In my previous post about Drew’s first doctor’s appointment, I mentioned that we opted for the in-home photo light therapy vs. hospital stay. What we thought would be a day or so of Drew on the “tanning” bed turned into six days.

The idea was to get Drew on the bed as much as possible. The more feedings and light exposure he received, the more likely the bilirubin would be pushed out of his system and lower his level. Those six days were a little rough in terms of sleep for Keith, Pearl and I (although we expected that with a newborn), we did our best to follow the doctor’s instructions. We woke up almost every hour or two for feedings and diaper changes.

The nurse came by everyday to check on Drew’s vitals and obtain some blood. Each day he showed improvement and even got back to his birth weight plus more! By the end of the therapy, he had gained a whole pound! And our poor little guy handled the daily heel pokes like a champ – he’s one tough baby!

Here are some photos from that week. We all decided to sleep in the family room since it was more comfortable and convenient for Drew…not so much for the rest of us. 😉

Pearl keeping an eye on Drew

Tanning bed

Tired papa

Naptime

On Drew’s first day, we opted to have newborn photos taken by Bella Baby Photography even though we had a separate newborn photo session with our other photographer. After all, the session itself was free and we weren’t obligated to buy any of the photos. Of course once we saw them, we had to buy them!

Drew just hit two weeks on Friday and I can already see some changes. Wish they could stay this size forever but at least I have these photos to look back on.

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After Drew’s arrival, we were told that we had to stay at the hospital an extra night (total of three nights) as they wanted to monitor him more closely. With my water breaking so early and no contractions for several hours, as well as Drew being suctioned out, the hospital pediatrician wanted us to stay longer to make sure he was in good health.

Before leaving the hospital on Sunday, the hospital pediatrician asked that we make an appointment with our regular pediatrician the next day since Drew’s bilirubin level (13) was getting a bit high for a newborn.

We went to Sandpoint Pediatrics for Drew’s first doctor’s appointment. Overall, he did really well except when we had to strip off his clothes to get weighed and his bilirubin levels were even higher (19). The normal bilirubin level for a newborn a couple days old is between 12-14. The pediatrician suggested we go to Children’s Hospital to get a second blood test as the machines at Sandpoint Pediatrics are new and may not be 100% accurate.

Off we went to Children’s Hospital. For the most part, I held my composure but did shed a few tears as we waited for the nurse to call us in. It was so sad to see my little guy getting his feet pricked. The test results from Children’s Hospital garnered a similar result in his bilirubin level (18.8).

In order to get Drew’s bilirubin level down, we opted for the in-home photo light therapy vs. hospital stay. More details on this in a post to come.

So much for baby boy Carpenter arriving late. He ended up coming five days early!

Drew Nolan Carpenter made his way into this world at 6:46 am on Friday, November 21st, 2014. He weighed in at 6.29 lbs and measured 18.5 inches long.

Here’s a recap of his arrival:

• Thursday, November 20th:
  • 12:00 PM:  Keith worked from home as his office was moving locations. We initially had planned to have lunch with Andy around 12:30 PM. I went to the bathroom and after washing my hands, I walked towards the kitchen but felt a little something come out. After checking to make sure it wasn’t more than a drip or two, I went back to my desk and continued to work.
  • 12:05 PM:  A few minutes later, I walked towards the kitchen to check on Keith who was making a crock pot of chili. I felt another trickle of water. I told Keith that I thought something might be happening but he thought I would have felt contractions. In any case, I went downstairs to change for lunch.
  • 12:10 PM:  Once I was downstairs, I felt the need to go to the bathroom again so I went. Then I walked towards the bedroom to change but felt more water trickling down but this time it was a more than the last. At this point, I decided to call the doctor just in case.
  • 12:30 PM:  The nurse that I spoke to suggested that we come in so they could run some tests to see if it was indeed my water breaking. She recommended that we bring our hospital bag with us in case I needed to go directly to the hospital. We made the appointment for 2:00 PM so we had about an hour and a half to gather what we could. We finished what we could with work, packed up the rest of our bag and got Pearl situated before heading out.
  • 2:00 PM:  At the doctor’s office, I met with Dr. Lorentz, the on-call doctor that day. It took her only a few seconds to tell me that my water had indeed broken. She told us the baby would likely come that day and said we should go get some lunch (since we hadn’t eaten) and walk around a bit before heading to the hospital around 5:30 PM.
  • 5:30 PM:  When we got the hospital, the staff got us checked in right away. What I thought would be a few hours until the baby was born turned into six hours of waiting, watching tv with Keith and talking to my mom who came to visit. During this time I felt some contractions but nothing that was consistent or painful.
  • 10:00 PM:  I started to feel stronger contractions but still not too painful. At this point I was measuring 4 cm dilated (was 2 cm after my 39 week doctor’s appointment the day before). Dr. Lorentz told me that I may not deliver until 8:00 AM the next morning and that I should get some rest. Her and my nurse suggested that I get the epidural before trying to sleep as it may help with the upcoming pain and let me rest.
  • 11:00 PM:  Epidural completed, finally fell asleep.
• Friday, November 21st:
  • 12:00 AM:  My nurse checked on me and said that I was now 10 cm dilated. However, the baby hadn’t dropped enough to start pushing. She said I should continue to sleep and we would monitor every hour.
  • 3:30 – 4:00 AM:  The nurse checked me again and said I was finally at a point to push. At this point, I had a mini freak out moment thinking that the baby would soon be here!
  • 4:00 AM:  Let the pushing begin…
  • 6:00 AM:  After a couple of hours of pushing, my doctor said that my pelvic bone was too narrow for the baby’s head to push through and that although I was making progress, it may be hours until the baby could make his way through. Needless to say I was exhausted. Note:  The epidural made it difficult to push – in hindsight if I knew I would go from 4 to 10 cm within an hour, I would have bypassed the epidural to help with the pushing.
  • 6:15 – 6:30 AM:  We made a game time decision to use the vacuum to help get the baby out. Within a matter of minutes, the room went from Dr. Lorentz, the nurse, Keith and I to a room full of nurses!
  • 6:45 AM:  One big push and the help of the vacuum, it only took a few seconds to get the baby out.
  • 6:46 AM:  Drew Nolan Carpenter makes his entrance into the world!

