It has officially been a year since Carter joined our family! The first few months of Carter’s life are the most memorable to me as life changed so dramatically and as I learned a new sense of love that I had never experienced before. The first few months are also especially memorable because I was more overwhelmed and exhausted than ever before in my life. Because of that, I never took the time to record some of the things about Carter’s first days that I hope to remember forever. So now, here’s my attempt at penning some long overdue pieces of Carter’s history.
Carter’s original due date was March 22, 2011. In reality, due dates don’t mean very much because they are basically a guess, but to a first time mom (or at least to me), the due date was huge! All of my expectations about how long I would be pregnant and when we should expect a baby to arrive revolved around this date so I became quite affixed on it. Then I had an ultrasound and found out that the due date was more like March 29, 2011. Adding a week probably doesn’t sound like much, but when you’re pregnant for 40 weeks, every one counts, so losing a week seemed like a big deal at the time.
As March 29th grew closer, we made arrangements with my parents to come out from California a few days after the new due date so they could meet their first grandson. Chris’ folks have a 3 hr drive to Boston so they knew to be by the phone and they would come in when we gave them the big news. March 29th came and went and baby was still inside with no signs of movement outward. Chris and I were both on hiatus from our jobs so we took the afternoon to see a movie and grab a bite out in the city. Just like my due date, my parents’ trip came and went and unfortunately for Grandpa Nelson, he had to leave Boston before Carter made his debut. We were able to convince Grandma to change her flight and she was here for the arrival and for a couple weeks after.
I was scheduled to be induced on April 5, 2011, a week after the new due date. Each day I hoped that Carter would come on his own. Much to my chagrin, he was happy and healthy just where he was and therefore needed to be forced out over a two day induction process. Things moved very slowly once I started laboring even to the point where I stopped contracting altogether. The nurse even warned me in the early morning hours on the 5th that she wouldn’t be surprised if I didn’t deliver until the 6th. After 10 hrs of labor with very little progress, the doctor broke my water. About an hour later, Carter was born at 5:54 AM. My mom kept telling me before I went to the hospital, “just tell them to break your water”! Well I wish I could have convinced the doctor to do it sooner, because clearly that was all that was needed for Carter to decide to leave his comfy home.
So that is how Carter entered the world. He was a happy baby from the start and continues to be especially cheerful and social. The first week of his life, I asked my mom, “On a scale of one to ten, ten being the most difficult baby on earth, where would you rate Carter?” She looked at me and smiled saying, “Oh, he’s a 1.” He has been a delightful addition to our family and we couldn’t feel more blessed to have him.
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