Clara’s Birth Story

This is the story of how our sweet baby Clara came into this world. I’m writing this with Clara asleep on my chest and tears in my eyes; how incredibly thankful I am for this gift!

We were given two due dates- one was November 18th, the other was November 23rd. We weren’t sure which was more accurate, and we were praying she’d come on a weekend for our family’s sake! (But little did we know, God’s timing would be WAY better). I woke up the morning of the 19th around 7:00am with intense contractions. I texted Greg at work to let him know. Once I got out of bed and started moving around, however, contractions slowed in speed and intensity. I kept monitoring them throughout the day, and figured since they weren’t stopping I was in early labor.

I spent the day semi-laboring at home with Duke (I wasn’t in a ton of pain). We bought a few new toys to occupy him, and I tried my best to be present with him and also pay close attention to my body, my breathing, and my attitude. 

Since labor was starting, we asked my mom to take Duke for the night (and she had the next day off work- see how God’s timing is always best?) We have a friend, Sandy, who is a doula and works with Greg. When Greg told her I was in early labor, she offered to come over and do some relaxation exercises with me. It was such a kind offer and I feel like that got me into the right headspace. After she left that evening, I did some more meditation/relaxation to prepare my body and mind. I went to bed about midnight with mild contractions, and slept for two hours.

I woke up at 2:00am with strong contractions. They were about 5 minutes apart. While in bed, I did some online bathing suit shopping for our upcoming Maui trip. It was a nice distraction 😉 After a little while, I got out of bed so I could labor without waking Greg. I walked into our garage to call labor and delivery, and they told me to come in as soon as I could. After waking Greg we finished packing our bags, made the dogs go pee, and got into the car. 

We arrived and checked into triage about 4:15am. They determined my water had broken slowly the night before. They got a room ready for us, and we started calling family members to let them know. My in laws jumped in their car to make the trip from Reno- and despite traveling through Sacramento and the Bay at rush hour, they hit NO traffic! 

Greg and I watched the sunrise from our room, and I remember feeling so happy. Our girl was coming and the sunrise was just God’s reminder that He was a part of it all. 

I was using a TENs unit that our Doula friend, Sandy, loaned to me (thanks, Sandy!!). I used it up until I got the epidural. I also had a bottle of Lavender oil and that smell calmed me way down during intense contractions! We met our nurse, Van, who was a bridesmaid in one of my weddings two years ago! Such a small world 🙂

About 9:00 my mom brought Duke to visit, and we walked laps around labor & delivery. By this point my contractions were really strong and I was trying several different positions to ease the pain- but walking felt the best. Clara was sunny side up which put a ton of pressure on my back. 

My goal was to go as long as I could without the epidural- and about 10:30, I decided I wanted it. They gave me Fentanyl so I could sit still enough to get the epidural. Man- Fentanyl is STRONG. Our nurse said it should feel like I had too much to drink- and that was a good way to describe it. I almost fell asleep as soon as they gave it to me! My in-laws arrived right after and I was able to relax and rest for a few hours. 

As expected, the epidural slowed contractions down so they gave me a dose of Pitocin. Shortly after, I started feeling my contractions again. We had a nurse/shift change, and my new nurse was quick to get the anesthesiologist to fix my dosage. I told Colleen, our nurse, that I felt tremendous pressure and felt the urge to push. Although the “plan” was to start pushing in several more hours (the way my body was progressing, that’s what the nurses and midwife predicted), Colleen checked me then ran to get the midwife. I was almost 9cm dilated and I felt like she was halfway out of me 😅 They went into prep mode so I could start pushing. My mom and in laws were still in the room, so they said their goodbyes and good-lucks, and I remember looking at Greg to say “this is it!” I believe the time was about 4:00-4:30.

If you were around two years ago and read Duke’s birth story, you may remember that my epidural stopped working when I started pushing. There was a lot of confusion, pain, and exhaustion. My goal this time around was to be on my A game mentally. So although the pain level was different, I think pushing was harder this time around because I was fully in-tune with my body. I could still feel contractions and could move my legs, so they had me try a couple different positions while pushing in the bed.

