Helen Claire's Birthday

Well, it has taken me a week to write this, but I did not want to forget one single thing. Last Tuesday at our final doctor's appointment, Dr. Damrich said we could induce on Thursday or wait one more week. Since we did not want to run the risk of needing a C-section, we decided to be induced on Thursday, June 10th. It was not the ideal choice for me. I wanted Helen Claire to have the opportunity to come into the world on her own time, but more than that, I wanted the experience of having her naturally, without surgery. In the end, that was more important, so we made the decision to be induced.

After our doctor's appointment, I headed back to work and finished up some last minute things in preparation for my maternity leave, which was set to start on Wednesday... how conveinent! I let all my co-workers know the plans and turned off the office light at 4:30 that afternoon- gone for 6 weeks!! Tuesday night, Jonathan and I decided to have one last, impromtu date, since we knew it would be a while before we could "just go out" again. We had dinner at Dale's ( I wanted southern food... weird) and watched the most horrible movie ever, "Prince of Persia." There was literally nothing playing when we got to the theatre, but we were determined to see a movie. I joked that if Helen Claire didn't pass her hearing screen, it would be becasue of the fight scenes in this movie! I really wanted to fall asleep during most of the movie, I was so worn out, but I am so glad we went out, and Jonathan was so protective of me and HC.

Wednesday, we almost killed ourselves trying to get ready. I don't know why two educated people think they can get ready for the most life changing day ever, but for some reason (call it nesting, I guess), I had a huge "To-Do" list. We made multiple Target runs, and tried to grab a quick lunch out, but it turned into an ordeal. Anyway, we finally decided if we needed anything else, we'd just have to figure it out later. We were as ready as we could be.

Granny and Mother came to spend the night with us the Wednesday night before the big day. When they got to our house, I had not had a shower and was still cleaning. I remember having vacuuming and cleaning the shower (which I planned on doing as I took a shower... not so easy at 40 weeks pregnant) left on my list. They were begging me to sit and have a snack and try to go to bed and rest, but I HAD to get those two things done, and I did.

We went to bed way too late, but we were too excited and anxious to sleep anyway. Plus, it was surreal knowing this was the last time we would ever fall asleep just the two of us. We woke up super early and left for St. Vincents at 4:30 Thursday morning! Here we are right before leaving home:
By 5am, we were in a room and the doctor came by to break my water. Then, they started getting the IVs ready for pitocin. Melissa was our nurse, and she was absolutely wonderful! When contractions started, I was really ok. Melissa kept checking on me and Jonathan and making sure we were doing well. She was so calm and kept the whole experience really relaxed for us. It made a huge difference. I wanted to hold out as long as I could without getting an epidural, but at 5 centimeters, I had to ask for it. Once I got the epidural, it was no big deal. It was really an easy labor, and within an hour-hour and half, we were ready to push. My mother and Granny were in the room and Jonathan's parents had just gotten there when Melissa said she needed to check me. We thought maybe I would be 7 centimenters, but I was at 9, so we asked everyone to leave so we could get ready for delivery.

At around 12:30, we started pushing with each contraction. Melissa, Jonathan and I were the only ones in the room. They coached me and cheered me on and gave me so much confirmation that I was doing a good job. I have never loved Jonathan more than I did in those moments- he saw me at some pretty rough points, and he loved me and cheered for me anyway. It was easy to love him then. Around 1:30, Melissa said to stop pushing because she needed to get Dr. Damrich. He got there maybe ten minutes later, I pushed twice, and Helen Claire was welcomed into the world. Her official time of birth was 1:48 p.m.

We really could not have asked for a better birth experience. Everyone at St. Vincents was amazing, but especially Melissa! We lucked out with our delivery nurse. I think next time, I could make it with no epidural, but for this first experience, I am glad I had it. Had I known I would get from 5 cm to 9 cm so quickly, I could have talked/breathed myself through it. I just got scared thinking what if it takes hours to get to the pushing stage? Now that I know how I labor and what to expect, I won't be as scared, and I think future babies can be epidural free.

Meeting Helen Claire for the first time was incredible; I cannot even begin to explain how perfect that moment was. Jonathan got to hand her to me and then cut the cord. He was so sweet and it was like he knew exactly what to do. I was so proud of him! (Also, he brushed my hair for me while the nurses were tending to Helen Claire, so I would look half-way ok in the pictures. Please, Helen Claire if you are reading this and you are grown up, marry a man just like your Daddy).



I remember looking at her gray eyes and thinking how perfect she was and what a perfect moment it was.   I don't remember much talking or my first words to her.  I just know we were busy watching every little thing the nurses did to her and waiting for a chance to get our hands on her.  We looked at every little feature and were not surprised that she had our dimple chin.  She has my long second toe, and I think she has Jonathan's lips.  She was just so perfect and beautiful. 

We did not let everyone in the room for the first hour/hour and a half of her life. We wanted some time just for us, and I'm really glad we did that. It gave the nurses time to get Helen Claire cleaned up, and we got to see her be weighed/measured. Her weight was 7 pounds, 2 ounces, and she was 20 inches long. After that was done, we just got to spend some time together before everyone came in.

We could hear our family in the hall after a little while, and we knew we had held everyone off long enough. Once they got to come in, we asked for the baby's bath so they could all see it. She got lots of hugs and kisses once her bath was over.

Sweet Aunt Laurie... she was one of the people we could hear in our hallway. A lady who worked at the hospital said she jumped so high it was like someone won the SuperBowl!




































It was a perfect day and I could re-live it over and over. Welcome to the world, baby girl. We love you so, so much!