ITS A GIRL!!

On December 29th at 6:13 am we welcomed Claire Elizabeth to our family! She weighed 7 lbs 5 oz and was 19.5 in long. She is just perfect and we are excited to be bringing in the new year by spending our first night home as a family of four.

So here's how it all went down...K and I were watching the Bears game in bed on Monday night when my water broke around 10pm. We called my parents and my dad came over to stay with Layna as we headed off to the hospital. We had to go to the evaluation unit to confirm that my water did infact break. Although it was very busy, they found me a room by about 11:30 pm. I was having contractions about every 5 minute and decided to get the epidural around 1:30am. Everything went well and I was glad that they didnt hit spinal fluid the way they had with Layna. At 3am the nurse confirmed that I was still at 2 cm and so they decided to start pitocin. By 5 am I was 7 cm..and 10 minutes later...yes...10 minutes..I was COMPLETE at 10 cm! The nurse quickly called the Dr. Alhering (who was the Dr on-call) and he barely made it in time. Once he arrived I push for about 10 minutes and Claire was born at 6:13 am. The nurse kept saying that the baby had lots of hair..so Karl and I were ready to see a black haired baby again...but to our surprise..she had beautiful reddish blond hair!

When Karl announced 'Its a GIRL' we were both so excited! I had a strong feeling all throughout the pregnancy that this was another girl and I was completely thrilled when my instincts were confirmed. I never had a sister growing up and I am so excited to raise two girls and experience the connection and bond between sisters.

I am feeling pretty good and Claire is doing great. She is nursing really well and is so tiny and sweet. Layna has been a wonderful big sister!! She calls her 'my baby' and wants to help in every way possible. Although we are a little overwhelmed by the idea of two kids at home now..we are blessed beyond belief to have these two beautiful girls!