Holiday Cards

Every year I try to do a fun Christmas card with the dogs doing something cute. This year we wanted to add Claire because seriously how adorable would that be. Time got away from me this year and everyone will be getting Happy New Years cards. They turned out great and what is a week anyway, at least I got them done!

Claire's First Christmas

This holiday season was busy and fun!

We spent Christmas Eve with Dave's aunt and uncle in McMinnville. It was nice visiting with family and Claire got to hang out with Sydnee her second cousin who is 3 months older. She is quite a chunk and super cute. I however forgot to take my camera so we have no pictures to share.

Christmas morning was a quiet event with just the three of us. Claire had a few gifts to open and Dave made us a yummy breakfast. Grandma Corky and Grandpa Dan got in early in the afternoon and were very excited to see Claire and of course us too. They were nice enough to watch Claire for a few hours while we went to dinner. We met the Hicks clan for a Fra La La La La chinese dinner and then off to the Blazer game. The original plan was to take her with us but she was being a bit fussy and Grandma hadn't seen her in almost two month so this gave them a chance to play together. However, after some razing from Laurie and Ashley, once dinner was finished we decided to go back home and take her to the game.

Barclay, Laurie's boyfriend, invited us to join them in their suite at the Blazer game and it was awesome. We had a great view, plenty of room to get up and move around, our own bathroom and bartender. I was a bit worried that Claire would be over stimulated with all the noise and lights but she was a trooper. It is the ONLY way to go! And of course, I forgot my camera.

We would have loved to spend the day with all the Grandma's and Grandpa's but alas the day is just too short and they are way too spread out. Please know we love you and were thinking of you and hope you had a very Merry Christmas.

Christmas Tree

We went searching for our Christmas tree last Sunday. I always like to get our tree the first weekend in December. Unfortunately it was bitterly cold and windy but we decided to bundle up and head out. Since our home is surronded by tree farms we didn't have to go too far, just down the road. We both prefer grand nobles so it makes it pretty easy to agree on one.

Claire was a good sport most of the time. She didn't really care for the all the layers but once we were outside she seemed to enjoy looking around at all the trees. It is hard to say for sure but I think she likes to be outside. Whenever we go on walks she happily looks around or when she is in the middle of a unexplained crying fit you can step outside with her and she immediately quiets right down.

My plan was to get the tree decorated this week and get our Christmas cards out but Dave and I got the flu. The frustrating part is that I got both the seasonly and H1N1 flu shots this year and still

got sick. Luckily Claire hasn't caught anything and we pray that she stays healthy. The doctor said other than lots of hand washing there isn't much we can do to prevent it. My fever finally broke yesterday and Dave is starting to feel better too. Hopefully we can get the tree up and inside this weekend. The cards might not make it out this year as the pictures still need to be taken, sent out to be printed, addressed and mailed. We quickly learned that mommies and daddies don't get sick days!

Wind Storm

On Sunday morning when we woke up not only did we not have any power, we had lost a tree. Luckily it didn't hit the house or take out any other trees on its way down. Now we have plenty of firewood for camping!

2 month checkup

We had our two month check up this week and all is good. In fact, Claire is at 90% for height and 70% for weight when compared to other children her age! She is 10 lbs 14 oz and 23 1/4 inches long. Hard to believe in just two months time she has gained four plus pounds and grew two inches!

We elected not to have any vaccines given this time and are following a delayed vaccination schedule. This has been a hot topic in our house for the last couple months. Dave wants to wait till she is a bit older and have them spread out over a longer period than is recommended.

However, I was able to get the H1N1 vaccine, which has been short supply. That with the seasonal flu shot I received in late August will help protect us from bringing the flu home and getting Claire sick.

Ruby and Tucker are getting more used to Claire (as you can see). At first they were leery of this little thing that invaded their home, took time away from us throwing the ball and cried a lot. Teaching them to be gentle has been a challenge, but they are learning quickly not to play too rough and accidently step on her. After all they have had the whole house to play where ever they like for a few years now.

