Jack's 4th Week

Mommy gives Jack a bath! (Oct 21)
Jack seems to love his baths! He never cries...he seems so relaxed :) and I love the way he hangs onto the towel!

Jack goes to the zoo! Although he doesn't know it :) Oct 22



Just thinkin....

Jack's 3rd Week

Aunt Tina and Trudy came for a visit!

Jack with Great Grandma! (Oct 10th)
Grandma and Grandpa Deyerler came to visit too!

Sis and Bub with their kids! Wow!

Finally got to meet my cousin Sean! (Oct 16th)

Hangin' out with Aunt Margaret!

Tummy Time!

Aunt Madonna, Uncle Bill, and Grandpa Carlson come to visit! (Oct 17th)

Three generations of John Michael Carlson....

First Weeks...

One of Mom and Jack's long Fall walks in Lincoln Park...

Mommy's first night out! We went to PJ Clark's with Maggie and Ethan!

Seriously, how cute and cuddley am I?

My new friend Ethan! He's only 5 1/2 months older, but look how much bigger he looks!

Look how tiny he is in Mommy's arms!

Mommy and Jack's first walk! Saturday Oct 2nd. Also Mommy's first time out of the house! It was good to feel "human" again :)

Hmmmm...(it's also the pose from the movie Stepbrothers :)

Jack loves his Daddy!

Welcome Home Jack!!

Leaving the hospital...Yeay we are home! Now what?

First night in his bassinet....Sweeps!

Jack's Stay at the Hospital (Rush)

View from our hospital room

Proud Daddy!

Sunday, Septemeber 26th-Grandma Mimi comes to visit...Mommy and Jack recover...Monday, September 27th-Grandama and Grandpa Deyerler visit! Maggie Owens visits:)

Tuesday, September 28th-Aunt Margaret, Uncle Eric (Bub) and cousin Sean visit!
Grandma Mimi comes back... :)Aunt (Erin) Burger visits!

Pictures: before, during, and after Baby Jack's birth!

I had been wanting to take pictures with John and I while I was pregnant. We went to the park the night before he was born! Little did we know that this was the last day without Jack!

This was me on the way to the hospital the second time!Here I am all checked in and "Feeling Awesome" with my epidural!This is John right before he went into the Operating Room...Baby Jack is Born! Look at how tired and out of it mom looks....The new happy Carlson family! All together for the first time! (Sunday afternoon)

Labor and Delivery-and our first Night Home

September 26th 2010 @ 2:38 AM. 9lbs 7oz

Mommy woke up Saturday (Sept 25th) morning around 7:30 AM with sharp pains. As expected, I was unsure, and a little in denial, that these were in fact contractions. The funny thing is that the week before I told everyone that I wanted to go into labor on Saturday and deliver on Sunday. John's mom (Mimi ;) was getting in on Sunday, and John had a mini hiatus that following week. I was so sure that everyone at work gave me hugs and said Good Luck as I left that Friday! I don't know if it was the Power of Positive Thinking or mother's intuition, but seriously, how often does a mother "call her shot" with delivery?!?!

Anyhoo, I went back to the bedroom and told Daddy that I was having pains and that it might be contractions, but I wasn't sure. We debated on what to do, and eventually I called the Dr. Evreything we were told and read about said its easier to go through labor at home so we were hesitant to go to the hospital too early. However, I was also not sure if they were contractions or if there was another problem. The Dr told us to go in just to make sure. So at 10:00 AM we headed to the ER. It's funny how different it is from the movies :) It was so surreal that I am not even sure we did much talking! When we got there I was only 2 cm and the contractions were 4-7 minutes apart. I was glad that we went in to at least confirm that they were indeed contractions! They said I could be admitted, but that it was probably best to go home, so we did. Daddy and I went home to try and "relax". We watched some "funny guys" ( our favorite TV shows) while we timed my contractions. They never got fewer than 3 mintues apart, but eventually they got so bad I could hardly take it. So, the Dr said to go in again and see how they progress was going. Turns out I was already 7 cm!!! The nurses were so excited to see us! (the funny thing is that when we first went in I asked them if I was going to have to go to work on Monday! I said, "because if I feel like this I really don't want to"! Ha! John laughed and said he didn't think I was going to make it all the way until Monday!)

So they immediately admitted me into the hospital. I was checked into the delivery room. I asked for the epidural asap! The epidural was administered at 8:25 PM. By 8:40 I was quoted as saying " I'm feeling awesome!" They broke my water at 9:00 PM and I was 8 cm. The nurse said she could feel the baby's head moving while she was checking the dilation!

The nurse (Julie) commented on how good we were doing and how she loves families like us-happy and excited! She told us we were "the cutest couple"!

