Halloween Fun and Games

Grace had a great Halloween weekend. Friday, she had a circus themed carnival at school. Steve was off work so took her and after feeding Claire, I joined them.

Their day started out with a parade which she wanted no part of. Steve said she came out crying. She also wouldn't stand on the stage and show off her costume. But she did participate in all the activities they had for them.





By Saturday night, you would have thought she'd been trick or treating for years. We let her go to a few houses around us and she acted like a pro. The one hard thing she needs to learn is that she doesn't have to eat each piece as she gets it. She'd get back in her car and want us to open what she'd just received. She'd had 4 or 5 pieces before bed - could have been worse.


Claire's been a sweet baby. She basically just eats and sleeps. We'll see her awake a few times during the day, but not for very long. She continues to be a trooper as Grace learns to be gentle.

Introducing Claire Brennan Vela

Claire arrived at 11:38 am on Monday, October 26, 2009. She weighed 7 pounds and 9 ounces and was 20 inches long.

I arrived at Labor and Delivery Monday morning at 5 am. They started the pitocin around 6:45 or so. Luckily I was about 2 cm dilated and 50% effaced when they started. The pain got pretty ugly about 9:30 so I asked for the epidural. Because of the problems with my heart, they didn't put me on the slow drip like usual. Instead, the CRNA stayed in the room with me. With each contraction, she would monitor the pain and manually give me a boost. Because of this, I felt so much more than when I had Grace - I could always feel my legs whereas I couldn't with Grace. At 11:00, I was between 4 and 5 cm then quickly progressed from there. Such that the OB had to run from her office in the connecting building.

My heart held up during the labor. I follow up with another echocardiogram next week to see if things have returned to a comfortable, normal level. If not, no more nursing and on the meds we go.

Claire has been a wonderful baby so far. She cried more than Grace when she first arrived, but hasn't been terribly fussy at all since then. She has even gotten 3 slaps on the head from You Know Who.

Grace loved Claire at first. Wanted to hold her and kiss her. But within the hour, I heard her crying. She was wanting to put Claire in the back of the car and have her go away. Today has been better, she hasn't asked for her to be shipped off. She has wanted her famous bathing suit to be put on her as well as wanted her to eat her sandwich and drink her agua.

We knew Claire was going to have a lot of hair from the sonogram. However, we joked about, but never anticipated that it would be dark! Aside from the dark hair, they really do favor each other.

Grace

Claire

Peter Peter Pumpkin Eater

Yes, Grace did try to take a bite out of the pumpkins on our trip to the pumpkin patch. But she also wanted to give it a kiss.






Look how much my little pumpkin has changed in a year!


But there's just something about loving on those pumpkins!

Reality Check

We're almost to the end of this pregnancy - thank goodness!! It has been 9 months of dysfunction basically. First, the scare with the blood screening resulting in amniocentesis last May. Then, the horrible stomach bug in July that put me in the hospital overnight. Third, getting diagnosed with peripartum cardiomyopathy at 33 weeks. Now, at my 37 week appointment last week, she hooked me up to the 2 belts that graph the baby's heart rate and my contractions and saw some decelerations of the baby's heart rate that she didn't like. She wanted me to go to labor and delivery as soon as possible. I had to make arrangements first for Grace who I was supposed to pick up from school in an hour. I knew Steve was unreachable and when I could get a hold of him, needed him with me. Her school was more than accommodating in making sure she'd get lunch and a nap and would just need to be picked up by 3. Thankfully, Steve's mom was willing and able to drive the 2 1/2 hrs to get Grace from school.

Once I was hooked up to all the machines, got an IV, had blood drawn, and had a sonogram, everything turned out fine. There's just several people in line wanting to have a talk with Claire when she arrives.

Speaking of, my induction date is Monday, October 26. The girl doing the sonogram couldn't believe how much hair she could see. It left us wondering if it'll be as much as Grace had? What if it's dark instead of all the blonde hair Grace was born with?? She was about 12 oz smaller than Grace at the same point too.

So after laying in the hospital worrying about all I needed to do, I managed to tackle some of it this weekend while I was supposed to be on bedrest. I got some newborn diapers and couldn't believe how tiny they were. I think in my mind that I think of a baby as Grace's size. Nope, these diapers wouldn't be big enough to clean Grace's runny nose.

a tissue, Claire's diaper, Grace's diaper

The Next Tory Burch

I don't think Grace is going to be a CPA like her mommy; nor a doctor like her daddy. But instead a fashion designer.

Her first design is for the 2010 swimsuit season. It features a layered look perfect for anyone worried about getting too much sun. The first layer is for the surfer girl finished off with a look perfect for any Little Mermaid fan.


side note: yes, she brought this to me to put on her in that order.

Her second design involves no cutting. You get the nice, twisted shoulder look by taking one arm and running it up and over the neckline. I heard one shoulder looks were hot this fall, but she's stepped it up a notch and featured it in pajamas.


side note: yes, this is how I found her one morning in her crib. She's gotten really good at taking her clothes off lately.

Claire's World - 36 weeks

Just a few more weeks before Claire arrives. She'll most likely make her debut my 38th week. I've officially been labeled "High Risk Pregnancy" due to "peripartum cardiomyopathy". All is well and we are in good hands with T's being crossed and I's being dotted. I'm praying this reverses itself soon so that post delivery, I'm not pumped full of drugs that'll prevent me from breastfeeding. I'm going to the OB and cardiologist weekly to monitor everything. Claire is low and head down, but I haven't dilated.

Here are some pics of her nursery. I still need to bring in the changing pad from Grace's room and put it on top of her dresser.

It's Good To Be....

A BIG SISTER


We had a Big Sister party for Grace this weekend to spoil her one last time and let her know that she's going to be a wonderful Big Sister.


I made her this shirt that didn't turn out like I'd expected - more like a bunch of letters on top of each other. It's actually her name appliqued with Big Sister on top. I fixed what I think is her favorite food - homemade mac n cheese. We also had cake and ice cream. She loves ice cream and signs it all the time.



We got her a Cozy Coupe car to keep her busy when Claire comes. She plays in the one at school all the time so we thought she'd like one at home. Nana and Granddad brought her some Bitty Baby feeding accessories so that when I'm feeding Claire, she can feed Bitty Baby....or vice versa.