Oh, the amazing sleeping abilities of a newborn baby!
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Bathing Beauty...or Sleeping Beauty...
I picked Clara up off the floor and was heading to put her into her crib when I realized I really needed to go to the bathroom. And sometimes, when you've just had a baby and you've got to go, you've GOT TO GO! I quickly set her down in her bath tub and in the short time it took me to do my business, she totally fell asleep. I was tempted to leave her in there because she looked so comfortable!
Oh, the amazing sleeping abilities of a newborn baby!
Oh, the amazing sleeping abilities of a newborn baby!
Sunday, March 27, 2011
My Girls
I know it's a perfectly common thing that people do, but it still amazes me every day that I have two kids! We've just completed our first week without either of our parents here. The adjustment has gone better than I expected. I forgot how much newborns sleep! So, a lot of my day is spent playing with Abby and taking care of the cleaning, laundry, etc.--business as usual.
It has been so fun watching Abby take on the role of being the big sister. She is very sweet and helpful. When Sam or I do something Abby deems a good deed she informs us that we are "good big sisters." She has occasional bouts of jealousy, but her grumpiness is always aimed at Sam and me, never Clara.
I have been amazed at the increase in love I have to offer. Now that Clara is in our family, I feel greater love for Abby and Sam. I am (surprisingly) more patient with Abby. I enjoy being with her and playing with her even more.
I am so blessed to be the mommy to such sweet little girls.
It has been so fun watching Abby take on the role of being the big sister. She is very sweet and helpful. When Sam or I do something Abby deems a good deed she informs us that we are "good big sisters." She has occasional bouts of jealousy, but her grumpiness is always aimed at Sam and me, never Clara.
I have been amazed at the increase in love I have to offer. Now that Clara is in our family, I feel greater love for Abby and Sam. I am (surprisingly) more patient with Abby. I enjoy being with her and playing with her even more.
I am so blessed to be the mommy to such sweet little girls.
Monday, March 21, 2011
Clara's Blessing
When our parents were scheduling their visits to meet/help with Clara, we decided to have them overlap a Sunday so that they could all be here for Clara's blessing. When this plan was made, I was (for some strange reason) under the faulty assumption that Clara would be born early or at least on time. Even though she was only a week old, we decided to go ahead and go for it while everyone was in town.
Clara looked so cute on the way to the church in the bear suit.
Abby was looking pretty cute herself!
Things were a little crazy after church so our photo shoot wasn't particularly lovely. We still need to get pictures of Clara in her dress.
The Fam (Sam wasn't home yet)
Sam gave her a beautiful blessing. Baby blessings are such a special way for a child to start out their life. I hope Clara will always feel the love of her Heavenly Father and her family that was so apparent on that special day.
Clara looked so cute on the way to the church in the bear suit.
Abby was looking pretty cute herself!
Things were a little crazy after church so our photo shoot wasn't particularly lovely. We still need to get pictures of Clara in her dress.
The Fam (Sam wasn't home yet)
Sam gave her a beautiful blessing. Baby blessings are such a special way for a child to start out their life. I hope Clara will always feel the love of her Heavenly Father and her family that was so apparent on that special day.
Monday, March 14, 2011
Our First Week Home
Here are some pictures of our first week home with Clara...
When we arrived home from the hospital, Abby wanted to hold Clara immediately. Throughout the day, she usually does her own thing but she'll occasionally check in on Clara for kisses and noseys.
While we were in the hospital, my mom and Sam's parents made a switch. They were there to greet us and spend our first week home with us, which was such a blessing!
Abby wanted to show Clara all of the baby toys. As you can tell, Clara was thrilled!
The day we got home from the hospital happened to be Grandpa's birthday. Abby helped grammy make a cake!
Abby helped daddy with Clara's first sponge bath at home.
First ride in the swing. We're not sure if she likes it yet.
My beautiful girls.
Bright Eyed Baby
Cuddles for Grammy
Family bonding during tummy time
Abby has taken a recent interest in emptying her bookshelf and reading/"checking out" all of her books.
It doesn't get any better than this!
Our first family photo. I'm not sure why it took us so long to get it. (Wait, I think my friend took one at the hospital on her camera... Maybe we aren't total slackers!)
Uncle Philip flew in for a quick visit!
Abby showing off her cute ponytails.
