ER excitment....ugg.

Sorry I've been slow to post updates, return calls, and send emails. I WILL get better...one day. So it's been a hard weekend. Friday at my OB one week follow up, my blood pressure was still high mid-140's over 100's. So they decided to medicate. I didn't have any of the worrisome symptoms but they still didn't like that it was remaining in a high range. So, Friday night I took the first pill. By the early morning feeding, I had felt a small headache coming on. By noon yesterday I was in tears in pain. So we called the nurse on call from our OB and she suggested going to a pharmacy to see what my pressure was. We did that...it was still high. When I called to check back in, she suggested we go to the ER. Of course at this point I am in tears again. This time, not for pain, because I would be taking my 10 day old baby to the ER too. We packed everything up and had to leave my brother at home. He had barely arrived when the excitement started. Once at the ER they did an EKG, a CT scan, blood work, and a urine analysis. I cried through all of them...again not for pain but just frustration and upset. Then we played the ER waiting game. At least they have TV's in every room and we were able to watch some March madness, feed Chloe, and try to be calm. Once the results came in they had found a urine infection and still high blood pressure but no brain bleeding or abnormal labs. They decided to discontinue the first blood pressure meds and give me a different one as well as a prescription for the infection. Almost 4 hours later we were able to head home. It was a LONG day. It was painful in parts... I had the blood work from my hand and then an IV inserted "just in case." It was a frustrating day. BUT the Lord has blessed us with an amazingly agreeable child. Chloe slept soundly the whole time with the exception of waking up once to nurse and then returning to a slumber. She was great! I'd rather me be the one in pain and frustrated than her anyway. We're going to have to really hunker down this week which is a bit counter-intuative to our nature but the Dr.'s are insisting that is part of the treatment to get my pressures down. At this point, we'd love your prayers: - for my blood pressure to go down and my infection to heal quickly - for Chloe to keep nursing well and not be affected by any exposures in the ER - for Chris to have stamina as he balances a busy week at work with taking on a little more around the house so I really can rest. Hopefully the updates will be more fun soon...like Chloe actually fitting into her clothes? She's up to 6lbs, 4oz so it's not far away now. Here's a sweet picture update. Chloe with the Cat in the Hat!

Happy St. Patty's Day

We're still planning to do some serious posting with updates soon but this one is time sensitive so I promised Chloe I would get it out first thing this morning since she was such a good sport during the photo shoot. Mommy and Daddy almost forgot she wasn't a doll or model because we were having so much fun. Oh...and she is a doll and prettier than a model too! (Click the pic to make me bigger)

Irish love to you all!

38 1/2 weeks...

Don't feel like you have to read the novel ahead but for those who want the birth story....here goes: Tuesday March 10th was a full day for me. I had coffee in the morning with my dear friend Sarah. We talked about baby and my slight concern of not being sure when my water would break. Next I headed to my Tuesday morning Pre-Natal Yoga class. I love that class and have made several friends all due around me. For several of them this was their last class and I wanted to be sure to see them since the next few weeks of class for me could be lonely waiting for my bundle to come or the Dr. to tell me no more yoga. After class I headed over to lunch with a group of gals from Seiko - Sam, Ola, Nicola, and Jen. Finally, I headed over to my weekly appointment with our OB/GYN. Chris decided since we were both having busy days he'd just meet me there.

We checked in, did the normal pee on the paper to check all the levels, and the nurse came to check my blood pressure. She thought it was a little high but said that Dr. Mills would check it again when she came in. A few minutes later Dr. Mills came in and also got a high read...not super high but in the 140's range. (Side note, the previous week I had a border-line pressure read but had consistently been so low that they weren't worried). She did my weekly "check" and sadly I was still not dilated. But still Dr. Mills said we needed to talk about inducing labor. She said I was far enough along for the baby to be safe and there were greater risks if my blood pressure went up more. In my mind, I'm thinking through which day in the next week would be good to schedule an induction. I still had a handful of things I wanted to get done before the baby came so I was hoping she'd let me wait until the following Monday. I asked about what the time line for the induction would be and this is the moment when everything changed:

Dr. Mills: "Time line?" You need to go across the street and check into the hospital right now. You aren't going home without a baby.
Karen: "Umm - I think I might cry" Chris: (jumps into Coach mode and is on his feet with a tissue in hand rubbing my back)
Dr. Mills: (Explains a few things was super nice and reassuring, encouraging, and wonderful but I honestly didn't really hear a word she said)
Karen: (thinking of everything I wished I had done at the house) Ummm...ok.... Dr. Mills: I'll be there to check on you once you get settled in.

