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!!