Updates and Introductions

Just some small updates!

We went went to get Clara's bilirubin levels tested again on Saturday. She was a pro, slept through the whole thing! Her level went down about 5 points so no worries anymore about jaundice!

We went to get her hearing screen done on Tuesday, but had to wait until today. She passed no problems (we weren't surprised) so that issue is done as well.

We don't know how much more weight she has gained back, but we can definitely see some chubby cheeks coming back so we don't see any issues coming; we will find out her weight at her two week appointment on Monday.

We had her newborn pictures done this week. They turned out absolutely beautiful, even if I am a biased momma. I can't wait to show them off!

We introduced Clara to our dogs last week. We have a Schnauzer (Kimmie) and a Vizsla mix (Kletus). We introduced them one at a time. Kimmie came in and smelled the whole house. Once she calmed down. I took Clara and gave her to A, then called Kimmie over. She smelled Clara thoroughly then curled up by her and put her head on Clara's feet. She also will come find me if we don't get Clara quick enough when she is crying. I think she likes her. We did the same thing with Kletus, he smelled all over as well, but after smelling Clara, he went on his happy way, he doesn't seem to care one way or another, but he does occasionally come up and smell her.

Looking her over

Deciding to keep her

Helping me watch her after a late night feeding

Getting introduced before losing interest

Clara's First Appointment

Clara had her first appointment today!

All dressed and ready to go!

We had a couple concerns to discuss with the Dr. today. The first was her weight. Normally the doctors don't like for babies to lose more than 10% of their body weight. Clara lost about 11% of her body weight while in the hospital (down a whole pound), but we were able to go ahead and go home. Today when they weighed her she had gained about an ounce and a half back. Yay! So her weight is looking good.

The second concern we had is her jaundice. Her bilirubin levels were slightly elevated when we left the hospital, once again not enough to worry about. The doctor had us take her to test her levels again. We got the results this afternoon and her levels have elevated further (which we had expected). So now we have to get her tested again tomorrow to make sure that the levels have peaked and are on their way down. If they continue to elevate she will have to be kept and put under a lamp. So we are hoping that her levels are on their way down when we take her tomorrow. I'm not looking forward to them getting more blood from her, but she handled it really well today. They had to stick her twice, first in the arm, and then in the heel...not fun. For now, we had her sunbathing this evening and will again in the morning, hoping to help bring her levels down.

Soaking in the sun

Overall the appointment went really well and we'll go back when she's two weeks old. She's keeping us busy! Coming up in our Clara schedule: jaundice retest tomorrow (and possibly Sunday), newborn pictures on Monday, hearing screening Monday or Tuesday. Loving every minute!

How We're Doing

Hello all! I just wanted to do a small update on how things are going.

Clara is doing really well. After her initial issues from swallowing fluid during the c-section, her vitals have been great. Right now the only issue is she has not passed the hearing test twice now, but nobody is concerned. She does hear, but she more than likely still has fluid in her ears from the c-section keeping her from passing. So the plan is to bring her back up here next Tuesday to redo the test, just to give the fluid in her ears a chance to go away. So we are just asking for prayers that she passes next week with no further issues.

My recovery is also going well. My only complication is that my blood count has been low the past couple of days. Once again they aren't overly concerned and I'm taking iron pills. Overall my recovery has been worlds better than it was last time. 

Right now the plan is to head home sometime tomorrow! The weather isn't supposed to be that great so prayers for safe traveling is greatly appreciated!

Thank you to everyone who has prayed for us and Clara throughout this pregnancy and her arrival. God continues to bless us! 

Meet Clara Jeanette!

This is Erin bright and early at 7:30 this morning! Isn't she beautiful!

This is Clara sometime this afternoon after we flipped her to her back. From this point on she started improving consistently.

This is the beautiful girl after she has been brought back up to see her Mom!

    What a day it has been today! So you don't get confused this is Aaron. We started off bright and early at 6:00, that is as much as we could sleep in this morning. Arrived at 8:00, got checked in. We were scheduled to in for the surgery at 10:00, that ended up being closer to 11:30. This is the small price we play for having an amazing doctor. Things went great until Clara was born. At this point we started to have some concerns. There was fluid in her lungs, as is fairly common with babies delivered via c-section. We kept her in the delivery room hoping her oxygen saturation would climb up above 92%. She was unable to do this. 

    So they brought us down the elevator to the transition room. For those unaware, as was I, the transition room is a half-way room between the delivery room and the NICU. If we stayed on oxygen for three hours she would be admitted to the NICU. This was the same NICU where we said good-bye to Noah. This brought back many uneasy feelings for me and I was hoping it didn't come to this for Clara. Typically babies only stay at this particular transition room for three hours. At the 2 hour 45 minute mark the nurse was able to remove the oxygen and her numbers were decent, not ideal but manageable. So this bought us some more time. After another two hours her numbers were consistently where they needed to be and we were finally able to come see Momma! What a beautiful sight to see Clara in her momma's arms! I did not leave her side from the time she was delivered until she was able to see her mother. It was 5 1/2 hours after she was born, but it honestly only seemed about 30 minutes to me. 

    She is healthy and beautiful! She was 7lbs 12oz, 20 1/2" long. She has dark brown hair and is absolutely perfect! As I am typing this tonight Erin is feeling pretty well, sleepy, but well. I am beyond content with the blessings that God has provided us. I am looking forward to the next chapter that lies before our family. Thanks goes out to all of those who have offered prayers for us! I do not know where we would be without those prayers. I love you guys and I am about to go hold my darling little girl!

Final Countdown!

We are in the final weekend! I haven't updated in awhile, but everything is still going well! Our c-section got moved up a day so we will be meeting Clara Sunday morning! Today and tomorrow we will be getting all the little things done here I want to have finished before we leave Saturday evening for the city. My dream is for the house to be clean when we get back so I don't have to worry about it so we'll see how it goes. As far as everything being ready for Clara though, we are all set. Her nursery is set up, her bag is packed, cloth diapers are all prepped and ready to go, we are just waiting to meet her! We will update here either Sunday evening or Monday morning! In the meantime here are the pictures of her finished nursery. We will hang some newborn pictures up on the wall above her crib and I may get a rug for the floor but otherwise it is done!