Happy Friday

This has been an interesting week. We are well established in our "eat every 3 hours" routine with Claire. she has nearly figured out that night time is a time to sleep. She still wakes up about every 3 to 4 hours, but generally goes back to sleep fairly quickly. She's awake more during the day and we have heard her cry more this week than any other week. I'm slowly learning the difference in her cries...but ya...it will be a while before I master that.

Since it's been super hot outside we have spent all day inside, so by the time Brian gets home I'm kinda ready to get out! We have started to take walks in the evening and really love it. The walk gives Brian and I a chance to talk and spend quality time and the outside air makes Claire pass out! Ha!

I do have a few pictures to share! A photographer came to our home and took adorable pics! It was so much fun watch them do different things! They sent me 5 preview images, so thought I would share!

 

 

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Week 3 and still going!

Ok, so I'm afraid this post must be short and sweet, but I will share some pictures of Claire over the last couple weeks.  Hopefully I will be able to write/post more later, but I just read my friend's, Stef, blog and she just HAD to point to a pretty convicting blog post regarding time in the Word.  I have really gotten out of the habit with the onset of the new schedule, so now that baby is sleeping - I need to take advantage of the time so graciously given to me.

I must say though, that today is Brian and my THIRD anniversary!!!  We are both not getting each other anything and I'm more than okay with that.  I just love him so much and I can't imagine my life without him.  We have had the best life together so far.  We've been on a cruise, vacationed with family, bought a townhome and been through renovations...I'm just so excited about the coming years and what they will bring.  I can't even express in type, in words...nothing seems sufficient in describing how I feel about him.  He's a really good father, you can just tell how much he loves our little girl by watching him.  It's so precious. (sometimes I might even be a little jealous of all the attention baby receives!! lol)

I will say that I don't think I could have made it though the first week with Claire without Grandma Barb!  She cooked, cleaned, washed, and the list goes on and on.  She helped us get on a schedule and provided an extra set of hands while Brian and I attempted to get caught up on our sleep.  I just can't imagine what would have happened without her...I'd probably have gone running back to the hospital!!

Anyway, below you will find some highlights of the past couple weeks...more to come...

 Not our favorite moment - we gave her a sponge bath - during which she screamed bloodymurder through the whole thing!

 What a funny face!  She is fully of goofy expressions - I'm compiling pictures of them all - hopefully I can share them soon.

 Uncle Dave and Aunt Gail came to visit!  It was so much fun!  Katie and Nate got to meet their little cousin in person.  They tried their very best to be calm around the baby!  Good job! While I'm thinking about it - Grandma Barb and Grandpa Les came too!  We were SO wrapped up in planning a schedule and the 1st week of Claire being home that we didn't take many..(any) pictures!  Doh!  Next time we will need to double up on them!

 Katie's birthday happened to be when they were in town (and Nate had already had his birthday) so we took them both to Build-a-Bear!  It was SO much fun watching them!!!

 Claire picked out a bear too, but we decided to hold off on purchasing it until she could actually stay away during the build-a-bear visit.

 YAY!  Brian agreed to do 1 picture during our first outing together with Claire!

 After the mall we came home for a bit and the kiddos went swimming - then we all walked to the park!  Claire took a nap.

 We've had quite a few visitors!  Andy and Becca not only visited, but brought us food!  They can come over anytime!!!

 Jake came over for a play date - and there's a little controversy regarding some Newborn size BOY's sweatpants stashed under the couch...Dad is investigating, but Jake IS the only newborn boy that came to our house....just saying...and he WAS really interested in Claire...I can't help but notice he is pants-less in this picture... As usual Claire slept through the curious visitor. LOL

 Grandma Linda and Grandpa Don came and visited this past weekend.  We stayed around the house and spent time together.  They were so great!  We got the best good food!!  All my laundry is caught up as well!

 Here's grandma changing one of baby's MANY poops!

Yep - she even had grandpa holding her while sleeping - this little girl was so warm and well taken care of when grandma and grandpa visited!  Hope they come back soon!

She's here!

So much has happened since my last post!  WOW!  We are now a family of 3!!  YAY!  One would swear more than just one little being came out though!  This whole week it has taken 3 adults to take care of one little infant!  And for 2 days I had an army of nurses to assist!

Before we go to far down this road, I DID take a 41 week picture!

On Friday, June 8th I had a doctor's appointment where we found out that I was still not dilated and we made arrangements for me to go into the hospital on Sunday night to receive a drug to help my body figure out that it's time to dilate. 

Friday all day I was really feeling uncomfortable.  It felt like she was bunched up all in the front of my belly from time to time - and my hip/leg/nerves in that area were really touchy and sensitive.  We went to hang out with friends that night and although I had a lot of fun, I was not feeling the best the whole evening.  We got home around 11pm and my nerve in my hip was off the charts painful.  The only way of somewhat soothing it was to push in on that part of my body!  My legs were restless and I could NOT get comfortable at all.  I was starting to really worry and cry when Brian puts his hand on my stomach and says, "Babe...your stomach is really tight...are you sure you're not having a contraction?"  A light went off in my head! Now THAT made a lot more sense.  I was just so focused on being induced that I didn't even think that I would start to go naturally! ha!

By 5am the contractions were 6-7 minutes apart.  I finally woke Brian up at 6 because they were dipping into 5 minutes apart.  Time to go to the hospital and get checked out.  We packed up our stuff and and headed out. 

