Claire Elizabeth’s Birth Story

We are beyond excited to introduce to you our precious Claire Elizabeth born Sunday, June 24th at 8:46am, weighing 6lbs 9oz, 19 inches long!

She is the sweetest most adorable little princess. We feel beyond blessed that she has joined our family and that we get to call her our own!!

I wanted to share a bit of Claire’s birth story with you while it’s still fresh on my mind.

On Friday, June 22nd we arrived in Florida where Claire’s birth mother lives. We stayed in a hotel Friday night and moved into a rental home on Saturday morning. I was in contact with Claire’s birth mother via text during this time. On Saturday morning, June 23rd she mentioned she was having some pain and was going to lay down to rest. We grabbed some lunch and returned to our rental home to get unpacked and settled in.

Back at the rental I started helping the kids get ready to play the pool. Before we left I sent Claire’s birth mother a text to see how she was feeling. She replied saying she had been having contractions about 11 minutes apart for the last hour. We continued on to the pool but I told her to let me know when they decided to leave for the hospital. I tried to play it cool and let the kids enjoy the pool in between texting, calling and breath coaching our sweet birth mama.

A short time later Claire’s birth mother decided it was time to head to the hospital. I told the kids we had to leave the pool because it was baby time!! We hurried back to the house to change into dry clothes. Once the kids were all situated with Helen, Fil and I left for the hospital.

It took several hours to become situated at the hospital. Our birth mother was checked in and given a quick exam determining that she was at 5cm dilated. At this point it was nearly midnight and we had a long night ahead of us. I told Fil to head back to the house for rest while I remained at the hospital.

I was able to be in the room with our birth Mama’s family all night long. The emotions were high. As with all deliveries it was equally exciting, thrilling and scary but with the wild and crazy twist of adoption. No one slept much and things were progressing very slowly. During the night she received her epidural but did not progress past 5cm. She was advised to get some sleep and that the doctor would start inducing her in the morning. We all tried to sleep but there was too much going on in the room to get any real rest.

Around 8:00 AM the doctor came in to break her water and had planned to start some inducing medicine. Although we were getting along great we were also so exhausted. Our birth Mama was in pain and ready to be done; it seemed like labor could go on for quite few more hours. The doctor then broke her water and as she was telling our birth Mama that they would soon be starting inducing medication she examined her and exclaimed, “You’re at 9cm, it’s almost time for you to push!” Oh my goodness those were some of the sweetest words I’ve ever heard!

Things happened fast from there, about fifteen minutes later she felt like she was ready to push. I ran out to updated her nurse then several people came in and started prepping the room for delivery. As she pushed I stood right by her side; I held her hand and pulled her leg up for her. I coached her through her breathing and told her what an amazing job she was doing. She pushed for about thirty minutes and then I watched as my precious baby girl’s head covered in beautiful dark hair came out. The doctor stopped her from pushing for a moment while she sucked out her mouth and nose. Then with one last push out came our Claire Elizabeth! There were about seven doctors, nurses and nurse students filling the room along with Claire’s birth father and myself. But despite the crowd, in that moment all I could see and think about was that precious girl that I had prayed and longed for for so long. The doctor handed Claire to the delivery nurse and I burst into tears. My girl was finally here and I got to see the whole thing! My heart felt so full! Claire cried as they measured and weighed her; I watched all of her first little movements and sounds. I held her birth Mama’s hand, taking it all in while she finished the delivery process. After they checked and cleaned Claire they wrapped her up and handed her to me. My sweet baby girl was finally in my arms; she was just perfect and I was so in love!

I don’t know that I will ever be able to fully process the feelings of that day, but I know I will forever be so grateful to Claire’s birth Mama for going through such pain and sorrow to give me one of the greatest gifts of my life. Claire will forever be loved by not one but two sweet Mamas who both love her so much that they would do whatever it takes to give her what’s best for her. Her mother knew that she could not give her the best life but trusted and knew in her heart that we could. She did the most selfless thing by entrusting us with Claire and choosing a better life for her, a life that she herself will never know but that she knows is best for her sweet babe.

The whole experience is one I will remember and cherish forever and one that I will love telling over and over to sweet Claire as she grows older. I’ll tell her about the first moments of her life when both her Mamas loved on her and how she is one of the sweetest blessings to our family. I’ll tell her how God chose her just for us and us for her and how she is loved more then she will ever know! Oh precious Claire we all love you to the moon and back and always will!

xoxo,

Lindsey