The first 2 weeks.

Our little Crew Bear is 2 weeks old and I don't know how that happened. It's still registering that we don't have to give him back to anyone and that we really do get to keep him! I had such grand expectations for the fabulous pictures I would take of his first 2 weeks of tiny newborn life, but the way things turned out I am just starting to manage showering and walking!

AND on top of that we are moving - and things are spread between 2 houses and it feels like there is no order anywhere! I use the term "WE'RE" moving loosely because I haven't done much of anything except sit and nurse Crew, take naps on the floor of the few rooms that have carpet, and occasionally give input on which cupboard things should go in. If you ever want to get out of moving, just get a c-section and be super dosed up on Percocet - it seems to be doing the trick!

On the other hand, sometimes these super-hectic times are the sweetest, and I think I will look back to sitting in the craft room nursing my newborn bundle and talking with my mom about where embroidery floss should go, watching Scott come in to coo at Crew sleeping in his car seat in between trips to the moving truck, listening to conference talks and singing hymns to Crew while Scott and I moved our closets in on Sunday instead of going to church (ox in the mire), and everyone being so nice about me being completely useless!

I did pull out my camera a few times, and here are a few of Crews first 2 weeks of life....

First a picture from my phone - it warms my heart.






Crew Yawning. He looks just like his Daddy expect he got my big mouth.












This is how he sucks his thumb. Makes me nervous he's going to claw his eye.












I get to take naps with this little bundle.


Yummmm.

Crew - 4 Days Old. Just home from the hospital and smiling.

A very cute (at least I think so) video of Crew the day we got home from the hospital.

introducing....Crew Hudson Butler

He's here! I have loved having him here and can't believe he is already 5 days old! Scott's family has a tradition of the oldest son's middle name being somewhere the mother has lived. (Scott's middle name is Austin). We chose Hudson from my time in NYC - I lived in the Hudson Heights neighborhood of Manhattan, overlooking the Hudson River.

I was inducted around 11:30 on Monday morning and didn't deliver until 4:30 am on Tuesday. I was in labor for about 17 hours, and pushed for 2.5 hours - the last half hour with forceps. Crew was still not budging, his heart rate was going down, the stress on him caused meconium, and I was developing an infection from it. I was taken to an emergency C-section. They delivered the baby and then called a Code Blue on him because he didn't breathe for the first 3 minutes. Our families were in the waiting room (mine had been in the delivery room until I was taken to C-section), and the Code Blue got everyone really scared. Crew started breathing, though, and they put him on CPAP, and he is a very healthy baby boy. He weighed in at 9 pounds 3 oz, 21 inches long, and, I must note, a 37cm head - which is 4 cm above average.

I have some nerve damage and I still can't adduct my right leg, which means for now I'm not holding Crew while I walk. We think when the swelling goes down that nerve will have better function.

Meanwhile, the joy of having our sweet baby here has been unlike any other. I feel like I need to stare at him all the time so I don't miss a second of this. The delivery was definitely not what I expected, and what my doctor called "worst case scenario", but I felt angels helping me get through it - angels in the form of competent and caring doctors and nurses, my husband, my mother and father, and my sisters, and those from heaven who came to help welcome Crew to this world.


We called all Monday morning to see when we could come in to be induced! We raced over as soon as they told us we could. They said they would hold our hospital bed for 20 minutes and so Scott was a nervous wreck about me taking this picture. We got up to Labor and Delivery and had to wait a few minutes until they were ready for us:) I was a little scared at this point, but mostly excited, and blissfully unaware of what lay ahead!


Hooked up to Pitocin, with an epidural keeping me nice and comfy.



Katie and my mom camping out close to midnight when they let me start pushing. Scott was trying to study for a test the next day and sleep on the floor - you can sort of see his feet on the left.

My first glimpse of Crew after the C-section. I kept asking why he wasn't crying and no-one answered me - they were sneaky about that Code Blue! I was really drugged when I saw him, but said "he looks like a Bloomfield!" And asked to have my Oxygen mask removed so I could kiss him.


The nurses giving Crew his first bath and dressing him.

Scott was the first to hold Crew after everyone else worked on him - finally! Scott sat in the nursery with him while they wheeled me back to the Labor and Delivery room to recover and sleep a little bit. I remember my nurse Kimmy coming in to talk to me and I felt so glad she helped me get through that - she was amazing. Scott was with the baby and in my drugged state I also remember my mom coming in to talk to me and telling me to sleep.


They wheeled me down to mother and baby and I got to hold Crew (after a fashion) and nurse him.

