The Big Day

On Monday August 13th, I woke up at about 3:30am with a lot of cramping and contracting. Now, if you know anything about me, you know that I contract a lot on my own and am always uncomfy at this stage of my pregnancy. I was one day shy of being 38 weeks and was quite ready for a baby to arrive. When I woke up, I felt that the cramping was slightly worse (hurting into my back) and by 5am, I woke Jaime up and told him that I was going to take a warm bath to try and relax. It didn't help much but I was able to rest a little before officially waking up for the day. Jaime had a quick meeting in Chapel Hill and my mom was coming to watch the girls while I headed to a 10am doctor's appointment. Jaime was going to meet me there and before I left the house, I made the decision to leave car seats behind for the girls, just in case we got sent to the hospital. I think I secretly knew that something was going on!!

At the doctor, they hooked me up for my regular non stress test and it became obvious to everyone that I was in the middle of a pretty great contraction pattern. Dr. Harris then checked me and said that I was between a 4-5 and decided I was officially in labor! She called ETMC and told them that I was heading across the street and to start getting things ready for me. WOW! I couldn't believe it!

We got up to a room sometime between 11 and noon, filled out last minute paperwork, did blood work and IV stuff, and waited on my epidural. My pain was beginning to increase and sometime between 12:30-1, the anesthesiologist showed up to give me some medicine. I was so relieved but as soon as he put the catheter in, I had a sharp pain to the left side of my spine. In my heart, I just knew that it didn't feel right and as I layed back down and continued to hurt, my instincts became reality. My doctor came in and checked me along with breaking my water and the pelvic exam was almost unbearable. We decided I shouldn't be feeling as much pain as I felt with the epidural and the anest' was called back to my room. He asked me some questions, debated on whether or not the catheter was in the right location, then pumped a huge dosage through and left again. It provided me some relief but not completely. It numbed my bottom but I still felt every single contraction and they did nothing but get more intense and hurt into my back. I had visitors in my room but they all whispered amongst themselves because I was in so much pain. Suddenly, the pain jumped up to the next level. I was moaning and crying and people began to clear out while the nurse checked me. I was almost a 9 and she decided to call my doctor and get ready to push. She also called the anest' back one more time to give me some more numbing meds. It kept my bottom numb once again, but I felt everything else and was in a ton of pain. I knew that the only thing that would make it go away was to have a baby. Dr. Harris arrived and I began pushing with each contraction. After 5 of them, Easton James was born and my stomach immediately felt better....thank goodness!

Easton was my big baby, weighing 8lbs 10oz and 20.5 inches long! I nursed him for a short time and then everyone came in to see our newest family member. It was such a sweet time introducing him to his sisters!

After things settled down, my nurse got me up to help me shower. Surprisingly, my left leg was pretty dead and all I could do was drag it. I needed a lot of help showering and getting back into a gown. We were almost done and getting ready to head back to bed and I told my nurse that I felt very dizzy and nauseated. She told me to grab a hold of her and we would get back to the bed as quickly as possible. She started asking me a few questions, to which I could not even respond to her, and then I vaguely remember her hollering at Jaime to put the baby down and come help her. The next thing I remember, I was on the floor outside of the bathroom, and I was being woke up to Jaime yelling my name and the nurse splashing water in my face. I had no idea where I was or what had just happened, but obviously I had completely fainted and according to Jaime, I was out for atleast a minute. He said it was very scary but the nurse assured us that it happens quite often. I got back into bed and after a few minutes of cooling down, began to feel a little better.

The next day, I still didn't feel well so we chose to stay another night to help control pain and have extra help so that I could hopefully sleep. It was a good thing that I stayed because I started to have some excess blood loss and they put me on medicine through the night to help my uterus contract a little more. The next day I still wasnt feeling well, but was cleared to go home!

We are now a week out and Im slowly rebuilding my energy. Easton is such a handsome boy and we are so grateful for our unexpected blessing!



Oh, BOY!

World, meet Easton James Crouse!!

Born on Monday, August 13th 2012 at 3:27 pm. Weighing in at a whopping 8lbs 10oz and was 20.5 inches long. We are all so excited to have this little guy here! As soon as I am feeling a little more perky, I promise to post his complete birth story, so stay tuned!

