Introducing.....

...our son, Carter Matthew. Carter was born on Tuesday, August 11, 2009 at 9:25am. Carter weighed in at 7lbs 9oz and measured 20.5 inches long. Carter is the first Pletcher boy to be born in 29 years. The last Pletcher boy born was his Father, Byron.


Carter's birthday came packed full of surprises! So this is how the morning started out. I was scheduled for a C-Section at 8:30 that morning, which meant that I had to be at the hospital at 6:30am. So, I woke up, took a shower and then went to plug in my curling iron to do my hair (Byron still doesn't understand why I needed to curl my hair before going to the hospital and I told him it was a girl thing....) so I went to plug it in, and it wouldn't turn on. This usually meant that the circuit had been tripped, so I went downstairs to the bathroom to reset the outlet....every time I pushed the reset button, sparks would fly out of it. So, I go back upstairs and get back into bed to get a last minute rest....Byron asked me why I went downstairs, so I told him. He then goes down to investigate (around 5:45 in the morning, about 45 minutes before we are supposed to be at the hospital!), and what has happened - our sump pump (that is on the same circuit as the bathrooms) has completely frozen up and the water in the pit is about 6 inches away from overflowing into our basement. Byron then goes to get our back up pump to try and drain the pit. I ask him if he needs help, so he tells me to go get the hose that he has hung out the basement window and drag it out away from the house for the water to drain. So I do that, then tell him that I am going to go finish my hair (It is now a little after 6:00) I finish my hair and come downstairs to see his progress, for him to tell me that the pump isn't strong enough to pump the water out of a 100 ft hose. Byron is now bailing the water out of the pit with 5 gallon buckets. It is now 6:15, so I call my mom (crying because this is NOT how the morning was supposed to have gone!) to have her send my dad down to finish bailing the water out and to figure out what needs to be done while we are in the hospital and so Byron and I could leave. My mom volunteers to take me to the hospital so Byron can finish with the pit, explain to my dad what needs to happen, and to take a shower. So off I go to the hospital.

Mom and I make it to the hospital, a little late, but in one piece. As we are walking down the hallway to the prep room, I turn around and see my mother on the floor. She had slipped on some water on the floor and hit the floor! Thankfully she didn't fall too hard or fast and wasn't hurt. That didn't stop the nurses from getting her contact information though!

So, Byron finally makes it to the hospital and we proceed with the normal prep work that accompanies a surgery. It is 8:30, and our doctor comes in to do the final walk through of what is going to happen, etc, when the nurse comes in and says that they haven't seen the medical assistant yet. My doctor then proceeds to tell the nurse to call his house number and track him down. If it weren't for the loopy drugs that they had already given me, I probably would have started crying again.

I finally get into the operating room, and Byron announces at 9:25am that we have a son. I didn't believe him and kept asking if he was sure. I had convinced myself that we were having another girl - take that Chinese Lunar Calendar and the Drano test! They put Carter on my chest for a minute so I could see him and then took him to the nursery. Thankfully the surgery and the rest of the day went well, but what an action packed morning to have!

Haylee came to visit us that afternoon, once we had settled into our room. She was so excited to meet her new little brother. The hospital even got her a cake that said, "Big Sister". She was so excited and so happy.

This is our first family picture....

Welcome to the family Carter Matthew - may you always know that you are loved by so many wonderful people. God Bless you as you grow up in this world. Your family will support and love you in everything you do.