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.