Tiny Bit is growing up!

Jacob is 7 weeks old!

It's hard to believe that our "tiny bit" is growing so quickly! Life has been quite a roller coaster over the last 7 weeks. Here are the highlights.

Labor with Jacob was just that...LABOR! Although I've been told I had a great labor for a first pregnancy, I opt NOT to do that again any time soon! I was induced on the morning of June 5th at 6:00 am. At first I was thinking, "This isn't that bad, I can handle it." Then the Dr. came in at 8:00 am and broke my water. I instantly learned how the next few hours were REALLY going to go! Breathing techniques flew right out the window and Jaska has finally regained the feeling back in his hand. At noon, I met my new best friend, the "epidural man."

Over the next 6 hours, I had the most blissful sleep I had had in months! I was then gently nudged and told it was time to push. Only an hour of pushing and Jacob was here! What a true miracle of God!

He had been having an irregular heartbeat throughout the day and the Dr. wanted to monitor him for a while to ensure that everything was ok. After a little snuggle time, he was taken to the nursery and remained on the monitor for his first night.

David was able to meet his baby brother the next day and was very interested in holding the baby...for about 5 seconds. Then he was off to play!

After me dealing with a spinal headache (a complication from my epidural) and nursing Jacob through a good bit of jaundice, we were able to head home.

We have had contiuous live-in help since Jacob was born (Thanks a million moms!) and we are now on our own. Jacob is up 2 times a night or so and we have learned to adjust to living on minimal sleep. He is nursing well and has nearly doubled his birth weight.

Big brother had quite an adjustment to sharing mommy and daddy with the small intruder, but he's doing much better. He loves to help give "baby Jacob" his paci, whether he wants it or not and he's pretty gentle...most of the time. All in all, David is a great big brother.

Here are a few of our favorite shots.

Daddy's Little Man

The Newest Addition

Brothers First Meeting

Ready To Go Home

He's got his Mommy's blue eyes! (for now at least)

In his "going home" outfit at 7 weeks.

Introducing...

We are thrilled to introduce

Jacob Timothy Tyler Cason!!
Born Tuesday, June 5th, 2007 at 7:18 pm.
6 pounds, 13 ounces, 20.5 inches

We've had some issues to work out with my health and Jacob's so we're still in the hospital and hoping to be going home tomorrow (Sun)!

Will update more when things settle down a bit (although I've been told that's 18 years from now...).

Jaska, Dee, David, and Jacob!

Bed Resting Update

The newest information from my favorite hospital bed is that...I'll be here for another week.

Had more tests run yesterday and results today looked good. Good enough for Dr not to induce me, but not good enough to take me off of bed rest. So the plan now is to continue bed rest until next week with an induction around Wednesday as long as my daily test results continue to remain fairly normal.

So if all goes well, little Jacob will arrive next week!

Thanks to all for your continued prayers, emails, and visits. Keep 'em comin!

Hello From The Land of Bed Rest!

Well, here I am. Confined to bed for the duration of the pregnancy. Did I mention that I'm in the hospital???

Yep. Saw the Doctor on Tuesday for my regular visit and the blood pressure had reached the "unacceptable" range. So it was off to the hospital for some "routine" monitoring. As you can well imagine, the "routine" monitoring turned not-so-routine. My pressure continued to be high and actually climbed a bit higher. That along with a few other not-so-good test numbers caused the Doctor to decide to keep me overnight. Then yesterday, after a few other tests with unfavorable outcomes, she made the decision that I would stay here until baby comes! (I also now officially have preeclampsia.) Oh, and also that she would be inducing me next week!!

One saving grace for me is that the hospital just got wireless internet access a few months ago so I don't feel like such a hermit! I'm able to email like crazy and do alot of "surfing" that I never seemed to get around to at home. Also, they do let me out once a day for a spin outside to enjoy some sunshine so I don't go TOO crazy.

Will keep updating as things progress!

The Latest

Ok, figured I should put up a bit of an update!

Jaska made it home 3 weeks ago. The readjustment is getting better for us all. Had a few rough weeks trying to learn to live with one another again and learning to co-parent again. Gotta love the military!!!

David is LOVING having daddy home again! They read lots of stories before bedtime and play with his train set quite a bit. The first two hours that he was home, I didn't hear the word "mama" once!

