John's Arrival!

They say that a picture is worth a thousand words... so here is the story of John's birth in some words, but lots of pictures. 

My due date came and went on August 10. I had a biophysical done on Friday August 16-- this is a test where they do an ultrasound and also monitor the baby's heart rate and movements for a certain amount of time... just to make sure that all is well when you reach one week past your due date. Baby Claus scored 10/10 (does this sound familiar? the same thing happened with Bronwen, even on the same Friday before I reached 41 weeks the next day). It was reassuring to know that all was well with our baby, and waiting until he or she arrived on their own was perfectly safe.

On Saturday morning, August 17 at 4 am I woke up with contractions. They had probably started a couple of hours earlier but I fell asleep in between them. But around 4 they started getting a bit closer together and a bit stronger and I could no longer fall asleep. 

These contractions continued aaaaaalll day Saturday. We had pancakes for breakfast. Said hi to some friends who dropped by. I paced the house. They were 4 mins apart.. then 6... then 5... then 10. It was very confusing! Around noon I was ready to throw in the towel because it seemed like this baby was not coming today. A contrast to around 8 am when I was gathering things for my hospital bag. I called my friend and cousin Hillary in Vancouver as she is a doula and I thought she would be a good listening ear. She was, and told me, among other things, to try and relax and get some rest. So I had a nap. The contractions seemed to have petered out by then.

Around 3 pm, we decided it was a good night for a BBQ- it was a beautiful sunny Saturday! Brian was going to go to Sobeys and get some ground beef for patties. I was going to go too, thinking the walk would do me good. But, around that time also the contractions seemed to have returned... and were getting stronger. So, I didn't go to Sobeys. Probably a good choice. I had a bath.. and when I was in the bath things seemed to be getting really bad. I started wondering if I could do this again and started thinking about epidurals and laughing gas and all sorts of things that would take this pain away.

Brian got back from Sobeys and made some patties for supper... I asked him for cold powerade I was saving in the fridge and decided the bath wasn't cutting it anymore. The contractions were probably about 3 min apart, and really intense I felt like I could hardly handle it... this was about 3 30 pm. I thought we better go to the hospital. My mum helped pack the last few things in my bag and also distract Bronwen.. she was worried from seeing me in pain. Made it to the car and Brian drove to the hospital... meanwhile I was starting to get the feeling this baby was coming soon... I felt like I might need to start pushing. (We also thought of Matt and Janine when Charis was born in the car- you two are amazing!.. thankfully this wasn't the case!). And also, the hospital is only a 5 min drive from our house.

We got the hospital, parked in staff parking-- I stubbornly wanted to walk across the parking lot. Clinging onto Brian with every contraction.. then halfway up lot 9E my water broke in a big splat. All through my shorts and down my legs.. thankfully it was nice and clear! Only 1 lady noticed as the parking lot was pretty quiet on a Saturday afternoon... "I know what you're going through, I've had 3 myself". On my slippery flip flops I walked through the lobby with Brian... it would have been a very different experience on a Monday morning!  It was about 4 30 pm on Saturday afternoon.

We took the elevators up to the seemingly quiet labour and delivery floor-- turns out they were actually really busy! After finally finding a nurse to triage me they told me I was 10 cm and ready to have this baby! 

The nurse called my wonderful doctor in, and she got there pretty quickly. Without any residents in tow.. I was happy about that-- nothing against med students but it's nice to not have a big crowd of people watching you give birth!

Once we were in a room I pushed for about 40 min. I think the nurses were thinking it would happen a lot faster and the baby was minutes away when they rushed me into a room. But my contractions were pretty far apart- 4-5 min- once I was on the bed. Nice for a break because I could really put my all into every contraction.. but hard when you know the baby is so close!

At 5:21 pm John Charles Claus was born.. we had a son! He went right up on my chest and we got to wait until the cord stopped pulsing before it was clamped.. then Brian got to cut it. Our healthy boy had a good strong cry and was ready to snuggle. So happy to meet him!

Getting checked over...

Nice big Bergshoeff-Claus head...

First time being held by Dad!

Found his thumb!

First little outfit... little flannel hospital gown.

We went upstairs after a couple of hours in labour and delivery... Brian stayed with me and then went home so my mum could come in and meet John. Here is Grandma's first hold..

The next morning, Bronwen got to meet her little brother! This was a very special moment. Here they are coming across the parking lot...

Bronwen was pretty interested in the hospital bed and the cracker packets... but she took a look at her new brother too ;).

First picture of our family of four!

Proud Grandma!

