The first month

It's almost impossible to imagine that Claire has been in our lives for a month already, though in all honesty the first week was such a blur that I think that I feel a little cheated.

The first 2-3 days consisted of me pumping in my hospital room in-between visitors and nursing assessments, then trying to make it to the NICU for Claire's every 4 hour 'cares' (which at that time consisted of a diaper change and temperature). Initially she was in an isolette to help her with temperature regulation, but because of her being the fighter she is, she was in a big girl crib within just about a week after being born.

Our biggest concern (after knowing that she was more stable than expected) was whether there was a perforation or other issue with her bowels. We wouldn't know this until she started taking oral feeds and since breast milk (colostrum specifically) is the absolute best the doctors wanted to wait until my milk came into feed her. No pressure there... I kept pumping and doing manual expression day and night but things seemed to be very slow going-especially since it seemed everyone was watching and waiting... Finally at day 4-5 I was able to get colostrum for miss Claire and they didn't see any initial signs of a problem but they wouldn't know for sure until she worked up to taking a full feed. At this point a NG tube was placed so they could give her the breast milk. Prior to the NG tube she was receiving all of her nutrition from an IV which started out in her hand, then she had two in her poor head. Luckily (and thankfully) after the second head IV went bad she was taking enough through the NG tube that an IV was no longer needed.

While in the hospital it was relatively easy to go back and forth between the NICU and my hospital room but on day 5 I was discharged and we now had to figure out when and how (who would watch Owen) to get to Claire's cares which were now every 3 hours. We were (and still are) extremely blessed to have AMAZING support from family (moms,  Deborah, Jeannie) and my friend Wendy so that we were able to make regular visits during the first couple weeks while Jake was off work.

From the very beginning Claire showed us that just in case we were wondering, yes- she was the fighter we thought she was while in utero. She has showed us every day that she is running the show... Feisty yet sensitive, and a bit of a princess too :)

Today, on her one month birthday, she was diagnosed with a VSD (ventricular septal defect) which basically means  there are several little holes between the 2 ventricles in her heart. Claire,being the the tough little girl that she is, has no major symptoms (other than being tired) and her body seems to be compensating well. The cardiologists have said that most likely she won't need surgery and we will just need to follow up with them in a month.

I think it's safe to say that our little Claire has been and will continue to be full of surprises...

Best Mothers Day ever

An amazing 2 year old, a healthy little 3 pound girl, a supportive husband and ice cream... What else could a mom want? (Sleep excluded)

The littlest peanut (AKA Claire is born!)

After weeks... well, months really, the waiting finally came to a close. It is amazing that after each and every time of going in for a non-stress test, cord dopplers, or ultrasounds wondering whether 'today would be the day' when the day finally did come it seemed too soon.

I had been on bedrest for 3 weeks for mild pre-eclampsia, so at my 36 week OB visit my doctor said that it was time to schedule me for a c-section. This was a Thursday and I was scheduled for the following Wednesday. After leaving the doctor appointment I couldn't believe that it was finally time to have this little baby. I still had one more NST to go the Monday before my scheduled c-section and true to the course of this entire pregnancy, the unexpected happened...my blood pressure had spiked and the protein in my urine had doubled since the previous week. Luckily my doctor was on-call for that entire week so she came over to the triage and said the words I had already been hearing in my head... it's time.

I was admitted to labor and delivery around 10:30 on Monday the 22nd of April. Jake, my mom, Wendy, and Owen made it up to the hospital within an hour after my admission. My nurses Nikole and Kalli started me on magnesium and began prepping me for my c-section. Since it was a very busy day in L&D (and I had eaten breakfast around 6:30) I was told we would go back to the operating room around 2 or 3 in the afternoon. Around 1:30 Dr Edmunds came into the room and said that we were up...it was time to have a baby. My emotions were all over the place at this time, and in addition to the weird feeling from being on magnesium was near losing it. I was teary to say goodbye to my little man Owen, knowing that within minutes he wasn't going to be an only child anymore. I feared for the worst in the delivery, knowing that there were no guarantees of how our little girl would do, whether she would even make it. I felt some sort of control, keeping her safe and alive as long as she was inside of me, but once on the outside I had no control of what happened.

I walked back to the OR, got my spinal anesthesia, and the surgery started quickly. Jake was by my side, anxiously awaiting the delivery of our little girl...probably feeling many of the same emotions that I was... and at 2:02 PM she arrived. She came out opening her eyes, looking at this world she was coming into:

The nurse brought her over to us before passing her through the window to the NICU where they were waiting for her. She looked tiny, but good. Within a short time the NICU let us know that she was doing well, weighing 3 pounds 6 ounces with apgars of 6 and 8.

Welcome to the world little miss Claire!!