Lauren Claire is here!!

Here is Lauren's birth story, for those of you who have been asking for it! :)

We went to my OB's office for my 9:00 appointment on Tuesday morning, May 26. Blood pressure was still 120/80 for the second week in a row, and my weight gain was at 36 pounds. It had stayed exactly the same for three weeks. He checked, and I was still 2cm dilated and barely 60% effaced. He asked if we had talked about inducing today (haha... we sure HAD!), and told us to get our bags and head on up to L&D. I was SO nervous at this point!! So many people had told me horrible induction stories, and I was really scared. I felt like this was my first baby, and not like I had already gone through it twice.

So, we got up to L&D where they put me in the exact room where Brittany and Zach were born! I was in my gown and sitting in the bed by 9:30am. The nurses came in to ask questions and to start my IV. That was a lot of fun! She tried putting it in my forearm, but something wasn't right and it stopped flowing and it HURT. She finally took it out, and did it down below the base of my thumb. That was much better, and it didn't hurt at all.

At 10:45am, she came back in and started my Pitocin. I had a wonderful nurse! I had told her that I didn't want an epidural or pain meds, and I was telling her about the things people had said about pitocin-induced births. She said that I could definitely do it if I wanted to do it, and not to let other people scare me. :) So, I kept that in my head. At 11:30am, she came back in an increased my Pitocin by one unit. Dr. S came in at 11:41am to check me and break my water. I hadn't really dilated a lot more at that point, but I was a little more effaced. He broke my water with the giant crochet hook, and we were on our way to a baby!

My contractions had already started to become pretty uncomfortable before that, but I was getting through them just by holding Clay's hand and him telling me when they were peaking and heading back down. Once my water was broken, they started coming closer together and were a lot harder. The nurse gradually increased my Pitocin again around 12:25pm and again at 1:21pm. By the second time, I was hurting pretty bad and we asked if she would check me, as it would give me some mental clarity about any progress that I had made and how this thing was going. She said that she had been noticing some "earlys" on the monitor, and I asked what this meant. She said it was when the baby's heartrate starts to decrease slightly with the contractions. She said it was an indication that things were moving a lot closer. So, she checked me and I was 3cm dilated and 90% effaced (1:21pm). I was hurting a lot by this point, and she changed the position of the bed so that it was like I was sitting up in a chair. With every contraction, I closed my eyes, held Clay's hand, and he talked me through it. Although, I think I was doing a lot of the talking... things like, "This hurts." "Ow, ow, ow" and "I don't like this!" LOL He was SO great, and never left my side for even a second. At one point, I was having a bad contraction and the blood pressure cuff (my nemesis) messed up and was squeezing my arm so hard that I thought it was going to pop vessels. I had been telling Clay about the cuff when a contraction hit, and he just tore the bloated cuff off of my arm. For some reason, even though I was in the middle of a lot of pain, I got cracked up at the visual of him doing that and I laughed my way through that contraction. It still cracks me up now to think of it. Anyway, he was absolutely perfect, and I can’t tell him enough how much I appreciate him going through the whole thing with me, taking care of me, supporting me, and making me feel loved. He did absolutely anything that I wanted him to do, and he anticipated most of it without me ever having to ask. :)

Okay, getting off track... anyway, so I was sitting in the bed in the chair position when I had another contraction. This one felt different, and I could tell that the baby was getting closer. Clay called the nurse. She checked me again and I was 5cm dilated and 100% effaced. She said that she could feel the baby's head right on my cervix, and that she thought things would be moving along quickly now. She called Dr. S and told him how quickly things were moving along. The nursery people brought in the baby measuring/warming station thing, and my nurse went out to get her table. I had another contraction, and she came back in during the middle of it. She checked me again, and I had dilated to 8cm that quickly. She laid the bed back, had me roll over on my right side with one arm above my head, my right leg straight below me, and my left leg crossed over my right leg and with my knee up as close to my head as I could get it. That is hard to describe... anyway, she said that she had found that this position worked to help people become complete a lot faster. She said she would be right back and walked out as the next contraction hit. My body involuntarily started pushing, and Clay hit the nurse button without me even having to tell him. She came running in and saw what was happening. They were getting me turned over and into the birthing position, and I was hurting a lot so it was hard to turn. I think I was crying a little at that point, because I just wanted her out and I could feel her head pressing so hard. I was trying not to push because my doctor hadn't made it yet, but my body wasn't listening. I was so afraid she was going to shoot across the room and nobody was going to be there to catch her! During the next contraction, my body was doing its thing and I opened my eyes to see Dr. S come in just in time to make the catch and hold her up for us to see. :) I didn't have to do any pushing at all. She basically just shot out into his hands at 2:36pm. Instant relief! :)

