Introducing Claire Elizabeth!

Our precious little peanut was born on April 25th at 5:17PM. She was two days early- I was due Monday, April 27th. She weighed 5 lbs 4 oz and was 19 inches long. We are completely head over heels in love with her!

Beware..this is long and could be graphic to some people. I want to document my birth story before I forget any details.

Thursday night (April 23rd) I didn't sleep at all. I decided to not go into work on Friday because I needed to rest and gain some energy. I worked from home for most of the day. In the afternoon I took Sydney on a walk and I took apart the grill and scrubbed it clean in hopes of bringing on labor. Friday night Bethanie and Barry came over for dinner. I went to bed probably around 10PM and actually got some decent sleep- maybe 5 hours? When I woke up in the morning, my pajama shorts were damp. It definitely didn't feel like my water had broken (the sheets weren't wet at all) but I also knew I hadn't peed so I wasn't sure what it was. I thought about it for awhile and then told Josh that I thought I should call the doctor just in case. I was hesitant because I knew that if I called they would tell me to come in and I did not think I was in labor. Josh agreed I should call. If they did tell me to come in and I was indeed in labor I wanted to have a full stomach and look somewhat decent so I had breakfast, showered and got ready before making the call. The on-call doctor, Dr. Colwell said my water bag might have ruptured and that we should go in. They could do a quick test and if it wasn't amniotic fluid, they would send us home.

We grabbed our suitcases and headed out. It was very anti-climatic. Josh and I agreed it would be much more exciting if we knew for sure that we were going there to have a baby. We were admitted at 9:30AM. I was feeling great; I was having my normal braxton hicks contractions but that was it. I really thought we would be going home; Josh thought it was likely we were staying. They did a quick swab test that took about 30 minutes for the lab to process. During this time the nurse (Joy) talked to us about what would happen if it was positive for amniotic fluid. They were monitoring my contactions but they were 9-10 minutes apart so she said they would have to start pitocin but we could try walking around for a short while first to see if my body would kick in and make the contactions come closer together. It was so exciting when she came back and said it was positive and we were having a baby "tout suite" (French for right away!)!

Dr. Colwell gave us about 50 minutes (until 11AM) to walk around. We started making laps around the 4th floor (labor and postpartum floor). We called our moms and told them it was baby day! Josh's mom cried and my mom freaked out. We had forgotten a lot of stuff at home because we weren't expecting to have a baby that day so we asked my mom to pick up the stuff and bring it to the hospital (cell phone chargers, my iPod, which I really wanted for labor, etc). I knew that walking around wasn't doing anything but Josh really wanted us to continue walking as long as we could because he was apprehensive about the pitocin. We made guesses about what time she would be delivered. Joy had said the average labor for first time moms was 12 hours. I guessed that Claire would be born at 5pM and Josh guessed 7:37 PM- both were under 12 hours. We got back to our room (room #12) around 11 and found that the contractions hadn't changed. They started preparing me for pitocin. They had to put an IV in and it hurt like heck! Our nurse (Kari) did it wrong the first time so my skin started bulging because the fluid wasn't going in my vein. Oww! Joy had to come back and do it again. The second time they got it right but it still hurt quite a bit from when it failed the first time.

