1 week later...

It has now been a week since we brought Nathan home from the hospital and what a wonderful week it has been. While I am still recovering from surgery my mom and younger sister Alli have been here to help Curtis take care of Nathan. It is quite frustrating to not be able to take care of him by myself, I am still unable to stand up while holding him, or pick him up out of bed, or even bend over him long enough to change his diaper. I never thought that I would want to change a diaper, but right now I would give anything to be able to. I felt pretty helpless one afternoon when everyone was asleep and I was the first to hear Nathan cry, I went into his room and couldn't bend down low enough to pick him up from his crib without causing myself all kinds of pain. It was one of the worst feelings of my life, not being able to console my son as he lay there crying. I had to wake up Curtis so he could help. I am looking forward to being fully recovered, not to escape the pain, but so that I can change my own son's diaper. Thinks ARE getting better though, when I first came home from the hospital I could barely walk, so I am very grateful for the improvement since then. Crissy keeps reminding me to accept the help from others while I can get it, I will be able to change plenty of diapers soon enough.

Curtis is awfully cute with Nathan. He is very excited to be a father and takes every chance he can to hold his son. Anyone who sees him can tell just how happy he is to be a father. Here are a few pictures of Curtis with Nathan.

Naptime after church

My 2 handsome boys :)

Isn't Nathan so cute just cuddled up on Curtis?!? I love it!...mmmmm Whoppers

Nathan has proven time and time again that all of his bodily functions are working splendidly. We have come to believe that he shows his affection by peeing on you. (At least that is what we have to tell ourselves when we find we have a wet lap...again). I got the full blast at his doctors appointment on Monday. When the nurse asked me to take off his diaper so that they could weigh him, I knew that it couldn't end well...with a nice large wet spot on my shirt I quickly put a new diaper on him and handed him to Curtis, just in time for him to leak through his diaper onto Curtis' hands. Poor Alli has had to change pants a number of times as well. It seems as though my mom managed to make it through her entire visit unscathed, (but don't worry mom, I'm sure he still loves you). My good friend Arlena flew in today to help out as well. Nathan must have decided that he liked her quickly because a mere 27 minutes after she got here, she too had to change her clothes...what can I say? He's a healthy boy!

Arlena claims that this was Nathan's doing...but the positioning of the wet spot is awfully suspicious...

Aside from the water works, Nathan's doctor's appointment went well. He is already starting to gain a little bit of weight! He is now 6 lbs 13 oz, as opposed to his birth weight of 6 lb 12.5 oz. I was very relieved to hear this because I had no idea whether or not he was eating enough at each feeding, he has the bad habit of falling asleep in the middle of meal time. But thanks to grandma's willingness to tickle his feet (and even flick them occasionally...much to her dismay) it seems as though we were able to keep him awake long enough to get enough to eat. Nathan also had to endure another prick in the foot for his second round of newborn screening. I made sure to have Curtis hold him during this so that once he felt the prick and looked up he would think that his daddy was causing him this pain, not his mommy :) But Nathan handled it like a champ...either that or he passed out, I'm not sure. He cried for a split second and then fell asleep while they squeezed what seemed like a gallon of blood out of his poor little foot! After the blood test I felt it appropriate to go out to eat to reward Nathan's mommy for being so brave!

I already feel as though he is growing up too fast! I can't believe he is 9 days old! Before I know it he will be getting his drivers lisence. I have resorted to taking lots of pictures every day just to make sure that I don't forget one moment of his life. He is still as cute as can be and getting cuter every day. (Both his Aunt Alli and grandma will attest to that fact). Here are a few more pictures just in case you don't believe me!

Just chillin' with Arlena

I love his little frog legs!

I still can't believe that Curtis and I are parents. We have been blessed with the most adorable son in the world! I can't thank my friends and family enough for all the support that they have given us. This kid is so lucky to have such a great extended family, I can't wait for you all to meet him!

Even More Nathan

This is the first time that I have been able to post since I went into labor and I am glad to see that Crissy and Curtis have done such a great job at keeping everyone informed. I think we have tripled the total number of posts we have made just in these last few days. I can't help it though! I take a million pictures a day and want to share them ASAP! I am totally in love with this kid! I realized that most of the pictures you can't really see Nathan all that well, he is usually wrapped up, so I took a few pictures and videos of him while he was awake and unwrapped.
















