Month 1

- Milk came in on day 4 and would choke her (still does some times)
- Slept in her pack n play for 2 1/2 consecutive hours on night 3 at home  and 3 hours on night 4 at home (5 days old). She would either sleep with me in the bed or on the couch during the other times. Occasionally she would stay in the swing, but no longer than 20-30 minutes.
- I was very emotional the first few days at home. Very.
- In hospital she started going 3 hours between feedings and sometimes 4 at night.
- Went to the pediatrician the Wednesday after she was born. Of course it was right when she needed to eat again and she was being stripped and touched so she wailed. She is still 7lb 11oz (her weight when we left the hospital). Her complexion and heart and lungs are great. Her hematoma on her head is looking better and should go away completely. Her umbilical cord has a vein that bleeds a lot. He said he was going to do something to make that stop and it ended up making it bleed worse!
- She loves her car seat! She really loves riding in the car and looking out the window (most of the time). She doesn't love getting the straps tightened.
- Meme stayed for the first 4 days and lolly and papa came for the next 4 days.
- Mama's whole family came to see her on her one week birthday and she was a champ at being passed around (especially from cousin to cousin). Everyone loves her, obviously.
- Umbilical cord fell of at 1 week. Hallelujah! It stunk...seriously. It left an umbilical granuloma. Still waiting on that to go away.
- Goal for week 1: sleep away from mama for 1 sleep cycle. Goal for week 2: try 2 sleep cycles. At one month, we aren't doing so good with these goals...
- Newborn photos and her first bottle from daddy at 10 days old.
- As of 12/3 she had projectile spit up twice. Once after BBQ chicken and after chicken artichoke pasta. (I have no idea if it's really food related...)
- Sometimes she doesn't nurse from the left side and when she does it's a much shorter period than the right, so I pumped the left a few times. I got 4oz in 10 minutes. I only pumped once in the morning and she nursed the rest of the day just fine. (I only did this twice.)
- She loves to hold up her head all the time when she's awake.
- Has to burp after eating.
- at 2 weeks she sleeps from 12ish-4ish and 5ish-8ish in her nap nanny.
- At one month it's the same time frame, but with mama..Uhg.
- Has had days where she is just fussy if she's awake. She doesn't seem to be pooping if she's super fussy so I'm guessing it's related. Nobody likes it.
- I was down to my pre-pregnancy weight by 2 weeks, and all swelling was down by 1 1/2 weeks.
- At 3 week appointment she was up to 9lb 7oz and 21 in! The doc was impressed with how well she's eating and talked about how strong she is! The hematoma on her head is still there, but much smaller! She had an umbilical granuloma left on her belly button that he put silver nitrate on and said it should be gone in a week (it wasn't).
- At 3 weeks we started gas drops after afternoon and evening feedings to see if it helped with the "witching hour" and uncomfortableness.
- She loves to be cheek to cheek. Sometimes she will just rub her face against my face.
- Wears 0-3 and some 3 month clothes.
- Had her first blow out poopy diaper at 3.5 weeks. It was after having an ounce of pear juice because she was having troubles. (Cried every time she tried to poop and there might be a spot of "harder" poop in the diaper.)
- At 3 weeks 4 days she hit some sort of spurt. By her late afternoon feeding she wanted to eat between 1.5-2.5 hours instead of 3 and a couple of nights she ate every hour! She also only wanted to sleep with me. The longest she lasted by herself was an hour and she was grunting and fidgeting the entire time. She was extremely fussy and gassy. I read about a 3 week growth spurt and a friend suggested the app "the wonder weeks" which talked about a new leap that babies go through called "changing sensations". The description for this leap is exactly what was going on. (Praise the lord for these pieces of information because I was almost in shambles after 2 sleepless nights.) We are still currently trying to get out of this. She has gone back to eating at 2.5-3 hours during the day and 4 at night.
- She hates to be swaddled. Any tips on how to make her content in a swaddle are welcome.
- When I try to put her down, she startles herself awake. It's very frustrating. Tried to put her down in a swaddle and she grunted and fidgeted to get her arms free. When she couldn't, she wailed.
- First bath in the actual bath tub at 3.5 weeks.
- Hematoma was completely gone by 3.5 weeks!
- Nurses for 15-25 minutes. She usually does equal time on each side, but sometimes goes significantly longer on first side.
- She cannot/will not poop and nurse at the same time, and she poops almost every time.
- Spit up quite a bit after having a Cajun chicken sandwich for lunch and manicotti for dinner. She also ate extremely fast (it had been almost 6 hours).
- Newborn clothes and diapers are a no go. Sometimes we still force them on, but they are extremely tight.
- She scratched herself on her nose and it started bleeding. Saddest

My sweet Claire,

I am so thankful for you. You have challenged me and blessed me in ways that I can't even describe. You are so precious. Even when I am extremely tired and frustrated, I look at you or listen to your noises and all is right in my world. You are better than anything your daddy and I could have dreamed up. We can't wait to continue to watch you grow (and sleep), but we will miss all of these precious newborn snuggles. We love you baby girl. We love you with all of our hearts.

