Introducing Scott Philip Cragun!

Our little boy is here and can I just say he is absolutely perfect! Now I may be a little biased, but he is the cutest little boy in the world and we love him to pieces! I am constantly telling him how cute, perfect, and big he is! He's only been here for 3 weeks but it feels like he's always been here. Everyone's been asking how everything went so I will start at the beginning. And this is long, so beware before you start reading.
The week before he was born I was going to the mall to walk for hours hoping to get things going, but each day passed with nothing more than my normal occasional Braxton Hicks contractions. Friday Collin had school off so we decided to go for some walks together. We went for a 45 minute walk around the neighborhood before lunch. Then after lunch we walked for about an hour and a half down a little walkway/park along a river. Then it was time for our date. We went to the mall and got Chik-fil-A which we both really like. I heard that spicy food helps with labor, so I had to get the spicy chicken sandwich and put the spicy buffalo sauce on to make it extra spicy. Not even halfway through dinner it felt like my contractions had picked up which seemed crazy to me. I didn't actually think the spicy food would do anything. They were still Braxton Hicks but they were definitely stronger than before. Once we finished eating, we walked around the mall for another hour. Collin jokes with me that we walked all day. We didn't but it definitely felt like it. That night we came home and watched a movie, and during the movie the Braxton Hicks were still getting stronger and stronger. They were coming about every 6 minutes. I started getting my hopes up. We felt like we could be going into the hospital in the middle of the night so we finished up the last of the packing for the hospital. We went then went to bed. I woke up at 3 in the morning with contractions. I laid there for half an hour waiting to see if they would leave, but they didn't. I decided to wake up Collin and have him time them for me. Sure enough they were 5 minutes apart, lasting a minute each for at least an hour. We got up to shower and eat breakfast. After that they were still coming but we decided to go for yet another walk. It was only about a 30 minute walk but when we got back we took a little nap because we were so tired. Well I woke up about 45 minutes later and the contractions had stopped. I was SO  upset. I started crying and telling Collin that I had gotten my hopes up for nothing. It was my due date and I just wanted our little baby here. Collin surprisingly suggested we go for yet another walk. This time we walked over to a big park several blocks away, walked around it, and came home. I could feel the contractions starting back up during that walk thankfully. We hung out at home for awhile and they definitely were picking back up. We watched an episode of Full House to see if they would stop when I rested, which they didn't. I decided to call my OB to let her know and see what she had to say. She said it sounded like I was in labor and that I could go into the hospital whenever I wanted. I stayed at home a little longer but finally got to the point where the contractions were hurting pretty bad and I couldn't move during them. We hurried and got Subway so that I could have dinner before we went in.
Once we finished eating we went into the hospital at about 4:45 that afternoon. I cried as we went up the elevator to labor and delivery. I was so afraid they would send me back home. The contractions were hurting bad enough that I couldn't even imagine having to go back home! When we got to Triage after all their questions they finally eased my nervousness and checked me. I was dilated almost to a 5 so I got to stay!!! I got checked in about 5:00. I knew I wanted an epidural. I had 2 miscarriages before this and the contractions I had had from those were bad enough. I was going to wait a few hours to get an epidural though. I was so afraid that once I got it my labor would stall and I'd end up in a C-Section. I finally decided to get an epidural about 7:30. The anesthesiologist was SO fast it was done in like 5 minutes and it started working immediately! One of the nurses said that she thinks the anesthesiologist could do it in his sleep. Collin wholeheartedly agrees with her. Let me tell you, the epidural was heavenly! It was so nice! The doctor came in about 9:30 to break my water since I had only dilated about 2 centimeters at that point and my contractions were spacing out just a little. During the next few hours Collin and I decided to type up little things about the pregnancy and labor for us and the baby to remember and look back on. It was fun remembering the little things like him kicking like crazy when I'd eat Nutella, take a shower, or when Collin would pinch his little bum when he'd stick it out. I was a little sad thinking about not being pregnant and not feeling him move inside me, but my excitement for him being born outweighed the sadness. At midnight I was dilated to a 9 and it was looking like things were going to happen soon. Our nurse was leaving at 2 in the morning so we were all hoping he'd come by then. Sadly, 2:00 came and I was only at a 9.5. That was discouraging to me cause the rest of labor had gone pretty quickly but now that I was at a 9 it was slow. What the heck it's not supposed to be like that!!! Our nurse left and I was feeling like it was