If I look like death in this picture, it's because I had just gone through a near death experience. Scott is crying and we are so happy to have our family together and sound.

Crew and his Daddy.


I was in the hospital from Monday until Saturday and didn't feel quite ready to come home! It's a lot easier with all those nurses around and with the hospital beds that don't make you use your abs! Katie came and helped me shower and get dressed - quite the feat, and Andrew and my Dad came to help me come home since Scott (can you believe the luck?) had a midterm on Saturday he couldn't get out of. Here is Crew in the blanket I made for him, in his carseat with his Grandpa Rich (my dad), and with his Aunt Katie.

waiting for baby....

I went to pour some milk in my cereal the other day and realized that the baby in my belly expires before my carton of milk does! How's that for being close to your due date...2 and a half days away and I am ready to get this baby out! So excited. Here's some fondest memories of pregnancy - most recent first.


First, in response to people asking for belly pictures, Scott and I were waiting for this cute couple to show up for their engagement shoot a couple days ago, and I handed Scott the camera....




Scott giving my huge swollen feet a pedicure. (I hoped it was maybe preeclampsia so they would deliver the baby, but one false trip to the hospital and nope, just really swollen feet and some jumpy reflexes, darn it.) My feet were 3 times as big as they are in this picture though, if you can stomach that.



Here is our temporary crib set up and waiting for the baby. We aren't going to set up the nursery and big crib until we move in a couple weeks


I made this baby quilt with my mom - the back is yellow and minky soft because I want him to actually use it - and I'm going to wrap him up in it to bring him home from the hospital.



Cameron and Jake came to stay with us a few weeks ago while their mommy was in Virginia in the hospital/bedrest (my beautiful neice Claire was born 5 weeks early), and it was so fun to have them here. Especially to have Jakey keep kissing my belly and asking every few minutes "Tara, what's your baby BOY doin'?" I got creative with my answers, and Jakey always believed me. The best was when Jakey started lifting my shirt to give the baby "bzerks" by blowing/spitting on it. Or when I'd say the baby was kicking and he'd dive across the room and say the baby had just kicked his face really hard.
This is how I saw Jakey most of the time:


Over Christmas break we went to Disneyland with our little nephews, and Jakey sat right next to my belly on one of the kiddy rides and kept patting it, saying "it's okay baby, don't be scared"

Here's Disneyland:




Isn't my mom pretty as a brunette?

The first of a "3 generation picture" at Christmas:

Opening Christmas PJ's on Christmas Eve (our tradition) and realizing that there was an extra set of little boy jammies for our baby - that made both Scott and I tear up.
The nephews wanted to "show" my baby the jammies by putting them on my tummy.



Enjoying the nephews while they were visiting from Virginia and getting so excited to be parents:

Tyler is generous with his kisses if you have a valid "ow-ie"

He was a bit skeptical:


We had one-on one spend the nights with the nephews, and you know what that means - treats in bed and stories from Scott.



Watching my mom and Cameron make Christmas cinnamon twists, and realizing they make the same face when they are concentrating:



Cameron made these beautiful Christmas necklaces for all the girls in the family. Thank you Cameron.



Phew, I am so relieved I got a blog post done before I deliver! I've been so grateful to have been busy this semester before the baby comes so the wait doesn't drag on and on. I've had students this semester who are happy and talented and fun to teach, Scott has been busy with school, we had the Holidays and lots of family around, my parents - and the rest of us helpers - have been neck deep in building a new house, and my 2 sisters got engaged and are planning a double wedding! All that has helped the wait go by quickly. Somehow my wacked out hormones of the 2nd trimester evened out this 3rd trimester, and it's been much easier - despite being fatter than ever and having a foot constantly stuck in my ribs. It's so exciting to think that the next blog I post will be pictures of my baby! I am so curious what he looks like, and I can't wait to hold his little snuggly body and wrap him up and smell his little newborn head. Oh, I can't wait! I think the next few days are going to be the LONGEST few days of the whole pregnancy!

I have to say that Heavenly Father answers our prayers - 2 years ago I hadn't even met Scott and was wondering if I would ever have the blessings of marriage and family. Yesterday I counted 7 friends of ours from that ward who also got married "later" - who are now married with beautiful babies. Hard times come and go, and the love of the Lord shines through it all. And while we are waiting for those hard times to pass, we can look back to some of the richest experiences of our lives - I am so thankful for the things I got to do and experience while I was single, and for this exciting chapter that lies ahead: motherhood.