For years we were set on the name Sophia, but after we found out that our friend's niece was named Sophia Marie, we thought we may have a problem. So, we went upstairs and started searching on the Internet, and, as it turns out, Sophia was the #1 overall name in 2011-2012, and the #2 girl name in 2010.
Jen was adamant about "Lynn" being in the name, and Dave was adamant about including "Marie", so, we started messing around with tons of different name combinations. We found the name "Clare", which we had never before considered, and, after trying to add "Lynn" to the name, we worked through several different spelling iterations, and then we settled on Clairelynne. We hope you like it as much as we do!
Back to the tale of the birth!
Unfortunately, we did not get as many pictures as we would have liked at the hospital, or during the last week of pregnancy. The week before Claire was born was a whirlwind (read on - you'll see). Later blog posts will have a more pictures. Promise!
This is the first picture of our happy family after a very long week.
On Thursday, September 6th (I'm backtracking a little bit), we received a very suspicious and concerning phone call from an OB in reference to a 4D Ultrasound we had done independent from our Insurance Provider. The only thing we were told was that there "may" be a problem with our baby in the area around the nose. Of course, we were floored, and completely shocked, especially because Jen had had over 10 Ultrasounds during the term of her Pregnancy (she was considered High-Risk for several reasons), and no one had said word one about any possible defects.
On Friday, the next day, we received a phone call from an OB specialist, who told us that he wanted to see us first thing on Monday. Yikes!
The weekend was completely wasted because we were so concerned, but, we did find one bit of encouragement when we were at Church on Saturday evening.
Isaiah 35:4 - Thus says the Lord: Say to those whose hearts are frightened: Be strong, fear not!
Even though hearing these words helped only marginally, we did feel as though this passage was picked for us, on this specific date, and this specific time.
This weekend was definitely the longest weekend ever - EVER!
Monday came around, and we drove the longest drive of our lives to the meeting with the specialist, where he confirmed for us that our baby was going to be born with, at the very least, a Bilateral Cleft Lip. He couldn't confirm anything with regards to the Palate (Claire was born with a Bilateral Cleft Lip and a severe Cleft Palate), but he did find something else new.
The Umbilical Cord had, rather than implanting into the placenta, attached itself to the membranous wall (the amniotic sac), and the veins/arteries extended to the placenta from there. He also noted that Jen's placenta looked either fragmented (it was), or very weak.
Jen hoped to have a Natural Child Birth, but after learning of this news it was medically necessary for Jen to have a Cesarean Section. If Jen had gone into labor with these conditions (specifically the Umbilical Cord problem), the veins/arteries could have ruptured, causing the baby to bleed out. Very dangerous stuff!
At this meeting, we talked about necessary surgeries (upwards of 7-10) that needed to be done on our unborn girl, possible syndromic defects, possible infections, hardships, and many other difficult subjects. Needless to say, we were completely overwhelmed.
Months before, we had chosen to employ a Doula, Lindsey Lassak, who was there with us throughout everything. Thank goodness for Lindsey! Knowing that someone was right there in the room with us, battling for us, gathering information, and listening (when we physically couldn't), was the relief of a lifetime!
In one fell swoop, our entire plan went right out the door, down the steps, around the block, and out of town.
A quick note about Cleft Lips/Palates: When we heard that our baby was going to have a cleft lip, our first reaction was, "How on earth did this happen? We're not living in a 3rd World Country!!!" Apparently this type of defect is quite common. One out of 700 births in America have some form of a Cleft Lip/Palate. Unbelievable!
Back to the birth :)
Jen had been checking her Blood Pressure Numbers throughout her entire pregnancy because she had tested "at risk" for Pre-eclampsia.
On account of the news from the specialist, we were devastated, worried, heartbroken, and just quite honestly, out of breath.
On Wednesday, September 12, we met with the cleft palate plastic surgery team down in West Los Angeles. They answered many of our questions about what to expect when Claire was born, which was a huge relief to us. We're fortunate to work with them because LA is THE place to have plastic surgery. I mean, seriously, if you were going to get a nose job, where would you go? LA!
Throughout the week, Jen's Blood Pressure started climbing (probably because of the stress) to unsafe numbers, and, on Thursday, September 13, after doing a routine fetal stress test, Jen ran into our primary OB Provider. Our Doctor confirmed Pre-eclampsia and then scheduled a mandatory C-section for September 21st, at 10am.
This was a bit early for us (that would have been delivering at 37 Weeks - the original Due Date was set for October 12, 2012), especially while deal with the news from Monday, but there was a clear end-game in place, and we finally received a bit of a reprieve.
Unfortunately, babies have minds of their own, and so do Blood Pressure numbers, protein levels, and headaches.
We were given specific instructions to monitor the Blood Pressure very closely, and if it extended above a certain number for more than 15 minutes, we were to go to Labor and Delivery immediately because of the risk of seizure.
On Friday, we went to have one final 4D Ultrasound (just for the heck of it) so that we could get that coveted orange face-pic of our baby while still in the womb... and not a moment too soon!
This is a picture of Jen at the 4D Ultrasound. We had been putting this picture off for the entire pregnancy. Thank goodness we got it when we did.
Jen got a severe headache later in the day on Friday (a tell-tale sign of high Blood Pressure), and, the numbers were up - for more than 15 minutes, so we hauled our butts to Labor and Delivery.
