2 years ago. . .

Rhiannon two years ago. She was two weeks old here. And Rhiannon the morning of her 2nd birthday.

Just over 2 years ago, I moved away from this blog to create Rhiannon's own website. http://www.babysites.com/sites/rhiannonjames/ While, I still plan to keep up with it and maintain updates and photo albums for Rhiannon, I have decided to move back to the blog world for a few reasons. First, I have been inspired by the blogs of friends; stay tuned for a more "jazzy" blog. I've lost my mind and am thinking of getting the help of a blog designer. Second, we are expecting our second child in February so I thought it was time that I start documenting our new journey and growing family. So, the name has changed. . . to "Growing Crains". I thought it was fitting as our family grows, our children grow and Russ and I grow.

So, where are we these days? Well, I'm 11 weeks pregnant and can't wait to get out of my first trimester. I suffer from night sickness that begins after 4. It was the same with Rhiannon but more severe this time. I usually do not have the luxury of keeping my dinner. However, I have been lucky in that I haven't had the exhaustion that I remembered when pregnant the first time. I'm not sure if it's not there or if I just haven't noticed it due to keeping up with a 2 year old. I haven't really had time for exhaustion anyway. Russ had class 3 nights a week this semester (that thankfully ended last week) so I have felt like a single parent. I rush home from work each night to rescue my wonderful in-laws from Rhiannon. Then we have 1 1/2 hours to cook dinner, clean up the kitchen, bathe and PJ Rhiannon, read books and then tuck into bed. I'll be glad to have my cook return this week! I love you Russ.

Rhiannon just celebrated her 2nd birthday. This is a huge milestone for a preemie and one that we thankfully have passed with no issues. We had a fun little party with family and a couple of local friends. I have an entire album at Rhiannon's babysite.

Rhiannon is almost potty trained. She now only wears pull-ups when she leaves the house and when she sleeps. This has happened in the last 3 weeks and I'm sure I'll have many more blogs on this process. Stay tuned.

Check out the big girl Elmo panties. Okay, with a tiara and heels. A girl has to have accessories right? We're also planning on moving Rhiannon into her big girl bed and new room this weekend. When it's finished, I'll show more pictures.

So, welcome to my updated blog. My goal is to at least post something every week.

2 weeks, 2 more visits to the hospital and a Baby Girl!!!

Let me start by announcing that Russ and I are the proud parents of Rhiannon James Crain. Our baby girl was born at 7:01pm on July 24, 2007. She was 11 weeks early weighing 3 lbs 3 oz and 15 3/4 inches long.

Okay, now let me fill you in on the last couple weeks. I last updated you the weekend we got home from the hospital, the first time. That Monday, I had my weekly dr's appt. Everything was fine. No contractions, no bleeding. My instructions were to continue bed rest and return on Thursday for my Glucose screen. Thursday came, the test went fine. I passed with a 104 (anything under 140 is acceptable). After the test I was hooked up to monitor my contractions. Still no contractions but Rhiannon's heart beat was spiking up to almost 220 and then returning to the 150 - 160 range. Dr Lake was concerned so were sent back to the high-risk OB, Dr Allaire, and were told that the Brethine I was taking was possibly making Rhiannon's heart beat too fast. He was also concerned that one side of her heart appeared to be larger than the other. So, I was admitted back to the hospital to be monitored. I was taken off the Brethine (medicine to keep me from having contractions) and overnight her heartbeat stabilized. Dr Carpenter, the pediatric cardiologist did a series of tests of her heart and told us that there appeared to be no structural problems with her heart and I was sent home. This was Friday, July 20.

