Sweet Baby Clare's Birth Story

We were blessed to welcome Clare Elise into our family on October 20th.  This is the story of her birth.

Sweet Baby Clare

I went to my 37 week appointment on a Wednesday and my doctor told me that I was dilated to between a 3 and 4.  He said he would be surprised if I made it to my next appointment a week later so my mom decided to go ahead and fly in that Friday so that she would be here to stay with Grayson while we were at the hospital.  I was happy to get one final trip in to the city, especially since I had been informed that there was a Wing Stop near the Target that I normally stop at.  G and I went to Wing Stop, Target, Carter's, the airport, and Qdoba.  It was a nice trip and it was so awesome to get my mom here!  After we got back to Enid, the waiting game began for Baby Girl.  My doctor had told me that he was going to be out of town for the weekend so I should wait until Monday to have my baby.  While I wanted him to be the one to deliver our girl, I also desperately wanted to be finished being pregnant so I was only giving Baby Girl until Monday to arrive before I would have gotten impatient.
Sunday morning J had to leave for work at 5 am which was about the same time that I started having contractions.  They started out about ten minutes apart and then got closer together so that by 7 they were about five minutes apart.  I got up and decided to get ready for the day and finish packing the last minute things that weren't in my suitcase already.  At about 8 I texted J to tell him he should head home so that we could head to the hospital.

Ready to head to the hospital.

When we got to the hospital they monitored my contractions for twenty minutes (they were 3-4 minutes apart with good intensity) and then the nurse checked to see how far dilated I was.  I was only dilated to a 4 which the nurse explained meant that they couldn't check me in yet because the new standard policy for hospitals is that they won't admit anyone who isn't 39 weeks unless they show a change in dilation.  That meant that I would have to dilate to a 5 before I could be admitted.  They had me walk around the halls for an hour and then we repeated the monitoring and checking process at which point my contractions were only 2-3 minutes apart but I was still a 4 so they sent me home.  I was pretty upset to be sent home since the same thing had happened with G but I picked up an exercise ball to bounce on and I was able to spend the day watching football with the little man and my mom.  J went back to work since he is in the middle of turnaround and thus doesn't get days off even on the weekend.

G helping me bounce on the exercise ball :)

Around 7:30 that night my contractions started getting a lot more painful so I sent J another message saying that we needed to head to the hospital.  He came home, we loaded the car again and we went back to the hospital.  This time my contractions were painful enough that I had to stop and couldn't talk through them so I told J that if I got turned away again he should be prepared for tears.  Fortunately, when the nurse checked me that time she said I was a 6 so I was able to be admitted at 9 pm.  I had been having contractions since 5 am so I was relieved to finally have made a little progress.  They got me settled in to my room and started an IV (it took four tries and I am still bruised two weeks later).  J was exhausted so he went to sleep and at about midnight I got my epidural and joined him for several hours of sleep.  At 6:30 the night nurse came in to check me before change of shift and she thought I was an 8 but she wasn't sure so she got a second nurse who said I was still a 4.  I was a little upset to hear that as I had been having contractions for over 24 hours at that point but I had my epidural so I just figured we would be hanging out at the hospital all day.
My doctor came in to check on me at 7:30 and he said I was dilated to a 6 not a 4.  He went ahead and broke my water and then about half an hour later they started me on a small dose of Pitocin to intensify my contractions which had slowed down when I got my epidural.  At about 8:45 the nurse came in and checked me to see if the Pitocin was working and she was very surprised to find that not only was I fully dilated and effaced but Baby Girl had dropped low enough that it was time to push.  She called the doctor and about twenty minutes later the whole team was in my room ready for me to push.  I pushed for about ten minutes and my sweet baby girl came in to the world!  She was covered in goop and they plopped her on a blanket on my chest.  I cannot describe how happy, blessed, and overcome with love I felt in that moment.  When I had G, he came out with the cord wrapped around his neck twice so they took him away quickly and I only got to hold him for one minute in his first two hours of life.  It was so amazing this time to just be able to hold my sweet girl and be able to see that she was doing well!

About two minutes after she was born!

 They took her to clean her and weigh her (still in the room so she never had to leave me) and they cleaned her up a bit and brought her back to me.  We were able to spend two hours together with our baby girl before they took her to the nursery and I loved every minute of it!  There was such a huge difference in the birth experience between my two kids and I am so glad that this one was much more relaxing!  This time I had my own doctor instead of a guy that I met about ten minutes before pushing and then we didn't have to deal with any of the stress that came after G was born with his breathing issues.

Clare Elise was born at 9;15 am on October 20th weighing 7 pounds 9.5 ounces and she was 20 inches long.  She is very long and skinny with chubby little cheeks and the longest fingers and feet.  She is perfect in every way and we love her so very much!

Later that afternoon my mom brought G to the hospital so that he could meet his new sister.  I wasn't too sure of how he would react to her.  I thought he might just ignore her completely but he was actually adorable with her!  He was smiling at her and pointing to her and then when we let him get closer he gave her a hug and a kiss and it was pretty much the cutest thing I have ever seen :)

G's first time seeing Clare

So sweet!

Such a good brother!

Our new family of four!

This melts me :)

Clare with her grandma and big brother :)

Since both Clare and I were doing really well, they let us leave the hospital the next day so we were able to go home and get settled.

Ready to go home

So sweet in her daddy's arms!

Leaving the hospital!

 We are feeling so incredibly blessed to be a family of four and have two very healthy, happy kids!  Welcome to the world sweet Clare Elise, we love you so very much!