Proud Grandpa

Cousin Issac, Grandpa Mike, and baby Claire

Claire in cloth and breastfeeding

Here is our pretty girl in her cloth diapers!! We finally got her into them on day 5. We are using Kissaluvs size 0 with Thirsties and Prowrap covers and have some prefolds that need to finish being prepped before I can start experimenting with those. One thing that we definitely need is cloth wipes. Diaper changes would be so much easier if I didn't have to worry about separating the diapers and the wipes. Claire has a habit of dirtying the diaper after I change it. She doesn't have the decency to do it while we are still in the bedroom with all of her clothes off but instead waits until we are all comfortable on the couch again. Such a silly goose.

Most people are pretty positive when we tell them we are using cloth but some give us the funniest comments. My favorite was, "But then you will have to change her more." Hmmm, don't you think they should be changed when they are dirty/wet no matter what the diaper is made of? No difference in frequency that I have noticed. I haven't changed a diaper outside the house yet but I'm sure it will go smoothly.

I am already looking for diapers to use on her when she is bigger. Right now we are kind of limited by the umbilical cord and her size to the styles of diaper we can use but that should soon be past. A tiny chunk fell off at her last change. We have some FuzziBunz pockets size small that will fit after she gains a few more pounds. They will be good for going out. Quicker to take off and put on for sure.

Breastfeeding has gotten easier. At first it was super painful and is still sometimes but we are getting used to it. You can see that she is gaining weight and that is all I can ask for. I did bleed a little bit around day 5 but supposedly that doesn't bother the baby but I tried to avoid whichever side was bleeding anyways. She was spitting up after feeding but we are getting better at burping her and keeping her in an upright position for at least 15 minutes after eating. The doctor said that she was probably just over eating and would be fine. Today I feel like a 24 hour buffet but that is my function now, whatever I can do to take care of my baby. I love her so much.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Claire Julia has arrived!

Claire Julia was born March 13, 2009. She weighed 7lbs 9 oz and was 20 inches long.

Super long post here. This is the story of Claire's birth. Some of it may be a little too much info. Read at your own risk, lol. Feel free to ask me any questions about the experience.


Chris and I have joined the parents club. Labor started with my losing my mucus plug on Wednesday night around 9pm while attending a high school play. I was feeling uncomfortable for the full three hours while watching the play but I just attributed it to the bad seats with no leg room. I wasn’t feeling any distinct contractions, just more like the Braxton Hicks not distinctly ending or starting. Chris was working Wednesday night and he was supposed to get off at 10:30pm. I decided to watch a movie and doze while waiting for him to arrive. At 11:30 Chris still wasn’t home but being new at his job I knew that sometimes the paperwork takes a bit longer than anticipated.

I felt a gush and went to the bathroom to see what the heck that was. I assumed it was my water breaking. At this point I started having contractions. They lasted between 45-60 seconds. There were almost 8 minutes between the first two contractions and then almost 7 minutes until the next one but ever contraction after that was spaced between 4 and 5 minutes. It got to the point that I was looking at the clock to prepare myself for a contraction because they were that regular. I got a bagel to eat knowing that if I was going into labor I would need as much energy as possible. I kept watching the movie and just closed my eyes and breathed through each contraction, no special rhythm, just breathing. Chris called at 12:30 and said that he was still at work and said that he would be about another hour. I let him know that I had been having contractions for about an hour and that they were very consistent. He said he would be home within the next hour as we thought labor would take some time.

Contraction pain moved into my back around 1am. I went into the bathroom and leaned on the edge of the bathtub and rocked my hips like a dog wagging its tail during contractions. I started making noises that were pretty melodic. No words but different pitches and tones. Chris got home at 1:30am and watched me labor through about 5 contractions where I was trying to walk around the living room. Contractions got really intense and I felt like I was going to throw up so I went back into the bathroom and did throw up in the bathtub. Chris got worried at this point because he remembered Stacey saying that puking was normal when switching stages of labor. He asked for the phone number of my midwife so he could ask her what to do. I was laying full out on the floor of the bathroom at this point. My mom came out of her bedroom to see if I was okay since she had heard me puking and my vocal tomes were becoming very loud . I didn’t want anyone talking to me because they were distracting. I let them know when contractions were starting so they would be quiet and let me do it. While Chris was talking to our midwife she asked if I was still able to talk. He told her that I was in very good spirits between and during the contractions. She said that we could make our way to the hospital to get checked out as we were having a hospital birth.

