Days at home go by so fast!

May 6, the first home health nurse visited to check on mommy and the baby. Clara had gained weight and now weighed 7.10 pounds! Mommy's blood pressure was still really high and the doctor had to be called. I am now on blood pressure medication that will hopefully only be temporary. May 6, Aunt Gigi gave Clara this cute little outfit! May 7, mommy and Clara just rocking. i love this little girl! May 9, Yea! Poppie is in town now! I am so happy to have him here. Clara gave Poppie an Auburn cheerleader outfit for her to wear when she watches the games with him this year! He was so excited!

The first few days...

Me and Robby on the way to the hospital to have Clara at 3:15 pm on May 1, 2008.When I got to the hospital my blood pressure was too high and the nurses and doctors were worried that I was going to have a seizure, so they started me on a medicine called magnesium through an IV. The labor was really long and full of some very scary complications. So, after 30 hours of labor, the doctors decided that we needed a c-section to get Clara out as fast and as safely as possible. This is a really bad picture of me that Robby took while I was in labor. I have never felt so sick in my whole life! I am really glad it is over and that Clara is here safe!When the doctors decided we needed a c-section they had me ready to go within 10 minutes and they gave Robby these scrubs to wear so he could come too.This is doctor Thomas. She is the OBGYN who preformed my c-section. This is the first picture of Clara, right after she was born around 8 in the morning on May 2, 2008! She weighed 7.7 pounds and was 20.5 inches long!The nurses and doctors cleaned her up and gave her to daddy to hold while I was being stitched up.Such a proud daddy!Clara's first picture as a clean baby!Mommy's first time to hold Clara. I really don't remember anything about this except that I was so scared that I was going to drop her!Isn't she cute!When we finally got to our room daddy just loved being with her.This is the next day, May 3. I had to stay in bed because they still had me on the magnesium drip, and because I was bleeding too much, so they also had me on a pitocin drip.One of our favorite nurses made Clara this hat and we had a lot of fun taking pictures of her in it.Side profile in her new hat! I have no idea what I would have done without my mother here to help. She was such a blessing to me and Robby both. This is her holding Clara. This is Clara's first ride in her car seat! We finally got to go home on May 5. Sometimes Clara loves her swing, sometimes she hates it! This is her first time to ride in it. May 5. Robby and I were so excited about Clara we showed her everything! She liked her boppy too!This is my first time to hold Clara on May 5, in the rocking chair Robby and I bought for her. We are so excited to have her with us. I was meant to be a mommy! I love it! And Robby is a great dad. Thanks to everyone who has called, emailed, and sent gifts. It has taken me longer than I expected to get back in touch with everyone. Robby and I are trying to sleep as much as we can, so we haven't called anyone back yet, but we will. We love you all! ~ Andrea, Robby, & Clara

Big Baby!

I had to go to the hospital yesterday to have some tests done and while I was there Clara had some test done too! One of them was an ultrasound and she was beautiful! Clara is very healthy and "a good sized baby girl". I just wanted to share this picture of her little profile with you guys. We are anxiously waiting for her to decide to come. I will be going back to the doctor Friday if she isn't here yet. I will keep everyone updated on her arrival! ~Dea

Winchester Mansion

Stairs to the Ceiling! She added so many times to the house that the roof looks like this!

My mom, Robby and I spent yesterday touring the Winchester Mansion. It was very fun and I think that mom liked it the most! Mrs. Winchester's daughter died of PKU at 6 weeks old and then her husband died of TB not too long afterwards. She was convinced by a psychic that it was the spirits of all those who were killed by the Winchester rifle and that she must buy a house and continuously build on it for the rest of her life to appease these spirits. That is just what she did. She never used any plans or anything and she would just build new rooms right up next to the outside walls and there were doors that just opened up into 8 foot drops and stairs that went nowhere. It was a fun day, but even all the walking and going up and down stairs wouldn't convince Clara it was time to come! Oh well, I have a doctor's appointment today.... we will see what she has to say. Love you all~ Andrea

Mom is here!

It is starting to get funny how many people smile at me and talk to me or make comments to each other about how huge I am (like I can't hear them or something)! Hopefully Clara will come sometime soon, because she is getting rather hard to carry around! My mom is here, and it has just been wonderful having her. I have another doctor's appointment on Monday. My doctor says that if it doesn't look like Clara will be here really soon, that we will talk about induction. Hopefully she will come on her own, I don't really want to be induced. Anyways, I hope everyone is doing great. I will talk to you soon.

The last Date!

This is a really bad picture of me, but I thought it was funny how much bigger I am than Robby! Well, yesterday Robby and I spent the entire day on what we called our "last date"!

Not to sound depressing, but you know, Clara will be here soon and from now on we will have to get a babysitter and stuff to go out!. So we had a fun filled day. We went to Walnut creek and bought a glider for Clara, we worked out, the we got dressed up and went to see "Getting over Sara Marshell" and ate at a famous restaurant here called Bay Wolf. It was a great day and we really had a lot of fun. The pictures above are of us about to leave for the movie. I thought it was funny how gigantic I look next to Robby! This is the only nice shirt I have left that fits! Well, I love you all. Have a great week. ~Gigantor

BIG girl!!

Oh dear! I went to the doctor today. She said that Clara was a very healthy 7.5 pound baby at this time and that it didn't look like she was going to be coming early! Wow! She could weigh almost 10 pounds by the time she is born, the little porker! Oh well, I am very happy that she is healthy. Thank goodness that tomorrow is my last day at work! I am getting very tired of 12 hour shifts! My mother will be here next Thursday! I am very excited about her coming out here to help us. In the meantime, Clara is just "getting ready for her big show", as her daddy calls it!

Gift from Uncle Rhett

Clara is 38 weeks old now! She recieved this cute outfit from her uncle Rhett who is in Switzerland right now studying. We just wanted to try it on! Love to all~ Dea

37 weeks!

This is a diaper cake that one of my friends at work made for me! It is all newborn and size one diapers! I think she did such a great job! I just love it! It will be hard for me to use it! Well guys, Clara is considered "full term" now and the doctor's wouldn't try to stop her if she decided to come anytime soon! I went to see my OB today and she said that everything looks great. She thinks Clara is about 6 pounds or so and that she and I are both healthy and doing wonderful. I only have three more days of work next Mon, Wed, and Sat. That is great! Things are going pretty well here. We have everything we need for baby Clara now and are just happily waiting for her arrival! Hopefully Clara will wait for her Mumzy to come out here before she is born! Well, I am going to go to the gym now. I hope you guys have a great weekend! I love you all. ~Dea

Baby Cat!

Aunt Gigi and Baby Cat! Baby Cat's playtime! Changing diapers! It's early in the morning! Gigi and I had fun the last day she was here getting the final things in Clara's "nursery" ready and playing with sandwich cat! Gigi taught me how to swadle a baby and all that fun stuff. It was a great day and something I really needed!