Welcome to the family, Joe!

Our baby Joe was baptized this past Sunday! He slept through the whole thing- even when Fr. Reginald poured the water over his head! We are so blessed to have Ryan's sister and my brother as godparents for Joe. It was such an amazing feeling to see my sleeping babe in my arms receiving his very first sacrament. As the water dribbled over his head I felt a sense of peace knowing my child was now officially a child of God and a part of the Catholic family!

Joe says, "Yay for the Holy Spirit!"

We held the baptism at my hometown church. Crazy to think that 26 years ago I was baptized in the same spot!

Still snoozin'!

After the baptism we all went to my mom's to watch the Chiefs game. They won- BIG TIME!

Joe's journey in his Catholic faith has begun! Praise God!

We Interrupt This Birth Story....

... to bring you cute baby Joe pictures!

Mommy time

Go Chiefs! He's their lucky charm- since he's been born they've won all their games!

Professor Joe

Gas... or smiles? I think they are genuine smiles!

Funny faces

Chandler meets Joe

First time to Mass!



Hopefully I'll be finishing Joe's birth story soon. Sorry it has so much detail- but I'm writing it for my own recollection and to print out and put in his baby book!

Baby Joe's Birth Story Part Three

Baby Joe's birth story is a long one, so I'm going to break it up into parts. If there are crazy misspellings or words that just plain don't make sense, forgive me- I'm a new mommy!

You can read Part One here and Part Two here.

Part Three

The anesthesiologist soon came in to ask me a bunch of questions. The nurse came in and gave me a nasty drink for my stomach. She said to pretend it was a margarita. That didn’t help! I had mom take one last picture of Ryan and me and soon I was wheeled off to surgery at 8:30 a.m. while Ryan went to wash up and get some O.R. scrubs on.

I was surprisingly calm. Perhaps because everything was happening so quickly I didn’t have time to be scared. I went somewhat emotionally numb and thought of being wheeled to surgery as something as routine as going to ultrasound or to the lab.

However when I got into the actual O.R. I got nervous. There were people already there waiting for me and I couldn’t tell who they were since they were all in scrubs and face masks. My doctor was in there and it just felt awkward that everyone was there waiting around just for me. I was transferred to the operating table and had to sit on the edge while the anesthesiologist administered the spinal block. He said it would feel like a bee sting when the needle entered my back. It hurt, but wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. Then the strange feelings started. I felt a zinging sting shoot in my private region and I let out a little shout. “Where do you feel that?” he asked. I think I said, “In my crotch!” Sigh… face palm! I can’t believe I had said that out loud! Then the shooting feeling went down my right leg and then my left. They laid me down and I waited for Ryan. I looked down at my feet and tried to move them. It was the weirdest feeling. My brain was convinced that I could move my toes but they weren’t budging.

Soon Ryan came by my side. They put up the blue curtain at my chest and gave me oxygen and put some heart monitors on my chest. Then I heard someone say they were scraping sharp objects on my belly. I didn’t feel a thing. Before I knew it they were warning me that I’d feel a bunch of pressure (which I didn’t) and then I heard the nurses say “Here he is!” at 8;52 a.m. and I heard his little cry. Tears filled my eyes and dripped down my face. Ryan left my side to go see our son as they worked on putting me back together. He got to cut the cord, which made me so happy that he got that experience. I heard the nurses say “Keep crying, keep crying!” to our baby. I didn’t have a chance to get too worried because I started getting the shakes and they put a warm blanket around me. The nurses kept saying, “Hi little peanut!” and my doctor said, “That ain’t no peanut- that’s a Brazilian nut!”

Then the moment I had waited 9 months for had finally arrived. The nurse brought my son over to me and I got to gaze upon him for the first time. My first thought was, “Oh my goodness, he’s so cute!” He was perfect in every way. Then he was whisked away to my hospital room and Ryan went with him. I was still being stitched up when the nausea hit. A nurse held a bowl next to my head and I threw up- a lot.

I was finally wheeled out of the O.R. and back to my room. My parents and Ryan’s parents got to see Joe for a few minutes while they weighed him and did his footprints. They were leaving the room as I was wheeled in. Now, even though I was pretty upset that I had to have a c-section, I have to thank God that the hospital I was in is very pro-mother, pro breastfeeding and stresses the importance of bonding. Some hospitals won’t let the mother see or hold her baby for an hour after her surgery. Not this hospital. I didn’t have to go to a recovery room- I recovered in my own hospital room. No visitors were allowed- it was just Ryan, Joe and me. I got to hold my son minutes after I was wheeled back into my room.

It was an amazing feeling to hold Joe for the first time. I had imagined what he was going to look like and he was much more handsome than I ever envisioned him to be. Here was this new little person who I had never seen before, but I was so in love. It’s like I had known him forever.