When we arrived home from the hospital, Abby wanted to hold Clara immediately. Throughout the day, she usually does her own thing but she'll occasionally check in on Clara for kisses and noseys.
While we were in the hospital, my mom and Sam's parents made a switch. They were there to greet us and spend our first week home with us, which was such a blessing!
Abby wanted to show Clara all of the baby toys. As you can tell, Clara was thrilled!
The day we got home from the hospital happened to be Grandpa's birthday. Abby helped grammy make a cake!
Abby helped daddy with Clara's first sponge bath at home.
First ride in the swing. We're not sure if she likes it yet.
My beautiful girls.
Bright Eyed Baby
Cuddles for Grammy
Family bonding during tummy time
Abby has taken a recent interest in emptying her bookshelf and reading/"checking out" all of her books.
It doesn't get any better than this!
Our first family photo. I'm not sure why it took us so long to get it. (Wait, I think my friend took one at the hospital on her camera... Maybe we aren't total slackers!)
Uncle Philip flew in for a quick visit!
Abby showing off her cute ponytails.
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
She's Here!
At 2:47 a.m. on March 4, Clara Lynn joined our family. She weighed 6 lbs. 12 oz. and was 20 inches long. She is gorgeous and healthy and we are all thrilled to have her! If you're like me, you're just dying to read the birth story, and if you're not, stop reading and look at the pictures...
On Tuesday, March 1, we had an appointment at our doctor's office. We met with a different doctor than the one who told us we would have to go two weeks past our due date. She talked with us about the pros and cons of induction and let us decide what we wanted to do. We asked her to go ahead and schedule it, which she did for Friday, March 4. My mom, who had been with us all week and was scheduled to leave that Friday, was able to change her flight to Sunday so that she would be able to stay and take care of Abby. Phew!
On Thursday, at about 4 a.m., I started having some uncomfortable contractions. They were 15 to 20 minutes apart and not particularly painful. At around 6:30 a.m., I woke Sam up to tell him that we would probably need to go to the hospital later that day. Sam stayed home from school and we spent the morning cleaning up the house and getting prepared to be gone for a couple of days. By late morning, the contractions were only coming once every hour or so. Throughout the day, they would occasionally come within 20 minutes and were increasingly more uncomfortable. However, when we were heading to bed at around 11 p.m., the contractions had pretty much stopped. We figured that what had been going on all day had helped get things going so that the induction would go more smoothly in the morning. I got in bed hoping for a few hours of sleep (the night before Abby's induction, I didn't sleep a wink.)
As soon as I tried to fall asleep, I started having contractions again. They were coming about 15 minutes apart and were getting to be quite painful. At around 1 a.m., I woke Sam up. The contractions were still 10 minutes apart, but I was really in a lot of pain. Sam jumped in the shower to wake up. By the time he was done, the contractions were coming about 6-7 minutes apart. Despite being told to wait until contractions were 3-4 minutes apart, we decided to get ready to go and called the hospital because I was in so much pain. Sam fibbed a bit and told them my contractions had been coming every 5 minutes for an hour. They said we could probably head in since we live about 25 minutes away.
When we left our house, the contractions were still 6 minutes apart but I was reeling in pain. I was terrified that I was just being wimpy--that we would get there and they'd tell me I was like 3 or 4 cms. As we made the 25 minute drive, the contractions kept getting closer together. By the time we pulled into the parking lot of the hospital, they were pretty much constant and I was feeling the urge to push. I told Sam that she was coming! He went in to get a wheel chair. The pain was so intense that I couldn't get out of the car. You could tell the hospital worker thought I was being over dramatic but I was convinced I was going to deliver my baby in our car. There was a short lull in contractions and I managed to get myself out of the car.
When we got into the labor and delivery room, the nurses calmly asked me to get changed (at which point I started stripping down) in the bathroom (oh). They asked for a urine sample which I promptly dropped in the toilet because I couldn't hold onto the cup. I kept telling them that I needed to push so they finally let me get on the bed to check things out. As soon as the nurse looked she said, "Oh, the head's right there!" and ran to get the doctor. I breathed a small sigh of relief--I wasn't being wimpy, she was coming!
When my doctor came into the room, it was a whirlwind of IVs, shots, and other preparations. There wasn't time for the antibiotics I needed or an epidural. Despite being surrounded by total chaos and without the normal coaching from the nurses, I managed to push her out! The nurses asked us if we had a name, which we didn't. We had planned to talk about it at the hospital while we were waiting. Ha!
