Clara's Arrival!!!

have some mild bp issues that are made worse in pregnancy, so as you know i had been followed closely by my OB this pregnancy, frequent visits, growth scans, ect. I really hoped to go into labor on my own b/c i wanted to not be induced like Connor's delivery. I was hoping to avoid an epidural or pain meds, but I was also open to them if I got to the point where i needed them. As I approached 39 weeks, I started having a lot of contractions at night time. They would generally last a couple of hours but go away after i went to bed. At my 38 week visit, I was 2 cm and they told me that they would like to induce me at 39 weeks, but also that I didn't have to be induced as long as things were stable with my bps. (((my obs)))
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My bps at home were starting to rise a little although I did not have protein in my urine so my Obs were ok (i had mild pre-e with Connor at the end).By my next visit (almost 39) weeks, I had made the decision to stop working (I reached my scheduled end date and since i was swelling some, I decided to go ahead and go out). When I went in for my OB visit, I had another growth scan which showed her to be approx 7 #15 , fluid was good, ect. (they were measuring me b/c Connor had growth issues before birth). I still wasn't sure what i wanted to do b/c I was conflicted on going ahead with the induction.
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When she checked me I was 3 cm, and since I was having a lot of contractions and my bp was slowly rising I told her I wanted to go ahead with the induction (which was scheduled for 2 days from then). I actually felt very at peace after i made the decision, but I still was praying to go into labor before then!!!
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Wednesday 5/16 we had a great family day- DH took off from work and we took Connor downtown, to the toy shop, out for lunch, and ice cream, ect. It was so relaxing and fun to spend our last day as a family of 3! I ended up getting a new iphone (it is through my work and it finally came- crazy timing). We went out that night for five guys burgers and fries and to walmart to pick up a few last minute things and a gallon of milk (LOL we are so redneck I actually ran into some coworkers and acted like nothing was up, b/c i had only told a few people that i was being induced. One asked me if I was having any contractions and I flat out told her no, although i was full of it b/c i was having them off and on walking around walmart! I actually didn't even tell my parents till the next morning b/c I wanted to keep it quiet and definitely off facebook.
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Thursday morning 5/17 we were up and out of the house by 6 am. My in-laws had driven up that morning to keep Connor. They planned to take him to school, and then come back to our house figuring that the induction process would take some hours and they could still make it to the hospital in time to wait in the waiting room prior to baby's arrival. I did not want anyone to be there during my labor including in the waiting room, with Connor DH kept going out to the waiting room to chat with his parents, ect. It stressed me out a lot because I didn't want anybody else involved in my labor, how many cm dilated i was , ect. DH and I got breakfast on the way to the hospital and checked in around 6 30. We got to our room, they had me change into the gown, ect. They started with the usual admission questions, drew my labs, put in my IV, filled out paperwork, consents, ect. I could tell immediately my nurse Joan was amazing. She was older, British accent and appeared very genuine. The CRNA came by and did some pre-screening questions too. After he left, Joan asked me different questions about my labor preferences, did I want to get an epidural, ect. I told her I was undecided but that I would prefer to not get one if possible. I told her about Connor's delivery and how crazy it all went, ect. She assured me that she wouldn't let me deliver my own baby this time by accident and she didn't plan to deliver the baby either, haha. She started a very low dose of pitocin and said that she didn't plan to increase it too fast because of my history. She showed me the strip where i was already contracting some, and baby's heart rate, ect. It was so different than Connor's delivery where they didn't explain anything to me, ect. I asked her about going to the bathroom, unplugging the monitors, ect and she was encouraging of me getting up as much as possible, told me that she wanted me to walk around, ect and stay active.
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I tried to rest but almost immediately was having more intense contractions after the pitocin started. I had brought my new phone thinking i could enter in my contacts from my old phone during the early labor part, but there was no way. They brought me a popsicle and it took me at least 10 minutes to eat it. My OB came in around 9 30 (she was in the middle of a repeat c/s who had arrived at the same time as us with her water broken- i only knew this b/c the girl rode up in the elevator with us!). She checked me and said i was " a good 4" and went ahead and broke my water.
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After this my contractions picked up quite a bit more, they had increased the pit a little more. I was up and down going to the bathroom about every 15 minutes. It was probably hard to monitor my contractions/baby's hear rate, but Joan never seemed bothered. When i was plugged she would adjust the monitor and make sure everything looked ok, but i was probably off more than on. I was standing and walking around most of the time, she offered me a birth ball, and i was able to use that for about an hour off and on. I think Joan was afraid i was going to fall b/c i kept using the IV pole and the bed to stablilize myself. She encouraged DH to help me by supporting my back, ect but i didn't really want to be touched at all.
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At some point which I think was maybe 10 30 or 11 or so she wanted to get a strip on the baby since I was on the pit and so she had me lay in the bed for a few minutes which was pretty much torture. I knew that if she couldn't get a good heart strip they might want me back in the bed for good so i was able to get through that. During that time I asked her to check me and she said I was about 6 cm. I started to feel like I couldn't make it, and with Connor it took a couple of hours to get an epidural so I told her I was thinking about getting one, but not sure if was ready yet. She told me there was no pressure at all , whatever i wanted to do, ect. She went ahead and gave me some reglan and pepcid and ran my IV bolus in so that if i decided i wanted it i could be ready.
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My contractions continued to intensify and were basically non stop. It helped a lot to walk and go to the bathroom still. I think Joan could tell that things were moving faster and she told me that I might want to use a bedpan instead of the toilet because of my precip delivery last time. I really think I was at the point of transition b/c i was now at the point of "I cannot do this" . I told her that I thought that i wanted an epidural and she told me that was not a problem, she would call anesthesia, ect. At that point, the charge nurse Robyn who had been also in and out took over for her because they wanted Joan to go ahead and take her lunch since they were thinking i would be a pretty imminent delivery. When she left she told me she would be seeing me in a bit and that she thought i would be feeling a lot better next time she saw me!
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When Robyn came in, I felt like i was at the point of no return with the pain and contractions. She said Joan had talked to anesthesia and they were on their way, ect. They came into the room and were getting things set up. I was sort of laughing through the pain b/c they had pulled the anesthesiologist from another room b/c they thought i was so close to delivery. I said, ha ha , too bad for her, I win!
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I told Robyn I needed to go to the bathroom again, and she's like " You don't have to poop , right???" I assured her I didn't (which was true) and went in there and came back out. I sat on the bed and immediately felt completely different- I was hit with a wave of contractions and had severe pressure. I started yelling " I have to poop!!!!" I am not sure what else i said but I know that I was begging for Robyn to check me. She said that i was at least 8 cm, maybe a stretch to 9. She said "baby's head is right there" .
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I was crying, i told her i wasn't sure what to do, I couldn't do it. With Connor it took forever for the epidural to even take effect so I knew in my heart that there was no point in getting it and this baby was coming out. I told the anesthesiologist that I didn't want to do it and they left- from that point things were very intense and fast. Somehow a lot of people got to the room including my OB, a few nurses ect. The nurses were helping support my feet, but they didn't have any time for stirrups, my OB didn't even have time to put on sterile gloves or drapes or anything. Dh was holding my hand and they had me put my hand on her head as she was crowning.

