I created this collage to show how much Claire has changed since birth! She looks so different to me!
May 14, 2013
3 months!
This sweet girl is 3 months old! Time is going by too fast! Luckily Dan was around this time to get Claire to smile while I took the pictures. I love her 3 month photos! She is just too cute :).
3 Months:
3 Months:
- Claire took her very first road trip up North for Calvin's baby blessing. She did awesome and slept most of the way!
- She is starting to take more regular naps.
- She is still in 0-3 month clothes although I am dying to put her in some of her cute 3-6 month clothes!
- This past month Claire discovered her feet. She loves trying to grab them, especially when I'm changing her diaper. It makes it a little more difficult!
- She is getting a lot better at tummy time, especially if she's propped up on the boppy pillow.
- She "talks" a lot more. She loves making noises back and forth with Dan and me. She smiles and laughs when we make the same noises as her!
- She will play patty cake with Dan, meaning if he claps then puts his hands up she'll put her hands on his. It is so cute! She'll only do it with Dan though, not me!
- She is starting to pay more attention to toys and will hold them.
- She will now look at books with me.
- She is always chewing and sucking on her hands, clothes, blanket and toys.
- We are starting to move her into her own room! I think it's been harder on me than it has on her. She sleeps great but I wake up constantly to see if she's ok.
We are having so much fun with Claire! She just gets cuter each day!
May 6, 2013
Claire's Birth Story
Now that my baby is 3 months old (almost) I am finally writing down her birth story. You can read it if you want, but it's more for me to have recorded somewhere. Ok here it goes... the story of Claire Michele Deceuster :).
At my 40 week appointment (a couple days past Claire's due date), my doctor told me I was almost dilated to a 3. He said if I didn't go into labor in the next few days he could induce me at 41 weeks. It felt good to know I wouldn't have to be pregnant much longer, although I was hoping Claire would decide to come on her own. We set up the induction appointment for Friday, February 8th. The doctor told me the hospital would call when they were ready to have us come in. On Wednesday of that week Dan came down with a bad cold. I wasn't sure what to do. I really didn't want Dan to be sick the whole time we were at the hospital and I also didn't want the baby to catch anything, so I decided to call my doctor to see what he thought. He told me he thought we should wait until the following Monday. As hard as it was to push the induction date back, I knew I was doing what was best for my family. One good thing about delivering on the following week was that my favorite doctor would deliver us (there are 2 at the practice I go to). The doctors trade off weeks, so I decided that was another bonus of waiting until the following week.
Monday, February 11th came and Claire still hadn't come on her own, so the hospital called at 5 am and asked if we could be there by 6:30 am. I was so happy we didn't have to wait all day for them to call us. I quickly got out of bed and started getting ready. By this point Claire was 10 days overdue and I was ready to have this baby! I got ready, packed a few last minute things, and then Dan and I took pictures of the last day it would just be the 2 of us. That is one nice thing about being induced, you have time to get ready and you aren't in a ton of pain.
We got to the hospital at 6:30 and they took me into the room where I would deliver. I changed into my hospital gown and then the nurse came in to do all of my paper work and hook up my IV. She checked my cervix and I was still only dilated to a 3. They started monitoring my contractions and the nurse told me I had been having them and I hadn't even noticed! I honestly thought I hadn't been having any contractions. She even said I had a few big ones and was surprised I didn't even notice them. By 8:00 am they started the pitocin and by 8:30 my doctor came in to break my water. Luckily he was already at the hospital doing a C-Section, so he was able to come right over to my room. Once my water was broken the contractions really started coming and then I was definitely noticing them! I tried to wait as long as I could until I got the epidural because my doctor told me the epidural slows things down. By 10:30 the contractions were pretty strong and I was ready for my epidural. By that time I had only dilated to a 4. The epidural really didn't hurt too bad and it kicked in quite quickly, which was nice. At this point we were just waiting for me to dilate fully. We watched some tv ("Let's Make a Deal" to be specific), we napped, and I ate jello for lunch. At 12:30 pm I had dilated to a 5. My doctor was even nice enough to stop by during his lunch break to check on me. We continued to wait and at 2:30 pm I was dilated to a 6+ and fully effaced. It felt like it was taking a long time to dilate and I figured at that rate I wouldn't be having the baby until late that night! The nurse came to check on me again at 3:10 pm and said I was at a 10! I was ready to push! I couldn't believe the last few centimeters only took 40 minutes! The baby was turned a little so they had me lay on my side for a bit to get her to turn the right way. Once the baby was in the right position I was able to start pushing. For some reason in my head I just figured I would push a couple of times and the baby would come right out. How wrong I was, I ended up pushing for an hour and a half! In the beginning I couldn't really feel myself pushing, so they turned the epidural down. I then was able to feel the contractions more and I was able to push better. I don't know how many times I pushed, but it was exhausting. Poor Dan had to hold one of my legs while a nursing student held the other one. I think he got pretty tired too. Dan and the nurse would always say "oh she's so close, she's so close" but then she wouldn't come! It was kind of driving me crazy. They even brought a mirror over so I could see her head. I think they thought it would help motivate me haha. After an hour or so of pushing I honestly didn't think I could push much longer. I was SO tired. I remember just praying in my head over and over for strength. Finally the baby was really close so the nurse ran and got my doctor. He came in for the last 2 pushes and delivered sweet, baby Claire! She came into this world at 5:15 pm and was 8 lbs. 15 oz and 21 inches long. They were all so sure she would weight 9 lbs. She was so beautiful with lots of hair! The Spirit she brought with her was so sweet and strong. They laid her on my chest and I broke into tears as I looked at my sweet, little miracle baby. I couldn't believe she was here and that she was mine! It was such a neat experience that I honestly can't even put into words.
