I am really, really blessed to have a wonderful friend who is also a very talented photographer. Mary has not only been at the births of Man Cub and Shark Bait (and done a wonderful job of documenting those wonderful days!) but she also did Shark Bait's newborn photos and they are just fantastic. My favourite part is that just a week after he was born we had a new family portrait worthy of being hung on the living room wall.

I can hardly believe how much Shark Bait has changed since these photos were taken. I love having this reminder of what he was like as an itty bitty newborn. And I am really, really grateful that I was not the one who took them! Don't get me wrong- I love photographing my kiddos and I am grateful to have the equipment, knowledge and ability to photograph my children, but newborn shoots are exhausting! I was already more tired after having Shark Bait than I have been with my other three kiddos births combined, so it was really nice to hand the task of newborn photos off to Mary. She let me give my thoughts and suggestions so I was able to play a role in his session, but she did the exhausting part that I did not have the energy to do.

If anyone in the Phoenix Valley needs newborn photos, let me know and I'll point you in Mary's direction. She is incredibly talented! You won't be sorry.

My New Crew

When Shark Bait was just a few days old, I was anxious to get a picture of my four wee ones together. We had a nice overcast day, so KJ and I decided to take advantage of the prime photo weather and head to my favourite waterfall to snap a few photos. Of course, just as we got there, the sun decided to come out, so the pictures turned out much more squinty than I had hoped. But regardless, I got a picture of my new crew. And what a darling crew it is.

After getting a group shot, Beebs wanted a picture of her and Shark Bait together. She loves our new little guy so so much. He is her baby. 

Before we left the waterfall, I used my phone to snap a quick photo of KJ and my kiddos. There are not enough words in the world to express my love for KJ and how grateful I am for the sacrifice she made in leaving her family for 11 days to come and take care of me and my crew. She helped to cook and clean, she took care of my kiddos so I could just snuggle Shark Bait, she slept at my house so Bruce could stay at the hospital with me. She lost a lot of sleep timing contractions for me. She rubbed my back when I had horrible back labour. She kept me sane while I waited for our new little guy to arrive. I can never repay her for all she did for us while she was here. Thank you so so much KJ, for all of the service you did for our family in the days surrounding Shark Bait's birth and for being the best friend a girl could dream of.

Shark Bait's First 48

Imagine that, I've fallen a little behind on blogging again. But at least this time I have the best reason in the world. His name is Shark Bait and I spend pretty much every spare moment I have snuggling him which leaves little time for blogging or anything else! But just in case he is my last, I have to soak up every moment of these precious newborn days and I don't regret it for one second.

Since Shark Bait is snoozing peacefully, it seems like a good time to back track a little bit and fill in some holes. Let's rewind to the day of and following his birth.

The first 48 hours after Shark Bait's fast and furious arrival were just as much a whirlwind as his birth. I had hardly slept in five days, yet, as is customary after I have a baby, I was unable to sleep due to the adrenaline rush of giving birth. I attempted to sleep for about an hour/hour and a half while Bruce took the girls to his dad's house, but it wasn't quality sleep by any means as I kept waking up to peek over at the sweet little boy laying in the bassinet next to me. I was so enamored with him from the moment he was placed in my arms. I couldn't stop staring at him long enough to get any true rest.

While I sat in the hospital not sleeping, Bruce was able to get a little rest laying next to me in my hospital bed while KJ sat nearby putting in a few hours of work. The girls were with Grandpa and they too were unable to sleep and instead spent their morning hours having a waffle breakfast then going to see the Minion Movie. Man Cub was the only one of us who got any real sleep and he didn't wake up until gone 9:30 that morning at which point I was able to Face Time with him and show him our new baby. His response when I told him our baby had arrived was "Really!?" in an excited tone. Then he quickly ran off to play with Papa Blas. He was having so much fun with Barb and Blas that I managed to hold off sending Bruce to pick him up, even though I was so anxious to have him there at the hospital with me.

Around noon the visitors started coming. Bruce's brother stopped by with his wife and son around the same time that a hospital employee stopped by to do Shark Bait's hearing test. Then Bruce's dad came by with the girls and he got to meet the baby and enjoy a few snuggles. After he left, I decided I couldn't wait any longer and sent Bruce to pick up Man Cub.

Man Cub's meeting with Shark Bait was pretty funny. He looked at the baby and got just close enough for us to snap a picture, then he just wanted to run around the hospital room. My favourite part was Man Cub's conversation with me- he wanted to know "who him mom is", pointing to Shark Bait. I told him I was and he responded "No! You my mom!". I explained that I was his mom, and Beebs' mom, and Sunshine's mom and now I got to be Shark Bait's mom as well. It took awhile, but eventually he started to understand that he was going to have to share both Bruce and I with this new baby. Sine we finally had all of the wee ones together, we took the chance to give each of the older three a gift from Shark Bait- everyone got a new book.

