Friday, May 30, 2008

Bye Bye Grandma F.



Clara's Grandma F. left today after almost a month of staying with us and helping out with so many things! It's sad for me (Gracie) to have her go! She was such a blessing and it was so nice to have her here! Thanks for all the help and for being such a great Mom and Grandma! We'll miss you!

Here are a couple more pictures of our little one.

WHY ARE YOU DISTURBING ME???!!


I'VE GOT SUCH A GREAT DADDY!!!!

The little lady did well at her check up on Thursday. The last time she was weighed at the hospital, she had dropped down to 8lbs 12oz. At her check up she had put all her weight back on - and then some - and weighed in at a hefty 10lbs. 2oz. We also found out that her head is 38cm, which put it in the 95 percentile...I wonder if that had anything to do with why she was so hard to deliver??!! :-)

She tends to be very laid back and easy, but we still have our rough times...like last night and today at times as well. Her Daddy does so much for her and carries a lot of the load, and her Grandma did tons too while she was here. So, far she has not liked bath time (except for getting her hair done...that is usually ok with her). However, tonight her Daddy gave her a bath and she didn't cry once! She is such a sweety!

Sunday, May 25, 2008

She's Here!


OUR LITTLE PRINCESS

As probably all of you who get on this blog already know by now, Miss Clara Belle, made her appearance into this outside world quite a bit later then expected on May 21st, 2008. According to her due date she was exactly two weeks late. However, some of those involved in her birth said she didn't look like she was late. So, maybe she was just a BIG 40 week baby. She weighed in at 9lbs 7oz and was 21 3/4 in. long.

I had a lot of Braxton Hicks contractions leading up to her birth.


BRAXON HICKS COMING FOUR MINUTES APART ON SATURDAY NIGHT

On Monday night I had quite a lengthy stretch longer contractions and we thought she might be on her may, but then things calmed down. On Tuesday night they started getting strong again and we called the midwife at about 2:00 on Wednesday morning. I thought we might have called her too soon, but we found out I was already 9 cm. Things progressed rather slowly from there. I eventually started pushing and that carried on and on! I had lots of support from my dear husband! He let me hang on him and lean on him (and afterwards his neck hurt him soooo badly!) My wonderful Mom was there too, praying and helping. I think near the end there were times when I would be holding on to her hand with one hand and holding on to Stephen with the other. My midwife and her student were had so many ideas and gave lots of direction and instruction.


LOTS OF GOOD SUPPORT! THIS WAS TAKEN DURING LABOR, BUT BEFORE THE MAJOR PUSHING TIME.

After trying so many different things and pushing for 5 hours, we decided to go to the hospital. We were taken to a large labor and delivery room which ended up having LOTS of people in it. Besides my Mom, Stephen, the midwife and her student, there were two or three nurses, three doctors and a nurse brought in from nursery to be on hand for the baby. After trying some more pushing they used a vacuum to help our little girl into the world at 11:10 am. Besides being large and a first baby, which usually are harder to deliver, she was posterior, and had the cord around her neck, which the Doctor cut after her head and one shoulder was out. It was a VERY hard morning but we were blessed with a precious little package at the end of it.


HOLDING MY BABY FOR THE FIRST TIME

The little lady is doing well here at home. So far, she has a pretty laid back personality and sleeps quite a bit. We took her out on her first outing this evening...as my Mom treated us to a special celebration dinner. Miss Clara slept the whole time! Mom and Stephen do so much of the work of taking care of her, even during the night.


HANGING OUT WITH DAD


BIG YAWN

She is such a little precious! What a blessing from the LORD!

Monday, May 19, 2008

Due Date + 12




This is my dear wife making the flowers from the bougainvillaea into center pieces for our viewing enjoyment. I just like staring at her rotund tummy myself.

Friday, May 16, 2008

Due Date + 9

AND ONCE AGAIN...STILL NO BABY! Mom and I went to the midwife's today and that went quite well! Clara checked out well. We discussed induction posibilities quite extensively, so we now have those decisions to make. You all can be praying that the LORD will give us wisdom! Our midwife is so good about laying out the facts, risks, possibilities, etc., and leaving the decision to us.