Upon arriving we were escorted to a room where we were told that I was 1cm dilated and we were to hang out for a couple hours to see if anything changed.  My doctor came in roughly 60 minutes later and offered 2 options. 1) go home and wait things out...potentially come back the next day to be induced 2) she would break my water right then and there!  Whoa! Since both options had the same outcome - I chose #2.  I mean - if I was just going to be back there the next day - and I'm already a week late...I felt that this was a perfect opportunity to move forward.

Soon water was broken and the labor process began.  After quite a few contractions to breathe through, more pitocin than I thought was necessary, an epidural and lots of patience - we were ready to push just before 5pm.  The nurse joked that I had to be done by 6pm because she was off at 7pm and had some other things to wrap up before she left.  Well - she got her wish!  At 5:26pm little Claire Elizabeth Schupbach was born!

She's pretty unhappy in this pic! She definitely has a good set of lungs on her and there's not a question as to what she absolutely doesn't like.  She is NOT digging anything at this moment.  This was just a few minutes after she was born!!  If you look really close you can see her birth weight!  7lbs 4oz. 

Here's our little family on "film" for the first time.  What an incredible moment.  There's just no words to describe what the feelings are...the whole process was so incredible.  Labor wasn't easy...definitely the biggest physical challenge I've been through.  In the end, we have a beautiful addition to our family.  We were back and forth on the name, but in the end we liked Claire the best.

There's so much more to type, but for now I need to rest because she's due to wake up in an hour or so...and I hear her being a little restless now!

Busy during my downtime...

Click here to view this photo book larger

Shutterfly allows you to customize your photo book just the way you want.

So, I've been busy making a photobook on Shutterfly.  Since the baby has decided to hang out a few more days in my stomach, I figured I might as well make good use of the extra time I have.  I'm sure having the extra time right now is both a blessing and a curse!  Very soon I will looooong for an extra 5 minutes to do anything, however now I work hard to try and stay busy!  

Being 9 months pregnant definitely has its limits.  I don't have an endless supply of energy and when my body feels that I have done enough - it starts to ache and cramp.  Bummer!  It hasn't been terrible until really today.  This morning began with an Exedrin Tension pill.  After getting up and having breakfast I plopped myself right on the couch for a nap!  Crazy!  I had plans to go to Mariano's, clean up the house a little more, do laundry and dishes etc... but my body had other plans!  Everytime I would get up to do something my stomach would tighten more and more until a nerve in my hip would send shooting/stabbing pains through my hip area.  So much for washing the floor today!  Thankfully I have all the major stuff I want to do out of the way!

I am hoping that either my water breaks tonight or I have a more productive day tomorrow!  

The good side of today is that I am VERY well rested...the bad news is that it's highly likely I will not sleep tonight!!  Who knows...maybe I can wash the floor at midnight haha!

Anyway, the photo book is a compilation of 2011 events.  It doesn't have everything in it, but it does have a good representation of what happened through the year.  Hope you enjoy!

Better late than never??

During our labor and delivery class at the hospital the nurse warned us to never look at the clock during labor. Well, I've come up with a new rule...stop looking at the calendar once you're past your due date!

Yesterday was my official due date, however I remain pregnant. It was a rather emotional day because I learned that I'm not dilated at all and it's possible that I will need to be induced.

The doctor was soooo nice and patient with us as we talked through what we should do. He said its generally best to have labor happen naturally, so he recommends that I go as long as I can. He set a date, June 11th, as the day we cannot go past. So, the good side is that there is there is a definite date planned. The not-great side is that I have another week to keep busy and keep my mind off how much I don't want to be pregnant anymore. Now, that's not to say I'm really looking forward to sore breasts, sleepless nights, and potentially recovering from said, "exit wound." I do feel that we are as ready as we are ever going to be for an infant in the house.

Thankfully I have the next day or so to hang out with Brian, then once he goes back to work on Tuesday I need to plan some things for me to keep busy with. I can't exactly just pop back into work, so to keep myself from literally dying from boredom....or risking driving Brian absolutely crazy...I really need to think about having a plan of action for this week!

Full-term Eve

So here I am in the kitchen eating strawberries and milk (with just a dash of sweet cream coffee creamer). I'm thinking about what it's really going to be like to be a mom. Through this whole pregnancy I have been surrounded by such supportive, amazing people. They have never been short on encouraging words and many have offered multiple helping hands.

It's the day before my due date...I'm not sure I can even describe how I'm feeling. I definitely feel a lot of pressure in my tummy! I feel somewhat tired because I consistently have trouble falling asleep. I feel excited to meet this baby girl of ours. I feel...Happy that I'm going to be a mom...nervous at the same time. Glad to be so near the end of carrying around this additional weight, but at the same time...this tummy does get me a lot of positive attention!! Lol!

I'm so glad we have the majority of our kitchen work done. I'm so ready to have our garage back (well...hopefully soon) and the tools put away. I will be really happy to have my husband back! He's spent so many long hours in the "shop" (garage). Our kitchen is now a completely different room! We have 2 more cabinet doors to hang (and a microwave to hang above the stove) and then it's complete! (well at least it will look complete) Not sure that will happen before the baby is here, but I'm okay with that!

I truly wish I liked just 1 name. I really hope she comes out looking like a Claire or an EV! (evelyn). I like the meaning behind Claire more than I like the meaning of the name Evelyn, but I don't really want to base it off that either. I will just plan on getting through labor then deciding. Brian doesn't feel strongly either way.

Tomorrow at 11:30 I have my doctors appointment. At the very least I hope he says I'm progressing. I have almost accepted that this little girl wants her own special day and doesn't want to share it with my grandfather. (june 2nd was his bday). I am so excited to meet her...regardless of what day she makes her appearance...I just hope it's really soon!!