December 14, March 15, February 11

Those were my due dates. And now, all three of them have officially arrived. Claire is at her gestational due date today of 40 weeks. It's crazy that she has been with us for four weeks already. Valentine's Day officially marks one month. She definitely brings our family lots of love.

I wasn't really looking forward to this date or anything, but now that it has arrived, it sort of feels like a relief. No more dates are on the calendar that send my nerves racing. Claire is still very much a newborn-- both her looks and eating/sleeping patterns. I stare at her during our mid-night feedings in awe. This is our last newborn. While exhausting, this is the last time I will be getting up to nurse at odd hours and having a baby at our bedside. It's the last time we'll get to hear these newborn cries in our home. She's it and we're cherishing all that it brings.

She's the size of most newborns still and quite smaller than many. I'm assuming she's nearing or at the 7 lb. mark at this point, which is still smaller than both of her brothers at birth. It would be interesting to wonder what she would be like if born at her due date, or close to it, but the reality is that she very well wouldn't be here. She wouldn't be bigger than she was when she was born. To think of that girl at her due date is assuming she would've thrived, and unfortunately that's unlikely. We're so glad the pint-sized Claire is here and such a fighter. She still eats like a champ and that's proven not only by the amount of time she wants to be attached to me, but by the amount of diapers she is producing. Goodness gracious, this girl has some gusto.

The dates that brought both great excitement and anxiety have come and gone. Just like my fetal doppler and all my maternity clothes, I'm ready to pass on that baton.

During the end of Claire's pregnancy, I was wearing (like all my pregnancies) some of my husband's shirts, especially at night and especially with the itching! He has one shirt that I would wear often that's back from his Air Force Academy lacrosse days. On the back, it says Whatever it Takes. It was sort of my mantra as I was changing my diet and doing all of these obscure things like drinking water/lemon to detox each morning before food. And so true, it is.