101st Blog Post--A Birth Story

Over the course of about two years we have now posted over 100 posts!

So in honor of the event, here's a little backlog of a big event that was missed.
Claire's birth story. (That's your warning!)

There wasn't really too much to tell about the day.
It was exciting. It was fast. It was surreal.

It was the day after my written due date, and we started the day like every other day. I woke up at 7--no alarm, just a baby moving in my belly-- like I had every morning for the last several months. Peter went to work. My mom and I stayed home. It didn't take too long (maybe an hour or two) to realize that I was having contractions. It was about then that I realized that I had been having occasional Braxton Hicks contractions for a while without recognizing them. I just thought that Claire was stretching in all directions or doing jumping jacks. I had a tub of Nestle Toll House cookie dough in my fridge which my mom balled and baked while I sat around at the computer playing on FB and blogging.  At 10 I called Peter and told him to come home around 11:30 because I was having more regular contractions and thought he should stay at work as much as he could to get things done. He got home around 10:45 am. At 11:30 I was posting this to our blog about my excitement.

Before we left we of course took one last pregnancy pose picture. (It was a hot August day, I was having contractions, and carrying an extra 28 pounds--ignore the sweat!)

I had no idea what to expect. Most of the stories I had heard/read involved women who had gone to the hospital prematurely and been turned away because they weren't far enough along in their labor to be admitted so I was surprised when I called the doctor's office to tell them that I was having contractions, and they told me to go ahead and drive to the hospital. I received the return call from the doctor's office and another 20 minutes later we were on our way to the hospital. We arrived at about 12:30. When I got to the front desk I was offered a wheel chair to get up to the second floor, but I chose to walk because I still had about five minutes between contractions.  Before getting to the room I stopped along the way and had a few more contractions.

My "birth plan" was more like a general idea. I never really told anyone anything about what I wanted because I wasn't too particular about what happened. I was open to medication and intervention if it was necessary. So my doctor arrived just before 1 and checked me out. I was at a 4. Peter says it was 30 minutes later, but I think it was sooner (which is confirmed by this picture) that my doctor came in and broke my water to speed up the process. He had a little trouble doing it and had to try twice. This was the only thing that I wish was a little different about the whole experience. I'm sure it made everything go more quickly, but I don't know that it was actually necessary.

Whatever.
We snapped a few more pictures together because what else do you do while you're waiting for time to pass as you anxiously wait for the arrival of your very first baby?!

taken at 1:50p

taken at 2:20p

By 2:30 I was dilated to 7cm and decided to start an IV with some meds. I wanted to know what the pain was like and by the time I got this point, I felt like I had tried enough. I wasn't broken yet, but I really didn't want to know what worse felt like. So I took some medication and about 10 minutes later I threw up because I was so dizzy. I was walking around with my eyes closed to sit in the rocking chair. My mom and Peter had a good laugh at me because I was quite delirious. I don't remember too much about it. I remember that I could still feel the contractions, but I really didn't care any more. It was definitely a weird feeling being aware of my body and yet hardly noticing it at all.
Apparently I kept saying "this feels good!" Peter says I was in a "happy place."

First dose at 3:10p

Before getting another dose Peter gave me a Priesthood blessing. Once again, I don't really remember everything that happened, I was being medicated and it worked really well! ;)
So after an hour, the first dose was wearing off and the pain of contractions was coming back. I could barely walk over to the bed where I was given another dose and opted for the epidural. Now that was happy! So at 4p I had been given the epidural and was at 9 cm and Peter could see the hair on our baby's head. My mom was slightly disgusted because I was WAY too happy to be having a baby. I was just sitting there talking and laughing with Peter and my mom. Every couple of minutes I could feel a twinge in my left hip as I was having a contraction. I would say "I think I'm having a contraction right now," and then the monitor would confirm it.

At 5:00 I was 10cm dilated and 100% effaced and down to station 0. As Peter recalls, "At 6 pm, Melanie started feeling a slight need to push. The nurse showed Melanie what to do and we had a “practice push”.  I could see the baby’s hair clearly now.  The nurse said to let her know when Melanie felt a very strong need to push."