36 week update

It's been hard times this past week (really this past month) around our house! Sickness has had us down and out in some form for quite a while and I am so ready for it to move on. It started 3-4 weeks ago when Jaime and I both were dealing with a sinus infection. We are still a little congested, even today, and I am on my second round of antibiotics. Then this past week; Maddie, myself and Jaime all caught a terrible stomach virus. I called my mom to come take Brooklyn away from all our germs and she literally swooped her up out of her crib and was out the door while I was throwing up in the bathroom. It was awful!! Maddie and Jaime began to heal slowly but since I was pregnant, the virus did nothing but completely dehydrate me and cause me to contract. Jaime was so sick he couldn't even take me to the hospital, so my mom picked me up and dropped me off at Mother Francis. It's not my plan to deliver there, but since Im still slightly preterm and they have the NICU, I decided to go there just in case. I spent several hours in a triage room. I did blood work, got bags of fluid, nausea medicine, pain medicine and was put on the fetal monitor. I was really hurting and contracting quite a bit and while I was at the hospital dilated from a 1/2 to a 2/3. They decided to admit me and continue with the fluids and watch my labor...not intending to stop it or encourage it either way. I rested some during the night but not much. The virus seemed to be gone by morning but I was completely worn out. However, there was no need to keep me any longer so I was able to go home to rest and continue rehydrating. Today, I feel a little better but am convinced that at this point-having a baby is the only thing that will help me start getting back to normal with my body. I am SO uncomfortable and am having a hard time getting any rest. To top that off, Maddie went straight from stomach issues to a horribly swollen and infected eye (pink eye) and Brooklyn has started a bad cough and runny nose. Im telling you....it just never ends. We wash clothes, hands and everything else we can sanitize all day long it seems. I am trying to not get sick again knowing that I could go into labor ANYDAY at this point. Ugh! Please pray that we can all get back to 100% and bring Easton home to a healthy household. I want this delivery and time with him to be easy and enjoyable, filled with friends and family and not sickness!

In other news, I am 36 weeks today and other than our past few weeks of sickness, this pregnancy really has been a breeze! At my last check, I was between a 2-3 and 50% effaced. Since being sick, my contractions have certainly jumped up to the next level and when I have them-they are more painful versus just uncomfortable. I have another doctor's appointment on Friday and I continue to pray that things are smooth from here on out!

15 months

My sweet Brooklyn, you are growing up before my very eyes and I love you to pieces!
You are the sweetest, prettiest, funniest and cuddliest little 15 month old out there. You have such a fun personality and continue to be a mama's girl, though you have started wanting your daddy more lately. You still love your sister and can really play and interact with her now. You also argue with her and can throw quite the fit when something doesn't go your way!
We took you to see Dr. Smith last week for your well check and as always you cried, but handled it a little better this time than in the past. You got three shots before leaving and we are all excited that at your 18 month well check, you'll be shot free! Here are a few 15 month stats:

-weigh 22lbs. 1oz. (40th %) and are 29 inches (10th %)
-wearing size 4 diapers
-wearing 12 month-18 month clothing with a size 4 shoe
-you have lots of teeth with a new top molar currently coming in
-sleep from about 7:30pm to 7:00am (sometimes later, if sister doesn't wake you up)
-still taking two naps. though often the morning nap is a little shorter, or non-existent, depending on what we are doing that day.
-eating all table food and can even feed yourself with a toddler fork though you usually need a little help "stabbing" the food
-can say the following words (some of them are clear, and some of them are not): mommy, daddy, sissa (sister), baby, puppy, butt (for belly button and trust me, we are working hard on the whole word being button versus butt!), hi, bye, nose, eyes, dink (drink), kitty, bubbles, no and a few others.....
-can take a crayon and make some marks on a page
-can throw a ball or toy in front of you
-beginning to climb on things and can get yourself down from the couch by turning around and lowering your feet down first
-has learned how to open my water bottles without me looking and get your self a drink

A few cute things about you right now:
-you love Kung Fu Panda 2 and will watch almost the whole movie, often times laughing out loud at random parts
-if I ask you to give the baby a kiss, you'll lift up my shirt and put your lips to my tummy while saying "muah" really loud. You also blow the sweetest sugars!
-you do NOT like anyone to touch my tummy. You start to cry and try to push their hand away!
if we say "let's brush your teeth" or "go take a bath" you immediately know to run to the bathroom. you also know that your drink goes in the fridge and will stand in front of it and point if you are thirsty.
-if you are disobeying we will sometimes ask you if you want a spanking. you always smile, look down at the floor, and shake your head no.
-have learned where your nose and eyes are
-will say NO to your sister if she is bothering you
-if you have something you are not suppose to and we ask you to give it to us, you'll sometimes turn around and take off running, thinking you are being cute!
-when daddy walks in the door, you scream his name and run to him!

A few pictures of you recently:

Looking for sister in the bathroom

Playing naked in the back yard

Easton's Nursery

Other than hanging up his letters, Easton's nursery is complete! I just love marking things off of my to-do list! I am so proud of this little boy's room and can't wait to bring him home to it. I always knew that if I ever had a son, I would have a sports theme for his room. Almost 6 years ago, I married a coach and sports enthusiast and that only confirmed that thought! We both had been holding on to sports memorabilia for a very long time, not knowing that the Lord would complete our family by sending a little boy our way after our two beautiful girls. We are both so very excited to tackle this new adventure!