At Last!

What a difference a week makes! Our Clara is here, safe and progressing well! We checked in to the University of Utah hospital Sunday night (3/25) to begin the induction, and she finally arrived through c-section Tuesday night (3/27). She weighed 6lb 14oz and has stolen our hearts completely!

Clara in her transport, just an
hour after delivery

 Monday morning, I hadn't dilated much on the first med, so we decided it was time to start the pitocin. We also had them do the epidural that morning. I had heard so many stories about it hurting and such, but it really went well and the first my major fears was alleviated. They also hooked up a catheter, which I kind of liked. I drink a lot of water, so to not have to get up and pee every 30 minutes was kind of a relief. I also received an exciting new bracelet to remind all around me that I was a fall risk-a bright yellow marker to ensure I didn't try to stand on my own. No worries, my legs were numb.
I had invited my mom to join us in the labor room, and previous to any delivery action, during the times I could convince Todd to go rest, my sisters and sister in law visited as well. I loved the time we spent having a design meeting to organize our plans for this year, and Kim was (as always) super helpful and full of ideas on getting Clara here faster. (I'll spare you the details of her dilation chants and such, if you were in the waiting room, you probably caught an encore anyway!) I had so much fun for most of this process, I'm not sure if that's how it is supposed to go, but I truly enjoyed it! From our room, we could see the monitors for all the women in labor and we loved watching the other ladies' contractions get bigger and bigger and then go to deliver, it was like a very slow race where everyone, eventually, wins!
Later Monday afternoon, the doctor (Dr J. Lo, for the record! She was amazing!) was ready to break my water. I warned her and the nurse, as they got towels ready, that all my NST techs had said I had a lot of fluid. I warned them to get more towels. No one listened, and boy were they sorry! Todd, the doctor, the nurse and I could not stop laughing, it sounded like a babbling river and if I hadn't already set my heart on Clara, I might have changed her name to Brook at that point!
Not much progress was made Monday night, though we did get a bit of sleep. Some time that  morning, I dilated a bit more, but then stalled. They turned the pitocin off temporarily and then started it over, which FINALLY got things going. Before I knew it, it was late evening and it was finally time to push. It was down to just me, Todd, my mom and the nurse and doctor. Every medical professional that had checked me felt like Clara was pretty big, about 8 pounds, and Dr. Lo was concerned about that combined with my small pelvis, having been in labor for 2 days, Clara being face up and my water having been broken over 24 hours previously. So she let me push for about an hour, and then let us decide if we wanted to continue or move to do a c section. I was so tired and just wanted my baby here safely, so we decided on the c section.

Todd in his scrubs, ready
for our big event. They made
him turn over his keys for these
scrubs, in order to ensure they
got them back. Apparently, this
is a problem in the OR these days.

They moved us to the operating room and as soon as the incision was made, had Todd join us. I remember being overwhelmed when, after a nurse put bracelets on he and I, he whispered that his said "father." It was so exciting and I was so proud of how strong and loving he had been during the whole process. He 'slept' on this awful pull-out couch and hardly ate or left my side. He had spent two days laboring as hard, if not harder, than I and we were so ready!
Clara was finally born at 8:16 PM. When they got her out, they held her up for a moment for Todd to see. She made a face like she was screaming, but no noise was coming out. We didn't know it until later, but she wasn't breathing. We had already been prepared that she would be taken to the NICU immediately for cleaning and testing and such, so we weren't surprised when I didn't get to even see her. We were just glad there were so many smart professionals there to take care of her and keep her safe. We were taken back to the labor room and waited for about an hour. Then, the Lifeflight crew finally brought this little miracle in to our room. She was in this giant plastic box on a transport bed and was covered in wires, had a breathing tube in, and was so beautiful! We got to see her for just about 10 minutes, before she took a trip down the hall to quickly visit her waiting paparazzi-our most amazing families were in the waiting room, and got to snap photos as she wheeled by on her way to Primary Children's next door. Todd got to follow the crew and make sure she was settled for the night, and I was transferred to the recovery unit. Our little one had finally, finally arrived and she was so perfect!

Our first family picture