Introducing:

Stryder Crandall Low

October 23, 2011

7 lbs. 1 ounce

20.12 inches

WARNING: information overload

5:30 on Saturday morning my water broke. Steve and I headed to the hospital kind of in denial that we were going to have a baby. I thought that if your water broke that you were supposed to go into labor. I was actually the most comfortable I'd been in days. We walked around the hospital to start contractions for an hour or so. After that I got the petocin (spelling?) to get them going more. We had a fairly chill morning. Contractions got pretty unbarable by the afternoon and I got the epidural around 1:30. It worked exactly like it should have! It was wonderful. We had a few visitors in the afternoon since I was taking a long time to progress. There was a bit of a scare with his heartrate that night and they were worried about having to do an emergency c-section. Thankfully he leved off and that didn't have to happen.

At 12:05 am the doctor said it was time to start pushing. It was just Steve, the nurse, the doctor and myself there. At 1:48 am Stryder was born. He was and is perfect and I have turned into the uber cheesy mother I always said I wouldn't be.

The next day we were woken up by Stryder's doctor telling us that he had pneumonia. My heart literally broke. The doctor told us that since they found it early that he wouldn't have to go straight to the NICU. Said that if he could keep his oxygen levels and sugar levels in the normal range then he could stay in the nursery and get his I.V. antibiotics there. The biggest veins in babies bodies are in their head so he's had an antenna for the past little while. I've been lucky enough to be able to stay here at the hospital with him. He's doing great and getting better each and everyday. Steve gave him an amazing blessing and we've been so grateful for all of the love and prayers sent our way.
Stryder is already quite the stud and has a large fan base.

I'm pretty sure that dad is his biggest fan though... Besides me, of course!

I really am just overwhelmed with gratitude for all that I have and we're looking forward to this new chapter in our life. We're one happy family.

Nearing the end

37 Weeks
38 Weeks

Friday I'll have 1 week left until my due date!
Keep your fingers crossed for me that he comes ASAP...
It's kind of consuming me.

A time for FIRST'S

It's been a while since I've posted, but life happens and things get put on the back burner. We bought a house!!! It's in Sandy and we're super excited to be starting this new chapter in our life there. We're ready to start great memories there.

Owning a new home means that you need things you don't necessarily need when you're renting. We have made 3 big purchases lately for house. 1- Lawn Mower 2- Washer 3- Dryer

Steve is working a lot on the yard and that lawn mower has already been put to great use. It was so pretty when we first got it. Shiny and new.... That lasted about 30 minutes. I think Steve is more proud of how it looks now: used.

We have been so blessed with showers and gifts from so many people that we love. It's so great to be able to share all of this baby excitment with people that we love and look up to. This baby is going to be loved! We finally got our stroller/carseat travel system. We're really happy with it. I think Steve is feeling better now that we have the carseat. Even though I've got 3+ weeks left, he was getting a little concerned that we didn't have that yet. Now he can breathe easy until I go into labor.

Because I love those that are requesting belly pics, here you are. As you can see, the guy is growing rapidly. Above I'm at 32 weeks and below was the other night at 36 weeks! We're hitting 37 this week. I'm able to stay really busy with the house and organizing. It's perfect for my need to nest. I just went on maternity leave from school which means that I can nap every day until this baby comes if I want to! I find that the only time I can sleep an entire 2 hours in a 24 hour period is from 2-4 in the afternoon.

I'm getting quite nauseas again and really tired. I'm feeling very large and starting to stress about labor, delivery, taking care of a baby, and I'd be lying if I didn't say I'm worried about the post baby body sludge. One step at a time though, right?

So... If anyone else is up in the middle of the night for any reason and just need someone to talk to, I'm your lady!