Bant B, Chris, and Ava

I posted last month about my fears and worries when it came time to leave Ava with someone while we were in the hospital. As usual, it was really nothing to worry about :) Our good friends, Alan and Cindy Middleton, were on call to take Ava if the need arose. However, Jeremy's parents ended up being in town the week that I was scheduled for my induction. Ava was able to stay in  her own bed and in her own house with Nana and Poppy while we stayed in the hospital. Roy and Linda Jo had to leave on Friday (the day before we were discharged) so Bant B (Aunt Berrie) and Cousin Chris came into town for the night to stay with Ava. We were so grateful to them for making the quick trip into town on our little one's behalf! 

Berrie and Chris took Ava out to eat breakfast at the Waffle House. They are so sweet to her!

Finally Home!!

I wanted so badly to be discharged from the hospital on June 1st. I felt great and knew how to care for myself and Greta. I talked with Dr. Emig that morning before she went home and she said, "no." I also talked with Dr. Edwards (who came on call after Dr. Emig) and he said, "no." :) It was worth a shot! Instead, I was discharged on June 2nd (a Saturday) at about 3 pm. I was ready to go that morning, but we had to wait until the pediatrician checked out Greta one last time.

I had the day all planned out (because I am a planner and that's what planners do) Several weeks ago, I bought these precious orange, hot pink, and yellow, floral matching outfits for Ava and Greta. Ava would come to the hospital before we were discharged and would change into the outfit to match her sister. We would all happily ride home as a family of four. You can probably guess that my little plan did not work out :) 

We were informed that the pediatrician would not be in until noon that day...right  in the middle of Ava's very much needed nap time. I had two choices. I could let Ava skip her nap and be a grouch for the rest of the day so that she could wear her little matching outfit. Or, I could let her sleep and bring Greta home in something else. We chose the latter. I wanted both of my baby girls in that backseat when we left the hospital, but it wasn't worth the hassle. I would rather bring a newborn home to a happy and rested sibling. I will just save the little outfits for something else! :)

Ava's Big Sister Party!!

I am not familiar with other hospitals, but Northport DCH has a small sibling party. Ava arrived at the hospital with Nana and Poppy shortly after Greta's debut. Since she was all dressed up in her pink, we decided to go ahead and have her sibling party. She got a little hat, a little celebration blow toy, some apple juice, an ice cream, and a little chocolate cake!

She did not care for the hat. She took it right off! She loved the blow toy. Jeremy showed her how to blow in it and so she tried it several times. She did not drink the juice, but did eat the ice cream and cake! She had so much sugar that day! Especially because the only way I could get her to come to me in the hospital bed was to feed her some of the key lime cake that I had. :) 

Usually, it is the grandparents who sugar up a child and send them home to Mommy and Daddy. May 31st was a complete role reversal because we sugared Ava up and sent her home with the grandparents!! :) I am sure they enjoyed that!!

Greta's First Days...

 Daddy and both of his girls!

 Mommy and Greta

 Big Sister Ava giving Greta kisses :) Melts my heart!

Carla, Luke, and Sam came to visit their new friend!

 The Jones family: Chad, Angie, and Alex

Austin and Ashton stopped by to meet our new addition. :) Austin looks scared to death!

This girl can put away some food! She drank a whole 2 oz for her very first feeding!

 Feeding time with Mommy

Ava and Greta with Nana and Poppy!

Ava At 18 Months!!

Well today marks a year and a half of Ava's life! Time flies by so quickly. In high school, a year and a half meant a new grade level, some new teachers, and a new back-to-school wardrobe. In "real" life, a year and a half for me has meant watching a newborn grow into a toddler, introducing messy pureed foods to a six month old, and having another baby! Whew!! Life gets faster and faster...

I wouldn't exchange it for anything, though!

Well here are some of the new things I am seeing from Ava this month:

• New words: peas, night-night, and dog.
• She is still in size 5 diapers and size 5 shoe. Her clothes are 18 months. She can wear some 24 month clothes, but they are a tad to big. I can make them work by putting a cardigan over the top.
• Incisors are just under the gums. I could feel swelling last month, but this month I see redness and white ridges just under the gums. Ava also has the runny nose to prove that she is teething. She gets a runny nose every single time she gets a new tooth in.
• Her snack of choice is "shish" (goldfish) :)
• She can tell you that a cat says, "meow," a frog says, "BET" (ribbit), and a dog says, "wuf." The funniest thing is that she used to say that a dog said, "DAWG!" I would laugh really hard when she said that. She is so funny! We are currently working on the cow. Ava's See 'N Say has really come in handy.
• For whatever reason, Ava has started walking on her tipee-toes. :) It is pretty cute!
• I didn't think it was possible for Ava to sleep any better than she already did, but she has started sleeping 13-14 hours on most nights. If I put her to bed at 7:30, she will wake up at 9:30. It has been such a tremendous help to me the past few weeks so that I could get the extra rest I need. Her naps are still 2-3 hours in the afternoon.
• Ava's favorite meal is fish sticks and ketchup! Jeremy and I introduced ketchup a few weeks ago. She loves it!! Since it is so sugary, I try to limit this meal to once a week. It doesn't matter though, because I catch Jeremy feeding her cookies all the time!!
• The only vegetables that Ava will consistently eat is green beans and sweet peas. Sometimes I can get her to eat sweet potatoes and mashed potatoes. Carrots are met with a firm "no." She will not eat them! :)
• Before Greta's birth, Ava carried around two little newborn baby dolls that I nicknamed, "the twins." She was always so proud to show them off to everyone who came for a visit. Since Greta's birth, the twins have not made an appearance. I think it is probably because Ava has the real thing :)
• Ava's answer for almost every question is, "I see." She will hold out her arms and make a confused face. It makes no sense, but it is the funniest thing ever!!!

