Our wonderful Carson

So, I decided that now would probably be the perfect time to finally write another post on our blog!

The last few months have been crazy with doctor's visits, bed rest, heart problems, throwing up, and other delightful experiences of pregnancy.  My body has been pretty well shot and Tyson has been running himself ragged trying to keep up with the demands of everything our life on his own.  Thank goodness for the Lord and all of his tender mercies! People have been so willing to help us out anytime we have needed it!  Tyson especially has been SO wonderful dealing with everything that has been going on. I couldn't imagine trying to do all of this without him! He definitely deserves both the husband of the year award AND the dad of the year award for everything he has done.

Livie has been pretty resilient and has been mostly ok with being passed around without momma able to do much. She told Grandma the other day that mommy stays at home and watches movies ALL DAY LONG. She was pretty much right, but at least she wasn't terribly upset about it!  Instead, she has been rolling with the punches and in general has been incredibly patient waiting for baby Carson to make his debut.  I think Olivia was probably the most excited person besides mom and dad for him to come! That has been a lot of excited to shove into one little girl!  Diaper bags have been constantly packed by her, blankets are always getting folded, refolded, and moved around, and I always catch Olivia's toys in the bassinet and Carson's toys in the playroom.  She was just SO excited!

On Monday the 12th, we FINALLY were able to reap the reward of being patient through all of this.  We went to the doctor and he was measuring really big. (They thought about 11 lbs!) The doctors took pity on us and when the test results came back that his lungs were developed, they scheduled a C-Section for later that evening. (Thank goodness we decided not to eat just in case they would want to induce or c-section us! Otherwise we would just now be getting Carson!)
Carson Ty Raymond was born September 12, 2011 at 9:22 PM.  He was 21 inches long and weighed 9 lb. 13 oz. They were worried with him being so big that his lungs would have problems, but we both were breathing WONDERFULLY after he was born.  It is amazing how much room a baby that size really takes up!

Tyson was able to be in the operating room with Carson and I.  He was able to watch Carson being born and watch me be a complete mess crying after he was finally out and they let me see him for the first time!  They also let him go with our little man into the NICU when they weighed him, measured him, bathed him, and hooked him up to oxygen to help clear his lungs a little bit.  It is so amazing to me how technology works! Not only were they able to birth Carson safely but they can do so with Tyson never having to leave our side!

We have spent the last few days in the hospital trying to recover.  Carson is still trying to adjust to the outside world and is taking his time learning some things.  He has quite the little personality!  Slowly, he has gotten to the point he can clear his own lungs out and isn't storing his food in his cheeks like a chipmunk.  (Don't get me wrong, it was incredibly cute, but we thought it probably wasn't safe)  He's eating ok now, too.  Apparently, the bigger they are the harder it is to get them interested in food! It took a few days but now he is LOVING to eat.  It just seems to be taking him a little bit to get used to all the new things and experiences he is going through but after he learns them, he's doing so well.  We are grateful that he really hasn't had any problems with all the problems we had the last nine months!

I have been healing really well. I'm up and moving around without a lot of pain or problems.  I'm healing really quickly. The only problem I've had is I pulled a muscle lifting Carson.  They said that he weighs too much for me to stand straight up when I'm holding him... apparently when they say don't lift anything heavier than your baby they are talking about the 5 and 6 lb. babies so I need to be a little bit more careful with a big baby! That has been the only problem I have really had recovering so I don't think that is too terrible!  It has been a lot easier than we thought it would be. Hopefully it can continue that way.

Basically, life is just great!
Olivia loves baby Carson, I love baby Carson, and daddy is about the best daddy there is out there! He is SO proud of his little man!  Already he has brought so much joy into our lives. We love him so much and we can't wait to have him home safe and sound.

I'm not sure how to put pictures on, but I know there are some on facebook.  I'll try to figure it out sometime when I have a minute but until then, know he is REALLY cute! He looks just like his daddy when he was a baby and he reminds me SO much of Nyle (his grandpa) that I can't believe it!  We love him terribly and we are so grateful he is here safe and sound.