Carter's 1st play day...

Carter had his first play day today with his new friend Reid. He also had his first Dr. visit and everything looks great. He is down t0 7lbs. 14 oz. (which I hear is good). He will be back to his hefty self in a couple weeks. Anyways, mama is doing great. Her eyes still look freaky but what can you do!  Things are going great. Carter didn't sleep much last night and neither did Shellie. Pray they sleep better tonight.  Anyways, here are some more pictures of Carter and Reid(Wilson) "playing" for the first time. 

This is what 3 hours of pushing (incorrectly) does...

Pics, pics, pics...

Looks like we made it...

Well we are home! It is 10 am Sunday morning, the day our son decided to enter this world. Talk about a long, long day...especially for Shellie.  We arrived at the birthing cottage at about 2pm yesterday afternoon. Shellie was at 3cm and contractions were regular and strong. She labored for a good 8 to 9 hours. At approximately 10:30pm she began to push, and pushed...and pushed till 1:52am, this morning Carter entered our world. Shellie pushed for 3 hours. She was a warrior. I can't begin to explain to you the strength she had to push and push. She is amazing.  The reason it took so long was the fact that Carter was in a posterior position and it took forever for him to flip in the birth canal. He's perfect. 8lbs. 9oz., 21 inches long, and he has BIG hands and feet! He has a full head of dark hair (obviously from his mother).  So far he has been the ideal baby. Doesn't fuss, doesn't cry much, he's just chill...much like Shellie and I live our lives.  Mama is doing great. She is obviously sore. She did break blood vessels in both eyes, so they are blood red and brusied. She looks a little freaky! All in all it was the toughest thing she has been through but she faught through it lika a champ! For that I am forever grateful, and respect her so much for the champion she is, I love her so much and can't wait to raise this child right, with her and our loving family around us. Pictures will be coming soon.

Sports

He's not kidding about the sports being vital!

Nothing yet...

Well,  we showed up at the Birthing Cottage at about 7:40 this morning. Shellie was checked and we were told to come back 2 hours later to check on progress.  We walked to Chick-fil-A for breakfast and strolled around a while. After being seen again Alice told us to go home and labor there for a while. Well it is 1:10 pm and we are still sitting around waiting. Shellie's contractions are about 10-12 minutes apart consistently and lasting close to 2 min.  Her parents made it in  around 12 this afternoon and we are all just sitting around waiting. My family is also on standby ready to go at anytime. This is the frustrating part, not knowing what is going on and when this baby is coming. I had tickets for Bay Hill today and we were planning on going to walk this kid out! Well it had other plans. I will remember this day and a few years from now we will have a discussion (while at Bay Hill) on why I missed the 2009 Bay Hill Invitational! Oh well, this kid will soon learn how vital sports are and how important they are to us as a family...just kidding. I just want this baby here and Shellie's pain and discomfort to be gone! It sucks seeing her like this.  Please pray for her as contractions are getting stronger and please pray for me as I am fighting sickness. 

Almost five hours in

Well, I was awakened at 2:02 am, almost 5 hours ago with a for real contraction.  They were 15 minutes apart until I called my parents at 4:30 and then they were 5 minutes apart.  Go figure.  I got things together and took a shower and then laid back down.  The contractions slowed for the next hour or so from between 10-15 minutes.  Then when the pressure increased and there was only 6 minutes between contractions, I decided to call my midwife, Alice.  We are heading to the birthing center within the next 20 minutes.  How I pray my parents will make it, but we'll see! 

The hard thing at this point is that Scotty is sick!  Head cold and chest congestion and stuffy nose.  Poor guy has been out of it since I woke him at 3:30 am.  Thankfully, the pain has been bearable (not fun though) so he was able to sleep off and on until about 15 minutes ago.  We just have to load the car now and make sure that we have everything we need, which isn't too much.   Really, the birthing process is about as natural as you can get.  Well, I'm off for now.  We'll let you know how things are going when we can!