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A few pushes and she was out completely, i knew immediately when i saw her chunky self that she was no 7 lb baby, haha! The nurses were amazing they had grabbed my camera, were taking pics, DH got to cut the cord which he totally didn't expect. They put her immediately up on my chest, she looked right at me! She was alert and quiet, so different from Connor who screamed immediately from birth!
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I had some tearing and so ended up having to get stitches with lidocaine down there, but it wasn't as bad as I was expecting. I asked them to weigh her and she was 8#15! The nurses were so wonderful, they immediately put her skin to skin again after that and i nursed her and snuggled for a while. Afterwards, Robyn told me that when she checked me , i was really 9-10 cm but she didn't want me to freak out while she called everybody to the room. I was immediately up and went to the bathroom and they helped me rinse off, into a clean gown, ect which felt like heaven
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. A few minutes later my nurse Joan came back from lunch I told her I felt a lot better!

First Blog Post of 2011...Yikes! Lots of pics and a loooong post.

Hello all (or anyone who still has me on their blogroll). I apologize for neglecting my blog over the past 8-9 months. Yikes! I can't believe the last time I posted on here was December 2010. I MUST do better.

Anyway, right to business....

SO what have we been up to in our family? Just regular life.

My baby is now a very talkative little boy who has no problem telling you what he's thinking! He makes us laugh on a daily basis and also finds new ways to get in trouble. He has a new big-boy room with a double bed and is overall doing a great job with potty training although we have a way to go with that! But they say boys are harder (or at least that is what people tell me :)
His hair is redder than ever.

Patrick and I celebrated our FIVE YEAR wedding anniversary in May- time flies!

I completed my second year at my practice, and there were a lot of changes for me this year as far as work- we started a new electronic medical record system which means a lot of craziness. I had my birthday this summer, now i'm more than halfway to 60 haha, but we'll just say 29 and holding for now.

