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!