Date day with Garrett

Tuesday I was given the gift of having a day with Garrett.  My mom kept Carter and Garrett and I had a "date day".   Oh my goodness we had such a special day!  It was just what I needed.  Garrett and I started the morning off by taking Sandy for a walk.  It was such a BEAUTIFUL day and we had to be outside.  I let him pick out his own clothing and he picked out his favorite, a muscle shirt (tacky of course) and athletic shorts!  He was happy to say the least.  Along our walk Garrett picked me all sorts of weeds flowers!!  It was BEYOND sweet and melted my heart!

The "flowers" from our walk.  He picked out the vases!

After the walk we went to paint pottery.  Garrett LOVES to do this and I had to check my anxiety at the door.  There is no painting in the lines with kids, they express their creativity.  I like order and  plans, with children there is no such thing.  He said going in he wanted to have five different colors.  That alone stresses me out...ha!  He picked out a dog for Sandy to paint.   I just let him pick out whatever he wanted.  Well this dog is some sort of special looking.  Ha!

Garrett with his dog.  We pick it up Sunday!

We went to Chick-Fil-A for lunch and OMG it was sooo good.  I don't eat out much now that I'm on maternity leave. Before maternity leave I ate out all the time, so I actually enjoy eating at home :-)

Garrett started baseball and needs cleats.  So while I had Garrett just to myself I decided to go and let him get a pair.  To say he was excited was an understatement!  He was so stinking excited.  He wants to wear them all the time. 

 

 After that we headed to the park and played. Then we headed to Baskin Robins where they were having a great deal on scoops.  1 scoop for a dollar, 2 scoops for 2 dollars and 3 scoops for 3 dollars.  I mean you cant pass that up!  While we were eating the ice cream I looked at Garrett and asked what his favorite part of the day was.  Painting?  Lunch?  Park?  New shoes?  Ice Cream?  He shook his head no every time I asked.  So I was confused and asked what his favorite part was and he said "spending time with you".  Holy tears!  That was just the sweetest thing he has ever said.  It was from the heart.  I looked a hot mess in Baskin Robins with tears streaming down my face. 

We had a good time and then came home and rested for about 45 minutes.  I was exhausted.  So we had about 45 minutes before we had to go and pick up Carter so I asked him if he wanted to play baseball.  So he put his cleats on and we went outside to play.  He asked me to pitch to him.  Oh he had no idea what he was asking me to do.  I am a horrible thrower (well and catcher).  I made him wear his helmet.  Good thing because I hit him in the head twice!  Don't worry he had his helmet on and I was tossing underhand so there was no damage.

 

 

 

Mom look at my muscles!  HAHAHAHA

 

Getting ready for mommy to throw the ball

It honestly was the perfect day with him!  I look forward to days like this with Carter and Garrett.  So much fun!!  God gave me such a huge hug that day!  These boys are such a blessing to me (including my husband!)