Mom headed home. Can't tell you how great it was to have her here helping out while Jaska was away. She's coming back in a few weeks to be here when baby comes.

I am still flying JUST under the radar as far as my blood pressure goes. I'm told that bedrest will come at 140/90 and today's verdict was 138/86! I'm having ultrasounds every week to make sure that he is still growing well and that there is enough amniotic fluid for him. Also having weekly OB appointments to check blood pressure and she's also starting to check for dilation! I've been having Braxton Hicks contractions for quite a while now. They are getting more frequent and, oddly enough, they are starting to hurt more!! I'm 35 weeks. Five-ish weeks left, although I don't know that he will make it that long.

Is this really going to happen?!?!?!?!?

The Saga Continues

Was back at the Dr. yesterday and my blood pressure is still on the high side. Had some blood drawn and was monitored at the Dr.s' office for about 30 minutes. Again, baby was doing great and the longer I laid there, the lower my blood pressure got. Imagine that!

I am now going to see her once a week until baby comes. I avoided the "bed rest" bullet once again. Think that will be a "take it a week at a time" thing. But no moving furniture, mall walking, or exercise. I'll also get another ultrasound in a few weeks to make sure baby is still growing well. She also mentioned that if I am still having blood pressure problems at 38 weeks, she'd like to induce me. That's 9 weeks from now!!! Whew! It's really creeping up on me!

Jaska should be home in 3 weeks!!!

Good News, Bad News

Good news! I don't have Gestational Diabetes!!!

Bad news... I've got high blood pressure.... :(

Went in for a checkup today (also to get the results of my 3 hour glucose test) and my anxiety was relieved when the nurse told me my test was normal. Then the Dr. wanted my blood pressure taken again and my anxiety level began to rise right back to where it was. When it was all said and done, I was sent straight to the hospital to monitor me and baby. I can say that was NOT how I thought I'd be spending my afternoon without David!!

Got the royal treatment. My own room, my own fetal heart monitor, my own bed... Also got another ultrasound out of the deal and some cute new profile pictures of baby (he has his daddy's nose). The tech said that he is still DEFINITELY a boy and even said that he has some hair! Makes me anxious to meet him, then I think of all the work it's going to be, so I can wait a bit longer I think. After a few hours of monitoring, Dr. decided to let me go home. My blood pressure had come down to a safe level and baby's heart rate was good. Haven't been put on bed rest... yet. But I have been told to take it easy and will see the Dr. again in a week.

That said, here is a new picture of peanut!

The "Belly Shot"

Alright, I've broken down and gotten the "belly shot." I am currently 25 weeks (6 months) pregnant. Feeling pretty good and baby is moving and kicking like crazy!! He's pretty predictable about when he starts his gymnastics every day. Next doctor's appointment is this next Tuesday. Will let you know how things come out.

Jaska is working hard in the desert and has even been in an article about a mission that he has been involved in overseas. You can read the article and view him at work at http://www.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123043609. Be sure to "View All Images" under the main photo on the page!

We're counting the weeks until he comes home as we've nearly reached the half-way point! David just asked this past week, "Daddy at?" which translates to "Where's Daddy?" Broke my heart, but he just as quickly found a car to focus his attention on.

Thanks to all for your continued prayers and contact as we go through this latest deployment.

2 Year Anniversary

How cute is this face???

Jaska and I have officially been parents for 2 years as of Friday the 16th! I can't believe it was 2 years ago that we went to pick up our baby boy. What a special day that was and now we're looking forward to another type of special day with the birth of our second baby boy. We've learned so much and know that we only have more to learn!! What a blessed life we have. We thank the Lord each day for David's birth mother and can only hope that more young women come to understanding that they can change so many lives with the truly unselfish decision to make an adoption plan!

If you've ever thought about adoption, we had a truly wonderful experience through the Gladney Center for Adoption and highly recommend them! You can visit their website at www.gladney.org.

