I love these two.

Claire Brelyn Hirz-The Baby Story

The short version for you to enjoy...

It was long. It was painful. It was exhausting. And it was worth every second. My birth plan worked out exactly how I wanted it, too. I went to the hospital, I had a beautiful healthy baby, and I came home. Good work, Me!

The long version for me to remember how things went...

Saturday, January 14, 2012

Here we were at our due date and still no baby. I wasn't too surprised by this and really was not to anxious to get her out. I had been telling people that she will come when she is ready and that I'm not getting impatient while waiting. Sure, I was dying to meet my little one, but I honestly wasn't too miserable-pregnancy was really a great experience. I did stop working on Friday for maternity leave in hopes that Claire was on her way and because my legs were swollen so badly.

Thursday, January 19, 2012

We had our last appointment with Dr. Gourley today. Claire still hadn't dropped at all and I was only dilated to maybe 1 cm if he was feeling generous, ha. So, we talked about some options. He said we could either choose a day and just go in for C-Section or go in on Sunday for some Prostin gel and early Monday morning to be induced. We decided to go for the Prostin gel option and got it all set up. I was feeling relieved to know that by Monday we would have a baby one way or another!

Sunday, January 22, 2012

Today we had 2 Prostin gel treatments scheduled today. They are supposed to help get things ready and could even put me into labor. We went in at about 2 pm for the first treatment. They hooked me up to hear Claire's heartbeat and to monitor contractions. Claire sounded fabulous, as always, and I wasn't having any contractions. After they inserted the gel, I stayed hooked up for about 45 minutes to make sure everything was still alright with Claire and then they let me go. We went back in around 9 or 10 for the second round. This time I was having some contractions but they didn't hurt at all and I didn't even really notice I was having them. Another round of Prostin gel and a couple of hours later and we were on our way home.

Monday, January 23, 2012

Today is the day, today is the day! I called the hospital at 6:30 am to see when I could come in to be induced. They told me to come on in! Woohoo! We got there and all checked in by 7:00 am. They were starting my IV and my dr came in to break my water. Once they got the Pitocin going he broke my water and the contractions started coming. They started coming pretty quickly and pretty hard-let's get this baby out of here! The doctor told me that he hoped to see about 1 cm dilation progress every hour, so I knew we were going to be in for a long day.

Contractions were pretty intense, and so I decided to get a shot of pain medicine that went right into my IV. It started working immediately and was pretty crazy. It just took the edge off for a little less than an hour. My nurse checked me a few times throughout the day and I wasn't making the 1 cm an hour progress that we hoped to see. By now, I was pretty tired and in quite a bit of pain. Brent was super amazing, encouraging me the entire time and telling me how fabulous I was doing. My mom was great too, she rocked at giving me those ice chips! I was thinking about getting an epidural because I didn't know how much longer I would be in labor before it even came to the pushing part of things and I was getting tired. But, I didn't want one because I am not a huge fan of needles and that needle isn't the smallest thing in the world. Well, when the nurse came in to check me about 6 hours into labor and I was only dilated to a 3 and Claire still hadn't dropped at all, I was a little frustrated with the lack of progress. So, let's try that epidural. Oh boy, it was incredible! The guy that put it in was fabulous and it honestly didn't hurt at all. I could still tell when I was having a contraction but now it wasn't even phasing me. I'm a big fan of the epidural. :)

My doctor came in about 5:30 pm to see how I was doing. Sadly, I was still dilated to a 3 and Claire had still not dropped...at all! He told me that he was concerned that she wasn't dropping because she wouldn't fit. We talked about the possibility of a c-section again but he didn't want to push me into making that choice and he would let me and Brent discuss it to make sure we felt good about things. We felt like we weren't pushed into our decision at all and that we truly were making the decision ourselves based on what we knew and thought would be best. Dr. Gourley left the room and Brent and I decided to go ahead and have a c-section since we weren't making progress. We wanted to make a decision to have Claire while she was still doing fine and we didn't want to wait to get to the point of it being dangerous for her. We told Dr. Gourley and they started getting everything ready, including more epidural medicine. I was completely numb-thankfully, haha.