This is me right after the nurse left at 6:05p

By 6:40 I had gotten tired of waiting. I didn't particularly feel a need to push any more than I had at 6, I don't think at least. So our nurse came in, called my doctor to tell him that we were starting, and we started to push through some contractions. Peter held my hand and foot. With the first contraction I didn't push as well as the nurse seemed to think I should. I stopped pushing before I got to 10 seconds when I was supposed to break so I did 4 little pushes in one contraction. 

TMI WARNING: So the nurse suggested that we use a mirror. At the very thought of it I was really grossed out, but the nurse said that it can be encouraging seeing what your pushes are actually doing. So I said I wanted to try it and then if it was too gross, we would have her take it away. I pushed through 2 more contractions and had a lot more success because I could see my baby's head coming out. I know--it sounds really gross, but I really like seeing results!

So after 3 contractions the head was crowning very well (Peter says it was coming out about 2 cm which probably means stage 2). The nurse said we should now wait for the doctor before we push any more thinking it would take another hour of pushing before she was born. The nurse called my doctor with an update. With the next contraction, Claire was coming out! The nurse said, “don’t push!” Melanie replied, “I’m not!” Our nurse hurriedly called for the on-call OB, but not 10 seconds later Claire had slid right out into the nurse's arms. She barely made it to the end of the bed to catch my baby. No one else had even arrived yet!  One nurse came in and helped with the cleanup, and when the on-site OB came in, our baby already had a hat on!

The nurse that delivered our baby

Peter cut the cord. They gave me my baby with a blanket and hat. It happened so fast!

They were all so surprised at how fast and easy it was, especially for a first time mom. A few minutes later, our doctor arrived saying, “I don’t believe it.” He said he got a call saying the baby had been delivered, but his monitor still showed a fetal heart rate!  In 20 years, he has never seen an experience like ours. There's a word or it when 1st time moms deliver as though it was a sequential, but I don't remember what it is.

So in about 12 hours I went from being vaguely aware that I was having contractions to having a baby girl in my arms! I would suggest that everyone use an epidural. I was able to really enjoy the birth of my daughter. Sure it was "expensive," but the insurance paid for it. I was calm and enjoyed the time shared with my husband and mom before the birth of my baby without pain. 

And that is how Claire Annette was brought into the world on August 3rd, 14 months ago.

Breaking News!

Sometime yesterday I discovered that Claire is breaking through her first molars! The two on her right side have already come through, and her gums are very swollen on her right side. She won't bea baby much longer!

Something About Claire

Posting now, I will add pictures later.

Claire is now 13 months old.

WHAT?!

I keep saying "she just turned one!" But that's not REALLY true any more.

I don't intend to continue monthly updates through her whole life, but I don't really update this blog that often, and Claire is changing SO much right now that a blog monthly update is in order.

Claire is a little rascal! She understands many of the things that I say, but (seemingly) deliberately ignores me or does exactly the opposite. Everything is a game to her so when I say "no" it obviously means that I want to play chase or peek-a-boo. Or take turns biting, pinching, or smacking each other, right?

Claire also thinks that she has to scream about everything. She's kinda loud. No real "kinda" about it though.

So that's the bad.

The good.

She doesn't mind wearing clips and things in her hair so much any more. She will still play with them and thinks it's a great game to take them out right after I put them in. But generally, she will put her hand to her head wondering where her clip is and bring her big flower clip to me grunting for me to put it on her head.

She says "mom," "dis," "dat," and sometimes she will say "da" when talking about her father, but most of the time it's "mat." I don't know why. It might be a combination of "da" and "dat." It started after we came home from visiting my family in Texas where Claire had just started to learn to say "Marc." So maybe "mat" is really "Marc" and she thinks of Marc as a father figure? Haha. Her one other word is "dog." And most of the time she does get the "g" sound on there.

Despite all of these words, she has started blowing raspberries any time she wants to speak a word that she knows. When she sees a dog she will tuck her chin into her chest and spit. Sometimes when I ask her what she's pointing at (to which she usually responds "dis" or "dat") she tucks her chin in and spits. Weird.

Claire LOVES to push buttons and put things where they belong. After she is done pulling all of her dishes out of her designated drawer, she will take apart and put together again her sippy cups and bottles. She likes to put colored rings on a long peg. She also likes to snap together the button on my wallet. Her favorite buttons are on the phone, remote, CPU, and keyboard.

