I finally posted some pictures of Porter! ENJOY! 
Monday, February 23, 2009
Saturday, February 21, 2009
PORTER JED CRAVEN IS HERE
!!WELCOME PORTER JED CRAVEN!! Our little guy is finally here.. 10 days early and now I could never imagine my life without him! He has already brought so much joy and happiness into our lives and we couldn't be happier. Porter was born on Tuesday, February 17th, 2009 at 3:56AM. He weighed only 4lbs13oz and was 16 1/2 inches long. I am so excited to tell the birthing story because it is kinda funny (I can say that now that the labor is over..). It is going to be pretty long, so bear with me! HERE IT GOES... :)
I had been feeling contractions pretty much all day long but didn't really think anything of it because they were so far apart. I even decided that I would go to work that night. I left for work at about 10:30PM and then at about 12:15AM, my contractions started getting closer and closer together..about 10 minutes apart. At about that same time I lost my mucus plug but I still wasn't in a lot of pain. My contractions quickly got closer and closer together and I decided that I should go home just in case.
By the time I got home it was about 1:00AM. I took a warm bath to see if that would help ease the pain..it didn't. They started getting worse and worse. I called the hospital to see if I should go in but they told me that the first baby usually comes very slow and that if my contractions weren't less than 3 minutes apart they would probably send me home. I was in so much pain but decided to wait just a little longer. I climbed into bed for about 5 minutes when I told Paul that WE WERE GOING TO THE HOSPITAL because Porter was on his way out. The contractions hurt so bad that I felt like the only way I could tolerate them was to hunch over and dry heave. We hurried and grabbed Porters diaper bag and a couple of things for us and we were off. Luckily the hospital was only about 10 minutes away. For some reason the worst thing for my contractions was sitting, so on the way to the hospital I had Paul stop 4 times while I hopped out of the car to stand up and hunch over to be able to bear my contractions!
FINALLY we made it the hospital. The nurse that was checking us in was soooo slow and didn't believe me that I was in so much pain and told me that they would probably end up sending me home. She checked me to see how far dialated I was and found out that I was already dialated to a 7..and then started believing me that I was in pain. They took me to the birthing room where I already felt the intense urge to push. The baby was on his way and I still had no epidural and the doctor was still not there. I was such a brat and kept asking the nurses if they wanted me to find the anaesthesiologist since they weren't doing a very good job at it! :) They checked me again and I was dialated to a 10.. and still no epidural! The nurses could tell that the baby had black hair before I received my epidural). My contractions hurt so bad that I told the nurses I was not going to sit in the bed and that I had to keep standing. They had to give me the IV standing up. Luckily the anaesthesiologist came, gave me the epidural, the nurses finally forced me in the bed because they knew Porter was on his way out. Luckily I only had to push about 4 times before he was out. He came so fast that the doctor didn't even make it on time to deliver him. (He walked in 2 minutes after he was born and said "what is that baby doing here?"). Porter was born with the cord wrapped around his neck which made his heart rate drop. I am wondering if this is what was happening a couple of weeks ago when his heart rate was dropping. So Porter was born about 1/2 hour after we arrived at the hospital. The doctor told me that with my future pregnancies, I will have to get induced a couple of weeks early to make sure my babies aren't born on the side of the road! :)
Since Porter was so small, he had a couple of complications when he was born. He had a hard time regulating his temperature, had very low glucose levels since he couldn't figure out how to suck and breath and swallow when feeding, and had jaundice. Everything else he tested totally fine with. By the time we left the hospital he was doing so much better. We just have a couple of follow up appoinments with the hospital to try and get his jaundice in control. I am also not able to breast feed him yet because they want everything that he takes in to be measured to make sure that Porter is getting enough fat to gain some weight. The doctor let us know that because he is so tiny we need to make sure that he always wears a hat, booties and is wrapped up in at least 3 blankets. He has the most beautiful skin that I have ever seen. He has a tiny bit of black hair, gorgeous dark blue eyes, long slender feet (definitely from his dad), my eyes and Pauls nose and cute little chin. I couldn't believe all of our wonderful family members and friends that visited us at the hospital. We had so much support. It was incredible.