As afternoon turned to evening, my friend Amy stopped by with a beautiful bracelet for me and Sonic drinks for everyone. She is always so thoughtful. She enjoyed some quality time with Shark Bait and then Bruce's dad came back and brought Bruce's grandma with him. She was so excited to meet and snuggle her 11th great grandchild. Everyone kept asking me who Shark Bait looked most like, so while he was being passed around, I pulled up newborn photos of each child on my phone and put together a little collage. I think Shark Bait looks most like Man Cub, but with Beebs' very round face shape.

Top Row: Left- Sunshine, Right- Beebs
Bottom Row: Left- Man Cub, Right- Shark Bait

Once Bruce's dad and grandma left, Bruce and KJ headed back to the house with all the kiddos to get them settled for the night. No one was shocked when all three sleep deprived wee ones fell asleep on the short drive home. After tucking them into bed, Bruce returned to the hospital to stay  the night with me and the baby. We watched a little HGTV before I was finally knew I was exhausted enough to fall asleep. Unfortunately, despite sleeping soundly all day long, Shark Bait had a hard time sleeping for the first half of the night... He was extremely gassy and I was so scared that something I had eaten was upsetting his tummy. I had visions of needing to eliminate all sorts of foods from my diet to help calm his tummy. It ended up being the percocet I was taking for my after-birth pains that were wreaking havoc on his little system and as soon as I stopped taking it, his tummy ache cleared up. From that point on, he's been a great sleeper, often going 4-5 and even 6 hours between feedings, especially at night. I've never had such a good sleeper, which is a blessing since I was so incredibly sleep deprived before he even got here!

At 2:30am, Shark Bait was scheduled for his 24 hour newborn tests. Bruce got up and went with him and this was my first chance at getting a good chunk of rest. During the testing they discovered that Shark Bait was jaundice so things were a little chaotic for a bit while the nurse got him situated with a bili-blanket. He was the cutest little glow worm baby and I don't know whether the percocet had finally worked it's way out of his system or if he just really liked the bili-blanket, but he slept very soundly from that point in the night onwards. I was beyond excited to finally settle in for some quality sleep after six very long days and nights. The jaundice did end up pushing back our release from the hospital, but only by a few hours. We were very blessed in that regard as it could have prolonged our stay by a night or two, but he improved quickly and we left the hospital just before 5pm on July 14th, about 38 hours after his arrival.

Bruce, KJ, Beebs and Man Cub escorted Shark Bait and I home from the hospital (Sunshine was at Grandpa's house, helping him to rearrange some furniture and hang pictures on his walls). Once arriving home, we just took things easy and started to figure out our new dynamic as a family of six. Beebs and Sunshine had no problem adjusting to our newest member, but it took Man Cub a little while before he really caught on to the fact that Shark Bait was ours and was here to stay. At one point, he was convinced that Shark Bait would be leaving with KJ when she returned home to her family. It was so funny to watch him figuring out Shark Bait's place in our home. And of course now, six weeks later, we can hardly remember what it was like before our sweet baby boy arrived. He has been such a wonderful addition to our family. He is so calm and peaceful and we all just adore him, Man Cub included.

Shark Bait | One Month

Someone went and turned one month old last week. I'm still in denial. If anyone asks, he's three weeks old. Eternally.

For as long as those final 11 days of pregnancy dragged on, the first month of his life has passed in the blink of an eye. It seems to go by faster and faster with each baby and it just isn't fair.

We sure do love our little Shark Bait. He is such a calm and peaceful baby. I can't help but feel as though I am holding a little piece of heaven as I snuggle him each day. I just wish I could freeze time for a little while so I could enjoy this precious stage just a bit longer.

The Fast and Furious Arrival of Shark Bait

Depending on how you look at it, the birth of Shark Bait was either extremely long and drawn out or beyond fast and furious.

His story begins unofficially on Wednesday June 8^th which was day one of my 5 days of pre-labour contractions. From Wednesday until Sunday, I lived life in one block of seemingly pointless contractions after another. Sunday morning's bout of contractions was by far the worst- they started at 2:50am and continued to occur consistently, ranging from 7-10 minutes apart, until 9:30am when they stopped completely and without warning. My best friend KJ, who had flown in for the birth, laid with me and timed them from 3:50 until about 5:30 when we decided to call Bruce home from work as we were finally convinced that the contractions might actually lead to a baby. Obviously we were less than thrilled when they came to their sudden stop.

