One month old and growing like a weed!

***For once these pictures are in order by date, oldest to most recent.***

Seth holding Hannah. He likes to do this more and more as the days go by. Hannah sleeping in the most comfortable position for her, on her tummy on the nursing pillow. I think it helps with her gassy tummy. "So tired!"

"Are you still taking pictures of me???" "Daddy, no more pictures!" Henry with his babies. Even though you cannot see her face this is one of my favorites so far! Meeting her Uncle Gabe for the first time. One more semester at FSU and he'll be home for good. We hope to see him much more often than we do now! No matter how much I try, Seth usually ends up in the pictures.

Another sleeping picture, but doesn't she just look so happy?!?!? I told you, he loves to hold her! Hannah in her Christmas outfit. She's facing the Christmas tree, hence the look of wonder as she stares at the lights. This was taken on Dec. 29th and best shows her growth and weight gain. Do you see the attitude already? I do! It is hard for me to believe that a month has passed already. Hannah is officially 5 weeks old and has changed so much it is crazy!

We had her one month check up on the 27th. She is growing by leaps and bounds! She weighed in at 9 pounds 14 ounces and was 22 1/8 inches long, which places her in the 75% for both weight and length. I knew that the kids would be different, but not this different. I can only imagine that it is also just a difference in the sexes.

Hannah is still having gas issues. We have found that giving her the infant gas drops with every feeding helps her pass it easier but, she still has her fussy moments. I have also figured out that I cannot have caffeine after lunch anymore. It seems that she is very sensitive to it - Seth never was. We have had a couple of rough starts to a few nights because of ONE drink with caffeine. So, back to no caffeine for me! (I'm really ok with it, it just means I can't have sweet tea at restaurants anymore.)

Otherwise, things are going really well. Seth still loves his "Baby Nahnuh" to death, maybe more. Hannah is noticing new things every day and trying even more to find her voice. As for me and Henry, we are loving being the parents of two such amazing and beautiful children. We feel extremely lucky to have been doubly blessed by God.

Check back tomorrow to see pictures of our visit with Grandma Rose and company!

2 Week Check Up

***This is an update I thought I had posted, obviously, I hadn't! So, in the hope of saving myself some time, I am going to include all of the pictures in one update and leave this for you just to read!*** We took Hannah in for her two week check up today. Thankfully there were no shots involved for her as she had her first shot while we were still in the hospital. This was just the beginning of our routine appointments with her to check her weight gain and growth. We expected to see some weight gain and we knew she had grown, but the amount of gain and growh shocked us! Little Miss Piggy is now 8 pounds even (still only 25% for her age) and 21 3/4 inches long (75% for her age)! Of course, like us the doctor was quite pleased with her growth and continues to be impressed by how much she is doing at such a young age. Hannah has changed quite a bit since she was born. She has filled out some, but is quite long so most of the weight gain I have noticed is in her cheeks. She has nice chunky cheeks now which are so incredibly kissable! She gets lots of kisses every day from all of us, including her big brother! Hannah is now eating every three hours during the day and 4 or 5 hours at night. She is a very happy baby, although she is beginning to suffer from some evening gas issues. We (the doctor and Hanry and I) are not calling this colic yet, but it may be going that route. She seems to have trouble at the same time each evening recently with gas, but she is great at working it out on her own and really doesn't complain about it too much. Hannah is much more aware of her surroundings when she is awake now. She looks at everything and even today tried to "coo" at the ceiling fan when she saw it. She made a few noises at it and then stopped. Hearing her little voice was so beautiful, so sweet (and totally makes you forget what the cries sound like)!

The Week in Review

Rather than bog this update down with lots and lots of words, I'll just give the update using pictures and captions below each picture. I will tell you that as of Monday Hannah had gained back the weight she lost after birth and then some! She weighed in at 7 pounds even, just one week after birth. This is something doctors look for by the time the baby is 2 weeks old. She also is moving ahead with respect to other goals as well. The doctor laid her down on her stomach and she immediately pushed up with her forearms and lifter her head up. This is something they look for babies to do by the time they are 2 months old. Dr. E. said that we definitely have another Superstar on our hands! The pictures start with the rest of the hospital pictures and end with a few taken today. Enjoy!