I woke up Monday and felt terrible. I had a headache and was nauseous. My back was hurting and just couldn't seem to get comfortable. Later on that afternoon I started feeling cramping in my pelvic area but nothing I could consider a contraction. I took a warm bath and that relieved the discomfort for a few hours but after dinner I started having definite contractions. After I had 4 in 40 minutes, we went to the hospital around 11pm. I was 1.5cm dilated so I was admitted again into the hospital and was given medicine (Procardia and Magnesium) to stop the contractions but they didn't stop. At around 10 the next morning, my water broke and the nurse was concerned that it was all blood. Dr Harrison finished breaking my water around 6 and I delivered Rhiannon vaginally at 7:01pm. I was told that my placenta had ruptured, known as placenta abruptia, possibly causing the preterm labor. The NICU team was there waiting for her when she arrived. They had trouble intebating her and almost gave her daddy a heart attack with worry and anticipation. After almost 20 minutes, they were able to get her stabilized and after a brief kiss from Mommy, she was off to the NICU.

Rhiannon is a tiny thing but my little over achiever and has shocked the NICU staff with her progress. At 10am the morning after she was delivered they were able to take her off the ventilator and she has been breathing room air since then. She had a touch of jaundice but after a day under the billy light, it was successfully treated. They began feeding her breast milk on Thursday morning and she has been successfully digesting. She has quite the temper. If we don't place her just the right way, she pitches a huge fit and turns a bright shade of red. The nurses have already told us we were going to have our hands full when we bring her home!

I have started another website to update you all on her progress. It allows me to share more pictures and I have tons to show off. She's beautiful. The website is: http://www.babysites.com/sites/rhiannonjames/

I'm still updating between visits to the hospital but hope to have it finished by the end of the weekend.

Thank you all for your prayers. We know how blessed we are that Rhiannon is doing so well and completely believe that is from all of your prayers. Please continue to remember our little Angel as she is still fragile and has a long road ahead of her. And pray for me and Russ as we had to come home without her last night.

Below are pictures of me holding her for the second time and of her snoozing.

Love to you all,

Heather, Russ and Rhiannon

28 weeks and a little excitement

Well we've reached the 7 month mark and I'm happily composing this blog from the comfort of my home. We've had an exciting week.



Wednesday morning at work I noticed that I had started bleeding. I immediately left work and Russ and I rushed to our dr's office. After an ultrasound, Dr Lake noticed that my cervix had begun to thin. I was given my hospital admittance forms and sent to a high risk ob to verify Dr Lake's assessment.



At Dr Allaire's office (the high risk ob) another ultrasound was performed. Peanut is developing just as he should. They were checking in more detail for birth defects that could possibly cause preterm labor and luckily none were found. That was the good news. The bad news was that my cervix was completely effaced - 100% thinned out. I was to be admitted to the hospital for steroids to speed up the baby's lung development and it was possible I would remain there until the baby is born. He doubted I would make it to 34 weeks.



At the hospital I was given my first steroid shot and Brethine to prevent contractions. After several days of observation and no changes, I was released on Saturday to go home to strict bed rest. We were a little scared to leave my contraction monitor and the constant attention of the nursing staff but decided it would be nice to sleep in our own bed. The dr's are pleased that I have not progressed over the weekend and are hopeful that I can carry this baby to full term if I follow their instructions.



So for the next few weeks this is where I will be. I can get up to go to the bathroom and I have the special thrill of 30 minutes each day to take a shower/dry hair/get dressed, etc. We will have weekly appointments with our dr to monitor our progress and we will continue to check in with you every couple of weeks. We're still shocked and I am of course dealing with this not working with my pregnancy plan. But we know that this was God's plan for us and we are so very thankful that we were able to stop Peanut from arriving already.



Thank you all for the visits, calls, flowers, food, magazines and most of all your prayers. My mother and stepfather are on a trip out West until next weekend and the Crains are not due back until August. Needless to say we were a little scared without any parental supervision!! But all the love and support we have received from friends and family the last few days amazed us. We feel so blessed.



Please continue to keep up in your prayers. We will continue to update you with our progress.