He first thought I didn't have any tears, but then found a very small "skid mark" (that made me laugh). He went ahead and did a couple of stitches, which I can't even feel two days later. They did the measuring and weighing (6lbs 15oz and 19 1/2 inches), and then handed her over to me. She spent the next hour to hour and a half (I lost track of time) nursing, and then they moved us to our postpartum room. We were discharged 24 hours later, and we are at home doing great!! I feel SO much better not pregnant, and I am so happy to have her home. Clay took a few days off of work, and we have just been sitting around snuggling with her and loving her. Brittany and Zach are both completely in love with her, too, and life is just perfect!

So, she was 6lbs 15oz and 19 1/2 inches long. Born 5/26 and 2:36pm. Welcome to our lives little Lauren Claire! We love you so much already, and you make our family perfectly complete!!

Of course, any birth story worth its weight wouldn't be right without pictures!

Here I am on Tuesday morning before we left for the hospital... nice and big and swollen and pregnant!


Here is Lauren just after delivery.


All wrapped up like a burrito and snuggling.


I have spent most of the past three days staring at her. :)


Zach and Brittany were (and still are) SO excited!


Such a PROUD (and handsome) daddy!!


Ready to leave the hospital with our baby girl.


Brittany is happy she is home!


Sound asleep and so peaceful.


Stretched out and relaxed on her boppy last night.

Zach's Spelling Bee

While I am updating, I might as well tell you about Zach's latest accomplishment. This year, the second grade held a spelling bee. It started out with Zach competing against the kids in his classroom. He made it through that one, so the next day he competed against another classroom. Passing that one, he moved onto a competition with the entire second grade on the third day. He didn't win, but he did really well, and I am really proud of him! Parents didn't get to attend, so there are not any pictures, but I wanted to brag on him, too! Way to go, Zach!!!!

Brittany's awards assembly

School is officially out for summer break! Yesterday morning, Brittany had an awards assemby at school. She did great, and she received several awards. She got one for making all As throughout the entire year, one for good behavior (no demerits for the entire year), one for computer lab, where she completed more activities than the other students in the 5th grade, and the Presidential Fitness Award. She was really proud of this one, because she was the only student in her school to receive it. In order to achieve this, she ran a mile in 8 minutes and 34 seconds, did 43 situps in a minute, did 3 chinups, completed a shuttle run (and she doesn't remember the time), and she had to pass a flexibility test. She sat with her legs straight out in front of her and had to reach 33 inches, but she made it to 35. So, she was super excited about this! She was also recognized for Accelerated Reader points. It was a good morning for us, and I am super proud of my daughter! I have pictures and video that I will post later.

Congratulations, Brittany!!

Busy week!

Well, I guess it has been a little more than a week since I posted. We've had quite a bit of adventure. The Friday after my 36 week appointment, I started having regular contractions. These weren't anything like the Braxton-Hicks that I have been having for months, so I started paying attention to them. They were only 10 minutes apart to begin with, so that was okay. Clay's mom was coming to spend the weekend, so Clay decided to go pick up some food for us all to eat. While he was gone, the contractions were suddenly down to 4 minutes apart. I texted him and told him that I would feel better if he were here, because it was making me a little nervous to have them so close together and be so far away from the hospital. He got here, and I went ahead and ate a little to see if that would make them stop. Nope... they kept on at 3-4 minutes, so we decided to head over to the hospital. We got there sometime around 8:45 or 9:00. They took us up to Labor & Delivery, and got us settled into a room. The nurse checked me, and I had dilated to 2cm and the baby was at -2 station. She got me hooked up to the monitors, but they weren't picking up the contractions at all. We finally got that all figured out, and my doctor decided to keep us overnight. So, Clay and I tried to sleep. My contractions fizzled out overnight, and the next morning my doctor came in and let us go home. We spent the entire day Saturday napping and trying to catch up on our sleep. I continued to have contractions throughout the weekend but nothing worth getting excited about.