Grandpa Huseman

Aunt Stacie

Great Grandma Millie

Great Grandma Nettie

Great Grandpa Rich

Grandpa Art

Uncle Saul

Miss Hannah is not ready to go home yet, but I'm not sure why! (We have a better picture, but I just felt this is SOOOO Hannah that you all had to see it!)

Napping with Daddy

Cute as a button and wide awake

I was trying to get a closer picture of her face and when I snapped it, she smiled!

Seth's first time holding Hannah. This is picture #1, watch the progression as we tried to get a picture of Seth kissing the top of Hannah's head. Picture #2 - "What do you want me to do Mom?" says Seth.

Picture #3 - "I tried to kiss her and this is the thanks I get!" says Seth.

Picture #4 - Hannah is calm again and Seth is about to try to push her out of his lap, he's done taking pictures with her!

Introducing....

Miss Hannah Grace Crafton! Born: November 26, 2007 at 7:33pm Weight: 5 pounds 10 oz...oops! Make that 6 pounds 14 ounces!!!! Length: 19.5 inches

Our Little Angel

Henry taking his first good look at Hannah.

Still pregnant and in early labor. Daddy and babies - day 2. Proud Grandma

Another proud Grandma

Seth meeting Hannah for the first time.

Almost ready to be bundled to meet Mommy.

All I can say is WOW! What a day Monday was! I'll spare the gory details and give you a slight glimpse into what the day was like. We got to the hospital around 7:15 am and checked in. We went up to the Labor and Delivery floor, got settled into our room and waited for Dr. Brody to come in and start the induction. Dr. Brody arrived and the induction process began around 9:30 am. My contractions started at 10:00 am and got progressively stronger over the next four hours. Dr. Brody came back and gave me another dose of the induction medication at 2:00 pm which helped things along. By the time Dr. Brody came back in to check on me at 5:30 pm I was dilated to 3 cm and having very strong and regular contractions. He broke my water while we waited on the epidural. He told me it would be several more hours, but he felt sure she would be born before midnight. I was quite uncomfortable and could not wait to see the anesthesiologist walk through the door. Unfortunately for me, it took the doctor 15 minutes to place the epidural and it never really took full effect. By the time he was done with the epidural I was 4cm and still extremely uncomfortable. We tried everything to get the epidural to take full effect and to my disappointment were not able to achieve anything except making my right side completely numb ... I had FULL feeling on my left side. After all of the rolling back and forth from side to side I was hit with the feeling that the baby was ready to come out. By now, it was 7:10 pm-ish and I was crying I hurt so bad! Anyhow, the nurses checked me and realized very quickly that I was complete and ready to push (DUH, I tried to tell them this myself)!!! So...the nurses put a call into Dr. Brody and told him to hurry (safely, of course) and then told me that I needed to breathe through the contractions, not push and wait for Dr. Brody. Those were the toughest 20 minutes of my entire life! Not pushing was awful and some very funny things came out of my mouth while I waited in pain! Between crying and contractions and breathing I kept telling the nurses to just let me push, find another doctor - any doctor, and when they told me "No, you're doing great, keep breathing", I told them all that they were mean! Yes, I seriously said it! I literally told them all that they were "Mean, Mean, Mean!" Anyway, Dr. Brody got to the hospital by the time he had his scrubs on and the gown and one glove Hannah was already beginning to make her own grand entrance into the world. The look on his face when he turned around to see her coming out on her own with no pushing on my part was priceless. I might have laughed if the contraction wasn't hurting so bad! Dr. Brody finished the delivery and I only pushed once. The relief I felt was immediate and so wonderful! Hannah was placed on my belly and the introductions to me and her Daddy began. She was quiet at first and then she let loose! Those first cries are always and will always be the most beautiful sounds in the world. The first thing we noticed about her was that she looks exactly like Seth did when he was born. It was really quite shocking how closely they resembled each other at birth. After the nurses got Hannah cleaned up a bit they placed her in the scale and told us that her weight was 5lbs 10 oz. The change in her weight came several hours later when they had her in the nursery. The took her weight and the scale said 6 lbs 14 oz. Of course it is impossible for her to have a 22% weight gain in such a short amount of time so they weighed her twice more and realized that the scale she was weighed on at birth was wrong! We are at home now and we are all doing wonderfully. Seth seems to like his new little sister and shows a little interest in her. He is acting out just a little, but that is to be expected and it is nothing worth complaining about. Hannah is a champ at nursing, just like her brother was. She is very calm and quiet unless she is wet or hungry and as is typical of newborns, she does have her days and nights mixed up. Overall, everything is awesome and being the parents of two children is going smoothly. I feel great and seem to be recovering much quicker this time around and Henry is a huge help and doting father all over again. We make a great team, if I do say so myself!