Carter Hayden Dail

Well Carter Hayden Dail has arrived!  I went to work on Monday March 31st just like any normal day.  I had my 40 week appointment that afternoon to schedule his induction.  Well we never made it to the appointment because around 9:30am my water broke at my office!  Ha!  I called the doctor's office and they said to go on to the hospital.  I was very calm and about this.  I wasn't having any contractions still and got my boss to drive me to the hospital.
Josh met me there and we went on into triage.  They had to determine if my water in fact had broken.  By the time we got there and checked in it was around 11am.  The first test they did came back inconclusive.  To say I was ticked was an understatement.  I knew my water had broken.  No question!  They had to do a second test and it took about an hour and a half for them to get the test in.  That test determined that my water had broken.  Yay!  Once that was confirmed I was able to go to Labor and Delivery.
I got to a room a little after 12:00 in the afternoon.  I found out that I wasn't allowed real food at this point and had to be on a clear food (jello, popsicles etc)...not fun.  When they asked what I wanted I told them a gin and tonic!  ha~  They didn't bring one.  Oh well.
The nurse I had was BEYOND wonderful and I wish I could have brought her home with me.  They monitored me for a bit and checked for dilation.  I was 5cm dilated (half way there) but my contractions were non existent.  He was also too high up so they had to do Pitocin to get my contractions going.  My main concern was if I could have my epidural.  I definitely wanted one.  They promised I could have it! 
Well after about an hour on Pitocin it was time for the epidural.  My nurse warned me that the doctor that did the epidural did not have great bedside manor, but was the best in the business.  He came in and he was just as she had described, but he ended up opening up to me and we laughed and had a good time.  He did an excellent job!  When I had an epidural with Garrett I couldn't feel when it was time to push.  It also took FOREVER to wear off.  I had no feeling whatsoever from the waist down.  With Carter's I could feel and it made it so much easier and it lasted an appropriate amount of time.
The nurse went to put my catheter in and couldn't get it in because Carter's head was so far down and it was GO TIME!  She called the doctor in and we got started.  With Garrett I pushed for 15 minutes.  With Carter I only had to push for 6 minutes and he was here!  He weighed 8 pounds 8 ounces and was 20 inches long.  It was such an incredible delivery.
He was a really good baby in the hospital and would just go to sleep when we put him down.  Things were going great.  We got home and the first two days were magical.  I thought we had won the lotto.  Then things started to get a bit complicated.
He had bad reflux/gas/something going on.  We changed formulas, didn't work.  He was not sleeping, especially at night.  He would fall asleep, but then would be up every hour and a half.  Night time was just HORRIBLE.  I cried and cried.  I'm just going to be honest.  I had forgotten this stage.  I know newborns don't sleep at night...I get it.  Something additional was going on with him.  Something internal.  We went to the doctor twice, called almost daily.  Changed formulas again.  That didn't work.  They changed us again to a soy formula (this one is supposed to be the BEST for digestive issues) and paired it with Zantac.  It seemed to be working until the spit up got worse and then he got diarrhea.  Apparently this is a side effect of the formula.  So we made the decision to change his formula back to Gentle Ease and pray.  We changed it this morning and hope that his stomach feels better.
We are very blessed to have this beautiful, healthy boy in our family, but look forward to him feeling better.   I think he will do better once he isn't hurting all the time.
Garrett LOVES his brother.  It is a bit overwhelming for us at times because all he wants to do is talk to him, touch him and be in his face!  Shew.  We just take a deep breath and try to tell him to be gentle, etc.  It has been a journey.
Josh and I are alternating nights currently taking care of Carter.  Luckily our new house has an upstairs bedroom and playroom and we can close it off so that the other person can get sleep.  It is amazing what we took for granted before an infant!  Ha!  Shew. 
Carter is a sweet boy that we look forward to watching him grow.  He is starting to smile for me on times first thing in the morning and it is the sweetest thing that melts my heart.  He also has strawberry blond hair and BIG blue eyes.  Looks like he may be hanging with his dad at the beach if he is as fair skinned as his dad is :-)
We would appreciate any prayers for Carter that whatever is going on internally will be healed and that he will feel much better. We truly believe if we can get that figured out he will be so much happier and things will go smoother for him. 

