Happy Thanksgiving!!

Blake, Ali, Paige and Maddie came into town for Thanksgiving this year. It was wonderful to have the whole family together and to host dinner here at our house - although my mom did most the food gathering and prep. It was great! I loved having everyone here.
Shelly and Luke Maddie and Claire
Uncle Blake
Daddy and Jake
Grandma and Ashley
Ali making apple pie (and cooking a baby)
Claire Bear
Drew and Angie (his gf)
Luke and Jake and the boys' table
The right side

The left side
Paigey
Cousins - soon to be a month apart!

Sleep

Ironic that the post below this one is titled: Sleeping Beauty. It's clear someone is getting enough sleep around here, but it's definitely not me.

The nights of nursing round the clock are catching up with me and I am TIRED.

Claire is an angel, of course, and doing what she is supposed to in waking to be fed day and night every two to three hours. I can't complain about that, and I love holding her and looking and her and feeding her. She is amazing.

But something happens each morning after the 4am feeding and she isn't quite in the mood to go back to sleep. She wants to be held and enjoy watching the sun rise in my arms... I don't know how I feel about it. When I am up from 4-6 each morning with the little lamb (her cry sounds just like the baa of a baby lamb), it's sweet, but not so much when she dozed at 6:30 just as the rest of our family awakens. It's hard. Sort of makes me think back on the short-lived days of only having one child and sleeping whenever he slept!

This morning was especially rough as we'd had Jake visit our bed in the middle of the night and then I climbed back in bed to sleep just as Ty's alarm went off and he got in the shower. Tears started flowing and I felt like I couldn't get another morning started. The kids were going to be late to school - if they made it today - and I didn't really care.

BUT, when daddy came in to kiss the tearful, back-up-and-nursing-with-her-eyes-shut-and-head-leaning-against-the-headboard (we've all been there) mother goodbye he straped on his superhero cape and came to the rescue. He put work on hold - got the kids fed, dressed, lunches made and ready for school on time. He called my mom and arranged to drop Jake off to her for the day. And he left me suddenly with a quiet, empty house for the day and I wanted to kiss him. I did kiss him.

So mommy is much better now after sleeping on and off with little lamb until noon. She is happily humming in her sleep against my chest now, unaware of any trouble at all. Our family is in a bit of the refiner's fire right now - but she is so worth it! Every baby is.

Sleeping Beauty

One Week Old

My friend Jill came over yesterday to take some pictures of Claire at one week old. I think we did a good job capturing her little parts and personality at this tender age. I wanted to jot some things down about Claire at one week:
- She doesn't cry any longer or harder than necessary to get her message across. She is easily soothed and loves to be cuddled and fed (who doesn't?). Diaper changes are the least favorite parts of her days (and nights).
- She eats about every hour and a half throughout the day - I don't mind at all. At night she's been going about three hour stints - 10:30, 1:30, 4:30 ish. She sleeps with me which I am loving for now. Exhaustion will bring that to an end in the next few weeks, but for now it is precious to hold her on my chest on in the crook of my arm.
- She got a pretty raw diaper rash those first few days but we've been able to cure it pretty well with lots of desitin and a sprinkling of corn starch with every diaper change. Her plumbing definitely works.
- She is my first baby who doesn't spit up (knock on wood)! I am amazed with how I don't have to use burp cloths or change her clothes all the time like I did with my others. She is a dream the way she burps - she can be in the middle of eating, turn her head, burp and latch right back on. It cracks me up but I love it!
- She definitely seems to have her own unique look, maybe through the eyes? We love looking at her and getting to know her for her.

First Interactions

It is fun to watch everyone in the family slowly getting to know Claire. Luke held her on our bed after his bath the other night and lit up when he discovered her little feet poking out of her nightgown. He smiled so big and loved how she started pushing her tiny little feet up against his face. It was adorable. I was happy to capture the moment for him.



Unfortunately Ashley has been sick all week! I was actually at Urgent Care with her checking for strep the night I went in to be induced! Dr's said she didn't have it, but all weekend while we were at the hospital she and Jake had fevers and ear aches. Stressful. So she hasn't gotten to be near the baby much - just enough for a few peeks and head rubs. My heart melts when I see my daughters together! We did have our first "girl party" yesterday morning while Ash was home from school. Jake went off to preschool and Ash, Claire and I watched "Annie".


Jake is interested in seeing Claire for a few seconds whenever he comes around but I think he is more interested in having my attention. All he wanted was for me to come jump on the trampoline with him the day I got back from the hospital. I'd been telling him all summer that I could do that again when the baby came out and as far as he was concerned, she was out and it was go time. So I did go sit out on the tramp and watch him do tricks! He is Jake though - and has been staying busy - no time for new pics with the baby!

