The Arrival of Carter Quinn Wilson

Sorry we have both been so lacking in updates, but he has been here for about 2 weeks now:

It has been a whirlwind of late night feedings and learning how to make him happy, but we are starting to get the hang of this parenting thing. Carter decided that he would go ahead and come on the weekend, just like I wanted. Liz went into labor on January 13th around 7 PM or so. We had just finished up dinner at McAlister's and grabbed some frozen yogurt at Frazzleberry's when she had a contraction in the car. She decided to go ahead and get in the bath when we got home, as Braxton-Hicks contractions are supposed to subside when you get in the tub, but they didn't subside, they only got closer together. At about 10 PM, the contractions were about 4 minutes apart on a consistent basis. Now, the birthing classes that we took said you should come to the hospital when contractions were 5 minutes apart, but we were surprised to find out that when the contractions actually started coming at a regular frequency, we had bypassed 5 minutes apart altogether. We got to the hospital and they hooked Liz up to monitors to see if she was really in labor. I realized she was in labor when I had to start answering the nurse's questions for her.

I won't go into all the gory details, but I will say labor was very surreal and still doesn't seem like it happened entirely. After Liz got the epidural, she was in good spirits and the epidural helped her to relax and labor progressed more quickly. After a sleepless night, Carter came at 4:18 AM on January 14th. We got to experience the great new rooms and great standard of care at Northwest Texas Hospital (and no, that wasn't sarcasm). Liz's nurses and Carter's nurses were kind, helpful, and quick to respond. We got discharged from the hospital around midday on January 16th.

We were both kind of at a loss when we got home. Our two dachshunds have adapted well to the new member of the family, which has been a relief. We didn't really know what to do with ourselves or with Carter when we got home. Carter put us through some rigorous training and conditioning our first night home: another sleepless night. We've since not had a night that bad, but that first sleepless night meant that we didn't get sleep for 2 nights out of 4 from the night/morning that he was born through Monday night. I did come to a realization that night about how much I already love Carter. I was sitting in his room and rocking him as he screamed his throat raw. I felt a serenity that I still can't quite explain, knowing that everything was going to be alright and that I was glad that I could be there for my son when he needed me.

With the help of some people who know what they are doing, namely my mother-in-law and the lactation nurse at the hospital, we have figured out how to appease Carter for the most part.His cries are always a little different. He still seems to be sleeping for longer periods during the day, which means shorter amounts of time between interruptions at night, but at least he is sleeping at night, for the most part. I took off of work for the first week we were home. The week passed in a strange blur and the passage of time is really obscured and fuzzy for that week. It honestly seemed like I took two days off and then returned to work.

Returning to work was difficult. I miss Carter and Liz and think of them constantly while at work. I still have trouble leaving to come back to work from lunch on days when I get to eat lunch at home. Since returning to work though, life seems a little more normal and the passage of time has become less anomalous. This past weekend actually felt like a weekend, despite remaining at home and taking care of Carter all weekend. We actually watched a couple of movies and got out for a walk and for a quick trip so Liz could get some bloodwork done.

Liz was just commenting last night how it seems as if Carter has been with us and a part of us for much longer than the two weeks that he has been here. I must say that I agree. It is strange how quickly all of this happens. It is also a blessing to know that I am selfless and loving enough to be able to do this. I know there are times when I've had my doubts.