Love, 
Mama

(The Hematoma) 

Claire's Birth Story

Before the story begins, there are a few things I need to say: Everyone should write down what is happening while it's happening when in labor. That's what I did and I am so thankful because I already feel like I've forgotten it! I have NEVER in my LIFE been more proud of myself and Andrew than I was after giving birth. It was a total team effort, and I'm so thankful that he was there with me.

Now, if you're ready to read a novelette on a blog, enjoy our birth story. :)

At 39 weeks, we went in for an elective induction. We saw Dr. Hinton the day before (Wednesday) and I asked what her thoughts were on inducing on Claire's due date, Thanksgiving Day, if she wasn't here by then. She said something along the lines of "we might not be able to do it then, so why wait that long?" She then told us that we could be induced Friday, Monday or Tuesday because we had made it to 39 weeks, and we jumped on that. Dr. Hinton was on call for Friday, so we said, "absolutely for Friday!" I asked many a time if she thought this was a good idea, if she thought I was forcing myself to have a c-section and if she thought I should just wait. She told me that she thought my cervix was good to go, that the baby is just fine from a health stand point and that she would do this with her own children. To help move things along, she went ahead and stripped my membranes to see if that helped start labor. I did have a few contractions. After that appointment we called our families and did things around the house to get ready for baby girl who was really coming very soon!

On Thursday, exactly 39 weeks, I slept in as much as I could. I woke up with cramps, nausea, and needing to use the restroom all night. Mix that with a racing mind and you don't get the best night of sleep. I got up and threw on some clothes so that I could have breakfast at briar rose with Leslie and AJ. We had a divine cinnamon roll with some decaf coffee and just a good talk. When I got home, Brody and I went for a quick last walk just the 2 of us while I talked to my sister. At lunch, Jamie and Millie came over. Millie is miss personality and I love to watch her. Jamie brought me cookies and we just sat and talked and Jamie cried (of course) because she's so excited about baby Claire! Before she left she prayed for us, and that means the world to me. When they left I got the phone call about us needing to check in that afternoon at 4:30. I finished a load of laundry, took out the trash, ran the dishwasher and tried to rest. Andrew got home around 2:15. He blew off the drive way where leaves were collecting. We both showered at the house and finished getting everything ready for our hospital stay. I took my final weekly picture and a couple of bare belly pics to remember. Around 4:00, we took Brody to his favorite place, the Flangan's. We were happy to know that he will be having tons of fun while we were working on meeting his sister. Jeremy also prayed for us, and then we made our way to the hospital!

We got to the hospital and checked in at the front desk. I had to correct my SSN, but everything was pretty smooth. We went to our room, room 26, and Nurse Donna checked me (still a 2), asked some questions and went over consent forms. *note: if you have a living will, bring a copy!* She was not super thrilled that we were having an elective induction and wasn't afraid to show that on her face. Nurse Vanessa came in and hooked up the IV. That hurt! I've had a lot of shots, but I guess the weird spot where she put it into my arm just made it painful. She also had to ask a lot of questions and what not. By the time she was done, we were hearing Claire's heartbeat, I had my first dose of Cytotec to help soften my cervix, had the IV fluids and my blood pressure was constantly being monitored. I was even showing contractions already!

Around 6:30 Blake and Leslie brought us pizza and then stayed and hung around for a little while. I'm so glad they did because contractions were getting stronger and they were keeping my mind off of them. They started coming every 3-5 minutes and I would say the pain was about a 4/5. It just felt like a really bad cramp. They left around 9, and I got up to use the restroom and wash my face. The contractions kind of slowed down after that which discouraged me a little, but the new nightshift nurse, Page, assured me that it's all normal! Andrew and I got ready for bed, he made up his special bed, and I took some ambien around 10:00 (and that did not help me sleep).

Page, the nurse, came in around 12:00am to do a cervical exam. She said I was still a 2 but she could feel a little change. I was discouraged, but she said it's totally normal. I took the next dose of Cytotec and she helped me get cozy in the bed by laying on my side. Miss Claire decided that right when mama needed some rest she would stay away from the monitors, so the nurses kept having to come in to readjust to keep a good monitor on her. I think from 12.30-4:30 I got some sleep...I don't really know how much! The contractions were getting stronger again and I just kept feeling like I needed to pee, and peeing was quite the experience because I had to unplug all the monitors and wheel in my IV.

Around 6:00am on Friday, Page checked my cervix and found that I was a 3 (almost a 4). She was excited that the pills worked and was ready to start me on Pitocin. We got that hooked up through the IV and Dr. Hinton came in to talk to us. So happy that she was there!!! We met our new nurse Jodi. They told us that they would keep checking me and and monitoring things.

