Our 8 pound "preemie"

Dave and I went to visit his Uncle Phil and Aunt Celeste on the evening of the 23rd. As we were sitting and talking I felt like I lost control of my bladder... knowing what that feels like and that this was very similar but slightly different I decided to wait a minute or two to "figure out" what was going on. The wet feeling didn't subside at all so I decided to use the bathroom to evalutate. Before I even made it down the bathroom hallway, I had fluid running down my legs and dripping out the bottom of my skirt. I will spare you all the graphic details from this point on, but needless to say, my water had broken. Feeling like this couldn't really be the case simply because I was so early, I decided to call my mom and tell her about it... maybe at that point, I would realize that the enormous amount of amniotic fluid that has just exited my body was a figment of my imagination. When she told me I needed to go the hospital, it kind of snapped me out of my stupor, and Dave and I realized this was the real deal and the baby was on his way. Before we left Phil's house, Dave gave me a BEAUTIFUL blessing which put me at ease and let me know I could do what I needed to do and that the baby would be healthy.
We got to the hospital sometime around 5:30/6:00 ish. I got all hooked up to everything and in my lovely gown just in time for serious labor to set in. Because I wasn't sure if my body was really ready for what it had to do, I didn't know if I would start contracting enough, or if they would have to induce me etc etc. I REALLY didn't want ANY extra drugs whatsoever. As it turns out, I had no need to worry. I started contracting about 7:00 and they were hard to say the least. My contractions started at 2 minutes apart and only got worse from that point on.
When I called my mom she basically dropped what she was doing and came straight away (from Idaho Falls). I labored with Dave till around 10:00 at which time my mom showed up, and between the two of them I was in great hands. Dave did labor breathing with me through a VAST majority of my labor, and had even crawled on the bed at one point to put his knee under my back while he tried to sooth me and keep the oxygen mask on my face. Dave held my hand throughout the entire thing, and even has the scars from my fingernails to prove it. I didn't know that I had squeezed that hard until a day or two later when he told me about it...I think we will always get a good laugh from that. My mom did counter pressure on my knees and kind of "ran" everything. She did so well helping that one of the nurses thought she had some sort of medical training for this kind of thing.
As the timeline goes, it took me from 7:00 till about 11:30 to dilate to a 4 (I started off at 0% effaced and 0 cm...yeah, NOT ready). At this point I was ready to give in and get an epidural. My contractions were unusually hard, and I was hardly progressing. I decided to stick it out nonetheless and by 12:50 I was FINALLY dilated to a 10 and was 100% effaced. When they told me I could push, I DID. Heavenly Father really knew what he was doing when he gave women then urge to push. That urge was something I cannot describe, and I have never experienced anything even remotely close to it, and know that I won't until the next baby. It took me 4 contractions and 9 pushes to bring Carson into this world. He was born at 1:03 Christmas Eve morning, and was healthy as could be.
Because I went into labor early, and "full term" is 37 weeks, I technically had a medically premature baby by 23 hours. This was frustrating as we had to endure the "preemie tests" for our 7 lbs 13 oz, 21 inch miracle. He passed everything with flying colors. Can you imagine how huge he would have been if I had gone 40 weeks?!?! He would have been around 9 1/2 pounds and 22+ inches long. Considering the average baby boy is 7 lbs 5 oz at birth, I STILL had a big baby.
To sum up the last couple of weeks, Carson has had a little bit of jaundice so we had him under the billi lights for a day and a half...he was a trooper and that didn't last very long. He also seems to have two good night of sleep where he allows me to get a LITTLE bit of rest, followed by one bad night, and then we repeat the cycle. He is eating like a champion and has surpassed his birth weight by half a pound. He is filling his diapers more than adequately which lets me know I am feeding him enough. He doesn't mind pain; he doesn't cry when he gets poked and bled for various tests, but if you undress him and make him cold in any way, shape, or form he gets MAD! He came out with a full head of dark, dark brown hair that is turning blonder by the day. He is VERY expressive as you can tell in a lot of the pictures. I could go on and on, but am sure these details don't thrill you as much as they do a new, inexperienced, vigiliant mother. Simply put, this boy is adorable and I didn't realize the depth of feeling I would have for him. I feel like I am under-qualified, and overly blessed. Here are some pictures in no specific order...