November 15, 2007 - 37 weeks 3 days

Well, there has been a change in plans! I know everyone was expecting to hear that Hannah will be born tomorrow and unless she changes her mind herself that will not be the case. Last Monday I found out that my doctor cannot induce me tomorrow. Needless to say I was seriously upset for more reasons than one. I am ready to have this little girl in my arms instead of my abdomen but more than that I am ready to move into the next phase of my life and have everything with my kidney over with. Little did I know that there were other things planned in that respect as well! Not only will I not be induce tomorrow but, I will not be having my kidney surgery until the New Year! I was given the impression all along that I will be fine to have the surgery before the end of the year and I found out Tuesday that is not the case as well. So, as you might imagine I have experienced the gamut of emotions this week. (Oh and just to add fuel to the fire, my OB will be out of town Wed. thru Fri. of this week and has another doctor I have never met filling in for him! His is a single doctor practice as well!) I cried to my Mom for an hour about everything until I decided that this is all God's plan and there is nothing I can do about it. I also talked with my Dad about it and he helped to point out that nothing but good things can come from these delays. Hannah will be bigger and healthier and her lungs will be more mature, it means there isn't an urgency to have my kidney removed and I will get to enjoy the holidays with my children without having the burden of recovering from a recent surgery. Talking to my Mom always comforts me and talking to my Dad always helps to put things in perspective and calm me. I have the best parents! Soooooo, all of that said...my induction is now scheduled for November 26th, assuming Hannah does not decide to come before then on her own. I am ok with everything now and I cannot wait for this week to be over and to meet my newest angel. (Henry can't wait either!) I did see the doctor for a regular check up. Everything continues to look good. My weight went up by 5 pounds. I was a little shocked but, Oh well! My blood pressure was great, 110/68 and the baby's heart rate was great. According to my OB I am still 1cm and 60% effaced. This shocked and almost upset me but he and Henry both pointed out that this was the first time HE (the doctor) has examined me so the measurements will be a little different than that of the nurse practitioner. (Thank goodness because I was seriously worried for a minute there!) So, that's about it for mow. I'll have one more appointment this week on Wednesday and then it is off to the hospital on Monday, the 26th...if not before then! We'll be sure to keep you all up to date with the latest!

36 weeks 3 days and we have progress!!!

