Baby Claire is Here!

Say hello to Claire Jean Kendall. She was born on April 11th a little after 8 in the morning and was 7 pounds and 20 1/4 inches long.
Jed had a retreat for his MSTP program overnight on the 10th so we had joked for weeks that I would go into labor that night while he was an hour away and of course I did. I ended up having to call Jed at 12:30 to head on home so that we could go to the hospital just as he was going to sleep. Once Jed got home we got James up to go to a friend's house to stay while we were at the hospital.

Because of the long wait for Jed to get home and having to get James ready to go I was already a 6 by the time we got to the hospital and I was definitely ready for an epidural though it still took 2 hours for me to get it what with waiting for paperwork and blood work, etc. But once that epidural was in it was smooth sailing.

Around 8 I called the nurse in because I was feeling some pressure and after a quick check she confirmed that I was complete. The nurse went to have me do a practice push but then told me to stop mid-push because baby was right there and she needed to get the doctor. Once the doctor was there and everything was set up I started pushing and Claire was born just a few minutes later!

This labor and recovery has been a completely different experience than I had with James, though I did go into labor with both of them at night :) With James I pushed for 2 and a half hours before he was born with the assistance of forceps. I needed 33 stitches and then fainted shortly after labor because of blood loss. Even after having to get a blood transfusion I still felt weak for weeks after having James. With Claire pushing was super fast, I only needed one stitch and I've been feeling so much better. Thank goodness too because even with my Mom here James still wants attention from me and of course Claire needs lots of love!

James is doing great with handling the new baby in the house. Occasionally he tells me to put the baby down but for the most part he likes to help and is super cute with her.

We love our little Claire and can't wait to spend even more time snuggling with her!