What a pretty girl!

Here are some pictures of Ava in her cute little nightgown. Also I managed to catch a couple of smiles! Enjoy!

Little Ava

Here is a picture of Ava at 6 weeks old. She is still a little peanut but is filling out a little bit. She is doing great after we took her off all meds. She still spits up but nothing that warrants medicine. She is sleeping better at night. Sometimes she will wake up once or twice and other nights she will wake every three hours to eat. At least she isn't having tummy troubles anymore. She is now smiling at us. Scott seems to get the most smiles out of her.....daddy's girl! :-) Jackson has learned to quiet her when she is in her swing. He will take her binky to her and she will quiet down. What a good big brother!

Jackson 19 months

Jackson is getting so big! Everyday he does something new and funny. He is still doing so well with Ava. He is now wanting to hold her and then all of a sudden he'll just want to get up and get her off of him. I have to watch him or he would unintentionally throw her off of him! Here are some pictures of the big brother!

Ava is 1 month old!

Here are some pics of Ava. Can you believe she is already a month old? She is doing well eating and sleeping great during the day. Night is another story. Doc thinks she might have acid reflux or colic or a combination of both. She is on medication to try and alleviate her nighttime tummy troubles and we also have her on gripe water for her gassiness. Hopefully this all works because we are in need of sleep! Other than that she is doing so well.

4th of July

Here are some pictures of the kids on the 4th of July. I stayed home sick but Jackson had a great time hanging out at Aunt Mandy's and Uncle Mat's house.

Dad and big brother with little Ava

Here are pics of Dad and big brother Jackson with little Ava.

Too cool for school!

Jackson being funny....

Balloon festival

Here are some pics of Jackson, Mom, Dad, Aunt Mandy, Uncle Mat and Aunt Mandy's mom at the Celina Balloon festival. The weather didn't hold up for the balloons to lift off but we had some fun on the playground!

Axid is my lifesaver!

Well the medicine the pedi put Ava on is working wonders! Last night was her first dosage and she slept so well! She woke up at 1am and again at 4am to eat and after she burped she wasn't fussy! She fell immediately back to sleep! She still spits up since the medicine only decreases the acid in her stomach not reduces the spit up. The doc said she will eventually outgrow the spitting up once her valve matures. Now if we can get Jackson to follow suit. He is now getting up in the middle of the night coming to our bed.....

My poor baby has a slight case of reflux

We knew something wasn't right when she would fuss all night long and we couldn't burp her enough. Last night was the last straw. She was up all night with an upset tummy. She kept burping and hiccuping. I got her in to see the pedi and he gave her a script for Axid. It's suppose to help decrease the acid in her stomach so when it comes up it's not as irritating for her. We tried everything from Mylicon gas drops to elevating her bed. Nothing worked. Hopefully this medicine will help her (and mom and dad) get some much needed sleep!

Her weight today was 5lbs 8oz! She gained 8 oz in one week! She's gaining like a champ!

Other than the reflux issues she is doing great! She eats all day so obviously she's not letting reflux mess up her eating schedule!

Jackson 18 months

Here are some pics of the big brother. He is so sweet with Ava. I hope it continues!!!

Ava 2 weeks old

Ava has been doing so well. She is an eater! She has a schedule of eating every 3 hours during the day and sometimes goes 4 hours at night. She only wakes up twice during the night which is great for me! She does seem like she has a little bit of reflux. She will spit up a little after a feed if we don't sit her upright for at least 3o mintues but at night she seems restless like her tummy hurts her.

Jackson is adjusting well. He needs our attention 24/7 but he is so sweet to her. He will give her a sugar any chance he gets and lets us know when she is crying by pointing at her crib as if saying, "aren't you going to check on her?" It really is cute. He is also such a big helper. He will bring me her burp cloths, blankets, diapers and binkie whenever I go to pick her up if she is crying. I hope this continues!

Well here are some pics of the little peanut.

Steph

She's here!!!!!