Thursday, May 15, 2008

Due Date + 8


STILL NO BABY! But she does make a good table for my cup of icecream. :-) Stephen is getting tired of people coming by his desk at work and giving him ideas for ways to induce the baby. :-) We've been given quite a variety!

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Due Date + 7

Well, I understand that many first babies come 7-10 days late. We have reached that zone! We shall see. I could see it going even longer then that though. I was a first baby and I came ten days late without being induced. We went swimming yet again yesterday and still no baby. We're getting good exercise anyway, so that's nice! Stephen hears lots of "why are you still here?" at work. :-) He's looking forward to getting some time off...AND meeting his daughter. :-)

Looks like we'll get to have Mom here longer! She was suppose to fly home on Friday...but obviously Clara, or Clarie, as we often call her, hasn't bothered to oblige that schedule. :-) Thankfully, she's with an airline that has a nice "change your reservation" policy.

In other news, Stephen's done quite a bit of yard work lately. He did some major trimming on several bushes around the place. He also did a big edging job on our lawn where he took a shovel and dug out a small strip all along the edge that's next to the side walk and the part that runs along the walk that comes up to our gate. He then filled in that area with some potting soil we had. I don't think he did the smaller part of the yard on the other side of the driveway. Last night he went to Home Depot and got a blade for the table saw that someone loaned him. He's going to use that for the wood he's planning to make the pool fence out of.

I planted some seeds for sweet peas (flowers), four-o-clocks (flowers), peppers, basil and cilantro about a week and a half ago or so. Everything has started sprouting with the exception of the sweet peas. I hope they do end up sprouting and blooming. I love sweet peas! I considered using them in my wedding...but I got married at the wrong time of year. :-( January really isn't ideal sweet pea season. :-) Wasn't God soooo creative and give us so much variety to enjoy when He created this beautiful world??!!!

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Due Date + 6

Still quiet in this household. Somebody is comfortable where she is and not ready to come out and see the outside world. We had an appointment with the midwife yesterday, which went quite well. And should the little lady still not have come by Friday we'll probably be going in again at that time.

We have gone swimming every day for the last six days, though, not yet today. Yesterday, after supper, Stephen went swimming with us and he was being such a card and I was laughing soooooo hard and even fooling around and chasing him in the pool...but it still did not do the trick.

The weather here is cloudy and really windy and we're only supposed to have a high of 83. We've been blessed weather wise this spring!

Thursday, May 8, 2008

9-Month Sensitivity Training




It's hard to really know what goes on in a woman's body when she's pregnant. Gracie has made the whole process look really easy! Must be difficult to have all your internal organs rearranged and carry a bowling ball around all day long and having to walk around on feet that look like....well....I'm not trying to incriminate myself here, just enlighten you. We wanted to post some up-to-date belly shots and me trying to learn the ropes. It took awhile, but I think I understand a little more.

Due Date + 1

Well, we are now one day past the due date and no baby. Tuesday night and Wednesday night we took walks...and still no baby. Mom and I even went swimming Wednesday morning...no baby.

Yesterday was our appointment with the mid-wife and her student. They were in true form...had me laughing soooo hard I was in tears...and that didn't even send me into labor. Mom came along and they were able to meet her, which was nice. The appointment went quite well. We're scheduled to see them again on Monday morning, provided the little lady hasn't arrived before that.

Wednesday, May 7, 2008

Holding His Baby Girl!

This is about as close as Stephen can get to holding his baby girl...yet! Should be changing pretty soon though. By the way, today is the little lady's due date! So much for coming early like we thought she would.

Tuesday, May 6, 2008

Another Week

Well, it's been another week and still no baby. She's taking her time! Tomorrow is her due date and Mom M.'s official guess for when she will arrive. We shall see.

We had a pretty lazy weekend here. On Saturday morning we did get to have very nice couple over for breakfast! Stephen had known one of them from back in his growing up years, but had never met her husband and I had never met either of them. They were very kind and nice company! Too bad for us they don't live around here!

Mom F. arrived here safely yesterday afternoon! She is planning to stay until after the baby arrives. What a good deal for us!