A Birth Story…the fourth

It all began at 5 o’clock in the morning. It was still dark outside and no one was awake but me. I got out of bed and headed to the first place most pregnant women need to go in the morning…the loo a.k.a. bathroom. Unfortunately, I didn’t make it. My water broke after just a few steps! That has never happened to me and I was in shock. My shocked gasps followed by my cry for Steve! woke him up. I had a puddle at my feet, sorry if that’s too much information but most of the readers of my blog are women, women who have been through child birth so you can stomach it right?
I called Dr. Clayton and he told me the obvious, go to the hospital...and don’t take your time. Steve woke the kids, called my mom to come over and I frantically packed my bags. My head was swimming. I had never had a baby unannounced like this. All my previous babies I had notice so I could plan for the hospital. Steve took Dr. C’s advice to heart and was rushing us out the door. We were at the hospital by 5:30am.

After getting hooked up, (have I mentioned I hate IVs?) there was a lot of waiting. I planned on laboring on my own as long as I could, hoping that the process would be quickest this way. But by 1:30pm and no baby I finally agreed to have my epidural. I say agreed not to mean I was opposed to it. I love epidurals. I whole heartedly believe in epidurals. But I was under the impression it would slow my labor down and I wanted this baby out sooner than later. My nurse, Ellie, told me that it wouldn’t necessarily slow me down and that it might even allow my body to speed up the process because of the relief from the tension of the pain from the contractions. After hearing that I agreed and had my epidural administered.

Just as Ellie said, within an hour of having my epidural I was dilated from a 4 to a 7 and then a 10 just shortly after that. The doctor was called and by 3:55pm Claire Mae was born at 8 lbs. 6 oz. and 21 inches long. Isn’t she lovely?

February highlights

February was supposed to go by faster than it did. But, then again, when I’m 8/8.5 months pregnant everything seems to be really slow. I liked February still, there were some good moments.

For one, its not every day I get a manicure from a beautiful four year old girl. My Sadie loves make up and nail polish. I love that this nail polish can easily be peeled off my nails, no acetone required. Sweet.

I wouldn’t go so far as to call this next event one of the “highlights” of February. It was not fun, by any definition of the word, but it did have good results so I’m at peace with it. I’m talking about my external version I had to have performed in order to turn baby girl from breech to head down. Basically, Dr. Clayton pushed down on my belly in a clockwise motion, as hard as he could, trying to get baby to turn. She did turn and I was warned she could go back to the breech position. Thankfully, she never did. The 5-7 minutes of extreme pain I had to endure were worth it.

The only good part of a hospital stay at Hoag is their cranberry spritzer. yum. But the picture above, of my horrible IV, makes me shudder. yuck.

Let’s keep things real with a picture of Sadie’s messy room. This is basically a daily event. Its so much fun trying to get her to clean it up. Lots of threatening goes on, its great…or not.

After my version, there were lots of hospital visits to check on baby girl and make sure she was ok.

Ethan’s Blue and Gold dinner was pretty cute. I love how much he loves Scouts.

He was pretty proud of the cake he decorated with his dad. We kind of think it was the coolest one there too.

We got our house painted!! I love my black door. The house looks so much nicer on the outside now. Its grey, if you can’t tell.

I had a fun little girls night out for a baby shower. My sisters had the great idea of having everyone meet for dinner at Green Leaf. It was delicious and such good company! Thanks, girls.

I was rewarded after leaving the temple with a beautiful sunset. Could it be any better? For that one moment, I felt pretty darn close to heaven. Why don’t those moments last longer?