I could barely make it to the car and had to rest many times between our home and the emergency waiting room. They wheeled me back to labor and delivery where I changed into a gown and knelt on the floor to deal with the contractions. It almost looked like I was in prayer with my hands clasped on the bed or a chair. I was very vocal during all of my contractions, just making those melodic tones, so much that the nurse asked Chris if I was a singer. Our nurse was so nice. She checked and told me that I was about 5 cm and 80% effaced so I would soon be transferred to an actual delivery room instead of the exam room. I was able to walk to the new room.

When we got there I knelt on the floor on a mat in that praying and rocking position again. The lights were low and I was able to work through the contractions as they came, answering any questions the nurse had. I was group B Strep positive so I knew that I would be getting an IV to receive penicillin. The nurse was going to put the IV line in but I told her that I had really small difficult veins and that it might just be easier for her to call the IV therapist from the start. She did and I just continued to deal with the contractions while laying in the bed so she could look at the baby’s heart rate. It seemed like forever before the IV therapist arrived. I asked for a cold cloth to hold on my forehead while she poked me. I have had past problems with blood being drawn on an empty stomach during my 3 hour glucose test. I held the cloth over my face while she put in the line. Unfortunately she wasn’t able to draw the blood they needed from that site and for some reason we had to wait for another IV therapist to come and draw then blood from my other arm. Later they told me that I was having really high blood pressure and they needed the blood to do some tests. Not sure how long that took either. I was refusing to look at the clock because I am an obsessive clock watcher and knew that it would only seem longer if I was counting the minutes. I had kept my options open for an epidural because I wasn’t sure that I would be able to handle the pain. Around 6am I asked for the epidural because the contractions were super intense and I knew they would be getting even stronger. They checked me at this point and I was at 7cm.

The anesthesiologist arrived around 7:30am and put the epidural in. The catheter they put in hurt much more than the epidural itself. I rested as much as I could but I could still feel the pressure, the slight urge to push. This went on for a while. I was laying on my side and I felt something dripping down my leg. I asked Chris to look and he said it was blood. Thank freaked me out so they called in the midwife. She checked me and I was at 9cm. They were pretty surprised because I was in such good spirits. Somewhere around 8:45am I started feeling the urge to push even stronger. I felt that if I were to move or open my legs that she would fall out. Now I know that is crazy but in the moment that is what I was thinking. My friend had told me that I should wait until my body was ready and I would know what that feels like, not to rush the pushing. I had watched a birth where the woman hadn’t pushed at all and her body delivered the baby by itself. We are amazing creatures and I knew to listen to my body. I was clenching my butt really hard at this point because the urge to push feels like the urge to poo. I had also been shaking off and on for a little while and that was starting to get annoying too.

The urge to push was becoming almost as painful as the contractions. Chris had called the nurse a few times at this point and she finally came in and said that they would really like to get a second dose of antibiotics on board before I delivered. The earliest they could start the drip was 9:30am. I passed the time again without looking at the clock. Chris was stroking my arm and my sister was rubbing my head. Finally they started the antibiotic and I thought we were ready to go. Nope. I now needed to wait until drip had actually travelled into my body. My body was telling me that it was going to start pushing without me. Chris called the nurse back in and she came back at 9:45 and told me to pant like a puppy. What? She was the most unhelpful person that I met in the hospital. Finally as Chris was about to run into the hallway to grab anyone he could find to come in and let me push this girl out, our other nurse came in and said that I could try pushing if I felt like it. Hah.

So I pushed. I’m pretty sure she was surprised that my pushing was actually doing something. She went to get the midwife and the other two nurses. When they came back in I readjusted on the bed to a comfortable position. They told me to push when I felt the urge. This was about 10am. When the pressure started next I went with it and pushed. My sister in law had told me that she pushed for 2 hours so I expected to do the same.