Getting closer

Well today is Carter's official due date.  This pregnancy has been so different from Garrett.  I was miserable by this time with Garrett and he ended up being three days late.  When I was pregnant with Garrett I was 1-2cm dilated FOREVER.  When I went into labor with Garrett I was 4cm dilated and it was game time.  I jumped to 7cm pretty quickly.  I have dilated very quickly with Carter.  Around 36 weeks I got them to check and I was already 1-2cm dilated.  At 38 weeks I was a full 3cm dilated.  As of yesterday I am 4-5cm dilated.  The difference is I am not having strong contractions.
Yesterday I went and got a pedicure and manicure that was so nice.  I met Josh at Harris Teeter and while we were there I though my water had broken.  I called the doctor's office and they said to come on in to the hospital (it was a Saturday). 
We dropped Garrett off with his grandmother and made our way to the hospital.  When we got there they put me in the wheelchair...ha.  I asked if I had to use it and they said yes so I just enjoyed the ride.  Unfortunately the other person that was in triage with me had the GI bug...hello germs.  Luckily the nurse was so sweet and let me change in their bathroom so I wouldn't get sick too.  Praise her!  They hooked me up to some monitors and checked to see if my water had broken.  NO SUCH LUCK!  Oh well.  They did check to see how far I was dilated and I was 4-5cm.  They were picking up contractions but they are baby ones.  Apparently he is to high up at this point to bring on full labor.  They told me I could go walk the halls because I am so close to being there to see if anything would change.  It was around 2:00 and Josh and I had not had any food since breakfast so we were starving.  We went to get some food and it was a disaster.  They lost our order and I was walking circles trying to get as much in as possible. 
We got our food and walked the halls for around 40 minutes.  I went back to get checked again and there just wasn't enough of a change for them to keep me.  Boo!  They said I am so very close.  I have an appointment tomorrow with my midwife and she had said she would not make me wait until 41 weeks so hopefully this week we will have a date that he will either come on his own or he will be induced.
If I am induced apparently I'm in pretty good shape since I'm already dilated.  I feel like a ticking time bomb.  I am going to try and get out and do some good walking today to see if I can get things moving.  Time will tell...

Randoms....

I've done a ton of Carter updates but I don't want to forget all the things Garrett has been up to lately.  This is going to be very random and in no particular order.

 

Garrett loves Dual Survivor.  Basically it's a show  with two guys Cody and Joe based on surviving in random places (that you would never end up, but total boys show).  Sometimes they have to eat animals to survive.  We usually fast forward through these because they can be a little gory.  Well one day we were not in the room and he saw them eat the animal (parent fail).  Well this past weekend he said  "Mommy how come Cody and Joe ate Jesus?"  This was a few days later and we hadn't been talking about it so this was so very random.   I said what do you mean?  He said "They ate the heart out of that animal".  Bless his heart he knows that Jesus lives in our hearts (and animals I guess) and he thought that they ate Jesus.  I explained that they didn't eat Jesus.  Shew.

 

That same day we were talking about marriage (it was Josh and my anniversary).  He was telling me about the two girls he was going to get married to. I told him that you only get married once.  His response:  "BOOOOOO".  Well we have some work to do on him!

 

He is obsessed with age.  He knows that Josh is 30 years older than he is and that Josh is a year older than me.  He knows that he is 5 years older than Carter.  Well about 5-10 times a week we do a "when I turn (insert age) Carter will be (insert age 5 years younger)"; "when daddy is 68 you will be 67".  This goes on and on and on.  Just keep changing the ages.  We let it continue because he is doing math.

 

He is funny about telling us how much he loves us.  It used to be to the moon and back.  Now he says things like "I love you to the very back desert behind Jesus all the way in the corner" and it gets more and more creative.

 

He will also ask who I love the most.  I will tell him "you and daddy" and he says "no mommy, Jesus the mostess"...sweet boy!!!

 

He is obsessed with Tom and Jerry.  He laughs uncontrollably most of the way through it.

 

He is obsessed with Sandy.  Praise God she is a gentle dog because he is always in her face and hugging and hanging on her.  He can't pass her without touching her.  Obsessed!  She loves him...on her terms ;-)

 

Lego's, transformers and cars!  He loves them all equally.

 

He is obsessed with smoking/smokers.  We were teaching him that it is bad and you can die from smoking.  Well he is now the police of smokers!  He will call you out in a heartbeat, so just in case you are a smoker and G see's you...he will call you out!

 

He can not do Face Time without making crazy eyes and faces...EVER!

 

He loves to snuggle with me and I hope he continues it for a long time.

 

He looks forward to books and stories EVERY night.  For the boy that would not look at a book when he was little (it stressed me out to no end) LOVES a book now!