I thought I would throw these two pictures in for fun. The one above is me one week prior to delivery, and the one below is the evening before I went into labor. Can you even tell I am pregnant, or do I just look like I ate too much?

Uncle David holding Carson
Grandma Fager and Carson
Minutes old... my first time holding this handsome prince
Grandpa Fager and Carson

Labor does wonders for you looks... natural delivery compounds that...

Our happy family

Baby Shower

This last Saturday my wonderful friends and family threw me a perfect baby shower. It was so fun to see everyone and catch up a little. Everyone was so kind and generous, the food was fantastic, and the decorations were adorable.

Look at all these beautiful women! I am so blessed to have wonderful friends!! Can you believe they are even more gorgeous on the inside?!?!

We played a few games. I don't know what this one was...
...or this one...

I do know what I was doing in the picture above. My friends had all written down/come up with names according to the letters that are in Daves full name as well as mine. I forgot to bring the little slips to work so I could type them up, so I will have to go from memory and and add the rest later. Some of the names people came up with were:

Melvid, Melger, Algernon, Memil, Tavian, Coco, Tanker, Rocket (pair that with Crockett), Alligator, Vladimir, Lancelot...oh the were so many funny ones, I can't remember them all. I promise to post them later.

I also need to mention my wonderful baby shower in Boise. My fabulous mother and sister-in-laws threw me a great shower. They too were so kind and generous. It was so great to be surrounded by all my family. My sister in law Becky is due right around the same time that I am, so it has been good going on this adventure with her. I wish I had remembered my camera for that shower but I didn't, otherwise I would have put those pictures up long ago!

Games and food aside, thank you all for coming and supporting me. I couldn't ask for better people to rub shoulders with/look up to. It's times like these that make me feel so blessed. I truly appreciate and love every one of you that came (as well as those that couldn't make it). Thank you again for everything!

I don't get it

So, I had to get online and post this really quickly just because it is really ironic to me:
My boss just came out of his office and up to the front reception area where I work. He asked me if I would go pull some files for him and bring them to him in his office. Ironic? Not until you realize that he had to walk past the "file room" to get to my desk up front, and asked me to pull two files that would have been faster for him to find, than to get the words out.
AND every time my phone rings with the intercom light flashing, I cringe. I get asked on AT LEAST a daily basis to get up, go get files, and bring them to him. What I don't really get, is that I am basically nine months pregnant, there is another girl whose office shares a wall with the file room, and is right next to my bosses. Does he ever page her.... nope. AND, the way the file room is set up, there are a few drawers that you can only get files out of if you wedge yourself between the other files, and the drawer you need to open. I fit with minimal room to spare when I WASN'T pregnant. Now, I don't fit at all. In fact, I had to pull some files today where I had to maim and mangle the file to get it out of the only partially open drawer. Poor files.
BUT I can't complain too much. My boss is the nicest guy ever. He is so kind and so generous. In fact, he just paged me (I just barely got back to posting), to see if I wanted lunch. He is going to get Betos for the both of us. He lets me work full time with nothing to do when he goes out of town. My job depends on him being in the office, but he will let me work, just for the hours and money. He was gone for all but one week in November, and he let me work that whole time. He is always so nice to get little gifts for us here in the office (there are only a handful of us) for each holiday. This job has really been a blessing. And so are the constant file-retrieving pages that I get. He is just trying to help me stay fit, and not gain too much weight :)

"I'll be home for Christmas..."

Merry Christmas again. I am explaining our Christmas situation as I promised my last blog. Here is what happened at my doctor's appointment last Tuesday:

The Dr. asked me if I had any questions about anything before he left the little room we were in. Thinking that he would tell me if I should stay or could go out of town for Christmas at the next appointment I will be having (December 18th), I wasn't going to ask about it then, but then thought twice about it and asked for his opinion on the matter. His response was "don't go more than an hour and a half away." I proceeded to ask him if we could leave anyway since I would be 37 weeks ON Christmas day, and figured that wouldn't be a big deal. He then reminded me that 37 weeks is considered full term, AND then he told me that of the babies he had delivered that week, the latest one was 38 weeks. Dave who is so caring and careful wasn't about to push it; he worries about me too much (and I love it), piped up at that point, and he and I decided that the risk was not worth it, and we should listen to the doctor and stay in Provo. Because I was preparing to hear something like that from the doctor (but wasn't expecting to know for two more weeks), it wasn't TOO terribly disappointing. Dave and I are really excited to spend out little Christmas together and have some fun plans. But first we had to put up the decorations....

