5 weeks of Avery

Wow time is flying by so fast!! My little pumpkin turned one month on Thanksgiving, and on Monday the little booger will be 6 weeks old!! This past month has been a whirlwind. I think part of what makes it go by so fast is that taking care of a newborn is a never ending cycle of feeding, changing her and putting her to bed throughout the day and night so all the days pretty much run together. We are so blessed to have a pretty good night sleeper though. She pretty much sticks to the same schedule of 2am and 5am feedings and once she slept right through tot he 5 o'clock, which was heaven! The other reason it goes by fast is because each day is a new adventure and we are all still adjusting to it. Everyone says children grow up so fast, but it is truly remarkable to see them grow right before your eyes.

I am not sure what Ave is weighing, but she is already outgrowing most of her newborn sized clothes. It's crazy, because she was swimming in them when we came home from the hospital and only a few of the tiniest outfits fit her those first few weeks. It felt like we were constantly washing her clothes so she would have something that fit. Then one day this week, I had to try on 4 different pairs of pajamas to find ones that were not all the sudden too short!! So this is kind of bittersweet.. I am glad that she can start wearing some of her 0-3 month clothes, because we have a lot more that'll fit her in that size and they're so cute, but sad because I realize she really will only be so tiny and cuddly for a little while longer!

 It is an empowering feeling though, knowing that I am keeping this tiny human alive and thriving with only the help of my body still. I'm not going to lie, breastfeeding is HARD! It's exhausting and frustrating and painful at first, and growth spurts feel like she's draining the life right out of me, but I AM SO GLAD I have stuck with it. The human body is so amazing. Her's sends a message to mine as to how much milk to make, and to make the most fatty kind at night to fill her belly for sleeping. Not to mention that it's the best possible nutrition for her, and good for me too! It's amazing when you think about it. Now the problem is going to be getting this child to like a bottle…we have tried 4 different kinds and had other people try to feed her, but she won't really take to one without a fight. So we've got to get in some more practice, because my maternity leave is halfway over and she's going to starve if she keeps being so picky!!

So some one month milestones..
Avery is smiling, and not just in her sleep anymore! It's adorable. Sometimes it is when she's filling her diaper, BUT she also smiles at me on her changing table, and when I talk to her before her first early morning feeding. She smiled at Jon this morning too! I just can't wait to hear her laugh. She has giggled in her sleep, but I just wonder what on earth is so funny that she is dreaming about?!

We have started tummy time, and she has flipped from her belly to back a few times now!! She can't do it every time and I am not sure that she even knows what she's doing, but of course we think she's advanced and probably a genius. :)

She recognizes mine and Jon's voices and will follow us with her eyes! It's so neat. Only a matter of time until she gets a kick out of peek-a-boo.

Also, in the past week she has become mesmerized by the TV. Sometimes when she is fussy, laying across my lap to check out the tube is the only thing to keep her quiet. I might have a future couch potato on my hands!

Watching Real Housewives with Momma!! LOL

39 Weeks and Avery's Birth Story

Man have I neglected my blog! Just been so busy with-- ya know taking care of an adorable and tiny little human! So where I left off- 39 weeks pregnant and beginning to get miserable!!

Originally, I was set to be induced on October 25th (Thursday), and crazy me wanted to go to work that Monday and Tuesday, so I could save my PTO for when Avery was actually here, but everyone else, especially my boss, was urging me to take those days to rest at home and relax before the baby came. My poor feet had had about all they could take of carrying the extra pounds and looked like this...

I was cranky and ohh so tired too. After staying up at school until 7 pm on Thursday the 18th trying to get grades in for the 1st 9 week report card and finish up some parent conferences over the phone, I decided my boss, and teammates were right. I needed to rest, and I was making the next day at school my last one. It would already be a half day for me because I had my weekly Dr. appointment in the afternoon. I called my long term sub that night, and she said she'd be glad to start early. I felt a little guilty, because I am such a cheapskate and really wanted to save my days, but I knew it was the right thing for me to do. I thought I'd have time to get the house nice and clean, catch up on laundry, sleep and even some trash TV…little did I know that Avery would be here before I would get the chance to do any of that! :)

At my Friday appointment, I still wasn't dialated beyond 1cm (nothing!) and baby girl was still up high. My Dr. said "You can't go into labor this weekend anyway because I am not the one on call! We'll see you Thursday for your induction!"