They then took her and cleaned her all up. They did everything in the delivery room, which was nice. Dan was able to stay by her side the whole time as I watched from the other side of the room. Once she was all clean they brought her over to me to feed her and cuddle her. Dan and I were both so happy and felt so much love for our little girl!
The rest of the hospital stay wasn't too exciting. I remember ordering an oreo shake after she was born and thinking it tasted so good! I was so hungry after giving birth. The rest of the stay was filled with learning to feed Claire, lots of nurses and doctors coming in, and even some visitors. Dan's parents and his brother Ethan and his wife, Tiana, were Claire's very first visitors.
By day 3 I was so ready to go home! I was really sick of being in the hospital. The only thing I liked about being there was the food. It was nice having room service. I woke up on Wednesday morning at 6:30 and got all ready to leave. They said I couldn't go home until my doctor came and said it was ok for me to leave. I waited and he finally came over at 10 am. I was so happy to go to my own house and relax in my own bed.
So there you have it, that's how our sweet, adorable, amazing baby girl entered this world. We love her so much!
At my 40 week appointment (a couple days past Claire's due date), my doctor told me I was almost dilated to a 3. He said if I didn't go into labor in the next few days he could induce me at 41 weeks. It felt good to know I wouldn't have to be pregnant much longer, although I was hoping Claire would decide to come on her own. We set up the induction appointment for Friday, February 8th. The doctor told me the hospital would call when they were ready to have us come in. On Wednesday of that week Dan came down with a bad cold. I wasn't sure what to do. I really didn't want Dan to be sick the whole time we were at the hospital and I also didn't want the baby to catch anything, so I decided to call my doctor to see what he thought. He told me he thought we should wait until the following Monday. As hard as it was to push the induction date back, I knew I was doing what was best for my family. One good thing about delivering on the following week was that my favorite doctor would deliver us (there are 2 at the practice I go to). The doctors trade off weeks, so I decided that was another bonus of waiting until the following week.
Monday, February 11th came and Claire still hadn't come on her own, so the hospital called at 5 am and asked if we could be there by 6:30 am. I was so happy we didn't have to wait all day for them to call us. I quickly got out of bed and started getting ready. By this point Claire was 10 days overdue and I was ready to have this baby! I got ready, packed a few last minute things, and then Dan and I took pictures of the last day it would just be the 2 of us. That is one nice thing about being induced, you have time to get ready and you aren't in a ton of pain.
We got to the hospital at 6:30 and they took me into the room where I would deliver. I changed into my hospital gown and then the nurse came in to do all of my paper work and hook up my IV. She checked my cervix and I was still only dilated to a 3. They started monitoring my contractions and the nurse told me I had been having them and I hadn't even noticed! I honestly thought I hadn't been having any contractions. She even said I had a few big ones and was surprised I didn't even notice them. By 8:00 am they started the pitocin and by 8:30 my doctor came in to break my water. Luckily he was already at the hospital doing a C-Section, so he was able to come right over to my room. Once my water was broken the contractions really started coming and then I was definitely noticing them! I tried to wait as long as I could until I got the epidural because my doctor told me the epidural slows things down. By 10:30 the contractions were pretty strong and I was ready for my epidural. By that time I had only dilated to a 4. The epidural really didn't hurt too bad and it kicked in quite quickly, which was nice. At this point we were just waiting for me to dilate fully. We watched some tv ("Let's Make a Deal" to be specific), we napped, and I ate jello for lunch. At 12:30 pm I had dilated to a 5. My doctor was even nice enough to stop by during his lunch break to check on me. We continued to wait and at 2:30 pm I was dilated to a 6+ and fully effaced. It felt like it was taking a long time to dilate and I figured at that rate I wouldn't be having the baby until late that night! The nurse came to check on me again at 3:10 pm and said I was at a 10! I was ready to push! I couldn't believe the last few centimeters only took 40 minutes! The baby was turned a little so they had me lay on my side for a bit to get her to turn the right way. Once the baby was in the right position I was able to start pushing. For some reason in my head I just figured I would push a couple of times and the baby would come right out. How wrong I was, I ended up pushing for an hour and a half! In the beginning I couldn't really feel myself pushing, so they turned the epidural down. I then was able to feel the contractions more and I was able to push better. I don't know how many times I pushed, but it was exhausting. Poor Dan had to hold one of my legs while a nursing student held the other one. I think he got pretty tired too. Dan and the nurse would always say "oh she's so close, she's so close" but then she wouldn't come! It was kind of driving me crazy. They even brought a mirror over so I could see her head. I think they thought it would help motivate me haha. After an hour or so of pushing I honestly didn't think I could push much longer. I was SO tired. I remember just praying in my head over and over for strength. Finally the baby was really close so the nurse ran and got my doctor. He came in for the last 2 pushes and delivered sweet, baby Claire! She came into this world at 5:15 pm and was 8 lbs. 15 oz and 21 inches long. They were all so sure she would weight 9 lbs. She was so beautiful with lots of hair! The Spirit she brought with her was so sweet and strong. They laid her on my chest and I broke into tears as I looked at my sweet, little miracle baby. I couldn't believe she was here and that she was mine! It was such a neat experience that I honestly can't even put into words.
