Welcome home!

Michael is home!!  My mom came up to Logan to help out with the little guy, and we needed the help.  Life with a newborn is so unpredictable.  It will just take a little more getting used to.  It was a lot different than being in the hospital.  It's so nice to stumble into his room in the middle of the night instead of getting dressed, putting my contacts in, and walking down the halls of the hospital.  I really miss making the nurses change his diapers when I'm half asleep. The good thing is Michael is doing so much better!  He seems a lot happier.  In fact this little boy only cries for about a half hour total a day, and most of that is when he is hungry or having a bath.

He is always doing something cute with his hands!

One of his many daily naps

His first tummy time!

 He is learning how to hold his binky in

On Tuesday we took him into the doctor for his first appointment.  He is up to 6lb 7oz, however, he had a dirty diaper and all of his oxygen tubes.  He has also grown an inch :) Josh and I are really hoping he is taller than both of us!  The doctor gave him an oxygen test and he is off the oxygen!  We still use his oxygen meter now and then, especially at night because I'm too overprotective.  But by Monday everything related to his oxygen should be gone!  We are so happy our little boy is doing better.  He really scared us for a while, but now he is a happy little thing! 

The Saga Begins...

Michael Paul Crump was born 11/12/11 at 6:42 pm, 5 lb 14 oz and 18.5" long!

On Saturday morning I started having a few small contractions, nothing out of the usual.  Within an hour they were 3 minutes apart and made me double over in pain.  At that point Josh came home from work and got our stuff ready for the hospital.  A little after noon we checked in and started getting ready for our little guy!  The first measurements showed that I was 3cm dilated.  They hooked me up to all of the machines to monitor Michael and my contractions.  After a half hour they decided I was definitely in labor.  Another half hour after that I was 4cm and starting to really feel the pain.  Within the next two hours my parents and sister showed up (my little niece came as well but she was too young to come see me).  After they heard my "breathing" they all told me to get an epidural.  I gave in and I'm glad I did!  The nurse expected me to be at 6cm after those two hours, but I was at 9.  Things moved pretty fast after that! An hour later the doctor had me start pushing, the first push broke my water.  My poor mom, who was standing about five feet away, might have gotten hit.  I pushed for another twenty minutes and he had crowned.  The nurse then called the doctor...who happened to be at home and not in the hospital.  I was told to stop pushing and the nurse tried to hold the little guy in.  Well without pushing Michael came out on his own, and was delivered by the nurse!

Little Michael wasn't crying when he slipped out.  The doctors grabbed him and started pumping oxygen into him.  The doctors assumed he wasn't breathing because he had his hand up under his neck when he was born, but they don't know for sure.  Our little boy was whisked away to the NICU soon after. 

About an hour before his birth.  The nurse in the background actually delivered Michael.

Josh was able to take a few pictures of Michael before they put the oxygen tubes and IV's in him.

It was a little frustrating not being able to hold my baby.  In fact I was tempted to storm to the NICU...but I couldn't walk for about two hours after his birth.  When our little boy was three hours old I finally got to see and hold him!  To all of the parents who have the luxury of sending their baby to the nursery at night, count your blessings.  Josh and I would get a call every three hours to walk down to the NICU to try to feed our little guy...who was pretty upset by everything that was going on around him.  The doctor eventually told us what was going on with him.  He had somehow gotten an infection, however no one really knows how.  His blood sugar was low - possibly because he was so small.  His breathing was still pretty irregular - this was eventually attributed to acid reflux.  He was put on medicine for that and antibiotics for his infection.  It took a few days but our little guy finally got better.  He was discharged last Thursday, when he was 5 days old.  He was sent home with oxygen, but he's home!

His head was smaller than my palm!

His going home outfit!  A newborn size and it was still too big

He didn't like the car seat at all :( poor little boy! Luckily we live down the street from the hospital

Elephantitis

To go along with my bloated physical features and feelings, I decided to get crafty and make something that shows EXACTLY how I feel.

Yes, it is an elephant!  I found a pattern for this little guy right before Halloween when I went to a craft party with Sylvia.  It's so cute I couldn't resist!  It was a little rocky at first; the ears are uneven, I had to make three tails because I sewed them the wrong way, the elephant is taller than it is wide.  Eventually I will get better at making these, at least I hope so because I have fabric to make 4 more!  I think they will be one of Michael's favorite chew toys.  At the moment I'm trying to find something safe to put in the ears to make them crinkly, I'm thinking the plastic wrap from gift baskets.  If you have any ideas please let me know!

Here you can see the cute trunk....and lopsided ears.  The ears actually don't look that bad in person because the whole elephant is a little lopsided, so the right ear is only slightly lower than the left

 The butt of the elephant.  This is the tail, which is actually the third tail because I made many sewing errors.

Thankfully my mom was there to help me!  She knows a lot more about sewing than I do, plus I used her sewing machine.  Thanks mom!

On a somewhat related note, there is snow in Logan.  Finally.  I actually hate snow unless snowboarding is involved, but because of my elephant size I can feel comfortable outside for the first time since May.  For the last 4 months Josh has been freezing inside of our apartment because I turn the AC on all day, leave a window open at night, and refuse to sleep with anything but the sheet.  Let's just say he has been wearing a jacket indoors and has been as cuddly as possible for body heat.  Poor boy :(.  Well now that there is snow I finally turned the heater on, and the result: Josh is walking around in a t-shirt and I'm sitting here with thick socks, sweats, and his thickest hoodie on.  What is going on with my body??  Maybe the elephants know.

Last Pregnancy Post

This little boy is coming any day now!!  We are so excited! We have our bags packed and are waiting for the big moment to come

I feel - and look - as big as a house!  To not forget some of our pregnancy moments, I will write them down :)

Our ages at his birth:  Kim-19, Josh-23

We found out I was pregnant:  March 5, 2011 :)

How we found out:  We wanted to have a baby, but had no idea he would come so quickly after we started trying!  I went through a box of expensive tests with negative results, so I decided to buy some cheaper dollar store tests that were deemed "as affective as the expensive brands".  I woke up feeling a little sick and decided to see if the dollar store brands work, as you can see below (there should be two dark red lines, not one dark red and one very light pink) they don't!  We rushed out to buy an expensive test that was 100% positive!

First doctors appointment:  April 18th

We found out it was a boy on:  May 21st, when I was 14 weeks along

His name:  Michael Paul.  Josh wanted to call him Michael Scott after The Office, but I refused once we found out it was a boy

Worst pregnancy symptoms:  The non-stop morning sickness for the first 20 weeks!

Best pregnancy symptoms:  Being so tired that I could sleep all day and not feel guilty about it

First thing we bought for baby:  A pack of newborn onesies that made me want to cry every time I picked them up

How much weight gained:  Kim - 45 lbs, Josh - 10 lbs (I blame this on the fact that I am constantly making desserts)

Weirdest pregnancy dream:  I had a dream that I not only had a newborn baby, I had 5 of them

My Cravings: usually sweet stuff, mostly cheesecake and fruit

Josh's Cravings:  Mostly Mexican food.  I couldn't eat tomatoes or onions for the first 4-5 months so he always craved it!