Happy Birthday Carver John!

Four years ago was a big day for the Friedman Fam! Carver John made his way into this world around 1 am on September 16th, 2016.

I for sure did not enjoy my pregnancy with Carver. For starters, I was only 20 years old and I turned 21 when I was five months pregnant. While Carver’s existence was fully intentional, I was young and a little less wise than I am today and just wanted to be able to do normal 20 year old stuff that summer instead of waddling around feeling like a whale.

I was sick for about 14 weeks – really sick. It was so much worse when I was working overnights too. But after those 14 weeks I felt pretty good – just felt really FAT. You know those super adorable cute pregnant women? Yeah – that wasn’t me. I just blow up in all directions. Not to mention I had an awesome condition called symphysis pubis dysfunction which means my pubic bone was separating which made the pregnancy SUPER uncomfortable. It felt like I had a big huge kick in the crotch all day every day.

Around 37 weeks my blood pressure started spiking, I gained 8 lbs of fluid in just 2 days. They decided to induce me at 38 weeks to prevent complications from pre eclampsia. It was long and boring waiting and waiting for Carver to make his appearance.

My labor with Carver was pretty easy all things considered. I had about 45 minutes of UNBEARABLE back labor and back pain. It came on hard and fast like most inductions do once that pitocin kicks in. Then I got my epidural and went to sleep! Get this: my nurse woke me up to check how dilated I was. She told me I was 10 cm and ready to push! THAT’S how good my epidural was! I pushed for about 35 minutes and after a teeny bit of a shoulder dystocia, Carver came into this world at 8 lbs. 6 oz.

I had TERRIBLE pain in my tailbone after I had Carver which made sense with how much TERRIBLE back labor I had before my epidural. Carver wasn’t really good at breast feeding so I ended up just pumping and bottle feeding him for about 8 weeks.

Carver was a really great baby and slept through the night after about 5 weeks. He was a pretty sick kiddo that first year – he caught every kind of cold that winter – RSV, influenza, he was hospitalized with croup once or twice, he needed tubes in his ears before his 1st birthday! He’d end up with 3 more set of tubes and his adenoids taken out before he turned three.

Carver is full of sass and spunk. He is equal parts the most mature 4 year old I’ve ever met, and at times the most immature 4 year old I’ve ever met. His memory is unlike anything I’ve ever seen in a kid – he can remember events from when he was 2 years old! He’s always leaving us stumped trying to figure out how in the world he can remember things like that! I think one day he may have a photographic memory.

Carver is also very sweet. He loves cuddling, he loves hugs after he does a good job, he tells me all the time, “I love you ma ma!” He still calls his daddy “da da” and I hope he never stops. If I do something special for him or buy him something, I always hear without prompting, “You’re the best mom ever.” I asked him what he wanted for his birthday and this was his response:

I would like a John Deere tractor with 5 or 6 attachment heads and a wagon and a grapple hook and a green John Deere tractor for Gannon.

So guess what Carver is getting for his birthday. I thought it was so cute that his wishes included a present for Gannon. Tonight we will celebrate with cake and pizza and open presents at my mom’s house during a “big family night” when my brother Karl and sister Kelli come home.

Every year on the eve before Carver’s birthday, I snap a picture of my tiny human that I’m putting to sleep as an X year old for the last time ?

This year I’m putting to bed my three year old Johnny Jumper Boy for the last time! Same sheets, pillow, blanket as last year. Trying to savor every moment with these boys of mine!

Carver had his well child check yesterday and passed with flying colors. He got his flu shot too! I couldn’t believe that they had them already! I was a *little* frustrated, we had the last appointment of the day on Tuesday, he turned 4 on Wednesday and they wouldn’t give his 4 year old shots because he wasn’t 4 years old yet. *sigh* not the nurse says fault, or the facility’s fault but just kind of a silly rule.

While we were at the well child check, Gannon got checked over too! Turns out he has EAR INFECTION! We had no clue! That’s ear infection #2 in one month.

Oh well! I’ll have a birthday party recap up for you all tomorrow! Can’t wait to celebrate our sweet young man!

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• Friedman Fam Update – January 2023