Stylin'

We got Carter in something other than a sleeper today. These clothes are still huge and look like they are about to fall off of him, but they are cute! He has a ton of three months size clothes that I'm sure he'll fit in to in no time.

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving! We hope everyone had a great holiday today! We fried a turkey and had a laid back meal at the kitchen table. Brian's parents and my sister, Karey, are visiting this weekend and spending some time with the little guy. Carter slept through his first Thanksgiving dinner in his bouncer.

Carter is still a tiny guy. We brought a newborn and 3 month size outfit to the hospital since we weren't sure how big he was going to be. We gave the nurse his newborn outfit to put him in for his pictures at the hospital and were worried it might be too small. We were surprised when she brought Carter back and the outfit was huge on him. We had only bought a couple of newborn things before Carter was born so my mom had to go out and buy some more newborn sleepers for him to wear for now. Here's a picture of Carter in one of his newborn sleepers and hat. The hat is obviously a bit big.


Carter has such a small little head, but a perfect head. He didn't get the typical cone head shape during delivery. I keep getting asked if he was born via C-section because his head is so well shaped.

Charlotte & Carter

Charlotte finally licked Carter today. She licked one of his ears about 5 times. Hopefully this means she's starting to accept him. She's been really good with him so far but also somewhat uninterested. Up until today, she would only sniff him occasionally. She's been acting like the jealous older sibling that is mad at me for not giving her all my attention anymore. She'll play with me some when I don't have Carter with me, but if I have him, she usually walks away from me. I'm glad that she may be getting used to the idea that Carter is now part of the family.

Jaundice

Carter's jaundice seems all cleared up. The whites of his eyes now look white instead of yellow. And he no longer looks so tan which was the yellow coming through.

I didn't know what jaundice was (other than you turn yellow) before our birthing classes. Jaundice is caused by excess bilirubin in the blood. Bilirubin is produced by the normal breakdown of red blood cells. Normally, bilirubin passes through the liver and is excreted as bile through the intestines. Jaundice occurs when bilirubin builds up faster than a newborn's liver can break it down and pass it from the body.

We were told Carter had a little bit of jaundice on Sunday morning after he was born (though we already suspected that he did). Carter had a blood test to determine his bilirubin level that morning, and his test result was 11.2. This was a low enough number to not have to do anything about it at that point. We were told that they start getting concerned at a level of 15 and at 18, light therapy is required to aid in clearing up the jaundice.

Carter was tested again on Monday morning before we left the hospital, and his level then was 11.8. Since it was going up, the pediatrician wanted to see us on Wednesday so he could do a visual assessment of Carter.

At the doctor's appointment, the pediatrician decided Carter's jaundice wasn't clearing up yet and sent us over to Parkwest Hospital to have another bilirubin test. I think we were sent there since their lab would be able to have the results within an hour. Carter did not like having blood drawn for that test. I held him while they pricked his foot and squeezed blood into a little vial. He is not a quick bleeder. He screamed the whole time. But once they were done, he calmed back down quickly. Anyway, his level after that test was 12.2. So it was still going up, but at least it wasn't high enough to have to do anything about it yet.

We went back to the pediatrician on Friday so that they could do a visual assessment again of Carter, and they decided that he was starting to look better and we didn't need to get his bilirubin level tested again.

We're glad he's healthy!

Developmental Stuff

Carter is starting to do some cool stuff.

Starting yesterday, when doing tummy time on the floor, he can lift his head up enough to switch from looking right to left and vice versa. He's still somewhat dragging his face along as he does it, but it's still cool.

Carter can track with his eyes pretty well. He can track a toy or our finger from side to side and up and down. Actually, he's always been able to do this, but he's getting better at doing it for a longer time.

He'll look at a book too as I read it to him. Even if I put it off to the side somewhat, he'll move his head to look at it.

Carter gets hiccups at a least a few times a day. It doesn't seem to bother him, but he seems surprised a little by each one as he jumps. It's really cute.

Black & White Photos

Still Gaining Weight

Carter had another weight check today. He's up to 7 lbs, 6 oz!!! He's gained 2 ounces a day since Friday which is a lot. The doctor wanted him gaining 0.5 to 1 ounce a day. He's going to be a little fatty if he's not careful! It's good to know though that he's getting enough to eat since we were having so much trouble with breast feeding. Also, when they measured him today, he was 19.5 inches long (they told us he was 20.25 inches long when he was born). The nurse said babies always "shrink" because the measurement that is done at birth is difficult to do.

Carter went for his first walk yesterday since it finally warmed up to 50. We just went down the street and back. Here are a couple of pictures.

I'm Back

I'm finally back online! We haven't had internet, cable, or phone since Saturday night. A temporary line has been run to our house, and Comcast plans to dig up our yard in a week or two to put in a new line. I can't wait to see the damage they do.

Cute Face and Turtle

I haven't captured any pictures yet, but Carter makes the cutest face when he pinches his lips together in a little pucker and gets huge eyes. It's like an "Oh, no! What did I just do?!?" look.

Also, Carter has this move where he looks just like a turtle. He'll push on your chest and lift his head back and turn it side to side. He'll lift his eyebrows and make is face really long. He has such a long neck that he looks like a turtle stretching out of his shell.

I'm learning to type one handed since I'm holding Carter at the same time. It sure takes a lot longer to write anything!

A few more pictures ...

Here are a few more pictures from this week ...