Claire's Birth Story

I wanted to write a post about Claire's 2nd birthday celebration, but remembered that I never wrote a post detailing her birth story. The days my children are born are days I don't ever want to forget, so I love recording them to read later. After 2 years, the details seem as sharp as ever in my mind, but there could definitely be things I don't remember. Here's how it happened!

Claire was due on April 12, 2019, and in the 2 weeks leading up to her due date, I felt like my body went through a lot of changes. I was certain she would come early, and felt like that hunch was confirmed when I went to the doctor and found out I had already started dilating. At my 39 week appointment I was further dilated than I was with Henry after 18+ hours of contractions! Every day leading up to April 12th felt like an eternity as I eagerly awaited my imminent labor. Ha!

Last belly picture I took on April 10th!

Trying to walk baby sister out the day before her due date!

I woke up on Saturday, April 13th still very much pregnant and totally bewildered. I remember going to Aldi to get some food that Henry would need for the upcoming week in hopes I would be at the hospital soon. I don't remember what else we did that day, but I know that Caleb and I were watching Poldark that night after putting Henry to bed and around 9:30, my contractions started! I could tell they were the real deal because of the way they wrapped around my back and belly, so I started timing them. At first they were coming every 25 or so minutes and by the time we went to bed at midnight, they were 20 minutes apart. 

I woke up a little later from the pain of a contraction and checked the clock. It was 1:00 A.M. I started timing them again and had 3 contractions exactly 10 minutes apart. I woke Caleb up and we called my mom to come over. We got to the hospital a little after 2:00 in the morning and were put in a triage room to determine if it was time to go to Labor and Delivery. Much to my surprise and utter delight, I was dilated to 5cm when the nurse checked me! She said "That's your ticket to Labor and Delivery!" and I was ecstatic. I had gone through almost 24 hours of pain and misery to get to this point with Henry, and I couldn't believe how much faster this labor was progressing. 

We got to a Labor and Delivery room and they started monitoring my vitals as well as the baby's and got my IV started. They asked if I wanted an epidural and I said yes, so they had to send in blood work and give me 2 bags of fluids before calling the anesthesiologist. It took an hour or so to get all of this done, during which time my contractions were picking up in intensity and frequency. I was still managing the pain well, to the point that the nurses asked if I was sure I wanted the epidural, but it was getting harder to do so. I remember that as I would feel a contraction coming on I would say "Here comes another." and everybody would get quiet to let me concentrate. The pain was to the point that I couldn't even think words other than "Please God. Please God. Please God." and as I breathed, I saw the ocean in my mind and every breath either pulled the tide in or pushed it out. It was so weird;  I have never had such focus or concentration before. I always have random things popping into my head, but all the noise was silenced in the pain of the moment. When the anesthesiologist finally came, I was at 7cm. 

With the relief from pain, Caleb and I were finally able to try to get a little rest. My nurse brought a peanut shaped ball to put between my knees to help open my pelvis, rolled me to my right side, and stuffed some blankets under my belly. She said the baby was over to the right and we were trying to get her to straighten out. She came back about an hour later and checked me again and I was at 9cm! She said that my amniotic sac was bulging and she was like "I'm getting back, this thing is about to pop and I don't want to be too close when it does!" We were laughing as she rolled me back on my side when all of a sudden I heard a gushing; my water had just broken! Dr. Aulds had arrived at the hospital shortly after we were admitted,  and they now called him to come deliver the baby. It took him a little while to get in there, and once he came in and got his gown on, the nurses held my legs back, told me to push, and next thing I know, she was out! It happened SO fast, I couldn't even believe it! Claire Roberts Horton was born at 7:44 A.M. on April 14, 2019, weighed 9lbs 10oz, and was 21" long. Another big, chubby, beautiful baby! 

 

 

 

 

Claire's birth was so peaceful and calm; she was born early on a Sunday morning (Palm Sunday!) and the L&D unit was quiet. There were no visitors anxiously waiting to come to our room. It was just Caleb, me, and our new baby girl. After a few hours, our parents came and brought the new big brother to meet his baby sister! One really cool thing about Claire being born on April 14th is that my great-grandfather, Allen Moye, was born on April 14, 1912. How crazy that she shares a birthday with her great-great grandfather, 107 years apart!  

 

 

God gave us one of the greatest gifts when he gave us Claire!