Carter

Photos

carterhtx — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 14:42:10 +0000

Allison’s photo blog:
http://funtimesallison.blogspot.com/

Gallery:
http://picasaweb.google.com/mariabcarter/

email me if you’d like the snapfish link.

Welcome to Texas Allison-birth story

carterhtx — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 22:40:29 +0000

Allison’s birth story:

To properly start, we have to take it back to Wednesday February 25^th, 2009. This was the day of the 36 week ultrasound at the hospital. Jake and I had been looking forward to this appointment for quite a while now. We went in around 8:00. We were told she was measuring pretty much on the petite side, just like mommy at around 5 lbs 4 oz but everything else was looking great.

Immediately following we went to the OB appointment where she examined my cervix and now told me I was 3 cm dilated and still 80% effaced. The cervical exam seemed so painful at the time that I didn’t feel the same the rest of the day, evening into night. I still went back in to work and stayed for a couple of hours until I just couldn’t stand it anymore. It takes a lot for me to have to leave work and I was feeling the aches all over. As if I had a fever but didn’t. I went home to sleep it off but wound up with a 99.2 fever, then 99.6 and the highest 100.1. I was safe under 100.4 so I took Tylenol and went to bed or tried to at least.

I ended up in the restroom the rest of the night. I had never felt so awful. Take your worst hangover and times it by 5. Around 4:30 Am was when I felt the first contraction. We decided to time them and they seemed to be 5 minutes apart. Jake called the nurse and she talked him through getting me re-hydrated. Jake now went out for a Gatorade run. Up until 6AM, I kept having contractions all within 5 minutes of each other, not too strong YET but obviously contracting. Right before 7 AM, as the contractions kept getting closer, the nurse decided it safest for us to come in to the hospital to get hydrated. The worst car ride of my life commenced. Contractions as I walked to the car and another when Jake had to stop for gas at the ghetto gas station. I just closed my eyes, breathed and didn’t say a word to him. Silence was my best friend that morning. As we got closer to the hospital, I had more contractions. I would say I had about 8 or 9 in that 40 minute car ride through Galleria traffic at 730 in the morning. WORST TIME TO GO INTO LABOR at the WORST place in HOUSTON.

We got to the hospital. Got on a wheelchair and straight to L&D testing we went. They hooked me up to the FHM and the contraction contraption, and IV drip for hydration. My cervix was now 4 cm dilated and 90% effaced. After about 4 hours of laying in bed having contractions that were now 10-15 minutes apart, Jake staring at me helpless, we had some lunch while I was contracting. I decided to have a grilled cheese sandwich. It was getting closer to 12:30 now and we were about 15-20 minutes apart. The IV drip was working in controlling the closeness of the contractions but they were coming on stronger. Nothing like the 430 am ones I was feeling earlier in the morning. Even though they were so far apart, they were really peaking. By 1 PM the nurse decides to check my cervix before possibly letting us go home for the rest of the day to work it out there. She says hold on, she needs to get a second opinion and brings another nurse in. Yep, she was right. 8 cm dilated and totally effaced. Nurses exclaimed out loud, “its baby day guys!!” Jake nearly blew his eyes out. It took about 30 seconds to get me out of bed, into a wheelchair and up to L&D.

Before I knew it I was getting an epidural. Dr W. came in to break my water. Still we were having contractions far and wide apart. Around 2PM, they started the pitocin to get them closer together. Still, my goofy contractions were so far apart they didn’t have too many opportunities to get me to push her out but we started to push anyway. One of the nurses said this has only happened once before with another mother since she had been working there for 3 years. I guess I was lucky to not have to labor for so long. We started 4 pushes in a row. I think I pushed a total of 20 times and she was out at 3:38 PM. One of the most amazing feelings in the world. We welcomed a healthy baby Allison into this world without any complications! Mommy and daddy have been on cloud 9 ever since.

Welcome Allison Lindsey Carter!!

carterhtx — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 02:43:52 +0000

Allison Lindsey Carter
Thursday, February 26, 2009 at 3:38 PM
5 lbs 14.5 ounces
18 3/4 inches long

Visit the gallery at :

http://picasaweb.google.com/mariabcarter/WelcomeAllisonLindseyCarter

Nursery Shots

carterhtx — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 02:35:13 +0000

D and E!!

carterhtx — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 13:40:52 +0000

We got some great news from the Dr yesterday. She told me I was already 1 cm dilated and 80% effaced! Bebe should be here within 2-3 weeks!! She made it sound like I was getting a UPS package mailed to me! Not quite the same. Jake and I are so incredibly excited and are now more in ok, what’s left, what do we do, what next, what did they say in class when…. My work momma has told me baby will come on the full moon on 3/11. We’ll see about that MG! But you never know..

I need to get to Wednesday though at least. Keep your thoughts and prayers on a safe and happy d-day for us!!!

MamaBump

carterhtx — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 02:38:13 +0000

Not too much longer with the bump. I can’t imagine life without it but I can imagine life with baby!

121 pounds at week 35

35 weeks

carterhtx — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 15:15:47 +0000

Our last baby class was on Saturday and I think we were secretly rejoicing. Way too many weekends with too many plans kind of tired us out a bit. But we learned a lot and I of course love getting all the reading material that comes with it. We learned swaddling, bathing, diapering, burping, the 5 S’s, etc etc etc. It was great to see so many couples there that seemed to know far less than we did. Maybe it was the prior 13 hours of baby classes that have turned us into baby knowitalls (well, not just yet).

I’m still feeling pretty good despite the nasty head cold I seem to have caught from everyone around me. Despite day 3 of this, my energy is still there. Just wish I could breathe better. Bebe still hasn’t dropped so on top of my congested nasal passages, my breathing is short. But not much else to complain about. Swollen ankles, I guess but that comes with the territory.

