One week ago today....

One week ago today Clare made her entrance into this world so I thought I would take a look back on the events that occurred that day. The day before I was working vigorously to finish a project at work and had stayed up until 10:30 Monday night to finish it. Mitch and I went to be around 11:00 but I was having trouble sleeping due too severe discomfort.

I think I got up four times in a matter of 11:30-12:30 thinking that I had to use the restroom. On the fourth time as I was getting out of bed I thought that I was wetting myself but it turned out that my water had broken. I tried to waddle over to the light switch to turn on the light and to wake Mitch up. This was about 12:30. I have never seen Mitch jump out of bed so quickly and he was trying to put on his clothes. He was a little panicked and was thinking that we needed to immediately leave for the hospital. I told him to calm down and that he needed to get some towels so that I could find my way to the restroom.

I called Labor and Delivery and they told me to take my time but that I definitely needed to come in. I wasn't too panicked because I wasn't really experiencing any contractions. Mitch and I were both able to take a shower and pick up the house before we left.

We arrived at the hospital around 1:30. They examined me and told me I was a good 3 centimeters and about 80% effaced, which was definitely an improvement from the prior week. Plus this was great news since I could get a epideral at any time. We were finally taken to our birthing room. I still wasn't having any regular contractions so they called my doctor around 3:00 to discuss administering pitosin but she wanted them to hold off until 7:00 a.m. when she would be on call. My contractions started to progress a little on their own.

At 7:00 they finally started me on my Pitosin. Let me tell you things really started to pick up. It wasn't too bad at first because they weren't that close together. Then by 10:30 they were getting to the point where the contractions were so close that I wasn't getting much rest however I was still only dialated to 4 centimeters. I finally asked for my epideral and by 11:30 I wasn't feeling much pain. I couldn't have asked for the epidural any sooner because by 12:30 in less than 45 minutes I had dialated from 4 to 8 centimeters.

Mitch and I were able to sleep for about an hour and a half. At 2:00 I noticed that I was beginning to feel pretty uncomfortable and couldn't find any comfortable position to lay in. Clare was making her way down. At around 3:00 I started to feel the sensation of needing to push so by 3:30 the nurses checked me and determined that I was ready to start pushing. We pushed for about 45 minutes with the nurses and then the doctor was called in. I have never worked so hard in my life and it took all my inner strength to get through the next 45 minutes, which were the longest of my life. It was getting frustrating because Clare was right there ready to be born but for whatever reason I couldn't seem to give the final push to get her out.

At this point the Doctor recommended that she use a vacuum to help get her out. It only took about three pushes after that for Clare to make her entrance. When they placed her on my stomach I realized why I was having such difficulty getting her out she was like a little butter ball turkey. The Doctor and nurses were shocked how big she was. Due to her large size it created some complications for me but at this point Mitch and I were just so excited to have our little Clare. She was very healthy and looked absolutely perfect. I'm thankful for the experience of delivery the baby however, the Doctor and I agree that next time a C-section will be the way to go especially if I continue to have large babies.

Clare's first bath

Today was our first full day at home. We are beginning to get into a routine (eat, sleep, poop) of coarse in no particular order. It has been great having Mitch's mom (Bonnie) at home to help us with the new parental duties. We are truly blessed to have such a beautiful baby girl. What an amazing angel! Mitch and I keep telling ourselves we are in a dream.

Dad and daughter are ready for a nap

Nice buns!

The Big Day

Look at the beautiful new family!
Her first outfit

Making strides

Wow...almost 21 inches.

Its a big baby!

I'm hungry!

Welcome to our family

Uncontrollable emotions

Meet your parents

Welcome Baby Clare!!

Well, Baby Clare finally made her arrival on Tuesday, February 19 at 4:57 p.m. She was a whopping 8 lbs 15.3 oz and 20 1/2 inches long. Mitch and I think she is pretty adorable with the round cherub cheeks and the strawberry blonde hair, which she has a lot of and it is very red. No wonder why she stayed in so long and why my labor was pretty extensive. We had to stay in the hospital an extra night due to the strain the size of Clare put on her Mom during delivery but as the doctors told us she is one healthy "BIG" girl. Let's just say no one on the medical staff could believe that I delievered such a large baby. I will post a more detail post later along with some pictures.

