Claire Grace Kambak

Oh my goodness! We are so in love with our little bundle. Claire Grace was born September 17, 2012 @ 6:15pm. 7 pounds, 7 ounces. Everyone tells you how amazing it is and you just have no idea until it actually happens. Everyone also tells you how sleep deprived you will be and you really have NO idea. It's a roller coaster of emotions, but so much fun. She is changing and growing every day.

I will say that the labor was absolutely nothing like I planned it out. I started to have contractions around 11pm on Sept. 16th and timed them for a few hours before waking Colin up at 1am to let him know this was the real deal. We timed them until about 9am when we called the midewife to let her know the contractions had been coming about 4-5 minutes apart for an hour. So she told us to come in. When we got there they checked me out and I was only 3 centimeters dilated and the contractions had slowed down. So they said we could walk around for a couple hours or go home. The idea of walking around the hospital while I was having contractions did not sound fun, so we went home. This was so disapointing! As soon as we got home they really started to pick up and get bad. We were home for a few hours before heading back. At this point it was really intense. All I could do was scream through each contraction. Colin thought I was going to die. It's a little embarassing to admit that, haha, but everyone handles labor differently I guess. Prior to going into labor I really imagined myself totally calm and taking the pain as it came. I also hoped to do a water birth. I thought the water would help with the pain and make the whole thing more relaxing, but after 17 hours of labor I really just couldn't take it. I couldn't relax and I wasn't progessing (they thought it could be another 7 hours), I even labored in the water for a couple hours before opting for an epidural. I always thought I would have a "natural" birth with no drugs, but honestly I am really glad I decided to take the drugs. Immediately after I was able to relax. It was a totally different experience. The midwife let us know this could potentially slow things down, so they left us alone for a bit. Our room had a beautiful view of the city and the mountain and Colin and I could just sit and chat. About an hour later my water broke, the nurse and midwife came back in and were surprised that I was already fully dilated and ready to push. It took an hour to push little Claire out. I felt like I could fully enjoy the experience, the epidural took away the pain but I still felt the pressure to know when to push. I didn't think I would want to watch with a mirror, but I am really glad I did. It was absolutely amazing!

Claire had some mild jaundice and lost about 12% of her body weight which was more than they like to see (usually up to 10% is ok). And we found out it was because she wasn't taking in much while breastfeeding. We've had to supplement with bottles of pumped milk. This has been extra exhausting, I breastfeed her (so she'll get used to that and continue with it), then pump and then feed her a bottle. Oh man, talk about looonnng feedings. It's getting better though and I have been going to a lactation specialist twice a week to work on it. We are now trying to get her to feed more efficiently and ween her from the bottle. Who knew this could be so hard, and so emotional!! This has been one of the biggest challenges so far. All I have been doing to nursing, nursing, nursing! Getting out of the house is a challenge with feedings, but I have managed to get out at least once a day this last week. It's a tad depressing being inside all day with this amazing October weather!!

We've been surrounded by some wonderful family visits and great friends have blessed us with dinners! Colin's mom was able to make here the night Claire was born, she only got to stay for one night but her and Colin's dad came for a visit last week, along with Colin's grandparents, his Aunt Kim, Uncle Dennis and Aunt Shelley. I am so happy everyone was able to spend time with little Claire. My family (minus my sister Natalie) was able to come visit the night Claire was born as well. My sister came into town last week as well and spent a couple days with me, giving me a chance to get in a couple showers and naps! I'm surprised I even have time to write this blog right now, but Claire is learning to take a few naps in her crib. For the first few weeks nap times were spent on laps of visitors and on mommy and daddy...she's had trouble sleeping at night and I'm convinced it's because it's so quiet at night. Hopefully getting in some quiet naps will help with evening sleep. We'll see. Well that is about all for now! I will continue to post pictures and updates on her progress :)