Brent got to be in the operating room with me and I'm so glad he was there. I was freezing and shaking but unable to do anything about it. Strange. I also tried with all my might to move my toes but couldn't do it. Crazy! It was a very weird sensation knowing they were cutting me open but not being able to feel anything. At one point, I asked, "Have they started yet?" The anesthetist told me that they had already been going, ha. I didn't even know. The anesthetist told Brent to look over the curtain as they were pulling out Claire. He said to me, "It is a girl!" and we both cried happy tears. It had been a long day and we finally had our precious baby.

Claire Brelyn Hirz was born 9 days late on January 23, 2012, at 7:11 pm weighing in at 6 lbs 9 oz and she was 19.5 inches long. I can't believe how tiny Claire was! Brent went with her to be cleaned up while I was sewn/stapled back together. Before they took her to the nursery to give her a bath, Brent brought her in to me so I could see her. I couldn't see her too well, but she was beautiful. Brent even told me, "She is already smiling." She did have a little bit of a cone spot on her head and a bruise from where she had been sitting for such a long time during labor. Her head was not going to fit and I'm glad we made the choice to have a c-section.

I couldn't wait to see my baby after I got all stapled up! It was a couple of hours that passed by the time I got to see her. (Side note that I heard from my mom....Brent stopped by the room we were in before they went to the nursery to get my mom. She was looking in through the window and saw Brent bent over a drawer studying whatever was in it. He picked something out and held it up with a big smile on his face for my mom to see. He picked Claire a purple bow because he knew I would love it. I love that husband of mine and I did love that purple bow!)

We had a perfect, healthy baby girl and we were so excited. Claire did have to have her blood sugar checked every 6 hours since she was so small for being 9 days late. It did drop to a level that we were nervous about but she got the hang of eating and it went right back up. We were in the hospital until Thursday afternoon and we actually had an amazing stay. I never once felt pressured to make a decision that I wasn't ready to make or that I felt was the wrong decision. I had wonderful nurses taking care of me and Claire. I felt that we had outstanding care and feel bl

essed that things went so wonderfully for us.

Monday, January 30, 2012

Because Claire was such a tiny little peanut, her doctor wanted to see her at 1 week to make sure she was growing and doing alright (side note-we love her pediatrician-Dr. Nielsen!). In the hospital, she dropped to 6 lbs and 4 oz so we were excited

to see that one week later she was 6 lbs and 12 oz! Woohoo! Claire is the 20th percentile for weight, the 62nd percentile for length, and the 43rd percentile for head circumference. Yeah, Baby Girl!

Monday, February 6, 2012

At Claire's 2 week well check, she was up to 7 lbs 5.5 oz! Holy moly, she is growing like a weed! She is now the 24th percentile for weight, the 53rd percentile for length, and the 64th percentile for head circumference.

A shower!

Karmel threw a baby shower for my work friends. It was mostly a surprise as I didn't know it was happening until I got the shower invitation that Wendy made on my desk at work. I wasn't expecting anything at all and I came home feeling an enormous amount of love. I am so grateful to work with such amazing people that love me and are so awesome to be around. Claire is going to be such a lucky girl to be surrounded by such wonderful people when she is so young.

We got everything we need for Claire to come and now are just waiting patiently. (Or...not so patiently sometimes.) Clarie now has more clothes, diapers, wipes, blankets, bottles, toys, a bath, baby heath stuff. We are extremely blessed. As I was writing thank you notes, I couldn't help but think how silly they were. People are unbelievably kind and I give them a card? A card can't begin to express my gratitude.

Karmel had her camera but she forgot about it until we were walking out the door. I did have Brent take a picture of the diaper cake with his phone though. How cute is that? Karmel had a friend make it for us. I love it!

Also, here we are at about 34 weeks. (Another phone picture...I really need to use the camera!) Woohoo! Now we are 36 weeks... Claire is coming soon!

I'm growing.

Here are some pictures of my growing belly! (It is time to share them with the world....) They are all cell phone pictures so not the greatest quality, but eh, they are pictures none the less.

I really grew a lot in about 2 weeks (it was insane!) and feel like I've slowed down again. It's funny to notice little differences throughout being pregnant.

