Carter John

Carter John joined our family on Jan. 10, 2013. He was born at 1:26 pm weighing 8lbs 9ozs and measuring 20.5 inches long.  All went well with the labor and delivery.  We were able to spend about an hour with him, he nursed, we held him and loved on him before they took him to the nursery to check him over.  They moved me to my recovery room.  Shortly there after the ped. came and told us that his little heart was beating about 250 beats a minute!  Incredibly fast for a newborn, usually they like to see it about 130 beats a minute.  He wasn't sure what was going on, and he had been unable to slow it down. He had called a neonatal cardiologist, who was on his way, and they would let us know when they knew more.   Da and I were in complete shock and despair!  There had not been any indication of heart problems the entire pregnancy, and I had had many ultrasounds(advanced age). We sat in the room for nearly 2 hours waiting for the doctor to come back and give us an update on our precious little boy.  We sat there, just bawling our heads off, barely even talking to one another, as I think we both did not want to say what was going through our minds. We finally were able to pull ourselves together enough to offer a prayer.

The Cardiologist came and told us that Carter had something called SVT.  They were able to get his heart rate down using a medication. They placed him in the NICU, and we were finally able to see him that night.  

 

 

 When Da and I finally got to see him, we both had tears rolling down our faces.  He was so sweet and precious and we were so grateful that he was ok.   The Dr. thought that we would be able to keep his heart from racing again by using medication that we give him orally every 8 hours.  SVT is a abnormal heart condition, but not unheard of.  Carter has an extra piece of tissue in his heart that conducts electricity, which does not allow his heart to have the usual resting beat that everyone else does.   In about 80 percent of newborns that have this, they outgrow it by about 9 months.  We really love this cardiologist, and feel so blessed that he is here in our area.  He was only brought here by the hospital about 6 months ago, and if this would of happened before that, he would of been transported to DC or  Philadelphia.  It is a tremendous blessing that he is here, that Carter is in his care, and that he is doing so well.   Carter will continue to see him very often for the next 9 months at minimum.

 It was so difficult for both Da and I to have a baby in the NICU. We have always been blessed to have our babies in the recovery room with us while in the hospital.  We both missed him terribly, and it was difficult going back and forth to the NICU every couple of hours so that I could nurse him.  We wanted to see him as much as we could, but at the same time, I was exhausted! 

 We were so blessed to have my Mom and Cristy come and stay with the kids while we were in the hospital.  We really can't thank either one of them enough for their love and sacrifice with the kids.  It made our time in the hospital more bearable. 

 We were so happy that Carter was able to come home with us when I was released from the hospital.  He had done so well, with out any relapses with his heart, and they said he was free to go. The only down side was that Sadie and Kev at home had fevers, and Da took them in and found out they had strep throat.  We had to keep Carter in our room for a couple of days, in hopes of keeping him healthy.

 Finally home

 Maddie, Sadie and Jack were able to see Carter in the NICU, but only for a few minutes.  Kev had a fever, so he was not allowed to go in.  Also when we got home, Kev and Sadie had strep throat, so to be fair, we didn't let any of the kids hold him right away.  Carter was 5 days old before any of the kids got to hold him, and they were so excited. 

 Grandma getting a little Carter time

 My traditional 5 day photo kind of turned into 5-7 day old photos.  He was not real cooperative, plus who knew, but having 5 kids is crazy!!!!!  Finding the time was hard. 

 Day 6

 Day 7

Our first family photo, Carter is about 9 days old here.

 Grandma wanted a picture with all her Mississippi babies

Carter is such a sweet and precious little guy.  He is a great little nurser, and not too bad of a sleeper.  When he is awake he has the biggest eyes.  (No droopy eye this time around, yeah!!)  We think he may have brown eyes, but you never can tell this early.  Every day I think he is looking more and more like his Dad. 
We love him.  We are so amazed at Heavenly Father's gift to us, and for His mercy that our little boy is growing and developing..  We truly know that we have been blessed.