Motherhood has been a huge adjustment for me! I had always heard people say, "you just don't get it, until it's you and your child." And they were right. There is nothing like the adjustment of having someone depend on you 100% for everything 100% of the time. But it is amazing! I have had my struggles as the weeks have passed, as I'm sure I will his entire life, however, everything about him makes my heart swell with pride and love. I look at him in amazement, not quite sure how we got so lucky with such a beautiful, sweet, perfect, healthy little boy! And each day I continue to be amazed at how quickly he is growing and changing!

Here we are at home when he was just four weeks old! Since I took pictures throughout the pregnancy I figured we needed one last one of us together with the chalkboard! I hardly remember him being this tiny!!

 Here he is at 1 month old! In his first month we definitely had a lot to learn. Trying to figure out his needs and wants. From the day we brought him home he slept just across the hall in his crib. So he has always slept pretty well at night. The first month it was only about 2 hours at a time, but he would always go right back down, with the exception of a few nights! He fought naps hard. I have finally realized I was letting him get over tired, so he would lose it and getting him down was almost impossible. Robin was here when his umbilical cord fell off, thankfully!!! She helped me clean it and showed me how to care for it from there. We learned that changing diapers on the couch, or at least on the couch without anything under him the hard way. It wasn't until after he had peed a couple times and then I had to catch poop in my hand to protect the couch that we realized we needed a new plan! :) Scott figured out that he was following people and objects toward the end of the first month as well, when he followed Scott as they played together one night!

 Carsten's second month has been much easier! We are starting to get the hang of this parenting thing and he is definitely starting to trust us more, knowing that we will provide for him what he needs!! This month brought his first smiles. His first beautiful, open mouthed, gummy smiles!! I seriously can't get enough of them! At first his smiles were few and far between, however, now he smiles at anything and everything! My heart melted when I saw him smiling at Watson one day. With smiles came real eye contact. He definitely knows who mom and dad are. He also started blowing bubbles, holding his head up better, and a little bit of cooing. Talking to him is so fun now that he is trying to communicate back at us! We also hit another big milestone with him as we took our first trip and flight to California. Scott's dad qualified a horse for a $2 million futurity and the whole family was making the trip. We had a great time and the flights went much easier than we expected. Carsten slept most of both flights. We had fun at the race, although the second night Carsten had had enough of late nights and had a small meltdown. Thankfully he was himself by the next morning! I have also been attending a breastfeeding class with him. It started as I had a lot of questions, and wanted to make sure he was getting enough milk each feeding. We are able to weigh them before and after a nursing session to see how much they are consuming! However, the last few weeks I have gone just for the socialization side of it. Gives me the chance to talk with other new moms as they adjust as well, and it gives Carsten a chance to interact with other babies! There is another little boy there a month older then him that he loves to smile and look at! It's so funny to see them together!

Watson still gets a little jealous from time to time and will climb into my lap when I don't have Carsten, but he is definitely attached to him as well! I can't wait to see them grow together!

 Carsten has had a busy first few months of his life. He is very popular with family and friends and has gotten to meet almost all of them in just his first 8 weeks! Within the first week he got to meet both sets of his grandparents, his Aunt Robin, Uncle Craig and his cousins, Cole and Davis. Plus a lot of our closest friends made trips to visit him!

 He also celebrated his first Halloween. We dressed him as a football and his dog as his wide retriever. Watson has been so good with him, even though it has been an adjustment for him! I know by the time Carsten is sharing his snacks with him they will be the best of friends!

 His first bath at home was just a sponge bath as we waited for his umbilical cord to fall out, but now that he can get in the tub he loves them! They are very calming for him, so it has become part of his bedtime ritual!

 We got his first professional photos taken as well! And while they were being done we took advantage and got our first official family picture!

 He is as perfect as this picture!!!

 Just in time for Thanksgiving he also got to meet his Great Grandma on my side! He is always so alert!!

 Sara and Rowan also came to visit for the month! All the kiddos on Thanksgiving!!

 We also had visits from his great grandparents on Scott's side and his Aunt Amy. Sadly I didn't get any pictures! I will need to be better at doing all of this!

 

Carsten Michael

 He's here!!!! And he has been here for just over six weeks, but as most know, life with a newborn can be a little hectic! He is perfect and we are starting to adjust to this new life.