Another blessing with this hospital is they stress the importance of breastfeeding. It was less than an hour after he was born that I breastfed him for the first time. I was a little nervous since everywhere I had read stated how it can be a great challenge to breastfeed for the first time. The nurse also warned me it may be even harder for me since I had a c-section and because the mag that was pumped into me was in Joe’s system as well, which makes him really sleepy. But for all the challenges I had gone through, breastfeeding actually came pretty easy for Joe and I. It took a couple tries to get a good latch-on, but he picked it up fairly quickly. It was such a natural relaxing feeling to feed my son with my own body.

Ryan and I spent the rest of the hour holding our son. We were quiet, tired, and beyond happy. The nurse took our first family photos.

Before I knew it, my hour of recovery time was up. My mom came in to keep us company. That’s when the nurses came with my first meal. Of course it was just popsicles, broth and jello, but since this was Thursday and I hadn’t eaten anything since Tuesday afternoon, I was grateful for any kind of food! I ate part of my orange popsicle and I guess my stomach couldn’t handle that because I vomited everywhere. It was pure orange liquid. It got all over me, but I was so tired and out of it with the pain pills that I didn’t even really care.

The nurses gave me a new gown and cleaned me up. The magnesium I was on had pretty much stopped my bowels from working so I wasn’t quite ready for food yet.

After that ordeal I was so dead tired. I just wanted to sleep but then the breast feeding consultant came in. She was right on time because Joe was ready to eat again. I, however, was NOT wanting to breastfeed at that time. I was falling asleep in the middle of sentences. I asked her if she could please come back later. She reminded me how important it was to nurse frequently to get a good start. I suddenly got a surge of adrenaline and sat up to feed Joe. The consultant showed me all the different nursing positions and made sure he was latched on well. She also showed me how to express colostrum to rub on his lips to get him to feed. The consultant didn’t have to stay long because Joe latched on well and was feeding perfectly.

I finally got a good long nap in while Ryan introduced Joe to his grandparents. The rest of the day was filled with visiting, lots of picture taking, and holding our bundle of joy. It was the day that forever changed my life and I was still in shock that it had come so soon!

I was so happy and content. But then I faced a new challenge- my very dangerously high blood pressure that stubbornly refused to go down.

Baby Joe's Birth Story Part Two

Baby Joe's birth story is a long one, so I'm going to break it up into parts. If there are crazy misspellings or words that just plain don't make sense, forgive me- I'm a new mommy!

You can read Part One here.

Part Two


Getting up to go to the bathroom was a challenge. I had to have a nurse come in and unhook me from the fetal monitor and push my IV pole to the bathroom. I had to have the fetal monitor cords draped across my shoulders so I was paranoid they’d drop into the toilet. Every time I got back into bed my blood pressure would skyrocket.

In the middle of the night they put in the second round of Cytotec. The nurse said there was no change to my cervix. I was beginning to get discouraged. It didn’t help that I couldn’t eat or drink and I was starving and had bad cotton mouth. I couldn’t even have ice chips because the nurse said if I had to go to surgery there was a chance of aspirating that liquid.

I was beginning to fear a c-section. I would do whatever I needed to do to make sure that my son was safe, but I still couldn’t help feeling somewhat cheated out of a natural vaginal birth. For weeks I had been looking forward to that moment that I knew I was going into labor. I was looking forward to losing my mucous plug, feeling my water break, and feeling the first pains of contractions. I was looking forward to the confusion of “Is this really it?” and calling the doctor and having him say “Come on in!” I still held on tightly to the hope that the induction would work.

The next morning (Wed. Sept 1) the doctor came in to check if I had progressed at all. My cervix had dropped a little, but I was only one cm. dilated. They started me on Pitocin, an IV drug to start labor. Then came the bad news. No more getting out of bed due to my high blood pressure. That meant they had to insert a catheter. UGH, that was a horrible experience. It was so uncomfortable and I kept having bladder spasms. I kept feeling like I was peeing myself. Thankfully minutes after they inserted my catheter my best friend Ashlee showed up. She had driven 3 hours to come visit me and I thank God she did. She held my hand as I writhed in pain and kept me distracted by discussing our favorite TV shows and hometown gossip. Then came the other part of the bad news. Since my blood pressure was still dangerously high, they started me on magnesium sulfate to prevent seizures. The nurses kept on saying on horrible it was, but it would take a couple hours before I would feel it. The other problem with magnesium sulfate is that it is used to stop contractions for women experiencing pre-term labor. So here I was getting stuff pumped into me that starts contractions and stops them… which one would win out?