There was a lot of screaming, breathing, and even some excitement while I pushed. And when I say screaming- I mean it. I’m pretty sure everyone on the floor could hear me! But I liken it to professional tennis players – you exert so much effort you can’t help what comes out of your mouth haha.

I felt contractions and the urge to push, which I never felt with Duke. So the midwife let me call the shots on when I pushed and for how long. We had such an incredible team! They were constantly encouraging me, validating me, and kindly correcting me when I did something counterproductive. When I was pushing with Duke, I didn’t have the energy or focus to follow directions when I was pushing incorrectly. So I was proud that this time around I was focused enough to make the necessary changes to get her out! At one point I remember yelling “get out of me!!”…which was probably Greg’s highlight haha.

I asked Greg to pour ice water on my head, because it balanced out “the ring of fire” 😅 He would run to the sink in between pushes to refill the water bottle. I was able to rest and breathe in between most pushes, which was something I couldn’t do with Duke. When it got *really* hard, I started saying “I can do this” out loud, and everyone would reiterate that I could. About 30 minutes in, our midwife told me Clara was still sunny-side up; at that point I wanted to quit. I knew that meant it would be harder, take longer, and I felt like I was at my rope’s end. They had brought the mirror out earlier so I could watch her progression; I remember looking at my face in the mirror and thinking “how am I going to finish this?” Greg told me to focus on Clara and the joy that was so close. It gave me the energy to keep on.

If Greg were writing this, I’m sure it would be a little more extreme. The Oxytocin in my body is making me look back on this experience with some forgetfulness of how difficult it was. That’s the beauty of childbirth, right?

All in all, pushing lasted a little less than an hour. They immediately placed her on my chest and she cried for almost an hour and a half straight! She was telling the world she was not happy about what just happened haha. They spent some time stitching me up since I had a second degree tear. After I delivered Duke, I could feel everything when they stitched me. I didn’t feel a thing this time around – ahhh the magic of a working epidural!

Clara was 7 pounds, 10 ounces, and 21 inches long. Almost identical to her brother! She was born with dark hair, blonde eyebrows, and a “stork bite” on her right eyelid. 

Greg and I were elated to see her and hold her. We fell in love with her right away. She’s been a nursing champ since her first hour of life! The nurse was so impressed with how well she latched right away. We enjoyed her to ourselves for over an hour before our parents and Duke came in to meet her. 

Duke was so interested in Clara; as our parents were holding her, he kept asking them to give her back to me (he associated baby with me, and wanted her back where she belonged!). But he got to hold her, and was so excited to point out her eyes, nose, her hair, and her hands. He climbed up in bed with me and when he saw her hand raised, he gave her a high five. Melt my heart!! 

I felt great post-delivery; despite having the epidural, I was able to walk on my own about two hours after delivery. I took a shower and that was amazing! We left the hospital the following afternoon to start our journey as a family of four! 

All throughout pregnancy, I prayed for a different experience than when I delivered Duke. Although his birth was beautiful because it brought him into the world, there was a lot of pain, confusion, and incoherence. I prayed that God would allow me to be mentally strong and fully present during delivery, but especially after she was here. In Duke’s first days of life, I was in so much pain that it was hard to focus on him. I barely remember anything from the hospital! God answered “YES” and gave me mental clarity and strength, and physical comfort (well, somewhat!) after Clara’s delivery. 

We are so blessed to have had so much help the last two weeks. Greg’s parents stayed with us, both of my sisters have stayed with us, my parents have been around to help, and our church family has been bringing us meals. Duke has fallen in love with his baby sister; when he walks over to her he says “hi, baby!” and kisses her face. He loves to hold her, and thinks her sneezes are the funniest. It’s been a highlight of my life watching him interact with her 🙂

As I write this two weeks post-delivery, Greg is back at work for the first time. He’ll have two weeks off for Christmas (yay!!) and then we have a trip planned for Maui in January. So I’m getting used to a new normal with the kids, but we are so looking forward to having him home for a few more weeks this winter!

If you’ve made it this far- thank you for reading! We are so grateful for our little girl, how she came into the world, and the future we have to look forward to with her 🥰Here are a few more photos from her first week of life!