I had some hemorrhaging so it took longer to get everything stabilized. They kept us in the labor and delivery room for several hours to make sure my bleeding was under control. They finally decided I was ready to head to the recovery room but left the IV needle in my hand so they could work swiftly if things took a turn.
Once the nurses left us to enjoy our baby, Sam told me he thought her name should be Clara and I agreed. I had been very non-committal about names for some reason so it was nice to have something decided.
The rest of our hospital stay was pretty relaxing and uneventful. Abby was able to come visit us both days and I was so happy to see her. I didn't feel like Clara's arrival was real until I had my whole family together.
On Tuesday, March 1, we had an appointment at our doctor's office. We met with a different doctor than the one who told us we would have to go two weeks past our due date. She talked with us about the pros and cons of induction and let us decide what we wanted to do. We asked her to go ahead and schedule it, which she did for Friday, March 4. My mom, who had been with us all week and was scheduled to leave that Friday, was able to change her flight to Sunday so that she would be able to stay and take care of Abby. Phew!
On Thursday, at about 4 a.m., I started having some uncomfortable contractions. They were 15 to 20 minutes apart and not particularly painful. At around 6:30 a.m., I woke Sam up to tell him that we would probably need to go to the hospital later that day. Sam stayed home from school and we spent the morning cleaning up the house and getting prepared to be gone for a couple of days. By late morning, the contractions were only coming once every hour or so. Throughout the day, they would occasionally come within 20 minutes and were increasingly more uncomfortable. However, when we were heading to bed at around 11 p.m., the contractions had pretty much stopped. We figured that what had been going on all day had helped get things going so that the induction would go more smoothly in the morning. I got in bed hoping for a few hours of sleep (the night before Abby's induction, I didn't sleep a wink.)
As soon as I tried to fall asleep, I started having contractions again. They were coming about 15 minutes apart and were getting to be quite painful. At around 1 a.m., I woke Sam up. The contractions were still 10 minutes apart, but I was really in a lot of pain. Sam jumped in the shower to wake up. By the time he was done, the contractions were coming about 6-7 minutes apart. Despite being told to wait until contractions were 3-4 minutes apart, we decided to get ready to go and called the hospital because I was in so much pain. Sam fibbed a bit and told them my contractions had been coming every 5 minutes for an hour. They said we could probably head in since we live about 25 minutes away.
When we left our house, the contractions were still 6 minutes apart but I was reeling in pain. I was terrified that I was just being wimpy--that we would get there and they'd tell me I was like 3 or 4 cms. As we made the 25 minute drive, the contractions kept getting closer together. By the time we pulled into the parking lot of the hospital, they were pretty much constant and I was feeling the urge to push. I told Sam that she was coming! He went in to get a wheel chair. The pain was so intense that I couldn't get out of the car. You could tell the hospital worker thought I was being over dramatic but I was convinced I was going to deliver my baby in our car. There was a short lull in contractions and I managed to get myself out of the car.
When we got into the labor and delivery room, the nurses calmly asked me to get changed (at which point I started stripping down) in the bathroom (oh). They asked for a urine sample which I promptly dropped in the toilet because I couldn't hold onto the cup. I kept telling them that I needed to push so they finally let me get on the bed to check things out. As soon as the nurse looked she said, "Oh, the head's right there!" and ran to get the doctor. I breathed a small sigh of relief--I wasn't being wimpy, she was coming!
When my doctor came into the room, it was a whirlwind of IVs, shots, and other preparations. There wasn't time for the antibiotics I needed or an epidural. Despite being surrounded by total chaos and without the normal coaching from the nurses, I managed to push her out! The nurses asked us if we had a name, which we didn't. We had planned to talk about it at the hospital while we were waiting. Ha!
I had some hemorrhaging so it took longer to get everything stabilized. They kept us in the labor and delivery room for several hours to make sure my bleeding was under control. They finally decided I was ready to head to the recovery room but left the IV needle in my hand so they could work swiftly if things took a turn.
Once the nurses left us to enjoy our baby, Sam told me he thought her name should be Clara and I agreed. I had been very non-committal about names for some reason so it was nice to have something decided.
The rest of our hospital stay was pretty relaxing and uneventful. Abby was able to come visit us both days and I was so happy to see her. I didn't feel like Clara's arrival was real until I had my whole family together.
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