 

He still HATES with a passion green beans, cantaloupe and pear.

 

His laugh is just AMAZING.  I get so tickled listening to him laugh.

 

He is so excited about being a big brother.  God has truly warmed my heart and reassured me about having another baby through his excitement.  It is just awesome.  He has the biggest heart and it melts my heart daily!  He is just the sweetest.

 

 

I'm sure there are more, but wanted to jot these down!

 

 

38 weeks plus a few days...

How Far Along:  We are 38 weeks and 4 days today!  I'm starting to feel every bit of it as well :-) 

 

Size of Baby:  Babycenter says that he is a little over 19 inches and almost 7 pounds...I've had two doctor's appointments since my last blog update.  They were with two different midwives.  They both gave me an estimate of what they thought he would weigh full term.  They both said 9 pounds.  HOLY CRAP.  I was hoping for like 8lbs 5 ounces or something along those lines...ha!  We will see what happens.

Maternity Clothes:   Yes and am limited on what covers the belly.  It's hard to believe that we are getting to the end.

Gender:  Boy!!!  Baby Carter.

Movement:  Yes and I LOVE it...I'm trying to enjoy every second of it since we are not planning on having any more children.  It is by far my favorite part of pregnancy.  A little after 9pm every night I can set my clock to some good movement.  Even if I'm exhausted I try to stay up to feel all the moves he makes :-)

 

Sleep:  My sleep is on and off...Last week I woke up starving and had cereal in the middle of the night.  Then I had a few nights where I would wake up between 2:30 and 3:30am and not be able to fall back asleep for at least 2 hours.  My mind was going NON STOP.  Last night I had the most intense Charlie horse cramp in my leg.  I don't know how Josh did not wake up from my mini scream and deep breathing.  My leg hurt until lunch time today.  CRAZY!

What I miss:  My clothes fitting, exercise and I am so excited about a Jersey Mikes Deli sub once Carter comes!  Ha!!!  Of course with this warm weather, a nice ice cold beer will taste amazing.  I also am looking forward to just being able to eat without looking to see if things are OK to eat or not.  All worth it...

What I'm looking forward to:  Spring time.  Today was the first official day of Spring and supposedly we are supposed to have another cold snap next week.  Everyone is OVER winter.  Schools are having to go on Saturday's right now.  I have a feeling that this November/December there won't be many people praying for snow! 

I'm also looking forward to life as a family of four.  While I know that it will have challenges and exhaustion and crazy emotions, I am ready.

Josh and my 11 year wedding anniversary is Saturday.  that is pretty exciting!

Cravings/Food Aversions:  I crave orange juice in the middle of the night.  I honestly think I could chug an entire 64 ounce bottle.   

Symptoms:  I have been out of breath, swelling has started a little (not much at all, but a little something) and exhaustion.  Oh and my belly button is going from an "inny" to an "outie"...ha

Workouts:  Workouts are same ole same ole.  I will miss the other moms that I've gotten to know and a few of the student workers.  they really are amazing and have made working out fun. 

 

Best moment this past week:  I had a few GREAT moments.  First Garrett and I had a date night and it was just awesome.  The weather was perfect that day.  I picked him up from school and we went to the park.  From there we went to Zaxby's and then to ColdStone.  He reached up while at ColdStone and gave me the biggest hug and ice cream kiss.  He just told me he loved me and thank you for the ice cream.  It was just a very sweet moment that about brought me to tears.  He is just such a sweet boy with a HUGE heart that I just love with all my heart!