Well thank the Lord we do have progress! I went to the doctor today for my regular check up and was thrilled to find out that we are making progress. First, I didn't gain any weight and my blood pressure was good (120/70). Then it was time for the internal. Not pleasant, but I loved the outcome! I am currently one centimeter dilated and 60% effaced, my cervix is soft and favorable for induction and Sherry could even feel the top of Hannah's head which means she has dropped! (Last week I measured 38 weeks, this week I was only 37.) I could only be happier if she had told me I was in labor and didn't know it...which I am not. So, as far as delivery goes, unless I go into labor on my own, we will more than likely be inducing on November 19, unless Dr. B. decides against it. We feel sure he will be ok with it, so we are making our plans. Things are almost ready. Henry has one last coat of polyurethane to put on Hannah's furniture before we can put it up in her room. That will be done this weekend, so we should be able to use it on Sunday. There are a few little, little things I need to finish as decoration for her room and then all we have to do is put everything away! Aside from that we need to install her car seat in the car and pack suitcases for Seth's stay at my parents house and our hospital stay. Most everything can be done last minute...even though it should already be done, and I am ok with that. We are going to do our best to have everything done by Sunday in the event Hannah decides to come earlier than we have planned. It is coming down to the wire and I couldn't be happier! I am so ready to have this little munchkin it isn't even funny. I am ready to see her little face and get to know her. I will miss being pregnant, but since this has been a completely different pregnancy altogether, I am ready for it to be over with. I am ready to move on to the next phase of everything and have the surgery to have my kidney removed. I am ready to move on to just being the Mom of two beautiful children and the wife of one amazing husband. I am ready to be done with doctors and hospitals and I haven't even started that phase yet! I am ready to know what my "new normal" with two kids is like. We will be sure to keep you all updated as to Miss Hannah's arrival. When we know more or if she decides to come early, you will know!

35 weeks 3 days

Well, I was supposed to go to the doctor last week but, I didn't go. Seth was sick for two weeks and unfortunately I managed to catch a bit of the stomach bug from him. I was under the weather for about 48 hours and could not make it to my 34 week appointment. Thankfully, I did get over it quickly and I am feeling like myself again...a very pregnant self, but myself none the less. So, today we went in for my 35 week appointment. My Doctor was not there so we saw his Nurse Practitioner. She is awesome! She cannot deliver me but we have developed the same kind of relationship with her that we have with my doctor, so seeing her is never a problem with us. We had to have the Group B test today and she went ahead and did an internal since I have been having sporadic contractions. As it turns out I am almost 1 centimeter dilated. I was hoping for more, but I really can't complain. Almost a centimeter is better than nothing at all!!! My weight was only up 2 pounds and my blood pressure remains fantastic at 110/62. I think my pressure has been lower during this pregnancy than it ever has been since I have been an adult! I know part of that is due to the pregnancy but, I am hoping some of it has to do with me being slightly more active than ever before. I walk up and down our stairs many times a day, play with Seth and chase him all the time and we try to walk as much as we can. The walking had to slow down the past couple of weeks while we were sick, but I am hoping to pick it back up a little to help get things moving along! Don't get me wrong, I am not complaining about being pregnant, I am just at the end and ready to meet our daughter! I am experiencing things I did not experience with Seth and it is quite a new and different experience for me! According to many people, Hannah has "dropped." I can feel the difference myself and boy is it a strange feeling. Sometimes I feel as though she is just going to fall out! Now, I know that will not happen, but that is the feeling I get. I am also experiencing a different kind of tired. It is end of pregnancy tired and chasing around a toddler tired all at the same time. Boy is that strange! Insomnia is starting to set in a little as well. I am not sure how much of it is insomnia and how much of it is anxiety over being "ready" for the baby. I know that no one is ever 100% ready for a new baby, but I feel like we were very close to it with Seth. Poor Hannah still doesn't have a completed room! Henry will be staining her dresser this weekend and we hope it will be finished and dry by Sunday so we can move it up to her room and finish putting things together. Right now all of her freshly washed clothes, blankets, towels and such are all piled neatly in her crib, ready to be put away! I know these things are all trivial and can be done at any time, so we'll just call this the last few weeks jitters, more commonly known as my "nesting instinct" kicking in! So, all in all, we are trying to get everything finished in the next two weekends because, truthfully, that is all we have left!

