Hey, remember me?

Ya, I'm still alive. Apparently I don't know how to be a mother and keep up a blog. It's so embarrassing that it's been 3 weeks since I last posted & my girl is 4 weeks old!!

I'm so sorry for being such a slacker on here. Between nursing, changing diapers, holding a baby that never wants to be put down, dealing with colic & trying to take care of myself, this blog has become neglected. But now that we are managing to get into some sort of routine, I'm hoping I can post much more often.

I promise I will be back sometime this week with some sort of update. In the meantime, I will leave you with pictures. Because who doesn't love updates in picture form??

Seriously, is this not the cutest picture?

They are identical

She loves her paci

Me & my girl.

One of the only pictures I have of us. Sad.

Sleeping beauty

Getting ready for her first big girl bath.

Look at those long arms!

Um, ya.

She wasn't a fan.

Lounging on dad's chest.

She loves her lambie seat. Sometimes

And her lamb swing.

The Birth Story- LONG!

Well, our baby girl is one week old now (how did that happen?) and I figured it was time to get some motivation & tap out the birth story of miss Claire Lula.

Here it goes, hopefully I remember all of the important details. All 15.5hrs of it were somewhat of a blur...

Sunday, August 29th was a perfectly normal day. I was feeling extremely anxious for the arrival of the babe, but wasn't having contractions or anything. My mom & sister came over later in the afternoon & we set up the pack n' play & told Claire she could come now as everything was completely ready for her.

Hubby & I went out for spicy wings that night with my family in hopes it would kick start labor, ha! We cheered to "hoping Claire comes tonight" as it was my sister's last few days in town before she left for college. After dinner, we went for ice cream & said goodbye with my family joking that we would see them at the hospital later that night. If we only knew....

Around 8pm, I was antsy just sitting on the couch, so I decided to take our puppy on a really long walk. I walked until I couldn't walk anymore & then came back to the house & had a hot cup of Red Raspberry Leaf tea along with my Evening Primose Oil Pill. I then took a shower, folded some laundry & climbed into bed & finished ready the Labor & Delivery section of my What to Expect book.

I turned off the lights and had a few strong contractions, but nothing worth timing (damn!). I said a few quick prayers & fell asleep. Around 12:30, hubby rolled into bed, which woke me up. I decided I had to pee. Right as I was about to sit on the toilet...GUSH. "OHMIGOD. My water just broke" I yelled to hubby. "What do we do?" he yelled. I called my mom & told her the good news. She was in shock. We all were. I couldn't believe this was actually it!

We frantically finished packing our bags, (because we are freaking procrastinators & didn't pack hardly anything beforehand) meanwhile I was leaking through pads by the minute (sorry TMI). I could NOT believe how much fluid there was. We got everything in the car & off we went to the hospital. Luckily I wasn't having any contractions yet because it took us about 25 mins to get there.

Hubby parked & we pranced (ok, waddled) into Labor & Delivery. Answered a few questions & were put into our room, all the while my pants are SOAKING wet. I changed into a gown as soon as we walked in & got all settled into bed, completely in a daze.

Around 1:30A, the nurse came in & checked me. 1 lousy centimeter dialated. Same as the week before. Since my water had already broken, the nurse wanted to start me on Pitocin to get the contractions going. They put me on the lowest dose & HOLY SHIT, the contractions came with a vengeance. I lasted until about 4:45A before I buzzed the nurse in tears & requested my epidural.

I didn't have to wait long & the anesthesiologist (who was AMAZING) came in & gave me the good stuff. Unfortunately, he had to up my dose 3 times because I could feel every single contraction for about an hour. Then I was SO numb, my legs felt like they weighed 1000lbs. It was a horrible feeling, but it was better than feeling those contractions.

About a half hour after I got my epidural, we started noticing that Claire's heart rate would drop very low every time a contraction would peak. She did this for about 15 mins & the nurse decided to stop my contractions so we could give baby a break. She was obviously under a lot of stress. The shot that she gave me (Terbutaline??) & stopped the pitocin which lowered the intensity of the contractions, but I was still contracting on my own. Claire's heart rate was doing alright, but not amazing.