I have posted a million and a half pictures on flickr so if you have been checking these will be repeats. I just got a new camera (Nikon D60) and so one of my new adventures is learning photography with it.


Quick recap of 2011 so far!!!!

January:

We had a really big snowstorm!







my friend Gina had a baby shower to welcome her little boy- i went up there and back in less than 24 hours- the boys stayed home!


February:

Connor got the flu- boo.


daddy wears shorts in the winter too!


Connor climbed out of the crib and we converted his bed to a toddler



March:



went to the lake and somewhere called "goats on the roof"


tired boy after a hike

this month we turned Connor's car seat forward facing as he was getting a little too tall to continue rear facing with his height- we made it 28 months RF!

got his first T ball set


April:

celebrated Easter...he's spoiled for sure!




May:

Trip to Hilton Head Island ( i still need to upload a bunch of pics)





sprinkler in the back yard


June:

good checkup at the dentist


new mower


July:

swam in the lake




did a lot of coloring- still a lefty!


had my birthday and got a new camera!


new toy:



August:

big boy room!


learning the potty way

Santa, round 2.

Santa, round 2., originally uploaded by Makclair.

We had success!!!

Saturday Santa came to Publix (grocery store, for you non-Southerners) and Connor just marched right up to Santa, said "Hi, Santa" hopped up in his lap, and showed him some trucks. He would do well when we're not having to pay for an overpriced 5x7 at the mall. He actually sat in Santa's lap again after we did our grocery shopping and told him he wanted "trucks and choo-choos" for Christmas. Good thing , because that's what he's getting!!!

P.S. Santa, we can tell your beard is fake :)

Starting to look a lot like Christmas!

I realized that I haven't posted any pictures of the holiday decorating yet!- We put up the outdoors stuff a couple of weekends ago. We have a mini tree with lights upstairs in the bonus room window, lighted garland around the front door and wreaths on the windows that light up at night. I think every year we'll probably do a little bit more. Last year we barely decorated outside. I think we were too used to being in an apartment.

This isn't a great pic because all the lights are blurry- but the sky looks neat :)



Garland around the front door- I think i'm going to look for some more after Christmas on clearance to make it thicker next year.


(just realized we still have our pumpkins out there, haha)


The rosemary bush- i call it my "charlie brown tree" but I think it looks good with lights.


I found this cute flag at Hobby Lobby, but sadly it blew away in a tornado storm (seriously). :(



Our countertop nativity- please excuse any mess in the background-


Fireplace/mantle with stockings.
The reindeer are our stocking holders, but somebody is nosy, so we put them lower this year.


I have to brag about these little trees- I got them both for 12 dollars! I got a printable coupon at CVS for 10 off any of the 29.99 boxed pre-lit trees. So these were 29.99 for the 2pack, but they were on sale for 22. Then I got 10 off that - so 12 dollars for both of them! Next year we'll probably put them on the front porch, but since I didn't want to reconfigure the cords out there , I just put them in the entryway.



Connor's mini tree in his room


Finally got some presents under the tree!

Picture with Santa

santa, originally uploaded by Makclair.

Last Wednesday, we had Connor's 2 year old well check, and Patrick ended up taking a furlough day so that we could spend the day together (it was my regular day off).

First we started at the doctor- my big boy measured out at 28lbs, 12 oz (60%ile) and 36 inches long (88%ile). I knew he had grown, but WOW! No wonder all his pants are too short. Everything was great- He just had to get his flu shot and barely cried. Then we were off!

We went to the mall and straight to see Santa! Since it was early, we didn't have a line at all, although this probably backfired because Connor didn't get to watch any other kids sit in Santa's lap before him. I had hoped he would sit nicely in Santa's lap, but as soon as we walked up to him, Mr. Clingy came out and refused to let go of me. So we made a last minute decision to just all join in and get the picture together to avoid a tantrum. He still didn't smile, but at least he didn't cry!

Our next stop was Toys R Us- we were sneaky parents and picked up a few things that he didn't see us buying, and he got Emily the Tank Engine as a special treat after his checkup. He was very possessive and almost refused to let the cashier scan it but he did let her.

Finally, we went out for a quick lunch at Stax's Omega (Connor had a meat and 3- haha!) . And then home for a nap!!!

Christmas card preview- Thanks Shutterfly!

Modern Cranberry Ribbon Christmas Card

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Happy Birthday Baby Boy!

It's been 2 years since he entered our lives and nothing has been the same since!!!