Happy Birthday Claire!

Obviously there is almost two months worth of time between Halloween and December but honestly there wasn't much that was blog-worthy and in my mind that was just as it should have been.  While I was working a ton trying to wrap things up before my upcoming maternity leave, we mostly just spent time as a family.  We played outside when the weather would allow and ran all over the playroom when it didn't, had a fantastic but low key Thanksgiving, put up the Christmas decorations, cut down a Christmas tree and nested a lot to get baby sister's room and the house ready.  We also broke down and bought yet another TV on the black friday sales so we could put one in the front living room where we could watch movies in front of the fire.  Josh had a new found love for "puppies" (Lady and the Tramp), Toy Story and the dinosaur movie (Ice Age).  He also loves helping to build the fire and with my waning energy levels after a long day at the hospital we spent many evenings cuddling on the couch and that's exactly what we were doing when I went into labor on December 15th at 38 weeks and 4 days.

I'd been very uncomfortable for the last several weeks especially after several really big OR cases and I had told Scott earlier that day I would probably cry if I had to go to my Monday clinic at the University.  I was proud that I had made it through all of my OR cases the week before so my patients and partner didn't have any disruption but as of that weekend, I was feeling pretty done. I was hoping to make it through my last weekend of call which would end that Monday morning and thankfully I knew I would only have to make it until Wednesday when we had an induction scheduled.  Originally I had planned to avoid an induction at all costs after the extended bout of things we had during Josh's delivery but when they gave me an estimated weight of 9lbs 8 ounces for "Sweet P" at my 37 week ultrasound I made sure to get on the schedule.  While I knew those ultrasounds are only accurate plus or minus a pound, I had no desire to wait around and see if the plus part might be true.  Luckily baby girl had listened to me when I started telling her early on that I would really prefer that she decide to come on her own.  After Josh had gone to bed we were sitting up watching Love Actually when at about nine oclock on Saturday night I began to have more painful contractions.  While they were still twenty to thirty minutes apart, I was already five centimeters dilated so the pressure soon was more than I was comfortable with.  I tried to lay down and see if they would improve but after about twenty minutes, I had Scott call the babysitter, I signed my beeper out and we were on our way to the hospital.  I still wasn't totally sure I was really in labor and I think every obstetricians' fear is that they'll be sent home (and laughed at) when it's not the real thing but I was also slightly concerned about delivering in the car or not having enough time for an epidural so I had to know. By the time we made it to the hospital thirty minutes later I already knew - we weren't going home. At least not without a new baby. 

We got admitted just after midnight and I was already almost seven centimeters so I'm glad we didn't hang out at home any longer.  The car ride had definitely kick started the contraction pattern and the hour I had to wait to get my epidural was a long one.  Once that was in though I felt almost euphoric.  I hadn't been that comfortable in at least six months.  We tried to get some rest but honestly I felt too good to sleep.   After they broke my water, the contractions actually stalled out for a bit and Sweet P's heart rate wasn't pretty enough for them to add any pitocin to help them but luckily with some position changes we finally made it to complete just after seven am.  Since I was comfortable and I knew the nurses had shift change, I elected to let her labor down for an hour.  While I knew it was unlikely I would have the five hours of pushing I had with Josh I wanted to do whatever I could to save up some energy and shorten that as much as possible.  By 8 am though, she had other plans and after just fifteen minutes of work, there she was.

Claire Lynn Pulaski

December 16, 2012 8:17 am

8lbs 8 ounces  21 inches

I'm so lucky to have "insider knowledge" on who the great Ob's are in town and I had great prenatal care with Dr. Kennebeck and then Dr. Shannon McAfee gave up her Saturday night to come in for the delivery. 

With my "VIP" status we got a nice big corner room and I spent the entire time snuggling with Claire.  I think she was in the bassinet only during bathroom trips

With such an easy delivery we elected for an early discharge from the hospital. Since she was born so early Sunday morning we were eligible to go home Monday night so in less than 48 hours we were home as a family of four which was especially helpful since Josh was not doing well with us being gone. I'll save the big brother introduction for another post but let's just say it was less than idealic and this is the best picture we got.

We are so thankful that things went so smoothly and once she had her newborn pulse ox screening we breathed a final sigh of relief.  With only a 2 day versus a 7 day hospital stay, no NICU stay, no heart problems, and no interstate move, everything seemed so simple this time.  So we left to go home and enjoy our early Christmas present.