Claire's Birth Story

Here's a rough draft of the story of Claire's birth. Mostly put here for my own future reference, but I know I'm always curious about people's birth experiences.

I woke up at 2:30 am on February 23rd (Claire’s due date) to a short but strong cramping in my back. I made note of the time and went back to sleep. I woke up again at 3:00 to the same feeling. At that point I allowed myself to wonder if this might be the start of something, which got a little adrenaline going. I tried to doze as the sensation came back around 3:30, 4:00, and 4:30. But sleep was difficult so I spent some time in the dark Googling back labor on my iPod. The contractions became irregular at that point, with anywhere from 5 to 25 minutes between them.

Jeff got up just before 7:00 to get ready for his residency program’s in-service exam. He had been hoping for an on-time delivery to get him out of this exam. I let him know that I had been having irregular contractions since 2:30. He didn’t that was serious enough to not go. I made sure he took his pager with him just in case things progressed quickly. My mom was here though, having just flown in from Atlanta the night before.

I got up shortly after him and turned on the TV. Contractions continued to be highly irregular and all in my back. I managed to nap from about 8 to 9 or 9:30. The rest of the morning was much of the same. I made sure to really enjoy a shower, thinking it might be a while before my next opportunity.

I decided we should go out for lunch, in case it would be the last opportunity to do so for at least a few days. So we headed out to Lombard to go to Rock Bottom. My mom, Jeff, and I had a nice relaxed lunch. Contractions came every once in a while, with me pressing my fists into my back to help relieve the discomfort. We took a quick swing into Motherhood to pick up some nursing tops. The clerk was quite surprised when she asked the due date to hear it was that day. I refrained from telling her that I might very well be in labor. On the way home we stopped at the grocery store to pick up some much needed food supplies. After that, I was ready to get home.

My mom worked on making some spaghetti for dinner. The contractions seemed to be getting a little closer together but still irregular. It was getting to the point where I needed to move to get through them. Mostly standing up and leaning over or pulling on a chair back or counter top. Swaying side to side and squatting helped some as well. I was able to get through dinner but had to get up every few minutes as a contraction came. After dinner the intensity of the contractions seemed to ratchet up another notch. We tried heat and racquet balls as pressure on my back. I ended up in the bedroom at some point. I sat one for some time with one leg off the bed, one leg on and leaning the front of my body on some pillows propped against the headboard. As a contraction came, I would push my body into the pillow, straightening the leg pushing on the floor. No amount of relaxation techniques or trying to “relax into” the contraction was working for me. I couldn’t help but tense up against the pain. At some point I felt like it was too much and had a little crying jag. Eventually my mom came in and was able to do counter pressure on my back during every contraction with heat on my back when not contracting. That was the only way I was able to make it through.

The timing of contractions continued to be irregular, anywhere from 2.5-7 minutes, messing up the whole idea of when to call the doctor. And I didn't want to go in too early and hear all this pain had not equaled any progress. Finally around 10:30 the average time between contractions was around 3 minutes for at least an hour. And although I had considered trying to go med free I was ready to consider some drugs! We called the midwife and I believed I used the phrase "it feels like someone is trying to rip my spine out" when she asked if I wanted to come in or keep laboring at home. So I told her that yes I was ready to come in.

We arrived at the hospital around 11:30 pm on the 23rd. I was elated to hear that I had made it to 6cm dilated. The staff thought I was doing so well that they questioned me a couple of times if I really wanted an epidural. I was so tired and in enough pain to know that I didn't want at least another few hours of this. But the epidural was no picnic and took 2 tries to do. It allowed me to get some rest though. We all tried to get some sleep. Jeff stretched on the oh-so-comfortable flip out chair and my mom tried to get comfortable in a couple plastic chairs.
However, I was physically shaking a lot off and on which it difficult to sleep. Also the baby's heart rate would drop, so every once in a while the midwife and nurse would rush in to have me turn over. So complete rest was impossible.

This continued until sometime after 5 am on the 24th when the baby's heartbeat dropped really low and people rushed in. The baby was really low, ready to be delivered but I couldn't feel anything. No contractions, no urge to push. Exactly what I had feared with an epidural. But they were going to have me try anyway. I didn't really realize the extent of concern at the time for the amount of distress the baby was in. So they have me try to push and also call in the OB on call with a vacuum to get the baby out. At some point during ineffective pushing I realize that if this baby doesn't come out soon I might be rushed in for a c-section. (Jeff later confirmed that if the baby hadn't been ready to be delivered at that moment they would likely have taken me in for an emergency c-section). So I give it all I've got even though I can't feel anything . And the doctor is doing his part as well, yanking on the vacuum. Out comes her head, with the umbilical cord wrapped 3 times around her neck! I hear someone state this and my heart sinks. Once she is out she is whisked to the side to be evaluated. A little suctioning of fluid and a few tense moments and then she lets out a hearty cry. Everything looks good for her. As the midwife works to sew me up, my battle wounds continue to bleed, perplexing/concerning the staff. Various things are tried and finally the midwife takes out all the stitches and starts over, finding part of a tear she had missed the first time. Apparently this works to get everything under control.

