Resting at Home

Although our adventures were fun, we've now taken a couple days at home to relax and try to get Claudia on a good sleep/eat cycle. Today she got to meet her great grandparents. We're looking forward to Mother's Day so she can meet the rest of the Olson family. We wish the Banks family could be here with us, but we are looking forward to a visit from Nana in July.

Claudia likes to eat.


Stretch!


Talk to the hand.


Trying to learn how to use the Moby Wrap carrier.


With Great Grandma J.


With Great Grandpa J.

Adventures Week 1

Our week one adventures at home have been a sponge bath, starting tummy time, and learning to sleep in her crib in mom & dad's room. When she is on her tummy, if we give her lots of encouragement, she can lift her head up and turn from one side to the next. She likes to sleep in the Pack N Play in the living room best, but we've had two successful nights in the crib so that Glen and I can sleep together in bed.

We've also had several adventures outside of the home. We've taken a couple stroller walks around the neighborhood, including one with her grandma and aunties. We took our first trip to a store -- Babies R Us to get some provisions. Then we went to our first park, the Arboretum. And our biggest adventure was going to the Tulip Festival.

I think with lack of sleep and my cold, we've kind of overdone it, so we're now taking a few days at home to relax. We just got so excited to see the sunshine that we had to get out!

Trying out her swing.


At the Arboretum in front of a cherry blossom tree


We've arrived at the Tulip Festival.


Our family walking around the tulip farm.


View of Mt. Baker from the farm. It was a beautiful day.


Claudia likes Glen holding her in the Baby Bjorn carrier.


In the fields.

First Week

So much has happened in one week. My body is healing quickly and if it weren't for this pesky cold I caught, I would be feeling great by now. On Friday Claudia had her first visit at the pediatrician's office. She only lost 1 oz. from birth, which is great. She has quite the appetite and we can see her fingers plumping up already. She can usually go almost 4 hours between bottle feedings, so she is often times a good sleeper as well, although sometimes she just wants to be awake and fuss. Glen's strengths are reading her signals, burping, and eating dinner while holding her. I'm quick at changing clothes and I can get a good tight swaddle. Claudia has mastered tooting, hiccuping, rooting (to show she's hungry), taking a binkie, making grumpy face, smiling, grasping our fingers, sneezing, yawning, crossing her eyes, and stretching out her arms and legs. All of it is very cute. Our family has had several adventures out of the house already. I'll post more later.

On a sad note, our cat Emme passed away the day Claudia was born. She had been going downhill for a few weeks and when Glen checked in on her while Claudia and I were still in the hospital, she was in bad shape, disoriented, and not able to walk, so he had to take her to the vet to be put to sleep. We miss her very much.

In the labor room hooked up to the fetal monitors.


Claudia at 1 day old.


The Banks family looking tired, but overjoyed.


With Aunt Gina


With Aunt Neely

Birth Story

Claudia Lyn Banks arrived Wednesday April 15th at 12:35am. She was 7 lbs 13 oz and 19 inches long. She's healthy and adorable!

Here's my birth story:
I started having contractions Monday evening about 10 pm. By morning they were stronger, so we checked at the doctor and I was 6 minutes apart and 2 cm dilated, so we went home for awhile. By the afternoon, they were 5 minutes apart so we went back and got checked in at Swedish hospital. By this time I was in considerable pain and having to work through each contraction. Claudia was positioned facing up, which is called back labor, so the contractions were fairly strong with a smaller aftershock contraction about one minute after the big one. The doctor checked me at 7 pm and I was still only 2 cm because my water had not broken and was preventing progression, so she broke my water. This is when the super bad pain started. I labored for 3 very intense hours, including a stint in the bathtub. Glen's encouragement really helped me get through this. Then I had an epidural and about an hour later I had progressed to 9 cm, which is amazingly fast and explains why the pain had been so intense. I thought I would get a nap before I had to start pushing, but she was ready to go, so we started. I pushed for about 2 hours and was making progress, but with the baby's position and the length between my contractions, it just wasn't enough to get her out. So they gave me Pitocin and had me push on my side, which really worked because she turned into the correct position and a half hour later she arrived!

Waiting for the baby to arrive

I'm just days away from my due date, so we're all getting excited for her arrival. It's hard to sleep at night because I keep thinking about the labor and baby. I'm not worried, just filled with anticipation. I'm still working, so that helps keep my mind off things and keeps me active so hopefully she will arrive on time or close to it. I'm posting a couple 39 week belly photos and I must be losing all sense of modesty already because I decided to give you the full effect and show the bare belly!

Glen is now on Skype, so if you have a camera on your computer, talk to him about getting connected.

Spring is here

Spring has arrived, but no baby yet. I'll still about 3 weeks from my due date. I feel huge and uncomfortable, but I'm also enjoying really showing. I get a lot of goofy grins from strangers now. Glen says my belly looks like a Butterball Turkey and I think that's a pretty accurate description. We've been showered with lots of generous gifts from friends, family, and coworkers lately. Everything seems to be in place and we're just waiting for her arrival. Glen has been working a lot so he can take some time off after she is born. We've also been following a lot of sports lately because the UW huskies made it into the NCAA basketball tournament (although lost in the 2nd round) and Seattle premiered it's first professional soccer team, the Sounders FC. I'll post some more photos Neely took at my shower.

Carey and 2 week old Claus.


With Marcus and Jenny.


Delanie and Sara.


Sisters. The bigger I get, the smaller everyone else looks!


Glen sold his Explorer, Bessy.


37 week belly. The tank top is deceiving. It's not hot in Seattle, but I am!


Emme looking elderly.

Preparing for the Baby

To start off, I'm happy to report that our cat Emme's health has improved significantly. She still has this mystery missing fur all over her limbs and belly, but she's eating better and not loosing any more weight. She's now on a special low ash diet, so she has taken to licking the fireplace hearth and we've even found her playing with charcoal from the fireplace. It's pretty funny, so it's hard to discipline her. We're very happy that she's healthy again because she has a big transition ahead when the baby arrives and she needs her energy and patience for that!

I'm now 34 weeks along and my belly is growing every day, although I'm thankfully not huge. The doctor monitors me closely and so far things are going smoothly. My work is being very accommodating to my lack of energy lately, although I do feel sharper in my third trimester and feel like the "pregnancy brain" has subsided. I still have plenty of complaints about minor aches and pains, but overall, I think things are going well.

I had a busy February with almost every weekend booked with preparations for the baby. I managed to visit with several of my mommy friends and gather lots of good advice. I had my baby shower and I also attended my friend Ellie's shower, who is due just a few days before me. Our friends Carey and Nils had their baby on Feb. 7th and they named him Claus Rowan. Glen and I are impressed by his calm nature and are hoping our baby is the same. We finished taking our birthing class and Glen also took a special fathers-only class to learn about newborn care, so I'm feeling about as prepared as one can be for our new arrival.

(Thank you Neely for taking all these photos).

My friend Christina and her daughter Mira visited from Washington D.C.

Amanda and Jen threw me a wonderful baby shower.

34 week baby bumps.

Friends at Ellie's Shower.