Wednesday, October 16, 2013

Family Pictures

We got family pictures done before the weather got too cold and I LOVE how they turned out. Special thanks to Cherice Hanson Photography. She did fantastic and was patient with us when Jonas fell apart and would no longer cooperate. Unfortunately, thanks to his episode we didn't get all the shots we wanted but I am so thrilled with the others that I really don't mind.

 My favorite thing about this picture is that if you look close you can see that Weston and Saydi are looking at each other instead of Emmett. So cute.



 I can already guarantee this picture will be on display at Saydi's wedding. LOVE it.



Thursday, October 3, 2013

Emmett Wells Carlson

He's here! And that is old news by now but I am finally getting around to recording his birth story and hopefully I haven't forgotten the details already. On September 11th I had a really rough day. I couldn't even get off the couch for the majority of the day. When Mark got home from work I was in tears and asked him to give me a blessing to help me get through another week of being pregnant. The blessing helped me emotionally/mentally a great deal but unfortunately, at 1:00 in the morning I woke up with the horrific pain I had from my belly button down feeling even worse than before. On top of that I noticed I was having genuine contractions but they wouldn't stay consistent long enough for me to feel like I should wake up Mark. I knew they would send me home and I just couldn't handle that emotionally! So I got about two hours of sleep that night and first thing in the morning went in to see my doctor for my weekly appointment and non-stress test.

During my NST I noticed that I was having regular contractions but not necessarily feeling them all. So then I got into the room with my doctor and told him how I was feeling. He checked me and I was already just barely shy of 4 centimeters dilated. I've never gone past a two without an epidural before. He touched my belly to get my measurements and I burst into tears because it hurt so bad. I said, "Sorry, I don't mean to cry. It just hurts so bad and I don't know why." My doctor looked at me and kind of smiled and said, "It's because you're in labor." I said, "Am I really??" Ha! I was so terrified of having a false alarm that I wanted to be sure! I was so incredibly relieved that it was time to have this baby that I couldn't even believe it. I called Mark at work and told him to come home and got the kids taken care of before heading back to the hospital.

It was about 11:30 in the afternoon when I got to the hospital and got checked in and such. Around 12:30 they gave me an epidural and then shortly after Dr. Leavitt came and broke my water. At about 2:15 I was feeling more pressure and I was already at an 8. About twenty minutes before that I had been at a six. I could just tell by the way the pressure wasn't letting up that he was on his way out and I told them I was ready for them to call the doctor and get him here. Around 2:40 I got to feeling like I really, really needed to push. No doctor still. So for the next ten minutes I practically held Emmett in while waiting for my doctor. (He told me the next day that they called him when he was seeing a patient who had lost her baby the week before so he was trying to handle that situation with tact. Poor guy.) As soon as Dr. Leavitt was ready I pushed with everything I had because it hurt so flipping bad that I knew I couldn't do this much longer and I just wanted him out! So, for the third time in a row, after one push we had a baby! He was born September 12th at 2:56 pm and weighed 8 lbs. even and was 21 inches long.
 I have always wanted a dark haired baby in the hopes that they might look more like me with dark hair. I had kind of resigned myself to the fact that I wouldn't get one so you can imagine my surprise at this guy's mane! When they put him on my belly I just kept wiping at his head because I couldn't tell if his hair was that dark or if it was just wet. =)
 The kids came and met Emmett later that evening. It amazes me every time I have a baby the way my kids just accept and adapt. It's like they really are just getting reunited from heaven rather than meeting each other for the first time.
 We were blessed to get home about 24 hours after we had him. Although the next day I got to wishing that I had stayed and let someone else take care of me (and Emmett) for just a bit longer!


 He has been such a good baby. My other babies have been so difficult and have required so much work. Even though I'm still not getting much sleep he doesn't make me bounce him just right or walk around the house with him. He pretty much just eats and goes back to sleep or eats and then stays content. He struggled with losing quite a bit of weight and then didn't get back to his birth weight by two weeks so I have been supplementing with just a couple bottles of formula a day and it has made such a difference. I don't know why I felt like it had to be all or nothing with my other kids.  Anyway, things are going great. I felt more prepared for this baby than I ever have and so far I have been coping really well. With my others I kind of felt like I was living under water for the first little while and I haven't felt that at all with Emmett. I felt such a sense of calm from the moment I got pregnant with him and I really thought that was going to be his demeanor. So far, he has proved me right. He has such a sweet spirit and seems to be an old soul. It is crazy how quickly they cement themselves into your heart. I don't know what our little family ever did without our baby Emmett!