December pics

Swaddled and strapped into her carseat. Looks a bit like a straightjacket, no? 12/30/09, makeup Christmas with the Roses. LOVE all her new bows. PS...ignore her spit-up!

Daddy, Bella and baby.

6-month anniversary!

Chris and I have been married for 6 months today! Here's a look back...

Engaged...

Wedding...

Honeymoon in Paris...

My babies on Christmas Eve

Brrr...it's cold! No, mom. I'm not going to get out of Avery's boppy!
Mom, calm down.



It's Christmas!

And yes, I'm starting to lose my mind;)

It's snowing in Keller right now. Avery had her 1-month pediatric appointment this morning. She is now 9lbs. 5oz. and 22" long. We are spending this evening with the Rose side of the family and tomorrow with the Jones side. Merry Christmas!!

4-week old pictures

Avery sleeping in her crib...

Awake time

Sleeping in her bouncy seat



Asleep with her paci, on my chest

4 weeks old

Avery has slept 8+ hours overnight for the past week. I'm praying that continues AND that it increases:) She is finally taking her paci, although not very often. She spends a lot more time awake during the day with much shorter naps, although that's not always a good thing. My 2 favorite things in the world are 1) to wake Avery up every morning/feeding her in the morning and 2) taking little naps with her on the couch. I cannot believe she is already 1 month old!!!

3 week old pictures

In her swing, God bless this swing!!!

Thinking...

Hmmm...

Oh, an iPhone...

Not to the pediatrician!!!

3 weeks old

Avery is 3 weeks old today. She went to the pediatrician for the 3rd week in a row due to not enough weight gain. BUT today she finally gained enough weight, 8 lbs. 8 oz. Unfortunately, she has to go again next week for her 1 month, on Christmas Eve:( But after that appointment, she won't have to go again for a month! Hallelujah:)

Updates:

*Avery now weighs 8lbs. 8oz. and is 21 1/2 in. long.

*I have been supplementing formula this week and it has worked to get her weight up.

*She definitely seems bigger now!

*She has more periods of time where she is alert and I love it (as long as she isn't crying during that "alert" time).

*God bless the manufacturer of her swing! She loves that swing and SO DO I!!! The swing keeps me sane!

*And an update on me, I have lost 1/2 of my pregnancy weight which feels great! I have 3 more weeks before I can work out again and I CANNOT WAIT!!!!

*AND I have been taking pictures of Avery non-stop because I can't help myself...so I am going to post them separately.

2 weeks old

Avery is 2 weeks old today. This past week was definitely tougher than the 1st one. Some of the things that have happened this week:

*Her umbilical cord stump fell off. Thank goodness:)

*She has been doing cluster feedings, eating every hour sometimes instead of every 2-3 hours.

*She had her 2nd newborn screening at the hospital. Another heel stick:( She took it like a champ though.

*She can FINALLY wear 0-3 month clothes (instead of newborn). We only have like 3 newborn outfits, everything else is 0-3 months and bigger.

*She spends a little more time awake. I will catch her sitting in her seat just wide awake and staring. And when I feed her, she is starting to be more awake and looking around.

*We had our 2nd pediatric appointment and she only gained 4 oz. this week making her 8lbs. I have to start supplementing formula now and have to go back to the pediatrician AGAIN next week. I'm starting to feel like I live in doctor's offices. Just when I thought I was done going to the doctor once a week...now Avery has to go once a week.

*Sleep deprivation is definitely settling in. She refuses to sleep in her crib. She likes sleeping on our chests which isn't too bad (at least she's sleeping), BUT it makes daily routines very difficult to do.

*Chris went back to work. Last night was my first night totally alone with Avery and we both survived. She was great for the 1st few hours, thank you Swaddle-Me blanket. Then I had to wake her for her feeding, a diaper change and a bath. Spa Baby is awesome, BTW! After her bath, she refused to be swaddled OR put in her crib. SO, we just slept on the couch (where I have been sleeping since I was about 7 months pregnant, I really miss my bed!). I actually got a lot of sleep AND she was a WHOLE lot less fussy than normal.

I am eager to see what happens in the 3rd week. I am hoping that she gains more weight and to be honest I really enjoyed feeding her formula at the pediatrician today.

Avery's hospital pics! 11/25/09

Our cupcake is 1 week old today!

