My parents visited from Charlotte from April 1-7. It was wonderful to introduce them to Oscar and watch them play with Jesper. They also got to celebrate Jesper's 3rd birthday with us and witness Oscar's first smiles.
We got to see Duane and Darlene and my cousin Cari and her little boy Ezra on Wednesday. They brought lunch, met Oscar, and Ezra and Jesper played for a little while. It was so nice to catch up with them, and I'm hoping we can meet up with Cari on another Wednesday during my maternity leave for a play date.
My dad took Jesper to the Mall of America on Thursday and walked around for several hours. They had a great time. My dad said that they stopped at benches around the mall to talk every once in a while, and Papa Ron carried Jesper occasionally so he could hear what he had to say. "He was talking the entire time." They also went on a few rides at Nickelodeon Universe.
My dad and Josh also took Jesper to Sea Life at the Mall of America on Saturday morning.
My parents were dreading the Minnesota weather and mother nature reminded them why they moved to Charlotte with a snowstorm that delivered 6 inches of snow Thursday - Friday. However, my dad made the most of it and got to snow blow the driveway on Friday. "It's kind of fun," he said....probably because it's the only time he has done it this year and it was nearly 35 degrees.
My mom got in lots of snuggles with Oscar. She held him for many of his naps and helped with lots of diaper changes. She had the privilege of being the first person to get Oscar to smile. She was also wonderful about helping out with dishes, laundry, and many other chores around the house.
We celebrated Jesper's 3rd birthday on Saturday by going out to breakfast at IHOP. Jesper ate six (!) pancakes for breakfast and answered a birthday questionnaire. I'd like to ask him these same questions every year to see how his answers change. :)
Later that day, Nissa and Grace came over and we had cake and opened presents. Jesper really loved the balloons and cake and had a blast playing T-ball in the driveway with Josh and Papa Ron.
On Sunday, we went to the Minnesota Children's Museum. It was so fun!! We had never been and I was a little worried that Jesper would be too small to fully enjoy it, but they do a great job of catering to children of all ages - 3, 7, 35, or 60. :) His favorite part - no surprise here - was the marble run inside the Works exhibit. Oscar was very cooperative and slept the entire time in the stroller.
Jesper ran into a friend from school, Charlie, and they played together in a couple of the rooms
I can't believe my first baby is 3 years old already! He is my silly, smart, tough, cautious, and gentle little boy and I can't wait to see what the next year brings. It is so fun to watch him grow and experience the world through his eyes.
It was wonderful to have my parents visit. We really appreciated all their help with fixing things around the house, household chores, and most of all, the extra time and attention that they gave our precious little boys! We are looking forward to heading to Charlotte to see them again later this year.
Oscar Gray Carlson was born on February 26, 2014 at 1:37pm. He was 8 lbs and 20.5 inches long and is absolutely perfect!
I felt the first contraction on Tuesday, February 25 at about 5:30pm while I was just finishing up some emails at work. My labor with Jesper had been so fast (6 hours from first contraction to delivery) that my doctor had told me to come in to the hospital as soon as I felt organized contractions because I needed at least 4 hours of antibiotics for group B strep before the baby was born. After another couple contractions, I called Josh on my drive home and told him to ask Nissa to come over to our house to watch Jesper just in case.
By the time I got home, the contractions were about 8 minutes apart but they weren't very organized and weren't really painful. We ate dinner, chatted for a little while with Nissa, grabbed our bags, and headed out the door around 7pm. I thought it might be a false alarm, but better safe than sorry.
We were put on monitors for a couple hours when we arrived at the hospital to see if I was really in labor. When she checked us in, the nurse didn't think that we would be staying (she said "we'll probably see you back in a couple days"), but she wanted to monitor the baby for a little while just to make sure everything was ok. However, by 9pm I had dilated another 2 centimeters so they admitted us. "Let's have a baby!"
They put me on antibiotics right away. After that was completed, we walked...and walked...and walked...and walked around the hallways. At 2am they checked me again but I had only progressed to 4 centimeters. Labor stalled out at that point, and Josh and I decided to try to get a couple hours rest at about 4am.
The next morning, we tried walking again to get things started. It was unsuccessful, so they broke my water. That was still unsuccessful, so they started Pitocin at about 9am. Hard labor started around 11am, and Oscar Gray arrived at 1:37pm. Josh was amazing through the entire experience (although he was wishing pretty early on that he had brought his tennis shoes for all the walking that we did!). I had decided to labor without pain medication and I couldn't have asked for better support through the entire experience. He entertained me while we were waiting to be admitted and through the hours of walking and helped with counter-pressure on my back through every contraction.
"It's a boy!" I said as they handed Oscar to me. He was perfect - and he looked just like his older brother. :)
The labor and delivery with Oscar was more difficult - longer and a little more painful - than it was with Jesper. However, the recovery was much quicker. Breastfeeding was successful from the first hour after he was born and I was feeling like myself within a few hours. We checked out of the hospital within 24 hours after he was born.
Oscar was slightly jaundiced but not enough to need light treatment. He was also slightly tongue-tied, but not nearly to the same extent as Jesper. We had the doctor clip his frenulum at his one-week appointment - Oh, how I wish that we had known to ask about that with Jesper!!
Jesper met Oscar in the evening of February 26. He was a great big brother from the very beginning. "Is that my baby?" he asked. He got to hold him and received a "big brother" gift at the hospital. We had gotten him the book Goodnight Goodnight Construction Site. We read that book several times per day for the first 3-4 weeks after Oscar was born. He loves to lay on the blanket with Oscar during tummy time and put his diapers in the diaper pail. He has needed a little extra TLC at times and had a few meltdowns, but overall has been adjusting beautifully to having a new brother.
Oscar loves to be held! He wouldn't sleep anywhere but in someone's arms the first week at home. I slept with him in the rocking chair, on the couch in our room, and in our bed. We gradually transitioned to his crib and he was sleeping normally in his crib at night by 2 weeks (thank goodness - I was one tired mama after nights in the chair and couch).
It took a couple weeks to adjust to life with 2 boys. An almost 3-year-old is awfully loud and busy compared to a newborn! Jesper stays home with me on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays while I'm on maternity leave. Those are really busy days, but we're starting to get into a rhythm and my multitasking skills have grown.
We love Oscar and Jesper so very much and feel blessed to have two happy and healthy little boys. We are looking forward to years of cars, dirt, and skinned knees. :)
