At long last these two MC girls got a chance to meet. While MCW's mom and I were due 10 weeks apart, her little girl held out a little longer and Claire came a little earlier, making these girls only 6 weeks apart in age. Claire has some catching up to do on her growth to keep up with her friend who is double her current weight - but I've no doubt by our planned beach trip next year these two will be able to keep up with each other pretty well.
Saturday, August 29, 2009
The MC's Meet at Last
At long last these two MC girls got a chance to meet. While MCW's mom and I were due 10 weeks apart, her little girl held out a little longer and Claire came a little earlier, making these girls only 6 weeks apart in age. Claire has some catching up to do on her growth to keep up with her friend who is double her current weight - but I've no doubt by our planned beach trip next year these two will be able to keep up with each other pretty well.
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Two Weeks Today
For Nani, here is a two-week picture of Clairebear. We haven't weighed her since early last week, but with how much she eats and the way her clothes appear to be shrinking, I am assuming she is gaining like crazy. We have now only a few preemie items that fit, though newborn clothing mostly swallows her. (And by the way, though she is fairly dark skinned, she came out looking super dark on this photo, not sure why).She is still a very good and easy baby (knock on wood) and is starting to understand the difference between days and nights, which means no more two hour wakeful period at 3:00 AM and a couple of fun alert times during the day. She is eating, sleeping and pooping a lot, which is what babies are supposed to do, and she has earned a nickname from her daddy, "the squeaker." She rarely cries at all, and if she does it's only for a second. Instead, her main form of communication is these tiny little squeaky noises which she makes both awake and in her sleep. So sweet!
A Busy Week
We have had a busy second week of life! Claire has started to have some really good alert periods during the daytime and I pulled out my favorite pregnant purchase - my bumpil pillow ( you can look these up online). It zips shut to create a great preggie pillow and then unzips to create a floortime play space once your little one arrives. 
Daddy loves to take pictures of Claire when she sleeps. She does the funniest things with her arms - usually at least one of them is sticking straight up in the air. Sometimes she looks like she is doing some sort of choreography.
I noted the other day while Claire was sleeping that her big sister Soozie was napping in much the same fashion, so had to show a cute picture of one of our four-legged children. We have had a lot of folks asking how the dogs/cat are doing with Claire and I can happily say that everything appears to be going really well. The dogs are a little frustrated with being second-class citizens, but they are behaving well around the baby and so far I'm feeling good about their adjustment.
Irving, the cat, is having a harder time. He has always been a big momma's boy and is used to being a nearly permanent fixture on my lap. He has trouble noticing whether or not Claire is there - or maybe he's just ignoring that she's there even if he knows it. We have to be careful or he'll climb right on top of her when trying to get into my lap. He figured out the other day that sometimes there is room for two...
Daddy loves to take pictures of Claire when she sleeps. She does the funniest things with her arms - usually at least one of them is sticking straight up in the air. Sometimes she looks like she is doing some sort of choreography.
I noted the other day while Claire was sleeping that her big sister Soozie was napping in much the same fashion, so had to show a cute picture of one of our four-legged children. We have had a lot of folks asking how the dogs/cat are doing with Claire and I can happily say that everything appears to be going really well. The dogs are a little frustrated with being second-class citizens, but they are behaving well around the baby and so far I'm feeling good about their adjustment.
Irving, the cat, is having a harder time. He has always been a big momma's boy and is used to being a nearly permanent fixture on my lap. He has trouble noticing whether or not Claire is there - or maybe he's just ignoring that she's there even if he knows it. We have to be careful or he'll climb right on top of her when trying to get into my lap. He figured out the other day that sometimes there is room for two...
Saturday, August 22, 2009
Claire at One Week
She's eating well and growing quickly, already weighing in right at 5lbs and starting to accumulate little fat rolls in all the right places. She's going to catch up to the bigger babies in no time flat! So far we find her to be pleasant and easy. We're tired, of course, but couldn't be happier so far. We have really benefited from the help of family and friends, which has allowed us to enjoy just figuring out caring for each other as a family.
My mom returned home for this week, and Geoff has this whole week off where it will be just the three of us for a bit. We're looking forward to it, especially knowing that mom stocked our freezer full of good food to eat, giving us one less thing to worry about while we're figuring out how to keep up with everything else.
Videos to come soon from her first bath...
The Birth Story
SO, last Wednesday morning, August 12th, I went to the hospital at 9:00 AM to have an ECV, where the doctor attempts to reposition a breech baby into a head-down position. I had an epidural because I heard the procedure could hurt like the dickins. In order to have this procedure, you need ample amniotic fluid around the baby and the baby needs to be smaller than 7lbs. The doctor had said if Claire was willing to move, it would take under 10 minutes, and if she wasn't going to move, he wouldn't force her. Well, the procedure worked like a charm and took less than 2 minutes. Geoff described it as watching the doctor manipulate a football inside of a basketball.
