The Bilibed

Carter had semi-high bilirubin by the time we left the hospital. Typical for babies who are breastfed, but it was high enough that we had to get it tested again. So we went to the doctor on Christmas Eve to get him tested. Still high. Back on Saturday. Tested again. His heels were running out of places to be poked. Saturday it was even higher. So they sent us home to meet a man at our house who brought us the bilibed. I cried. Hard. Doctors orders: keep him on the bed at all times unless you're feeding him. That's two days. No holding him. No clothes on and no swaddling them (so he kept doing that freak out thing where they think they're falling) Boo. I cried. A lot. The girls have never seen me cry. So they cried. And there was Mike with his baby on a bilibed and his 3 girls crying. I can only imagine the thoughts that ran through his head at that moment. I'm sure "run" was at the top of his list. But he endured, I quit crying, Carter was a champ on the bed and many prayers and a blessing later, he was fine by Monday. Boo for bilirubin.

Surviving.

Lots of things get pushed to the side when you have a baby. I'm going to try my hardest not to let blogging be one of them. Because it's important to me. So far I'm not suceeding. Typical.

The newest word in our house: "weiner" He has one, they don't. Novelty. And something Mya likes to talk about. It's great. So I apologize if any of you get the "Carter has a weiner" speech when you're around my 3 year old.

3 weeks. Carter "wakes" up. And he's gassy and spits more than he eats. Not sure how, but he does. Mike and I were sitting on the couch yesterday, Carter sound asleep. Next thing I know he projectile pukes on my face. And never wakes up. Pretty impressive.

He likes to be held. Doesn't like his bouncer (bug) and I don't dare put him in our old school swing for fear the girls will launch him out. I need a sling or something because my arm muscles are suffering.

The girls have been pretty good with him. Mya has only landed on him twice with minimal crying. She likes to shake his hand and say "nice to meet you" and she thinks when she talks to him she has to be within one inch of his face. Jaida is currently in the process of negotiating why she should be aloud to carry him around the house. Not going to happen anytime soon.

Skip Lunch.

It's like 9/11 all over again. I've found myself watching CNN all day. Sick to my stomach. Because the people in Haiti have a very long road ahead of them. And some horrifying days in the past and in the present. So skip lunch and donate some money to help them. Because if it was you and your family and your kids that were going without food and water and no place to live, you'd hope that other people would have the humanity to help you!
Text "Haiti" to 90999 and you can donate $10 right away to the American Red Cross. It's easy. And $10 in a country like that can go a long way. And I dare say we can all spare $10 and most of us can spare more.
God bless the poor people of Haiti and all those who are there trying to help them.

Carter....thebeginning.

"My mom named him Carter, but I named him Juice Box." Mya Ross

Friday, December 18th 3ish pm. Contractions start. About every 5 minutes.
7pm. Contractions 2-4 minutes apart. Mike gets on google to find out what we're supposed to do. (I've never had contractions on my own before)
11:30pm: Call Kelli to come stay with the girls while we go to the hospital.
12:30am: Arrive at Riverton hospital. Dialated to a 2 1/2. Contractions 2-4 minutes apart. They make me walk for an hour. In the deserted halls of the hospital. Very boring and annoying. No change. They send me home at 4am.
Contractions all night. No sleep. About 2-3 minutes apart.
Contractions ALL DAY Saturday. 4pm. getting stronger. 2 minutes apart.

Saturday, December 19th 6pm. Drop kids off at Kelli's and head back to hospital. Contractions 2 minutes apart. Harder to breath. And exhausted.
Still dialated to 2 1/2. Dehydrated (since they told me the night before not to eat or drink much since I was in labor). Hook up IV's.
10pm. Offered nurse $100 to "accidentally" break my water.
2 1/2 hours later get shot up with a morphine/phenergren cocktail and get sent home. Again.

Sunday, December 20th. Wake up at 11am from morphine shot. Still having contractions every 2 minutes. All day. Exhausted, frustrated, and on the verge of tears. 10pm take a Lortab and more phenergren to help me sleep.

Monday, December 21st. 8:30 am. Still contracting. Still in labor. Still exhausted. Still frustrated. Call my doctor and tell them I'm coming in. Pack up the girls and head to the hospital.
9:15am meet with doctor. Blood pressure still high. Nurse tells me all the things to say so he won't send me home (thank you nurse).
10am check in to Labor and Delivery. Determined NOT to go home again. Mike leaves to drop the girls off. Start antibiotics for Strep B.
2:45pm doctor breaks water. Wasn't until then that I was relieved knowing they couldn't send me home now.
5:09 pm, out comes baby Ross. Still didn't have a name. Didn't get one until the next day.

Despite the entire weekend of labor, the delivery went smooth. His head was small and my new doctor was quite skilled. We don't need to go into details.

Weighed in at 8lbs, 20 inches at 2 weeks early. We birth them big around here. He did one quick cry and that was it. Lots of goo in his lungs so they took him to be obeserved for a few minutes. Came back and all was well. No complications. We're very blessed.

A few pictures from the hospital.

It's amazing how fast you can fall in love with a person. How fast they steal your heart and completely take over your life and every thought.

Carter Michael Ross. A champ. Good baby. Good eater. Decent sleeper. Fun toy for his sisters.

Diaper changing was challenging in the beginning. It really stressed Jaida out to watch me change his diaper. 100's of diapers later, we're finally getting the hang of it. Now Mya asks me if I "peeled his weiner" (pulling back the skin so it doesn't grow back) when I'm done with the diapers.

We're surviving 3 kids. The girls love him. Sometimes a little too much. Jaida's great at holding him and Mya thinks he likes to be tickled. And she constantly wants to give him "wuvs" (loves) and kisses. She asks to give him "wuvs" and announces she's put on her "hanitizer".

Mike has been awesome taking care of everything around the house and keeping the girls entertained.

Not ideal having a baby the week of Christmas, but after 3 days of contractions, he needed out for both our sakes.

So welcome to the world Carter. I'll do my best to protect you from your sisters until you can protect yourself!!!