Clara's Birth Slideshow and Video

This slideshow was made by me in iMovie. Photo & music cred at the end of the slideshow. Hope you enjoy!

Clara Randolph is Two Months Old!

The last month has flown by (or maybe it just seems that way since my one month blog post was about two weeks late)!  Clara's little personality is really starting to come out.  She has started smiling socially now and it's really stinking cute (pictures to follow).  She enjoys eating but only straight from the tap.  We've been trying to do the bottle thing for the last week or so and she is not a fan at all.  I go back to work in about three weeks so we're pretty stressed about that. Ughhh!  She's also still a pretty big fan of sleeping, especially in Mommy's arms or being worn in the ring sling or Moby wrap on Mommy (she's a pretty big fan of any and all things that have to do with Mommy).  She's not the biggest fan of Daddy (something else we're stressed about with me returning to work soon).  When I'm wearing her, she likes to hang on to my shirt and I just think it's so darn cute.

In just the past few nights, I've started trying to get her to sleep in the Pack n Play in our room for short periods and she's done better than I expected.  She's fallen asleep on her own in the PnP on at least three of the nights and she's stayed asleep for three hours on two occasions and last night, she slept for five hours straight!  This all gives me hope that Jeff may survive when I go back to work!  And that we won't be as sleep deprived as we always have been with Eden (who still wakes up at least once a night on most nights).

Clara is very healthy although we have dealt with some (what we think is normal) gas issues.  Her pooping slowed down to once every 2-4 days and she seemed pretty uncomfortable on many evenings and especially in the car at times.  I started giving her a probiotic called Gerber Soothe probiotic drops about a week ago and she's been going poop MUCH more often (at least once a day) and seems a lot less gassy already.  She also hasn't had any screaming fits in the car *knock on wood.*  I don't have any concrete stats on her right now since she hasn't been weighed since her one month check up.  I know she weighs over 11 lbs and she is a long girl.  She has a big head like the rest of our family but probably not quite as big as her sister's.  She's been rocking some pretty cute bows in that head and still sports some really cute hair all the time.  Haha.  She's pretty solidly in 3 month clothing and is transitioning to size 2 diapers after having lots of leaks, especially after not getting a diaper change through the night. She just started rolling from her belly to her back during tummy time.

World Breastfeeding Week 2016

Happy World Breastfeeding Week!  Today marks 945 days that I have been breastfeeding.  Needless to say, there isn't much I haven't experienced.  Low supply, clogged ducts, mastitis, sore nipples, nipple trauma, tongue tie, nursing strikes, growth spurts, pumping, nursing and returning to work, nursing a toddler, nursing in public, nursing during pregnancy, tandem nursing a toddler and an infant, oversupply, overactive letdown, engorgement, etc., etc., etc.  You can read about my early breastfeeding days and the obstacles Eden and I overcame here and here.  As you can imagine, there have been many ups and downs, good days and bad days, rewards and sacrifices…but I wouldn't change a thing.  And I'm so very thankful for breastfeeding and what it has done for me.

When I first went to the amazing International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC) who grew to be like family and played a vital role in saving me and Eden's breastfeeding relationship, she told me to take lots of pictures of me nursing Eden.  I thought that was strange and didn't really take her advice to heart.  Over two years later and I see what she meant.  And I wish I had more pictures of me nursing Eden when she was an infant.  I take pictures of her nursing now any time I can because you never know when it'll be her last time.  I don't think she's anywhere close to weaning (and I plan to let her wean herself when she's ready) but you just never know.  I don't have many pictures of me nursing both girls because 1. I try not to nurse them both at the same time any more than I absolutely have to and 2. It's really impossible to take a selfie of all three of us (until Jeff gets me a selfie stick like he says he will).  Here are a few pictures I've taken recently.

Clara Randolph is One Month Old

Well, it has been two weeks since Clara turned a month old and I am finally getting around to publishing this blog post so this is going to be short and sweet…

It became apparent from the start that Clara is much more laid back than her big sister.  She is a pretty happy baby and we have thoroughly enjoyed having her around. It's definitely been an adjustment, especially for big sister, Eden.  Having to share Mommy and Daddy when she's had them all to herself for over 2 years has not been easy.  But we have seen a slight improvement over this first month and I think we may all survive, haha.

Weight: 10 lbs. 5 oz. 

Length: 22 1/2 in.

Head Circumference: 15 in. 

Loves to cuddle all the time, especially with Mommy.

Loves to nurse and does so quite efficiently.  

Graduated to size 1 diapers just a week or so after she was born.

Still squeezing into newborn clothes but not for much longer!

Has some pretty bad baby acne and dry skin but is otherwise "the picture of perfect health."

