Dr. visit 10.28.09

I had to take Mr. James to the doctor yesterday because he's been pretty congested, but he has new stats:

At 5 weeks: 9lbs, 8oz. 22" long. 15.5" head circumfrence.

(again, this is mostly so I don't forget!) =)

Behind the Scenes

"The making of the 1 month photo"

Some more pictures for Aunt Becca :)

And Angus, keeping a watchful eye on his new buddy....

1 Month!

I forgot to post this last week... but our little man turned one month last Thursday, October 22!

James is getting really good at holding up his head and he is very interested in the world around him! He is still trying to find his fingers to suck on and even at one month he's mesmerized by the TV (don't worry, I run interference!) and the fireplace! We're seeing more of his personality week to week and even though his smiles are probably unconcious - they absolutley melt us! John and I can't believe how much he's changed our lives - for the better! Love you munchkin!

Do these creep anyone else out? Every time I see the commercial, I can't help but think of "The Office" where Darryl tells Michael about his gang's "fluffy fingers" to resolve conflicts! Hmm...

10/7/09

Thank you SO much, Joan D. for these AMAZING pictures!!

What a lovely fountain!

Hey, speaking of... I need a new system! I've been peed on 4 times since yesterday afternoon! It is NO fault of our little boy, I just have VERY poor timing! Mama's learning.... :)

James' Room

This is the semi-finished nursery... I was wanting to paint some brown on the walls (stripe, "vine", circles, who knows!) and I have pictures/shelves/etc to hang on the walls as well. Someday I'll be motivated to finish! =)

So, we have a kid... !!!!!!!!!

Yay!! We are beyond happy and grateful to be parents of the best little munchkin EVER! I figured I better post details of "delivery day" mostly for myself before I forget what all happened! I apologize in advance for the length and detail, but like I said, this is mostly so I don't forget! =)

Monday morning, Sept 21, we got called in to be induced around 8:30am. There was no real emergency - my due date was the Friday before (18th), and my doctor was on call that Monday, so we decided to just go for it on Monday when he would be there!

We got to the hospital around 9:30, and by 11am, I was all set up with IVs, monitors, and pitocin. I pretty much started feeling contractions right away, but they weren't bad at all until around 3-4. My parents, sisters-Tonia & Teirsa, and John's brothers-Reed & Matt all stopped by somewhere around there! (I'm sorry, I probably wasn't very pleasant!) But it was great to have the company!

Around 5pm, they checked me and I was only dilated to 2 =(.

Around 6:30, I started feeling pretty woozy! Got sick..... (and just for you Sooz, totally made it to the bathroom, lol!)

At 7pm, I decided to get an epidural. The contractions weren't totally unmanageable, but between Tonia, Teirsa, & my doctor, they convinced me that if I was going to get one anyway, I might as well do it now - then he could also break my water and hopefully get things moving!

HEAVEN!!! Getting the epidural wasn't awful. I did get the shivers and couldn't stop shaking, but I more felt bad for John - who watched the whole procedure and had to hold my squeezing hand for quite a while! Did I mention HEAVEN!!! That epidural was absolutely fantastic! Every time I felt "a little more than I wanted to", I had a little "magic button" that I could push and "magically" get more numb!

After that, my doctor broke my water.

At 9pm, I was 4 1/2 - 5cm. At 11pm, same.

At 1:30am, nothing had changed. At that point, we decided that I was having very strong contractions that should have been working, but nothing was happening. We decided a c-section would be the best thing for James.

By 2, I was in the OR - and FREEZING! I've never had any sort of surgery, so this was a whole new experience! Poor John, I was shaking again, sick again, and come to find out, I wasn't nearly as numb as I should have been so I could feel... ALOT. I think I may have done some permanent damage to John's hand in those few minutes!

Our little James Ryan Carruthers was officially born at 2:28am, Tuesday, Sept 22. He was 7lb, 6oz, and 19 3/4" long...


... with ALOT of hair! My mom says I had that much hair and that exact color - so hopefully his will grow out of being red too! ;-)



John and James look great! I, on the other hand, just got cut open - that's my excuse!



Our stay at the hospital was great! It was an awesome few days to be totally by ourselves and get to hang out with our new little man without all the distractions of "life"! The nurses and staff were absolutely awesome too!

This is how he slept alot of the time in the hospital - I still just want to eat him up!


I was able to get all the IVs and junk taken out Tuesday night. Such a freeing feeling! We had lots of visitors and it was really fun to see everyone!

I love when James' eyes are open - such a little man!

This was also how he slept most of the time in the hospital.... Also my view from the bed =). You can't beat that!

We left the hospital around 7pm Thursday night. It was good to get home, but also strange to be back to the real world! This is James in his coming home outfit from Grandma Carruthers. I actually took 3 or 4 different outfits (thinking he would be a 9 pounder like John & I), but this was the only one that fit!

Looking back, I think for ME, I had the best labor/delivery ever. The day was planned, but I didn't know how the day would progress. I got to feel painful contractions, but was never overwhelmed by the pain. I had a c-section, but I never had to push! Then because of the surgery, we were able to spend a few extra days relaxing in the hospital and enjoying our new little James!

John and I keep looking at eachother wondering how we got such a great son! I can't believe he's finally here!