The Boone Family

Well, it has been a while since I posted. So sorry! Yesterday I went to the breastfeeding group again. When you get there you weigh your baby and then when you leave you weigh again to see how much he ate. When we got there he weighed 8lbs. 15oz and then when we left he was 9lbs 2 oz. Yep, he's a porker. The breastfeeding is going very well-much better now with the nip shield. He is really getting into a schedule with feeding every 2 hrs. His tummy is an alarm clock because almost to the minute he is really to eat. The nights are getting better. I am still sleeping on the couch and he is sleeping in the pack and play. He will sleep a big chunk of time 4-5hrs. then after that it's every2 hrs. The 4o'clock feeding is the worst. He tends to eat and then fall asleep, poop, and then sleep, instead of finishing eating. Then 40 minutes later he wakes up hungry. Oh, well it could be worse. My day consists of feed him, burp him, change him, then he sleeps, and it all starts again. P...

Last night we gave Carter his first real bath in his very own bathtub. I was really worried that he would scream his little lungs off but he was loving it. Oh, how I love to smell his head after his bath! We bundled him up in a little hooded towel and he looked like a monk. He loved it wrapped up in his little towel. Many of you have been asking about how Betsy has adapted to Carter. She came home from Michigan on Sunday evening. She sniffed him and then went on her merry way. From then on she acts extremely confused. She lays around a lot and comes over to visit him when he cries to make sure he is doing okay. She is very somber and has really chilled out. However, when we go for a w-a-l-k, she is back to her crazy sled dog ways.

Yesterday was Bob's first Father's Day. We had quite a lot of visitors this past weekend. My mom, dad, grandma, grandpa, sister, Edd, bob's mom, sister, and Eric all came to see Carter! It was a packed full house. On Saturday Carter had a blowout in his diaper onto my sister's jeans. There is a first time for everything! While cleaning that up he peed on his activity gym which caused us to give him a bath. During the bath he spit up on the towel and then peed. Lots of bodily functions at once. Today we had another doctor's appointment just to make sure he was gaining enough weight. He is now 8 lbs 4oz. He is a porker. The doctor said he was doing very well and we don't have to come back unless there is a problem. Yes, I am still breastfeeding. However I am having a hard time on the right side. It feels like I am getting a purple nurple every time he sucks on that side. Guess What! I have found a way to deal with this issue--a nipple shield. I found it at Targ...

We are loving being parents! Watching his facial expressions and listening to his noises have just been the start of it! Last night he slept for 5 hours straight! It was great! I was so refreshed. My milk machines were hard as boulders from Colorado-didn't care because sleep is just so precious. Guess what! His umbilical cord stub fell off. Yeah! It was kinda gross just hanging there but now it is gone! We can give him a "real bath" now. Grandma and Grandpa Grocho drove up to visit. They were kissing all over him! I just wanted to take time to say thank you to all the friends and family who have stopped by, dropped off food, and sent/brought gifts. We are overwhelmed by your generosity. It has been great!

Wow~just when I thought it couldn't get worse...Last night was so rough. He was so fussy. He wanted to eat constant and then he would spit up and cry because his belly hurt. When I didn't feed him as long as he wanted he cried because he was still hungry. Bob went to bed around 9:45pm not feeling so well while I battled the baby. My mom always is helping but I feel bad asking for help because I want us to be prepared to handle him all by ourselves. I finally got to sleep for one hour around 3am while Bob took over. Then we switched. I don't sleep well before the baby so I thought that I would be set and able to handle this. I was so wrong! I fed him this morning and he was sleeping. My mom watched him while we slept for 90 minutes. He did very well today with feeding every 2 hours and taking a 1-2hr nap in between. My friend Marcie stopped over today for a short time and that was great! She dropped off dinner and got to see Carter however he slept through her visit. Thanks ...

Today was Carter's first doctor's appointment. He weighed 7lbs. 13oz. Still 21 inches! Dr. Macintyre is our pediatrician . She is wonderful. She checked him out and said that he is very healthy and normal. As for his parents...not sure! We will go back next week to make sure that he is gaining weight and that his mama is losing hers. Today the emotions came in like a water fall. I fell asleep last night with Carter feeding in bed and got a huge kink in my neck and back. I didn't sleep at all. This morning when Bob left I started to cry and couldn't stop. Then while feeding Carter I couldn't stop crying. I decided to head to the breastfeeding support group offered through Fairview Hospital. This was just what I needed. It is a room full of new moms who are struggling with the hardships of breastfeeding. It was so great! They meet every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday! I think that I will be heading back frequently for my sanity. Bob got to feed Carter today using a F...

Well, we have experienced quite a lot since we have returned home with the little guy. I am in the midst of giving breastfeeding a fair shot. It hurts like a banchee ! When I see him smacking his lips tears come to my eyes. The latch is the most important part and I am really trying. He s a little porker. Last night we went to bed around 10pm. We put Carter in the pack n play on his back to sleep. I could not fall asleep because I was so worried that he would suffocate (SIDS). He is now rolling himself to his side so I am worried that he will roll over completely. He was fussy all through the night. We slept in increments of 30-45 minutes. During the night, Carter had 3 poopy diapers. While filling these diapers it sounded like a firehose . We were amazed. Together Bob and I were changing the diapers in bed because I can't get in and out of bed very well yet. When we were changing a diaper, he wasn't finished dropping a deuce and did it on our sheets. I was so stinkin tired...