The Birth of Clara Randolph

In the final days of my pregnancy, I was having very few noticeable contractions and I really wasn’t feeling too anxious to get her out.  The main reason I was ready to give birth was because I had pretty much checked everything off my to-do list and I wasn’t really sure what else to do with myself other than just have the baby already!  Also, my house was clean and if she waited too much longer to make her debut, it would not be clean any longer (I mean, a toddler lives here).  So, when I went to see my midwife on Tuesday, May 31, I had her check my cervix just to see what was going on in there.  I am really not a fan of getting a lot of cervical checks because they don’t tell you much and they carry unnecessary risks but I figured it couldn’t hurt just to see how dilated and effaced I was.  Well, I was glad my midwife checked me because although I was only dilated maybe 1cm, my cervix was very soft, and she noted that baby’s head wasn’t in the optimal position on my cervix to make it start opening.  So, she gave me a DVD with some exercises/yoga stretches to help get baby into an optimal position.  That evening, when I got home, after walking around at Target and a couple other stores, I was feeling quite a bit of pressure down in my pelvis.  I had a feeling that that night was possibly THE night.  So, I got Eden to bed (which took FOR-E-VER) and finally went downstairs and did the yoga DVD.  Then, I headed to bed as soon as possible so I could get plenty of rest.  The night passed uneventfully and Eden woke up at 6:30am (Ughhh).  I was lying in our bed nursing her as we always do when I heard/felt (?) a pop and I knew right away that my water had broken.  I jumped up and ran to the bathroom, telling Eden that I had to pee (which was also true).  She was not happy at all and cried, unable to be consoled by Daddy.  Not a lot of amniotic fluid came out but it was definitely enough to be certain that my membranes had indeed ruptured.  I threw on some underwear and a huge pad, threw a chux pad under me, and crawled back into bed and continued nursing Eden.  It was about 6:50am at this point, so I figured my water broke around 6:45am.  My plan was to try and rest and see if I started having any contractions.  I emailed my midwife since it was still so early in the morning.  I nursed Eden for a little while longer and had a couple contractions.  They really weren’t painful and they lasted only about 30 seconds each.  They were just a few minutes apart but I figured I would just keep an eye on them and see if they continued to be that close together.  I was curious to see if they would continue when I stopped nursing.  Jeff got up with Eden so I could try and get some rest before what would probably be an eventful day of labor but I continued to have contractions and, at this point, I was too excited to go back to sleep.  So, I got up and jumped in the shower.  I continued to have contractions pretty close together so I decided to call my midwife at 7:40am.  My phone call woke her up and so, she said she would get up and get ready and head my direction (she lives about an hour and a half away from me).  She didn’t want to come to my house too early and was just going to hang out in Lynchburg until I felt like I needed her.  I wasn’t really sure when she should come so I asked for a little more concrete time frame for when she would want to come (how close together my contractions needed to be, etc.) and with that question, she decided maybe she should just head straight to my house.  I also messaged a few of my close friends and let them know that my water had broken and it seemed like I was in labor.  One of those friends also happened to be the person designated to watch Eden so we needed to make plans to get her over there.  At this point, I went downstairs and ate a peanut butter and honey sandwich.  I turned on the playlist I had made which consisted mostly of praise songs.  (During the hour and a half drive to the birth center when I was in labor with Eden, we listened to my Meredith Andrews and Kari Jobe albums and I sang through my contractions which seemed to help a lot so I decided to expound upon that this time and made an entire playlist). My friend came around this time to pick Eden up.  She was very upset and did not want to leave me.  This made me so sad but my contractions were already so painful that there was no way she could stay any longer.  She wanted me to hold her and I couldn’t.  She wanted to play with me and I couldn’t.  I had a really good cry after she left.  The next time I saw her, she wouldn’t be my only baby anymore!!! :,(