Let the tears roll

Ali called this morning and heard all about our first night home and how in love we are with this baby. She said I had to hear this song. Of course I love it, listening to these words as I snuggle Claire against my chest and think about the other kids who are already growing up too quickly. Thanks for sharing Ali, my hormones might have just gotten the boost they needed! ;)

Meet the Family

The kids came to meet Claire this morning. They were so well behaved and all had stars in their eyes for her. It was cute. Luke kept asking when she was going to wake up and Ashley just beamed. Jake was crazy trying to be funny, like usual. The hospital we are in is beautiful and new and has a secure garden area for families to go where the older kids can play. We went outside with Claire it was a gorgeous day and she seemed to love her first breaths of fresh, sunny air. I look at these pictures of us as a family of six and I have to pinch myself. Wow.

Welcome, Little One.

Here we are at the hopsital enjoying every moment with this baby. The other kids have been home with my mom, happy and being well taken care of, which leaves Tyler and I the opportunity to relish this time here with her. She is just sweet sweet sweet. So precious. I love tucking her into my nightshirt and holding her skin to skin, rubbing the back of her tiny, soft head and smelling her sweet smell. Oh, love. She is a joy.

The kids are on their way up now with grandma to meet her. This will be wild seeing all 4 of our children together. Like my dad used to say about our family of 5 growing up in Seattle, "we breed well in captivity!" We love our kids so much!!

I am feeling great and recovering quickly. Yesterday I was ready and willing at any moment to go in for a c-section if that meant keeping this baby safe. But I am so happy with the way it worked out because I already feel so good. Glad we trusted the doctor and knew he'd make the right call.

We will be here until tomorrow. Happy times.

Claire Elise Hillstead

Claire Elise Hillstead was born today November 5th at 2:52pm. She has beautiful petite features and weighed in at 7 lbs, 4 oz and is 19.5 inches long. She has pink coloring and so far appears to be a mild mannered baby.

She came into this world after giving us a little grief last night when we first got to the hospital. Prior to starting any IV or Pitocin drips, the nurses started to monitor her heart rate and noticed brief moments of deceleration in her heart rate whenever Anne was on her right side. That slowed down the whole process and the Dr. delayed starting the Pitocin until later in the evening after things normalized. There were a couple times where Anne had to roll completely over or kneel on all fours to get the baby’s heart rate back to normal and it appeared we were headed for a C section.

Early this morning, after getting the epidural and the Dr. breaking Anne’s water, they put a heart rate monitor on the baby’s head so that they could more accurately monitor her heart rate. For the rest of the morning, everything seemed great with her heart rate ranges and so the Dr. took things slow and asked us to be patient and started the Pitocin at small levels and monitored her heart rate for any decelerations during contractions. She stayed strong as the pitocin levels increased and finally was able to come vaginally to us this afternoon. She was a “squirmer” throughout the pregnancy and had gotten herself wrapped in the cord a couple times so we are grateful for coming to the hospital when we did.

She is so sweet, mellow, and seems very content to be here with us. We feel very blessed to have her successfully with us now with no complications and are enjoying her sweet spirit.

- TY

Friday, November 5th - her birthday?

Dr. called and said he got me scheduled at the hospital for an induction Thursday night - as long as they have an extra bed! I get to call at 8pm tomorrow night and if it's a go, we'll check in about 9pm and hope to be holding our new little lady sometime Friday morning!

I can't get my hopes up too high - but this is very exciting. The day is almost here!!

HaLlOwEeN 2o1o

So true. By the time Halloween is over and you've been to the ward trunk-or-treat, school parties, neighborhood parties and trick-or-treating, it feels like you've been dressing up, eating sugar and partying all week. Exhausting even for the little ones! This year was chalk full of fun - and we all had a pretty good time!

Cute Ash at the trunk or treat
Jakey - red power ranger. We loved seeeing his body in the slick suit!
Lukey Wednesday night - trying hard to feel good, but not looking so hot. Hadn't eaten much in a week but was determined to stick the night out and collect a bucket full of candy to save for later. Poor guy.
Daddy and a friend Luke. I wished I had his costume to wear this year.
Me as a hippie.
Ashley's school party
Luke's school party - doing the mummy wrap contest with Jake.

Carving pumpkins with daddy Saturday night - Luke feeling much better!
Luke's design
How Ashley feels about pumpkin carving - she wouldn't touch a thing.
Jake's design.
All done! And daddy even made the littlest one a "C" for Claire.

Pulling in the loot house by house. What perfect ages the kids were for Halloween this year. Very fun.