The pitocin started flowing at 12:00PM. The dosage ranges from 2-20. They started me at a 3, I think. The contactions started coming closer together but they weren't close enough so every 30 minutes she would increase it 1 level. I was feeling decent still so we were chatting and watching "What Not to Wear" on TLC. Dr. Colwell came back and broke my water at 12:50PM. (The bag had ruptured which is why I was in labor but it didn't break all the way so he had to remove the remaining part of the bag). That was such a weird feeling! It gushed EVERYWHERE. There was so much liquid! It even soaked my socks! I was dilated to a 4 when my water was broken. Kari said with the bag gone, the baby's head would sit right against my cervix which should make the contractions much more intense. She was right! I think the Pitocin was at a 5 or so and the contactions started coming right on top of each other. It did hurt a lot. Josh was very good about rubbing my back with a tennis ball or his hands during every contraction and sometimes between them. My contactions were very long so I didn't have much relief between them (they count the timing of contractions from the start of the first one to the start of the next one). Kari started turning down the pitocin so she could get me into a steady labor pattern. They wanted the contactions every 3-4 minutes apart (since mine were long) and mine were every 90 seconds to 2 minutes apart. I was Kari's only patient and you could definitely tell! She was sooooo wonderful. Josh and I feel very blessed that we had her for our nurse. She was monitoring my contactions from the nurse's desk and would come in very frequently to make adjustments or do something for me. I had mostly labored on my left side but I switched to the rocking chair to see if that would help. The pain was intense but I just breathed through it and listened to my iPod and Josh rubbed my back. I had an open mind about having an epidural going into the delivery but decided at that point that I did want one.

Kari prepared me for the epidural by giving me another bag of liquids and getting me into position before calling the anesthesiologist. When he arrived, it went pretty quickly. I had to sit on the side of the bed with my hands gripping Kari's and I had to lean against her chest. The numbing prick hurt a little but not much. The worst part was having a contraction while he was inserting the needle. It was hard to stay very, very still during a painful contaction but I knew I had to do it. I never saw the needle which was probably good because Josh said it was very long! The epidural was done at 3:15PM and I was at 5 cm.

Kari said I would feel numb from the waist down but that didn't happen at all! The pain almost immediately transferred from my back and stomach to my right hip. I was laying on my left side and rubbing my right hip with my hand. Kari suggested switching sides so I turned and laid on my right hip. The pain was intense- it might have been worse then before the epidural. The next 30 minutes or so Kari kept coming back into our room about every 10 minutes to check on me and I kept complaning about my hip. I was breathing through contractions just as much as I had before. She said that it was strange and I should be feeling good from the epi so she was going to call the anesthesiologist and have him come up to give me another injection directly into the site. First she decided to check my progress. She said, "You are at a 10! It's time to push!!". So I went from a 5 to a 10 in about 45 minutes-- amazing! That's most likely why it hurt so bad. She was so low in my pelvis (0 station) and it happened so fast. I asked Kari how long the average woman had to push and she said about 1.5-2 hours. Whoofda! I thought she was going to say about 30 minutes- guess I was naive about that! Kari called Dr. Colwell. He was at home and Kari told him he didn't need to come for awhile because she would help me push on her own but he left right away. He seemed excited about delivering the baby which made me feel good!

I started pushing at 4:45PM. They take the bottom part of the bed out and pull out these crazy stirrups for your legs- it was a little intimidating but I was sooo excited about meeting Claire that I was focused on doing a good job and making it as quick as possible. I couldn't feel the actual pushing but I did feel strong pressure between pushes. Josh did a great job of counting to 10 during the pushes. You only push during a contraction so you can work with your body. Unfortunately my contractions were only coming about every 4 minutes at this point so we would push for 30 seconds and then just have to sit and wait for the next contraction to begin. Kari started increasing the pitocin to make them come more frequently. Dr. Colwell arrived.

There are 6 doctors at my OB clinic and there were only 2 I hadn't met. Dr. Colwell was one of them. He was so great! He was an older guy and we felt very comfortable with him and confident in his abilities. Claire's heartrate was dropping slightly during the pushes so they put an oxygen mask on me. I used the oxygen mask between pushes and pulled it off during pushes. After awhile of pushing, Dr. Colwell told me to stop and he did an episiotomy (2nd degree). After that I was able to push her head out and then he told me to stop again. He very carefully removed one body part at a time (I didn't see this but Josh did and told me afterwards). Josh says it was just amazing to see how he did it! After she was out, he laid her on my stomach. It was probably only 5 seconds but it felt like an eternity before she cried. During this time I asked "Is she okay?!" and "Is she a girl?!". It was wonderful to hear her first cry! Josh got all teary-eyed himself and we both were so happy and relieved! Dr. Colwell explained to Josh how to cut the umbilical cord. After Josh cut it (he said it was a lot tougher to cut then he thought it would be- it's a strong cord), they wisked her to the warmer where they cleaned her up before bringing her back to me. When they laid her on me it was an unbelievable feeling. She was born at 5:17PM so I only pushed for 30 minutes. And I was almost right on target for my guess of when she would be born! I started "feeding" her. They recommend that babies get to the breast as soon as possible after delivery. It starts the hormones in your body and causes your uterus to begin contracting down to its pre-pregnancy size. Claire did well!

