Big Traveler

Claudia has traveled the state already and she's not even three weeks old yet. Our friends Christina & Sean got married in Tacoma on April 25th and Claudia was a champ. She really liked the church music and slept through most of the drive, ceremony, and reception. And last week we went over to Alta Lake for three nights. Again, she was a great traveler in the car and she took in her first restaurant, El Sol, Mexican of course, our favorite. Glen got in some golf and Claudia and I were able to join him for a round of 9 by riding around in the cart. Also, on Saturday she had her first night away from home by staying at Grandpa and Grandma's house in Kirkland. My friend Katherine is getting married on May 16th in Cabo, Mexico and we're not able to go, but I was able to go to her bachelorette party on Saturday. Glen had a big night out too because it was the annual Crohn's and Colitis Foundation benefit concert at the Showbox featuring Mike McCready's local band, Flight to Mars. We both handled the separation well and my parents really enjoyed babysitting. All the fun is tapering down, as Glen had to go back to work today.

Glen and Claudia taking a nap at Alta.


First round of golf.


Getting some sun on the deck at Alta.


Very content in Grandma's arms.


Grandpa letting her stretch.

2 weeks old

Claudia had her 2 week appointment with the pediatrician and she's grown so much already. She's now 8 lbs 7 oz and 20 3/4 inches. It's crazy that she's grown almost 2 inches in 2 weeks. The nurse didn't believe it and had to measure twice. Glen and I are really getting the hang of her schedule and learning how to travel around with her. Blogs always make you look perfect because you don't want to post negative stuff, but just so you know, we're normal and things don't always go smoothly. We've been puked on, peed on, and found poop in places other than her diaper! The lack of sleep is challenging to say the least, and it's a hard adjustment to have to stick to a tight schedule that you don't have control over. But we're having a great time and being new parents is an amazing experience.

Superman! She's exploring using her arms and hands a lot now.


She's learned how to curl her feet up now. I think that's how poop gets on her socks.

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.