Not much time, but here are a few pics and another video. Our first night at home was interesting. Will be back later with a funny story from late late last night.

So Bob has been the king of blogging since we arrived at the hospital. Now, it's my turn to tell the timeline. Tuesday June 9 th we arrived at the hospital at 5pm. They decided to use the Cyotin instead of cervidal . The nurses had to try 4 times to get in the IV port. They had to call the people who put in the epiderals . They kept "blowing my veins"-that was what they were saying. Every 4 hrs the nurse would come into insert the next dose. I had to stay in bed for the first 2 hrs of every dose. I would have to time my bathroom breaks just right. The monitor showed contractions but I wasn't feeling them. At 2am the nurse came into to check the cervix before the next dose and she said I was 1 centimeter. I was getting excited because to me that meant we were heading in the right direction. When she walked out to the nurses station we heard cheering! Wednesday June 10 th I was hooked up to pitocin at 6am after the cervix exam without any progress. My doctor was sto...

We have been staying caught up on the comments and want to thank everyone for their responses. You are all too good to us. Today has been another interesting day! We had a baby bathing class this morning and we quickly found out that he does not like baths. We went through 15 minutes of instructions and as soon as we were ready to clean him up the Dr . peeked her head in and asked if I could come talk to her before she left. Therefore Bob had to wash and change Carter's clothes for the first time all by himself. All of the other dads in class thought this was hilarious. Bob's face was priceless when I told him I had to step out right then. As you can see in the pictures above Bob's sister, Katie, came in last night as soon as she could to meet her new nephew. We have a few others that will be stopping through today to meet him as well. As of now the plan is to head out of the hospital tomorrow some time, but we will see.

We have had some visitors today. Bob's mom, my mom, dad, and grandma/grandpa Grocho. He is great. They brought him to our room this moning and we do not want to give him back to the nursery. Bob was the first to change his diaper. The nurse came in to show us how to treat the circumcision during a diaper change and Carter thought it would be funny to pee all over everyone. It was seriously like a fire hose. It shot out of his bassinet all over the sheets and pillows of my bed as well as all over their medical equipment and the floor. Bob was laughing so hard that he could not find anything to control the hose and ended up cupping his hand about 5 inches from Carter's body trying to catch the pee. All the while I am defending myself from about 5 feet away on the bed. The nurse thought it was the funniest thing ever and said that we need to call for a different nurse next time. Wow! The update on last night.... We ended up in a c-section. They really prefer that the baby go skin...

Ok. So not much time, but we are so excited and we want everyone to get the latest. He has officially arrived and weighed in at a wopping 8lbs 7oz. Not too big, but definitely hefty. He was 21 inches long with huge feet and hands. Well I have to run. So we will update you later. Oh wait..... By the way, his name is Carter Jackson Boone!!!!!

Heidi is sleeping. So this is Bob doing some blogging. This is a first for me. Well, believe it or not things are really starting to move along. Dr. Stark is confident he will be here sometime today. Holy crap! There is a decent chance it will end up in a c-section, but we are waiting to see what happens. As of right now Heidi has her epidural in and is feeling pretty good. She was not feeling so good for quite some time prior to the epidural. The pitocin makes her feel nauseous and all of the monitors really limit her movements. All of this being said, she is staying very strong!! I added in a couple pictures from the past few days. You will see the ironing board trick that we tried and also a picture of Betsy ready for a baby boy to arrive. The first pic was from when Heidi and I were bored yesterday prior to our trip into the hospital. We walked down to the beach and hung out for a couple hours hoping something may happen. I will do my best to keep you posted. Thanks for th...

Today is the day we try again! Bob and I came into the hospital at 5pm. When you arrive at the hospital you enter at the emergency room and call up to the birthing center using the "stork line". This is just a direct line to the birthing center nurses. When I said my name they said "oh, you know the drill. we will be waiting for you." When I got up to the floor, a nurse I had in the first try was waiting for me. I came into the room and knew exactly what to do. She told me that instead of the cervidal that Dr. Stark wanted to try Cytotec . This is in pill form and has to be given every 4 hours. We are donating the cord blood to the Cleveland cord blood bank. We could use the cord blood if we need it and other families that need it could also use it. With this process they need to take 5 vials of blood. I stinkin hate needles. Nurses always tell me that I have great veins. Today I had 2 nurses try 4 times and still could not get the IV port set so they had to call...

