First bath

Claire had her first bath day before yesterday, after her umbilical cord stump fell off. She now has a perfect little belly button! Since Daddy was on the phone then, these pictures are actually from her second bath. She likes this kind of bath much better than the sponge bath, which I think must have been fairly uncomfortable for her. In this tub, the hammock kind of cradles her in the warm water.

I'm up to 20lbs lost, 10 more to go!

Have a great Memorial Day weekend, everyone!

Claire's two weeks old!

Eyes open!

Graduation/Mother's Day weekend!

Okay, so these pics have nothing to do with either of the above-mentioned events, mostly because I left my camera at Nana and Grandad's house after Kyle's graduation day lunch.

The first pic is of Claire's first bath. She's gotten into the habit of wetting two or three towels per bath; her little way of revolting against this awkward procedure. The second pic is of my cousins Dani Rose and Holly with Claire at Nana and Grandad's house. She slept soundly most of the day, even though she was passed from hand to hand.

Congrats to my brother Kyle, who graduated the salutatorian Saturday! I wish I could have gone, but recovery from birth kept me at Mom's house, prepping it for company.

Great news; I got a job! This fall, I'll be a middle school English and reading teacher at a nearby small school. I actually had two job offers yesterday, and had to choose between them! That's a good problem to have.

Claire's one-week doctor's appointment was yesterday, and she gained 12 ounces since discharge from the hospital, putting her at 7lbs, 13oz. Everything else looked good, so we don't have to go back until she's 8wks old!

How Claire made her grand entrance

Well, many of you have heard the basic story of Claire's birth, and here's the rest of the story: As I posted before, I started feeling contractions pretty regularly early Sunday morning: they were five to six minutes apart, but not very intense, until about 9:30 a.m., when they seemed to subside altogether. I called the hospital (again) and a nurse said to try walking, and wait until they became regular to come in. So Jay and I went for a walk, and I tried to keep moving around. Of course, both sets of grandparents had been notified in the morning Sunday that I was in labor, as we though we would head into the hospital sometime before noon. So by noon, my family and Jay's parents were both at our house, wondering when we were going to head up there. They left us to monitor contractions pretty soon, though, and I took a nap. When I woke up, contractions became more regular, and we finally got ready and headed to the hospital at about 7 p.m. Sunday. Again, both sides of the family were so excited, they all got to there shortly thereafter (except Paul and Diane, who met us there, as our church is next door to the Women's Center).

I was dilated to a three, which was a little disappointing--I was hoping that after waiting so long for regular contractions that I would be a little further along. Little did I know I would stay at a three until 8 a.m. the next morning, when the doctor came in to check my progress! He had me put on a Pitocin drip around midnight to speed up my contractions, and then I took some pain meds a couple hours later, as the contractions became really painful (Jay helped a lot by massaging my back every time one came on). I was glad I took the pain meds though, because we both desperately needed some sleep, after being up since 3:30 a.m. that day! When the doc came in around 8, I was still at a 3, like I said, so he said he would go ahead and break my water. He said contractions would start coming on hard and fast at that time, and did I want the epidural. As tired and weak from hunger as I was at that point, I did not hesitate to say yes. So he gave me the epidural (almost painless, really!), and then the nurse broke my water after it kicked in. I don't know that I liked the feeling of being numb from the waist down, but I think I liked it a lot more than contraction pains! Labor progressed pretty fast after that: by noon, I was completely dilated, and ready to push. Unfortunately, my beautiful sister had a final in Norman at 4, so she had to leave by 1!! At 1:15, she had to take off, not having any idea how much longer I would be. 1:15 was actually Claire's birth time, but Jay and Mom didn't go into the waiting room until 10 minutes later. We were so sad for Manda, but she came back to town the next day, even though she's in the middle of finals week.

Pushing was INTENSE, but the doc and nurse said I did a good job! Except for how completely drained I felt, I had no idea how much good I was doing, because of the epidural! Mom, Jay, the nurse, and doctor were really good about cheering me on, though. My arms are still sore today from pulling on the handlebars when I pushed!