By about 1pm, I was still contracting on my own. The doctor came in & checked me & told me I was 7.5cm & the baby's head was lodged in the side of my pelvis facing sunny side up. Grreaaatt. Her heart rate was still dropping with every contraction & that's when the Doctor decided a C-Section would be best.

I immediately started crying. I had been in labor for 14 hours. I was exhausted. I didn't want a C-Section at that point. But it was the best option for the baby's well being. At 3:45(ish) they rolled me into the O.R. & I was given lots of numbing medication. The doctor did a little test on my belly asking if I could feel anything. Yes. I could feel everything on my left side. More numbing medication. They then made the incision & I was instructed to tell the anesthesiologist if I was feeling anything. About 30 seconds into the procedure I screamed "I can feel everything on my left side. It is the worst pain I have ever felt!!"

That's the last thing I remember before being put to sleep. I was devastated. I wasn't conscience to see my daughter being born. I didn't get to hear her first whimpers or hear how much she weighed. It really was the last thing I expected with this labor process.

I was woken up by my sweet husband holding our sweet daughter with tears in his eyes. I was dazed & confused but so elated.

I was informed that the umbilical cord was wrapped around Claire's neck 3 TIMES. So she was obviously not coming out on her own. Thank God we did a C-Section.

Claire Lula Davis was born at 4:01pm on Monday, August 30th. She weighed 6lbs 14oz & was 20.5" long.

Recovery has been alright. We were in the hospital from Monday night to Thursday afternoon. But it felt like years. Unfortunately, Claire's blood sugar was very low every time they tested it, so she needed to be fed formula most of my stay in the hospital. I was however, able to feed it to her via the nipple. It's called SNS. Look it up if you want, I don't feel like explaining it :)

We found out that Claire has a cleft pallet in her throat. You know that dangly thing you have in the back of your throat (the Uvula)? She doesn't have that, which makes eating rough for her. She isn't able to push the milk forward with her tongue to regulate everything, which causes her to cough & choke a lot. When she spits up, it comes out her nose. It's so sad, but we are going to get it surgically fixed very soon. Things could've definitely been worse.

Besides that, she's a perfectly healthy 1 week old. She doesn't fit into most of her newborn clothes, but with all that she has been eating lately I doubt it will be long before she does. She breast feed like a champ, thank God, because I have SO much milk. I feel like a cow!

She's such a little peanut & an exact replica of her daddy. It's unreal. I seriously don't think she got any of my features except for my long limbs!

Motherhood has been a rough adjustment for me, but oh so worth it. The emotions & hormones are all over the place & I cry all of the time. I really am holding out hope that it's just the Baby Blues & not post-partum depression, but I have a suspicion that's what it might turn into from talking to my mom who dealt with it. Either way, we will figure it out & nip it in the butt.

Going through all of this has made me fall even more in love with my husband. It's a whole new love I never thought was possible. He is so in love with his little girl, it melts my heart every time he does anything with/for her. He has been SO good to me with helping me deal with my crazy emotions. I seriously would be lost without him.

If you've made it this far, thank you for reading. I'm sorry this is so all over the place.

Claire has her 1st pediatrician appointment tomorrow, so I will update on how that goes...even if it's next week. Bear with me!

I will leave you with about a million pictures to look at. They aren't in any particular order. Just some randoms.

Claire Lula is here!

On Monday, August 30th at 4:01pm after 15.5hrs of labor, Claire Lula Davis was born via C-Section

She weighed 6lbs. 15oz. and is 20.5" long, & is a spitting image of her daddy.

I am extremely sore, exhausted & emotional, but I wouldn't trade my angel for a thing.

**Birth story & photos to come!**

39 WEEKS & an update

Remind me how I got here? 39 weeks pregnant? Unreal. 7 days until my due date, even though I have a sneaking suspicion I will go into 41 weeks with this child.