After the placenta came out, Dr. Colwell showed me the placenta and the sac she lived in for 9 months. Quite a sight to see her home for those 40 weeks! My legs were semi-numb from the epidural but I could still move them. Dr. Colwell stitched me up and Josh took lots of pictures of our baby girl. I also ordered my dinner- it was hard to decide what I wanted to eat right after giving birth but I settled on spaghetti with meatballs and a chocolate chip cookie. After I was cleaned up, Kari and another nurse helped me walk to the bathroom. Apparently they require you to go to the bathroom before they will move you to the postpartum room- odd. A nurse called and said that Claire was too little to stay on the 4th floor and she had to go to the NICU. Kari challenged them because she thought you had to be 5 lbs or more to not go to the NICU. We learned that she had to be 2400 grams to not go to the NICU and Claire was 2370. What's funny is that she pooped on my chest right after she was born and if she hadn't, they think she would have been over the 2400 threshold! We were quite disappointed that she wouldn't be able to stay with us but we wanted what was best for her. Another nurse moved our stuff into our postpartum room (which is on the same floor but in a different area) and we went downstairs with Claire to the NICU. The NICU is on the 1st floor and quite a distance from the L&D and postpartum floor. It was hard to leave her there but we returned to our room to eat dinner and call our families.

Our families arrived quickly after we gave them the go-ahead. My dad was actually sitting in his car in the parking lot, waiting for the okay! How funny and sweet! Mom, Dad, Annie, Bethanie, and Barry were our first visitors. Claire spent the mandatory 24 hours in the NICU but then was moved to our room the second day.

Josh and I are so, so, so happy with how our labor and delivery went. It couldn't have gone any better! It is an answer to prayer. From the time we were told that we were going to have a baby that day (when the swab test came back positive) to when she was born, it only took 7 hours! Amazing! The entire staff was unbelievable. During our two day stay we had many, many RNs, LPNs, nurse advisors, and baby doctors. They were all amazing. We are so happy with our experience at Fairview Ridges. It was an experience Josh and I will never forget and I know it brought us closer together. We were truly a team. And we continue to be a fantastic team!

Claire is a dream come true. She couldn't be any more perfect. She is a tiny little peanut but she is completely healthy- praise God! A nurse came to our house today to do a check-up for her. She doesn't have jaundice and is already weighing 5 lbs 1 oz! She had dropped down to 4 lbs 13 oz on Sunday and she wasn't weighed Monday before her discharge but we assume it was less then 4 lbs 13 oz. When our pediatrician checked her out before her discharge on Monday she said that she will lose weight the first 5 days and they want her to be back to her birth weight by the time she is 2 weeks old. Well she's only 4 days old and she's already up 4 oz from Sunday! She is a very good feeder. Breastfeeding is really going well- praise God again! She eats about every 2-3 hours. I don't get much rest in between feedings. I am getting between 1.5-2.5 hours of sleep at night and one or two naps during the day. Josh is soooooo good with her. In the hospital he did all of the diaper changes. It was nice for us both to have jobs- I fed her and he changed her. He continues to do most of the diaper changes. She is a pooping machine! It's a good sign though.

Okay I could write all day long about our little princess but instead I am going to go visit her and her daddy and give her a little snuggle and kiss. Her cheeks are so kissable- let me tell you!

I warned you that this post would be long- I will be impressed if anyone makes it though it! I am going to print it out and put it in Claire's baby book so we have all of the details from her birth.

Lots of love from me, Josh and Claire!