This next part is where things started getting busy. I was progressing and seeing nurses a lot. We had several visitors. The 12 hours of labor FLEW by, so I just wrote things down as a "list". 
- Doug and Cherri arrived around 8:45
- Epidural at 9:00. **I wasn't really ready for the epidural when I got it. My pain level was not bad at.all. The nurse explained to me that the anesthesiologist was making his rounds to give epidurals that morning before going to the surgeries. She thought it would be best for me to go ahead and get it while he was available instead of waiting until I was in a ton of pain, and then have to wait on the doc for an hour or more. So, I went ahead and got it and it.hurt. You aren't supposed to move when they poke you, but I couldn't help but flinch. I wish I had waited.**
- Mom and dad arrive around 9:30

- Water broken by Doc at 12:15. Still a 4, and 70%.
- At a 6 and 90% by 1:15 and she was down to a -1 station.
- At 8 and 100% by 2:15.

- At a 10 with an "anterior lip" (one part of my cervix was still too thick) by 4:40. She was at 0 station. Jodi wanted me to wait another 20-30 minutes and get checked again.
- Around 6:00 I called the nurses station and told them I was feeling a lot of pressure. A different nurse checked me because Jodi was with another patient, and we were ready! Claire was at a +2!
- Satrted pushing around 6:00 with a different nurse and Jodi came in around 6:15/6:20

- Pushed on (almost) every contraction for 2 hours and 15 minutes. Andrew averaged it to be around 250 pushes! My belly was so round that the monitor wouldn't stay on to monitor contractions, so they would ask me when I could feel one coming and then told me to take a deep breath and push for 10 seconds. I would lay back for just enough time to take a deep breath and then push again. Andrew was so helpful while I was pushing. He either helped push my back, he held a towel behind Jodi and pulled me up or pushed my leg back. I COULD NOT have done it without his help. For real. 
- Claire's head was so big that first she couldn't pass under my pelvic bone and then she couldn't get past 2 side pelvic bones. It took a LOT of stretching from Jodi and Dr. Hinton and a LOT of pushing from mama (and daddy who helped tremendously by pushing on my back or pulling me with a towel)!
- Around 8:00, Dr. Hinton decided that she would like to try using the vacuum, forceps or a c-section. Baby girl just wouldn't get past those bones. I agreed to try the vacuum. While she was prepping that, I decided to push some more just to try. I asked if I could keep pushing and I got the go ahead. I had a nurse at each leg pushing pushing back, Andrew helping with my back, a nurse holding to towel and helping to pull me, and wouldn't you know it...she decided to come out without the vacuum!!!! We were all so shocked and SO HAPPY!!!!! She was born at 8:12 pm.
- She came straight to my chest and Andrew cut the cord. Then she went to get wiped off. Andrew went with her, though he wanted to stay with me. The nursery nurses were precious talking about her and Andrew was the sweetest! She weighed 8 pounds and 3 ounces and was 20 inches long (although that was a hard stat to check because sister's cone head is significant). The APGAR scores were 8 and 9. While that was happening, I delivered the placenta (which felt so good, such a big final pressure release), got stitched in 3 places, 2 inside and an episiotomy outside. Andrew finally got to hold her and brought her by me.

(I get teary every time I look at this. It was Andrew's first time to touch his baby girl.)

We talked to the nurses and doctors for a while. We asked them to tell friends and family who were waiting outside the whole time that she was here and healthy, but we wanted to tell them her stats. We took our first family picture and then I tried to feed her. She maybe sucked a couple of times and then was disinterested. After I tried, our families came in and we ooo'd and aww'd over her. It was Meme, Poppi, Lolly, Papa, Lyndsy and Matt. After they looked for a while, they went to get some dinner (it was 9:30) and the nursery took the baby. Nurse Jessica (who took Jodi's place, but was there during most of the delivery) came to help me out of the bed and to the bathroom to get cleaned up. That was a mess, but Jessica was great! Our parents came back with dinner for us (mind you, I hadn't had anything to eat since midnight)! We had sushi! The friends came back by after that. They stayed long enough to hear her first cry and then went to eat. They had to come back by and meet her! It was the Duffields, Carter's, and Snelson's. Everyone left before midnight. I tried to nurse Claire again who still wasn't all that interested, and then she went to spend the night on the nursery. I still didn't get much sleep because I was so excited, but it was nice to rest and recover without having to worry about being up with her. They brought her in to me to try and nurse a couple of times and I do think she latched a little. I didn't get much help from anyone during this time which was frustrating. 

Recovery:

We spent Saturday and Sunday morning in the hospital. We had visitors and I got some rest. Mom helped me with my first shower and it was nice to be in the hospital bed next to the restroom those first few days. I tried my hardest to get up and walk around. It's tough when you're sore and walking with an ice pack in your underwear, but I was told it can help with the recovery process. I stayed current on taking Ibprofen and Percocet to manage the pain. They gave me a daily vitamin and stool softener as well.

Every time I used the bathroom I would have to change my "dressing". I had amazing recovery underwear that would hold a ginormous diaper sized pad. This pad would hold tucks pads. After I used the bathroom, I would clean with a squirt bottle and wipe with a damp cloth. I sprayed with dermoplast medicated spray, applied the pad and pulled up the underwear. I wore only nursing gowns or nursing tops with large pants. I write this because it's stuff some don't tell you! Thankfully, I had friends warn me in advance about all of this so I felt (mentally) prepared.