The first month home

Well, it has now officially been 1 month since Clare was born. While the first 2 weeks are a blur of feedings, diapers, rocking and more feedings, the last couple of weeks have started to feel somewhat normal. I am actually able to tell you what day it is and am able to differentiate between night and day (win!), which I'm taking to be a good sign. For someone like me who loves for things to be regimented, it was very hard to not be on a schedule....and we're still not on one, but we're at least able to function and are starting to get in the swing of things. Clare now knows that she is supposed to sleep at night (thank you, white noise air filter!) and is starting to be more alert during the day. She is feeding every 1-3 hours during the day and every 3 hours at night...nursing has by far been our biggest challenge. It's hard to know exactly when to feed and how much she is getting at each feeding. But, it's what is best for her and each week it seems to get a little easier. Once her feedings start to space out some more I think it will be even better. Then I won't feel like a 24-hour per day dairy cow.

Picture of Clare on March 15th...1 month old and getting some love from Marley! (Thanks to Aunt Maggie and Cousin Cady for the outfit...it says 'Current Family Favorite' :)


To sum up our daughter's blossoming personality at 1 month of age, here is a list of things that she loves and things that she does not love so much:

Clare LOVES:

1. EATING!! Just like her mother she can eat all day, everyday. That's my girl!
2. Movement. Baby Bjorn: Best invention ever.
3. The vacuum cleaner/hair dryer. O, providers of white noise. How we worship thee.
4. Being held. She is so cuddly and does not like to be put down while awake!
5. Walks. We try to take a family walk everyday, weather permitting. She enjoys being outside and usually falls asleep soon after we start our walk (see #2...)
6. Death Cab for Cutie. Yep, you read that correctly. Other than white noise Clare prefers to listen to Death Cab for Cutie when she's calm. After all the U2 and Coldplay I exposed her to when pregnant, she prefers one of her father's musical selections. Go figure.

Clare does NOT love:

1. Her car seat. It's like we're torturing her by putting her in this seat...and she lets the whole neighborhood know how she feels about it.
2. Sponge baths. I think she hates these because she's cold...now that we've started to fill up the tub a little more with water she doesn't hate them quite as much.
3. Lying on her back. Startle reflex + not being held = one unhappy Clare.
4. Pacifiers. Unfortunately for us, she typically rejects the pacifier. Occasionally she'll take it but usually it does not soothe her. She'd prefer to eat instead!

Taking a nap with Dad...such a cuddly little baby!


Last weekend Andrew's sister, Erin brought up our niece, Hannah to meet her cousin for the first time. Hannah had been anxiously waiting for this visit...we had to wait a few weeks before they were able to meet since we're still in cold/flu season (per doctor's orders). She was so excited to finally get to come up. She was able to hold Clare a few times, run around with Andrew in the backyard and give Marley some much needed love and attention. Our nephew, Ian, didn't make the trip up but hopefully he'll get to meet his new cousin soon!



On Thursday we celebrated St. Patrick's Day and my dad's birthday. Clare and I joined dad and mom at DBA BBQ in the Highlands for lunch. Clare slept on the drive in and for the first half of lunch. As luck would have it she woke up right as our food arrived! I was able to feed her a bottle and then a case of the fussies sent us to the car to head back home. It was our first restaurant outing since she was born and it was good practice for me to take her out. I think I need to do this more often to become more comfortable with soothing her when we're outside of our comfort zone. But we had a good time celebrating with dad and Clare was able to showcase the adorable St. Patrick's Day outfit that Beth bought for her!

It's a GIRL!

She's finally here! Clare Elizabeth Whatley was born on Tuesday, February 15, 2011 at 2:11 pm. She weighed 7 lbs., 12 oz. and was 20.5 inches long. It's been a whirlwind since she was born and I'm just now feeling organized enough to take the time to upload pictures and update the blog, 3 weeks later. Here's the story of labor, delivery and our new home life...

The day before Clare was born I had a doctor's appointment to see how things were progressing. I was still dilated 2 cm. but hadn't made any other progress from the week before. We went ahead and scheduled an induction for that Friday, February 18th, which was the original due date. That evening I started to have mild contractions, but they weren't frequent nor strong enough to warrant a call to the doctor. So, I went ahead to bed to try to get some rest. At 4:00 in the morning I had a strong contraction that got me out of bed. At this point the contractions started coming every 4-5 minutes and were increasing in strength. I woke Andrew up at 5:00 and we went ahead and placed a call to the doctor. At this point the contractions were starting to come every 3 minutes so we decided to go ahead to Northside even though we hadn't yet heard back from the doctor.

We arrived at Northside a little after 6:00 and were in our room filling out paperwork by 6:30. Let me go ahead and give Northside hospital a big shout out, they are VERY efficient! We did not wait long at all to be admitted and shown to our room. At this point the doctors and nurses were able to check on us and I was 4 cm. dilated and in active labor. I wanted the epidural, so our nurses set up an IV and collected blood to get that ball rolling. We had the most amazing labor and delivery nurse and student intern. They helped us feel relaxed and treated us incredibly well. We are very thankful to have had such a wonderful staff of nurses and doctors...again, props to Northside! At 8:30 the anesthesiologist came in to give me the epidural and by this point I was 7 cm. I only had to endure about 4 1/2 hours of hard, active labor! The rest of my labor was smooth sailing. I pushed through 2 1/2 contractions (about 10 minutes) and at 2:11 pm my amazing husband had the honor of getting to announce 'It's a GIRL!' in the delivery room! By far one of the best moments of my life.


We were in the hospital for 2 days and our family and friends had the opportunity to come by and meet Clare. The best part was that all 4 grandparents were able to come to the hospital the day she was born to meet her!

Andrew's parents, Maw and Poppy, holding Clare for the first time.

My mom, Mimi, rocking Clare in the hospital.

My dad, Boompa, rocking Clare after we got home from the hospital.


At the end of our stay we were ready to head home and give this parenting thing a try. Andrew had taken a week off from work and was able to be at home with us helping out. He is the best diaper changer I know! I really didn't want him to head back to work...it had been so nice to have a partner in taking care of the baby. It's funny how a little 7 pound baby can terrify you so much when you're left alone with her! So, I brought in the reinforcements...my mom took a few days off of work to help out as Clare and I transitioned to not having Andrew around. This was such a huge help! I could take a shower or walk outside for a breath of fresh air when I needed to. Having family nearby to not only share special moments with but also to enlist for help when needed is priceless. Andrew and I are both so fortunate to have both of our families close and we appreciate all they've done for us!

Clare is now 3 weeks old. I can't believe the time has already gone by this quickly! On one hand it seems like an eternity ago that I was pregnant, and the last few weeks are a kind of sleep-deprived haze, but it's also unbelievable that she's already a week shy of being a month old. I'm going to try to update the blog at least once a month to keep up with her pictures as she grows this first year! A big thanks to everyone who has brought us dinner, gifts and come by to spend time with Clare. We love you all and are so glad that our daughter is going to grow up surrounded by so many wonderful people. Here are a few pictures of our first few weeks with our new little girl.

Heading out for our first family walk. It was Andrew's turn to carry the baby's weight on his stomach. :)

Our little girl definitely has a set of lungs on her! I guess I should have expected this when you combine my genes with Andrew's...

Our sweet little girl. We're looking forward to watching you grow up, Clare!