I know I have forgotten a few things, but I have been pretty busy this month!! If I think of anything new, I will make a new post :)

Glitter & Cinnamon Part II: Greta's Birth Story!

If you read my blog, then you probably know that Ava's birth story was titled "Glitter & Cinnamon." In her birth story, I explained that the epidural made my blood feel like the glitter in a kaleidoscope that oozes through the oil and water mixture. It made me feel warm all over like when I eat cinnamon toast. Well, I am here to tell you that Greta's birth story is not much different!! When I explained this to my nurse and anesthesiologist, they both looked at me like I was nuts! The anesthesiologist said, "Wow! You were really trippin'" :)

I checked into the hospital at about 6:15, Thursday, May 31st. I was shown to room WP 11 (the same room that Ava was delivered in) It took forever to get my IV fluids hooked up. I was pricked with a needle 5 times (and had my veins blown all 5 times) before a nurse anesthetist came in to numb me. She was able to get my IV in my left hand. Getting the IV was the most painful part of my experience. 

Shortly after that, the nurse left the room and Jeremy gave me my push presents. The first gift was a beautiful birth certificate holder with Greta's full name engraved on it. Ava has one identical to it that Jeremy gave me the night before she was born. The second gift was a book by David McPhail, "Sisters." It is a book that I am familiar with because I gave a copy of it to my own sister when she was 16. The book that Jeremy gave me will be Greta's copy. A friend also gave me the same book as a shower gift. That copy will belong to Ava.  My last gift was the most special of all because it was a Willow Tree piece. It is a figurine of two girls, presumably sisters, sitting on a log talking to one another. The thing that is so neat is that one sister has dark hair and the other sister has blonde hair. That was our prediction about Ava and Greta. We guessed that one would be dark haired and one would be blonde haired. So far, we are right on!! This Willow Tree piece now sits on my nightstand along with the Willow Tree piece that Jeremy gave me as a push present for Ava.

When I was hooked up to the Pitocin, it only took about 30 minutes before I could start feeling contractions. I had already contracted on my own a few times that morning before I was hooked up to the medicine. About an hour later, my doctor came in to check me. I was dilated to 4.5 cm!! She went ahead and broke my water (not painful at all) and told me to get my epidural whenever I wanted it. I was not having painful contractions, but decided to go ahead and get it. Dr. Verzino (the same anesthesiologist who did my epidural with Ava) came in and gave me my epidural. It was also not painful at all! My epidural was not as strong this time. I could still feel my legs and move my toes, but I could no longer feel my contractions. I loved every minute of labor and delivery!

To pass the time, Jeremy made a slideshow on his laptop of my delivery with Ava and another one of our Disney World trips. It was so neat to look back at pictures of Ava's delivery and compare the two! Except for just a few minor things, my labor and delivery experience with Greta was nearly identical to that of Ava. When that slideshow was over we watched all of our pictures of our first Disney trip. I took over two thousand pictures, so it was quite lengthy! I do think we may have talked our nurse into going to Disney World :) 

I continued to progress quickly. My nurse left to go on a lunch break while another nurse came in to relieve her. Something happened while my nurse, Joann (LOVED HER!) was on break. Greta's vitals went all over the place. It was so bad that my nurse came off her lunch break after only 20 minutes. She told the other nurse to leave!! Yikes!! I ended up wearing an oxygen mask for the duration of my labor. The doctor came in to monitor me and was silent for several minutes. I was scared for a few minutes, but remembered that this same thing happened during Ava's delivery. Greta finally stabilized and labor continued.

At about 1:30, I felt a tremendous pressure. When the nurse checked me, I was at 8 cm! She had me push a couple of times to see if I would get to 10 quicker. I didn't so we continued to wait. 15 minutes later I felt pressure again. I was at 9 cm! Joann called the doctor in and we prepared for delivery. While we waited for Dr. Emig to show up, I pushed 4 times with Joann and Jeremy. Dr. Emig showed up and got all her scrubs on. She stood at the foot of my bed and told me to push. When I did, Greta's head came out. Dr. Emig suctioned Greta's nose and mouth and told me to push one more time. When I did, the rest of Greta's body came out. It is weird to say, but I actually felt Greta's body leaving mine! I did not feel that sensation when I had Ava. It was really neat!

When we saw Greta, we laughed! She looked just like Ava but with less hair!! I just kept saying, "She's so tiny!" One of the nurses took Greta away to clean her up. Jeremy rushed to her side to take pictures while I got stitched up (I had a 2nd degree tear with a partial 3rd) I turned my head to look at Greta while I was laying in bed. Jeremy took pictures and I quietly cried. I was so grateful to have our 2nd precious gift from God.

Greta's APGAR scores were 8 and then 10. Greta was born at 2:19 pm. She weighed 7 lbs. and was 18 inches long. She immediately looked like Ava, but I noticed right away that she favors Jeremy more in her eyes and forehead. Jeremy was able to give her the first bath while a nurse watched. He was also able to read to Greta a story from the Bible. We wanted the first story our children heard to be the birth of Jesus. We read it to Ava shortly after birth, and so we continued the tradition by reading it to Greta as well. 

She is so beautiful!! We are so happy to have our little angel home!

Here are some photos of our experience: