Merry Christmas

Okay, I am not completely nuts. I realize that it is only December 4th but tis the season. Each fall, it has become a family tradition to have our pictures taken for our Christmas card.  This year, Avery came along for the ride.  The pictures turned out great (as usual). In an effort to be on top of things, we ordered, received, and mailed our Christmas cards super early.  So Merry Christmas early.

 

Over the Months

Thanks to grandma, we have been blessed to have pictures taken every few months of Avery starting with her newborn pictures.  We absolutely love the pictures and thank Cherie Flowers for an excellent job and having so much patience.  Who knew taking pictures of an infant could be such a huge endeavor. Below are some of Avery's newborn and three month pictures.

Newborn Pictures

 

Three Month Pictures

It's been a while!

Well, despite my best attempts, I have completely neglected this blog. So much has happened over the past few months. Our little princess is not so little anymore. She is a big girl weighing over 15 pounds.  She is getting taller each day it seems. Her smile absolutely melts our hearts!! Her interests include playing with her stuffed sheep; laughing at her big brother, Bailey; chatting up a storm; rolling all over the place; sleeping (she started sleeping through the night at 3 weeks old-yes, we are truly blessed); reading her Puppy Tails book and Mazzy book; eating (she holds her own bottle and has done so for about two months); and hanging out with her adoring parents and grandparents.

Picture of Avery from our Fall Family Photos with Cherie Flowers

 

 

I thought it may be easiest to document some of Avery's milestones and adventures over the past months with a collection of photos.

 



 

Avery's One Month Pic

 

Avery celebrated her one month birthday on July 18, 2012.  She weighed in at 9 pounds, 3 ounces.

 

Avery's Two Month Pic

 

 

Avery celebrated her two month birthday on August 18, 2012.  Shortly after her birthday, she had her two month check-up (August 23, 2012).  She weighed in at 10 pounds, 15 ounces.  She also had her first round of shots.  She was such a trooper.

 

On August 26, 2012, Avery slept in her big girl bed for the first night. She did not wake up at all.  She has been such a great sleeper. She has been sleeping through the night since she was three weeks old, which has been wonderful for mommy and daddy.

Two days later (on August 28th), Avery tackled another big milestone-she rolled over for the first time. Ever since then, she has been rolling everywhere.

 

 

 On September 18th, Avery celebrated her three month birthday.

 

 

 

 

At the end of September, we visited the Schafer Pumpkin Patch. Avery seemed to enjoy all the pumpkins. It was unseasonly cool that day, so we did not stay very long.

 

 



 

On October 3, 2012, Avery achieved another milestone-she starting sleeping on her tummy.  I was a little bothered by this and even attempted to roll her back to her back but she rolled right back over.  John and I decided that if she was capable of rolling over to her stomach, she could roll back over if she needed to.

 

The week of October 15th was a busy week, Avery celebrated her four month birthday and her baptism.  We were truly blessed to have Father Warren Harvey come up from Pine Bluff.

 

 Avery's Four Month Pictures-I love that smile!

 

Avery's Baptism-October 20, 2012

St. Joseph Catholic Church

 

We were truly blessed to be surrounded by family and friends on this special occasion.  Avery did a great job and was not phased by all the attention.  I big thanks goes out to one of my best friends, Theresa, who traveled all the way from Chicago for the ceremony and to be Avery's godmother.  Jacob, my brother, is Avery's godfather. 

 

 

 

 

Not that October was busy enough, but we also celebrated Avery's First Halloween.  She went as Minnie Mouse-thanks to grandma.

 

 

 

 

 



Weight Update

When Avery was born, she weighed 8 pounds 3 ounces. By the time we left the hospital, she was down to 7 pounds 8 ounces. We were a little worried that our little girl had lost too much weight, but we were reassured by the doctors and nurses that her weight loss was normal. They also informed us that she should gain back the lost weight within two weeks of leaving the hospital. So John and I focused on plumping up our little girl. The day after we got home (June 22nd) Avery had her first doctor's appointment with Dr. Champlin (who we LOVE by the way). She gained one ounce in the time she was home! Over the next few weeks, we periodically went for weight checks at the doctor's office and at the hospital with the lactation consultant. On June 26th, she weighed at 7 pounds, 13 ounces. At her first weight check at the doctor's office on June 29th, she weighed 8 pounds, 3 1/2 ounces. In only 11 days, she had regained her lost weight!! We were so excited! By July 3rd, she had gained another two and a half ounces. Three days later, she weighed 8 pounds, 8 ounces. On her final weight check with Dr. Champlin on July 13th, Avery weighed 9 pounds, 3 ounces. Our precious little girl definitely has a healthy appetite!!