That weekend I was so tired, so Jon and I were really lazy! After watching a Diners Drive-Ins and Dives marathon the weekend before, we had already decided we were going to check out this BBQ place at the Farmer's Market  that had been featured on the show, as our last date before becoming parents. So Sunday morning, we got up early to go check it out, and walked around sampling all kinds of delicious fruits and veggies too. When we got home, I wanted to do some more walking to see if I could jumpstart the whole labor process. For some reason I was really scared of being induced and just prayed that things would happen naturally. So I grabbed Abby and went on a nice walk around our neighborhood for about 30 minutes..it was all I could handle. I was exhausted!  When I got home we took a long nap and ordered our fav pizza for dinner with jalapenos. I wanted to see if the spicy food trick would work now. We ate and headed to bed around 9. On the way to the bedroom, I made Jon take this  39 week pic of me, realizing that it COULD be my last preggo picture, but having no idea that I'd really be in labor in just a couple of hours.  

At 11 pm I woke up with terrible cramps, but thought it was just indigestion from the pizza. I went to the bathroom, threw back some tums and went back to bed. 11:30 I woke back up. More cramps…thought this might be a contraction? Drank a glass of water and went back to bed. This kept up about every 30 minutes until 1:30 am when things got a little more intense. Jon was supposed to have jury duty in the morning, which had already been postponed once due to a flat tire, and since I had had a bout with false labor the weekend before, I didn't want to wake him unless this was the real thing. I couldn't just lay there in silence anymore though. So I got some more water and camped out on the couch with my contraction counter app to start timing things. Contractions stayed at 7 min apart until about 4 am when they got to 5 min apart. The hospital rule is 5-1-1, head there when they are 5 min apart, lasting 1 min long for at least one hour. So I woke Jon up to give him a warning that I had had contractions all night, and that I was going to take a bath to see if they would stay 5 min apart. Well they did, so I got dressed and laid back down to try to wait out as much at home as I could and we headed to the hospital around 5:30.

We got there, checked in, hooked up and I was only at 3 cm and in a lot of pain. I got the epidural a couple hours later, and we notified our families that Avery would be there that day. We couldn't believe the day we  had been counting down for so long was finally here! We were going to become parents!

Once I got the epidural, labor was a breeze! I was pain free until the very end, and I progressed very quickly.  Unfortunately Mondays are my doctor's day off, so I had the on-call doctor from her office, who ended up being amazing! They came in to check me and reposition me every couple of hours, and everything was very calm and laid back. Shannon, Jon and my parents were there most of the time for me to talk to and to feed me ice chips.  Around 1 o clock I started feeling pressure and pushing my epidural button for some more numbing action, and the nurse came in to check me. She said I was at 9 cm and should be ready to push within another hour. This is when I started to get really excited and nervous! About 30 minutes later, I was a 10, so she called the doctor and we kicked out all the visitors. Jon turned off the TV and it was just him, me and the nurse to do some practice pushes while we waited for the doctor. The silence really freaked me out for a second so I asked Jon to please put on some calming music. He got my phone, put it on one of our favorite Pandora stations- Elton John Radio. I started singing along to Philadelphia Freedom and instantly felt better. Music is such a powerful mood changer!

My incredible nurse Michelle coached me through pushing a couple of times, while Jon cheered me on. It was such a special moment. Soon the doctors and nursing staff came in, and she rest is kind of a  surreal rush and a blur. Pushing went by REALLY quickly. The next thing I knew, the most beautiful little human was laid on my chest while I cried hysterically from pure amazement and heard Hotel California playing in the background. I remember looking up at Jon and seeing his face in complete awe and adoration of our little angel. It was the most overwhelming, beautiful and amazing moment of our entire lives.

Avery Parris Mercer was born with tons of dark hair on October 22, at 2:10pm, weighing 7lbs, 3 oz and measuring 21 inches long. Our lives have been forever changed! We are so in love!

I can't believe it's almost been 3 weeks, but I'll update on how that's going later. It's time to feed my little munchkin!