So the birth was everything I didn't want it to be. But Claire Catherine arrived healthy at 5:38 am February 24th, weighing 6 lbs 3 oz and 19 inches long. And that's what counts.

3 weeks down!

Well, we're three weeks into this parenthood thing.  And man is it hard!  Especially when Jeff has been very busy with work and related things.  And boy do postpartum hormones suck!  But after a day that seems blissful in comparison to the one before, things are looking pretty rosy around here.

Last night we had a stretch of almost 5 hours of sleep (!!) and the child is actually sleeping more than 30-45 minutes at a time during the day today.  This was not the case yesterday, when there was lots of crying and very little sleeping.  Apparently the secret is to not ask Claire to sleep in her crib.  We previously had pretty good luck with this.  But in the last few days Claire has been having trouble staying asleep.  And when it takes 30 minutes of rocking/bouncing/walking to combat anything from fussiness to full on angry screaming, it's soul crushing to have the child you just got to sleep be wide awake once you put her down!  After multiple tries to put her down in her crib last night, I finally put her down asleep in her bouncy chair.  And she slept from 1:30 to 6:15!!  WHOA! And she's doing decently with sleeping today as well, whether it be in her swing, in the bouncer, or on the couch.  It's a tough balance between not wanting to start any bad habits and wanting the kiddo to sleep!  Generally sleep wins though.

On another positive note, feeding seems to be going well.  At her doctor's appointment this past Monday, Claire was over 7 pounds!  She went from 6 pounds, 3 oz at birth to 5-13 after birth to 7 pounds, 0.5 ounces two weeks later.  She'll be fitting into her huge 0-3 month wardrobe in no time! 

Every day is different around here.  We just keep trying to roll with the punches.  And hoping Ms. Fussypants continues to adapt to this cruel world outside the womb!

Pictures!

View some pictures at this link:
https://picasaweb.google.com/BrandiSchulze

(Or click on the same link in list on the right!)

Favorites

Life with a newborn certainly has plenty of cons.  The crying, sleep deprivation, fussiness, feeding issues, did  I mention crying, and general unpredictability can do a number on a new parent.  But fortunately there are moments of adorable-ness built into that life.  Here are a few of my favorites from Claire's first 2 weeks of life.

The head bob:
Imagine your holding Claire upright by your shoulder.  Now imagine she is hungry.  She will start to bob her head up and down toward your shoulder as if trying to mine milk from the nearest surface. Or one of those "drinking bird" things that bobs up and down.  It cracks me up!

The chin suck:
Similarly, you can tell if she is hungry or not by whether on not she'll try to suck on your chin if it's nearby.  She particularly likes doing this to her Grammi.  When Daddy holds her, she often ends up trying to eat his sleeve.

Facial expressions:
She makes the funniest faces.  My favorite is when she is content and settled in upright against my chest or shoulder, she'll cross her arms at the wrist and raise her eyebrowns or wrinkle up her forehead.  Like this:

There's also the Popeye:

Hanging out on the changing table:
Although we have plenty of time screaming on the changing table, she also seems to enjoy hanging out there as well.  Sometimes she'll lay for a few minutes, looking around and waving her arms and legs, just so content. 

Conducting:
It cracks me up when she's reclined a bit and starts moving her arms around.  I think it looks like she's conducting a symphony.  My mom says she's swimming.  Either way, it's cute.

First Bath(s)!

Claire had her first real bath on her 2-week birthday.  She screamed a little at first, probably because she was cold.  Once we put a washcloth over most of her and let her settle in a bit she seemed to enjoy it.  She really seemed to like it when we squeezed water from the washcloth onto her. 

Here are some pictures after her first "sponge bath" at home, a few days after birth.

Add caption

And here are pictures and video from the real thing!

First Bath - 3/10/11

No bath!

Oh, maybe this isn't so bad.

All clean!

Grammi's turn!

Nursery

Back in January we started the process of converting our office to a nursery.  Jeff was sad to give it up.  Now his "office" is one end of the living room.  But baby is happy to have a room of her own!

Here are some before and after shots of the office/nursery.

Before:

The command center

The captain enjoys his office one last time



All the necessary office accessories



After:

The desk gives way for baby's crib!

Last Belly Shot!

Here's the belly at 40 weeks! Right on my due date. This was taken in the evening of the 23rd, between contractions. Which means 6 hours after this moment I was in the hospital. 12 hours after this moment Claire was here!

Welcome!

Claire Catherine
5:38 am on February 24, 2011
6lbs 3oz

Everyone is doing well and coming home today.

