We're home!

Cliff came home today around 4:00pm. He's been sleeping, eating and pooping, we're so proud. He makes his Grandma's swoon and his Grandpa's beam. He looks so handsome in all his baby clothes so far. He had baby acne that is now cleared up and his jaundice test was a little high, though not bad. He's still a crazy good eater!

Sable is off having adventures at grandma Jackie and Grandpa Keith's house. She's playing with her cousins and not missing us at all. Joel and I are really starting to miss her but it's nice to focus on Cliff right now.

Our nurse offered to take Cliff to the nursery overnight while we were in the hospital and we did Monday night. We slept HARD! It was nice. He showed up in the morning well fed, tightly swaddled and still asleep. Little luxuries!

I'm keeping up with my medication schedule. I liked having the nurses take care of me, I should have brought one home.

Our blog has had over 2000 hits since April 1st! I shared it on Facebook and "The Bump" website. We've had lots of happy web comments and family/friend support.

Cliff is here!

Guess who came early!

Clifton Michael Hills
1st of April, 2012 at 9:35am
9lbs, 10.6oz, 21 Inches long

At 6:10 this morning, my water broke. We called Joel's brother Jonathan to babysit Sable, he showed up fast. Joel and I headed to the hospital in a little bit of surprise.

7:00 arrived at the hospital and checked into triage.

8:00 we were in a room. I was having heavy contractions.

8:50 Status upgraded to emergency. The baby was coming FAST! We all ran to the OR and all the nurses started calling in Doctors and staff to help saying "We need to go now." I was contracting bad and had started pushing on the operating room table. "Jason" the anesthesiologist (and my new favorite person) quickly got my spinal in and the operation was started. I was 9cm dilated.

9:35 Clifton Michael Hills was born. During labor, Cliff flipped around and they pulled him out by his feet. No problems.

He has Joel's eye's and short little legs, my chin and Sable's lips and nose. He's a great eater and makes some cute cooing sounds. We've all taken naps and feel great.
It was just SO fast!


Sable playing Doctor on mom's belly.


Cousin Emma with new little Cliff.


Big sister Sable and little brother Clifton.







Aunt Stacy... very proud.

Hospital Information

We are delivering at Swedish hospital, Main campus, same as with Sable. Click HERE to read about visitor information. We'll be on the 5th floor. Hospital policy is that one person is allowed in the room with the baby and me for the first hour or until the baby and I are medically cleared. We'll call when we are ready.

Swedish First Hill Campus
747 Broadway
Seattle, WA 98122
Phone: 206-386-6000

Visiting Hours: 7 a.m.-9 p.m., Monday-Friday

Parking Rates:

0-0.5 hour $0
0.5-1 hour $4
1-2 hours $6
2-3 hours $8
3-5 hours $10
5-6 hours $12
6-24 hours $15

a pregnancy questionnaire #3

How far along? 39 weeks.

Total weight gain/loss? 23 pounds gained.

Stretch marks? Yes, but they could be worse.

Sleep? Some naps.

Movement? He's a snuggler.

Food cravings? Raspberry Italian Soda.

Gender? My baby Bear.

What I miss: My brain and sleep.

Milestones: I've started complaining...

Symptoms: Dry skin and concern for surgery.

"Sable sleeps with the fish" and other fun things

Uncle Jonathan bought Sable a stuffed fish that she has been sleeping with since her Aquarium trip. It's very cute.

Grandma Dawn got her some butterfly window stickers that Sable has been pointing at and rearranging on the living room window. Today I actually said, "Sable, no eating the butterflies."

I had my last prenatal doctors appointment this afternoon. When I left, my Doctor said, "I'll see you on Monday." (that's when I'm having the baby ~weird~)

Full Term

Today I'm 38 weeks which means the baby is done developing. He's just hanging out and gaining weight for the next 2 weeks. Now I need to catch up on some sleep, drink lots of water and count down to April 2nd.

I made another baby!!!

Doctors appointment

Today at my Doctors appointment I signed some of my "Authorization" paperwork. We are scheduled for April 2, 2012 @ 2:30pm (...how strange is that?). I've gained 21 pounds and my blood pressure is still perfect. The baby has a healthy heartbeat and the Doctor confirmed that he has dropped. I really love my Doctor, she takes great care of me.

2 weeks from today! That's 14 days. I can start an hourly countdown now!

Locked and loaded

The baby has dropped. I can breath easily again and my heartburn is gone, I'm walking slowly though. Joel looked back at me yesterday and said "Waddle on over here!"
Our hospital bag is packed!

17 days to go!

Posts from The Bump

This is a "Baby naming board" that I'm on a lot. Someone posted about the name Clifton and these are some of the responses.

