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10 years ago
I promise this is the last birthday post for at least 3 months.
Posted by Carrie at Saturday, April 30, 2011When Claire was born, the nurse said she had never seen a more beautiful newborn. Sure, she probably told all the moms that, but it was the only sensible thing that woman said all day, so you bet I'll always remember it.
I will never forget Claire's birth day 5 years ago. It was unforgettable for so many reasons, not all of them being good. That was the only labor where I was induced. For me, horrible. That was the only labor where my nurse was C.R.A.Z.Y. Seriously. Upon first being introduced to her, she rambled on about the excruciating migraine she had that day and how the ice pack she had strapped to her neck just wasn't working. Sorry lady. You're looking for sympathy in the wrong place. I'm going to have a baby today. Don't tell me about pain.
Then as she began hooking me up to all the monitors she started telling me this story about how the previous day a woman came in to give birth to her twins and when they hooked her up, they couldn't find either of the babies' heartbeats. They had both died. Um, yeah. No sane person would tell a laboring woman that story. Like I said, she was crazy.
After Claire's birth they gave me Lortab which I didn't know would cause me to hallucinate, throw up, and be so drowsy and out of it that I couldn't stay awake to breastfeed my newborn child for the first time. My sister Shelly stayed the night in the hospital with me because she was scared to leave me alone... or leave me alone with my baby. She would wake me up to feed Claire and actually had to hold Claire up to me for her to nurse. That night I rambled on about ants in my dinner and muu muus, having no clue what I was saying. Good times.
Don't worry, my story's not over yet. (And yes, I realize this is a sort of weird birthday post, but lately it's been weighing on my mind that I haven't recorded much in the way of my babies' birth stories.)
When I got home from the hospital, I was lucky enough to be the 1 in like 3000 women who experience post-epidural migraines. They're caused when spinal fluid leaks out around the spinal cord due to the way the epidural is administered. I'd rather be in labor any day. No meds can touch that pain. The Dr. said I could either wait out the pain (about a week) or go in to receive a blood patch which may or may not work. He said it could easily take mulitiple attempts. I chose the at home pain, mostly because the thought of having to get up off the couch and get to the hospital sounded too hard. Too painful.
After the nightmare ended, I was finally able to enjoy the fruits of my labor (he he). She was more than worth it. I was able to love on this beautiful baby girl who had come to our family. She is affectionate, sassy, sensitive, a cuddler beyond cuddlers, and always has something insightful to say, like "Mom, the floor's looking pretty dirty. Can I mop for you?"
She loves pink, princesses, icecream, sparkly things, clothes, new shoes, and playing with friends. She is full of life. Nearly every morning she wakes up and asks, "Am I going to see any of my friends today?" She's so darn cute I hate it if I have to disappoint her.
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Claire is grateful. She's the only one of our kids who would regularly thank me after wiping their bums, or making them asparagus. She always remembers to thank me for the little things.
She's easily excited (like by a ring pop) as shown here:
She's a chocolate loving maniac just like her mom. She thought it would be really cool if she had birthday cupcakes that spelled out her name. Maggie and Ty helped out with that one. You have to look really hard hard to see it. The first one's a smiley face per her request.
She's a chocolate loving maniac just like her mom. She thought it would be really cool if she had birthday cupcakes that spelled out her name. Maggie and Ty helped out with that one. You have to look really hard hard to see it. The first one's a smiley face per her request.
We love our Clairebear! She has brought so much joy and happy craziness to our family.
Happy 5th to you! So glad you're mine.
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Happy Birthday Claire! Oh how we miss you. Think of the pink party we could have had together. Claire's cute smiles make me smile. I can't believe that it has been five years already.
Ingrid said...
May 2, 2011 at 8:03 PM
You have captured Claire so beautifully. Happy Birthday to our darling pink loving princess!
Mom said...
May 2, 2011 at 9:50 PM
happy birthday claire! i thought about you all day :) carrie that was a one in a million birth story. im still glad i got to share it with you. happy BIRTH day to both of you :)
SHELLY said...
May 3, 2011 at 12:49 PM
I thought I had a hard time with my recovery, you take the cake on that one Carrie...wow! Oh and what an idiot nurse to tell you the day before the babies died! Hello that's what all the delivering moms are scared to death of! She was a nut ha ha ha. Anyway happy birthday to your beautiful Claire:)
jrpetho said...
May 5, 2011 at 9:25 PM