Cuddling with Daddy in the Room

After what seemed like an eternity little Karter finally came to Mommy's room for the night.  Since he was a bit premature, he had low blood sugar, so after he would nurse they would take him back to the nursery and supplement him to try to get his blood sugar up.  They must have stuck your poor little foot 12 times in 12 hours....it was so pitiful.  But by the end of it, you were used to it and barely cried, you cried more because they took your blankets off than because they stuck your heel.  Here are a few more photos of daddy cuddling you and the first look at your eyes :-)

Meeting Everyone in the Recovery Room

Nonna brought Zoey to the hospital so she could meet baby Karter as well.  She was SO EXCITED, she was bouncing off the walls and couldn't wait to meet her baby brother.  She even had a sticker that said HERO - big sister and she was so proud of it.  She was showing her sticker to everyone.  Here are some photos from the recovery room of the family all meeting Karter for the first time.  Mommy got to hold him all by herself for the first time, Zoey got to meet her baby brother and hold him, our First photo as a family of 4 and Nana holding Karter for the first time!  What a special time!

First Photos of Karter Ethan Johns

After all the months of anxiously awaiting the arrival of our newest family member, Karter Ethan Johns was born in Charleston, WV at 5:37 pm on December 20th, 2012 via C-section.  Dr. Stephen Bush was the attending physician and Mariah Carey was on the radio singing, "All I Want For Christmas is You" when you were delivered!  The nurse anesthetist said, he is just a little Peanut, which is exactly what they said when your big sister was born.  You were 5 lbs 12 oz and 18.25" long, so even though you were a week and 2 days earlier than your sister was, you were actually 3 oz heavier than she was, but an inch shorter.  Daddy cut your cord and then brought you to meet your mama!!

Waiting to Meet our New Baby Boy

Here are some photos of Mommy and Daddy waiting in Triage to meet baby boy.  Mommy was actually quite familiar with Triage and the nurses there, because of my blood pressure the doctor's sent me there Tuesday and Wednesday night to get checked out....but they kept sending me back home.  Then at my regular appointment on Thursday my blood pressure was still up and I was having regular contractions during my non-stress test.  I was 36 weeks and 5 days pregnant so they decided to go ahead and add me to the schedule to have baby boy December 20th, rather than risking sending me home again and things getting worse.  So Mommy called Dad to come to the hospital and Nana and 10-10 to come to WV and headed over to get admitted.  Nonna picked up Zoey at daycare and took her to dinner while we were waiting for baby boy to arrive and Nana and 10-10 got to the hospital just in time to give mommy a kiss before they wheeled me into the OR.   I was actually quite excited to be heading to the OR, as I had been laying in the bed for 6+ hours and having contractions the entire time.  

Mommy and Daddy hadn't agreed on a baby name yet.  Some of the contenders were: Eli, Levi, Ethan, Sawyer, Miles, Hayes, Carter, Grayson and Dylan.  Mommy's favorite all along had been Carter, but Daddy had been against it from the beginning   He decided late in the game he really liked Ethan.  When Daddy came to the hospital that day, he had a Christmas present he had planned to give Mommy on Christmas.   When I opened it, it was a pandora charm.  When Zoey was born he gave me my pandora necklace with a Z on it and a few other charms.  This time it was a "K" and a charm.  He said, I caved, we can name he Karter, but I want to spell it with a K.  It was the sweetest gift and absolutely perfect.  So in Triage we agreed your name would be Karter Ethan!

Logan's First Visit to WV

Just a few hours after Nana left, Aunt 10-10, Aunt Lo-Lo, Shane and Baby Logan all came for a visit.  They were also coming for an early Christmas visit since Mommy can't travel and Zoey was so excited to see baby Logan in her house.  She shared baby brothers room and crib with him for the night.  Here she is getting to feed him for the first time...and she doesn't look to be enjoying it at all :-)

After the kiddos took their naps, we dressed them in Christmas outfits and took them to see Santa. Zoey swore she was going to sit on his lap this year and she didn't need me to go up there to hold her...well, you can see how that turned out.  That is clearly not a smile :-)  But Logan just grabbed a hand full of beard and kicked back to continue his snooze.  Santa was definitely having a bad day, which just adds to the humor of the photo!

When we got home we had some dinner, posed for photos in front of the tree and little Z and Logan opened presents.  Zoey was clearly more excited about it than Logan.  BUt it was such a great visit.

Christmas With Nana

Since Mommy won't be able to travel for Christmas this year, Nana came up to visit us for the weekend and she brought a sleigh full of gifts for Miss Zoey, so she had an early Christmas! Here are some photos of her opening her presents from Nana and Papa Mike. 

Zoey and Nana posing in front of the tree in their Christmas red before Nana left!

12-5-12 Baby Bump