Last Thursday, work threw a beautiful baby shower for me. I can’t believe how much baby stuff we got. It was absolutely wonderful and thank you to my two hostesses, Mindy and Danica. The CRV was fully loaded at the end of that day! Well worth the buy.

Today marks 35 weeks of pregnancy (the size of a honeydew melon). Baby should weigh over 5 pounds in ma’belly! I don’t feel like I’m carrying that much more weight, only at night when I’m trying to get out of bed.

Tomorrow I see my OB again and Friday we meet and greet our potential pediatrician. Should be another fun filled weekend. Hopefully I can get all these germs out so I can take care of last minute nursery things.

I found a great meal to make if around 38 weeks I start to get a little impatient. This eggplant parmesan is said to induce labor! I’ll have to give it a try.

Eggplant Parmesan

Ingredients

3 medium sized eggplants

1 cup flour

6 eggs, beaten

4 cups fine Italian bread crumbs, seasoned

Olive oil for sauteing

8 cups of marinara sauce (recipe below)

1/2 cup grated Romano cheese

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1 1/2 pounds of mozzarella cheese, shredded

2 cups of ricotta cheese

Directions

1. After you wash the eggplant, slice them into 1/4-inch thick slices. You may choose to peel the eggplant before you slice it. However, you may want to leave the skin on since it contains a lot of vitamins.

2. Place the eggplant slices on a layer of paper towels and sprinkle with a little salt, then cover with another layer of paper towels and hold it down with something heavy to drain the excess moisture. Let them sit for about an hour.

3. Working with one slice of eggplant at a time, dust with flour, dip in beaten eggs, then coat well with breadcrumbs.

4. Saute in preheated olive oil on both sides until golden brown.

5. In baking dish, alternate layers of marinara sauce, eggplant slices, ricotta, parmesan and Romano cheeses, until you fill the baking dish, about 1/8 inch from the top. Cover with shredded mozzarella cheese, and bake for 25 minutes in a 375 degree oven. Let sit for 10 minutes before serving.

Scalini’s Marinara Sauce

Ingredients

2 Tablespoons of chopped garlic

3 Tablespoons of olive oil

8 cups chopped tomatoes (fresh or canned)

1 cup onions, chopped

1/2 cup of fresh chopped parsley

1 teaspoon oregano

1 teaspoon of crushed red pepper

1/8 cup of fresh chopped sweet basil

Pinch of thyme

Pinch of rosemary

One teaspoon salt

One teaspoon black pepper

Directions

1. Lightly saute the onions in olive oil in large pot for a few minutes.

2. Add garlic and saute another minute.

3. Add tomatoes and bring sauce to a boil, then turn heat low.

4. Add remaining ingredients, stir, cover and let simmer for one hour, stirring occasionally.

Recipe courtesy of John Bogino, Scalini’s Italian Restaurant, Smyrna, Ga.

www.scalinis.com

Close enough to 34 weeks

carterhtx — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 00:10:17 +0000

We have accomplished a ton over the last few weekends. The nursery is pretty much finished. I’m just waiting on a few last minute items and to stock up on those necessities. I’ll take pictures soon. A couple of Saturdays ago, we went to a breastfeeding class and learned a bunch. I love going to these classes because you get so engrossed with watching videos, hands on practice and just looking at items you may or may not need. This past Saturday we took infant CPR and safety with the grandparents. Another very informative class.

Last Monday we got a new car (for the baby, of course!) It’s such a great car with tons of room for the extra cargo we’re going to need. The civic wouldn’t be able to handle it so we sold my car. I think Bebe will love it. There are some interesting features that will come in handy. Like the conversation mirror where you can watch the backseat for any crazy shenanigans the kids may get into. Oops did I say kids already?? I didn’t mean it.

On Thursday, I saw my OB. Like always everything is looking “super”. Blood pressure = good, Baby Heart Rate = good, my numbers are good. I won’t go back until the 19th and then weekly thereafter. The big 36 week ultrasound is scheduled on the 25th of this month and we’ll be able to see her again!! I can’t wait since we haven’t seen her since the 20 week ultrasound. It’s going to be amazing seeing the last 3-4 months of development. Perhaps more details as well. I’m a little bit nervous to see how big she’s gotten due to the GD if that big at all. Hopefully, we can find out if my due date will change or not. Stay tuned…..

The restroom-my second home

carterhtx — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 20:47:12 +0000

I can’t remember what it’s like to be a normal human being and only have to pee a few times a day rather than 4 times in ONE HOUR!!!!!!!!!!

“some girls are bigger than others”

carterhtx — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 14:57:50 +0000

Childbirth Part two was last Sunday and we practiced a couple more breathing exercises, given a nice body massage from our partners, watched a c-section video and discussed what could lead to a c-section. I felt more comfortable not knowing as much as I know now. Yikes. But if it must be done to have a healthy baby and mama, so be it. I trust this hospital to the fullest and know we are all in great hands. Everyone I talk to has said this is the best hospital to deliver a baby.

Bebe has found an interesting sleeping pattern. She sleeps most of the time except, when I’m hungry, just ate, sitting at work quietly, laying in bed and the best between 4:30 and 5:00 AM, my morning wake up call. It will be interesting to see if she keeps these hours outside of the dark, cozy and warm belly sac.

On Saturday, we’ll have a nice fun day of breastfeeding class. Jake is really looking forward to this one.

The every 2 week appointments have started and we will know more about how big baby is at 36 weeks in about 4 weeks or so.

It seems every weekend is full and with something to do which doesn’t leave much time for anything else. Oh time, where have you gone?