Example, I've always been a little big large for the toy on the playground. However, today as I was trying to play with my kids during recess, I found it very difficult to turn sideways and squeeze through the small openings. I have always been able to just turn and slip though. I discovered that I didn't quite slip through easily as I had in the past. It was funny to squish on through though. Baby sure didn't enjoy being in such a tight space. haha

In all honesty, I have been feeling great (in large part thanks to this fantastic husband I have-he is great). I really can't complain about being pregnant. Sure, there are the things I'm sure everyone experiences-I'm tired after a long day at work, and my feet are swollen sometimes, I wake up with my hands asleep, and I have to go to the bathroom all of the time, but I love it. I love feeling her moving inside me and I love watching Brent put his hand on my belly to try to feel her. (She doesn't like to show off though and move when we are feeling for her-the stinker.) I love laying super still to watch my belly move and shake as she tries to get comfy. I love that when I fold my arms and rest them on my belly, she pushes against them to try and get me to move. When we go to the doctor and hear her strong heartbeat, I can't help but smile and love her. I watch the video of her ultrasound multiple times-I can't get over how adorable she is. I love getting things ready for her to come join us and I love going into her room. I feel very blessed.

Calling all Smarties!

So, did you know that you are smart? Because you are. And since you are sooo smart, I decided to enlist your help so you can show off your brains.

What do I really need for Baby Hirzy?

I have been finding a few lists on the internet and most of them seem to have a lot of stuff. I'm wondering what kinds of things are essential to have.

We do have a crib (thanks Mom & Dad!), a car seat, stroller, and changing table (thanks Grandma Blue Hair!), dressers, clothes, sheets & mattress protectors, and a couple blankets.

What else do we need? I'm talking everything, People. From things you think would be obvious, to the not so obvious.

Thanks, Guys. You really are smart.

Jelly Beans Up Your Nose

Johnny stuck jellybeans up his nose

That's a pretty dumb thing to do.

But the other kids said, "Hey, John's real cool.

Let's put beans up our noses, too!"

Well, a kid can't breathe with beans up his nose

'Cause they get all stuck inside.

So John and the kids, well, I hate to say it,

But they coughed and they choked and they died.

That's a pretty grim tale, I must admit,

And it may not all be true,

Still when somebody cool does something dumb

You don't have to do it, too.

So don't be one of those

With jellybeans up your nose.

(I don't know where this came from, but Karmel's kid had it in her homework packet.)

I read this to my students today. They really understood not to copy the dumb things that cool kids do.

D "Like, if I started beating up C and all of you joined me."
Mrs. Hirz "Yeah, because you are so cool we would totally want to be just like you and do everything you are doing. We would so want to beat up C if you were."
C "Hey, why are you all beating me up? That would be a chart drop for everyone."

It was awesome.

Graduation! August 2011

Brent graduated from BYU in June with his Bachelors of Science in Geography with an emphasis in Travel and Tourism. Wah-hoo! It has been a long time in coming, but I am so proud of this kid. He stuck with it and finished.Graduation ceremony was in August for June graduates. We were lucky enough to have lots of family be able to join the celebration. (We did miss grandparents, Stacie, and Hilary though!)

Tuesday we went to pick up Kevin from the airport. We are so glad he could come! I've missed having big brother around. When are you moving back? :) Our instructions were to take him directly to Docs. We weren't allowed to go home first. So, that is what we did. And Kevin had a delicious time eating endless amounts of gross pizza.

Thursday was Commencement ceremony. Brent said he found us in the Marriott because of Kevin's beard. There aren't very many people at BYU with a huge, red beard and so it was easy for him to spot us. Way to go, Kevin! ha.

Thursday night after Commencement we came back to our apartment for some pizza and cupcakes. Brent and I had our first ultrasound on Monday and we found out that we are having a little girl. We kept it a secret from our families until Thursday night when we could surprise everyone together. We made cupcakes with some pink food coloring hidden inside. Someone said "If you see the color, don't say what's inside until we all find out for ourselves." But, Mark isn't very good at following the rules, ha, so he shouted "It's pink!" My mom was so excited that she dropped the cupcake on the floor. Way to go, Mom. It was fun being able to tell our family all together. My dad stood up, gave me a hug, and said, "My little girl is having a little girl." :)

Friday we went to celebrate at Tucano's. Mmm, it was delish. Friday night was

Brent's college graduation. It was almost as long as big Commencement because Brent graduated from the biggest college. I was so excited when they called his name and he got his diploma cover. He is done! And he didn't even trip walking across the stage!!

Saturday we went to temple square. It was great fun. I also learned that day that being pregnant makes me hot and tired very quickly.

Family, thanks for coming to celebrate with Brent. It meant a lot to have you all here.

Brent, I am so proud of you. You have worked so hard the past few years and it has paid off. You are done! I love you and I'm so thankful for your hard work.