inappropriate

WARNING: any of you who do not wish to hear about the urinary and gastrointestinal tracts of carter tyrell smith, or any who would think less of me for discussing such topics publicly, please do not continue reading. tune in next time for a much more appropriate topic.

i have been blessed to have spent a lot of time with both my maternal and paternal grandparents. we grew up in the same town as grandma and grandpa lee, and were able to visit grandma and grandpa smith (yes i too have grandparents smith, not to be confused with tyrell's grandma and grandpa smith, or my in-laws) very frequently. i really feel like this has been a blessing in my life. grandma smith has a few sayings that i will always remember. she used to call us 'polly-waags', (for those of you who do not know what this is... it is a tad pole), and she also used to say that she was going to 'trade us off on a new model' (or trade us off to the indians, but for the sake of political correctness-not that political correctness has ever meant anything to my family- we shall stick with 'new model'). this phrase was used to tease more than threaten and i was thinking about it last night.

i have only been a mother for 13 days and already i have a complaint. let us preface my complaint with the recognition that carter is a great baby. he only really cries when he is hungry or wet, and even then it is more of a complaining grunt than an actual cry. he sleeps pretty well and is content to just hang out while he is awake. i am grateful for all of these things, but there is a problem.

as discussed in the previous post (which probably indicates that this subject has been discussed too frequently) i mentioned that tyrell lives in constant fear of the baby urinating on him. while i was poking fun at tyrell's concern, i now know that it is a legitimate fear. and due to my failure to provide carter with some healthy respect, he has felt it necessary to teach me a lesson.

it happens at the 3-4 o'clock am feeding. things go as usual, we nurse on one side, burp and then change the diaper. once i have peeled away all his layers and get ready to change the diaper, i stop to make sure everything is in place. diaper open and ready... check, wipes open and ready... check, and then we begin. it is at this point, the point where i am done cleaning him and ready to put on the new diaper that he puts his plan into play. first, he begins with a nice urinary water works display (i am always impressed with the distance) and then, just because he can, he also finds it necessary to move his bowels... everywhere. it inevitable gets all over him, me, and his clothes and a bio hazard wipe down and outfit change are in order. even i pull out the bleach to clean up the code brown (or in his case yellow).

i have had the privilege of experiencing this not once, or twice, but have thrice been the victim of carter's evil ploy. now, i can only hope this is not an indication of his future potty training days, if the kid can not even figure out the basic principles of the diaper, then we are going to have huge problems with the toilet. i mean really, how many minutes of the day are spent un-diapered? 5 minutes maybe, perhaps 10 on a bath day? how is it possible that he is able to time these episodes during those five minutes?

now perhaps this discussion is inappropriate but i submit that it is carter's behavior that is inappropriate, you be the judge. so last night, in the wee hours of the morning, i remembered my grandmother's famous phrase, and thought that perhaps this was the appropriate time to 'trade him off on a new model' :)

he came!!

carter tyrell smith was born january 16th at 7:35pm eastern time, on one of the coldest days in years (-11 degrees, -20 to -30's with the wind chill). he weighed 8 lbs and was 21 inches long. ten fingers and ten toes... he's perfect!



this is a picture of me on his due date, january 14th. still pregnant as you can see and getting a little anxious. my mom had come into town early because she really wanted to be here for the delivery. so we sat around and waited for baby boy smith to arrive. in our spare time, we made him the most adorable crib set! (thanks you mom for walking me through it and thank you ami for letting us borrow your sewing machine) it turned out really cute and i love it. i quit working monday january 12 and started getting the last few things ready for our new arrival.
























i started having contractions the night of the 14th and they were nothing like i imagined they would be. they were close together for a while there but had worn off by morning. now, i thought, that a contraction would hurt all over my stomach but that was not the case. it was all lower back and lower abdominal pain... strange. my doctor told me that once i was having contractions that were 4 minutes apart, that hurt so badly i wanted to cry, then i should stay home for one hour and then go to the hospital. i continued to have contractions all day the 15th but they were irregular. but on the 16th i finally started to get closer together and finally i met criteria. so i called tyrell to come and get me and we headed to the hospital (tyrell did not want to miss out on the driving me to the hospital part.) my worst fear was that they would sent me home because i was not far enough along, but i was and they kept me, we checked in around 11:00am. hurray, the time has come. i sat in triage for a little while and then they moved us to the delivery room, and i got my epidural at 3cm. it was a beautiful thing, and although putting in it was not all that great, it gave me tons of relief and all i wanted to do was sleep. so we just hung out and things were peaceful. then things got painful really quickly. i started feeling the contractions again and tons of pressure. so i called the nurse in and told her that i wanted to push and was feeling contractions again. they checked me and i was at 8cm. and once they got everyone in there they started having me push. turns out carter was facing the wrong way, with his face forward, and that was why i was having pain. the epidural was no longer working and when i pushed, his heart rate dropped. they had me on all fours pushing to try to turn him around, which was really more comfortable for me, but lets be honest... it hurt. so because the cord was around his shoulder, he kept decelerating. but my pushes were very effective and they told me they were going to use the forceps to help get him out more quickly so his heart rate wouldn't continue to be stressed. they made me lay on my back, they pulled out the salad tongs, and helped pull him out of there. they were not that great of a time let me tell you, again the epidural was not working so i could feel more than i wanted to . but i did not have to push too long and he made it into this world just fine. my mother was in there and has since stated that she does NOT want to go through this with me again. i suppose it was not as enchanting as she thought it might be :)





he came out crying and with his eyes wide open.
(even though in this picture they are closed, the erythromycin really made his eyes red)

here is the quintessential picture of the new little family, where the mother looks like she has been hit my a truck, the baby looks ticked to be on the outside, and the dad is so happy that his part in all of this took place 9 months ago.

this picture captured the historic moment when tyrell broke his streak of never having changed a diaper. it was pretty funny to watch, but he is getting better. we learned about little boys and their tendency to pee when the diaper is off the hard way. he got me once and really gave one of the nurses a run for her money. tyrell is hilarious because he lives in constant fear that the baby will urinate on him, and is always on the defense. he is also always ready with the bleach to clean the changing pad if any waste gets on it. i fear one of these days i will find him bleaching the baby:)

he was born on friday and we brought him home sunday morning in all the snow. my mom had bought these beautiful flowers for us when we arrived home. thanks mom

so here are some picture of out cute little man. thank you everyone for your phone calls and good wishes. we are doing great. i am getting around really well and feeling great. carter is a great nurser even though that particular thing is much more painful than i thought it would be. he sleeps well and is the best baby.he is very content to just sit and look around and for that i am truly grateful! knock on wood.

such an adorable outfit. and a cute face if i don't say so myself :)

he has the skinniest little chicken legs! my mom has been the biggest help and we are so grateful she has been around to help us figure things out! she and my dad left today and we will miss them. tyrell's mom will be coming out soon and we look forward to having her here... carter loves his grandmas.

and my favorite are the smiles he gives after he eats. smiles or gas i don't really care it is adorable.

my dad came out as well to see the baby and get my mom. we drove to belle isle just to show them around and we found this cool ice thing. they are making it with a sprinkler on the top of this thing and it makes a really cool formation.