Many blessings despite the challenges

Today Claire is 5 days old and I have to brag a bit! She is an absolute angel and has been sleeping well during the night. Last night I even had to wake her for all of her feedings. She is a great baby and I think she is enjoying being spoiled by Nanny and Papa Hlavka.

Nanny and Papa arrived on Friday and surprised us at the hospital by showing up 2 hours earlier than expected. They helped us get home and settled. Here we met our first challenge; getting up the stairs. It was a tough ride up for Jeff and Dad with the heat because they had to carry me up the three flights of stairs in a wheelchair. Once we made it upstairs, we spent the evening getting the apartment arranged so that I could move around freely. Then we called it a night and went to bed exhausted.

Yesterday was another exciting day with yet another challenge for us. Claire met her Grandpa Dave and it was fun watching him interact with her. Each time he held her, she would make a poopy diaper so we decided that if she ever gets constipated, we will just give her to Grandpa Dave for a few minutes! The challenge presented at 4pm when we noticed that the air conditioning went out in our apartment. By the time they came to "fix" it, the temp in the apartment was 89 degrees and it was 104 degrees outside. I am not sure what the guy did but the A/C worked for about 30 minutes before going out again. It did run long enough to bring the indoor temp down to 83 degrees. Within another hour or so, the temp inside was back up to 90 and after a few phone calls to have the A/C fixed, we were told that it was getting too dark outside and that someone would come by in the morning. We had to pack up everything we needed for the baby and headed to a hotel for the night. I decided to make it easy on the guys this time and went down the stairs on my butt. It actually worked fairly well. We all got a good night sleep in the cool hotel room. Even Claire slept most of the night.

Today we went to church and are now back at the apartment. I went up the stairs backward on my butt and this was a workout for me but it was much easier on my dad and Jeff this way. It was probably good for me to do some activity anyway. After all, I can't sit still and let people do things for me if there is a possibility I can do it for myself:)

Each day we are seeing progress in my strength. Yesterday I was able to extend my right leg almost all the way out when I was laying on my side. It was a pretty big step and Mom even started to cry! I am doing pretty well with staying positive but have my moments. Jeff has been a wonderful support and I would be lost without him. My parents have been a huge blessing as well and I am so grateful for all the amazing people in my life. God has truly blessed us and is making us stronger through the challenges we are facing. We hope you enjoy seeing the pictures of Claire.

It's Different When It's Your Own......

For three and a half years we have been anxiously waiting to expand our family. For three and a half years I have been scared to death of having a baby. For three and a half years I have been hearing "It's different when It's your own baby". For three and a half years I have not believed that statement. For three and a half days, I have realized I was wrong.

Everyone that has made that statement, and you know who you are, Thank You.

Claire Nadine Naustdal

Wow...where do I begin. The last few days have been the most amazing days of our lives. Let's start with labor. I was induced on Monday evening at 5pm. Dr Russell, my OB/GYN was a bit nervous about letting me go past my due date for fear of having too large of a baby; so we set up an induction. He came in and placed my Cervidil at 5:35pm. I was 1.5cm dilated, and half way thinned out so we thought we were going to have quite a wait. Well, it turns out we were wrong. He must have placed the Cervidil just right because by midnight we were dilated 3cm and contracting well. My water broke so my nurse took out the medication and let my labor progress on its own. I was completely dilated by 4am. With my epidural I was unable to feel much so we waited to start pushing untl 5:30am. Claire Nadine arrived at 8:58 am after 3.5 hours of hard pushing.

Claire weighed 8 pounds 6 ounces and was 20.5 inches long. A big baby for my first! Since she has arrived, life has been a whirlwind. We have been trying to stay on top of phone calls, emails, and texts. Fitting all of that in between feedings and diaper changes has not been easy. Despite all of that she is the most precious baby and immediately Jeff and I fell in love with her. She has been amazing so far and I can see what people mean when they say your baby will steal your heart...Jeff and I are swept away with love and adoration over our new little girl.