I was induced on the morning of October 22nd, 2012. I was not allowed to go to my due date of the 29th because of my clotting disorder. So at 6am, we checked into St. Joes. They started me on pitocin a few hours later. Things started off slow so we were lucky enough to pass the time with visitors. Becca came and took some pictures for us which I am so glad she did. We don't have much after he got here because he came late in the evening, gave us quite a scare and we were all a little beat!!

This was the scale of my dialation. I was already at a 3 when I showed up but they hadn't just yet marked it!

 I was still smiling at this point! Contractions had started, but they were easy, not painful at this point! My day labor and delivery nurse kept turning the pitocin up every 20-30 minutes. She would ask every time if I was having pain. I remember getting discouraged after she had asked this for about the sixth time. She seemed disappointed each time so I thought things weren't moving along like they should be.

 His heart monitor. Because I was induced we both had to be monitored the entire time I was there. So I had two monitors on my belly, one to measure contractions, one to monitor baby's heartrate. My blood pressure was also constantly monitored so both arms were connected to something! Here is Carsten's heartrate early on, at a good normal rate!

 Scott had the IPad to keep him entertained for the first six or so hours before he was really needed!

 At about two or three the resident doctor was given orders to break my water. This is when things really intensified. And my birth plan kind of went out the door! I had a bag of things to use to help us through contractions. However, once contractions really picked up, I started having bad back labor. This caused me to find a sitting position in bed and any other position we tried was too painful to move. So I found myself a focal point across the room and started breathing through the contractions as best I could. The last few centimeters I was having three contractions on top of eachother. Because of this I wasn't getting much of a break to recover. At this point I was able to have an IV drug that just helped take the edge off and helped to relax me. I was glad to have this option as I really felt myself start to panic a few times. Scott was amazing through labor. I really don't know what I would have done without him! He was there to encourage and support me, let me bear down on his hand through the tough contractions, got me ice, washcloths, and anything else I needed! Most of the time without me asking!! But it was always just what I needed!

Finally at about 9:30 I was able to start pushing. Dr. Roper arrived and told me we were ready to have our baby! Pushing was painful, but also a relief as I felt I was working with the contractions! Scott and Robin were both there to hold my legs, and Scott was again a great support telling me I could do this when I was sure I couldn't. And Robin's support and encouragement always came at the perfect time!! Also, I had a different labor and delivery nurse at this point, Marcia, that I was so glad was there for delivery! She was a huge help!! Counting out the contractions and reminding me I could do this!!

Carsten was born at 10:25pm. However, he was not given to Scott and I immediately as planned! He was born with the cord around his neck and had shoulder dystocia where his shoulder was caught on my pelvis. The doctor had to pull his shoulder down to help him deliver and the shock/pain of the two caused him to faint on delivery. He was born with a heartrate of 10 and he didn't immediately take his first breath. Code blue was called so before we knew it he was handed off and there were an additional 10-15 people in the room. Thankfully the doctors were able to get him breathing pretty quick and we were able to hear his cry! And not long after he was handed to us so we could finally meet our baby boy!

 I was able to have him for the first two hours of his life to bond and nurse for the first time. I am so thankful we got this time, especially after his scary entrance.

My mom and mother in law joined us shortly after they gave him to me so they could meet their newest grandson!

 After we had the first couple of hours together he was weighed, measured, bathed and got his first round of shots. He didn't like his sponge bath, but absolutely loved his head being washed in the sink! He was 7 pounds 9.3 ounces, and 20 1/4 inches long. Absolutely perfect.

 Our first family picture the next morning!

 It was a very tough and scary day for us, but I am so proud to say I was able to deliver my son epidural free! He is healthy and beautiful and we couldn't ask for anything more!!

Counting down...

I was 36 weeks in the below picture with 3 weeks until induction! Took I am 38 weeks, and I thought I was counting down then!! Nothing compares to now! I am ready!! :) Baby C appears to not be so ready just yet!

At my last appointment I was 1cm dilated, 50% effaced, posterior. I have googled this and it appears to be good. He needs to stay put and "bake" as long as he can! However, I wouldn't mind if he decided to come just a little early just so I could avoid induction. Either way, I'm so excited to finally meet him! I was a little nervous about delivery a week or so ago, but thanks to help from a friend and educating myself I am feeling better. I can do this!

For the most part I have still had an easy pregnancy. The aches and pains have increased which has caused sleep to go out the door. Rolling over in bed is the most painful part of pregnancy I have experienced! I think it is because he is sitting so low, so my pelvis, hips, everything seems to be sore! But I know this is also good, means he is in position to meet his family face to face!