Chris and I walk down stairs and get in the car to drive right across the street to check in. We were assigned to room 28 and within minutes they are drawing blood for blood work, putting in the IV asking me to sign all the consent forms and telling me to stay calm and not think about everything. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? I'm listening to the baby heart beat on the monitor, I'm getting juiced up by the IV fluids, and I didn't get to shower after Yoga and was thinking it would be a long stinky time before I smelled good again and I'm supposed to "not think about it." Chris ran home to get our pre-packed bags and I just laid there...thinking about trying not to think about it.

An hour later the blood work was back and Dr Mills was there. The great news was the blood work didn't give them any concerns for pre-eclampsia which left it to be pregnancy induced hypertension. They still had to induce but at least things were less severe. The rundown from Dr. Mills was this: - I was supposed to order and eat a big dinner - After eating they'd insert Cervidyl to loosen my cervix and hopefully help it start to dilate. - 12 hours later they would start the potocin to induce labor. I could have that for 12 hours. - If labor did not progress I'd have a c-section which was likely since I was not dilated at all.

I was assigned a labor and delivery nurse - Cyndi and ordered dinner. I had pasta, green beans, a salad, a roll, and jello (what is it with hospitals and jello?). At 7:00 Cyndi came in to insert the Cervidyl. I'll leave out the details but let's note that I had to resort to the pain management breathing we learned in our birth classes for the entire 3 minutes it took her to get it in. Gross. I then had to lay still and let it set for 2 hours. No using the restroom and again trying to stay calm and not think about it. Really they wanted us to sleep since we would be in for a long day. We called a few people, waited for the 2 hours to pass, and watched a little TV. At 10:30 we tried to sleep. By 11:30 we realized I was in too much pain for sleep so I agreed to a light dose of Ambien. By 1:00 the monitor was showing contractions that I didn't feel though I was in pain and my body was having the shakes to manage the pain. They wanted to give me a narcotic for the pain but I just didn't want to go that route so I opted to do more breathing and had my Coach (Chris) guide me though and rub on my legs and back. I was literally praying for the shakes to stop so I could sleep. 2:00 - The shakes stop, I take a breath of relief, my stomach cramps hard, I hear a pop, and suddenly water is gurgling out...my water had broken!!! This was really fabulous because now I was in active labor which meant the painful Cervidyl came out. Nurse Cyndi checked my cervix and I was 3cm dilated! Again, great news. I opted to get the epidural because I had been managing pain for hours and didn't think I could sleep or get through tomorrow's long day without the help. At 3:00pm I got the epidural in and waited for it to take effect. At 3:45 I got a popsicle for all the hard work...Yum! At 4:00pm Nurse Cyndi put in the catheter and Chris and I went to sleep. We slept awesome for two hours. At 6:00pm I abruptly wake and tell Chris I am feeling LOTS of pressure. Cyndi comes in for a check and again miraculously I am 9.5cm dilated. By 6:30 we started pushing but my contractions were 6 minutes apart rather than the normal 1 - 2 when you start pushing. At 7:20 Dr. Mills arrives and starts to help with pushing. Around 7:35 I do a final round of pushing and the baby was crowning so Dr. Mills calls in the nurse who will catch the baby and starts the bed setup. At 7:40, the baby just popped out on her own...I didn't push and the nurse didn't make it in but Dr. Mills grabbed her.

Baby girl Craxton was a tiny 6 pounds 3 oz and 20 in. long!!!!

What a miracle....more to come.

We're going private....

Hey friends and family...

We've decided to make our blog private. Since we have a precious bundle of joy that we want to share stories about we feel more open to telling the whole story if we know who is on here reading our family updates. I know it adds a step for you to sign in and I apologize in advance but I promise we'll be adding more of the real Craxton style details than we would have if it was a public blog. We hope you'll stick with us for the adventures of Chloe Jane....

We love ya.

Nobody's happy

Maybe I'm getting old. Maybe this is just indicative of my black and white personality tendencies. This may be an updated version of the age old I walked 2 miles in the snow barefoot to school but I LOVE this and think there is some real truth here....

A Milestone of sorts....37 weeks.

Last night, I hit a milestone. It's one I've been warned about but didn't really see it coming.