(If you hear kids in the background that is because at the time I took the videos my mom was watching videos of a few of her other adorable grandsons!)

Here are a few more pictures of Nathan in his specially customized outfit, compliments of his Aunt Crissy.

More photos of Nathan

So we figured 'let's put some more photos of Nathan up for your viewing pleasure.' He slept really well last night, only waking up once. Grandma and Aunt Allison have had lots of opportunities to hold him and take care of him, which gives a break to Mama (and Daddy too). Karalee continues to improve. Hopefully, by the time her pain medication runs out she'll be recovered from the surgery.

Baby's home with Grandma, Aunt Allison, Mommy, and Daddy

I've given up, rather easily, on doing anything more creative than simply putting the photos of our new baby on our blog.

Anyway, we came home around noon yesterday. Karalee is still in serious pain, but the baby is doing very well! He eats well now and doesn't fuss except when he wants something (mostly to eat right now) and when his diaper is changed. He really doesn't want his diaper changed, but we think part of that relates to the circumcision he got on Monday.

To my surprise Grandma Ashton stayed up nearly all last night with Nathan, and used couch pillows to sleep on. She sure helped me (Curtis) get the most rest I've gotten in a few days. We have a bed and a blow up mattress we hope Grandma will eventually use. But she and Alli have been a great help with Nathan already. We're glad they're here!

A co-worker stopped by today to see the baby. He brought over some diapers and had me take a couple of pictures of him with the baby.

Overall, we've had an enjoyable time at home with the baby and visitors!

Pictures!

To begin, Karalee continues to get better, although she is still weak, in pain, and itches all over. The baby has cried a little and eats a bit, but lately has been sleeping a lot! Of course, we think he is adorable, and hopefully with the pictures, you can come to that conclusion yourself.

Aside from the Ashton-like eyes, Karalee has mentioned that he looks like his aunt Crissy when she was born. I am interested in comments about who he takes after, because for now Karalee and I can tell best that he is just very cute!

So I tried to put the photos in order from what I think are the best photos of Nathanat the top, but I got the order backward. So, scroll down first and then work your way up to see the photos--please.

He's Here!

Please welcome... Nathan Ashton Merrill

Stats:

Date: Sunday, June 21, 2009
Time: 7:17 pm AZ time
Weight: 6 lbs. 12.5 oz
Height: 20 inches long
Head Circumference: 13 inches
Chest: 12 and a half inches

Mom and Baby are doing great. Curtis was able to watch them pull Nathan out, and Kare (just like every time she watches A Baby Story) became teary the second she heard Nathan's cry. She also said that it was the most horrible feeling she has ever had in her life when she felt all the "not so gentle" tugging and pulling inside. But she made it and she is doing very well. She is extremely tired and having a hard time keeping herself awake at the moment, understandably. 18 hours of labor... jeez! Nathan has also had his first feeding which, I am told, went pretty well. Now Kare wants to know when SHE can eat! The nurse brought out more Ice chips, much to her dismay. Curtis says Nathan has dark blond hair and gray-ish blue eyes. He says the shape of the eye is very much from the Ashton side. (At least for now.) He said Nathan is very cute and the best Father's Day gift ever.

Delivery Time

Due to the fact that Kare has been at 6 cm for the last 3 hours, and because she has a small pelvic area, the Dr. has decided to perform a c-section. Kare is in there right now and Curtis is awaiting anxiously just outside the door.

5 and 6

4:00
5 cm. Baby's heart rate dropped, so they put Karalee on oxygen for about 40 minutes. Baby's heart rate went back up.

5:40
6 cm. 100% effaced

Crystal Light and Otter Pops

So I, Curtis, came home for a bit to find our cell-phone chargers--our phones are nearly dead and so we're going to charge them and might not be reachable for a bit--but Karalee also insisted that I get her some Crystal Light to drink and some Otter Pops to eat. She also said to hurry back to the hospital. So here I go!

4 and a half!