As far as the tree goes, here is the final product...
Happy Holidays Everyone!!

Do I really look that goofy?

So if you ask me; my belly looks incredibly odd. The view that I have looking down on my own belly isn't that bad. It looks round just like any other pregnant lady. However, when Dave took these pictures last night, I just about choked when I saw them... I don't know what I was expecting, but it definitely wasn't this...
I don't want to make it sound like I am upset or anything, because I am doing super well! Oddly shaped or not, I am grateful for my healthy baby. Even with being sick, I feel like Heavenly Father has blessed me with a wonderful pregnancy. Even if it looks like I stuffed a serving bowl under my shirt to make it look like I am pregnant :).
And in this picture, even though you can't really tell I am pregnant, this is what I feel like...
Once again, I should probably go back and say that I didn't mean to make this post sound so negative. I really am doing better than I could ask for. We had a Dr. appointment yesterday and everything looks good. I am actually measuring at 33 weeks (fundal measurement), but lil' Carson is his huge old self (measuering at 36 weeks). So to really put that into perspective. My tummy is small (the pictures show that well), but my baby is HUGE meaning that he is absolutely crammed into my abdominal cavity. I feel like I have been poured full of cement and it has dried therefore, I can no longer bend, breathe, or even move for that matter. It's not that I have tons to lug around or anything, I just literally have a VERY hard time bending anywhere between the chest and my knees.
---I should probably mention also, that the dr. said we should stay here for Christmas (I will blog more on this later)---

Random

Merry Christmas everyone! I love this time of year. I also wanted to post a funny link that my cousin Amy sent to Dave and I. It's one of those things where you can put a picture of your face on some dancing body and get a good laugh. This one is with elves, and Dave and I have had a good laugh making all sorts of funny looking, dancing elves. Here is the very first one we did...
http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1121901530

What a dream!!

Some people have realistic dreams and some don't. I fall in the latter category. My dreams are ALWAYS strange and confusing. I had a dream about our baby last night that made me laugh when I woke up this morning. It started off with me going into labor and four hours later delivering our little boy (somebody told me it was four hours when it was all over). Somehow I made it home from the hospital but the baby wasn't with Dave and I. But this was normal in my dream. The first time I actually saw my baby was when my sister was holding him and taking care of him. Knowing that he was mine to claim at this point I took him from her to admire the little guy. This was when I noticed just how big he was. He was so heavy, I could hardly lift him. I would guess around 30 pounds. His features were also ALL distinctly Dave's or mine... He had Daves hair (side part and everything), a full set of teeth, Dave's nose, albeit a smaller version, my eyes, with Dave's long luscious eyelashes, and my mouth. He could even smile right away and tell me that he was hungry :).... I hope none of you are dream readers out there; I don't want anyone telling me we are going to have a 30 pound baby with a full set of teeth, if that be the case, my nursing plan is OUT!

You Said HOW Big?!?!?!

Dave and I had a doctor's appointment yesterday. We were particularly excited for this one because we were to receive another ultrasound. The last one at 19 weeks looked good, but the doctor wasn't able to see the baby's head as well as he would have liked so he scheduled us for another one a number of weeks down the road, and yesterday was the day. It was so exciting to see his little arms and legs again, and that precious little beating heart. My favorite however was seeing his face. Last time because he was so buried, we didn't see ANY of it. This time we saw perfect little eyes, his little button nose, and his adorable puckered lips. He was once again proud to be a boy and showed us all his glory. I also got to see why I can't ever breathe... he's got his bum and legs wedged underneath my right rib...
After taking a number of measurements and indulging us a little with extra explanations of what was what etc, we discovered something. We will be delivering a full sized man (or so we think). The doctor showed us his growth progress on those little charts and explained that we have a HUGE baby on the way. Although Carson is only 31 weeks as of yesterday, he is measuring as though he is 33 weeks. He is in the 97th percentile!!! I asked the doctor about the due date and he said you generally only move them in the beginning of the pregnancy. AND since I am very regular, and know when I ovulate, there really is now question that I am truly only 31 weeks along. However, according the computer program that my doctor has tied to his ultrasound readings, the date has moved. We have had three ultrasounds total. The first was at 11 weeks because the heartbeat was undetectable with the audio unit, and the doctor wanted to make sure everything was alright. I had one at 19 weeks to determine that Carson is proud of his manhood, and another one yesterday for that better look at his head (which it looks great by the way). With each of the ultrasounds, my dates have moved accordingly:

January 16th

January 12th

January 3rd!!!!!!!