Love to you all,

Heather, Russ and Baby Crain

26 weeks

Hi Everyone! It's July and we are about to make the final turn into our third trimester. I can't believe how fast the last few months have gone by!! We had our 25 week appointment with Dr Lake on Thursday. Mama and baby have gained 20 pounds so far, 4 pounds since our last visit. The baby's heartbeat was 151 bpm. We go back on July 19 for the glucose tolerance test to screen for Gestational Diabetes. I have to drink this sweet orange drink and then have my blood drawn an hour later. From what I've been told, it's not fun at all.

Below are some pictures of my bump, okay, it's now more than a bump, it's officially a belly!!!

According to BabyCenter.com, Baby Crain now weighs a little less than 2 pounds and measures about 14 inches. His weight will more than triple between now and birth as he rapidly puts on baby fat. He'll need that fat to help adjust to colder temperatures outside the womb and as a source of energy and calories in the first days of life.

Mama is starting to get a little uncomfortable. I have a constant pain just under my chest that stretches in a ring all the way around the middle of my back. Dr Lake says it is probably from the expansion of my ribs. The baby also tends to hang out under my rib on my left side. Whatever is going on, it is painful. Russ is a wonderful masseuse and his back rubs help me get comfortable in bed each night.

Peanut has been busy. He's moving around all the time. You can actually see my stomach move with each kick or punch. I can't make out what body parts I'm feeling but it's pretty fascinating watching my stomach change shapes with each movement.

On Sunday, Russ and I went shopping and ordered our crib. It should be here in a couple of weeks. For those of you that have asked, the picture below is of our crib bedding. I plan to register this weekend at BabiesRUs and Target. After a full day of church, driving and shopping we had a delicious dinner with our friends Amanda and Marc and their son Ethan at their home in Woodstock. Marc and Russ talked soccer and I was able to pick Amanda's brain about baby stuff.

Russ is enjoying his new job at the bank. I think it's fun to see him dressed up every day in a tie and slacks. He also started playing soccer again on Saturday and his knee continues to get stronger.

We hope you all have a safe and enjoyable 4th of July holiday!!

Love,

Heather, Russ and Baby Crain

23 weeks

First of all, I apologize for being a week late with my posting. We just returned today from a week at Myrtle Beach with the Lawson clan. It was a week of beach, food and family. Who could ask for more?

Russ and I saw Dr Harrison for our 21 week appointment on Thursday before we left for our trip and finally had another ultrasound. We had not seen little peanut since 9 weeks and my he has gotten bigger! No we didn't find out the sex but we came really close to changing our minds. I'm going to continue to use "he" when talking about the baby just because my gut feeling is that's it's a boy but there is always the 50% chance that I'm wrong. So back to the ultrasound. It was amazing. We were able to see the baby's profile, fingers, and legs. At first he had one hand on his chest and the other was holding his little foot almost to his nose. He then let go of his foot, stretched his little back and stuck his thumb in his mouth (you can see him sucking his thumb in the picture above!). We could actually see his jaw moving as he sucked his thumb. We also were shown all 4 chambers of the heart, the stomach and the bladder. All were functioning just as they should. The best part was that the ultrasound was all captured on VHS so that we could watch it over and over again. The heart beat was 157 per minute.

I'm feeling the baby move all the time now. Russ and Stephen were actually able to feel it too!! It's so fascinating. Each time he moves I stop what I'm doing and put my hands on my stomach and smile. It's just a little reminder that there is a little person growing inside me. It amazes me.

We have changed our mind again on the nursery and have decided to go with a star theme. To ensure that I don't change my mind again, we ordered the bedding. Now all we have to do is get a crib and we can really start putting everything together.

Russ was offered a job at Bank of America so he officially has a day job now!! No more working nights, weekends and holidays. He was also accepted at North GA and will begin completing his bachelors degree there in the fall. So many exciting changes in the Crain home!!

We hope you all are enjoying your summer. Please enjoy our pictures of little Peanut and of Russ and I at the beach.