Everything is a cell phone. If it is solid and rectangular in shape, Claire will hold it to her ear and say "ugh?!" really loud. (Usually it's the remote.)

She likes to "help" by "folding" laundry (ie, taking what I've already folded, waving it above her head frantically, then laying it back down on the floor, couch, coffee table, and patting it several times), pushing the laundry basket to the washer and dryer, opening/closing the dishwasher and turning the dishwasher knob, sweeping the kitchen, and wiping any surface with any towel-like cloth (she doesn't discriminate between house cleaning cloths and body cleaning cloths).

She REALLY likes to play pat-a-cake at the moment. She has gotten so excited about it lately, I think, because she is starting to remember some of the words and actions. She will excitedly scream and grab both of your hands to start you clapping. Then as you chant, she does her own clapping and then frantically waves her hands in excitement as you exclaim "for Claire and Me!" It's so funny.

If you ask her to point to her nose, she will point to your nose, but not her own. If she does point to herself, it will most likely be to her ear. She's really good at finding her ears. She also knows head, hair, mouth, and feet (thanks again Gigi!). Gigi taught her about stinky feet. She now sticks her "stinky feet" in your face expecting you to make silly faces and exclaim "Eww! Stinky Feet!"

Other tricks she knows include giving high-fives (which she LOVES), waving good-bye (almost always two-handed unless she's nervously clinging to mom, and using your hand to make you blow kisses.

It's so fun to see her choosing what to do, and what games to play, and what things to tear apart, and what messes to make!

Claire loves to run. Unfortunately, she's not very good at it. She fall often. And scrapes her knee. Or finger. Or bumps her head. Poor baby. She also loves to climb which often results in bruises rather than scrapes.

Claire currently hates her Car Seat. This is probably due to the recent car sickness episodes. But she hasn't had one for over a week.

I still sing a song to Claire while I feed her a few ounces of formula in a bottle when I'm putting her down for naps and bedtime. I can't bring myself to wean her from the bottle yet. I just love holding my sleepy baby in my arms. This time and right when she first gets up are my absolute favorite times, hands down. Freshly woken up smiles make my life complete. And just before falling asleep is the only time I'm almost guaranteed that she will cuddle with me without fighting or making too much noise. She still feels like my baby when I can sing her to sleep.

I do however make her keep her binkies in the crib during the day. I haven't brought up the courage to never give them to her while we are out though. She does scream quite loud when she is angry. And she does get angry!

While I made it seem like Claire is a wiggly unaffectionate worm because I can only cuddle with her at night, she really does love giving kisses and snuggling, most of the time. Lately she will just come up to me and lay her head down on whatever part of me she can reach. Cah-ute! She's incredibly shy and runs to hide behind my legs at anything: strangers, loud noises, when she gets too far away and gets scared that I'm not close enough. It's a little endearing.

Claire likes tomatoes! I don't know where this child came from, but little cherry/grape tomatoes are one of her favorite snacks. It's good for Peter and me when are out because then she can eat them off of our salads haha!

One last thought.

Claire will not play by herself.
Ever.
If I am doing something, she must put herself between me and it, whatever it is, and scream and cry.

Labor Day Weekend

As a birthday present for Peter, I planned a long weekend in Sacramento during their annual Gold Rush Days. We rode the CalTrain to and from Sacramento. That was the biggest part of Peter's gift. One of the things on Peter's California bucket list was to ride the Amtrak train. So we did.
There were some awesome views of the Pacific ocean.

And Peter really enjoyed sharing the experience with his baby girl.

We brought her car seat. Definitely much easier than holding her!

The Gold Rush Days weekend was a lot of fun. The streets of Old Town Sacramento were covered in dirt and horses and people dressed in time appropriate attire.

There was music and street fights and trains galore!

Our hotel was kiddie corner from the Amtrak station and the California Train Museum.
They have the biggest engine EVER in the train museum. It's HUGE!

Peter is out of focus here, but it gives a good perspective on how huge the train is.

 In the engine room.

We also went to the capital.

 Where Claire made friends with some squirrels.

Thanks Sacramento!
We had a great time.