Claire did GREAT last night, her first night at home. She woke up to eat twice, and went back to sleep really well. At the hospital, she was really stuffy and gassy, and would cry inconsolably at night, but my nurse was quick to recommend she go to the nursery for a few hours to give me a break. At home, I'm figuring out what she needs (to have her back patted hard so she can burp often, to use a bulb to clean out her nostrils), and my milk is coming in and she's eating really good, so she sleeps for longer!

Can't wait to see the Pannell family this weekend for Kyle's graduation!!

Claire is here!

Claire Diane Mauck is here! She's the tiniest, most perfect, beautiful human we've ever seen. We just got home about an hour ago. The first pic is her first pic at home, and the next one is obviously her and Daddy, and the last is my last belly pic! I'll post more soon, and the labor story, but for now, I need to study for my online final.

It's starting!

That's right, I'm actually posting while I'm in labor! Contractions started early this morning, but haven't gotten regular or intense enough to go to the hospital. I've talked to nurses at the women's center several times today, and they say it just takes a while for first-timers to get going sometimes. Walking and waiting is what I'm doing, so wish me luck!

Maybe it was that fishing trip yesterday--or the fact that I'm four days overdue! (Jay wants me to note that this was not an involuntary trip--I actually suggested we go, so I could get out of the house and have a break from thinking about labor and delivery. And I caught four fish!)

40wks+ belly pic!

Alright you (meaning Audrey!) asked for it, here's a belly pic! You can really tell how much I've dropped I think. I feel like she's about to fall out. It was pretty funny going to eat at Chili's last night, and whenever people asked me my due date (three), I got to say "Yesterday, actually." To our server, I said, "You'd better consult your 'How to Deliver a Baby' server handbook." This is pretty much how I've been feeling for the past couple days. I considered putting on make-up and real clothes on, but then I thought, hey if my awesome cousin Lissa can post a pic of her after successfully running a mini-marathon, I can post a pic of me after sleeping half the morning, going for my Little Bell-come-on-out walk, and midday shower. You'd think this spa-type schedule would have me looking fresh and rejuvenated. Not so much, when I can't sleep at night and don't have enough to keep me busy during the day. I'm trying to clean the house in little bursts of nesting energy (haven't had the full-on, scrub-the-floors-and-baseboards-all-day nesting instinct yet), and I'll probably lay out this muggy afternoon and do some reading (a combination of Emma, The Birth Book, The Baby Book, and teaching book In the Middle).

No-news update...

I know you guys are getting as sick as me of these no-news updates. I'm now officially overdue. I can hardly sleep at night for waking up to think about when I'm going to go into labor. Literally, I can't sleep for waiting!

Another day, no baby yet!

Well, I again went to sleep last night expecting to wake up in the night with contractions, water breaking, or something. Nothing! I even managed to go to my last graduate class of the semester last night, giving my classmates some degree of anxiety and excitement, I think. I tried my best to wait to break to get up to use the bathroom, because I knew if I got up during class, everyone would think I was going into labor or something. Sure enough, when I felt about ready to explode, I got up, told a classmate I was just going to use the restroom, but was still asked by three people when I got back if I was okay.

Also, I have a job interview this morning, my third with a big pregnant belly! My mom suggested I stand for the interview, as your water is more likely to break when you're getting up from sitting or, even more likely, lying down. HA!

I'm sort of proud I made it to my due date, after all the naysayers have been shaking their heads in doubt for the past EIGHT WEEKS whenever I mentioned how much longer I had to go. So there, naysayers!

One day from D-day!

I'm still here. We really thought it might happen last night; the doc had me so revved up, and I did have a physical sign (details would probably be TMI), but no contractions yet! I felt like I woke up about every hour to do a quick labor check on my body, but nothing! Well, the weather channel shows the full moon to happen tomorrow night, so maybe then??