 

Avery on the way to her first doctor's appointment.

 

 

Avery before her first weight check at Dr. Champlin's office.

It has been a while . . . .

While pregnant, I had such high expectations of keeping this blog current to update family and friends about our pregnancy progress and other interesting events happening in our family. Well, to put it bluntly....life got busy. Since our last post, things have changed signficantly in the Albritton family!!! Our precious daughter, Avery Elizabeth, was born on Monday, June 18, 2012. I cannot believe that it has been over a month since she was born. Time has flown by!! In an effort to keep family and friends current on Avery's growth and development, we started a shutterfly page. Check it out at http://thealbrittonsadventures.shutterfly.com/. However, that page is strictly a photo journal of Avery's life. In an effort to document all of Avery's milestones and our family's adventures, I wanted to get back to this blog. So much has happened over the past month, so please forgive me for the lack of organization or repetition in this post...I do not want to forget a single important event. So, I am going to detail as many of our milestones and adventures from the past month as I can recall.

**Also, a quick thank you to a sweet friend of mine-Lydia-for inspiring me to work on this blog!! **

Avery's Birth Story

Avery Elizabeth Albritton made her appearance in the world on Monday, June 18, 2012, at 1:44 p.m. at Conway Regional Medical Center. She weighed 8 pounds, 3 ounces and measured 19 1/2 inches long. Our precious little girl was delivered via c-section by Dr. Brandie Martin.

 

 

Our original birth plan was to have a natural delivery (with an epidural, of course). However, after consulting with our doctor at our 40 week appointment, we learned that Avery was a large baby who apparently had no interest in making her appearance in the world based on absolutely no signs of labor. I was neither dialted nor effaced at all!! Avery was also very high rather than low like most labor ready babies. So after much discussion and prayer (and consultation with several friends and family members), John and I decided it would be best to go with an elective c-section.

On the morning of the c-section, John and I anxiously waited around the house prior to going to the hospital at 11:30 a.m. per doctor's orders. With what seemed like half of our house packed in our vehicle, we arrived at Conway Regional Medical Center Labor and Delivery floor. After being admitted, I was taken back to the triage area to get dressed in my lovely hospital gown and to have my iv started. This was the nerve racking part. I had not planned on the process proceeding so quickly. In a span of less than an hour (but what seemed like ten minutes), I was prepped and ready for surgery. In an attempt to calm my nerves, John and my parents came back at different times (only one person was allowed with me in triage at any given time) to chat. At the end of the hour, John stayed with me in triage. He also received his hospital scrubs to put on. Prior to walking to the OR, John and I said a prayer asking God for a safe surgery and delivery and for most of all-a healthy baby girl! I went back to the OR to have my spinal placed and to get other prep work completed while John anxiously sat outside the OR in a purple chair awaiting for his cue to enter the OR. I really wish John could have been with me while I was getting my spinal placed, but hospital policy did not permit him to be there. After about twenty minutes, John joined me in the OR. He looked so cute and nervous in his hospital gown, hat, and mask!! :) Shortly after Dr. Martin arrived in the OR, our precious little girl was born-it only took ten minutes. John got to hold her and accompany her to the nursery for her first bath, measurements, and foot/fingerprints while Dr. Martin finished up my surgery. It was definitely love at first sight!! And she it did not hurt that she resembled her handsome daddy so much! :)

It was so funny to hear John say this because I was thinking the same thing...but the first thing we both thought when we saw Avery was "oh my goodness....she is so big!" I was dumbfounded that I could have carried such a big baby!

At the conclusion of my surgery, John and Avery joined me in our room-Room 254. It was so great to finally hold my precious little girl after following her development over the past ten months and feeling her kick and move inside of me for the past few months. It was almost surreal to finally grasp that our sweet angel was actually in my arms! John and I were so blessed to become parents of such a healthy and happy baby girl!! And blessed to have such a smooth surgery with great physicians and nurses as well as supportive family and friends.

On June 18th, our family changed in such an awesome way!! Below is our little girl's first official picture.

 

 

 

John and I were a little nervous about taking our precious little girl home as we had adjusted to the assistance of the wonderful nurses at the hospital helping out and taking Avery to the nursery at night and because Avery had lost approximately 9% of her body weight while in the hospital. The day we left the hospital, she weighed in at 7 pounds 8 ounces. But we were assured that her weight loss was normal and that as long as she gained back the lost weight in two weeks that she would be back on track. So we left the hospital around noon on June 21st!

 

 

We were greeted at home by Grandma, who helped Avery and I get situated while John ran to Walgreens to pick up my post-op prescriptions. It was so nice to be at home and enjoy some time with our little girl!

Check out our shutterfly page to look at some pictures from Avery's first week at home!