BUT because Dave and I are by no means "average" sized people, we do NOT plan on have an average sized baby. Simply put, Carson is HUGE and will continue to be so until he pops out. I predict at this point, that he will come to join us anywhere from January 13th, to January 16th, and that he will weigh over 9 pounds, and be 22 inches long. We will see how close I get....

I was the schmoosher

This weekend Dave, my little sister Kate, and I all went to Idaho Falls to take part in the Fager Family Second Annual Applesauce Making Party... aka FFSAAMP. It all started when last year my mom told me that my Aunt Kirsten had all the apples we would need to make as much applesauce as we wanted. We just had to pick, clean, cut, steam, schmoosh, and process. When we started last year, we got 30-ish quarts out of the deal and I thought that was a lot... this year, we blew that record out of the water! We totaled over 85 quarts of gorgeous applesauce. This was a labor intensive activity that involved my whole family (with the exception of my sister Jenn who is stayed in Utah to plan her wedding). We spent literally eight solid hours getting all this done and I loved every minute of it. My mom was right when she said she will have good memories every time she eats applesauce. I will do the same. Each time I open a jar a flood of memories will run out. I will think of my dad who washed dish after dish and jar after jar. How he secretly cleaned our "stations" whenever he could, and used his spare moments to help cut apples. I will think of my mom who had the know how and the energy to run the whole charade. How every time the door opened between the kitchen and garage, it was her running jars and apples in and out. Adding water to the steamer or the processor and encouraging us all the while. I will think of Dave sacrificing precious study time to be with my brothers all of whom helped by turning the crank on the Victorio Press to turn the hot, boiled apples into sweet, pink, applesauce. I will think of my sister Katie who cut hundreds of apples and literally ate herself sick while doing so. I will the of my brother David who actually came to spend time helping me do something he wasn't particularly fond of, and sticking with it! It meant more than he will probably ever realize. I will think of my cheerful brother Ben who delicately cut the worms and bruises out of the apples and actually liked the job! Each jar of applesauce will be savored; the taste and the memories will be sweet. I can't remember the last time we had such a precious family gathering void of ANY contention, and involving EVERYONE. It's one of those memories I can rely on to always bring warmth into my heart and joy into my thoughts. Ben washing some apples
From left to right: Katie, Me, Dave, David
My dad and Katie cutting apples. This is what would get so messy that my dad would clean up for us. He even washed the knives a NUMBER of times.
Dave... not sure what he is doing here... but he sure is handsome!
My mom cleaning the filled jars before they went into the processor. David cranking the Victorio Press. Me making sure the applesauce was all the right consistency, and putting into quart jars.

The people who made it all happen...

Pushin' 30...

...and not in years; in weeks of pregnancy. And yup, I am still tiny and SO GRATEFUL for that!

I will spare you any more pictures of me fresh out of the shower with ZERO make-up BEFORE the crack of dawn. I just wanted to give you one full picture.

ok I promise I won't do any more posts of pictures today; I know it's been a lot...

Handsome Dave

This is handsome Dave....Dave LOVES to play football!!!!!

Did I mention that Dave LOVES to play football!!!!!!!!!!!!
This is his intramural team the Patriots. Here is handsome Dave with handsome John. Handsome John is also my cousin :)

I love Dave not because he loves football and is great at it, and I love him not because he looks so handsome when he dresses up, but I love him for all the things in between. I am grateful he fills every role between athlete and righteous priesthood holder. He is well rounded and so gifted in so many ways, but is so humble about it, and doesn't think he is. He is good at everything, and anything. What is most important to me though is not that he is good at everything, but that he tries his best all the time. It's always been almost almost a creed of mine that it doesn't matter if you fail as long as you give it your all. Dave is the epitome of effort... I love that Dave is the right person for me.

He will probably be embarrassed that I put this up... ok so he will be really embarrassed that I put this up so I hope he doesn't delete it!