I've had a few doctor's appointments.  Around 3 weeks ago (I think my 36 week appointment) I asked if she would check to see if I was dilated.  I wasn't expecting to be, but to my surprise I was already 1-2cm dilated!  WAHOO.  I went back yesterday (2 weeks later) and was a full 3cm dilated and 50% effaced.  She told me she was VERY impressed with my progression.  I'm just excited we are headed in the right direction.  I also lost 1 pound from last week to this week which was a SHOCKER esp since I have been eating in the middle of the night.  My midwife told me that was a good sign and an old wives tale that labor will be coming soon.  He is still head down.  I am still hoping that he will come next week while my midwife is on duty at the hospital.  I would so love for her to deliver :-)

Lastly I am almost done with wrapping things up at work which is a huge relief off me.  Oh and the hospital bag is officially packed.  Minus the stuff I can't pack yet!

Here is a picture of 38 weeks and 3 days.  Bless Garrett, he can basically play hide and seek behind my belly...ha!!!!!

 

 

 

 

35 weeks

How Far Along:  We are 35 weeks and 6 days today. It is also March 1st the month Carter is to arrive! How in the world did it get here so fast???  Wow!

 

Size of Baby:  As of Tuesday we had an ultrasound (more on that later) and they said he weighs around 6.1 pounds.  They say give or take 3/4 of a pound.  Garrett weighed 8 pounds and 10 ounces when he was born and that was big enough for me!  I hope that Carter is a little over 7pounds...ha.  We will see!  The books say that the baby is around 5 1/4 pounds right now and around 18 inches long.  The size of a honeydew...

Maternity Clothes:   Yes and I am bringing sexy back let me tell you...pretty much wearing tennis shoes daily because it just helps.  Not having terrible swelling, but trying to wear flats or clogs just wears after a long day.  My Meredith ring is about to be retired for the rest of the pregnancy.  I just don't want it to get stuck.

Gender:  Boy!!!  Baby Carter.

Movement:  Yes and I LOVE it

 

Sleep:  My hips seem to be hurting more at night which means I am continuously flipping from side to side...let me tell you this is not so easy with this huge belly.  It takes a lot of energy to move back and forth.  That mixed with getting up to go potty throughout the night doesn't make for a restful night...

What I miss:  My energy still.  Deli lunch meat.  Being comfortable...starting to hit the uncomfortable stages.

What I'm looking forward to:  Spring and the time change!  I am ready for it to be light out when we come home and warmer days.  These cold days seem to last forever.  I check the 10 day forecast religiously and am so ready to show 4-5 consecutive days of WARM weather.  This weekend we are packing the hospital bag and doing some freezer meals.  We are also updating Garrett's bedroom to a Pirate themed room and I am so excited!  We found a wooden wheel for his wall and pirate drawer pulls for his dresser, a cool lamp and am just waiting on a wall sticker of a pirate ship with Captain Garrett on it!  Josh is actually painting his room right now in preparation of getting it all done.

Cravings/Food Aversions:  I finally can eat pretty much what I want.  This is great, but probably not what I need.  I'm thirsty a lot...I drink tons of water. 

Symptoms:  I have been having on and off sciatic nerve issues.  Not terrible thank goodness, but it can catch you off guard.  I have been really hungry lately too. 

Workouts:  Workouts are going pretty good.  I did 2 this week and took today off.  Next week I'm scheduled for 3, but on one of the days they have to draw blood work and do body comps on me (pinch my fat, weigh me and take measurements...gross!  Luckily this is the LAST one before Carter comes).  That day I will have a shorter workout. 

 

Best moment this past week:  I had a surprise baby shower at work and also had a few other showers that were just awesome.  We also had our ultrasound that I got through the study I'm doing at ECU.  While it was great seeing Carter, the experience was AWFUL!  Our appointment was at 4:30 and they agreed that Garrett could come.  This was so exciting for us because if you are under 10 at my OBGYN's office children can't come.  So we were so excited...well we got lost trying to find the place where the ultrasound was taking place.  We finally got there and was around five minutes late.  When I came in they said since you are more than 30 min late we aren't sure if we are going to take you.  I explained to them that my appointment was at 4:30 not 4:00.  Well they had me down for 4:00 apparently.  I luckily had printed out a paper showing a 4:30 time.  So around 4:50 they decided to allow me to have the ultrasound but were not friendly AT ALL.  they were pissed off I guess that they had to turn everything back on and do the ultrasound.  They wouldn't tell us what we were looking at unless we asked and I was told that hopefully they would get some pictures for me at the end.  I about hit the roof.  The woman was just RUDE.  I complained later because she shouldn't take it out on me.  Anyway it's over and we at least got to see Carter.  Garrett thought the whole experience was "BORING" which just made it that much more stressful.  the ultrasound tech did not help with making it a fun experience....