Hurray!  I'm going home!

Sleepy time is all of the time.

She's Here!!

Claire Catherine has arrived! And she's adorable, if I do say so myself. More details and pictures when we have more than iPods to post with.

Valentine's Day!

Here I am at 38 weeks (and 5 days) on Valentine's Day.

We had just returned from a yummy Valentine's Day dinner at a local Italian place, Francesca's Fiore.  Mmm, raviolis and tiramisu!  All that food must be why my stomach is so big!  (Hahahaha! I crack myself up!)

We're not big Valentine's Day people.  Usually we try to do dinner and cards, maybe a little candy.  Depending on schedules, dinner may not even be on the actual day.  We're happy with something low key and we stuck with that this year.

After a hiatus of a few years, Jeff returned to the tradition of giving me a "handmade" (put together on the computer) card.  It can be a time consuming process.  In previous years, the business of being a doctor kept him a little too busy, but this year a well timed day off worked in my benefit.  Usually there's a little poem, with a combo of funny and sweet that you can't help but love.  And this year's card did not disappoint.  I did try to respond in kind with a homemade card of my own.  My poetry skills just aren't at his level, so it was a little more prose.  And I gave him some Reese's peanut butter hearts.  All the holiday shaped Reese's (hearts, Christmas trees, pumpkins, easter eggs) have a different peanut butter to chocolate ratio that we both appreciate.  He even shared a bite with me!  It must be love!

So there you have it.  Our last Valentine's Day as just the two of us.  Next year we'll have a little addition to dress up in pink and red and hype up on goodies.  Or maybe foist off on some relatives to head off to dinner by ourselves.  Or both.  Yes, I like that plan.  Hype her up on sugar and then ship her off to grandma/grandpa or an aunt/uncle.

Two weeks to go!

Wow, only two weeks until the due date!  Yikes! Where did the time go?

Time for a little check in with more Frequently Asked Questions:

How am I feeling?
Considering I'm 2 weeks away, I'm feeling way better than I expected to.  That's not to say that it's great, just much better than I had anticipated. Sure my hips are tight, my back is stiff and easily fatigued, my shoes and rings are getting tight, and baby limbs are poking into me all over the place. And I'm congested which causes intermittent dulling to my sense of taste, sore throat, and coughing. But there's no debilitating back pain, hugely swollen feet/hands/face, carpal tunnel or leaking pee when I laugh or sneeze. Hooray!  The biggest issue I'm combating is the tiredness. I even had a dream last night about waking up after not sleeping well and being exhausted and having to go to work.  Hmm, wonder what's weighing on my mind these days?  I do get a little more uncomfortable each week, so I'm sure I'll be singing a different tune a month from now if she comes late.

Am I excited/nervous?
Yes and yes.  The closer it comes, the more surreal it seems.  Sure we've been going through the baby prep motions: showers, nursery set up, baby laundry, organizing little clothes, etc.  But this thing is actually going to be here soon!  And I have to push it out!  So yeah, excited to meet the little one but also nervous about the whole labor thing.  I choose to be in denial about the bringing baby home part, steadfastly believing we'll have a little angel on our hands until proven otherwise.  Nothing I can do about it, so why stress?  We'll deal with feeding/sleeping/crying issues when they come.  And my mom will be here to help, which is a relief both for me and for Jeff since he can't take much time off of work.

Do we have a name?
Yes. We're 90% sure on a name, but I reserve the right to change my mind.  So we're not sharing.

When's my last day at work?
I don't know.  I'm playing it by ear.  I'm thinking sometime after the 18th (if she doesn't come before that) and no later than the 24th.  We'll see how things go.  I'd love to be done with work but also don't want to be sitting around twiddling my thumbs and burning through my sick leave if she's late. I've still got quite a list of things to get done. So I'd like another week or two to get those accomplished.  But I've detached enough from my normally large sense of responsibility to feel that if she comes early, oh well, I did what I could.  And someone else can handle it.  But, there are some things I'd still prefer that I do. We have parent-teacher conferences at work Wed and Thurs this week and I have to sit there all 3 hours each night.  So I plan to use that time to write up those last few reports that I want to get done.  I always have grand plans to get stuff done, but hopefully this time the little extra motivation will ensure it actually happens!

Is everything ready?
Close enough I guess. The nursery is pretty much ready.  A few more things to be be purchased and a few more to be washed and put away. The apartment is a mess and could use a good organizing and scrubbing.  It bugs me but not enough to work up the energy to do much about it.  I'm getting to it little by little so we'll see how much gets done before she arrives.  Most everything I think of to pack in a hospital bag is something I am using regularly.  So I don't want to pack it up.  So the new plan is to just make a list and grab what I need once I realize labor is starting.  I don't anticipate an emergency rush to the hospital so I should have some time to grab those essentials I just can't part with yet (comfy pants, ipod, etc).  Baby outfits are packed and ready to go.

