New Addition to the Family

After Luke's first birthday, we felt like it was time to start thinking about another baby (even though emotionally I wasn't quite ready!)  Well, all we really had to do was think about it and I was pregnant. We hadn't officially made the decision to start trying again, so when I started feeling really sick all the time I was a little upset initially.  Then I realized that we were supposed to have this baby right now so my anxiety level dropped and I got excited.  This is how we announced that our family was going to grow.

A few months later, we found out we would be having a girl and then I really got excited.  Of course I was pressured into announcing that in some special way.  Since we found out in October, I thought it only fitting that pumpkins should be involved.

Other than being pretty sick the first 18 weeks, my pregnancy wasn't too bad.  My nausea was worse than with Luke, and I had terrible sciatic nerve pain for the last 12 weeks or so, but we made it through.  I even remembered to take pictures along the way…at least most of the time.

Our sweet little angel was born February 18, 2014 at 7:37 PM in the Albany Samaritan Hospital.  She weighed 8 lbs 3 oz (about a pound more than everyone guessed!) and was 20 inches long.

My labor and delivery were not as easy as with Luke.  My OB had major shoulder surgery 5 weeks before I was due,  but insisted that he be there for the delivery so we had to plan around him.  The hospital was super busy the week I was due, so my doctor and I decided to choose a day to start the induction.  We went in at 10 AM, got things started and then waited and waited in the labor room.  Fortunately, the Olympics were  happening in Russia so we got to watch some super exciting cross-country skiing and hockey all day!  Haha! I got an epidural around 5 PM, which didn't really work.  I had two anesthesiologists helping me, but it just didn't take very well.  I could still feel my legs, enough that I could still move myself around in the bed.  I had TERRIBLE back labor for the last two hours.  We ended up with two nurses, two anesthesiologists, and two OBs so we were very well taken care of. 

Amazing OBs - Dr Paul Daskalos (my OB) and Dr John Larsen (on-call OB)

We had already pretty much decided on the name Claire, but hadn't any idea what her middle name should be.  We were discussing it during my entire labor process.  We asked every nurse and doctor that came in the room for ideas.  Ultimately, we thought a French name would be great to go along with Claire.  There was an Olympic athlete from Utah who won a medal in the Skeleton during the Winter Olympics happening this year.  Her name was Noelle Pikus-Pace.  She was such a great competitor, but was also such a great example for the Church.  She was her wards' Young Women leader and wore her YW medallion during her races.  She even pulled it out and showed it off after her medal-winning run.  She left such an impression on our minds.  This as well as my love for all things Christmas and the fact that "Natalie" relates to Christmas in Italian, we felt like it was appropriate to name our daughter after the French meaning for Christmas - Noelle.  Claire Noelle Heintz, the perfect addition to our family.