Our Little Pumpkin

I wanted to go to the pumpkin patch and take a bunch of fun pictures (the colors are great for scrapbooking) but the weather didn't cooperate and she is too young to have any fun. So my second thought that would be super cute was to carve out a pumpkin and place her in it. The little hiccup in my plan was that Claire hated it. I am not sure if it was the texture of the pumpkin or if she was just crabby but she wasn't having any part of it. Maybe next year :)

We have to give special thanks to Grandma Colleen for our adorable outfit!

1 month down

We made it to the 1 month mark safe and sound. Just 1140 more to go, she would be 95 and I figured that would be a good age for me to stop worrying. I may be long gone but I will still be her mommy :)

This last month has been a blur and has gone by too quickly. We have had lots of sleepless nights, dirty diapers and tears, mainly hers and but also a few of mine. My sleep deprivation is compounded because of my milk supply being low. We have seen the lactation consultant on a weekly basis for help and ideas. Per their recommendations we have tried taking herbal supplements and breast feeding, followed by a supplement bottle with formula then pumping every 3 hours. This whole process takes about a hour and half giving me just about a hour or so to sleep. Just this last week we switched to a prescription to increase the supply and dropped the pumping. It has helped a little on both fronts, more milk and more sleep. I am grateful for both! At this point the thought is at least she is getting some breast milk and some is better than none.

Claire caught her first cold. It ended up being fairly mild, just a runny nose and was slightly congested. Dave become a pro a the nasal aspirator (nose sucker thingy). With her being so young other than using it and the humidifier there isn't much more we can do. I know it isn't realistic but hopefully all her colds will go that smooth.

Oddly she is losing her hair on the top of her head and looks like a little old man. If the hair on the side was long enough we could do a comb over! I was expecting for her to lose it in the back or all over but just the top was surprising. Thank goodness we had our photo shoot with Danielle before it started falling out.

Many thanks to our friends and family for the visits, meals and help. We appreciate your love, friendships and generosity!

Claire at 2 weeks (taken 09/25/09)

YEAH!! Claire's here!

(You'll have to forgive me in the delay in getting our blog updated but it has been a busy two weeks)

The funny thing is that as I was writing my previous blog I was having contractions. Now that in itself is no big deal since I had been having them for over two weeks, but they did start becoming more intense and regular. So after they had met the 511 rule (5 minutes apart, lasting for 1 minute for 1 hour) I woke up Dave at around 2:30 am and off to the hospital we went.

We arrived to a full house, yep the hospital was completely full. In fact all the birthing centers were full. Our nurse told us that OHSU and Legacy called asking if they could send delivering mothers over to Willamette Falls. I guess 09/09/09 was a popular day! We hung out in the admin room until 9 am at which point I was dilated to 5 centimeters and totally ready for an epidural, since I was exhausted being up since 7 am the previous morning and really wanted to sleep.

My mom showed up around 11 am right as I was receiving my epidural, so unfortunately she arrived just in time to watch me sleep :) Around 2 pm the midwife decided we should try to the regulate my contractions to push Claire down since she still hadn't "dropped" and was still sitting sideways. I didn't mind one bit, considering I couldn't feel a thing! Christy arrived shortly after 5 pm and is nice enough to go to our home a feed our poor dogs. They got kicked out of bed in the middle of the night and skipped breakfast. I can only imagine how confused and hungry they must have been.

Next thing I know it is 6 pm, I am dilated to 10 centimeters and time to push. Everything is going as planned, my pushes are making progress in moving Claire down and all is well. I really have no idea what time it started but I begin having a pain in my right side. Keep in mind that I have had an epidural and shouldn't be feeling anything below the my rib cage, but the pain keeps getting more and more intense. I am crying and shaking uncontrollably and around 8:30 pm the midwife calls in the doctor for a consultation since I am not able to push through the pain and Claire is showing signs of distress with each contractions. It is decided to up my epidural and use a vacuum to see if we can get Claire out with the next two contractions otherwise a c-section is the best course of action.

It all happened in a matter of minutes. The bed was broken down, Dave was given scrubs and I was wheeled to the operating room. At 8:53 pm (less than 15 minutes later) Claire arrives weighing 6 lbs 8 oz and 20 inches long!

