Thank you, 4T

As I mentioned before, Jase was not able to be at the birth of our son..

I got a call from Jase on Friday afternoon, just two days after the arrival of our precious little boy.  He told me that he was being sent home so he could be here for the first few days of Kolter's life.  His boss found out that I went into labor the day they left for N.Dakota, and insisted on sending him home.  We were and are still thankful to Jase's boss for not only sending him home but going way out of their way and buying him an airline ticket to get him here ASAP!

It was so great to have Jase home.. But it was hard to have him leave again.
He loves his baby boy so much!

they liked to nap together

the night before he left!

before, during & after

We tried everything in our power to hopefully have little Kolter arrive before Jase left for work on the 12th of September.  I walked, bounced on one of those big fitness balls, and a week before he was to leave, I had my membranes stripped.  After a couple of days with no progress, my father-in-law said he was going to put me on the 4-wheeler with him and go back and forth over the corrugates until something happened. I was not too thrilled with that idea, so we decided to just continue to wait it out.  I knew that no matter what I tried, he wouldn't come if he really wasn't ready to... but we were still hopeful!

 Jase left around 2:50am on the 12th of September for work.  They meet at the company yard in Payette, where they load themselves and their stuff into huge vans and set out for North Dakota.  It is roughly a 15-16 hour drive if the roads are good. 

 Did I mention this was going to be a long post?? More like a short story, really! ;)

I woke up at about 8am that morning.... and the contractions set in!!!  They weren't too painful in the beginning, but they were fairly close together; 2-4 minutes apart from the get-go!  I got in contact with Jase who was already (at least) 4 hours away, and  kept him up to date throughout the day because there was no way that he was going to be able to make it home :(
I got myself ready for the day, not knowing what fake labor felt like compared to the real deal.. I figured a hot shower would soothe my body, but it only made it worse. 12 o'clock came around and my contractions were starting to really make themselves noticeable ! I contacted my doc and he told me to come to his office so we could see where I was at.  I drive myself to his office, which probably wasn't the smartest idea, got checked and was 6cm dilated and in real labor!! My options were to go home if I wanted, hang out in the office a little longer, or go to the hospital and settle in.  By this point my contractions were pretty close to unbearable.  My mother-in-law met me at the office and took me to the hospital.  My doc called ahead to let them know I was coming, and to give me the epidural whenever I was ready.. and by the time I got there, I WAS READY!  It's now 2-2:30pm.. Of course, it took them awhile to finally give me the epidural with having to start my IV first and whatnot...

I am going to shorten this up a bit, since there is a lot more I could say..
My doc got to the hospital a little while later, and he checked me and said that we were going to have this baby before the nights over!  I was so excited!  Then he made a guess and said that we would have him by 630pm, which was just a short 4 hours away..

I was really calm and relaxed the entire time, and laughed quite a bit... We got to the point of go time and sure enough, Kolter Jase Craig was born at 6:27pm!! He weighed 8lbs 6oz, was 19.5inches long, with a head full of hair, and made of perfection!!  The experience was wonderful, and I had the best doctor ever! just sayin

Absolutely one of the best moments of my life

he already wants to cuddle (after bath)

Kolter and his Great Grandma Craig! They were so excited to meet each other :)

Very happy (first time) grandparents & Uncle!

We stayed in the hospital overnight, and let me tell you, those beds are sooo uncomfortable after the first few hours!! Kolter nursed very well... latching on, all on his own!
We had a lot of visitors, and are so thankful for you all stopping by to see us!
We finally were able to leave at 2pm the next day.. it took them forever to do our discharge, even though my doc said I could leave whenever I wanted and told the staff to start getting me out at around 9:30am.... Oh well, I am sooo happy that everything went well and that we have a healthy baby boy!!

Going Home!!!! <3 

Its been a long time comin'

So much has happened since our last post

okay, not THAT much, but it has been a long time!

I am going to do one post at a time to catch you all up :)

Since we found out we were having a wee little boy, Jase started school at Northwest Lineman College   at the end of April, and graduated on August 10th!!  It seemed like it took a lot longer than 3 1/2 months.. As Jase was going to school full time, I was working full time while being super prego (no complaints here, that is just my reason why it seemed to take a lot longer)!

Jase really enjoyed his schooling and the work that he now does! I will post some more pics of Jase participating in the schools Lineman Rodeo on the last day, but here are a couple from graduation! I am so proud of him :)

Walking across the stage with his certificate of completion.

Jase kept working for his dad as an Electrician until he found a lineman job.. We worked and worked and worked to fill out all those job applications, had a couple interviews (none of which worked out). We finally got a few emails from 4T Construction in Payette, had an interview, and Jase was to head out for work in NORTH DAKOTA just a couple weeks later.