Happy Girl

This is the best thing I've ever heard...listen, don't watch.  Momma only has so many hands :)

Merry Christmas!

Three Month Update

Well, right after I wrote her three month blog post, little girl decided to add to her accomplishments and roll over!  I guess technically we should include this as a four month development, but either way it is so fun to watch.  We missed catching the first one on video but she decided to perform for the camera later that day.  Sorry this looks funny, but it's a video using my cell phone of the video on the video camera...obviously I need to learn how to get videos off of the camera soon :)

Three Months

• So alert, active, happy and talkative...squeals and smiles all the time
• Loves putting everything in her mouth
• Her neck is very strong and she can fully push herself up on her elbows during tummy time
• So so close to rolling over from back to stomach...gets all the way to her side and then doesn't know quite what to do
• Started reaching up to grab her toys and hit them this month
• Fighting sleep at almost every nap and bedtime...I think she thinks sleeping is a waste of time now that she can see and experience so much...and again, I can't imagine where she gets that from :)
• Sleep has regressed a lot, her longest stretch at night is about 4 hours
• Weighs almost 13 pounds!

And now for what most of our pictures look like...

The Birth Story - Part 2

We got to the hospital around 9, checked in, and the nurse confirmed that my water had broken.  The nurse called my doctor who instructed them to start pitocin, which speeds up labor, because they don't want labor to take longer than 24 hours after your water breaks due to the risk of infection.  I was already having contractions that were about 3 minutes apart at this point, but still hadn't really progressed (I was only about 1 to 2 cm dilated, and you need to get to 10).  The pitocin started causing the contractions to get really strong and closer together (around 1 minute), and around midnight I had had enough and asked for the epidural.  Going into labor I wasn't completely sure whether I wanted an epidural or not, but it was the best decision!  It actually allowed us to get a little bit of rest that I know we wouldn't have had without it.

Clint's comfy "bed"

During the next few hours they had to adjust my pitocin levels and put me on oxygen because Clara's heart rate was dropping.  Apparently this is fairly common, but of course concerning to new parents.  But it helped that we had great doctors and nurses around us that I knew were monitoring every beat.  At around 4 they completely turned off the pitocin because of her heart rate, which I didn't even know about until later.  At 5, the nurse and resident came in to check my progress so that they could touch base with my doctor.  Clint and I were very asleep at this point, and so hearing the words "You're complete!" was a little shocking and confusing to both of us.  I just looked at the nurse and then we all sort of laughed.  Even she was surprised that it had gone that fast since I was only at 2 cm the last time they had checked.  I slept soundly through the hardest part!

My doctor arrived at around 6, and we started what I think of as "practice pushing".  She was being very calm and talking me through the process and what to expect, and I think just letting me get used to the idea.  We took a little half hour break just before 7 so that my doctor could check on another patient.  I also think she was letting me take a break mentally and physically.  She came back around 7:15, and this time we could tell it was for real - more doctors and nurses came in and everything got a little more serious.  At around 7:45 I decided that I was determined to have this baby before 8, and at 7:53 she arrived!

 

 

Clara Jacqueline Pasche

Born September 22, 2011

8 pounds, 20.5 inches

Lovie

Two Months

 

• Still loves looking at lights
• Has started "talking" and smiling at us
• Has slept around 6 hours straight for the past three nights in a row
• Loves sucking on her fist, and sometimes stares at it when she brings it to her mouth
• Loving bath time
• Puts herself to sleep for most naps and at night, although sometimes we have to give her the pacifier a few times before she is completely asleep
• Entertains herself in her crib looking at the bedding and mobile
• Holding her head up really well, even during tummy time

The Birth Story - Part 1

I keep on trying to find time to sit down and write out what happened the night before and day Clara was born, and it always seems like it's going to take too much time so I don't even start.  But I'm very afraid that baby brain is going to wipe it out of my memory very soon, and I definitely don't want to forget a minute of what happened.  So I think I will just try to write it in parts, and hopefully get it all down eventually.   

My due date was Sunday, Sept 18th, but that day came and went with no sign of her making an entrance any time soon.  At this point I had barely progressed at all, so I unfortunately resigned myself to the fact that we might have to wait a while.  I had already started my maternity leave, which was probably a good and bad thing - good that I got to rest and get some last minute things done, bad because I had all day to think about how I was still pregnant.  I had a pretty great and uneventful pregnancy, but the last month had really started wearing on me and I was pretty close to being completely done with being pregnant. 

On Wednesday I went to the doctor and we decided that they would induce on Friday if she hadn't come yet.  I wasn't thrilled with this because I didn't love the idea of inducement, but we discussed all the options with my doctor and decided this was the best for me and baby.  That afternoon I started feeling contractions, but I had been feeling something similar off and on for a few weeks so I just thought it could be more false alarms, although they did feel stronger than before.  Clint came home from work and we ate dinner, and then went to get ice cream.  His co-worker had been telling him daily about this ice cream place called Hank's Ice Cream that is near our house and supposedly has the best ice cream ever.  Not only was the Butter Pecan Ice Cream supposed to be amazing, but his co-worker swore that it would induce labor, ha!

We got there right before 8, ordered our ice cream, and after taking one bite I felt something strange.  I thought, "Maybe my water just broke", but I wasn't sure so I didn't say anything - it is much more common for them to have to break your water once you are already in labor, and, doesn't your water breaking in public only happen in the movies?!  After walking outside to get back in the car I knew that that was exactly what had happened, told Clint, and we both burst out laughing.  He first made me stand in front of the sign to take a picture, and then went inside to get something for me to sit on so I didn't mess up his new car.  Luckily we live very close, so we headed home to get our bags.  I called the doctor and then we called our parents, grabbed our stuff, and headed to the hospital.  Oh, and put our ice cream in the freezer to save for later :)

Last belly pic, right before we left for the hospital

Love and Marriage

A lot can happen in five years. 

Lots of vacations -

 

 

 

 

Holidays - 

 

 

Aggie Football -

 

 

Two Homes -

 

A Half Marathon - 

A Marathon - 

And one perfect culmination of it all -

It's been more than I could have ever imagined, and I am so thankful for every part of it.  I can't wait to see what the next five years looks like! 

The Greats

There is something very sweet about seeing our grandmothers hold our child.  She is one loved little girl!