Paul is the best dad in the world! I always knew that he was going to be a wonderful Dad.. but WOW! He is amazing. He changes diapers and has basically made every bottle for Porter so far. I love just watching him holding Porter or rocking him while he feeds him. He asks me over and over if there is anything that he can help with and is just so awesome. Paul loves Porter so much and Porter is so lucky to have him as his Dad.
We love little Porter so much! It is so incredible for me to think that he was in heaven with Heavenly Father just a short little time ago. I have heard over and over again that there is nothing like the love that a Mother has for her children, and now I truely believe that! I just love him so much and am so excited to watch him grow!! We are just so grateful that he is here and healthy! WE LOVE YOU PORTER!
I had been feeling contractions pretty much all day long but didn't really think anything of it because they were so far apart. I even decided that I would go to work that night. I left for work at about 10:30PM and then at about 12:15AM, my contractions started getting closer and closer together..about 10 minutes apart. At about that same time I lost my mucus plug but I still wasn't in a lot of pain. My contractions quickly got closer and closer together and I decided that I should go home just in case.
By the time I got home it was about 1:00AM. I took a warm bath to see if that would help ease the pain..it didn't. They started getting worse and worse. I called the hospital to see if I should go in but they told me that the first baby usually comes very slow and that if my contractions weren't less than 3 minutes apart they would probably send me home. I was in so much pain but decided to wait just a little longer. I climbed into bed for about 5 minutes when I told Paul that WE WERE GOING TO THE HOSPITAL because Porter was on his way out. The contractions hurt so bad that I felt like the only way I could tolerate them was to hunch over and dry heave. We hurried and grabbed Porters diaper bag and a couple of things for us and we were off. Luckily the hospital was only about 10 minutes away. For some reason the worst thing for my contractions was sitting, so on the way to the hospital I had Paul stop 4 times while I hopped out of the car to stand up and hunch over to be able to bear my contractions!
FINALLY we made it the hospital. The nurse that was checking us in was soooo slow and didn't believe me that I was in so much pain and told me that they would probably end up sending me home. She checked me to see how far dialated I was and found out that I was already dialated to a 7..and then started believing me that I was in pain. They took me to the birthing room where I already felt the intense urge to push. The baby was on his way and I still had no epidural and the doctor was still not there. I was such a brat and kept asking the nurses if they wanted me to find the anaesthesiologist since they weren't doing a very good job at it! :) They checked me again and I was dialated to a 10.. and still no epidural! The nurses could tell that the baby had black hair before I received my epidural). My contractions hurt so bad that I told the nurses I was not going to sit in the bed and that I had to keep standing. They had to give me the IV standing up. Luckily the anaesthesiologist came, gave me the epidural, the nurses finally forced me in the bed because they knew Porter was on his way out. Luckily I only had to push about 4 times before he was out. He came so fast that the doctor didn't even make it on time to deliver him. (He walked in 2 minutes after he was born and said "what is that baby doing here?"). Porter was born with the cord wrapped around his neck which made his heart rate drop. I am wondering if this is what was happening a couple of weeks ago when his heart rate was dropping. So Porter was born about 1/2 hour after we arrived at the hospital. The doctor told me that with my future pregnancies, I will have to get induced a couple of weeks early to make sure my babies aren't born on the side of the road! :)
Since Porter was so small, he had a couple of complications when he was born. He had a hard time regulating his temperature, had very low glucose levels since he couldn't figure out how to suck and breath and swallow when feeding, and had jaundice. Everything else he tested totally fine with. By the time we left the hospital he was doing so much better. We just have a couple of follow up appoinments with the hospital to try and get his jaundice in control. I am also not able to breast feed him yet because they want everything that he takes in to be measured to make sure that Porter is getting enough fat to gain some weight. The doctor let us know that because he is so tiny we need to make sure that he always wears a hat, booties and is wrapped up in at least 3 blankets. He has the most beautiful skin that I have ever seen. He has a tiny bit of black hair, gorgeous dark blue eyes, long slender feet (definitely from his dad), my eyes and Pauls nose and cute little chin. I couldn't believe all of our wonderful family members and friends that visited us at the hospital. We had so much support. It was incredible.
Paul is the best dad in the world! I always knew that he was going to be a wonderful Dad.. but WOW! He is amazing. He changes diapers and has basically made every bottle for Porter so far. I love just watching him holding Porter or rocking him while he feeds him. He asks me over and over if there is anything that he can help with and is just so awesome. Paul loves Porter so much and Porter is so lucky to have him as his Dad.