Last appointment I was sitting at a 13 pound weight gain, but of course that doesn't include what I lost to start. My rings are still fitting, but I am definitely running out of clothes to wear! Weather changed and I was lacking much to wear that had long sleeves! I will be glad to fit into some of my old clothes, even if that still takes some time. Haven't been craving much the last few weeks, just seem to be hungry all the time!

Had to switch from Lovenox to Herapin a little over a week ago. At first I thought the transition was easy, but that is before the bruises started showing up! Now I can literally count each injection site because of the bruising! Only seven more days of twice daily injections and then six weeks back on lovenox! I know he will be well worth it!!

Can't wait to see his face and try to tell whose features he has! Will he have any hair, a dimple in his chin, chubby cheeks? Hopefully he is healthy!! And hopefully he will take it easy on Scott and I as we figure out how to be parents!!! I can't believe it's almost here!!!!

Family Picture

Soon to be four!!

Baby Showers

My sisters, mom and Becca threw me a beautiful shower to spoil Baby C! It was so great to see everyone and it helped us to get really prepared for his arrival!!

The decorations were so cute!! Mom and Robin made a diaper cake, Becca and I put together this cute little onesie stringer!

 The adorable cupcakes!!

 Everyone was able to make their own onesie just for Baby C! It was so fun to see how creative everyone got!

 My amazing hostesses, we were just missing Sara!

 Just a few of the super cute onesies!! I can't wait to see him wearing these!!

 Janet and Andi also threw me a shower at work!! Everyone was so generous! And the cake was delicious!!

 Baby C is already so spoiled!!!! We are so lucky to have such amazing friends and family! We can't wait for him to be here so we can show him just how loved he is!!!

 After spending about three months house shopping, we finally decided to bite the bullet and look at a new community that is just being developed. We were just not having any luck as there wasn't much on the market. We did put on offer on one house, but backed out after the inspection. The house would just end up costing us too much! And after a second offer was accepted, but was the second acceptance we were feeling pretty defeated. The development turned out to be perfect and we bought ourselves a little piece of dirt, which will be the site of our new home spring of 2013. Timing will be much better as we will be able to wait to put our house on the market until shortly before our house is complete, Baby C will be a few months old and we will hopefully be able to settle into parenthood! We have started the process of picking everything out, and are really excited that this will be our home!!! And a new, clean home at that!

 Now knowing that we will be in our current home for the next 6-7 months we were able to start a room for the baby. Scott had a dream about a piece of wall art that he thought would look good, so he came home from work one night with the wood, paint and a drawing ready to help us put it together. He cut the pieces of wood to size and layed it out for us to see.

 Next we painted. Dark brown, white and lime green.

 Once it dried, Scott nailed them all into place and we added it to Baby C's room. Right above his crib. I LOVE it! It matches the bedding and crib we picked out perfectly! And I love even more that Scott came up with this idea and put it together. He is going to be an amazing dad and this just proves it! I love to see his excitement over his little boy!!

 We were lucky enough to be able to purchase a set of tickets from my friend Sara again this year to watch the Broncos. We went to a preseason game and had a blast watching Peyton Manning play with his new team! We even snuck down during the fourth quarter and got to see them all really close up!!

 Sara invited me to the home opener against the Steelers!! It meant SO much to me, as I think some of my friends would assume I wouldn't want to be doing these things at this point!! They are wrong, and I'm so glad Sara gets me!! I had so much fun! And Manning led the Broncos to a win!

 This guy gave us a huge scare! We left him at my parents for a couple hours to go sign some paperwork on the new house and when we got to their house to pick him up we could tell something was wrong. He didn't greet us with quite the same excitement he normally does and when Scott touched his side, Watson groaned in discomfort. We took him to the Emergency vet where they thankfully ruled out Bloat and a blockage! We really didn't want either of those. We were ordered home with Pepcid as he was showing to have gas in his intestines. After no change, I took him to see Traci the next morning. She repeated xray's and found a lot of gas built up in his pancreas. This normally means pancreatitis, however, he had no fever and was not getting sick at all! She treated him with pain meds and iv fluids to open the vessels out of his pancreas. He was able to come home with us that night and by the next evening was feeling much better!! We are so thankful it wasn't anything too serious and that we have the best vet!

 And he was back in the pool, happy as could be just a few weeks later!