Claire's Growing!

I can't believe it, but Claire is already 5 weeks old! It is weird to think that five weeks ago we were in the hospital waiting to meet her. Things are quickly becoming normal in the Smith house. However, it is a new kind of normal; a better kind of normal.

I took Claire to get a shot on Thursday. I was expecting the worst. She was a real trooper though. While she did cry when the nurse stuck her she quickly stopped and was quite content while I dressed her. She didn't seem phased at all by the shot. While at the doctor's office we went ahead and weighed Claire. She now weighs 9 lbs and 2 oz. I can't believe she has gained 2 pounds. I am glad because it means she is healthy, but sad because she is growing so quickly! ( Just and FYI for anyone that reads this and lives in Lousiville - We take Claire to Springs Pediatrics and I highly recommend it! They have been excellent so far!!)

Claire went to her first church service last Sunday. She attended Crosspoint Baptist Church in Richmond, KY. She seemed to enjoy the singing, but fell asleep once the sermon started! We have pictures to post and even some videos. However, the cords I need to post them are right beside where Claire is sleeping and I'm not going to risk waking her up. She is a little fussy today and I want her to get her sleep. I'll get them up as soon as possible though. Also for you out of town family I am going to try and post weekly so you can see her growth! Hold me accountable!!

Claire has been in our lives for 16 days now. We already can't remember what we did before she joined our family. Well, that's only partly true, we do remember sleeping! We had our two week check up on Friday. Claire did excellent at the doctor's office. She peed everywhere while undressed, but that is a daily occurence here at the house so I was prepared with an extra outfit. Claire measured 20 1/4 inches long and 7 lbs. 10.5 oz. I was thrilled to see she had already surpassed her birthweight. She is a fast eater and I had been worried that she was not getting enough to eat. All of her reflexes were great as well. Basically the doctor said thanks for making his morning easy, and that she looked great. I also loved my doctor! He was wonderful!

Claire lost her umbilical cord stump Saturday night. Adam and I were thrilled and love being able to rub all over her little belly. She is also becoming much more alert during the day and seems to enjoy taking in all the new sights around her.

Having a baby is the most wonderful and scariest thing Adam and I have ever done in our lives. We have to remind ourselves that we trusted God to get us pregnant, trusted Him to keep her safe during pregnancy and now we have to trust Him with her life. She is ultimately His and we have the privelege of being her parents and trying our best to point her towards Him. Thanks for the prayers. If you are close by we love to show her off to visitors!!

She's Here!!

Claire Danielle Smith arrived on April 4th at 11:41 p.m. (10 days before her due date!) She was 7 pounds and 3 ounces and is 19 1/2 inches long. She has a head full of beautiful light brown hair. I know that we are a little biased, but we believe she is the most beautiful baby we have ever seen!!

After working through contractions Thursday and Friday night, I called the doctor Saturday morning. At that time she said it didn't sound like I was in labor and to take some medicine to help me sleep through the night. My mom and dad were already on their way to Louisville to help with some last minute projects around the house before Claire came. All day the contractions increased in intensity and frequency. Finally I called the doctor again at 5:15 and this time she said to come in and get checked out. I called Adam on the "planned emergency phone." He said, "Why did you call me on this phone!" He rushed home and we made the journey to the hospital.

We were checked in at 6:30. By the time the nurse checked in on us, I was already 6-7 cm. dialated. They broke my water at 10:00 and she arrived at 11:41.

Family and friends have been a huge help this week and we look forward to sharing this experience with other friends and family in the weeks to come. We will work on posting more pictures soon; we just have to take our eyes off of her to post on here and that is hard work!!!!

Wow! We are almost there! On Tuesday, March 24, we will be considered full term and Claire is welcome to make her debut anytime! I am still pretty comfortable overall. Sleeping is difficult, but everyone just keeps telling me this is preparing me for her arrival.

We had a shower on Saturday, March 21. It was a wonderful day! I was able to connect with some friends I hadn't seen in awhile, and was blown away by all the wonderful gifts.

Please keep Adam and I in your prayers as we are anxious and excited to meet our little girl! We are looking forward to meeting her, and to getting to spend some time with family. Also pray for Adam as he is in the middle of a semester at Southern and is trying to balance school, work and prepare for our little girl. Hopefully next post you will be seeing a family of three.

2 Month Countdown!!

Adam made me pose for a more recent picture the other day claiming that my belly had grown since he had seen me that morning. We are 8 weeks, 2 months or 58 days away from our due date. Adam asked if I knew how many hours away, but I can't do two-digit by two-digit multiplication in my head. According to the last doctor's appointment everything is going just as it should be. I failed the 1 hour glucose test, but passed the 3 hour test. I heard it wasn't that unusual to fail the first test, but it did have us worried for a few days. We are now to the point where we go the doctor every two weeks.

Our first shower is this Friday. I am so excited to get a few things and start setting them up. I will be posting pictures of her room after we work on it some more this weekend. Keep us in your prayers as we are getting closer to the due date.

Winter Wonderland. . . Kind of

Well, our lives have been put on hold since Tuesday morning. Overnight a winter storm blew through Kentucky and didn't stop until Wednesday afternoon. We were first hit with several inches of snow, an inch of ice and then another couple inches of snow. While the snow is beautiful the ice is a pain. Tuesday night we were awoken several times to the sound of tree limbs falling in our yard. Thankfully nothing fell on our house or garage. Due to the ice, 190,000 homes were without power, in Louisville alone. We only lost our power for about an hour on Tuesday night. We are SO thankful to have power and heat. Here are a few pictures of what we woke up to on Wednesday morning after the ice had done it's damage. Adam worked for hours in our yard moving limbs, clearing a walkway, cleaning our cars and working on clearing the driveway. He even had to use a chainsaw to cut down some hanging branches. Although we are ready for this to mess to disappear we have been very lucky.