time, but our new nurse was taking forever to come in. I finally got tired of waiting and called her in at 2:30 and said let's do this! Our little baby was born at 3:24AM on Sunday, September 14, 2014 at 8lbs 14.5oz and 20 inches long. I did not want to go overdue, but he decided to come the day after his due date, BARELY. We still think of him on time though since I was in the hospital on his due date and he was barely late. I also wanted a little tiny baby, but Collin wanted one with chubby cheeks. Well, he won and got the chubby baby. Collin helped catch him and cut the cord. They placed him on my chest I could not, and still to this day, cannot take my eyes off of him! He had a massive cone head from being in the birth canal for hours, but he was absolutely perfect! After about 5 minutes we decided on the name Scott Philip. Scott is Collin and his dad's middle names and Philip is my dad's middle name. Collin's dad more often goes by the name Scott though. What an honor for our little boy to be named after 3 amazing men! I was so exhausted while pushing but had a huge adrenaline rush afterwards. My little boy was finally here! I could not believe it and was so excited! He was not happy when they were weighing, checking his vitals, and giving him a bath. But it was so sweet seeing Collin right there with him.. Scott just laid there looking at him and was pretty calm as long as Collin was there talking to him. It was SO sweet! After about 2 hours they had me take a quick shower to rinse off before taking us to postpartum. I was so lightheaded. I had to sit in the shower and immediately sit in the wheelchair afterwards. I was very close to passing out. It was kind of scary but after about 5 minutes of sitting and the nurse fanning me, I felt a little better. They quickly took us to our room in postpartum and we all immediately fell asleep. I felt much better after that. Our little Scotty was finally here. I couldn't put him down. He was and is always being held.
On that first day when a nurse was in watching him, she noticed his breathing was a little fast and said they'd watch it. I thought it was nothing especially since he'd been crying right before that. We had several visitors from the ward and school that day. The next morning, Monday, the pediatrician and some nurses examined him. His breathing was still fast so they did some blood work to make sure nothing was wrong. A few hours later a nurse came in a said his white blood cell count was high and the neonatalogist from the NICU was going to come up and talk to us. I was crying just thinking about our little Scotty being taken down to the NICU. The neonatalogist came in around lunchtime and told us what they found in his blood. Not only were his white blood cells high, but there's also something in blood called CRP (C reactive protein). It is an indicator of inflammation. Well normally it's under 6. Scott's was at 75. Obviously something was infected and wrong somewhere. Collin went with them when they took him down to the NICU. I was so upset and crying. It felt like my dream of having a perfect little boy was shattered. Something was wrong with him and now they had to take him away from me. I was so afraid of what would happen with breastfeeding, us taking care of him, and me being discharged the next day while he was still at the hospital. I was upstairs on the 5th floor crying while Scott and Collin were down in the NICU on the 3rd floor. They gave him an IV since the antibiotics had to be giving through IV. They also did a spinal tap to rule out meningitis, which luckily he did not have. They took blood so they could do blood cultures to figure out what was going on. They did all that while I was still up in my room. I'm glad Collin was there with him and not me. I would have lost it even more. They told us he'd have to be in the NICU for at least 7 days no matter what. He had to have the full 7 day dose of antibiotics even if he improved and the infection was gone before then. I was so sad. I didn't get to go home with my baby for another week!!! Thankfully though, he was in his own little room. We could take care of him was much as we or he needed. I could breastfeed him, hold him, take care of him, change his diapers, and we could even sleep there once I was discharged. They set up a little cot in the room for me and Collin was on a sleeping pad on the floor. As Collin would say - I finally came to my senses later that evening. I finally realized Scott was going to be fine and things could be much, much worse. I'm so glad they caught it when they did instead of sending us home and us having no idea anything was even wrong. I still had a hard time, especially seeing him with an IV in his precious little hand and being hooked up to all sorts of monitors, but I knew things would be ok.
The first day he was in there I had to go back and forth between my room and the NICU. It was so hard leaving him. I did not want to leave him there alone and not be there to take care of him when he needed it. I remember one time Collin and I had to be in my room for the nurses to do a few things. They were taking a really long time and talking a lot and I remember thinking "Scott needs to eat. They need to hurry!" They finally left and we went back down to the NICU and I could hear Scott screaming as soon as we walked through the NICU doors. As soon as I picked him up and got him eating I just sat there crying. I felt so bad for not being there to take care of him. I was so happy when they finally discharged me Tuesday afternoon and I was able to be with Scott all the time.