At least there is a light at the end of the tunnel. My doctor doesn't let me go passed 41 weeks, so the most I will be pregnant is 14 more days. I think I can deal. I just so want her to come on her own before then! Um, preferably this weekend so my sister & dad can meet her before they leave next week!

Well, we did have a little scare yesterday which led me to start believing I may have been induced last night. Let me fill you in...

Thursday morning I had been feeling Claire move but it was nothing like her wild acrobatics she usually performs. Her little moves just felt like flicks. I just assumed it was normal since I am nearing the end of my pregnancy & she is gearing up to come out. Well from about 11am Thursday to yesterday morning, I didn't feel her at all. This of course made me very nervous. I put a call into my doctor just to be safe & they told me to come in right away to check her heartbeat. ::cue the tears:: I was so scared. Deep down, I knew everything was ok; but I was just so nervous something may be wrong.

After an hour of waiting, my doctor finally came in & found the heartbeat right away. Thank God. However, it was a little slow at first. She kicked a little bit & it sped up (acceleration=good). He then gave me an internal exam just to see if things were progressing any more. I'm officially 1 whole centimeter dialtated with her head "very engaged in my pelvis" which I found out is a good thing.

Just to be on the safe side though, my doctor wanted me to have an NST done (non-stress test) just to be sure the fluid levels were ok & she wasn't under any stress at all. He told me that depending on how the results came back, he would induce me later that day- if he felt like the baby would be better off just coming now.

I have to admit, it got me excited. But I didn't get my hopes too high. All I really wanted was to ensure my baby was ok.

Well, she passed the NST with flying colors & practically killed my insides last night from moving so much. LITTLE STINKER!! It looks like she wants to bake a little longer. I have however been having contractions here & there so I pray they pick up soo & I can actually time them!!

Hurry up, little lady! Your momma is impatient!

In the meantime, I will continue taking Evening Primose Oil pills, walking an insane amount, inhaling spicy food & of course, having sex (hi mom!)

I am really hoping this is my last belly picture!!

I told myself I wouldn't do this.

But I got so sick of wearing my hair up in a messy bun everyday, that I chopped it off yesterday into a.......MOM 'DO!!! ahhhh!!!!

I'm not so sure what I think of it. I mean, it's really, really short. I can't decide if I look like I'm 12 or if I look like I'm 42. But I wanted something that's easy to maintain & that still looks cute once baby girl is here. The length I had before was just plain awkward. I never wore it down because it flipped out on one side & curled under on the other. I was just really bored & annoyed of it. So.. I got brave & chopped it off. My bangs are a lot shorter than what I had wanted but I'll make them work.

What do you guys think? Be honest!

Also, I went to the doctor yesterday for my 38 week check-up. Drum roll please...................................................................................................................................................

I am a whole fingertip dialted with a softer cervix!! HAHA!! WOOOO! We're makin' progress people. (note sarcasm) We had planned on having the doctor strip my membranes at this appointment, but I am so closed up that it was impossible. Awesome.

This girl is one stubborn babe. Just like her momma. I have been however, having a few contractions since Sunday night. They don't last long though & are very sporatic. Nothing worth timing. So... I will be here a while longer. Meh.

38 weeks!

Has it really been a week since I last blogged/left comments on blogs?? Yep. So sorry about that. Life is so busy right now & it's only going to get crazier in the next few weeks.

I AM 2 WEEKS AWAY FROM MY DUE DATE!! HOLY CRAP!

However, based on my Dr. appointment on Tuesday, I'm not going into labor anytime soon. Baby's head is still high & my cervix is "slightly softening". Meh. I know that anything can happen at any time, I was just hoping for some sort of progress.

My doctor thinks I am just going to be a "typical first time mom that goes past her due date". UGH! That is not what I wanted to hear from him. He did say that if my cervix is open anymore at the next appointment, that he can strip my membranes & hopefully get things moving.