Jeff....I don't even know what to say about my awesome husband. He was very anxious about going through labor and delivery. He was amazing. He helped me breathe through contractions, doing anything I asked him to do in a heartbeat. When it came time to start pushing, he was right there by my face offering words of encouragement with each push the entire 3.5 hours. He was very nervous about watching Claire arrive into this world...well I knew he was watching when she got close because with each push his words of encouragement became more animated and excited, helping me to push harder. He even cut the umbilical cord, which is something he said he didn't think he could do. I am so, so, so proud of him!

I have had the best pregnancy possible. In fact, I even told Jeff that I was not ready to be done which is not something you hear too often. I had only one day that I didn't feel well and that was from some crazy turkey I had eaten (jk). Because everything had been going so good we figured I would have a difficult delivery. We were right. Eleven hours of labor, including 3 1/2 hours of pushing were tough. It became even tougher hours after the delivery when my legs were not working properly. I had assumed it was just the epidural taking its time to wear off. 36 hours later I had a consult with the neurologist. He diagnosed me with femural neuropathy which is what Dr. Russell and many of my nurses were already thinking. The bad part of my condition is that there is no set timetable for healing. Case studies show it could take anywhere from days to months. Obviously we are praying for the prior. I have gained fairly good control of my left leg but still waiting on the right. We have met with occupational therapists and devised a plan to allow the most freedom possible in our apartment. I will keep you updated.

The last part of this post I want to dedicate to the amazing staff at Methodist Willowbrook. My delivery team: Ciri, Lisa, Elaine, Delia and Dr. Russell have been unbelievable. The support and encouragement that we recieved will not be forgotten. All of my nurses have gone way beyond the call of duty to make our stay as comfortable as possible. To everyone that has stopped to wish us well and offer their help....a never ending THANK YOU! I also want to thank my "on call" "nursing staff in MN. The phone calls have helped more that you can ever imagine.

Inspiration

As I sat in church today, I had some time to think about all the hopes and fears, dreams and worries that are about to come my way. Sleepless nights and overpowering pride that is going to make up my relationship with Claire. Only two more days until we can meet one another. Pastor Ron had a video that he played before the sermon to give inspiration on Father's Day. It is the story of Rick and Dick Hoyt. I have posted a link at the end of this blog so that you can see what inspiration truly is. Watching that video made me realize that I must make a commitment to Claire and I must stick to that commitment. I'm not sure if this blog will be around when she is old enough to read but in case it is:

Claire, I promise to remember that to you, my next promotion is not nearly as important as your next dance class. To you, my lack of sleep is no reason to not play one more game of chutes and ladders. To you, tea parties are like birthday parties that you have everyday. To you, warm hugs are more important than the Super Bowl. To you, a listening ear will last longer than a new cell phone. To you, your blanky is more than something to keep you warm. To you, bedtime stories are more than just a routine. To you, and me, the Hoyt story is how it should be! To you, and me, the Hoyt story is how it WILL be.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=flRvsO8m_KI&feature=related

Last Days of Freedom

Since Sheila is way too fat to type, I am having to do all her blogging. If anyone has seen Duece Bigalow they will know how I feel when I hear "Cakes and Pies" coming from the bedroom. Luckily she is a good sport about all my teasing. I can honestly say this has been much better than I thought. I was sure she was going to be crabby and overly needy but she has been a real trooper. I have had to make her slow down and take it easy. With only a few days left until we can meet our daughter, we are double checking the batteries on the camera and making sure we have everything we need. Sheila has a doctor's appt. on Friday and we will determine what course of action we will take. She is penciled in for an induction on Tues. I think she would like to go before that but that is our plan for now. I'm not sure if I mentioned it or not but Sheila wants me to check the batteries in the camera. We are planning on having a web-cam at the hospital for anyone with Skype. No we are not broadcasting live but will be sharing video after Claire is here. This picture of Sheila is one that I will look back on with fond memories. She has done so good with this pregnancy. Did I forget to tell you that Sheila wants me to check the batteries in the camera. I hope you have enjoyed my odd sense of humor because I plan on passing it on to Claire. Wish us luck as we enter the last week of freedom and begin the most important job of our lives. One last thing; SHEILA THE BATTERIES ARE CHARGED!!!!!!!!!

