Even the best laid plans can happen different than you expected. I find this is especially true for having a baby. You try to make plans, adjust your plans, make new plans, readjust,...etc.
My two girls were born naturally on their due date, so I figured within a few days of my due date Clyde would show up. We even arranged for my parents to take my girls for that weekend so we were ready. We waited and waited some more. I can't express how frustrating it is to have so many expectations on something you don't have much control over. I went running at 4 AM, ate spicy food, ate pineapple, did lots of lunges, nothing worked. Plenty of contractions were happening but I wouldn't go into labor.
Because I had been having so much false labor I didn't know when the real thing was happening. I was six days past my due date when my contractions started to pick up, but by that time I had resolved that my large belly was just a permanent fixture.
I've always thought that child birth depicted in the movies is so fake; however having Clyde kind of felt like I was in a movie. I woke Eric up about 2 AM telling him to get dressed because we needed to go to the hospital right away. (Thank goodness my mother-in-law was already staying with us) The rest of my labor was a nice soothing bath in my hospital room interspersed with lots of screaming, my water breaking, nurses frantically trying to get me out of the tub.
I do recall one nurse worriedly asking "Do you feel like you need to push." and through my tears I said, "No but he's coming out anyway!"
Because the delivery nurse saw meconium when my water broke she called in NICU nurses. Clyde was born about 5:40 AM. He was cleaned up, evaluated, and whisked away to the NICU. I was pretty bummed that I had waited so long. done all that work, and didn't really get to hold my baby. Normally I think I would've been freaking out but I wasn't. He looked like a strong healthy boy to me.
Turns out during the birth process Clyde swallowed some meconium and developed an air pocket on his lung. The next 3 nights and 4 days I spent in the NICU while Clyde was recieving oxygen treatments and being constantly evaluated (also thank goodness for good insurance). X-rays showed the air pocket was almost completely gone by the second day, but because Clyde's condition could result in a collapsed lung and/or pulmonary infection, he had to stay in the hospital a little longer. Thankfully he is a healthy boy and his condition improved quickly, We were released on the fourth day. I was very happy to finally leave the hospital!
My two girls were born naturally on their due date, so I figured within a few days of my due date Clyde would show up. We even arranged for my parents to take my girls for that weekend so we were ready. We waited and waited some more. I can't express how frustrating it is to have so many expectations on something you don't have much control over. I went running at 4 AM, ate spicy food, ate pineapple, did lots of lunges, nothing worked. Plenty of contractions were happening but I wouldn't go into labor.
Because I had been having so much false labor I didn't know when the real thing was happening. I was six days past my due date when my contractions started to pick up, but by that time I had resolved that my large belly was just a permanent fixture.
I've always thought that child birth depicted in the movies is so fake; however having Clyde kind of felt like I was in a movie. I woke Eric up about 2 AM telling him to get dressed because we needed to go to the hospital right away. (Thank goodness my mother-in-law was already staying with us) The rest of my labor was a nice soothing bath in my hospital room interspersed with lots of screaming, my water breaking, nurses frantically trying to get me out of the tub.
I do recall one nurse worriedly asking "Do you feel like you need to push." and through my tears I said, "No but he's coming out anyway!"
Because the delivery nurse saw meconium when my water broke she called in NICU nurses. Clyde was born about 5:40 AM. He was cleaned up, evaluated, and whisked away to the NICU. I was pretty bummed that I had waited so long. done all that work, and didn't really get to hold my baby. Normally I think I would've been freaking out but I wasn't. He looked like a strong healthy boy to me.
Turns out during the birth process Clyde swallowed some meconium and developed an air pocket on his lung. The next 3 nights and 4 days I spent in the NICU while Clyde was recieving oxygen treatments and being constantly evaluated (also thank goodness for good insurance). X-rays showed the air pocket was almost completely gone by the second day, but because Clyde's condition could result in a collapsed lung and/or pulmonary infection, he had to stay in the hospital a little longer. Thankfully he is a healthy boy and his condition improved quickly, We were released on the fourth day. I was very happy to finally leave the hospital!
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| The girls and Grandma visiting Clyde in the NICU |
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| At the hospital right after they took off all the IV lines and oxygen. |
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| Holding him for the first time without stuff attached to him. My face is not in the picture but I was smiling too. |
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| Finally home! |
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| Everyone wants a turn holding the new baby. |
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| His first Sunday! |
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| I'm pretty sure Maryanne was trying to squish his head. |
We are so happy to have little Clyde in our family. Ava has been asking me for a baby brother since last summer so I am glad that her wish came true. Often I hear her talking and confiding in her baby brother.
Maryanne is not as jealous as I thought she would be, however I often find that her "loving" the baby is really just squishing him. As a seven week old baby he is already starting to recoil when his sisters come near!
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| Taking our three kids hiking at Mt. Rainier. |
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| This is what Eric looked like half the time. |
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| My girls are starting to grow up so fast. This was a picture of the first day of preschool. (Maryanne is obsessed with carrying clothing everywhere just in case you were wondering about that shirt in her hand.) |
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| My little man is already 13lbs. Fattening up nicely! |
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| Playing princesses in the woods. |