God blessed us with a healthy, beautiful baby girl!!

The waiting game

It has been a frustrating couple weeks around the Hicks house as we anxiously await Claire's arrival. Our original due date was set for September 15th, but due to several ultrasounds saying she was going to be a "big" baby they moved it up to August 30th. That date came and went with little activity, just sporadic contractions. An appointment with my midwife that week indicated I was 2 centimeters dilated and 30% effaced with the ultrasound saying she wasn't "big" after all and estimated weight of 6.5 lbs. Needless to say I was quite disappointed.

Sleeping has been difficult due to my entire body hurting and the need to get up to go to the restroom every hour or so. I was mentally prepared for the end of August and now we are looking at mid September..... uggg! Even Dave is getting antsy, talking to Claire through my belly that is time to come out :)

My appointment this week sent me home in tears. Still only 2 centimeters dilated but now 80% effaced. My midwife said that I am not technically overdue until 41 weeks at which point we would talk about our options. So taking matters into my own hands I have tried several ways of inducing labor naturally with no success. Everything from walking, sex (yeah that is fun at 39 weeks pregnant), acupuncture, nipple stimulation (not fun, just left me sore) and leaving the last resort of Castor Oil, which I purchased today but am a bit chicken to take it.

Our friends and family have been great. They check in on me and see how I am feeling and if Claire has decided to grace us with her presence yet. Well it started out sweet and nice to feel loved but now I am just annoyed. My standard response is no changes, no baby, I feel fine. But really I want to scream don't you think if I went into labor and Claire was born we would let everyone know??

Thank you for letting me vent, sorry it is so negative. I am just so ready to be done with this stage and move to the next one. The bottom line is it is God's hands and I need to patient, something he has been trying to teach me for years. Maybe now I will finally learn my lesson.

Maternity Photos

We decided (okay

I decided) it

would be fun to get professional maternity photos done!! It was nerve racking and exciting at the same time. It isn't every day that you spend the afternoon with your enormous belly hanging out while someone is taking photos. Danielle has a great eye, creative ideas and made me feel totally at ease. You can see some of our photos along with her other work on her blog Sweet Country Photography.

http://sweetcountryphotography.blogspot.com/2009/08/patience-is-virtue.html

BBQ/Baby Shower

We had our first of two BBQ/Baby Showers last Saturday. It was fun, great to see everyone and really hot outside! Considering it was 10 degrees cooler than early in the week I really shouldn't complain but the 95 degrees had everyone sweating. Not to mention my feet, legs, arms, face.... basically my whole body was terribly swollen do to retaining water. Gotta love it!

It was at our home and thankfully Christy, Tammy, Tammie and Dave took charge and I was under strict instructions to do nothing, they had it covered. Our friends are very generous and gave us lots gifts and all the outfits are super cute. We are grateful for their thoughtfulness, generosity and for their friendships!

The last one is tomorrow and it is for our families. Alan & Alicia were nice enough to volunteer to host at their home, so lots of thanks going out to them. We have family coming in from all over Oregon, Washington, Canada and even Costa Rica!! Wouldn't you know it, it might rain! What a difference a week makes. I am confident it will hold off and thankful it is going to much cooler.

It never ceases to amaze me that amount stuff babies and kids need. Well maybe not need but that you can get for them. Good thing for showers or you could go broke getting set up just to bring them home. I think were there. Car seat... check, diapers... check, wipes... check, outfits... check, crib... check, I am sure I am missing something but I guess we will learn as we go. Isn't that half the fun of being a parent??

Belly photos

Here are a few photos of my growing belly!I have a few from earlier months but I didn't really start to show until I was six months along and they aren't very exciting or much to see.

Late July 2009 (in my boxers because it is 105 degrees!!)

Late June 2009

Late May 2009

Goldens

This is Ruby and Tucker our golden retrievers who's world is going to be turned upside down here in about 30 days with Claire's arrival. They are used to being the center of attention and are very spoiled. Should be interesting to see how they do. I have complete confidence they will be great with her!