Look out World...Here I Come

We recently got to celebrate Clara's second birthday. Before I do a post about all the partying we did with her, I wanted to share about her exciting entrance into our lives. Clara was due the weekend after Thanksgiving...but she had another idea in mind!

It was a Wednesday morning (October 18th), and I was up early with Lilly as usual. (Remember that she was only ten months and ten days old at the time!) We had plans to go into Louisville that afternoon to meet my sister in law and nephew for a photo session of the kids in their Halloween costumes. Through Lilly's breakfast and playtime that morning, I was feeling a little under the weather, and while she was taking her morning nap I decided to take a bath and get ready for our trip. I began having some mild aching in my back, and at the risk of being gross on here, lets just say I thought I had to use the bathroom...and just couldn't. When Lilly woke up, instead of having lunch and playtime at home, I went ahead and began the drive to the city. My doctors were there anyway, and I thought that if I didn't feel any better by the time I reached my parents house, I'd give them a call and see what they suggested. About ten minutes into my drive on I-65, I realized that there was more going on than I'd originally thought. The cramping got worse, and closer together...and even though I wouldn't admit yet that I was in labor...on some level, I knew it. So here I was...in labor, driving in the car with my ten month old, and nothing else but her diaper bag, and a chicken costume.

Upon arriving at my parents house, I put Lilly down for a nap and called my doctor. He suggested I come on in to see how things were. I still fully expected he would tell me it was nothing and he'd see me at my next appointment in a week, and I'd be done just in time for our photo session. I called my dad, who came home to sit with Lilly while I ran to the office and ended up filling my mom in...she met me at the doc's office. Boy am I glad she did. Steve was on his way home from work, and I'd told him not to worry about it. I was sure it was nothing, and he should go home and let the dog out. Luckily he decided against that and ended up meeting me at the hospital. It turns out that I didn't have any water left, and Clara was coming early...Mom and I made our way to Labor and Delivery.

Now, here I am in pre-term labor (I probably have been at some level for at least eight or nine hours) and I'm waiting for a C-Section. There are a million things I could be worried about surrounding Clara's delivery and the fact that she is early. But that is not what is on my mind. I am concerned because she is going to be born before Halloween, and she won't have a costume. Stupid, right?! I know. I think on some level this was my minds way of preventing me from focusing on all the things that could be wrong with her, and concentrating on something really trivial. So while we waited for surgery, we decided that since Lilly was a chicken for the holiday, Clara would be an egg. It was very cute...and now you know the answer to the old adage of what came first, the chicken or the egg. It was the chicken, by ten months and ten days. ;-)

Clara was born around 8:30 that evening, and was beautiful. They did watch her breathing closely for the first 24 hours, and we had to work with her eating. She was also a bit jaundiced...but she was perfect. She came home with me on Saturday to meet her big sister. And that was the very fist time that Lilly pulled up...to meet her baby sister, and welcome her home. It was a beautiful moment that I will always treasure.


Clara is still full of surprises, and I'm pretty sure it will stay that way for quite some time. I've yet to decide if that is a good or bad thing, but it adds to our adventure nonetheless, and I wouldn't have her any other way.