Our whirlwind February.... (warning-Long)

Life has been a big blur this past month. So much has happened and for much of that I was sleep deprived and exhausted. But things are finally slowing down and we are getting to a place of normalcy so I am trying to slow down and enjoy this new phase of our lives.

We were able to find a renter for our apartment so that meant we could move into our house earlier than expected. We had already decided to close early but expected to have the month to pack and move, well that was suddenly pushed into 2 weeks ( don't forget- I was 9 months pregnant during all this). It was very exciting to know that everything was working out.

My parents were awesome and volunteered to come to Boise to help us pack and move. I honestly couldn't have done it without them. :) They were a big help.

So we signed the closing papers on the new house February 5th. Then that night I started to have regular contractions starting at about 7:00pm. I was aware of them but they weren't too painful yet so we watched a movie and went to bed. Well about 2:30 am they became stronger and I could no longer sleep through them. So I headed down stairs, watched some Netflix, packed a few boxes. I knew I was going to have the baby that day just not sure when. With my first two I progressed very slowly so I expected it to take all day. Well around 10:00 am they were about 3 1/2 to 4 minutes apart and very painful so I asked James to cancel his afternoon and come home at lunch.

We head to the hospital and I was 5 cm dilated. So I got to stay! I asked for the epidural right away but it still took 2 hours before I got it. It was awesome. I was finally able to rest a little bit. I continued to progress on my own, didn't need Pitocin. The epidural started to wear off when I was at a 9 so I asked for a booster before they broke my water and got things going. The booster did its job and I was completely numb for the pushing part. Which I was grateful for :) Took about 5 contractions to push the baby out and at 8:01 pm on February 6, 2014 our little baby boy was born!

 

Vincent James Carpenter weighed 9 lbs 5 oz and was 21 inches long.

 

I was surprised at how big he was. The whole experience was much faster than my other labors. After he was born I was able to hold him and do skin to skin for about an hour before they took him to be weighed and checked by the nurse. It was amazing to have that time with just the 3 of us in the room.

I hate staying at the hospital and I knew we still had a lot to do at home so I asked to be released as soon as possible. My doctor was fine with it, but the pediatrician fought it a little, but I just told her we were going. So 24 hours after Vincent was born we were walking out the door, into a snow storm I might add!

 

Got home that night the other kiddos were in bed, so we packed a few more boxes and went to bed.

I was excited to have Scotty and Penny meet their new little brother. I don't think either of them fully understood what it meant that I was pregnant with a baby in my tummy so they were in for a big surprise. Scotty was awake first. He was pretty amazed with the baby but ignored him for the most part. Just wanted to watch cartoons. When Penny came down stairs I kept trying to show her the baby but she wouldn't look at him, so I gave up and just left her alone. About an hour later she finally looked down at saw him sleeping in the bouncer. She pointed at him and yelled baby! She was so excited and since then she just can't leave him alone. Constantly kissing, hugging, trying to make him sign and play with her toys. It is very cute to see how much she loves him. Scotty is very sweet with him too but will leave him alone for the most part.

 

 

So back to the story.... we got home Friday night and Saturday morning got up early to finish packing. It was moving day! I know we are crazy for moving so soon but we really had no choice. The other family was moving into our apartment the next Saturday. We had lots of help and trailer and got every moved over in one day. The next week, with the help of my parents, we unpacked almost everything, and cleaned the other place. It was exhausting and I know I over worked my mom and dad. We were all like Zombies by the time we were finished.

The next weekend my sister Dawn and James' parent came to visit. So we had a little more help. Dawn made us some awesome rolls for dinner and extra to freeze for later- she is awesome they were delicious!

 

We stayed pretty busy the next month just trying to get everything back in order. We had to get Penny enrolled in a new school, doctor appointments for baby, figuring out new schedule with therapy and stuff. It was pretty crazy. I am just now feeling we are getting our feet back under us. I am not thrilled with Penny's new school. (just a public school) I hate dropping her off and am so relieved when she is home again- I didn't feel that way with her school in Boise. Luckily my neighbor stopped by to sell some girl scout cookies and told me of a different school her daughter was in. So today I head down there to sign Penny up. I hope we can get her in their in the next couple of weeks and get her out of her current place. We shall see.

 

 

Vincent is now one month old. He is starting to get more  of a schedule. He usually only wakes about once per night. So I am able to get a little more sleep and function during the day. We spend a little more time in the car driving to pick penny up from therapy and to and from school. But all the kids handle it pretty good.

 

 

I feel so blessed to have this beautiful home to live in and a beautiful family. I think we are going to be very happy here, the community is nice and it feels more like home. It is going to be a good place to raise our family. We are very lucky :)