It was so great to sleep in our own bed. You don't realize how much you miss your own house until you aren't there for a while. After we left the hospital, Bob, my mom, bob's mom, my sister, her boyfriend, and I went for dinner at The Boneyard . I ate grilled cheese and tomato soup. It was great! I was so happy I could eat! Then when we went home I just crashed. I went to bed around 11pm. I woke up around 2am with a foot in my rib cage and walked around the house for 30 minutes. Then I tried to sit up but that made it worse so I went back into the bedroom and stood my the bed. Bob jumped up in bed and was freaked out because he didn't realize I had got up. I laid back in bed while he tried to rub the foot out of the rib cage. Eventually we both fell back asleep until around 7am. I am feeling great except for my feet and legs. They are huge. So stinkin packed full of fluids that it hurts to step on them. I went to the grocery store today with my mom an...

Well...They jacked the pitocin up to 30 mls for the last two hours and no change. Our options were 1. stay again tonight redo cervidal and start pitocin again in the morning 2. go home and relax come back tuesday night at 5 to start cervidal 3. have a elective C-section. We chose to take option 2. We think that it is time to go home, sleep in our own bed, regain energy and pray that he decides on his own to come. I think that this is best for all of us (Bob, baby, and me). I don't feel good about giving more drugs when we are not making progress. Also Bob slept on what looked like a pancake last night. He has been the most amazing cheerleader. He does everything and anything that I need without batting an eye. I have to admit I did have a minor nervous breakdown around 3pm. I was frustrated with not making progress and having back labor. Bob was just what I needed-he told me that we could do whatever we need to do and he wouldn't be upset. Thank you so much fo...

Last night I got the cervidal at 8:45. I fell asleep around 11pm. I woke up at 2:55am having contractions on my own! I was so stinking pumped. It is mostly in my back=back labor. They were consistently 4-6 minutes apart. They took the cervidal out this morning around7:45am. I took a shower and eat toast. Then I puked it all back up! Yuck! Then we started the pitocin again at 8:15. I got really tired then and went to sleep for about an hour. The doctor on call came in and checked my cervix. It is very thin however still very far back behind the head. She thinks that the pitocin will help to move the cervix forward so she can break my water. There is also the option of going home and trying again on Monday. I really don't want to go home without this baby but I am tired and don't want a c-section. We are going to wait to see what the doctor has to say when she comes. I keep getting sick whenever I eat anything even when it's clear liquids, jello, and Popsicles . Please s...

Well, it is about 7:30pm on Friday! Dr. Stark came in around 4:35 and checked my cervix to see if the pitocin helped. Unfortunately, still not dilated so she could not break my water. She said the head is so low that once we get to labor he is ready to come out. The hard part is just getting to labor. Dr. Stark suggested that we stay again tonight and try the cervidal for another 12 hours and then pitocin tomorrow morning. This is our plan. They took me off pitocin today at 5:15 and I immediately got sick and threw up. I finally was able to eat solid food. All day long all I could have was clear liquids, jello, and popsicles. I was stinking starving so I had a salad and pizza. Don't worry I threw up again after I ate. I think because I was so hungry and I inhaled my food. I got to take a shower and I will be getting the cervidal in about a half hour. This will remain in for 12 hours and I will have to stay in bed during this whole time. Us and our doctors are very optimistic that t...

We came in last night around 6pm. When we got here the first thing they told me was to strip down to the nude to get in the gown. In all the books I read I would be able to wear my cute gown I bought until the hard labor starts-I was wrong. To top that off, I put the gown on backwards. The nurse we had first was a little cranky. She gave me the cervidal last night at 7:15pm. The head is so low that the cervix is behind it and it makes it very hard for the nurses to reach it and check for progress. Before the nurse's shift was over she put an IV port in the top of my hand. I am not good with needles and my mom used to tell us never to hit her on the top of the hand because that is where she would have her IV for chemo. That was the only thing that I kept thinking. It was so tight and uncomfortable because I couldn't bend my hand to do much of anything. Bob stayed until a little after 10pm and then went home to spend the night with Betsy and get a good night's res...

Today was our doctor's appointment. We first went in for an ultrasound so they could determine measurements for being induced. It was really cool seeing him now compared to when he was only 20 weeks. The technician however was not nearly as friendly as the one we had before. Bob said she had the sense of humor of a brick. I would have to agree. Anyways, I asked her to take a look up around my rib cage because that was where I was having discomfort and what do you know...it's his foot. She checked all the organs, blood flow, and heart and said it all looked great. I asked if by these measurements if she could tell how much he weighed she said yes but continued on with taking the pictures. About 5 minutes later she said 88. I thought she was identifying me by the 2 numbers in the middle of my social security number. She then said it again and Bob said "pounds?" She said yes, He is 8 pounds 8 ounces. I almost screamed out loud. I started laughing uncontroll...

Today is the official due date! Guess what-he is not here yet! Last night was a bad night of sleep and I thought that was a sign. I woke up before 3am and just couldn't get comfortable. My belly was tight and sore. I laid in bed for 20 more minutes and could tell that I was keeping Bob up so I headed to the couch. I watched TV and sat up and thought. The last time I remember looking at the clock was 4:58am and then Bob came to wake me up at 6:20am. I got a kink in my neck from sleeping on the couch. Everyone has been contacting me today just to make sure he didn't arrive and I didn't let them know. Tomorrow we have a doctor's appointment so that she can do an ultrasound to see how big he is. Then she can decide what day would be the best to be induced.