Claire Abigail Graham

Sleeping like an angel!

Jack finding Claire's toes!

My babies!

Sweetness!

Thrilled to be a big brother!

Wow!

Grammie and Miss Claire!

We love this face!

My family!

One proud Daddy!

All smiles!!!! :)

Sleeping beauty!

Can you say spoiled????

Claire's room!

Claire Abigail Graham

Daddy and Claire at the hospital

Sleeping with his baby girl

Mommy and Claire!

Night nurse with our sweet love!

CLAIRE ABIGAIL GRAHAM

On January 31st at 3:08 pm our sweet baby girl was born! She made her appearance in this world weighing in at 6 pounds and 13 ounces and measured 21 inches in length. She is gorgeous and has fit right in to our little family and made it complete. Sorry it has taken me a week to post. Needless to say- we have been busy! :) Her birth story was a interesting one. It rarely snows here in North Carolina. It is similar to TX weather normally. Well- not this past week! We got 7 inches of snow. I had been to the doctor all week due to high blood pressure. They wanted to induce me but I got sick and Jack Man was also sick as well. I begged them to let me recover (as long as the baby was not in danger) as I knew from previous experience the first few days would be tiring especially if I was feeling bad. I also wanted to be able to kiss my sweet baby's face vs wear a mask due to fever as the Dr. recommended. So- God had a plan and the day I was feeling better I started having contractions around 1:00am (the same time Jack started making his way into the world too.). The contractions were so light I wasn't worried about having her anytime soon but the Dr. had warned me since it was my second child I would probably go much faster. With Jack I followed the 511 rule and when I got to the hospital I was 6 1/2 cm dilated. (it ended up taking over 30 hours later but to be safe...)The Dr told me not to wait that long this time. We had not planned for the weather though and now we had that to consider as well. We live 5 minutes from the hospital but the snow was so bad we were not sure how long it would take to get to the hospital. Once my contractions were more consistent and about 10 minutes apart we went ahead and called the hospital. They said to come when they were 8 minutes apart. Our game plan got thrown off track due to weather as far as who would come take care of Jack- and my sweet neighbor/friend Michele could not get out of her driveway when we called her to come over. She recommended for Greg to go out and try and start his car and see if we were going to need to call an ambulance due to the ice in our driveway. When Greg went outside he saw the neighbor getting his newspaper (yes at 4:30am) and when he came inside I explained that we needed Joe to come watch Jack as we had zero options because no one could get here. Poor sweet Joe! He told Greg he would be glad to but even though he has grandchildren he needed to know how to change a diaper. LOL We knew he was in safe hands but it was tough to leave without a worry of how long Jack and Joe would be hanging out without help. :) We were thankful for Joe though!!!! Extremely! Jack ended up waking up and we introduced them so it went over well. I did laugh because about an hour later when we called to check in Joe said Jack had given him a tour of the house and they were watching TV on our bed in the bedroom which he hoped we didn't mind. LOL That is Jack's morning routine so I guess he followed it. Anyway-when we got to the hospital I was only 2 cm STILL! I had been that way all week. The best part was my contractions which were 10 minutes apart for 1 hour and then 8 minutes apart for the last 30 minutes had completely stopped for about 30 minutes. I felt so silly! The nurse called the Dr and we were told we could be admitted or go home until later. Our choice. Ummmm we were not going back out in that weather to turn around again. They told us to walk for 1 hour and then we would be admitted. Good thing we decided to stay! As soon as they got us into a room I was rechecked and at 4 cm. My contractions were very strong! Way stronger at 4 cm with Claire than almost 7 cm with Jack. I had the worst back pain ever. I could hardly move. After that things started rolling. It was not long until things got serious and the party started! I pushed for 30 minutes and then we saw our sweet baby girl's face. Greg even cut the cord! I was so proud of him! It was love at first sight. I can tell you that having a second child is a different experience when you have another at home though. With Jack we stayed in the hospital as long as we could. With Claire I wanted to get home asap to have my entire family with me. We knew Jack was in good hands though as he was with my friend Michele who was literally a poster mom and the best care we could have asked for. Claire has been the "perfect" baby thus far. She only cries when she is hungry or needs to be changed. I am aware this may very well be a short blessing but in hopes it is long term! :) She still has her days and nights mixed up but we are ok with that for now. She lost weight like most babies do- so we have to go back to the Dr for a second appointment next week to make sure she continues to gain. She is truly in newborn clothes which is new for me because Jack never really fit in them. She is soo tiny and such a sweet girl. She is loved by all and her big brother is very proud. Claire brought him some toys home from the hospital and he welcomed her by trying to get her to play with Thomas the train which he proceeded to chunk into her bassinet. Within minutes he also whipped a coloring book at her head. He is not quite sure why she can't eat snacks with him, sit up as he commands, or crawl under the table- but each day he is more and more sure of her. He does not like the idea that she may be hanging out when it is his bedtime- so we have to make sure she is in her bed in her room when Jack goes down. I know there are hard times ahead but I can't wait to watch my family grow. I have to mention how extremely thankful we have been to have my in laws here at this time. They have been here the past week and helped clean, cook, change diapers, feed babies, stay up all night so we get sleep, and a million other things. They even brought the glider for Claire's room all the way from TX that they bought for us. It is soooo awesome and will make late nights so much better! We have been spoiled and when they leave tomorrow tears will be shed BY ALL! Jack has loved having the extra attention. He loves his Grammie and G-Paw and so do we. I will post pictures from their visit on the next post as well. In the meantime- we are getting into new routines and enjoying our new family member. Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers and please keep them coming. We are so thankful and feel very blessed! XOXOXOX P.S. I will get my header changed on my blog when my sweet sister has time after her pregnancy and new baby gets here! I have NO idea how to change it! :)