Well we arrived at the hospital just before 6 a.m. and was escorted to the last available birthing suite. I received my IV and signed all the necessary paperwork to be admitted by 630. My epidural was administered by 7 and Dr. V cam to check on me at 730. At my first exam I was 3 cm dilated and about 50% effaced. He said he'd be back a little later to check me again. We all waited for the pitocin to do it's thing ... He came in a few hours later and I was 8 and 70%. Shortly after he left I started to feel my contractions (about every minute and a half or so) and after about 45 minutes started feeling the urge to push. The nurse checked me and said I was fully dilated and very close to completely thinned out so at 12:50 p.m. she gave me the go-ahead to start my practice pushes. Dr. Vandersloot was called and came into the room around 1:15 and after feeling all my contractions (thanks to my epi. they were dull and nagging) and the infamous "ring of fire," Claire Marie was born with a TON of BLACK hair at 1:41 p.m. on Monday September 27, 2010! She weighed 7.15 and was 21.5" tall. The cord was wrapped around her neck and had to be cut before her body was delivered, then, come to find out, it was also wrapped around her arm and torso. She had a little fluid in her lungs and needed a little oxygen but nothing serious. She scored 9's on her APGARs and looked absolutely NOTHING like her big sister! We were released on the 28th at 5:45 p.m. Smooth sailing, quick and easy ... great experience!
Claire went from 7.15 to 6.10 in the first few days and it took her until her 1 month check up to get back to her birth weight. It's been a bit of an emotional rollercoaster for me, thinking it's my fault she's not gaining properly. Her pediatrician is WONDERFUL and had me come in every week to have her weight checked to make sure she was gaining (or at LEAST maintaining), which she has been doing. She's always gaining, just not as much as she "should." I'm going to start taking her to the support group on Mondays to have her weighed to make sure she continues. She is a very good baby! She's more fussy than Ellie was but I think we were just REALLY lucky with Ellie. She sleeps (now, at almost 6 weeks) anywhere from 6-8 hours every night! And for a breastfed baby that's GREAT (I hear)! Oh ... and she has BLUE EYES!
Ellie absolutely LOVES being a big sister ... and she's SOOO good at it! She always wants to help change diapers and giver her baths and asks to hold her all the time! She's transitioned from an only child to having a sibling better than I ever could have imagined! I'm very thankful! Now I just have to figure out how to better distribute my time between the two girls. Right now it's hard because Claire's nursing and just needy in general, being a newborn. I'm working on it though and it seems to come easier by the day.
