On Tuesday April 30th at 7:20am, Tim, Amelia and I welcomed Clara Marie to our family. She entered this world weighing 7 pounds 1 ounce and measured 20 inches in length. She is as beautiful as big sister Amelia :)
For a few days prior to Clara's birth, I was having minor contractions. I had my 37 week check-up on Wednesday April 24th and it was determined that I would have a repeat c-section. I was feeling pretty unsettled with this decision as it seemed the only reason I had a c-section with Amelia was because of her positioning. The doctor scheduled my section for Tuesday May 7th. I had a feeling I would go into labor before that date so, I spent the next several days cleaning, gardening and finishing up some projects at work.
On Monday, April 29th my co-workers and I went to Chili's for lunch. We joked that the food at Chili's would put me into labor as that was the lunch I had with them the day before having Amelia. After lunch we returned to the office and I finished up a few things. The weather was pretty miserable that day. It was raining and chilly. When I got home from work, I spent some time playing with Amelia and put together a quick dinner. After dinner Tim put up the remaining trim in the bathroom and I scrubbed the tub.
The three of us sat down around 8:00pm to relax and watch a bit of TV. Amelia had her snack, we read to her and put her to bed. I told Tim I wasn't feeling that great and thought baby number 2 may be arriving in the next few days. By 9:30pm I was having contractions about ten minutes apart from each other. I was feeling a little panicked and wasn't sure what to expect as this was a bit different then my labor with Amelia.
I decided to try and relax so, I logged onto the internet and poof around 10:45pm---my water broke. Tim was in the other room resting and I let him know it was time to go to the hospital. He called his mom to come stay with Amelia. As he did that, I called my doctor's office. I was so relieved when I heard Dr. Han was on call that night. I had seen her for an OB visit earlier in my pregnancy. She was a real advocate of VBACs. When I arrived at the hospital I told the nurse I wanted to attempt a vaginal birth. Deep inside I knew I had to try because I did not want to always wonder.
My labor progressed relatively quickly and without problems. I was fully dilated around 5am and began pushing. After about an hour of unsuccessful pushing the doctor made the call to perform a c section. The procedure went very smoothly and it was determined a piece of my pelvic bone was too narrow for a 7lb baby. All in all I'm so happy with myself for trying and have no regrets.
Over the past seven weeks Clara has grown and continues to do well. She has been smiling and loves watching Amelia run around.
Tim and I are so happy with our 2nd blessing and look forward to watching both girls grow.
Clara's stats:
Birth: 7 lbs 1 oz
1week: 7 lbs 0.5 oz
3 weeks: 8lbs 13 ozs