32 weeks, 3 days - Doctor Appointment

Well, I had another OB appointment yesterday. Things went well, as usual so there isn't really too much to report. My blood pressure was great, 126/66 and my weight was up another 6 pounds, although that number is skewed by about 4 pounds. Seriously! I had to see the doctor at his other office and the scale there is about 4 pounds off from the one at the office I usually go to! This happened while I was pregnant with Seth as well. Hannah's heartbeat was good and strong and she was feeling a bit active and kicked the monitor a few times. These are all great signs of her continued growth and development. The only real change I can account for is that Hannah has decided to take up residence on the right side of my abdomen. This normally wouldn't be a problem, but that is the side the tumor is on and it seems like she is pressing against the kidney a whole lot more often causing me great discomfort...ok, pain. I normally don't complain about pain but, this is much worse than it was even when we found the tumor. The only real solution is to give birth and since she is not yet ready for that, I am stuck. Of course, I would much rather live with the pain than have a premature baby girl on my hands. We did speak with my doctor about the pain and he said at this point everything is up to me. If the pain becomes unbearable, at 37 weeks we can have an amnio performed to check her lung maturity and she could be delivered as early as that day if her lungs are mature. Henry and I are not entirely sure that is a route which we want to take so we have decided it is best to just take things one day at a time. Well, I guess I had more to say than I had originally thought! Overall, everything is going very well and I couldn't be happier. Hannah's nursery is almost finished and her dresser and chest should be delivered today or tomorrow and Henry should have them stained by the end of this weekend, so I am feeling much better about our current state of readiness! I am hoping to take a couple more pregnancy pictures in the next day or two so be sure to check back soon!

31 weeks 3 days - Level II Ultrasound

The above is a picture of the four chambers of Hannah's heart.

A picture of Hannah resting her head on her fist.

A perfect little (Long) foot! (No, those are not extra toes, they are actually fingers, she had her foot pulled up to her hands.)

We went for our Level II ultrasound today. It was AMAZING!!!!!!!!! All things pregnancy have always amazed and confounded me but today took the cake! As I said in the title of this post I am currently 31 weeks 3 day along. We knew it would be neat to see Hannah, it always is, but today was the best ever! The ultrasound tech was very thorough and checked everything necessary but we got to see some other impressive things at the same time. She looked at everything from each of Hannah's hands and feet (counting fingers and toes) to her mouth, eye sockets and even the hair on her head...and there's a lot of it! While we were watching her, you could see Hannah practicing swallowing and sucking. She was opening and closing her eyes and even had one little hand resting under her chin. And boy those feet! It looks like she is going to take after her Uncle Gabe and Uncle Saul because they appeared to be very long! (Sorry little girl, Mommy has big feet, too!) We saw her profile, finally, and can't really guess yet who she'll look like. We were even able to see that her heart, kidneys and bladder were all functioning normally. At the end of the ultrasound we were informed that Hannah is growing beautifully, in fact, she is measuring a full week ahead, at 32 weeks 3 days gestation, and is currently estimated to weigh 4 pounds and 1 ounce.

We have one appointment a week from now on, so I'll be updating more regularly the closer we get.

30 weeks, 1 day

Well, since my last post I did finally hear back from my doctor. He played a very long game of phone tag with the Urologist, but they were finally able to talk about my case. The end result is that we are all finally on the same page and everyone is happy and confident that waiting until Hannah is born to do anything about my kidney is the right choice. Since we have already discussed inducing at 38 weeks with my OB, we have decided to stick with that plan. Henry and I are confident that she will be fully baked and ready to breath by then, especially since Seth was born at 38 weeks 2 days and was perfect! Otherwise, things have been going well. I am extremely tired and am experiencing the lack of sleep I never experienced while pregnant with Seth. Now I understand where all of my friends were coming from when they described this "symptom" to me. The only hard part is having my roudy 1 year old to chase after. Speaking of which, he was sick at the end of last week and I have discovered that Seth has the same reaction (and then some) to Dimetapp that I do! I gave him a dose of it before a nap and he did not get drowsy at all. In fact, he became downright hyper! Seriously, he was so wired and wouldn't take a nap, that I finally took him to the outdoor Outlet Mall down the road to walk around for an hour and a half. He finally fell asleep in the car around 3:15. He then took a nice long nap and went to bed at 8:00pm. Needless to say, I was exhausted! The only other notable changes could be that I have been feeling bigger and bigger every day! I guess that Little Miss is running out of room so she has started doing some strange things to stretch out. I'm not complaining, I love the movement, but it is most uncomfortable when I am sitting down to eat or sitting in an upright position just to rest. It seems like the only time I can rest well is if I am laying down because I must be encroaching in her space when I sit upright. We had another doctors appointment today. I will be going every other week from now until 36 weeks when I go weekly. My pressure today was ok, 130/60. It was mentioned that the top number was a bit high, but that was all that was said. I did have a tremendous weight gain this time...6 pounds! I guess the brownie craving is starting to catch up with me! I asked the doctor about my measurements and he said that I am exactly the same as I was with Seth, weight and everything! Now, we just have to play the waiting game to the end! All said, I am still feeling good. I enjoy being pregnant and will miss it when I am through. The reward at the end is so much greater that I can ever imagine!