Where is the Baby?

As you can see my stomach has expanded over the last couple of weeks and for those of you wondering about the red mark on my belly that is where I had my belly pierced my freshman year of college. I told Mitch we should take a picture of it so that we can convince Clare someday that piercing her belly button isn't the wisest decision so for those of you who know people considering a tattoo or belly button ring you may want to show them what happens when you become pregnant.

Gage says, "Where's the baby? I'm tired of my Mom dressing me up. Notice the bow in my hair. I want my sister to come so I don't have to wear this ridiculous hair band."

As you can tell Mitch and I aren't the only ones anxious for Clare's arrival. Today Mitch's mom brought us over some more items for the baby room and we went shopping for some last minue items. I really can't think of anything else we need and the house is pretty much clean. Mitch is tired of all of the honey do lists but is doing a great job doing various chores around the house as well as massaging my ever expanding body. I'm not sure how much more my belly can expand as you will see in the pictures posted. Hopefully, we will be holding Clare in our arms next week at this time.

Are We There Yet?

I'm definitely getting restless and very impatient. Every morning I wake up and wonder if today will be the day. Today I had my 39 week check-up. It was nice because Mitch was able to go to my appointment with me. There has been some progress I'm dilated to 2 centimeters and almost 100% effaced, which is an improvement over last week and my doctor reminds me that I should be thankful for the progression. It was nice because she took a little extra time to discuss things with Mitch and I. I think she could tell that mentally I'm getting pretty worn out and plus Mitch was quick to inform her of my discomfort.

She told me that for sure my last office visit will be next Wednesday if I haven't had the baby over the weekend. At this time we will be scheduling an induction. The baby is about 7 to 7 1/2 pounds and she is still moving quite a bit. As I sit her complaining about my discomfort I have to remind myself that I need to just be thankful for Clare being healthy. She will be here soon enough. At times I know that a lot of my impatients is due to the fact that I'm not in control of the situation and as many of you know my personality I always need to be in control and like to plan things out. Well Clare is already proving to me that I'm not going to be able to be in control like in the past. Mitch and I are hoping I progress on my own over the weekend so that I don't have to be induced. I'm sure it will be easier if my body is able to do things on my own. Thank-you to everyone who has been supportive of us and for those of you who have had to deal with me over the last couple of weeks especially my husband who has been so loving to me even when I'm not showing my best side.

38 Weeks - We're Getting Close ;)

Today I had my 38 week doctor check-up. The doctor was pleased to see some progression with my cervix and Clare has definitely engaged. It is becoming easier for the doctor to feel where she is at. Her heartbeat sounds good and she is definitely putting on the weight. She has slowed down a little bit but I think it is due to her being a little squished. The doctor says I have a 50/50 chance of making it to my next appointment. Hopefully, her prediction is correct and we will have a baby within the next week.

I'm definitely getting more tired and I been going home around 3 so that I take a little nap to get me through the evening. Part of the problem is the fact that I'm up at least five times at night using the restroom. I have been trying to do some sort of exercise on a daily basis to move things along, which isn't very easy due to the increasing size of my belly, which Mitch reminds me on a daily basis how it is expanding. He is pretty amazed with the whole pregnancy thing. I remind him that for us women, especially at nine months, we really don't like to hear the comment "Wow your getting big." I know he isn't trying to be hurtful but these pregnancy hormones make us very sensitive.

Mitch and Clare have started to play a little game at night where he pushes on her various body parts trying to get her to kick back and move. She is pretty responsive and usually wakes up. The only problem with this is they play this game right before we are trying to go to bed so then Clare becomes restless for about an hour and Mitch just rolls over and goes to sleep. I keep reminding him that pretty soon he will be able to stay up with her while I get some sleep.

For the most part I have enjoyed being pregnant and we are so thankful that I have had an easy pregnancy. We are both looking forward to Clare making her entrance into this world, even though I must admit I'm a little nervous about the whole birthing process. We wake up everyday wondering if today will be the day but only time will tell. I will try to post some pictures of my expanding belly. Clare better come soon because my maternity clothes aren't fitting very well these days.