I've been attending Pre-natal Yoga and Water Aerobics as my main two forms of excercise since about 23 weeks of pregnancy. Pre-natal Yoga has been great in relaxation, stretching, and being with other women who share the same physical limitations as I do. Water Aerobics has been awesome for stregth training and cardio. I would have never imagined I could "sculpt up" my arms while pregnant, in the water, and surrounded by retired folk. Don't dog it until you try it they say...

Anyway, in the yoga classes, people have warned me that it's a strange day when you are the furthest along in a class. Class starts with us going around the room and saying our name, how many weeks we are, and what's frustrating us or what area is feeling stiff (this is great because the instructor incorporates stretches based on the class's needs that day). So, last night there was a pretty full class and we started as normal going around with introductions. Then it hit me...it was my night, my class, I was the furthest along of anyone. When I said 37 weeks the heads turned my direction. It was as strange as people had warned but not in the way I expected. There were several girls who had just found out the gender of their babies, several others who were approaching the 3rd trimester mark, and mostly all of them with smaller bellies yet bigger complaints as they are only just starting to realize the physical realities of what's to come. There were only three of us past 32 weeks and only me who is now at the weekly appointment, full term, ready to pop stage. I realized that many of the girls who used to look "so close" to me were probably at home with their babies as I prepared to do a modified downward dog. I realized that to them, my relief to be done with morning sickness at 23 weeks was probably distant as they were doing the same things I now have to do in order to stretch with a belly that always seems to be in the way. I realized that peeing all the time is no longer a "condition" for me. Strangely it's become an accepted way of life. Also, with all the throwing up in the first 23 weeks things like the commonly mentioned back pain, sleepless nights, and sore chests don't really seem to phase me. They're tiny compared to the constant burning of a throw up throat. Also, I'm a lucky one who somehow has escaped heartburn...and I even eat salsa and spicy food with the best of them.

Most importantly, I realized...and really felt for the first time (even though Angie's been encouraging me all along) that I'm not going to be pregnant forever. In fact, I'm almost done...it could be any day now. I could look around the room and remember being at the point of each of the girls in my class. In some ways, they all have a LONG way to go. In other ways, it all goes so fast. I'm going to be the one at home with our baby girl soon as they settle into the final trimester and realize they only thought they couldn't do the little things like bending over or reaching high. But that right when it doesn't seem so bad...they'll be days away from being done. Pregnancy really is a miracle. At some level, I think I really will miss the belly. And, for one emotional moment, I'll miss being the prenatal yoga matriarch who everyone else looked too to see what they are headed for....

37 weeks and not counting...just excited. She'll be here soon.

The infamous bathroom

I know I've been horrible about blogging. Sorry. I can't even promise or pretend that I'm going to get better. In fact, I'm thinking about making it a private blog so that you have to sign in to view it. I know that's a pain but I never did plan for this to be a public thing, funny thing, or attempt to appear witty and cool. Since it seems like there is some mini-culture of people trying to be the funniest, coolest, best writing, or most organized photo keeping stay-at-home-mom blogger, I've been avoiding this as I don't care to be in that group(not that there is anything wrong with that group. I love reading a funny blog!). However, I do want this to be a safe place to write and post pictures of our coming little one without being something that friends of a friend click on to see if it's funny or cool. It's just us...messy, silly, totally in love Craxton's that don't really care what others think of us. If I write something funny, glad you can laugh with us. If not, oh well, it's just who we are that day and I'm not trying to make a comedy of our life just recording it day by day. Anway, I'll figure something out and keep you posted. For now, off my soap box and on to the bathroom.

These pictures are LONG overdue. We LOVE our new bathroom. I never thought that one dreadful realization of water running down the outside of our house could turn into such a beautiful place! Of course it was a dusty mess where men that smelled horribly of cigarette smoke lurked for weeks in the process. Of course I had some pretty un-kind thoughts go through my head...and the feeling that my bathroom would never been in one clean piece again. But as most things, what seemed like a lifetime while we were in it was really just a blip that ended in perfect time for me to throw up in the toilet a record number of times. God at least protected me from morning sickness until they were done. And...the sickness is really at part to blame for how long it's taken me to get these up. I will say that you can find AWESOME things for a great price if you do your research or ask me about my favorite sites. We got to do lots of fun things not in our original plan because I kept finding ways to get cheaper prices on our hardware and such. So, if you're entering into the home face lifting season, don't hesitate to ask about my bargain hunting finds. I'm not ashamed to love a deal :) So without further delay...the before during and after pictures of our bathroom - if you click them they will appear larger for detail enjoyment!