Carter Jones Gray Birth Story

Carter Jones Gray

Jones - Named for grandfathers Joe and James 

August 19, 2018

5:11 AM

8 pounds 12 ounces 

 Creating an electronic footprint for my kids is important to me. One day they will want to read all about their lives or our lives, and here it will all be... We welcomed our newest addition, Carter Jones Gray on August 19, 2018. I don't want him to get the Second Child Syndrome so I've promised myself to always make things equal in some sort. Well, sitting down to write out his Birth Story is proving to be quite difficult as it has already been a month. To step away from a toddler and newborn whom one is always wanting to be held is pretty difficult. Yes, I do a lot of freelance writing, and even doing that is pretty tough. I'm either doing my daily duties or too tired to think straight! So here I go...

I am not one of those happy people with child. I wanted him out, just like I did with Walker. I spent the summer at the pool and lake to keep cool, and we just kept on with life as usual, but it still is a bit tough to do. His due date was August 26, and I didn't want to wait that long. Besides, I've never been a fan of August. We jokingly said August 19 because we like odd numbers. That day I knew something was different, but went on anyway. We had Stephanie with the kiddos, Abby and Asher over for a visit then we had Karen's birthday dinner that night. I didn't feel great at the dinner, but didn't tell anyone. After dinner and when we were home I knew I was having contractions and they might get worse. I didn't want Nick's parents to have to come get Walker at 2 AM so I said maybe we should go in just to check. It was pretty painful at this time, but I still had no idea if I was just being silly. We headed to the hospital around 10 PM.

We got in a room and everything was very quiet. This mean nurse told me I was only at a 3 so I might just go home. I recall looking at the clock wondering if I went home how to fix the pain at home because I have a high pain tolerance and it wasn't cool. She came back in an hour later and said I would need to wait another hour to decide... this chick was mean, just not a kind nurse with her words. She had a mean tone and I was just trying to chill out. Finally another nurse came in and said I was dilated to a 4 and they would keep me. Yay!!! My doctor was out of town so I would be seen by her partner which was just fine to me. I was calmer after the epidural and we just watched television, "Anchorman" was playing so Nick was happy. I couldn't get much sleep with adrenaline pumping through me and them bugging me every few minutes to check whatever vitals. They called in the NICU team because when they broke my water there was meconium (Just like with Walker)... anyway, he came out and they started to work on him. It isn't like the movies when they suddenly hand him to you. They cleaned him off and weighed him, all that jazz, then they gave him to me! He was huge! 8 pounds 12 ounces! They said he was only 19 inches long, but in a week they said he was 20 so I'm going with 20. Nick and I were wheeled to a new room and they asked if we wanted rest. We said yes so they took him to the nursery...

We called a few hours later and they said there were some issues. They said Carter aspirated meconium and needed to be transferred to NICU. They had no clue how long he would be in NICU. I was a little worried as I had no clue how bad it might get, but I was also sure it was a normal thing so I trusted the doctors. The family was coming and bringing Walker at the time to meet him. He was behind the glass so no one could touch him at that time. All the pictures I wanted faded away, but we were more worried about his health!

It was very strange to be in the room without our newborn. We just hung out, ate a lot of the yummy pudding and that's about it! Walker was with Nick's parents so he was taken care of... my parents were on their way the next day. The nurses said I was one of their favorite patients because I just did what they said... I did change into my workout clothes and out of the gown asap! I am not a normal patient, I guess! I just want to be active and get back to normal. I must say I loved being in the hospital as it was just a safe place. I was never worried there. It felt like our own little bubble.

The next day Carter was getting better suddenly so we were very excited. They were able to remove his CPAP machine so he could breathe on his own. It took a day, but he got steadily better. My parents were able to go in to see him, and Walker was able to meet him. I don't think he really understood so he didn't pay him much attention.

 Everyone was so kind to us in NICU and in our regular room. We had wonderful nurses after that first mean lady. Vicki surprised us as she was in town so she sadly didn't 'get to see Carter in person, but she did get to see Walker. Karen, Sean and Guinnie came up to hang out for a while, as well as Melissa Land. We knew our friends shouldn't really come to just hang out with us as Carter was in NICU so it was so wonderful a few really close ones could stop in. So let's fast forward to day 3 when Carter was finally discharged and we were let out of our bubble!!! We were ready to get home and start the new adventure!!!

I'll write more as life goes on, but Carter is a joy. He looks a lot like Walker, but fatter! He doesn't sleep much, but he's a cuddly monster so that makes the lack of sleep worth it. We are so blessed with our boys. Life is going to be full of insanity for sure!!!