Pregnancy Pictures

Well, I haven't heard anything new from my doctor, but I thought I would go ahead and post a couple of recent pregnancy pictures. They were taken on Friday night by Henry. I was 28 weeks, 5 days pregnant. Henry and I cannot tell for sure, but we both think I am actually smaller with Hannah than I was with Seth. Probably not by a whole lot, but that's ok.

Overall, I am still feeling good. Just a bit more tired than usual but that could be due to chasing after our sweet climber all day long and a lack of ability to sleep at night. Hopefully, things will settle back down and I'll be able to sleep again before we hit the end of the pregnancy.

September 6, 2007 - 27 weeks 3 days

Well, we had another OB appointment yesterday. So far things are still looking really good. My blood pressure was 128/70 and my weight was only up another pound. I am still really shocked about the lack of great weight gain this time around but, as the nurse explained it, this is a different baby and different pregnancy! I am not doing anything to try not to gain weight, but I guess I am more active this time around, so that could explain it! Hannah is still doing wonderfully. Her heart rate was nice and strong. I had to have the Rhogham(sp?) shot before I left. I don't generally like being stuck, but I can handle it most of the time. The only problem with the shot is that it stings really bad and leaves your hind end sore for several hours afterward. But, As always, I will do whatever is best for me and Hannah and this shot is absolutely medically necessary, so the temporary pain is worth it! Unfortunately, I left the appointment feeling somewhat unhappy with things again. I shared the notes from the Urologist with my doctor and he seemed a bit concerned with the plan of keeping Hannah inside until 38 weeks. Long story short, after much discussion with Henry and my parents over my own uneasiness, I called and left word for my OB to call me back on Monday. I plan on telling him that I trust him and I need for him to be ok with the plan. I will ask him to contact the Urologist himself and come to whatever conclusions they can together. Right now, they are both willing to do whatever the other feels is best and while that is great it has left me in the middle making all the plans. I am not doctor and I will never claim to be so I will feel much better knwoing that they have spoken to eachother and come up with a plan that makes them both happy. Most importantly, I need to know that my OB is confortable with the plan. I know he is concerned about me and the baby and since I could sense his concern yesterday it made me feel concerned now as well. So, hopefully, I will talk to my doctor on Monday and then he'll talk to the Urologist and we can come up with a plan that suits us all! As always, I'll update when I know more.

The past couple of months...