My dad also came to the hospital early that morning. The rest of the day was spent waiting around. Ashlee massaged my back and feet. We watched TV. It was a long day. Toward late afternoon the magnesium or “mag” as the nurses called it started kicking my butt. My face started feeling like it was on fire and I got the chills. And I had the worst case of dry mouth I have ever had in my life. Sure I was getting fluids intravenously, but I was DYING for ice cold fresh water to fill my mouth and throat. Its funny what mag can make you grateful for- I will never take for granted a drink of water again! Finally the nurse let me have “limited” ice chips and even though it felt good to have something cold and wet it still wasn’t satisfying.

The nurse came in to check to see if my cervix had changed any. After a very painful check she told me that I hadn’t progressed at all. She told me that the doctor would probably strongly suggest going in for a c-section. However, she did tell me that if I wanted to fight for trying one more night of the Cytotec and a day of Pitocin to not be afraid to speak up. I told her that was what I wanted to do. I would feel better going into a c-section knowing I tried as long as I could to try and coax my baby out.

The nurse said she would “put in a good word for me” with the doctor. When she left the room I broke down in tears. I wasn’t quite ready for this all to happen. I thought I had a couple more weeks to mentally prepare myself to be a mother. Both my life and Ryan’s life were going to drastically change and I was terrified. Sure, I knew that eventually our son had to come out. But the days before the doctor’s appointment that sent me to the hospital I was in a kind of denial that I was going to have a child. I had been pregnant for so long that I had grown accustom to the big belly, the swelling, the waddling, the kicks and wiggles inside me. The fact that I could be having my baby in the next few hours was scary, especially since it would be c-section.

The doctor came in and immediately put my fears at ease. He said he felt comfortable with me trying the Cytotec one more night and checking my progress in the morning. I was happy that he was willing to let me try a little longer. The nurse then put these things on my calves that inflated and deflated to prevent my legs from getting blood clots. At first it kind of felt good- a nice leg massage.

Ashlee left soon after that and said she’d be back in the next couple days. Then my brother came 2 hours to come visit me so that was a nice distraction. Soon he left, and my parents and Ryan’s parents left to go back to their hotel rooms. Ryan and I relaxed and watched TV. At one point we were bored so Ryan grabbed a baby name book that was up at the nurses’ station. We had pretty much narrowed down the name for our son. We’ve always known his first name would be Joseph. I wanted Ryan’s name as a middle name and Ryan wanted his Grandpa Edward’s name as a middle name. I was OK with the name Joseph Ryan Edward, but not 100% sold on it. But after looking at what each of the names meant I decided it was perfect. One of the meanings of the name Joseph is “God provides”. Ryan’s name means “little king.” Edward means “protection.” So our son’s name would be “God provides a little king to protect.” I thought it was perfect!

I barely got any sleep that night. First of all the things they put on my legs that felt so good at first started itching like CRAZY! I was sweating so badly and it was just uncomfortable. I was basically chained to my bed with those things, my 2 IV’s, my catheter, my fetal monitors and blood pressure cuff. So every time I wanted the side I was laying on I had to get a nurse to help me move and readjust my blood pressure cuff. I was still dying for something to drink and my face was still burning up. Ryan got me a tub of ice water and soaked some wash cloths in them to cool my face. That cooled me down for about 45 seconds before my face would feel like fire again.

I was praying that this round of Cytotec would work. But I also prayed to God and said, “My body is yours, do with it what you will. You know what is best for both me and my son.” It was hard to completely hand myself over to God’s will, because deep down I was still wanting to bargain with him about letting me have this baby vaginally. It was hard to give up control.

The thump, thump of my son’s heartbeat eventually put me to sleep.

The next morning probably around 7:30 the nurse came to check to see if I had dilated. I hadn’t. I had told my mom that if I hadn’t progressed any that I would want the c-section and not to try another round of Pitocin. My mom called the priest of our parish to have him do an anointing of the sick and a blessing on me. Fr. Kevin showed up very soon after that and after the anointing and blessing I felt a lot better. I truly feel that the grace from that is what helped me brave the next couple hours. Soon after that my doctor showed up and said he thought we should proceed with the c-section right away.

Everything happened so quickly!

Baby Joe's Birth Story Part One

Baby Joe's birth story is a long one, so I'm going to break it up into parts. If there are crazy misspellings or words that just plain don't make sense, forgive me- I'm a new mommy!

Part One


While unpacking our hospital bag I found our birth plan. I just had to laugh because I had everything planned to a T. However, I knew that a situation could arise to change my plans, and I vowed that I would roll with the punches in order to bring our son into this world safely.

Boy did I REALLY have to roll with the punches!

On Tuesday, August 31 I went in for a routine doctor’s visit. I was pretty excited because this was my 38 week visit and that is when he first does the cervical check. I was wondering if our little guy had dropped at all and if I was dilated. I had read about all the signs of pre-labor and was curious to see if this show was going to get on the road any time soon.

