taping them to a tongue depressor so i could scrapbook your "1st haircut".
after getting home, life became more normal (whatever "normal" is with 2 little guys under 18 months old!) you do the normal newborn things...eat, sleep, and go potty. when you're awake, you seem very alert, with your eyes wide open and taking in all that's going on around you. you're lifting your head quite a bit and trying to figure out what it is your arms and legs are supposed to do.
jackson is getting more used to having you around. although he still gets jealous when i have to feed you or hold you, we know he loves you. when daddy takes him down to bed each night, you are the first one he gives kisses to (even before mommy!) i'm looking forward to watching you guys grow up together and hopefully become great buddies.
during this last month you had your first christmas. you got all kinds of presents (books, toys, clothes) and of course your "my first christmas" pjs from us. you were supposed to have your first road trip to oregon, but we weren't able to go due to all the snow we had (over 5 feet) and all the snow in oregon. instead, we had christmas dinner at your oma and opa's house.
as of yesterday, you weigh 8lbs, 8ozs. so you've gained almost 2 whole pounds and you're beginning to look more like you and less like a newborn. we think you look like your daddy. we're excited to watch you grow and to see more of your personality come through.
we love you!

a woods update

it's been awhile...we've been busy these last few weeks. as you know carter was born on december 1st. each day after his birth we had to take him to the doctor's for billirubin tests. he was coombs positive which means he was more likely to get jaundice and get it quickly. at the hospital his billirubin count was up, so we had to get it tested the next day. it was up the next day as well, so we had to go again and again. thankfully, by that friday the numbers were down and they said he was going to be just fine!
however, that night i realized he felt kinda hot. after taking his temp. and seeing that it was 100.3, i called the on-call nurse (which is what we were told to do if his temp was 100.3 or above.) she had me take his temp again and it was down to 99.something...so she said to just keep an eye on it. if it gets to 100.4 or higher she said we'd need to go to the er. well, we got to bed around midnight and i just had a feeling that carter wasn't doing so good. so about 30 minutes later i took his temp again and it was 101.1. i got eric up and we headed to the er. thankfully, jennie was still here so i woke her up and asked if she'd take care of jackson. we spent many hours in the er where they did lots of tests...blood test, urine test, x-ray, spinal tap and they got an iv started (after 3 tries that had to do it in his head) and started giving him some fluids and antibiotics. around this time, a guy was brought into the er by ambulance that was getting cpr. all the er staff had to attend to him for a couple hours trying to save his life. after he was taken to a different department, the staff was available to finish up with us and the other patients. they finished doing the necessary tests on carter and sent us upstairs to be admitted in the pediatric unit. until this time, we kinda thought they'd get carter feeling better and we'd be heading home in a few hours. once we got up to the peds unit and carter's doctor was able to come see him (this is around 9am on saturday) we found out that we'd be staying at the hospital until at least monday. we found out that all the tests had come back negative, but the urine test they let sit for 72 hours to make sure there is no bacteria growing. and in the meantime carter is getting iv antibiotics as a precautionary thing. so i stayed with carter at the hospital and eric and my mom (who came on sunday) took turns visiting us anf taking care of jackson. when the doc came in on monday, he said he'd like us to stay one more day just to be sure. tuesday morning came, (carter's fever had broke sunday evening), and the urine test was negative, so we finally got to go home. it was a scary ordeal, but we're thankful that it ended up just being a virus and that carter is doing wonderfully now.

since we've been back home, winter has officially began and we now have 4 feet of snow!

jackson is getting more used to having carter around. every now and again he'll just stop and watch carter and touch his head and try to hold his hands...it's really cute! he's also been giving him kisses. he's going to be a great big brother!
jackson is seeming to grow up right in front of our eyes. he's doing his sign language lots ("more", "all done" and he's starting to do "please"). he's also talking some. he continues to say "daddy" all the time and he's said please, more, baby, and carter (which sounds more like "ca").

so there you have it...kinda long, but an update nontheless.

carter gregory

carter gregory was born monday, december 1st at 5:51pm. he weighed 6lbs 12 oz and was 19.5 inches long. we’re all doing well and are home trying to get used to life with another member of the family.

induction

throughout my whole pregnancy i said i'd rather not be induced and just wait for baby to come on his own. well, that was when i wasn't 40+ weeks pregnant. i've already been in labor and delivery twice in the last week and a half and have left both times without a baby in my arms. a week and 1/2 ago, i was up all night one night with horrible abdominal pain due to the hernia i have. although they didn't do anything for the hernia pain, they monitored carter and found he was doing okay. i was having regular contractions, but not progressing in any way :( after doing the monitoring of carter and an ultrasound, the doc said he looked good and i should go home and take it easy. thankfully the abdominal pain subsided (after 24 hours) and we just keep waiting.
then, yesterday i had realized i wasn't feeling carter move much, so i layed on my left side, drank some cold juice and counted how many times i felt carter move in 2 hours (this was something doc told me to be doing). in that time i didn't feel him move at all. i wasn't super worried, knowing that this far along, babies aren't moving as much (there's just no room) and that i can't feel all of the smaller movements he makes anyway. i went ahead and called my doc and the birth center at the hospital, and they both said to come in to be monitored for a bit. so, eric and i headed out again. thankfully, my sister's in town so she took care of jackson for us (thanks, jen!). after getting checked in at the hospital, they put the monitors on me and i did a non-stress test. carter passed within 10 minutes...he's doing great! the nurse was reassuring and said i did the right thing to come in, but again...no baby in my arms.
so, all that to say i'm changing my tune about being induced and am scheduled to go in on monday morning. i'm still hoping i go into labor on my own today or tomorrow, but if not i should be leaving the hospital early next week with my precious carter gregory. i can't wait! we'll keep you all updated as soon as possible after he's born. the hospital doesn't have internet (we are in north idaho, you know...you can't expect too much!) so, as soon as we get home we'll send out a post.

getting closer

we're due to have carter on wednesday. i had an appointment this morning and learned that i'm dialated to 3 cm and 70% effaced. after striping my membranes, the doc said he wouldn't be surprised if i deliver in the next day or two...i'm hoping he's right!

more communicating

this morning jackson ate his breakfast all by himself. i gave him a piece of toast while i cooked an egg for him and then let him eat the scrambled egg with his hands. he did a great job and the coolest part was when he had just a couple bites left he did the sign for all done. he didn't smash the eggs in his hands or throw them on the floor (his normal routine when he's done eating). i'm so proud of my little man.

blue's clues

what is it about blue's clues that gets my never-sit-still-for-anything son to do this:

there are other movies he watches (like baby einstein, the wiggles, sesame street) and none of them cause him to just sit. what is it about joe and blue?

ps i got a picture to upload. i did a small one and was able to be patient and it only took 8 minutes! but isn't he cute?