After that push they put up some stirrups to help stabilize my legs. The annoying nurse started petting my leg and telling me to breath like she had said before, like a puppy. Now if I had been in a different place I would have yelled at her to get the heck out of the room but the urge to push came again so I pushed my heart out. They were all telling me that I was doing great but I didn’t believe anyone. I had my eyes closed so I couldn’t watch the clock. I imagined the midwife and the nurses standing there with their arms crossed and lying to me. I felt a warm towel placed on my chest and thought,’Why the heck would they put that on me? I am so hot. ‘ I pushed again and heard, “Mama, take a look.” I thought, no freaking way, but reminded myself that this was only going to happen once in a lifetime with this child. I looked and saw the whole top of her head above the forehead. To my surprise I said, “Ewww, gross.” Whoops.

It was beautiful. There was so much hair and it looked curly. Crazy. I pushed again and felt a flurry of activity. They encouraged me to continue and then Claire shot into the world. I felt a bunch of tugging around and then she was laying on my chest. My daughter. Chris, Melanie, and Emily were all crying. I was just in shock and shaking. I looked at the clock and it was 10:18. Only 18 minutes of pushing. I looked at Chris and said, "Well, I could do that again." He had been asking all throughout the pregnancy how many children I though we would have. I told him that I would let him know after this one came out. I don't think we expected me to say something like that in that moment. We waited until the cord stopped pulsing before cutting it. My sister was taking some pictures at this point. Chris cut the cord and went with the baby over to the bassinet where they were going to weigh and measure her.

The midwife was starting to mess around down below. I asked if I needed to push out the placenta. She said no and it slid out. They started pushing on my stomach and I could feel everything gushing out with every push. I was talking to my sister and sister in law at this time and tried to ignore what was happening. It hurt. The midwife said that I had a tear and that she would need to put in some stitches. I flinched as she put the first one in and she was surprised that it hurt me. So she gave me a shot of lidocaine and continued to stitch. And stitch and stitch. I was so worried that everything was ruined down there. The midwife finished up and the nurse cleaned up the area and gave me an ice pack.

The baby was brought back over to me by Chris and we just cuddled. In our birth plan I had asked that all non essential treatments be delayed. She stayed with me for quite some time before the nurse came back and asked if she could who Chris how to bathe her. My parents came into the room after the bath as I was still laying on the delivery table with a catheter in. I had to sit like that for a really long time because there was another birth happening that my nurses were occupied with. Finally they came and cleaned me up and took me to another room where we could have the rest of our visitors join us. We went home around 3 the next afternoon . All in all it was a super positive experience (except for that waiting to push thing). I do have a 1st degree tear but it was inside so I have a few layers of stitches which are still pretty painful. When I feel the pain I can't help but remind myself that it was all worth it and I would do it again in a heartbeat.

My first trip to L&D

The appointment today was a bit more intense than either Chris or I was expecting. We knew we wanted an internal to see if any progress was being made, I wanted to ask how long they would let me go before inducing and also we wanted to talk about reduced fetal movement again. Claire doesn't seem to move as much as she used to but she really is running out of space in there. So they measured my belly and today I was measuring 37.5cm when I am at 39 weeks. The internal revealed that I was 4cm 70% effaced and at -1 station. The midwife said that we can't really get too excited about those numbers and that while we could have a baby today it could also be a few more weeks. I have been having little contractions but not full on period crampy contractions. Mostly just the top of my uterus squeezes down but not in any pattern.

She then hooked me up to the non stress test monitors again. Claire was not moving around so they had to buzz her with what they call the "baby alarm clock." It felt like a cell phone on vibrate. The first time they used it when moved a tiny bit. There is a certain amount of time you have to wait before doing it again so the midwife left us alone in the room and encouraged Chris to talk to the belly. She wasn't responding with movement to that either. They gave me some apple juice and buzzed her again. The buzz didn't get her to move this time. Her heart rate seemed good but they wanted to check my amniotic fluid levels. They have a mini ultrasound machine there that they used to try and look at the fluid. She needed to get a shot of the fluid without the umbilical cord in the picture but was not able to. So we got sent over to labor and delivery.