It's hard to believe, but our little cupcake is 1 week old today. I am feeling MUCH better, and am almost 100%. Avery and I are starting to figure out our routine and Teddy is still trying to figure out who this person is and why she is in his spot all the time. I could not be more in love and thank God every day for how healthy and beautiful she is.

Avery had her 1st visit to the pediatrician this morning. She looks great! She is 7lbs. 12oz. now which is 2 oz. shy of her birth weight. The pediatrician said that is good for the 1st week and he wants to see her gain between 6-7oz. before her next appointment (which is next week).

Avery is here!!!!

Welcome little Avery...

Newborn

This was the very 1st time I held Avery


And here as well...


Thanksgiving '09, about to leave the hospital

In the recovery room...

Proud daddy...

My precious newborn...

I went in to be induced at 5am on Tuesday, 11/24/09. I was scared to death about the entire birthing process!! I changed into my gown, answered a whole bunch of questions from the nurse, got my IV (what a pain), and then they took about 5 vials of blood (not kidding). They checked to see how my dilation and effacement were going, I was at a 3 and about 70% effaced at that time. They also asked me if I was having contractions and I told them no...turns out once the monitors went on, I was having contractions. They started the pitocin around 6:30am, my doctor came in at 7:30am to check me again and to break my water. I will have to get all of my notes from my sister (she was an excellent labor partner, along with Chris who I told not to speak). Once my water broke, the contractions were really strong, and the pressure was really scary, so I decided to start with Demerol (nothing like falling asleep in between each contraction), and it did nothing to help with the pain of the contractions. So, I went ahead with the epidural at 9:30am(hands down, the worst part of giving birth, BY FAR). When you are huge, have a blood pressure monitor squeezing your arm every few minutes, and having painful contractions, sitting indian style and pushing your back towards a nurse for an epidural is NOT FUN! She had to stick me several times because I kept jumping away from the needle. Once the epidural was finally in (after what felt like an eternity), it was pure heaven. I didn't feel numb like people describe it, I just didn't feel any pain after that, like I said...pure heaven! I was progressing really fast and once I hit 10cm and 100% effaced, the nurse had me try practice pushes (a little hard to feel when you feel nothing). The practice pushes went really well because Avery moved down and the nurse could pull her hair out into the delivery room. My doctor came in and after 20 minutes of pushing, Avery came into the world at 11:57am...screaming. It was really neat because I didn't feel pain, BUT I could feel her come out. The birth went FAR better than I ever could have imagined or expected. I did have to have an episiotomy, but thankfully with the epidural, I didn't feel it. Avery was 7 pounds 14 ounces, 20 1/2" long, a 9 on the Apgar scale and has a beautiful head full of dark hair. She is such a huge blessing, so it only makes sense that she was brought home on Thanksgiving afternoon. She is so beautiful, but definitely has a stubborn and might I say LOUD personality. She has some lungs on her!!! The dogs are acting like concerned older siblings already:) Tonight is our 1st night at home and of course, while Chris was home she was a perfect sleeping angel. As soon as Chris left for work (yes, his boss actually made him work tonight...but he does have a little over a week off after tonight), the screaming began. It breaks my heart to hear her cute little "La" cries turn into angry, screaming cries. My sister helped me this evening after Chris went to work, now my mom is here and I would have died without her! The hospital wrote a pain medication prescription, but guess what? The pharmacy is closed on Thanksgiving day. So I have had to use whatever we have around the house...NOT cool! I am in a lot of pain which is not helping the whole new mom adjusting to a completely new lifestyle thing. My parents gave me something they had around their house for pain meds and it is working much better right now AND once we swaddled Avery in her Swaddle-Me blanket, she miraculously stopped crying AND is actually sleeping in her crib right now! SO, to sum up this novel, I would say that I had a great pregnancy despite having to be induced. I ended up being thankful for that little bit of control over contractions, my water breaking, etc. Chris and I have a beautiful daughter and we feel so blessed and lucky! Her birth was SO much better than I ever thought it would/could be. I absolutely love holding her, looking into her blue eyes, watching her breast feed, seeing her funny facial expressions, and even hearing her toot. I am anxious about being a mom, but I am incredibly lucky to have amazing people around me to help me through this life changing event!
We are so blessed!