Movin' and Groovin'

Ok, I FINALLY felt baby move and I KNEW it was him! What a sensational feeling! Scared me a bit at first and now it just freaks me out when he's flipping around in there. What a blessing to experience such an event! Felt him a few times on Sunday and Monday. Yesterday he was pretty quiet, which made me a little nervous. It doesn't help much when I watch Discovery Health channel about all these "high risk" baby situations!! I've got to quit doing that! Next appointment with the OB is on 20 February. Appointments are at the "uneventful" stage at this point. Go in, get weighed, blood pressure, try and pee in a cup without seeing what I'm doing (most of the time it just ends up all over me...), hear the heartbeat (which is always cool), and ask questions. Wait around for an hour or so for a 10 minute appointment. Fun, fun, fun!! On a more somber note...

The time has come. Jaska is leaving for the big sandbox tomorrow. Mom arrives today. Thought I was starting to get used to this deployment thing, but this one seems harder than all the rest!! We've got lots of projects planned and social events to go to while he is away, so hopefully the time will fly. The ladies in the squadron are awesome at getting together for something or other a few times a week while the guys (and gals) are gone.

Keep us all in your prayers!

P.S. Congrats Colts fans! So sorry Bears fans... :( I'm neither. I just watch for the commercials!!!

And baby Cason is a....

BOY!!

(1st picture is boy parts, 2nd picture is a profile of his foot, 3rd picture is of his face...so the doctor says, I can't tell!)

I am 18 weeks pregnant and we had a sonogram today. In addition to that wonderful news, we also know that baby is growing well and developing normally. Praise God! As for names, we haven't officially settled on a name yet. We will hopefully have one by the time the child is born!!

I'm feeling better during this second trimester. Still having trouble with my back, but receiving physical therapy 2 days a week to help with that.

Jaska will be deploying within the next month to the desert. My mom is coming to help out with David while he is away since I'm not able to leave Abilene for long periods of time because of doctor's appointments and such. (Yeah for moms!!)

Please be in prayer for continued health of the baby. Also for Jaska as he prepares to leave and for his safety while he is away.

As for the months without a post, the holidays hit, we were traveling, we had family in town, etc. So there are the excuses!

Tests, tests, and more tests!!

Today I got to experience that of a pincushion. They drew 6 vials of blood (which felt more like 4 liters!!) and I got to do a tasty glucose test for gestational diabetes. The 4 liters... I mean, 6 vials, weren't too bad. And actually the glucose test was not nearly as bad as I had made it out to be in my head. I got the pleasure of drinking a tasty glass of mystery fluid, which tasted a lot like cough syrup without the kick. Then I spent a leisurely hour in the waiting room after which they took ANOTHER vial of my blood. Don't have any results, of course, but am most concerned about the diabetes test. Some of my medical history makes me susceptible to it.

Jaska is TDY for a few days and David and I are on our own. It's been pretty rough the last few days. I've had no energy and the mood swings are running rampant!!

Please pray for a NEGATIVE for gestational diabetes and Jaska’s quick return. He should be home Friday night, but he's flying a Herk so that drops the probability down to about 50% since most of the planes are older than he is and anything from a wing falling off to a burned out light bulb can ground the thing!!!

I'll be 9 weeks tomorrow!

First Photos of Baby Cason!

Here are the first images of Baby Cason!

Had our first OB appointment today! How exciting it was to see our baby's heartbeat for the first time! His (no gender bias, just can't bring myself to call the baby "it") heartbeat is great (the photo on the top shows the heartbeat) and the doctor said everything looks good. I've got lots of bloodwork and the like to get taken care of in the next week.

We'll (or probably I'll) go back next month and every month after for our checkups. We also have another ultrasound scheduled in January.

Our official due date is June 20th. So tomorrow will be the 8 week mark.

The pregnancy symptoms are starting to show themselves now. Besides the run down feeling I've had, I'm also getting sick a bit more now. Not everyday, thankfully, but enough for it not to be much fun.

We ask that you continue to pray for all of us during this time. It's quite a transition for all of us and we're adjusting slowly.

The newest Cason news...

God is GREAT!

After 7+ years, lots of praying, wishing, hoping, dreaming, crying, sobbing, (some cursing), drugs, doctors, poking and proding, we are proud to announce that we are PREGNANT!!! And the miracle of all miracles, with NO medical intervention what-so-ever! I've always heard that all you need to do is adopt and then you'll get pregnant. And I always thought, "yeah, right, for everyone else, maybe!" But, once again, we've become a statistic!