What do the doctors say about the baby's size/when you'll deliver/how things look?
Frankly, not much. What can they say?  There is no way to predict if I'll go early or late.  What the midwives do say is that things seem to be progressing along well.  I've had no early signs of progress/labor so they haven't really been concerned.  My belly is measuring within the normal range.  There are no concerns about the baby being too big or too small so I won't being having any "sizing" ultrasounds unless that changes.  Heartbeat sounds good, my blood pressure is good, so we're just cruising along until baby girl decides she is ready to make her grand entrance.

Big belly!

Here are weeks 34, 36, and 37. The really brave can scroll down and see the BARE belly!  Look if you dare!

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What a difference 24 weeks makes!

12 Weeks vs. 36 Weeks

Blizzard 2011

We had ourselves a bit of blizzard here in Chicago Feb 1st-2nd.  It went by various names: Snowpocalypse, Snowmageddon, SnOMG, and the Groundhog Day blizzard.  Nearly 2 feet of snow in a 24 hour period.  Not such a big deal to our New England friends who have gotten slammed with lots of major storms this winter, but a pretty big deal here in Chicago.  This storm ranked as number 3 of all time for snow totals.  And it finally ended the annoying trend of frequently getting a few piddly inches - just enough to ruin a commute but not nearly enough for a snow day.

My school district closed for 2 days.  It was a much needed break for me and allowed me to get some stuff done around the apartment in the baby's room.  And to sleep in!  And to just relax.  I did help dig us out though.  I haven't lifted a shovel all winter thanks to this whole pregnancy thing.  Jeff has been awesome about keeping things shoveled and salted.  But I felt this was just too much snow to leave all for him.  Plus we needed to be able to get our cars out before he headed in to work at 4 on Wednesday afternoon.  (My school hadn't cancelled for the second day by the time we started).  So yes, this 8 month pregnant lady was out there shoveling snow of her own volition.  I wanted to be out in the midst of what is probably the last big snow I'll see.  I started before Jeff got up since I was tired of waiting for him (he was sleeping in since he had to work late).  When he did get up, he popped his head out to see what I was doing.  To which I replied "sweeping off the stairs."  Because that is what I was doing at that moment.  I neglected to mention that I was planning on shoveling off the walk next.  That way I avoided the argument that would have inevitably followed.  So he retreated inside to wake up and I continued on my merry way, enjoying being thigh deep in snow.  :)

Here are a few pictures from our adventure.

The fire hydrant slowly disappears.

There's a car there somewhere!

Jeff starts shoveling out behind my car.

This is what he had to contend with.

We can get to the garage!  I did a fair amount of this and then Jeff cleaned up behind me

The garage is cleared!

Miscellaneous

Jeff told me yesterday that after the baby is here we need to buy him a toy.  This was said after he dropped a two bags from Babies R Us in his former office, now the baby's room.  Which is currently covered with clothes, toys, and books from recent showers waiting to be put away.  Poor guy!  All these gifts coming in and trips to the store and nothing for him!  I guess our exciting purchases that evening of burp cloths, bath towels, and bottle nipples must have made him jealous.  I oh-so-sympathetically responded that his birthday would be coming up soon after the baby's arrival and I would buy him something nice...like maybe a Reese's peanut butter cup.  :)

Speaking of showers, there was another round of showers recently, this time with co-workers.  And once again we were showered with generosity.  I was thrilled to receive lots of books to build our baby library.  If I can find my camera, maybe I'll post a few pictures.

I'm up to weekly doctor appointments now.  Everything seems to be progressing along fine.  The baby has been head down for a while now, so that's fabulous news.  She seems to prefer hanging out on my right side, which is not so great for me.  There's often a foot wedged in my side or ribs and I can frequently be seen pressing down on my side or belly trying to coax the appendage to move.

One month to go!

We're coming down to the wire. Only one month til the baby's due date. We have a nursery mostly put together - there's a crib and mattress, changing table, glider, and some decorations on the wall. A few more organizational issues to take care of and upcoming shower gifts to find homes for. After all that's set, I will post pictures to the blog for your viewing pleasure.

In anticipation of the one month countdown, my body provided my first stretch mark. (Well, the first pregnancy related one at least.) What a gift! I noticed it Thursday evening but wasn't sure if it was just a line from the waistband of my pants. But it was still there on Friday. I had Jeff confirm since it's a little hard for me to see the underside of my belly. Mentally I'm cool with it. One little one didn't throw me for a loop. We'll see how I feel about it when more show up.

And in other positive news, I was able trim my own toenails last night! I noticed they were long and got concerned about whether I could be bent up long enough to trim them up. But I managed just fine. And unlike one of the ladies in our childbirth class, I can still put on my own socks and tie my shoes! Gotta celebrate the little things.