Well, as promised here is an update about me and Hannah and what has been going on the past couple of months! You might notice that after this post there are several others. I was keeping another blog but decided to move all of those posts here as well in order to have everything together. Feel free to read on if you like. There are also a couple of pictures of Hannah from each of the ultrasounds. Many of you know what has been going on but in the event you haven't heard here it is. Around my 13 week appointment I mentioned to my doctor that I have been having a pain in my right side for quie a long time now. After describing the pain to him he decided that I needed to have my gall bladder scanned. It took me a long time to get it done but I finally had the scan done around 20 weeks. At the scan we found that everything looked normal with my gall bladder but they found a mass on my kidney. After having an MRI (without the contrast) and consulting a Urologist it was determined that the mass is not a fatty tumor nor is it a cyst. Right nowmy Urologist is calling it a tumor and "assuming" it is cancer. The assumption is based solely upon the fact that "it's the only thing left to assume" according to the doctor. The assumption came as quite a shock to me and my family. Of course we were all immediately concerned about my health as well as Miss Hannah's health and what this does in terms of my pregnancy. Thankfully, my health still remains wonderful as does the health of the baby. Truthfully, I feel healthier this pregnancy than I did with Seth! After the initial shock, we immediately began trying to figure out what to do. Many questions were asked and it was determined that we will keep an eye on the tumor to make sure there is no abnormal growth and there being none, we will schedule surgery for a month after Hannah is born. I am a bit freightened about the surgery having never gone under the knife before, but I can honestly say those have been some of the least of my worries. My biggest worries were making plan for my family. What would we do with Seth and Hannah while I am in the hospital? How does Henry handle splitting his time between Seth and me and Hannah. Hannah will more than likeley not be able to stay with me in the hospital so he'll (Henry) be her main caretaker during my stay there. What is recovery going to be like and things like that. Fortunately, now that we have an idea of what will be happening many of my worries and fears have been put to rest. I am still nervous about the surgery, but having so much family and so many friends surrounding us, I am confident that my own little family will be well taken care of in my abscence. Henry is the best Daddy I could have ever wanted for my children and he is totally devoted to their care, so I really have no worries there either! So, that in a nut shell is what has been keeping me so busy these past couple of months, along with chasing after my toddler and trying to keep myself awake during the day. I don't remember being this tired at this point in my pregnancy with Seth but, then again, I didn't have Seth to run around after yet! As far as the pregnancy goes, I am doing quite well! I go back to the doctor tomorrow for a regular check up but until then I can tell you that my last blood pressure reading was 110/60, and my weight was only up a total of 7 pounds! This is quite an accomplishment in both areas for me as at this point in my last pregnancy my pressure was already creeping upward and my weight gain had soared past 20 pounds already! My belly is growing every day and boy can I feel it!!! I love it though. Feeling the baby move is nothing short of a miracle to me and makes me smile just about every time, although I do have my moment when it is a bit more painful than pleasant. All in all, I am feeling great and I cannot wait for the day we get to meet this little angel in person!

August 14, 2007 - 24 weeks

Well, I had my 24 week appointment today. It went very well, if I do say so myself! I had to drink the nasty stuff they give you before they do your glucose test. Then, I met with the PA. We had a nice long chat about all of the stuff going on in my life right now. She is a great lady and a part of me wishes that she could deliver me because she'd be great! Hannah is doing fantastically. Her heart rate was great and I only gained 2 pounds!!! The best news was that my blood pressure was 110/60. I was thrilled to hear that. Otherwise, there's not a whole lot to report, just you every day appointment!

July 16, 2007 - 20 weeks and she's definitely a girl!

We had our 20 week ultrasound and appointment today. My Mom came to see the "live action feature" we are calling Hannah Grace Crafton. She seemed quite pleased to be there and very excited that we found out for sure that our girl is a girl! Everything else looks great! The baby looked perfect and seems to be growing just as nicely as before. The issue with my placenta is a non-issue now. It seems that it has moved up to a point that the doctor is no longer concerned about it. My blood pressure was great again and my weight gain was another 4 pounds. I am going to try to work on keeping it down to a minimum over the next few months. The less I put on the less I have to take off!

June 26, 2007 - 17 weeks and it's a...

Girl...possibly! The doctor did the scan today and we were thrilled to find out that the baby is currently looking like a girl, but since (s)he wasn't in the best position he would not commit to (him)her being a girl. So, I am going to hold off on buying anything pink until we have our next scan in three weeks and we've decided to be somewhat reserved with our excitement until we know for 100% positive. Aside from that, everything looked pretty good. The baby looked GREAT! (S)he was measuring 17 weeks 2 days, which puts (him)her right on track and the heartbeat was nice and strong. There was one small concern but, it is something the doctor is hoping will correct itself as the pregnancy progresses. When the doctor was doing the scan he noticed that the placenta was quite low, very close to the cervix. This can cause placenta previa, so we are going to be keeping an eye on it to be sure it grows /moves higher on the uterus the further along I get. Again, this is nothing to be concerned about at this time, the doctor just wanted to give us the heads up so that we are aware of the reason we'll have a few more ultrasounds. My blood pressure was great and technically I only gained one pound, although I did gain back the 4 pounds I had lost at the last appointment. Oh well! I'll take a net gain of only one pound at this point! As always, I will post another update when we know for sure that this littl emunchkin is a girl. (I feel like it's a girl, and so do a bunch of other people!)