We love little Porter so much! It is so incredible for me to think that he was in heaven with Heavenly Father just a short little time ago. I have heard over and over again that there is nothing like the love that a Mother has for her children, and now I truely believe that! I just love him so much and am so excited to watch him grow!! We are just so grateful that he is here and healthy! WE LOVE YOU PORTER!
Sunday, February 8, 2009
37 weeks and lots of hospital and doctor visits!
WEEK 37So, our little guy now weighs approximately 6 1/2 pounds and is around 19 inches long. My appointment last week revealed that he is indeed head down and should stay there! I've definitely gotten a lot bigger. Everywhere I go, everyone makes comments like "You're ready to pop," or asks "Oh my, when are you due? Any day, right?" Even though I am indeed HUGE and getting pretty uncomfortable, I really think I will miss being pregnant, and will miss my pregnant belly.
Last Wednesday Paul and I went in for our weekly appointment. We found out that I am 2cm dialated and 50% effaced. I was so excited that I am at least starting the process. The doctor said that was pretty good since this is my first baby. The doctor then asked me how much I feel baby Porter moving, and (like it has been most of the pregnancy) not very much.. definitely not as much as I should be feeling him. The doctor then sent us right over to the American Fork hospital to check him just in case something was wrong. The hospital immediately hooked us up to the heart monitor and found our baby in a deep sleep (of course). The nurse buzzed him over and over and he woke up for a second and then fell right back asleep. While being monitored, we found out that I was having minor contractions (I couldn't feel anything) and that every time I contracted, baby Porters heart rate would drop abnormally low. In a 2 hour period, there was about 4 of these drops. They continued monitoring us for the next hour and I was then sent home, telling us that we needed to come back the next day. The next day Paul and I were at the hospital for a total of 5 hours but were fine because they brought us all kinds of cookies and crackers and juice. :)
For some reason the dips in his heart rate continued happening and the nurses weren't sure why. They wanted to hook me up to an IV and give me fake contractions to see how the baby reacted to them, but then (thankfully) opted for 2 different ultrasounds instead which revealed that everything looked perfectly normal. They continued monitoring for about an hour after the ultrasounds and then sent us home telling us to come one more time (2 days later). The third time at the hospital I was so nervous that because of Porters heart rate, they would just take him through c-section.. thankfully that didn't happen. Again, we were hooked up to the monitors for about 2 hours. His heart rate dropped twice from his normal range of about 135-150 to below 100. One of those times showed me having a small contraction, and one of them didn't. The nurses had me switch sides that I was laying on and Porter must have liked the left side better because for the next hour his heart rate was perfectly normal. We then went home and were told to make sure that we pay attention to that he moves at least in the morning, noon and night, and if not.. to come right back to the hospital. Because we aren't sure how he will react once I start harder contractions, we were told to come right back with any sign of a contraction. It scares me being home because there is no way that I am able to tell if his heart rate is dipping or not. I will be so thankful when he is here and healthy!! Hopefully he comes early!! I can't even begin to describe how excited I am to meet my little boy!! I already have more love for him then I ever knew was even possible!! I get teary eyed when I think that in the next couple of weeks we will finally be able to bring him home! I can't wait to hold him and feed him and play with him! I can't wait to see what he looks like and to start seeing his little personality developing. I am praying so hard everyday that I will be able to be the kind of mom that he needs and that he deserves! WE LOVE YOU SO MUCH BABY PORTER AND CAN'T WAIT FOR YOUR BIRTH!!Here are the ultrasound pictures we received from the hospital: ENJOY!
WEEK 36
(I am catching up for last week!!)
Your baby is continuing to put on the weight (about an ounce a day), but you most likely will not notice a change in your own weight. You may feel like there is no room left for your baby to grow and may be very tired of feeling so "big", but remember that the longer your baby is in its protective environment up until its due date, usually the better it is.
Your baby is continuing to put on the weight (about an ounce a day), but you most likely will not notice a change in your own weight. You may feel like there is no room left for your baby to grow and may be very tired of feeling so "big", but remember that the longer your baby is in its protective environment up until its due date, usually the better it is.You may notice an increase in the amount of Braxton Hicks contractions that you experience. True labor will eventually follow the Braxton Hicks contractions, but many women are often told that they are actually experiencing a false alarm or false labor. While this can be incredibly frustrating, it can be a good practice run for getting to the hospital.