9:45 PM John and I watched It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia on his computer! The Dr came in and said it was his favorite show too! My mom and Dad arrived in the waiting room.

10:20 PM they administered Pitocin. I was not happy about it. I always heard that it can lead to a c-section. But they said it's not neccessarily true, and that my contractions weren't strong enough to get the baby out. I had stopped dilating.

11:00 PM the Dr said that baby should be out by 1:00 AM!

1:00 AM No progress. Still only at 9 cm and the contractions were still not strong enough.
I made the mistake of telling the nurses to decrease my epidural so that I could feel myself pushing. BAD idea! SOOO painful!

2:00 AM No progess. The Dr said that the baby's head was getting swollen because it was trying to squeeze through the pelvic bone but couldn't fit. He was afraid the shoulder was stuck. He told us that we could try pushing for another hour, but that may cause damage to the baby. After much hesitation, we decided to to a C-Section. Mommy was a little disappointed, but Daddy assured me it was going to be ok. I could tell he was VERY nervous, but he stayed calm and positive for me. He was SO incredible throughout the entire process. It was the most amazing experience we have ever been through together. I can not even describe how amazing he was.

They immediately took me to the Operating Room, hooked me up to new drugs that made me shake uncontrollably, and proceeded with the opertation. I was SO delirious by that point. I was a shell of myself and so incredibly tired. I could here them talking about what they were doing. At one point I heard the Dr say to someone "ok, this is her bladder. We are going to put it here" ! Woah! Daddy was right at my side reassuring me the whole way.

Finally, and 2:38 AM September 26th-we heard them said "You have a son!" and then Jack's first cries! Daddy was smiling from ear to ear!

They sewed me up and took me to the recovery room. My mom and dad were there. I can't believe how late they stayed up :) It was all very surreal. Then John was able to take them to the nursery to see baby Jack. I was sad that I couldn't see him. At the same time I was so exhausted that I just wanted to go to sleep!

We were taken to a Semi-Private room at first. But the nurse loved us so much they put us on a priority list for the next available private room. I guess it was a busy night for deliveries at Rush!

I was on Morphine all of Sunday and more exhausted that I thought was humanly possible. I couldn't really sleep because people were in and out of the room all day. Daddy tried snoozing for a little. Eventually Grandma "Mimi" -John's mom- came to visit. She had the best reaction! I think she almost collapsed from excitement! It was so genuine....

Finally, at some point Sunday evening, they removed my catheder and wheeled me into a private room. I was finally able to "sleep". Poor John had a terribly uncomfortable recliner, and that was it. At least I had a bed and drugs to help me sleep! ;)

The nurse had to help me go to the bathroom, and it was one of the most painful experiences. I could not believe how much it hurt just to "walk" to the bathroom! At about 1:00 AM John had to help me up and to the bathroom. Poor John, he did such a good job, but I know it was so hard for him to watch me in so much pain. It hurt him that he couldn't help take the pain away.

That next morning I was able to stumble into the bathroom myself. I even managed to take a shower! I felt SO much better! Maggie came to visit and them my parents. I felt a little more human that day. Poor Jack had his circumcision that day so he was not a hapy camper! It was hard to have him cry while there were visitors, I was a new mom and got paranoid about it...like I was being a bad mom.
Tuesday, Eric, Margaret, Sean and John's mom came to visit. Later that night my friend Erin Burger stopped by. Jack was nice and tired and chill for her visit :)

We debated going home Tuesday, but I decided I wanted to get one more night's sleep. We had the nurses tale Jack to the nursery every night and they fed him a bottle. So we were able to "sleep" through the night (minus all of the nurses interupting, of course!) I was glad we stayed until Wednesday because the nurses helped me answer a lot of questions and reassured me that I was doing a good job : ) They were all SOOOO fantasitic! It was a great experience! Nursing was frustrating, and they were all so good to me and gave me great advice.

Wednesday was so exciting! John played "Jack Johnson" on the way home :) Jack did a great job on his ride home. John's mom helped me run some errands and hung out for a little while. They John and I were alone! For the first time with Baby Jack! Woah! Now what!??! At first it seemed very natural. Towards the end of the night my hormones got the best of me :) I got a little overwhelemed and cried a little. John was a great support. We eventually went to bed. Poor John had to do everything since I was still in pain and could hardly get in and out of the bed. So he would take Jack, change him, bring him to me so I could feed him, then change him and put him back to sleep. This went on all night every 2 hours.

We realized this was not going to work. Finally on Friday we figured out that John would feed Jack a formula bottle around 12-1 AM so that he would sleep a little longer. So far, its been GREAT! John and I each get an uninterrupted sleep for at least 5 hours. Then in the morning I feed around 8AM and John gets Daddy and Jack time while I sleep for another hour. This has been working out great for us!

So....now we are parents!!!