We called Lindsey (our Doula) so that she could head down to Labor and Delivery, and we called the designated/volunteer care-givers for our dog/house (Ian and Anita). Everything got pushed into action really quickly (and very last-minute), but Ian and Anita really came through for us in a huge way. We can attribute our dog (among other things) being alive right now to Ian and Anita dropping everything at a moments notice and working behind the scenes so that we were taken care of at home.
Once we got to Labor and Delivery, Jen was given a dose of Morphine (for the headache), and some Magnesium Sulfate (to counter any possible seizures), and after about 3 hours of back-and-forth with the Doctor she came in to the room, asked about the headache (Jen responded that it had not gone away - even with a heavy dose of Morphine), and she said, "OK, let's go in and get her (the baby)."
Dave responded "Now?"
This is one final picture of pregnant Jen, and the other picture is the chair where Dave sat (yeah, right!) while Jen was being prepped for the C-Section.
Lindsey was with us throughout the entire process. Thank goodness!
And so it was that Clairelynne Marie Brunsman was born on Friday, September 14th, 2012, at 10:09pm via C-Section at 36 Weeks exactly - 6lbs 8oz.
Our girl is very strong! She's already rolled over (while swaddled, mind you), pushed herself up with her legs, held up her head and swiveled it from side to side, grabbed with her hands, and several other things that are apparently well past her 4-Week Early Preemie "normal" abilities. Also, even though she was born a bit early, and one of the fears with a preemie is with regards to lung development, we can confirm that her lungs are just fine - Ha!
Claire was in fact born with a Bilateral Cleft Lip and Palate. She'll receive her first surgery in Mid-November, and another in Mid-December (both of these are on her lip). She'll have a surgery in September 2013 to repair her palate, and then we'll have to go from there.
Jen and Dave have learned one thing for sure. Even though nothing went "to plan", we're extremely blessed to have Claire in our lives right now.
Had we not paid for the independent 4D Ultrasound (which we only did so that we could have one of those cool orange-ish face pictures of our baby in the womb), we never would have learned of any of these problems. Jen could have gone into labor, and we could have lost our precious little girl.
Everything apparently DOES happen for a reason.
Thank goodness for the greatness of our Doula, Lindsey, and our friends, Ian and Anita. There is NO WAY that the birth and the subsequent stay at the hospital would have been nearly as smooth and worry-free without their help.
The picture on the Left is of Claire's bed (Claire is in the bed) in the NICU, and the one on the right, is Face Picture #1 of our new baby girl.
This is a picture of our friends, Ian and Anita. They came down to visit us at the Hospital. Claire was still in the NICU at this point, and wouldn't you know it, this is the first time Ian had ever held a baby. How cool is that?
Apparently, because of all of the excitement, we never got a picture of Lindsey holding Claire. To our defense, however, Lindsey was behind the camera snapping a ton of newborn pictures after Claire was born. We'll get a pic of Lindsey sometime soon.
We had a ton of other visitors too! Here are some other pictures.
This is a picture of our friend, Tanya. She wasn't going to hold Claire, thinking she was too small and fragile. We actually had to force her to take a seat to hold her, and then, of course, she wouldn't put her down.
Jen's Mom (Left) and Dave's Mom (Right) came out right away too!
Others who visited were Mia, Kala, Roberto, Marcella, Alyssa, and Arlene and Ian. Hopefully we didn't forget anyone. Apparently we were too overwhelmed to make sure that we took pictures of everyone - ha!
Jen is recovering nicely. She's in a lot of pain, but she's doing well. Dave is overwhelmed. Ha! Having a baby is truly a life-changing event, but we're enjoying everything.
In upcoming articles, we'll posts Ultrasound pictures, baby shower information, news from home, and a bunch of other stuff. This post is getting a little lengthy and we want to make sure that we aren't losing anyone :)
In the meantime, we'll leave you with this... If you don't believe in miracles, you need to go back and re-read this post. Claire was allowed into this world only because of the love and care of a lot of people.
To the girls at Insight Ultrasound, who found out about the problem, which lead to discovering the other problems with the placenta and umbilical cord, to our Doula, Lindsey, our dear friends, Ian and Anita, the many, many friends (and family) who came to visit us in the hospital and during our first two weeks at home, to our OB, Dr. Ortega, and our nurse, Nadine, Dr. Gupta, Nurse Lisa, and finally, to everyone who knew about this week from hell, who prayed us through this terrible hardship while we were suffering, and to anyone (we're sure) who has been left out (by accident)... Thank you so much!
We are so blessed that these events unfolded in this manner, and we're even further blessed by the outpouring of support and love we received during this trying event. Even though the week before the birth was terribly exhausting and stressful, everything does happen for a reason.
God is good... all the time!
Love,
Jen, Dave, Claire, and Peyton (the dog)
Jen and Dave, you two are the most inspiring, strong and amazing couple I have EVER had the pleasure of knowing. The love you have for each other is like nothing I have ever witnessed. I am so grateful to have been asked to be apart of your journey and learning right along side of you both. Babies are miraculous and Clairelynne is so incredibily blessed to have the pair of you as her parents. I will always be there for you all. Love you bunches.
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Lindsey
PS LOVE the title! :)
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