Tuesday morning Collin's sister-in-law, Abby, came to visit from Utah. Oh my goodness, was she absolutely wonderful! I'm so glad she still came even though we were in the NICU. Our typical day went like this: Collin left for school first thing in the morning. Abby came to the hospital early in the morning. Once Scott was fed I'd go home and shower while she stayed there holding and taking care of him. I did not want him to be alone! I'd go back to the hospital as soon as I was done and hung out with Abby. When Collin was done with school at 1 he'd go home, make us all lunch, and bring it to the hospital for us all to eat. Once lunch was over, Abby would leave and run errands, make dinner, and she even cleaned our house for us! Collin and I would stay at the hospital and take naps with our little guy. Abby would then come back with dinner and then we'd all spend time together at the hospital til about 9ish when Abby would go back to our house and sleep. Thankfully we only live like 2 minutes from the hospital making it super easy for all of this to happen. I really cannot express how thankful I am for everything Abby did while she was out here. Not only did she do all of that stuff, but she gave so much advice related to babies that was super helpful. She was also a huge emotional support for me. When she left I cried so much! I was thinking "how are we supposed to take care of a baby without her?!" She was just a HUGE help and I will forever be thankful for everything she did.
Things were looking better immediately. The CRP level in his blood that was super high started to go down the next day. It went from 75, to 53, 26, and finally 7. The doctors never found out where or what the infection was, but he had one and the antibiotics did their job. We are so grateful for modern medicine. It has helped us so much in the last 10 months since our lovely accident and now with Scott's infection.
The NICU was much better than I thought it would be. Like I said, he had his own little room for us all to be alone together. The daytime nurses were absolutely wonderful! We had the same 3 everyday while we were there. We think the best nurses are saved for the NICU. They were so happy, caring, helpful, friendly, fast, and would talk with Scott and make it as good for him as possible. The nurses at night were a different story. Part of it could be we were all tired and wanting to sleep, making us all more irritable, but they were SO slow! They would tell me before he eats next to call them in so they could check different things, so that's what I'd do. He'd wake up crying, ready to eat, but then we'd have to wait for the nurses to come in and do their thing before he would ever get to eat. He'd be crying and so upset and hungry but we'd have to wait for them. They'd take 20 minutes when the nurses in the day would get everything done in 5! One nurse was even trying to get him to stop crying while she was in there. She was rocking him, talking to him, and left in the middle of everything to get a warm blanket because he was "cold". Ummm no. He's hungry! If you want to soothe him and get him to stop crying hurry up and let him eat. We were super annoyed with that one particular nurse. But she was just trying to help him so we shouldn't be too upset.
We had several ward members and friends come see us in the NICU. Some even brought us pumpkin shakes. It was so nice having people come and visit us. It was like a breath of fresh air. We have awesome friends out here!
We got to bring Scott home on Monday, September 22, 2014. He hated the carseat when we put him in, but once we started walking to the car he was fine. When we got home he was so calm and just looked all around. It felt so nice to be home with him. We absolutely love being parents. The first day Collin had to go back to school he texted me and said "now I have even less of a desire to go to school." As soon as he gets home from school he just wants to hold and talk with Scott. But he's done very good at finding time to study. It's now been 3 weeks since he was born but it feels like he's been here forever! We love him and think he's absolutely perfect and the cutest little boy!

40 Weeks The night before we went to the hospital. I miss that little belly!

Right after the epidural

Our cute little boy! We could NOT take our eyes off him.

Look at that chubby baby!!!! He loves sucking on his hand. Even during his 20 week ultrasound we have a picture of his hand up at his mouth.

Our first picture in the NICU

Aunt Abby to the rescue!!

Our first family picture

My absolute favorite thing to do with him!

This was the sweetest moment. Collin was talking with him and Scott just sat there looking back at him. I had to take a picture!! Plus both of these men, big and little, are so cute! 

The IV made it hard to put his arm in the sleeve so he had what Uncle Chet called "the Pocahontas style"

His first bath. Wasn't loving it cause the nurse got cold water!!!!

cross-eyed (he does this all the time)

We love when he sleeps like this. It's like he's giving us a huge hug!

Time to go home!!!

Not loving his carseat

Our neighbors made the cute sign

First bath at home. He loved having a bath with warm water, surprise, surprise

He looks so tiny in his crib. He loves sleeping with his arms like that (free gun show)

All ready for his first walk