On Tuesday morning, we went for the 37 week appointment. Still dilated to 2cm, but I was now 60% effaced. My doctor talked with us, and we decided that I will go to his office first thing next Tuesday and then over to the hospital for an induction. He said that due to my history of fast labors and us living an hour away, that might be the best thing. He said that my cervix is "very favorable" and he thought things would happen very easily. Of course, I've never been induced and people have been ever so kindly sharing Pitocin horror stories with me. I don't use pain meds or an epidural when in labor, so I'm very grateful to these people for sharing these stories! Ha!

I haven't had a lot of contractions this week, and I'm thinking that is due to the fact that I have been stuck on my side on the couch. I had a lovely little friend named "hemorrhoid" pop up early in the week, and I've been trying to get rid of it. So, things are a little better today, and I am thinking it may be time to go for a walk. I really would like to go into labor on my own, but I just have two more days to do that! I am more pregnant today than I have ever been!

Either way, our baby girl will be here three days from now! I can't believe it, and I am so excited to meet her. We all wonder who she will look like, and how she will act. I think she must have her daddy's patience, since she is content to hang out where she is and not come on out to meet us. :)

Watch this space for pictures of our baby girl... soon!

Getting close!

I went for my 36 week OB appointment yesterday, and this was a great one! Blood pressure and weight gain were fine, and I measured 34cm (up two from my appt two weeks ago). I had my GBS test and he checked to see if I'm progressing any toward labor. He had good news to share... 50% effaced and "a loose fingertip" dilated, so almost 1cm. This made me really happy, since it is telling me that my body remembers what to do! I've been crampy for the past couple of days, and I lost a little of the plug this morning, so I'm hoping that means that things are moving forward. I've been spending some time on the elliptical at the gym and did three miles on Saturday and Sunday, and then two more miles on Monday night. Maybe all of that is helping to move things along. I think we're heading back to do a little more in a few minutes.

Clay thinks the baby will be here this weekend, but Brittany is still positive that she is coming next Wednesday. I don't care either way. I'll take her as soon as she is ready to make her entrance!

I go back to the doctor again next Tuesday, and I hope to be able to report more progress!!

Long overdue update!

Well, Brittany told me that it has been too long since I've updated the blog, so I am going to do that tonight. A lot has been going on, and I just haven't taken the time to sit and write.

We had our 34 week OB appointment last week. My weight gain was great, blood pressure great, and the baby's heartbeat was great! He measured, and I am measuring a little bit small (although nothing too bad). He decided to do an ultrasound to check baby's position and fluid level. He placed the wand on my belly and we immediately saw a head in the correct position. That was wonderful news! I also have plenty of amniotic fluid in there, so that is also great news. I will go back next week for my 36 week visit, when he will start checking for dilation and effacement. I will then go weekly until this little girl makes her appearance. It is getting SO close now, and we are all getting super excited!

This past Sunday was exciting, as I had my first ever baby shower! You would think that I would have already "been there done that" since I have had two babies in the past, wouldn't you? Well, when I was pregnant with Brittany she decided to come two days before my shower! Then, when I was pregnant with Zach I already had the baby gear, so there wasn't any need for one. So, I was very excited when my friends Nicole and Jeanna wanted to have one for me this time! They did all of the planning and got everything ready, and they did a GREAT job! Even though it was raining, a lot of people came, and I really feel very blessed to have so many special people in my life. I enjoyed every minute of it, and am so happy to have had this experience! Of course, there are pictures... :)

The beautiful diaper cake that my friend, Mandy, brought:


The yummy cake that we got to eat:


Brittany and Zach helping me open gifts, while Jeanna keeps notes:


A great shot of the gift table, taken by Brittany:


Zach and his friend Bravyn (Nicole's daughter):


A picture of Granny, Brittany, Zach, me, and Mom at the shower:


After Clay came to help bring everything home, he took a picture of me with all of it:



There are so many more pictures, but I won't post them all. We had a great time, and are so thankful for the wonderful gifts. We got so much pink, and I love it!!

So, that brings me to today. I am 35 weeks, 4 days pregnant now and feeling okay, for the most part. I am getting pretty swollen, and I can't wear my watch or my engagement and wedding rings (although I wear them on a chain around my neck, because I'm too sentimental to just leave them at home). I'm also not sleeping so well at night, so that means I am sleeping later in the mornings. I am very blessed to have a husband who will get the kids up and ready, and take them to school so that I can get a little more sleep before I go to work. Other than that, I am just really ready for the baby to be here! I can't wait to meet her, see her, hold her, and love her. It won't be long now!!