Claire's birth

We were all hoping Claire would be a little more prompt than her sisters, but there seems to be some pre-determined timer for Frisch girls.   I'd been having Braxton hicks contractions for weeks now, and some had even been getting regular before disappearing, so I only half-listened when we woke up Sunday morning (nine days after her due date) to some light contractions.  I made sure the diaper bag was packed and we walked over to church.  At this point I was pretty sure this was real, but fortunately contractions slowed down during mass.  We made it back home and got breakfast in the two big sisters before calling friends to watch them.  Thank God for an abundance of good friends here!

I labored at home for a few hours and then we headed in around noon, even though it felt early.  Madeleine's birth had only been five hours long, and I didn't really have any desire to be surprised by this one.  They took their sweet time admitting us, but said they'd "keep us" since I was 5cm dialated. (She said this and chuckled. Labor floor humor is not funny when in labor.)  I was glad to get all of the tests out of the way, and pretty soon they left us all alone.  For the next few hours we labored quietly until I had a few pushing contractions.  As the third one came I figured we should tell the nurse, and Claire was born on the next one.  The doctor, who was down the hall helping with another birth, wasn't even in the room.  Adam scooped her into my arms, and she got to stay there for the next hour.

The moments after the birth were sort of surreal.  We had asked to delay cord clamping and all of the routine measurements, so time stood still for a bit as I just got to hold her.  The doctor sat and chatted with us as we waited for the afterbirth, Claire nursed a few times, and finally we handed her off so that we could move to our new room.

Claire Monica Frisch

February 23, 2014  at 3:07pm

7.7ounces, 19.7 inches

Claire's first picture, finally getting measured.

A rare moment awake

Moms may laugh at this adjective, but it was the most peaceful birth we've had yet.   The hospital staff was very hands-off supportive, which I loved, and everything happened so smoothly.  The only problem Claire had was that they discovered she is a different blood type than me, so she had a slight jaundice caused by blood incompatibility.  She never looked too yellow, but was very sleepy.  Getting pricked for those tests were her most traumatic moments in the hospital.  Her other misfortune was that it took us almost until discharge to decide on her name, poor girl.  We're getting slower and slower with each girl.

Elena and Madeleine spent the night with our friends and got to meet their sister the next day.  It was a little sad having to wait that long, but we enjoyed the quiet time of just one child for a night.  They were still very excited to meet her when they did.  :)

Inspecting the new baby.  She got a lot of ear pokes...

This hat doesn't fit Madeleine!

Love this new family picture!

Madeleine has the best faces when baby
starts crying.  :)

Yawwwn!

We had to go back in over the next few days for more jaundice checks, but at her two-day check she finally tested low enough to not worry.  What a huge relief!

Claire is 11 days old now, and we're starting to see blue eyes emerge (and blonde hair, we think!).  Now that the jaundice is gone, she's spending more time awake.  Her big sisters pounce on those moments and love to hold her.  But still, she's a very calm baby, which is a good disposition to have with two older sisters.

Pictures from her first week at home will be up soon, but for now we're just enjoying Adam's paternity leave and learning how to operate as a family of five!  :)