1:30 AZ time

13 and a half hours in, Kare is at 4 and a half cm! The doctor has decided to cut back the patocyn to try and ease the contractions so as not to wear out Baby Nathan. Hopefully it doesn't make things slow down too much. There was a slight nervous moment when the nurse came in to say that Nathan's heart rate dropped a little. They had Kare change positions and now all is well. Nathan is in position... he crawled up to her ribs for a little bit at first, but now he's back. One more chapter of Harry Potter down. Oh and lots of chills. And some pressure. That's about it for now.

update

Crissy: It's been almost 5 hours, what is going on? :)

Curtis: We're about to have a baby.

Crissy: REALLY?

Curtis: Yes, she's progressed to a full 2 and a half cm.

Crissy: Ugh!

Things are progressing slowly, but Kare and Curtis were able to get a nap in, and a chapter of Harry Potter.

AZ TIME (-ish)

1:30 am Water broke
2:00 am Checked in to Hospital
3:00 am Dilated to a 1
6:30 am Dilated to a 1 and a half, Kare is no longer amused with Curtis' jokes, EPIDURAL
7:45 am Dr. will come with Patocyn (sp?)
....

While Kare and Curtis are taking care of business at the hospital, I will be updating everyone. Hi! I'm Crissy, Kare's sister. My details may be a little sketchy... and spelling and grammar WILL be poor... but Kare can fix them later!

So Curtis had only had a couple hours of sleep when Kare started having contractions. Being the super nice wife that she is, she laid there quietly and timed her contractions for a while without waking him. She literally waited until the last minute to wake him. As soon as she thought it was time to go to the hospital, she leaned over and started rubbing his back and then GUSH!!!

Who's water actually breaks at home? Only on TV, right?

Well Kare rushed the bathroom and said, "Curtis! It's time! I think my water just broke! We need to call the doctor!"

Well Curtis, shook himself awake and then said, "What? I don;t know about water breaking. Where's the book." He then grabbed his book and started reading.

Kare was like, "Okay, I'LL call the doctor."

Kare said it was so cute that he was just sitting there reading while she got herself ready to go.

They got checked into the hospital and Kare was at a 1.

When I talked to them on the phone, Curtis was asking me what Charles did to make it easier for me when I was in labor. He also said he wishes they could just hook him up in a bed so that the pain could just transfer to him and he could bear it instead. So sweet. :)

He also went on about how tough Kare is. She's great with needles, spiders and bugs. She doesn't even ask Curtis to kill the huge spiders for her anymore. She just does it. So she's going to do great.

Curtis also keeps saying, "I'll be a father any minute. But Kare laughs when I say it will be any minute. I don;t know, maybe it will be in a few hours."

Kare says the contractions feel like her "monthly" cramps. Poor girl feels labor every month!

More to come...

Happy Fathers Day!

It is 1:58 am and Curtis and I are off to the hospital...wish us luck!

Movies in the park

With the baby possibly coming any day now, Curtis and I are trying to spend as much time together as possible. This has been made difficult by his work schedule, most of the time I only see him from about 7pm - 11pm, and most of that time is spent eating dinner and getting ready for work. However, we are trying our best to make the most of the time we do have. We are now on the 6th Harry Potter book and we manage to read a few chapters a day, whether it is while Curtis is eating, getting ready for work, or trying to fall asleep, we make sure we fit in a chapter or 2.

The weekends are great. Curtis gets off work around 10am on Saturday morning and goes back around 11pm Monday night. He probably doesn't get as much sleep as he should during the weekend because if he were to stay on the sleep/wake schedule that he has during the week he would be asleep all day and up all night.

This past weekend Curtis and I went out to the park by our house for "movies in the park", something we have been wanting to do for the past month. Our plans to go in the past had been thwarted once by Stake Conference and another time by a movie that we weren't too interested in seeing. Fortunately, the movie on Saturday was Iron Man, which Curtis and I were both excited about. Our plans, however, were nearly ruined again, this time by the weather. All day long there were outbursts of heavy rain and thunder, which would only last a few minutes before the sun came shining through again. (Curtis and I would go and sit out on our patio to listen to the rain, but most of the time it would end as soon as we got out there.) As the evening came the rain seemed to subside so the show was able to go on. There was a great turnout at the park, lots of families complete with a bunch of screaming children and teenyboppers who were more interested in finding a cute boy than actually watching the movie. However, despite the excess noise, we were still able to enjoy the movie. They even provide free popcorn and soda! There was only one minor attempt to ruin our night when it started sprinkling mildly about half way through the movie, however, Mother Nature decided to be kind. It was, overall, a great night (despite all the ants that decided to come home with us in our cooler).