Turns out it wasn't a false alarm after all! I was in the first stage of labor early Thursday morning into Friday afternoon. I had my appointment with the perinatologist at 2:30 and Scott's mom was meeting me there so she could help watch Jackson. On the way there I was still having contractions. I finally got in to see Dr. Gore and he did an ultrasound. He assured me that she looked great and that the fluid level had gone up from 7-8 to 10. He said this was very good and that he wanted me to see my ob on Monday and him the following Thursday. After my ultrasound I went to get a fetal monitor. Apparently they do this after every appointment just to check the baby's heart. I told the nurse that I was contracting last night and today so she decided to take a look while I was having contractions. I had 4 contractions in 10 mintues! She went and told Dr. Gore and he told me he was going to let L&D know to see if they wanted to see me. Sure enough they sent me over and I had to get hooked up to a fetal monitor. She looked good and I had even more contractions in the room. The nurse came in and did an internal exam on me and turns out I was already 3-4 cm and 50% effaced, 0 station. She called in my doctor who was luckily on call that day. He finally came in to see me and explained the situation. He told us we were in a gray area. She was still not to full term but having the issues with my placenta he wanted to move forward and deliver her then. Scott and I were in shock. Scott kept asking, "Do you mean today? Right now"? The doctor did not want to let me go any longer since the closer she got to being full term the higher the risk that she could be born stillborn. So hearing that we were like, "Take her now then!" He told us he was reluctant to let us go home because the way my contractions were spaced I would surely be back in later that night. This happened all around 4pm. Scott was out of town in Austin. He left Thursday morning and was to return Friday at 3:30pm. My appointment was at 2:30pm and he immediately came to the hospital when he found out they were monitoring me. Luckily he came when he did! At around 5pm the doctor came in to check me again and to break my water. I was at 6 cm. He told me after he breaks my water I will really start feeling the contractions and to let him know if I wanted an epidural. I got through the next hour and a half with no meds then he came in to check me again and I was at 7-8cm. I was really feeling them now! I decided to go ahead with the epidural and she was there within 5 mintues! I wish I would have gotten it a little sooner since they were very strong at this point and my luck I would have one right as they were inserting the needle. Sure enough that's what happened. I had to sit up and lean over making my back like a "c". I had two contractions at this point and they hurt like hell! Oddly enough they were more bearable if I was sitting up as opposed to laying on my back. The epidural immediately took effect and it was smooth sailing from then on out. I could still feel my legs and feet so I wasn't completely numb. Another hour later I was finally at 10 cm. My nurse called the nurses station to get the doctor in immediately. I was terrified because she kept saying, "she's bleeding a lot, I am not making her push until the doctor is here!" This kinda freaked me out a little. Why was I bleeding so much? The doctor finally came in and three to four pushes later out she came! Scott was at the head of the bed and Scott's mom was at my side. I watched the whole thing happen and how amazing it was! She was a little peanut! She came out screaming though! What a joy to hear. We were so nervous that something was going to be wrong. The NICU team was there just in case they needed to take her to the NICU. They took her over to the warmer and were assessing her. No problem with her lungs being underdeveloped!!! We were just watching them work on her and we asked if she was being taken to the NICU. They assured us that no, she was great and could go to the newborn nursery. She weighed in at a whopping 4 lbs 10 oz, 17 inches long. She got to stay in the room with us for about an hour while everyone got to hold her. She had a lot of dark hair! Yeah! Finally a dark headed Samuel!!!!!! She is so beautiful and wonderful and we are so excited she is healthy. Thanks to everyone who prayed for her. She is truly a "Lucky" little girl. So what if she was born on Friday the 13th!!! She proved us all wrong!!!!!! I hope you enjoy the pictures!!!

Pics before delivery

She's coming......

Here are pics of me actively in labor.....can you still believe I had a smile on my face! I was no overwhelmed with emotions! I was both apprehensive and excited about her delivery. We just wanted her to be healthy. I had an amazing support system by my side. Scott was again at the head of the bed and Roxanna was at my side while the nurse was on my other. It went by so fast it seems like a blur. What an amazing experience!!!