Pictures from Drew’s first 24 hours!

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Well folks…we’re in the home stretch of the pregnancy. Only one week to go until baby boy’s due date. Will he be early, on time or late?!? My initial guess was late but now I’m thinking maybe he’ll be punctual and arrive on time.

Not much new to report. I’m still feeling great / normal and have been fortunate to have had such a smooth pregnancy thus far. I hope that translates to a smooth delivery but it’ll probably be the complete opposite.

In any case, Keith and I have been taking advantage of these last few weeks and days. We’ve had several date nights, movie nights and even enjoyed a fancy dinner at El Gaucho (the only reason why we went there was so I could get the bread pudding…soooo good). This coming weekend we plan to put up the Christmas tree and decorations. I know it’s early but heck, we have an excuse if baby boy does come on time!

Here are the latest baby bump photos. As you can see, my wardrobe has consisted of leggings and white t-shirts lately. 🙂

Well we finally got baby boy’s room ready – only took a few months (don’t think we ever had a “nesting” period) but it came together nicely.

Keith and I didn’t want to overly decorate the room so we tried to keep it simple. There isn’t much of a theme either. We initially thought we’d do a baseball themed room but ended up with a mix and match of dogs, planes and baseball items.

The only pieces we’re still missing is the plane mobile for above his crib and the changing table pad as they’re both backordered until December!

All-in-all we’re happy with how things turned out and hope he likes it as well. Even though in the picture Pearl looks like she can’t wait to get out, she likes the room as well. We’ve caught her in there a few times hanging out by herself. 🙂

If baby boy was writing this blog post, he would say “Welcome to my crib”.

lovey from auntie kerry

we’re a family of dog lovers

pearl’s done with the photo shoot

piggy bank from auntie kristen

courtesy of my dad – this pac-man clock is older than me!

A couple of weekends ago, my cousins Sandy and Adam hosted our family baby shower. It was super low-key (which we loved) with our in-town family members in attendance. The evening was full of delicious Vietnamese food, presents and great company. We especially enjoyed the baby due date pool which has about $75 on the line and playing cards with my parents, Bac Thao and Phuong, Adam, Addy and Andy.

We definitely missed all of our out-of-town family members but most are coming in for the holidays so we’re stoked to see them very soon!

Sandy was such a fabulous hostess as always. She’s such a pro at throwing parties, celebrations and gatherings – she really should open an event planning business. Although Amy wasn’t able to be there in person to host, I know she helped out from afar. I’m lucky to have these two ladies as my cousins and pseudo sisters. 🙂

Thank you again to the Ashers for hosting a wonderful family shower, and to all the family members who could make it in person! We’re also looking forward to seeing our out-of-town family members in December!

Baby C

Yummy Vietnamese Food

Me looking large and in charge 🙂

Baby Jo and Baby Keith

It’s still a boy 🙂

The number five is very significant to this post – it’s my fifth post with baby bump photos and we have five weeks to go until baby boy arrives (if he’s on time that is)!

What we’ve been up to the last few weeks:

• Baby Showers:  My best friends, Kerry and Lisa, hosted my “friends” baby shower the other weekend and it was a blast. Check out my previous post “Lil Slugger’s Baby Shower” for more details and pictures. This past weekend my amazing cousin, Sandy, hosted our family shower. It was low key but that’s just the way we liked it. The best parts were the baby pool bidding (my family loves to gamble) and we played cards at the very end (did I mention my family loves to gamble?) where Keith won $35 big ones! We sure did miss all the out-of-towners, especially the Turners but we’re excited for them to meet baby boy when they’re in town in December!
• Baby Classes:  We officially completed the Newborn Care and Childbirth / Breastfeeding Preparation classes. We still have the CPR and Infant Safety class to go so almost done.
  • Do I feel more prepared? Maybe. I don’t think I’ll ever feel fully prepared until he arrives but I’m okay with that. Going with the flow on this one. 🙂
• Room:  We’re putting the final touches on his room and will have an update soon!
• Names:  Still nothing new here. At this rate, we’ll have to name him baby boy!

Latest baby bump photos:

This past weekend Kerry and Lisa co-hosted my friend’s baby shower. The overall theme was baseball (of course) and it could not have turned out any cuter!

Baby boy was showered with love by my closets friends. I’m one lucky girl and he’s one lucky kid to have all these awesome aunties!

baseball themed food and decor

party favors

mini hot dogs and chips…yes!

popcorn anyone?!?

MVP

baseball cupcakes

pearl wanting to get in on the group pic

disappointed she couldn’t be in the pic

happy she got to be in one pic

friends since 2nd grade…we’re OLD!

potential future in-laws

group photo with 1/2 the girls

the lovely hostesses