On Monday Curtis and I tried to think of things to do that we wouldn't be able to do once the baby is here (without having to pay for a babysitter). However, we were unable to come up with anything! We considered going to the movies, but there aren't really any movies out that we were interested in spending the money on. Plus, the seats in the theater are ridiculously uncomfortable and we doubted that I would be able to sit in them for 2 hours when I have a hard enough time getting comfortable as it is. We also talked about how now would be a good time to go to the temple, but with the temple 3 hours away that wasn't going to happen either (not when I am almost 39 weeks pregnant anyway). We finally ended up going out to eat and then coming home to watch a movie. Two things that can be done even with a baby...Oh well.

In other news: I had my doctor's appointment today and everything is looking good, which is always a relief to hear. My doctor also informed me that about 70% of his patients actually deliver on their due date! I sure wouldn't mind if Nathan decided to wait and come on his due date (the 24th) because by then Alli will be here! However, I hope that he doesn't decide to wait too much longer. My doctor said that they don't let their patients go more than a week past their due date. After hearing this I felt, for the first time, that the end was in sight! No matter what happens, Nathan will be here by July!

We Took a Vacation...

So Karalee and I never get out. We just enjoy one another's company so much that we simply gaze into each other's eyes for entertainment--and we don't have to go anywhere to do that! Well, we also read and plan for parenting as of late. But we actually managed to get out last Saturday.

There is this place in the area that I work that offers a very panoramic view of the rest of the area where I work. I thought Karalee might enjoy the view, and at least this would provide us an excuse to get out of the house.

So I learned Saturday that much of what Karalee sees on any road is pure peril, but the perils multiply exponentially (in her mind) by narrow dirt roads that switch back up the side of a mountain and can be traversed by cars in which she finds herself. Well, we had to travel up just such a road, in just such a car, carrying just such a Karalee in order to arrive to our destination in the Coronado National forest at the base of the Huachuca Mountains--a half-mile north of the Mexican border and about 18 miles southwest of our home.

We made it--alive--and managed to eat a little picnic, but in the car because it was quite windy and cold that day. We also managed to snap a few photos of the view and of ourselves before we narrowly (pun intended) escaped the mountain and its treacherous roads.

Karalee thinks she looks very "big" here, but I choose to say she looks very cute! And, the last photo of the stunning sunset.

P.S. This area is also where a lot of illegal human smuggling occurs.

Nesting???

I have heard of women nesting towards the end of their pregnancy, and I am thinking that my charades of today might fit into that category. I woke up this morning at about 5:30am because for some reason all I could think about was how dirty my house was (which is strange because it really wasn't dirty at all...). The thoughts of everything that I had to clean consumed me until I couldn't take it anymore. So when Curtis got up at 5:30 I decided that I should get up too. I then proceeded to straighten up the house, do the laundry, iron Curtis' uniforms, make Curtis breakfast and pack his lunch, clean out the fridge, make jell-o (I have no idea why...), scrub the kitchen, clean the bathrooms, and straighten my hair...all before 7:30... now what I am I going to do with the rest of the day??

Update

Well, I haven't written in a while because I'm afraid that my life is just plain boring. However, I figured, boring or not, I should update you all on what I've been up to.

Most importantly, the baby has not come yet. He is due in 3 weeks, and for some reason I am getting the feeling that he will come sooner than that. Maybe it is just all the excitement building up. As excited as I am about meeting my new little one, I used to absolutely dread the idea of giving birth. You see, I am a pretty big wuss when it comes to things like pain...and needles. Lately, however, I am not nervous at all. The only thing that worries me is something going wrong. Other than that I feel no fear or dread, just pure excitement! I figured that towards the end of my pregnancy I would be OK with the idea of giving birth simply because I would want this baby out of me, but that is not the case at all. Sure I am uncomfortable at times, but for the most part I feel great! I think I don't dread the idea of giving birth anymore because I am overcome with the excitement of finally getting to hold my little boy, and I am ready to do whatever I have to so that I can finally hold him! And, strangely enough, I am somewhat excited to go through the whole experience. I don't know why, perhaps just out of curiosity. I might be singing a different tune when the contractions come though...we'll see.

