My Little Man

So here's my new little sweetheart...Carter Owen Daniel...born December 10, 2009 at 4:28am after 14 hours of induced labor. I went into the doctor on my due date, December 8, and I was dilated to 4 cm without being in any kind of active labor. So we decided to induce because I didn't want to wait anymore for my little guy; we were scheduled to go in at 10 am the next morning to be induced. By 2pm we were finally getting started with the pitocin and things started moving along. The doctor broke my water, at which point the contractions became unbearable and we called for the epidural, right away! By the time I was dilated to 10 cm I was too numb to push at all so they slowed my epidural down and we got to pushing. The doctor was called and at 4:28am we had our new little man. He weighed in at 9 pounds 3 ounces and was 21.5 inches long.


I feel so lucky that I was able to have all the people I wanted in the room with me and they all did a great job of coaching and cheering me on. Leland (of course) was right by my side and he was a huge help and support for the hardest part of my pushing. Helping hold my legs for the pushing were both my moms, Lisa (mom) and Lawanna (Leland's mom) and they were so great rubbing my hands and feet between contractions and giving me ice. On the sidelines watching and cheering were my Aunt Linda (mom's sister), Ashley (Leland's sister), and Ashley (my best friend, she drove from CA to be here, what a pal!). Everyone was so awesome and I wouldn't change a bit of it, I loved having everyone there. Sorry to all of them for having to see me all naked, but I'm sure they don't remember much of it, it was probably knocked out of their minds once the baby arrived.


Mixed in with all the commotion of giving birth was closing on our house. We actually closed escrow on December 9 while I was being induced. While I was still in the hospital a bunch of friends and family went to our house and got stuff cleaned up and some painting done so that things were more ready for us to move from David and Lawanna's house. We're pretty settled now and we love our little house. It's so nice to have our own space and really be able to do what we want with it. We've been making lots of plans and we're excited to move forward with them.


So here are some of my thoughts on my little man and on being a mom:
1. I absolutely love snuggling him. His little head is so soft and I'm always rubbing my cheeks on him and kissing his head and cheeks.
2. I love to watch Leland with him. He's so sweet and he really loves his new little dude.
3. Sometimes I love his cries. About half the time his cry is this pitiful, whimpering cry that is so incredibly adorable.
4. Sometimes I just sit and stare at him sleep. I can't help it.
5. I feel really lucky that he almost always sleeps from midnight until 6am. He doesn't go that long between feedings during the day, but almost every night he lets me sleep for almost 6 uninterrupted hours.
6. It's weird being a mom. Because I'm a mom forever now, and every once in awhile I look at him and think, "Holy crap, that's my kid."
7. I love his smile and the noises he makes when he gets excited and happy. Leland and I have a lot of fun getting him to smile.