The weather today was AMAZING!  It was 70 degrees outside and was just such a tease!  Tomorrow it is supposed to sleet.  I think everyone from NC is OVER this weather!  If the weather could be more like for a while I think it would do wonders for everyone!

 

 

 

 

33 Weeks...when Carter found my sciatic nerve

How Far Along:  We are 33 weeks, 3 days as of today. 

 

Size of Baby:  As of 33 weeks he is the size of a pineapple...holy smokes!  He weighs a little over 4 lbs and is around 17 inches long!  WHOA.

Maternity Clothes:   I actually had to go and purchase a new pair of pants this week at work because the ones I were wearing were so TIGHT!  I only like maternity pants that cover my entire belly.  For those of you that aren't aware there are different types (and no this is not me in any of these pictures):

These are the type I prefer

 

these do NOT work for me

I had on a pair of the lower cute ones and the band kept rolling down and getting tighter.  I could no longer take it!  So I went to Old Navy and picked up a pair of yoga pants.  OMG so comfy!!!  I was in heaven the rest of the day....

Gender:  Boy!!!  Baby Carter.

Movement:  Yes and I LOVE it

 

Sleep:  Doing OK...I'm starting to wake up more during the night and am having a hard time falling back asleep after 3am.  Well I do fall back asleep but it is usually around 6am and the alarm goes off at 6:30.  Makes for sleepy mornings until I get my Dt. Mt Dew!  Also my hips are beginning to hurt again.

What I miss:  My energy.  I want to spend a lot of time with Garrett and Josh, but just get so sleepy.  My energy comes and goes.  Some days are awesome and others I can't take it.  My weeks are pretty busy these days.  I have to workout 3 days a week and then Garrett has gymnastics twice a week.  Josh and I split the time and he takes him one night and I do the other, but that puts me not getting home until late 4 out of 5 nights a week.  Kindof sucks.  It won't get any better because I have the workouts until Carter comes...and they are worth it, just exhausting.

What I'm looking forward to:  Spring!  I know that means Carter will be here, but we are on our 3rd snow in 6 weeks.  I did not sign up for this in Greenville, NC!  More post to come later on that.

Cravings/Food Aversions:  I finally can eat pretty much what I want.  This is great, but probably not what I need.  I'm thirsty a lot...I drink tons of water. 

Symptoms:  I have been having strange symptoms.  Last Friday after working out I came home and it felt like I had pulled a muscle in my right butt cheek (sorry if TMI).  Well I couldn't sit, it hurt so bad!  I couldn't figure out what had happened.  It felt better when I laid down.  After doing a little research I found out Carter had found my sciatic nerve.  Well it got better after the weekend and I haven't had any other issues until the past few days.  My legs have started getting tingly feelings going up and down them and my arms a little too.  Apparently Carter is on a nerve that is causing this.  It's very strange and I don't like it.  They gave me some exercises to try to get him off.  We will see how it goes.

Workouts:  Workouts are hit and miss with this snow!  I was supposed to go last night, but canceled and  am supposed to go tomorrow, but that isn't happening either!  Hopefully next week we will be back on schedule and NO MORE SNOW!!

 

Best moment this past week:  Being showered by some sweet friends!  Spending time with family.  that is the benefit to the snow is that we have been able to spend time together!!!

 

33 week picture:

And the board does say 33 Weeks (with an "s", I was standing in front of the "s")

Again, I don't feel like my belly is that big.  Blows my mind every time I see a picture!