All that was left was to monitor the baby for signs of stress for 2 hours and then we would go home and induce at 39 weeks. Well, there were signs of stress from the getgo. Claire's heart rate drops came fairly frequently for awhile, then slowed to about once an hour. Eventually the doctor left me on the monitors but told me that he would be back and he had decided that we would need to see six straight hours with no heart rate dips. This was not the most welcome news as by the time we were at that point, it was after lunch and I hadn't eaten since the evening before.
My doctor was done with his surgeries and back at the main doctor's office and the on-call doctor was set to check on me. Geoff and his mom and I were sitting around trying to ignore the baby's heart monitor. At some point I thought that my water may have broken (a potential side effect of the repositioning of the baby). A nurse came in and confirmed the presence of amniotic fluid and it looked like we were going to induce. The on-call doctor then came in to run some other tests and couldn't confirm that my water had indeed broken, even though the ultrasound was showing less amniotic fluid than had been there that morning. So they had me walk for awhile in hopes of having more conclusive test results. Still it seemed that he couldn't confirm that my water had broken and said they would likely be sending me home.
At this point, I was pretty weary. Geoff's mom went on home since it looked like that was where we'd be heading and I laid in bed waiting for my doctor to drop in and I just cried for awhile. All I could think was that I was sure my water had broken and that I was going to end up having to have another epidural if they sent me home and I wasn't looking forward to that at all. But when my doctor came over he checked the ultrasound and said the fluid levels were so much lower than they had been that morning that it was absolutely time to induce.
The induction occurs in two parts and the first takes 12 hours, so we put out of town grandparents on alert that we would be beginning labor on the morning of the 13th. Part one of the induction (pre-labor) began and had immediate strong results, causing contractions that were really not what we were expecting at the time. I pretty much blacked out during all of this and remember nothing from about 7:30pm when the contractions started until around 2:30 in the morning when my water really broke and the doctors came rushing in to prep me for an emergency c-section.
Geoff was able to come in for the c-section which was truly over in minutes. We had to bump another couple out of our way for the surgery - they had been in our prepared childbirth class. Claire came out small but healthy - they had both of us briefly - very briefly - on oxygen, but other than needing a little time in the warmer, she was alert, healthy, and ready to nurse as soon as I recovered from being sewn up. I have been recovering really well from the surgery, and am so glad to be home with my baby and husband. It was a trying and frustrating day, both the worst and best day I've ever had. Worst for all of the scary and frustrating moments, all the fatigue, lack of food, pain, etc, and best for the birth of my daughter.
All that was left was to monitor the baby for signs of stress for 2 hours and then we would go home and induce at 39 weeks. Well, there were signs of stress from the getgo. Claire's heart rate drops came fairly frequently for awhile, then slowed to about once an hour. Eventually the doctor left me on the monitors but told me that he would be back and he had decided that we would need to see six straight hours with no heart rate dips. This was not the most welcome news as by the time we were at that point, it was after lunch and I hadn't eaten since the evening before.
My doctor was done with his surgeries and back at the main doctor's office and the on-call doctor was set to check on me. Geoff and his mom and I were sitting around trying to ignore the baby's heart monitor. At some point I thought that my water may have broken (a potential side effect of the repositioning of the baby). A nurse came in and confirmed the presence of amniotic fluid and it looked like we were going to induce. The on-call doctor then came in to run some other tests and couldn't confirm that my water had indeed broken, even though the ultrasound was showing less amniotic fluid than had been there that morning. So they had me walk for awhile in hopes of having more conclusive test results. Still it seemed that he couldn't confirm that my water had broken and said they would likely be sending me home.
At this point, I was pretty weary. Geoff's mom went on home since it looked like that was where we'd be heading and I laid in bed waiting for my doctor to drop in and I just cried for awhile. All I could think was that I was sure my water had broken and that I was going to end up having to have another epidural if they sent me home and I wasn't looking forward to that at all. But when my doctor came over he checked the ultrasound and said the fluid levels were so much lower than they had been that morning that it was absolutely time to induce.
The induction occurs in two parts and the first takes 12 hours, so we put out of town grandparents on alert that we would be beginning labor on the morning of the 13th. Part one of the induction (pre-labor) began and had immediate strong results, causing contractions that were really not what we were expecting at the time. I pretty much blacked out during all of this and remember nothing from about 7:30pm when the contractions started until around 2:30 in the morning when my water really broke and the doctors came rushing in to prep me for an emergency c-section.