In the meantime, I bought Evening Primose Oil & am taking that 3x a day to hopefully soften things up a bit. We'll see.

Let's do the survey this week:

How far along?: 38 freakin' weeks!
How big is baby?: um, big. That's all I know.
Weight gain?: Well according to the nurse at my doctor's office, I've only gained 23lbs. But they also had my starting weight 5lbs higher than what I actually weighed. So I'm still saying 28lbs.
Stretch marks?: ::tear:: yes. Just on my love handles. But they're still hideous.
Maternity clothes?: I live in non-maternity dresses & loose tops but maternity shorts.
Sleep?: Hmm..let's see: my hips throb, my pelvis burns, my mind races, this baby has a dance party every time I try to fall asleep & I pee every hour. I sleep maybe a good uninterrupted 2 hours every night if I'm lucky.
Best moment this week?: Finishing up on her nursery!
Food cravings?: I would kill for a big stack of pancakes & a bagel with cream cheese. Curse you, GD!!
Gender?: baby girl!
Movement?: Just rolls & punches to my ribs.
Belly button?: It's what I call out now.

What I miss?: Seriously, everything.
Labor signs?: Not really. Stronger BH contractions & period-like cramps off & on. Does that mean anything?? Probably not
What I'm looking forward to?: Having this baby!! oh, & getting my hair done on Monday. It's a mess right now & I have to look cute for labor ;)
Milestone?: um...14 days left!!!!!

As you can see, I don't care about appearance anymore.

Also, I believe I have dropped a bit.

Can you tell? Humor me.

Stick a fork in me, I'm done!

I'm 37 weeks pregnant today! As in, full term! As in, this baby girl can come out whenever she wants now! Un-freakin-believable!!

How has this time already come? Time is flying by these days & it's freaking me out! I still feel so unprepared. Hell, we just moved into a new house 3 days ago! Her nursery is full of unpacked boxes, yet I want her to be here right now. Am I crazy, or what?

This week has been one of the craziest weeks in a loooong time. I've realized this week that there just simply are not enough hours in a day.

We moved out of our townhome & are now in a much larger house for us to grow as a family for years & years to come. It's been an absolutely exhausting week. Packing up & moving when you're 9 months pregnant is no easy feat. My back & feet hate me for life. Seriously.

Our new place still doesn't feel like home quite yet & I hate that! I love our new house, we just need to make it our home now. I will feel so much better once we get all of the decor up. I'm so weird. I think decor="homey". Also, once baby girl's room is situated, I will feel more at ease. Oh & blinds would probably help too. Right now, we're using cardboard boxes while our blinds are on order.

Now onto pregnancy talk... I had my 36wk appointment on Monday. They did the GBS test & I had my first internal. It wasn't NEARLY as bad as I was anticipating. However, it might as well be Fort Knox down there. I had made zero progress, which is completely normal for 36 weeks I found out. But still, I was bummed. I'm hoping all this moving has made some progress on the good ol' cervix. Claire is still sitting so high though. I think she has dropped a little bit, but I still feel her little feet up by my boobs! Silly girl.

My weight gain is right on track (about 28-30lbs depending on the day), I officially have marshmellow feet & cankles everyday & I don't sleep at night. Period. My mind races with everything I want to get done & I just can't relax. Oh & I officially have the memory of an 87 year old woman. I can't remember anything! My husband has been updating me on things all week about the house & the next day I will ask him the same thing without even remembering he told me. Needless to say, I'm a mess.

Sorry this post is all over the place & sorry my blogging has been the same! I don't think it will change anytime soon, considering baby is coming ;)

Claire Lula, you may come anytime now. Preferably the last week in August so that your Aunt Alie & Papa can meet you before they go out of town on the 1st :(

Readyyy.....gooooo!

At this point, I don't care how I look.

I look fluffy & tired all the time & I haven't done my hair all week.

& the shirt/dress I'm wearing is inappropriately short for work & smells like moth balls.