2 weeks to go!

Today we reach our 38 week mark. Not much has been happening this past week unfortunately. I had 4 days off of work and spent one of the days "nesting"...cleaning the apartment very, very well and washing all of Claire's clothes. It is so fun to look in the closet and see her little outfits hanging up just waiting for her to wear. She continues to move lots, mostly in the evenings. I have noticed less movement during the night which has helped me to sleep for longer periods of time...I am now up to sleeping 3 hours at a time instead of 2! I continue to be able to work full-time which is nice.

Now we are just waiting for her to drop into my pelvis. We see

Dr Russell on Friday and will find out if I am dilating any more.

Wish us luck! When the big day comes, we will be sure to notify

family and friends and post some pictures on here so we can show off our beautiful baby girl!

We hope this finds everyone well and enjoying the summer. I hear in MN the summer hasn't started yet and it has been chilly...we hope that it starts getting nice for y'all soon! Down here it is almost too hot to even go outside...we are already in the mid 90's and I bet mom and dad can't wait to get down here to hang out in the heat!

My new table

Here we are at 37.4 weeks today. I have found a new use for my belly...it now works as my table! I cannot do a plate yet (and hope I don't get that big to be able to balance a dinner plate!) but a bowl fits just fine and stays in place. That is if Claire doesn't decide to kick it off while I am eating!

Things continue to go very well with pregnancy. The girls from work threw me a baby shower on Thursday and we had lots of fun. We got many practical things which will come in handy when Claire makes her arrival. On Friday, I saw my doctor and there was no cervical change. Kind of a bummer, but I have to remember this is my first baby and we are not even 38 weeks yet. He did a portable ultrasound to confirm she is head down, which she is. She was looking to my left side with her back on my right and her butt in my upper left quadrant. Dr Russell said it looks like she has a petite face and her cheeks don't look too chubby...we will see when she comes out! I am able to hear her heartbeat with my stethoscope so I find myself listening to it often. Claire still needs to drop into my pelvis and I have been taking Presley for walks on my days off trying to help that happen. So, no news yet other than the pregnancy continues to go well and I am still loving being pregnant. I will keep you all updated on our status and post some pictures with the delivery information after the big day comes! Please keep us in your prayers for a good labor and a healthy little ( and I stress "little"!) girl!

We are now full term!!!!

Today marks 37 weeks for us. We are now considered full term so anytime that Claire decides she wants to come is safe. I am starting to get a bit anxious about labor...I think I know too much from working labor and delivery for over 9 years now. Jeff is getting very excited and I feel he is ready to be a daddy. I had my first Dairy Queen blizzard for the pregnancy last night and enjoyed every last bite of it! I am starting to feel more back discomfort after my 12 hour shifts of work, but nothing too terrible yet. I am guessing each day will become a bit more difficult and I hope that working so much will maybe put me into labor. My desire it to go into labor on my own and not have to be induced. We will see what Claire has in mind! We see the doctor on Friday for our 37 week visit and I will find out then if I have made any cervical changes. Last week I was dilated 1cm which made me happy. Let's hope this week brings more dilation! I am excited to meet Claire but will definitely miss being pregnant. So far, no signs of labor. It is exciting not knowing when the big day will arrive. My parents are ready in MN to make the trip down...they even have their clothes picked out so all they have to do is put them into a suitcase and head south. I can't wait to see them with Claire! As you can see in the pictures, we are growing quickly these past few weeks. Jeff cannot even hug me normally anymore!