The Newest Clare

Jared, in the NICU, holding his own binkie.

 Introducing . . .  Jared Hopper Clare.  He was born on Thursday, November 17th at 4:18 am.  He weighed 8 lbs and 13 ozs and measured 21.4 inches long.  He is also perfect and adorable. 


And, in case you're skeptical about my ability to be non-partial on the subject, here are a few pictures.

After eating, "Food Comma"

Grandma Hopper holding Jared

Jonathan walking around with Jared over his shoulder (a move guaranteed to put the baby to sleep)

cuteness

sleeping cuteness

after bath cuteness

'nough said

 Baby Story:  After a day of pre-labor cramping I finally went into active labor just after midnight on Wednesday the 16th.  At 8 that morning, when the contractions were 5 mins apart we called the doctor and went to the hospital.  Unfortunately, it was at that point that my contractions stalled out.  Nothing . . . Grrrrrrhhh!  I was 3 cm dilated so thankfully they didn't send us home.  Our Doula spent an hour walking the halls with me but the contractions just wouldn't come back.  So around 2pm the doctor broke my water and put me on pitocin.  Finally, those elusive contractions came back --and with a vengeance.  Suddenly, it was one single contraction with no breaks.  After about 20 mins I asked for an epidural.  It was magic!!   I was in labor for another 12 hours and I was able to doze on and off and watch TV.  No pain is my gain! 

Finally, after 2 hours of pushing and the aid of a vacuum, Jared was born.  It was surreal.  We'd been waiting and planning for 9 months and there he was . . . our baby boy.   Jonathan and our Doula, Talia, were awesome the whole time.  They were my support team while I was pushing and when Jared made his arrival Jonathan was drenched in sweat and looked as exhausted as I was.


Unfortunately, I'd had a slight fever during labor and so Jared was taken to the NICU as a precaution to receive antibiotics.  He was only supposed to be there for 6 hours but ended up staying there for 2 days.  First it was the antibiotics, then there was concern about his heart rate (an EKG showed showed he was fine) and then he wouldn't urinate.  It was pretty tough.  We wanted our baby and he seemed so out of place in the NICU.  He was this big, healthy baby when all the other NICU babies were tiny and sick.  We'd walk across to the NICU every 2-3 hours so I could breastfeed Jared.  It was pretty crazy trying to hold and feed him with all the tubes and monitors.  I was still rolling around my IV pole so Jared and I kept getting tangled up.    We were released on Saturday afternoon and were so excited to go home.

My parents had flown out from Washington and stayed with us for a week.  It was great to have all the help.  My mom took turns with the baby, made dinners and gave us great advice. 


Jared is now 3 1/2 weeks old.  He has already outgrown several outfits and is a big healthy baby.  He has an easy going temperament is and excellent eater and sleeper.