One thing has definitely changed since my last post. I have "dropped". I think I noticed it the day it happened (about a week ago). I can breathe again and I am no longer getting kicked in the ribs! My belly is very noticeably different. Curtis can even tell that there is a big difference, which is saying something because he is not the most observant kid sometimes. It is strange because my belly seems smaller, like I have gone backwards in time. I don't feel as big, and I don't look as big (notice I said "as big"...I am still huge). I have a bit more pressure on my hips...but it is not too bad. This is really exciting for me because it is just proof that the baby really is coming! I had to immediately look up what exactly "dropping" meant in terms of how much longer until the baby comes, and the general conclusion I came to was about 2-4 weeks for first timers. I noticed that I dropped when I was exactly 36 weeks...so that seems about right.

Curtis and I are starting to make arrangements for when the baby comes. I am planning on packing our hospital bag today, and I have the phone number to his work and the protocol for how to get ahold of him on a post-it note by the phone. Curtis carpools to work, so we are not quite sure what to do about that. It would be pretty inconvenient for the baby to come while Curtis is at work with no car. I suppose he should start driving himself, but we save so much money on gas while he is carpooling. Perhaps in a week or two he will have to drive himself. Hopefully though the baby will be nice and choose to come when Curtis is home.

In the meantime while waiting for baby I have been reading a lot and Curtis and I signed up for Netflix. We have only had the subscription for 2 weeks and we have already rented 6 DVDs and returned them. Of the 6 DVDs 4 of them were for me, I am watching "House" starting with season 1! We also rented The Prestige, which Curtis and I loved, and Flyboys, which was mildly entertaining. I finished all of my "pregnancy" books (which is good on account of I am not going to be pregnant much longer), and a couple of my "what to do with a new baby" books. I am about to start "What to Expect the First Year" but I think that one will take a while. I also have been reading Harlan Coben's "Myron Bolitar Series" which Alli lent to me. I finished the last one that I borrowed from her and had to run to the library to get more! The library is so close to our house, I have a feeling that I will be making plenty of trips there. Curtis and I are also reading Harry Potter, and we are getting close to finishing the 5th book.

These past few weeks Curtis has been on the midnight shift. At first I thought this shift was great! The plan was to go to sleep soon after he left at 11:00 pm, and wake up when he got home around 9:30 am. However, I found myself staying up reading until the wee hours of the morning (about 3 or 4 am) and then sleeping in until about noon or 1:00. I am not a fan of this because by the time I get up and get going, most of the day has passed me by. As time went on I started staying up later and later and found that I wasn't going to bed until after the sun came up! So this week I figured that I ought to change my sleeping habits. Fortunately, I had not yet gone to the library to pick up the next Harlan Coben book, so I had nothing to read at night. I forced myself to go to sleep around midnight last night and wake up at 8am. It is now 1:00 and I have accomplished so much! Curtis, however, just went to bed around noon, so I probably won't see him until about 8:00 tonight. I thought that because I would be sleeping while he was at work that I wouldn't be so lonely. But even now, although he is just down the hall sleeping, I miss him like crazy! Unfortunately for him I am weak, and occasionally will go into the bedroom and wake him up so that I can talk to him. For this reason I am pretty sure he is not a fan of the midnight shift.

Curtis has been so good about helping out around the house. He spends most of his day off doing all the scrubbing and deep cleaning that I have given up on trying to do. I feel bad that he does so much while I am sitting around the house all day, but on the days that I decide to try to do all the cleaning myself I end up in all sorts of pain. He never complains though, he is just amazing like that! And I suppose I can make it up to him once I am no longer pregnant.

So that's it. I am just killing time waiting for Nathan to decide he is ready to join the family. I am ready for him whenever he chooses to come. I like the idea of him coming soon because I am so excited to meet him, but I will be just as happy if he decides to hang out for a while and not come until my due date, at least then I will have family and friends here to help out. It is crazy to think that my next post could be the announcement of Nathan's birth...but maybe something exciting will happen before that.