May 25, 2007 - 12 weeks, 2 days

I had a doctor's appointment today so it is time for an update. To be quite honest, while I knew I was pregnant already, it really hit home today when I heard the heartbeat for the first time. That alone is what assures me that everything is going fine and that I am in fact, pregnant! I know it sounds silly, but an ultrasound is just a picture, the doppler used to hear the heartbeat is what says it all to me. It reminds me of the little miracle I have growing inside me right now. I left the doctor's office on cloud nine and I don't think I have come down yet. Anyway, on with the update! As I mentioned we did hear the heartbeat for the first time today. It was "very strong for 12 weeks" according to the nurse practitioner. She was pleased at how strong it was. It was in the 160s and for all of you familiar with the old wives tales about the heartbeat and gender prediction, she said not to try anything yet, the heartbeat is always that fast this early on. My blood pressure was great and my weight was actually down 4 pounds. This would normally be concerning, but with a heartbeat so strong, the NP said there is nothing to worry about. I have another appointment in 4 weeks and then at the following appointment we'll have the big ultrasound. I was informed that my doctor won't do the "big ultrasound" a day before you are 18 weeks. If you ask me today, I still think it is a boy, but during the first 16 weeks of my pregnancy with Seth, I was sure he was a girl. I only changed my mind 2 weeks before we found out with him, so who knows! Maybe my "Mommy instincts" are backwards at the beginning of the pregnancy!!! Either way, I will be thrilled and all I truly want is to have a healthy baby and pregnancy. As for my early pregnancy symptoms, I am doing well. I was having constant morning sickness but, that seems to have subsided to only once or twice a week. And, otherwise, I am still really tired all of the time and getting more excited each day! So, that's all for my update for now. I'll write more as I know more! Thanks for reading!

April 19, 2007 - 8 Weeks and Counting...Up

Well, now that the news is out I figured I should go ahead and start with the updates and how I am feeling. My pregnancy with Seth, aside from the preeclampsia at the end, was super easy. I was famous for telling everyone that if we hadn't gone through what we did to have him, I never would have known I was pregnant. I never had any morning sickness, no real food aversions, and aside from falling asleep at 8pm every night, I wasn't really tired during the day. This pregnancy is completely different already! I have had all day sickness, I have been so sleepy all day long, and my "rhinitis", a.k.a. stuffy nose, is back with a vengance at night. I also have been having trouble feeding Seth certain foods. The smell of the food kills me! I have just been feeling crappy in general and I never even thought to connect it with possible pregnancy until last week. After seeing the baby on the ultrasound yesterday I am sure that this is a great thing, no matter how much sooner than our "plan" it has come. That is the part that always amazes me. Seeing that tiny little baby with the even smaller heartbeat always confirms for me what a miracle each and every baby is. So, all in all I am ok. Now that I know the source of my discomfort, it is all worth it! We are extremely excited and we know that Seth will make a great big brother. My grandfather always says that babies bring luck and right now I feel like the luckiest woman on earth!

April 19, 2007 - Surprise!!!!!!!!

We're having another baby! We found out on Friday and it was confirmed yesterday by my doctor that I am in fact 8 weeks pregnant. We saw the heartbeat and my doctor says everything looks great! So, sometime around December 3, Seth will become a big brother for the first time! We were quite surprised by this new little one. This truly was a miracle and gift from God. After all of the trouble we had getting pregnant with Seth we just never figured we would be able to get pregnant without seeking some assistance from the fertility specialists again. We are totally thrilled and I have to admit that I am still in shock. I can't wait to see where this new adventure in our lives will take us. So, now we wait to find out, boy or girl?!?!?!? We should know by July, so I'll update then!