Avery has finally arrived

Hello everyone,

Well by now most of you know that Avery has finally made it into the world. Let me just start by saying this was one of the hardest things I have ever done, but by far worth it the most!

Saturday night we checked in at 8pm and got settled in our room at the hospital. They gave me some medication to soften my cervix to prepare me for the next day! At 7am the next day they let me get up and shower and then they started the pitocin around 8am. By noon they had broken my water and I was dilated at 4cm, thinking I was on my way. Well, little Avery had a different plan! Right around 5cm I finally got the epidural. Let me just tell you that I have no idea why people do not get the pain medication. It is AMAZING! The first hour after that was great and then for some reason my body decided to block the pain medication on my right side so I started to feel everything. Well as you can imagine that was not fun. The anesthesiologist came in two more times to dose me up so my left side was completely numb but I could feel EVERYTHING on my right side. Needless to say I had to get a second epidural and that one finally did the trick.

Over the next few hours I progressed slowly but surely. Finally, around 8pm my Dr arrived and I was dilated at 10cm and ready to push. So in short, I had been there 24 hours and was just now getting ready to push. I was exhausted but so ready to meet little Avery. So the pushing began and it was exhausting. Every push they kept telling me I was getting closer but it seemed like it was taking forever. Finally after almost 2 hours of pushing she was ready to come. They got everything ready for her and before long, there she was. That moment was one that I can not describe. They took her out and placed her on my belly. I then saw this amazing miracle that had been growing inside of me and was overwhelmed with every single emotion that exists. You want to just hold them forever and never let go and protect them from every possible thing in the world.

After a few minutes of us ooing and awing over her, they took her to the baby warmer to weigh her and get her cleaned up. She weighed in at a whopping 9lbs and is 21 inches long. Everyone was amazed at how big she was but I knew that she would be at least 9lbs, not sure how but I just knew it! My mom and in-laws and Aaron's girlfriend Krystal all came in and were relieved to see her as they had been there almost all day! After about 30 minutes, they came to take her to the nursery. I had a fever by this point in the day so when she came she had one as well so they had to draw blood and give her some medication. Because of this we have to stay here for at least 48 hours while they monitor her. She was in the nursery for a few hours while they cleaned her, gave her shots and monitored her. Ben was able to go in and and watch while they got her cleaned up and he got some great pics!

Finally at about 3am we got back to our room and settled with the baby. She was a hungry little girl and she latched on right away and began to eat. She has been eating every 2-3 hours since but sleeping great in between which has given us a chance to rest up as well. Ben has been great and has taken on the Dad role like he is a pro. My mom has been here as well so we have a lot of hands to help out when we need it.

We will be here in the hospital until Wednesday AM and then we will get to go home. I am excited to go home and get settled into every day life. She is already in size 1 diapers so she completely skipped the newborn diapers and clothes! Thank God I didn't buy too many of those! Please feel free to call us if you want to check in. I will do our best to keep everyone updated. As we speak, she is peacefully sleeping in her bassinet looking like the cutest girl in the world!

Here are some pictures. We are taking so many during the day so we will be sure to update as often as we can.