Our appointment was at 11:40. I stepped on the scale to be weighed and was shocked to see the number. I had gained about 5 lbs in the past week. I had read that this could be a sign of pre-eclampsia, so I had a very bad feeling, especially since my whole body had ballooned up with some very bad swelling.

The nurse then checked my blood pressure, and sure enough, it was high. I was sent to a room with two recliners and a TV. I was hooked up to a fetal monitor and a contraction monitor to make sure that the baby was doing OK. Ryan and I chilled for about an hour watching crappy daytime TV. The baby was doing just fine and I was having regular contractions even though I couldn’t feel them at all.

After an hour the nurse came into re-check my blood pressure. It was still high so the doctor came in soon afterward. He asked me if I had been having any headaches. I had been on occasion, but I thought it was due to the antibiotic I was taking to fight off a bad cold. Other than that I felt just fine. The doctor definitely thought that I had pre-eclampsia but wasn’t sure whether to induce or send me home on bed rest. He decided to send me to labor and delivery to have them monitor my blood pressure in more detail and decide from there.

We went to the hospital around 1:00. I had called my mom and even though we didn’t know anything for sure she was on her way to be with us. As I waited around to get registered it suddenly hit me that I could be having my baby a lot sooner than I had planned. I tried to stay calm and be open to whatever was going to happen.

When I arrived at labor and delivery they put me in a bed and hooked me up to a blood pressure machine where it went off every 15 minutes. After about an hour of that I was told my blood pressure was still high and the next step was to do an ultrasound to determine if our son was ready to make his debut a couple weeks early. I asked the nurse if that meant that induction was more of a possibility and she said yes.

After what seemed like forever I was finally wheeled down to ultrasound. (I hated that I had to be taken by wheel chair!) They took measurements and determined that our little bundle of joy was estimated to be 8 lbs 12 oz. The ultrasound tech thought he was probably ready to be born. The most amazing thing was seeing the side profile of his face. You could see his little nose and chin and his mouth opening and closing. Sometimes you could see his little hand go up to his mouth. They checked for his little boy parts and they were definitely still there! The tech printed out the pictures and as I held them in my hand I was in shock that I could be seeing this little face as soon as the next day.

I was wheeled back to my room where they had a meal waiting for me. It had been hours since I had last eaten and I was starving. Ryan and I relaxed and watched Celebrity Jeopardy while we waited for the doctor. We soon discovered how thin the walls were in labor and delivery. We heard a woman screaming in pain numerous times. At one point we heard, “Get it out! Get it out!” It didn’t freak me out too much. After a while of the screaming we heard the most wonderful sound- the sound of a baby crying. It was a sound that just melted my heart. Again, I was still in shock that I would soon be hearing my own child’s first cries.

After what seemed like forever the doctor came in and said that due to my blood pressure and since our little was a hefty size that I would be induced. They transferred me to an actual labor room and they started me on an IV of fluids. I was still on the fetal monitor and contraction monitor. My contractions were still pretty regular, but I still wasn’t feeling them. It was kind of crazy when the nurse told me when I was having one but I couldn’t feel a thing. The baby was doing great. My blood pressure was still being monitored every 15 minutes and it was still elevated. My mom soon arrived and soon after Ryan’s parents came.

Soon the time for induction came. They first used Cytotec, a pill that was inserted vaginally to ripen my cervix. In a couple hours they would place another pill and check to see if I had dilated at all. The waiting game had begun.

So This is Love...

Wow.

What a crazy week and a half!

There was the sudden on-set of severe pre-eclampsia. (Not fun, by the way...) And then a failed 2 day induction, c-section, birth of our precious Joseph, and an extended hospital stay due to my elevated blood pressure.

Soon I'll post Joseph's birth story... it's quite a doozy.

One of my favorite songs of all time is "So This is Love" from the Disney movie Cinderella. Sure, it's a song of a man and woman falling in love, but since my baby was born the meaning of the lyrics has changed for me.

These are the words of love to my son.

So this is love...

So this is love.....

So this is what makes life divine...

I'm all aglow...

And now I know...

The key to all heaven is mine...

My heart has wings...



And I can fly...


I'll touch every star in the sky...

So this is the miracle... that I've been dreaming of...



So this is love...

So, Guess What's Going On??

Evidently Maggie is "too busy" to update her blog. Obviously, she doesn't care about her readers like I care about my readers at Roman Catholic Cop. :-)

That little bugger did NOT want to come out, so after 36 hours of induction the doctor went in and got him Thursday morning. Joseph Ryan Edward Crawford was born Sept 2nd. He was 8lbs 15.2 oz. (No wonder he wouldn't come out!) and 19 inches long.

Mommy and baby are resting comfortably at an area hospital.