After some umming and ahhing about whether I really wanted to go to church after being up most of the night contracting, I decided that I could sit miserably at church just as easily as at home, so I got myself dressed and ready, complete with 5 inch stilettos and a face that just dared people to cross me. Bruce, half joking but mostly serious, warned everyone we came in contact with to “do not look at Claire in the eye”. By this point, I had gone 5 nights with little to no sleep and I was over it. But, I survived church without causing anyone harm, and even managed to enjoy the messages shared during the meeting. After Sacrament Meeting ended, KJ and I left to go home so I could relax.

Around 4:45, just before the rest of the family would be getting home, we got off the couch and started to make dinner. That's when the contractions started back up yet again. I worked through the contractions to finish up dinner and eat with the family, then we got out Disney Scene It for a little family game time. Throughout the game the contractions intensified just enough that I was now bouncing on the birthing ball to stay comfortable. KJ was timing them religiously and we got to a point where they were anywhere from 5 to 10 minutes apart. At this point, I decided that we should probably go ahead and get to the hospital. I was worried because with Man Cub, my contractions were never consistent or close together until just minutes before he was born. I arrived at the hospital to have Man Cub with contractions still ranging from 10-15 minutes apart and I was dilated to a six. I had him less than 2.5 hours later. I felt that with this baby, we should err on the side of caution and not wait too long to go in. I may have joked about giving birth in the car, but I really had no intention of that ever happening. We called my father in law to come pick up Man Cub, loaded the girls and all our hospital stuff into the car and headed out.

Despite nice, consistent contractions the entire time we were playing Scene It, I didn't have one contraction the entire drive to the hospital. I started to doubt myself. We got to triage around 8:15 and when they checked me at 8:45, I was dilated to a 3. Over the next 45 minutes I had maybe 2 contractions, neither of which was anything to get excited about and when they checked me again at 9:30, I hadn't progressed one bit. I asked to be sent home as I had no intention of hanging out in a hospital when I obviously wasn't in active labour. I figured I was in for yet another night like the 4 previous… contractions that would keep me from sleeping, but never become the real deal.

My birth photographer had met us at the hospital as she too remembered how quickly things had moved when Man Cub was born. She told me to follow her home and pick up a few essential oils that she had on hand that are suppose to encourage labour. I insisted that we pick Man Cub up from my father in law's house as Man Cub had recently gotten into the habit of coming into our room in the middle of the night, searching for me. I didn't want to miss out on a night of cuddling my baby before he was promoted to big brother, so we got him then headed home. It was about 11pm by the time we were back at our house and had all the kiddos tucked into their beds. Bruce, KJ and I settled in on the couch to watch a few episodes of Modern Family and wouldn't you know it, those pesky contractions started up again. And they were coming every 10 minutes. And they were stronger than ever before and accompanied by some seriously awesome back labour.

I texted my great friend Nicole, a baby nurse at the hospital I was going to deliver at, and asked her how I was ever going to be able to tell when to go back in. I felt like I'd made bad decision after bad decision trying to figure out if I was actually in labour or not, from calling Bruce home from work early Sunday morning to rushing to the hospital Sunday night and then insisting on picking up my little Man Cub from Grandpa's house when we headed home from triage. I told Bruce and KJ that I was no longer willing to make decisions and that if they thought I should go back to the hospital, I would go, but that I was not going to be the one to make that call.

Bruce immediately went into sergeant mode and took control. He and KJ timed my contractions and rubbed my back with a massager while I swayed back and forth while leaning on my birthing ball. At 12:30 my contractions had definitely changed in intensity and were coming every 7-10 minutes. Around 1, KJ started saying she felt like we should go to the hospital but Bruce said to wait through a few more contractions. I tried to remain as calm as possible while thinking that the rate this had been going for the past five days, I was never going to actually have a baby. At 1:30 I had a super contraction- 2 minutes long and extremely strong. Bruce decided we didn't have a moment to lose and before I knew it, we had made arrangements to drop Man Cub off at a friend's house rather than waiting for my father in law to get up to our neck of the woods, KJ had thrown all our stuff and my sleeping children into the car and by 1:43 we were on the road. Bruce ran two red lights and at 1:50 we arrived at Barb and Blas's house to deliver our sleepy and excited Man Cub to them. (He loves Blas and was so excited to go to Blas's house, even if it was the middle of the night)

We were in front of Barb and Blas's house less than 2 minutes before we were on our way to the hospital and my contractions were still coming strong and hard. I was starting to feel pressure and the thought of pushing had crossed my mind a time or two. I was panicking because I was so scared my birth photographer was going to miss the whole thing… somehow that, not the very real possibility of me giving birth in the car, was my main concern. When we were just a few minutes away from the hospital, KJ grabbed my phone and called Nicole who happened to have gotten called into work around midnight. She warned Nicole that we were about 3 minutes out and that I was feeling “pushy”.

