First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes Klara in the baby carriage...!

My last blog was our exciting event for August 2010, our marriage. August 2011 brought us another exciting event, one day after our year anniversary, Klara Grace Pusch arrived.

The story of her birth is not necessarily a particularly exciting one, except for those involved, but if you are interested, I will tell it here (as well as provide pictures of her for the rest of you).

Klara's original due date was August 22nd. But she was not ready to arrive then. As many of you may know, I was certainly more than ready for her to arrive, but she had her own ideas, much to the dismay of Grammy Lambertson (who knew she had to go back to the East Coast for my brother's wedding on August 27th). My OB had set an induction date of Wednesday, August 31st, but I sincerely hoped I wouldn't have to be induced.

On Saturday and Sunday I started having some practice contractions, but each time, we went to bed and there were no contractions in the morning. On Monday morning I went in to the doctor's for a non-stress test and I could see a few regular contractions, but they were not very strong. I met the OB that would be on duty that evening, Dr. Lara Williams, who had just had her own baby a mere 12 weeks earlier. She said I was 3-4 cm dilated, but that my cervix was posterior (not in the position for birth). She suggested lots of hip exercises to help. I really liked her and turns out, it was a good thing to have met her.

That afternoon the contractions started becoming more regular and  bit stronger, but I wasn't even sure if they were strong enough to suggest I was in early labor. We called our birth doula, Bonnie, and she said "just in case" she was going to take a nap and suggested we do the same. I couldn't sleep real well, but when we got up from our nap around 5:30, the contractions were stronger. We called Bonnie to tell her our progress and she said she was already on her way!

Michael was already doing a great job with hip squeezes and timing contractions. Bonnie arrived and they both helped me through as the contractions got stronger. I could still talk between contractions, so I thought I had a while yet. By 7:30, Bonnie suggested we should go to the hospital. Michael parked Bruno (our VW Eurovan) in the 5 min parking and went with us to get checked in (he wouldn't get back to park the van until 3am). I wanted to walk up to Labor and Delivery (I didn't like sitting down during the contractions at first), so it took us a long while to make it as we had to stop every 3 min or so for me to lean over a counter or a bar for a contraction.

We had to ride the elevator up and down twice because I had a contraction and couldn't move when the doors opened. Those waiting decided to take another elevator. After checking in and getting shown the room I would be in, they told me that the jacuzzi was ready for me!

I labored for 3 hours in the jacuzzi. Michael and Bonnie never left my side. Michael had a great strong grip that I really appreciated during the contractions, especially when they came 3 in a row. When I had a break between them, Michael said I was nearly asleep, completely relaxed. Bonnie used hot and cold water to distract me from the pain of the contractions. When they checked me they said I was 8 cm and they went to fill up the water birth pool they had set up in my room (an inflatable "above ground" pool). I returned to the room with Michael by my side. My water broke when I went in to pee before entering the pool. Michael, when he heard the sound thought perhaps I had had Klara while sitting on the toilet (something I had dreamed had happened a few weeks back). He was ready to go in after her, but I assured him that it was just my water breaking. The nurses and Bonnie cheered from the next room.

Unfortunately when they checked Klara's heartrate, it was a bit low, so they told me I would have to remain on the bed for 20 min while I was on the monitor. From there, things moved so fast I never got the chance to leave the bed again. Shortly thereafter I began having the urge to push. This was the most exhausting part of the whole evening, but Dr. Williams was very good at directing my efforts and 40 minutes later, Klara Grace entered the world with a full head of hair (that was my one request) and her eyes wide open, checking us out.

Her eyes followed Michael's voice as he moved around the bed. It was a miraculous experience that really touched both of us. I'm not saying I would be ready to do it all over again any time soon, but Klara is truly a gift from God, and we were so happy to have her with us.

She was 7 lbs., 14 oz. A good size. She was also 21.5 inches long. This puts her in the 95 percentile as far as height!



Michael immediately did a great job with her, walking her and comforting her so I could get a break. That first night he slept with her on his chest for 3 hours while I got some shut eye. He is already an amazing dad and I am sure she is bound to be a daddy's girl.

Since the hospital she has already gained back her birth weight and then some. She is always hungry! We are enjoying her gas smiles and can't wait until we get some real ones.

She is letting us sleep a good portion of the evening (in shifts), so we are just slightly foggy and not so bleary-eyed.

As of late, she's been finding her voice, which is proving to be a challenge, but we are learning to communicate with eachother. She is already clearly communicating with her daddy.

Enjoy some pictures of our fast-growing baby girl. We can't wait to introduce her to all of you!

Naomi and Michael (and baby Klara)