Your baby is likely between 17 ½ to 19 inches long and weighs 5 ¾ to 6 ¾ pounds.
The fine downy hair, lanugo, that has covered you baby’s skin is beginning to disappear, along with the vernix caseosa. Vernix caseosa is the thick, creamy substance that has protected your baby’s skin while he/she has been submerged in amniotic fluid. Both of these are swallowed by your baby, along with additional amniotic fluid, which combine together to form meconium, or your baby’s first bowel movement.
Your baby should be in the head down position, but do not panic if he/she has yet to attain this position.
The fine downy hair, lanugo, that has covered you baby’s skin is beginning to disappear, along with the vernix caseosa. Vernix caseosa is the thick, creamy substance that has protected your baby’s skin while he/she has been submerged in amniotic fluid. Both of these are swallowed by your baby, along with additional amniotic fluid, which combine together to form meconium, or your baby’s first bowel movement.
Your baby should be in the head down position, but do not panic if he/she has yet to attain this position.
BABY SHOWER JANUARY 24TH
CATCH UP.. MY BABY SHOWER!!!
About 2 weeks ago, we had my baby shower and it was absolutely amazing!! My Mom and little sister Natasha did such a good job at 
putting everything together! 
We all had a lot of fun!! My Mom made the yummiest treats. She made awesome eclairs with
powdered sugar on top, little philo pastries with chicken salad, and the 
absolute cutest flower sandwiches that she had 
cut with cookie cutters 
out of bread, ham, turkey and cheese with a dab of cream cheese in the middle. Very tasty!! I couldn't believe
how many people showed up! It was so sweet of everyone to come! My little sister Natasha ran the shower games which were: Baby babble 
(first one to unscramble cute baby words wins), and then Baby shower bingo to go along with the presents that I opened. They were a blast! 
The prizes were cute baby bottles full of confetti and lotion. I can't 
believe all of the things that baby 
Craven got from the shower. Everyone was so kind.. and we definitely have everything that we need. We received some absolutely beautiful quilts from my sister Donna and sister in law Julie that were just amazing, cute soft 
blankets, tons of adorable baby clothes, 1 running stroller travel set (with carseat) which 
we will use as our regular 
stroller, and another awesome Jeep running stroller from my parents which will help get me back into shape, cute baby books and toys, tons of diapers and wetwipes and 
baby creams which will definitely be extremely helpful, a baby bumbo, and lots of other wonderful baby items. THANK YOU SO MUCH EVERYONE, especially to my Mom for all the hard work that she did to put on such a successful baby shower!! 
It kind of scares me that my baby shower is over because the next step is: BABY CRAVENS BIRTH... 
but we are so excited and can't wait for our little guy to be here!!
putting everything together! We all had a lot of fun!! My Mom made the yummiest treats. She made awesome eclairs with
powdered sugar on top, little philo pastries with chicken salad, and the 
absolute cutest flower sandwiches that she had 
cut with cookie cutters 
out of bread, ham, turkey and cheese with a dab of cream cheese in the middle. Very tasty!! I couldn't believe 
how many people showed up! It was so sweet of everyone to come! My little sister Natasha ran the shower games which were: Baby babble (first one to unscramble cute baby words wins), and then Baby shower bingo to go along with the presents that I opened. They were a blast! 
The prizes were cute baby bottles full of confetti and lotion. I can't 
believe all of the things that baby 
Craven got from the shower. Everyone was so kind.. and we definitely have everything that we need. We received some absolutely beautiful quilts from my sister Donna and sister in law Julie that were just amazing, cute soft 
blankets, tons of adorable baby clothes, 1 running stroller travel set (with carseat) which 
we will use as our regular 
stroller, and another awesome Jeep running stroller from my parents which will help get me back into shape, cute baby books and toys, tons of diapers and wetwipes and baby creams which will definitely be extremely helpful, a baby bumbo, and lots of other wonderful baby items. THANK YOU SO MUCH EVERYONE, especially to my Mom for all the hard work that she did to put on such a successful baby shower!! 
It kind of scares me that my baby shower is over because the next step is: BABY CRAVENS BIRTH... but we are so excited and can't wait for our little guy to be here!!
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