Geoff was able to come in for the c-section which was truly over in minutes. We had to bump another couple out of our way for the surgery - they had been in our prepared childbirth class. Claire came out small but healthy - they had both of us briefly - very briefly - on oxygen, but other than needing a little time in the warmer, she was alert, healthy, and ready to nurse as soon as I recovered from being sewn up. I have been recovering really well from the surgery, and am so glad to be home with my baby and husband. It was a trying and frustrating day, both the worst and best day I've ever had. Worst for all of the scary and frustrating moments, all the fatigue, lack of food, pain, etc, and best for the birth of my daughter.
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Monday, August 17, 2009
Hello World!
Martha Claire PeelAugust 13, 2009
2:41 AM
4lbs 15oz
18.5inches long
Family is finally home from the hospital and well on its way to recovery. She couldn't be more perfect or an easier baby. I will post more on the story of our delivery later - it was quite a doozy! As all the doctors have said (both mine and hers), everyone seems much happier with the new non-pregnant arrangement. I am doing well with the c-section recovery and feeling more like my old self every day. I am totally in love with my little girl, and her daddy is already in big trouble as she has him wrapped around her extremely tiny little finger!
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
On Our Way (38 Weeks)
In about an hour and a half we will be on our way to the hospital to see if we can get this baby to do a flip. I've heard good things about our hospital's and my doctor's success rates with this procedure and feel good about the decision to give it a try. Here's a bleary-eyed 38 week picture just in case it's the last preggy pic I can take. I feel like I am looking smaller, but think that's because of her breech position. I am hoping for the best outcome today, but Geoff and I both admitted yesterday that this pregnancy has been all about the exceptions to the rule or murphy's law or something. It has been a real doozie! (But I wouldn't trade this little life for all the world!)
I can't remember what I've blogged about and what I haven't, but basically, we are currently dealing with high blood pressure issues which have caused me to need additional medication that now means the baby cannot be carried past 39 weeks, which according to the cycle way of dating things is Saturday 8/22. (On my blog I have been counting according to conception since the procedure we had makes it simple to pinpoint exactly when that occured. The difference is only 4 or 5 days, so no big deal). At any rate, in the midst of the blood pressure stuff, Claire sommersaulted into a butt-first position making a c-section inevitable unless we can turn her.
So we're going to try that this morning and hope none of the crazy things that can happen will happen. She could refuse to turn, she could get the cord wrapped somewhere, she could just sort of freak out (what doc's refer to as be "in distress"), or my placenta could try and separate, or my water could break. If any of these occur today (besides her refusing to turn), they will send me to a c-section today. If she refuses to turn, we'll schedule a c-section for the end of next week, and if she does turn, we'll schedule an induction for the end of next week and I'll remain on bed rest until she comes.
I'm having this procedure done under an epidural and therefore haven't had anything to eat or drink since last night and I'm going to have to distract myself for the next hour or so before we head to the hospital because I'm very very thirsty.
Well that's enough excitement for one morning. Will post results soon...
Monday, August 10, 2009
In the Waiting Room
I am having trouble sitting in the waiting room for another 2 weeks. It feels a little funny to have a scheduled date for Claire's arrival, so I keep telling her that she ought to pick her own entry date if she wants to. I try to tell her if she wants to be butt-first that's fine as well, but then I spend countless hours trying these techniques to turn a breech baby. (So far all they do is cause her head to push even harder into my lungs so I can't breathe). I know I am not the most patent person and my hormones are definitely working against me right now, but I am so ready to get her out and into the world.
I know I'm supposed to have posted another picture or two by now, but I haven't taken any lately. Oddly enough, I think I am actually looking even smaller than before. I would guess it's because of the way she is laying all flattened out in the frank breech. I'll try to take some anyway; I know from comments that folks like to see them.
Anyway, I am just trying to pass the time in restful ways. The medicine for blood pressure is helping me to sleep, which is the best thing I can do for myself right now. But sleeping all day creates a somewhat depressed momma, so I probably need to think of some things I can do that would be restful.
I know I'm supposed to have posted another picture or two by now, but I haven't taken any lately. Oddly enough, I think I am actually looking even smaller than before. I would guess it's because of the way she is laying all flattened out in the frank breech. I'll try to take some anyway; I know from comments that folks like to see them.
Anyway, I am just trying to pass the time in restful ways. The medicine for blood pressure is helping me to sleep, which is the best thing I can do for myself right now. But sleeping all day creates a somewhat depressed momma, so I probably need to think of some things I can do that would be restful.
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