We pulled into the hospital around 2:05. It took me about five minutes to get into the hospital as I had another huge contraction in the parking lot. I leaned up against a light post and did my best to not push while Sunshine ran to the ER entrance and grabbed a wheel chair. Bruce rushed me inside the ER where we looked around unsure of what to do. There was no one at the front desk and a room full of people waiting to be seen, but we really did not have time to spare. Bruce ran into a room where a hospital employee was taking someone's information and insisted that she had to get us up to the labour and delivery unit as I was contracting every minute and a half to two minutes. Bruce raced my wheelchair through the halls while the ER employee followed as quickly as she was able and got us upstairs.

We got to triage where I immediately asked to use the restroom. While I was peeing, Bruce told the triage nurse that if I was still at a 3 or 4, she might as well run down the hall before shouting that back at me because I might hurt her. He was obviously joking with her (there was no way I could still be at a 3 or 4!) but I think that gave the triage nurse the wrong idea. She seemed to be moving really slowly, taking my information and trying to get me hooked up to monitors when I had a nice, big contraction that got some attention. She quickly checked me and announced that I was at a nine. Bruce texted KJ the news at 2:21 and the nurse (Cheryl) ran my gurney to the delivery room that Nicole had prepped for me when KJ called her just before 2. At 2:23am, Beebs, Sunshine, KJ and my birth photographer Mary all ran into the delivery room while the nurses helped me move from the gurney to the delivery bed in between contractions. I felt an immense amount of pressure, which I made sure everyone knew about, and Cheryl called for a doctor, any doctor, to get in there stat. There wasn't time to get my doctor or midwife to the hospital. There wasn't even time to get an ER doc up there. Luckily, there happened to a random doctor a few rooms over delivering one of his patients and he ran in just as my water broke. Just in time to catch the head as I pushed for the first time. One more push and our baby had arrived. The baby was quickly laid on my tummy and I begged for Bruce to tell me if it was a boy or a girl. He excitedly announced that we had another son… our little Shark Bait had arrived..

Shark Bait was born at 2:29am, about 15 minutes after we got to labour and delivery and just 8 minutes after I was checked in triage. He took his sweet, precious time getting to the active labour portion of arriving, but once he decided it was time to come, things sped up in a big way!

My absolute favourite thing about Shark Bait's birth is that the delivery room was filled with love and support. Of course Bruce was there, and he was wonderful, as always. Both girls were also there to witness the baby's arrival with my very best friend KJ as their chaperone. My birth photographer Mary ran in just in time to snap 4 or 5 photos before he came out. She then documented his first hour or so of life. The stars and planets aligned and my best Arizona friend Nicole ended up being called in to work as a transition nurse that night, meaning she was Shark Bait's first nurse. She took great care of him and even involved my girls in measuring him, taking his foot prints and listening to his heartbeat, making the experience even more special for both of them. 

And the bonus of Shark Bait's super fast arrival- despite being a VBAC which means I am suppose to be hooked up to all kinds of monitors and have a heplock, I was able to have the most natural, non-invasive birth of all my children. I didn't even need oxygen this time around. No IV, no monitoring, nothing. It was absolutely perfect.  

If you'd like to view Shark Bait's complete birth video, send me an email to claireandcrewblog@gmail.com and I'd be happy to give you the password!

Shark Bait's Birth from Officerswife33 on Vimeo.

Ten Years

Ten years ago today, inside the walls of the Mesa Arizona Temple, I became Mrs. Bruce Wayne. I can't believe it has already been 10 years. I remember our wedding day so vividly. It was scorching hot and I had on a heavy dress with a huge petticoat underneath, but I didn't notice the heat at all. I was so thrilled to be marrying the man of my dreams that I didn't even realize how hot it was until someone else commented on the heat after all was said and done. I couldn't stop grinning as we celebrated the beginning of our life together, a life that has ended up being far more wonderful than I ever could have imagined. 

We've come a long way in 10 years. There have been ups and downs, trials and heartache mixed with the greatest of blessings. There are times we drive each other crazy, but through it all, we love each other deeply. There is no one else in the world I would rather spend eternity with and I am so grateful that Bruce chose me. 

2005

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