Huffmans In Kenya: Introducing Claire Elizabeth Huffman

She's here!!!! Miss Princess Claire made her entrance into the world, February 25, 2010 at 10:23pm. She was 7lb .03oz and 19 in. long. And she is absolutely beautiful! She has a head full of hair too. Elisha didn't have much at all, especially after I scrubbed his head the day he got home from the hospital. I sure wont be doing that with Claire, she has hair made for bows! So here's the scoop.... (and I'll be as brief and not so detailed as possible since guys read this, but mostly I'm writing this out to have on record for Claire and I)

I had a Dr's appointment Thursday. I was a little bummed to find out we hadn't made much progress since I was told over two weeks ago that I the process had started and she could of come any day. We came home and that day was probably one of the only days I decided I was ok with being pregnant however long, I was just going to be content and enjoy the last few moments being pregnant. That afternoon I started having contractions around 3pm every 5 min but when we got up to walk outside for awhile I thought they had gone away. We were going to have a date night that night. Bud went to work at 5pm and Bud's mom came to get Elisha a little after. I sat at home with contractions for two hours, mostly 5 minutes apart. I was surely not getting my hopes up this time. That's when I made my last post on here with the sweet poem "from dad". Little did I know it was my last time to pray and love on Claire while she was in my tummy. I kept updating Bud since he told me to and not just to txt or call and say we need to go to the hospital with no warning. So Bud got home at 7:30 and I showed him a list that I had been keeping since 6:30 showing the times and strengths of contractions. I kept forgetting to ask at Dr. appointments at what point I should go in to the hospital so Bud and I just kept going back and forth. We were so calm though, not really thinking it was the real deal. With Elisha I went into the hospital a week before he came with a false alarm and was so bummed to be sent home, so we didn't want to do that again! So we decided instead of going on a date to Chili's, we'd go to Quiznos since its across the street from the hospital. When we walked in to order I noticed they were coming every 3-4 minutes. Then we sat down to eat and they were 2-3 minutes apart and getting stronger. So we ate quick then went to the hospital. This is so humorous to me looking back now. I could of had a Quiznos baby! We got checked in and the nurse was doing everything as normal and then realized I really was really in labor. My contractions being about a minute and a half apart. We had got the last room open when we arrived, it was a popular night to have babies apparently. Five minutes after getting there we were told my Doctor just happened to be coming in for a C-section and would be around to check on me. How awesome! We were really hoping and praying Dr. Coronado would deliver the baby. She's an awesome Dr., not to mention a christian. Then I find out the guy who does the epidural is in surgery with my Dr as well so that he'd be in to give me one when they were done. So they wheel me over into a delivery room while I wait for the Dr and the epidural guy. The pain was getting bad! My Dr. came in and said we'd have a baby soon. Then the epidural guy showed up just in time to give me one. I was at a 9 by the time I got it and was definitely in the most pain I've ever felt (all of it a very distant memory now and so worth it!). Soon after though it took effect and I was all of a sudden the happiest person ever. David and Blenda Aycock were in the waiting room. They're Hollie's parents and stepped in as ours for the time being. I was so thankful and blessed to have Blenda come in and pray with me. And an added bonus for her to feed me ice chips and talk to me while waiting. It was all a breeze from there on out. I didn't vomit once either which is a pretty big deal since I literally had just eaten. With Elisha I was really drowsy from medicine and didn't get to enjoy the first moments with him as wide awake as I was with Claire. So three pushes and she was outta there! Bud cut the cord and she got cleaned up. We got to spend 45 minutes alone with her, a moment I'll never forget. She was so alert and ate really well. Our perfect gift sent from the Father up above. We are so grateful she had no complications and is healthy as can be.

We spent two nights in the hospital and got to leave Saturday morning. It all seems like a dream now. A few of my best friends from high school just happened to already be coming to San Angelo this weekend. One of them her in-laws live here, and the other was coming to see me. Perfect timing! Laurie stayed with us and I'm so thankful to have had her around a few days. She is a mother nester and had the apartment spotless when we arrived home from the hospital. On top of all that, my dad ended up getting a few days off work and he and my mom came to San Angelo on Saturday. They stayed one night which was too quick but I'm so thankful for them to get to see Claire right off! My mom was in heaven as you can imagine. My dad pretty much had to drag her to the car to leave. We'll be going to see them in a few weeks though. But how much babies change so quickly! We were blessed by visitors in the hospital and some beautiful bouquet's of flowers. Elisha even got a bear that says big brother with balloons from his cousins. So sweet! Now for a new chapter in our life!

So far its gone great being at home. The last couple of nights have been a bit rough because Elisha has been a little sick. He threw up a few times in the night. Thankfully right after I feed and get Claire back to sleep. During the day he's fine though. Hopefully last night was the last time and it's out of his system. He is an amazing big brother though. He loves to hold her and kiss her. Definitely on his timing though. He also likes to take his big brother bear and act like its a baby and put it in the swing and cover it with a blanket. He's handling this much better than we thought. He also likes to help out with getting diapers and blankets for Claire, of course that's all on his terms. We are always making sure to include him in everything and take the time for him to love on her when he wants. With him being sick its been a bit of a challenge though. We're just trusting Jesus to protect Claire from any sickness passing. Bud has been above and beyond helpful. He is such an amazing dad and husband. I really don't know what I would be doing without him. Probably locking myself in the bathroom and crying! Just to give one example: last night I was up quite a bit between feeding Claire and tending to Elisha vomiting everywhere. This morning he came home from work, took care of Elisha while I slept, and I woke up to a clean kitchen, dishes done. (I just have to brag a little on him! there's so many other stories of how great he's been though)

There's so much more to tell but I'll just post some pictures for now. Claire had her first Dr's appointment yesterday and did really well. She's a healthy girl, thank you Jesus!

Her first glance at mama