I decided I wanted to eat a little more so I started making a smoothie.  It took forever because I kept getting interrupted by contractions.  They were already debilitating at this point and pretty close together.  I tried to sing through my contractions but they were very intense and it was not helping much.  I was starting to panic slightly as things were progressing very quickly!  I sent Jeff to start getting the birth pool set up because I really wanted to get in ASAP.  While he was working on it, I started pulling the hose and adaptor out.  Much to my dismay, I discovered that the adaptor was not going to work on the downstairs sink.  It would only work on the shower upstairs.  This presented a major problem since we were planning to set the birth pool up in the Dining Room and the hose would definitely not reach all the way from the upstairs shower down to the Dining Room.  I was starting to freak out a little but decided to let Jeff worry about that.  I needed pain relief and I needed it fast.  So, I got in the regular tub.  Jeff worked on getting the birth pool set up in our guest bedroom.  It wasn’t an ideal space but it would have to do!  While I was in the tub, I was messaging family and some close friends about the progress of my labor.  I asked Jeff’s family to pray for me because I was having a difficult time coping with the pain.  Jeff’s sweet sister, Robin, offered to come over to support me and I accepted without hesitation.  I was worried that my midwife and her assistant would not arrive for another 30 minutes or so and I wasn’t sure I could make it until then.  Robin lives about 20 minutes away but I didn’t really care about the timing at that point.  So, I survived through several more VERY intense contractions in the tub before Robin arrived around 9:45am and was wonderful.  She rubbed and provided counter pressure on my lower back and gave me words of affirmation to make it through each contraction.  My midwife showed up not long after that and listened to baby’s heartbeat with the Doppler (it was good) and checked my vitals (they were good).  I started having some nausea after contractions at this point so she went to her car and got some peppermint oil.  It really helped and, praise God, I did not throw up.  I had the thought in the back of my mind, at this point, that I may be in transition.  After another contraction or two, I decided to try to go pee and I just stayed sitting on the toilet to wait for the birth pool to finish filling up.  My wonderful birth photographer arrived at this time.

After what felt like an eternity and the torture of a few contractions, the pool was finally full and I could get in.  It didn’t take long after getting in for me to feel the urge to push.  I tried not to push too hard but instead to let the baby work her way down with each contraction. After just a few contractions, this became impossible as the urge to push overcame me.  The whole time I was in the tub, I was leaning over the side in a semi-squat position or kind of on all four’s.  This was my planned position for pushing in order to push more effectively and to hopefully avoid tearing. Jeff got in the tub not long after I did and he and my midwife were offering perineal support (and other unmentionable things…suffice it to say Jeff should win “Hubby of the Year Award”).  It wasn’t long before I could feel her head full of hair and I was pushing that big head out.  It’s kind of weird but one of my favorite memories of her birth is this point, when I had just delivered her head, and I reached down and felt all of her soft hair on that perfect round little head.  Just a minute later, with another push, the rest of her body was out. Jeff was positioned to catch her but I pushed his hand out of the way (so he says, lol) and I caught my baby. At 11:05am, 4 hours and 20 minutes after my water broke, Clara Randolph was born.  I pulled her up between my legs and out of the water. Then, as I was trying to unwrap her cord from around her neck, I accidentally dunked her back under the water. It’s a good thing my midwife was there to keep her from drowning because I had never thought of it being an issue before, lol.  Her lungs were a little gurgly and she needed to be bulb suctioned but she cleared everything out just fine within several minutes. I settled back against Jeff and we admired our new, perfect baby girl together. After several minutes (10? 15?), we decided to go ahead and cut the cord so I could stand up and deliver the placenta. Tita Bones (Jeff’s sister and Clara’s aunt) held her while Jeff and I got out of the tub. We settled onto our bed and I cuddled with Clara and nursed her for the first time. She latched great. The next few hours were spent doing Clara’s newborn exam, stitching me up (yes, I tore, ughh), Eden meeting her baby sister for the first time, getting food, and announcing our exciting news to friends and family.  Clara weighed a whopping 8 lbs 10 oz, almost a whole pound more than her sister! I was quite surprised. She measured 21 ¾ in. long, too (five days later at her first doctor’s appointment, she measured 21 in. and I think that was probably more accurate). Eden was pretty unsure about her baby sister and wanted to nurse right away but did seem excited overall. In the last 2 weeks, Eden adjusting to having to share Mommy has been our biggest challenge but that’s another post for another day. Thanks for reading my (surprisingly long) birth story.

I was so relieved!

Love at first sight.

Daddy cutting the cord.

Tita Bones holding Clara for Mommy & Daddy to get out of the tub. Look at all that vernix! 

She weighed a whopping 8 lbs 10 oz!

Look at those feet.  LOVE!

Eden seeing her baby sister for the first time.

Kisses for baby sister. <3

My babies.  I am so blessed.

Big Sister, Eden.

My wonderful midwife, Degra.

My midwife and her assistant, Debbie.  Eden had to get in on the action, too (but she didn't want to look at the camera, lol).

Cuddles with Daddy while Mommy got stitched up.

All of these wonderful photos were taken by KerrisaJoelle Photography.

Bump Photos, Weeks 28 through 39

I've been majorly slacking when it comes to the blog, so, in an effort to play catch up, I'm posting my bump photos from the last one I posted (week 26) until the last one we took (week 39).

Week 28

Week 30

Week 32

Week 34

Week 36

Week 39 (Taken 4 days before Clara was born)

Stay tuned for my birth story!