At the hospital we needed to do a more extensive non stress test and a biophysical profile ultrasound. By this time I was spotting a bit due to the internal exam. Contractions were being recorded on the monitors but again nothing I was really feeling consistently. It was about 1:15 and Chris and I decided that he would go to work and I would call him if anything was happening. I got to order lunch and hang out for more than an hour before the ultrasound was ready for me. Melanie and my sister in law came and sat with me and also came to the ultrasound. I told Melanie that she better get there because today was her guess and it was all her fault (she predicted my nephew's due date last July so she assumed she would be right about today too). We finished with the ultrasound around 4 and went back to the labor and delivery exam room. The ultrasound tech told me that the score on the profile was an 8 which is the highest score. And my amniotic fluid level was normal. She really had to jostle Claire to get her to move just a tiny bit to record though. I was 8 pounds at birth and my brother was over 9. Melanie was 7.5lbs at 4 weeks early so I have always assumed that this was not a small baby. The ultrasound tech said that she had chubby legs to match the chubby cheeks. I can't wait to pinch them!

About 15 minutes after getting back to the room the nurse came in with the results and said that the ultrasound showed that my cervix was long and closed so none of those exciting numbers from before. The nurse called my midwife and the midwife was very surprised by this and asked the nurse to check me again. So another internal exam. Yuck. Ouch. The nurse confirmed that the cervix was not ripe and that there would be no baby today. Dang.

I was discharged around 5pm. We came home and had dinner from Norma's (Wednesday is normally family dinner night with my brother and his family and Melanie and her boyfriend). After the crew left I fell asleep on the couch having some cramping still but again nothing regular, just waking up now when Chris got home after a very long, tense day at work. I am going to be calling the midwife tomorrow to ask what the heck was going on, if I could have had that much progress and then regressed or what. We weren't exactly ready for today so we are glad she is not yet here but now I am very inspired to get that bag packed and my hair washed, lol.

Baby

I had an appointment this past Wednesday. Tuesday night we were all trying to decide if the baby had dropped but weren't convinced that she had since I have been carrying so low the whole pregnancy. When I went to the doctor I measure 35.5 weeks when I should have been measuring 38. Some fluctuation is normal but they were a tad concerned with the difference since I have measured right on every time before this. Also Chris and I had noticed decreased movement the night/day before. Coincidentally this was one of the two appointments that Chris hasn't been able to make it to. They hooked me up to a machine for a non stress test to monitor what her heartrate was doing, to see if she was in any distress. We passed the test, her heartbeat was right where they wanted it to be. They were still a bit concerned that the amniotic fluid might be getting low or something like that so I was scheduled for a growth ultrasound at the hospital the next day.
Chris and my mom both came with me to the hospital. I wasn't worried per se but it was nice to have them there for support. They took measurements of a lot of stuff like her head and belly and placenta and fluid level...and more that I don't remember. Many people in our lives, including ourselves, had been having dreams that the baby was actually a boy so we had them double check that we are in fact expecting a Claire and not a mystery boy. Still showing up Claire so we can all relax. I was watching the screen carefully as it was not our provider but just a random ultrasound tech doing the work. They aren't allowed to talk about the results so I wanted to make sure I was paying attention. Her measurements ranged between a late 37 weeks to a very early 39 weeks so I wasn't too worried about her size. I didn't see anything that was obvious about the fluid level or my cervix so I will learn those results tomorrow when the midwife calls. I did see a size estimate of 7lbs 10oz +/- 15oz!! Yikes! I always joked that we were going to have a good size baby and I am glad to see that it might really be the case. She needs some substance so we are happy about this, now we just have to get through delivery!
I walked a ton today after standing in the phone store for three hours trying to get things moving but so far just Braxton Hicks contractions and my water is still intact. I have been craving and eating pineapple as well which I just found out is actually something that people try to eat a lot of when trying to induce their labor naturally. She is still moving around and having the hiccups a lot. We are ready whenever she is.

Catching up

So it has been a while. I passed the three hour glucose test. It was disgusting and next pregnancy I am going to work very hard not to have to do it again. Let's just say that sugar drink on an empty stomach was not something my body could handle. When we were going to the Dr's office in Pullman they were concerned with my blood pressure and the possibility of pre eclampsia and basically told me to plan to have the baby early because of that. And they said they would give me steroids to make sure her lungs were developed before inducing. Luckily this was my last appointment there and the midwife practice I am going to after moving is wonderful. They did some blood work and I had to collect my urine for 24 hours so they could see where I was at but I have been fine throughout the tests. My blood pressure seems to have evened out and I try very hard to take it easy before my appointments especially. I also haven't worked at all in 2009 so that contributes to a calmer state of being. Everything has been going great until this very last appointment but that needs a post of its own. Coming right up!