They then took her and cleaned her all up. They did everything in the delivery room, which was nice. Dan was able to stay by her side the whole time as I watched from the other side of the room. Once she was all clean they brought her over to me to feed her and cuddle her. Dan and I were both so happy and felt so much love for our little girl!
The rest of the hospital stay wasn't too exciting. I remember ordering an oreo shake after she was born and thinking it tasted so good! I was so hungry after giving birth. The rest of the stay was filled with learning to feed Claire, lots of nurses and doctors coming in, and even some visitors. Dan's parents and his brother Ethan and his wife, Tiana, were Claire's very first visitors.
By day 3 I was so ready to go home! I was really sick of being in the hospital. The only thing I liked about being there was the food. It was nice having room service. I woke up on Wednesday morning at 6:30 and got all ready to leave. They said I couldn't go home until my doctor came and said it was ok for me to leave. I waited and he finally came over at 10 am. I was so happy to go to my own house and relax in my own bed.
So there you have it, that's how our sweet, adorable, amazing baby girl entered this world. We love her so much!
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| One of the very first pictures of Claire. This was taken the night she was born. Her hair looked strawberry blonde with that hat on. |
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| After giving birth to Claire. I know I don't look that great, we were both pretty tired! I loved the way she would cuddle on my chest like that though. So sweet! |
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| The next morning! Claire at 1 day old. |
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| Dan and Claire. |
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| 1 day old. That scratch on her face was from her nails! |
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| One proud Dad! |
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| Ready to go home! I can't believe how small she looks! |
Friends
A couple of weeks ago our good friends, Miquette & Jon, & their baby, Elijah, came to visit. Elijah is about 6 weeks older than Claire, so it was lots of fun having another little friend in the house. We already decided one day they will probably get married :). It was so nice having friends who also had a little baby here because they completely understood feeding schedules and nap time schedules. Somehow we were able to work around both babies' schedules and have some fun!
The first night we went to eat the best pancakes in the world at the Black Bear Diner. They agreed, they were the best pancakes they had ever eaten. The next day we went walking (they were so excited to be in our warm weather) and while the men were working, Miquette and I (and the babies) went shopping and to Yogurtland. The babies were angels and slept the whole time! My favorite part while we were shopping was when Miquette was trying on clothes so I was standing with both babies, and a boy around 10 years old said to me... "are they triplets?" hahaha what? I showed him there were just 2 babies and only one of them was mine. I told him I did not want that many babies! haha :) On Saturday before they left we did a little more shopping at the outlets and then had lunch at Chick-fil-a.
It was so great seeing them, we hope they come back soon!
The first night we went to eat the best pancakes in the world at the Black Bear Diner. They agreed, they were the best pancakes they had ever eaten. The next day we went walking (they were so excited to be in our warm weather) and while the men were working, Miquette and I (and the babies) went shopping and to Yogurtland. The babies were angels and slept the whole time! My favorite part while we were shopping was when Miquette was trying on clothes so I was standing with both babies, and a boy around 10 years old said to me... "are they triplets?" hahaha what? I showed him there were just 2 babies and only one of them was mine. I told him I did not want that many babies! haha :) On Saturday before they left we did a little more shopping at the outlets and then had lunch at Chick-fil-a.
It was so great seeing them, we hope they come back soon!
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| Tummy time together! Claire is working on it, even though she hates it. One day she'll lift her head as good as Elijah! |
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| Claire & Me, Miquette & Elijah. So fun having babies about the same age! |
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| On our walk. Such great Dad's pushing the babies! |
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