Ok, for the guys, that's the big news, thanks for visiting and check back for pics as I delve into the world of blogging. (There are prayer requests toward the bottom if you are so inclined!) For you ladies who have to have details, read on!

I'd been feeling a bit run down over the last few weeks, attributing it to a head cold that won't go away and running after a toddler all day long. Nothing out of the ordinary. Then I came home from lunch with Jaska on Tuesday to take a bit of a nap and thought, "I've got 1 test left from the 40-million that I've bought over the last 7 years. It's expired. Can't just throw it away! Might as well just SEE what happens before I pitch it." In a matter of seconds, I was shocked and stunned to see the plus sign staring back at me. So, of course my first thought is, "That CAN'T be right. After all, the test is expired!" So I did what any good wife would do in this situation...I called my friend Karen! After all, Jaska would have been no help. He would have been just as dumbfounded as I was. I got on the phone and composed myself enough to convince Karen that no one had died and explained the situation. Since she had given birth to the lovely Bella only 5 months ago, she had an extra test and offered it to me to dispell the myth that was growing in my head. So off the Karen's I go. Oddly enough, the test that she had said the exact same thing, imagine that! So began the denial.

Figured that I needed to clue my husband in on the gravity of the situation to our family as we know it, so I headed home to prepare him a surprise. Backtracking a bit, 8 years ago when we started the grand process of starting our family, I bought a book called "The Expectant Father" and hid it away thinking that giving this to him would be a great way to break the news WHEN we got pregnant. After David came along and I had come to terms with the fact that I would never conceive, I grabbed the book out of my drawer and stuck in on the shelf with the rest of the books that we never read. Back to present, took the book off the bookshelf, blew off the years of dust and wrapped it up for Jaska. When he walked in the door from work, with the most serious face I could muster I told him that we needed to talk. So we sat David in front of some Veggie Tales (gives us a good 1/2 hour to do ANYTHING) and headed into the bedroom. I began with "There's something I've been meaning to give you for a long time and the timing has just never been right. But I think it's a good time to give it to you now." He took the present and began to unwrap it. As he unwrapped the spine of the book and read the title, he just stopped and said, "Are you serious?!?" The pregnancy hormones kicked in, the tears began to flow and I just nodded yes. We hugged and kissed and hugged some more. He had the biggest grin on his face for quite a while afterward.

The next day I headed to the base clinic to get the "official" results thinking they would draw some blood and really work me up. To my surprise, I was back in the restroom with a plastic cup thinking, "I did this TWICE yesterday..." But I guess if the 16 year old looking flight dr. says he wants a urine test, that's what you do. After stalling for a while with basic questions and brushing up on his stethoscope use, the lab had the results. As he was about to let me know, Jaska walked into the clinic and I whisked him into the room. When we got settled in the room, Doogie Howser said, "Congratulations, you ARE pregnant."

We've got to get through the military red tape before going off base to see an O.B. so I don't have a definite due date as of yet. According to our lay calculations, I'm about 8 weeks along. I've been feeling no nausea as of yet (Praise be to GOD!) but just VERY tired and run down which I can't attribute to a head cold anymore. It has been a whirlwind last few days and I'm not sleeping much anyway.

The grandparents were sent the picture above to let them know about the news.

One disadvantage is that I've never dealt with a pregnancy and not only am I dealing with that, I have a very active almost-2-year-old at the same time. One advantage, after the baby's born, we already know what to do! Been there, done that. We just like to do things backward!

Prayers that we ask for are:

• Rest and energy for me to deal with David and a pregnancy with pregnancy hormones AND no anti-anxiety meds which I am VERY accustomed to taking.
• Energy for Jaska to deal with me with pregnancy hormones AND no anti-anxiety meds.
  
• Health for the baby. (I was on alot of medication for a while prior to finding out.)
• That we stay in Abilene until after the baby is born. (Our current assignment will end in June, the same month the baby is due. They could send us on early or keep us longer. But it is the choice of the Air Force. We have such a good support system in place here and I'd really like to keep the same doctor all the way through.)

Thank you all so much for your prayers and support that I know we will receive. We praise God for the MANY blessings that he has given us and continues to give to us.