Love,

Heather, Russ and Baby Crain

18 Weeks

We are 18 weeks now and head to bottom, our baby is approximately 5 1/2 inches long (about the length of a large sweet potato) and weighs almost 7 ounces. My baby calendar says that she's busy flexing her arms and legs — movements that you'll likely start noticing more and more. And on Saturday, I felt Baby Crain for the first time!! I had a glass of sweet tea and felt a unique movement that I have never felt before. And although it's too early for them to feel it too, Russ and Stephen were here with me for the experience. It was so amazing. . . just the realization that there is a little person growing inside me. Although my first image was of the alien in SpaceBalls. . . let's just hope that the baby doesn't pop out with a top hat singing "Hello my baby, hello my honey. . . ".

This was a week of dr's visits for the whole family. We had our 17 week appointment and everything is progressing smoothly. I've gained 9 pounds so far. We will have our Level 2 ultrasound at the next visit. It will be tough not to find out what we're having. Russ also had his third knee surgery on Friday. The plan was for arthroscopic surgery to shave off some of his bone around the knee. Once the surgery began, the dr thought his knee looked much better than expected and decided not to shave off any bone. He trimmed up some rough cartilage and tightened up his ACL. Russ is doing well since surgery. His knee is sore and swollen but it has been the easiest of his surgeries so far. I'm thrilled that he's off work until after our family vacation in June. I'm going to be so spoiled with him home every night!

I've been busy organizing and preparing the house for baby. My sister Katie passed down some baby gear and a friend and neighbor of my grandmother's gave us a gorgeous cherry cradle. We've started the nursery, painting it a cheery yellow. We plan to put up a chair rail and paint stripes underneath. We've picked out our nursery bedding and bought a dresser to use as a changing table. We still have a lot to do but it feels nice to have started. My appetite right now is outrageous. I will eat a full meal only to feel like I'm starving again as soon as I finish. I'm trying to eat healthy and it's been easier since my aversion to fish and vegetables seems to have disappeared. Lately I've been craving salads which is good. . . and ICE CREAM which is not so good. =)

We'll check back in with you in 4 weeks. Hopefully with some ultrasound pictures of little Peanut. Until then, I have attached some pictures of Russ pre-surgery painting the nursery and post-surgery recovering, and of my bump. I don't feel like there's been a major change since our last post but I keep gaining weight and growing out of clothes so it must be going somewhere!! Hope you all are well. Happy Mother's Day to all of you mothers, grandmothers and soon to be mothers.

Love,
Heather, Russ and Baby Crain

14 weeks

Week 14 marks the beginning of my second trimester. From our BabyCenter calendar, Baby Crain "is now almost 3 1/2 inches long — about the length of a lemon — and weighs about 1 1/2 ounces. Her body's growing faster than her head, which now sits upon a more well-defined neck. By the end of this week, her arms will have lengthened and will be in proportion to the rest of her body. Her little facial muscles are getting a workout as she squints, frowns, and grimaces. She can grasp now, too, and she may be able to suck her thumb. "

We had our 13 week appt on Thursday and we were able to hear the baby's heart beat from outside my tummy. The dr also gave me the okay to resume regular activity so I can start walking and doing light exercise and believe it or not, I'm excited about it. I'm still feeling nauseous in the evenings but my energy level is much higher. I can even stay up until 10 at night! Party!

We had many "firsts" since our last blog. We bought our first piece of baby furniture. At a local consignment store, we found a hand painted wooden high chair. You'll see it in the picture above. My mother always had a classic wooden high chair and that's what I had pictured for our baby so we were very excited about this find. The cute stuffed monkey is one of Baby Crain's first gifts that Shelby bought while we were in Greenville. It's so soft and cuddly. This week was also the first time that my "bump" could be seen. It's amazing how quickly your body starts to change. But, looking pregnant is a very exciting first and in a few weeks I should be able to actually feel the baby move!

As for dad, he and uncle Stephen are going to start next weekend painting and getting the nursery ready for Baby. When he's not at work, he's studying for Chemistry (bless his heart) or working on our yard. I'm so proud of him.

We'll update you again at 18 weeks. Happy Easter!