I decided to go home after 24 hours rather than spend another night in the ward.. here is John getting ready to go home. He is not sure how he feels about it...

In the parking lot on a beautiful summer evening! Sunday, August 18.

And now we are four! Will post more later about home life with our new addition.. overall things are going very well. John is a grunty little baby who eats a lot.. but he is packing on the ounces and pretty content for the most part! I am not getting much sleep but managing to nap every day which definitely helps.

We are very thankful for our family and the blessing of a new baby!

It's a Boy!

John Charles arrived on Saturday, August 17 at 5:21 pm. (also happening to be his Grandpa B's birthday!). He was 8 lbs 3 oz.

He has a head full of dark brown hair and blue eyes. Bronwen is enjoying her new role of big sister and likes to share her sippy cups with John.. and talk to him in a soft gentle voice (will post a movie sometime, it's cute!).

We are at home settling in to the new routine... tired but happy and very, very blessed. Will write more later including more details about his birth!

3 years!

Yesterday Brian and I celebrated 3 years of marriage. Here are some of my favourite pictures to reminisce... just some snippets.

It was such a treat to have so many people we love gathered in one place. It meant a lot to us. Here in my parents' very own backyard, at our rehearsal BBQ we have...

Mom and Dad Claus all the way from Terrace

Grandma and Grandpa Vanderwekken who drove from Alberta. 

Matt and Janine, Dave and Krista and all the little ones (not easy or cheap to fly with them!) 

All the Claus Aunties and Uncles, Nanc and Jeremy from Vancouver, my very own brothers who drove from Manitoba. And of course the faithful (at the time) locals Lisa, Lindi, Ashley, and Mum and Dad!

After we got our hair done!

"Uncle Brian..."

Now all 3 of us are married!

 Ruth and her amazing cake!

Last night Brian and I had a lovely dinner out downtown. Our friend looked after Bronwen (they had a great time!) and we had some delicious food and strolled around by the boats and down Water St. It was fun to talk about everyday life, our babies, our future.. all that good stuff.

We are very blessed.

A few more pics

Here are a few more pictures from our latest activities.

On Saturday we walked downtown.. here is our little Newfoundlander scoping out the boats.

40 weeks on Saturday... baby could be here any time.

Bronwen's newest favourite activity.. putting her rabbit in her booster seat, buckling it in, and giving it her bib and sippy cup.

Likes mum's cap!

Put it on backwards herself.. perfectly happy with the dishwasher basket filled with washcloths.

Bedtime story.

Playdates and the Garden

Last Saturday Bronwen had a little reunion with some of her friends that she hasn't seen for 6 months. 

We used to have a little playgroup of toddlers all around the same age (within 2 months of each other)-- but then when the one year mark hit half of the moms went back to work and the group was a lot smaller. Last Saturday we met up for coffee and snacks and fun!

These little crackers were a big hit! Just like adults around the chip bowl...

It's not very easy to get a picture of 7 wiggly kids..

James is pretty much done with this... dumped out his crackers and trying to slide off the couch. The girls are shocked.

And here are some pictures from our garden! I kept forgetting to take pictures so now everything is pretty huge.. it's easier to see what is going on in our plot when the plants are smaller. I went to the garden last night on my own to do some weeding, watering, and harvesting. We have a plot in the community garden at the university, so what you see in this picture actually belongs to a whole lot of people (though maybe one day, we will have a homestead with a garden this big ;).

If you look very closely you can see a string which is the border of our plot. There are three sections in our plot: from left to right- kale and chard, zucchini, then in the middle carrots and beets and turnips/rutabagas, and on the far right onions and greens.

Our onion section! And a couple of cucumber plants.

Beets.. with their beautiful colour! The greens are also good to eat, and apparently as good for you as the beets themselves. We have been eating a lot of greens the last few weeks... feels very healthy and they are tasty too. It's nice to use almost all of what we harvest!

Here are some zucchinis. I am really looking forward to having these grilled on the BBQ.

Our kale and chard. For boerenkool, stumpot and stir fries! :)

Romaine lettuce which is just waiting to be put in some tasty Caesar salads.

And here are the turnips! We have been eating the greens from these too as they are getting really big.

It's been really fun to grow things and a good hobby to do as a family.
Sometimes it's a bit more complicated as the garden is at the university rather than right in our backyard. However, Brian often goes on his lunch break or before school, or I go with him in the morning with Bronwen. I like to go by myself in the evenings too. And on Sunday after church we usually pop by since it's just down the road from our church. This past week we took some friends over so they could have some fresh-picked greens... I have a feeling we will be doing that more often in the next few weeks as things keep growing!