NThieme: Strong Boy Names I love...
Weston, Kingston, Hudson, Clifton, Lincoln, Preston

strawberrytree: Honestly, with the exception of Clifton, these don't strike me as strong male names. My favourite from your list is Clifton, with Preston and Lincoln a distant second. I don't like any of the others.

emoxymoose: Love love love Clifton, Weston is second

mj.reilly: Clifton and Hudson are nice. I don't mind Lincoln.

Kerimarie: WOOHOO Clifton! I'm excited to see this on someone else's list! My Clifton is due in 21 days! I also love Lincoln from you list.

This week

Sable on the phone with grandma Dawn.


36 weeks, 1 day pregnant, I'm exhausted!

Tick toc

30 days until Clifton's Birthday... wow.

a pregnancy questionnaire #2

How far along? 35 weeks.

Total weight gain/loss? 15 pounds gained.

Stretch marks? The race is on and there is a clear stretch mark winner. it's closing in on my rib cage.

Sleep? What? oh yea, I need some sleep and my limbs are numb.

Movement? yes, flipping.

Food cravings? Lemonade and Ice water.

Gender? Still a boy.

What I miss: Clothes that fit and soda.

Milestones: We have a C-Section date! Joel is starting on his school finals, I'm pre-registering at the hospital and we're planning Sables birthday party.

Symptoms: Heartburn, dry skin, and Cliff is trying to break free using his butt.

Joel's observation...

"Cliff's not even here yet and we're doing his laundry."

Spokane baby Shower

My sister-in-laws, Jessica and Sarah, threw me a baby shower in Spokane over the weekend. I had a fantastic time hugging everyone and getting my baby bump rubbed! My mom went with us and got to meet a ton of my family. Clifton got lots of clothes, blankets and and baby must haves. Sable had time to play with her cousins and she got gifts too! I feel very loved and excited for Cliff to show up!


Emma and Sable have a very close connection.

Doctors appointment

I saw my Doctor today and we talked about how soon the baby would be here ... very soon. I gained three pounds this week, which made everyone happy and the Doctor called Cliff's heartbeat "Happy". The weeks are flying by so fast!

51 days left!

a pregnancy questionnaire

How far along? 32 weeks.

Total weight gain/loss? 11 pounds gained.

Stretch marks? My old ones from Sable have grown about an inch.

Sleep? I'm not sleeping very well and my limbs go numb easily.

Movement? A lot, He's a mover.

Food cravings? My new one is Lemonade.

Gender? All boy, all blue.

What I miss: seeing my feet, my memory and sushi.

Milestones: Sable is transitioning well into her "big girl" changes. Joel is half way done with winter quarter and we are getting a lot of nesting-like chores done around the house.

Symptoms: Heartburn and dry skin.

Simple and blue

I remember during my pregnancy with Sable, getting worried about having everything in time for her arrival. This time is much calmer. I really enjoy the simplicity that is "Boy". Boys clothes come in 3 colors, and there are much fewer options than dressing girls. Boys have short sleeve, long sleeve or one piece (like PJ's); Then pants or shorts. I love it! All the fabrics are soft with fewer snaps. No frills, bows or lace trim. Just easy to clean, change and match. How wonderfully easy! This time it's also easier because he's our second and we already have the basics. The only furniture we needed was a changing table/dresser combo (Thank you Grandma Dawn and Great Grandma Rene')and some blue sheets for the crib. Now we just need blankets, diapers, wipes and clothes (and I also have some favorite consignment shops to help with clothing costs!) Plus it helps that we have a pretty good idea of what to expect when Mr. Clifton Michael Hills gets here. Simple.

Doctors appointment

I went into the Doctors office yesterday and I seem to have lost 10 pounds in 13 days. I got a concerned look from the nurse and a lot of questions. The baby is measuring perfectly and all my tests look good. They said to relax, eat a few more calories and to keep taking my pre-natal vitamins.

Cliff is still super wiggly and doing some amazing flips in there.

Gestational Diabetes

I passed the three hour Gestational Diabetes test! My metabolism takes extra time to kick in (just like my dads) so failing the one hour test was inevitable; But my body is healthy and working great! With 10 weeks left to go my Doctor is expecting a healthy pregnancy and baby.

...zzzzzzzz...

3rd trimester exhaustion has set in. I go from being energetic, playful and happy to asleep in seconds. I'm doing my second diabetes test on Thursday, I'm not worried about it though. Cliff is still active and kicking up a storm. I only have ten weeks left of this pregnancy, it's gone by pretty fast (Except the morning sickness part). I'm seeing the Doctor every other week. The C-Section date will be set in stone soon but we are tentatively scheduled for April 2nd 2012. If this changes I'll post so everyone knows.