Anthony David Carlson

Well, my baby is here! I'm so excited and happy:) I wasn't going to blog until I got out of the hospital, but now I'm just sitting all day on a Friday, I don't go home till tomorrow, and Anthony is just snoozing on my lap. So here it is!
I wanted so bad to go into labor last Friday so I wouldn't have to work. I walked and walked for hours, I was working out all week that week,and I would clean and clean. Nothing. But Sunday after work I started contracting a ton. Well, I didn't want to have the baby that day. I talked with Matt and we both thought Tuesday or Wednesday would be ideal. I told Matt the perfect day would be Wednesday around 6, because then he could work the next day and Friday, then get to spend the weekend, entire week, and another weekend with me! I didn't want him to waste his days off with me in the hospital. So Monday rolled around, and all contractions stopped. Completely. I walked for 4 hours that day, did an hour long workout, and nothing! Tuesday came, I walked another 3 hours that day, and still nothing! It appeared I would not have my boy till the scheduled day on Saturday. I was on the phone with my mom, and told her I was way too stressed out! Instead of doing a hard core workout that night, I did yoga. I didn't clean anything. I sat and relaxed and enjoyed a movie with my sweet husband. Then I didn't get any sleep that night because I started contracting. It was sporadic, but they were getting more painful. Wednesday was a great day! My doctor appointment wasn't till afternoon and would ruin my whole day, but they called and asked if I would come within the hour. Oh, yeah! Rushed to get Josh and me ready, then left (both of us looked pretty rough, no hair done, but we were in a hurry!). I told the doctor I was contracting a lot more, and he offered to check my cervix. No thanks! With Josh, I never made it past a 3, so I saw no point. Dr. Bean told me if I started having contractions every 5 minutes or more for 2 hours, to go to labor and delivery because I was high risk since my c-section. They started the second I left the office. I drove over to visit with my mom, and my contractions were not slowing down, just getting more intense. So I left Josh with my mom and headed to the hospital. I gave Matt a heads up, but told him not to leave work unless I called. He asked if he could tell his family. NO!!! There was to be not one person other than my mom to know what I was doing until I knew for sure what exactly was going to happen. I know it's silly, but at the time it was very important! I got to the hospital around 1:30. They checked me "to make sure I hadn't progressed to a 5." I was a 1. I had to giggle at that! They watched me for an hour and saw I was contracting. They weren't horribly painful, still pretty short, but very consistent. My doctor was doing another c-section, so he said they'd monitor me till he was done and if I was still contracting, they'd take my boy out. My nurse said it would go pretty fast once they decided, so she recommended having Matt come right away. Matt asked again if he could tell his family. NO!!! You see, I still didn't know what was going on. I gave my mom the same orders, that no one was to know until I knew for sure. So Matt came, then the doctor a half hour later. Baby time! Yes, Matt, now you can tell your family, and yes, mom, you can tell everyone as well. I didn't call anyone, just sent out a mass text to my bros and a couple of friends. Now, I was expecting an hour or two after they said it was a go, but no one counted on my IV difficulty. I had to have a full bag of fluid before they would do the spinal. It was a positional IV, though, and it took nearly 2 hours to get the bag in. They brought me back around 5:30 give or take. I kind of feel bad about kicking a nurse in the OR. She was so sweet holding my hands while I got the spinal-Matt was getting his OR outfit on. I felt the buzz in my leg and it kicked straight out! She thought it was funny, and I didn't kick too hard, but I still feel bad! Now, as I went numb, I started worrying about the spinal not working and having severe pain as they cut me open. It happened to my mom, I didn't just pull the thought out of a hat. My pulse was in the 150's, I was so nervous! Matt walked in, and the anesthesiologist said, "Wow, you must have quite the calming influence! The second you walked in her pulse went down to 100!" Matt has been strutting ever since! He now thinks he is the best thing to hit earth! But I think he is too, so I won't complain:) I felt no pain during the procedure. In fact, it felt really funny, because I could tell some things they were doing, and could feel all the tugging and pulling, it just didn't hurt! I was wide awake for the whole thing this time, and will never forget my little Anthony's first cry! They lifted him high above the drape so I could take a peak before he was whisked off to get cleaned up. I then found out it was very good they decided to delver him when they did, because there was meconium in the amniotic fluid. They checked his vocal cords, though, and it didn't appear he'd got any in his lungs, thank goodness! I know it's pretty common for the baby to get distressed and have meconium, but you still can't help but worry some! I listened as they shouted out his birth weight and height, then went on about how cute and tiny he was. 6lb 7oz, 18 inches! Born at 6:01 PM. All of my family guessed around the 6 lb 5oz to 6lb 9 oz range. Matt guessed 7lb 1oz-sorry hubby:) My final guess was 6lb 6oz, so I was fairly close. I decided on that one because even though he felt huge, I didn't get huge. So now I have a baby with hair, and he's a cute little thing and a good little nurser, and the poor kid was just circumcised, so now he's pretty miserable! So sorry about the insanely long post, but I didn't want to forget things when I get around to writing it in my journal. I'll just leave some pics for now!

The day before I had Anthony: 38 weeks and 3 days

Admitted to the hospital and waiting nervously to go to the OR

He's here! He had a good little cry, and had little old man wrinkles all over his forehead!

Wrinkles disappearing, starting to relax as they listen to his heart.

Chillin' in the basinette, waiting for Mom to recover from the c-section and meet him in mother/baby

The first time I got to hold my new little guy! I got to give him a little kiss on the forehead in the OR, but my arms were stretched out on the boards to the table, so I didn't get to touch him until I was finished with surgery.

Our new family (minus our Gizmo). Can you believe how much bigger Josh is than our little Anthony? Crazy!!!

My favorite boys

Josh was so excited to help hold his little brother! He went right up and pet his face, saying,"Baby!"

Josh gave Anthony a kiss on the head before saying, "Bye, Anthony!" He was anxious to get to my mom's to have a sleepover with Alyse:)

After visitors left, Matt got to have some alone time with his boy. Matt is truly a proud Daddy:)

And I got a bit of alone time too, snuggling my little man while I burped him. I love how he curls up! He wouldn't nurse unless I removed all his blankets. He eats, then cries till he's swaddled again:)

So this is our new family, and I can't even begin to say how happy I am!