Raising Nelsons

Water Breaks

My water broke at 41 weeks pregnant at 11 pm it was the night before I was scheduled to be induced. I thought it would take a while for contractions to come and we could relax at home before going to the hospital. Oh was I wrong, my contractions were a minute and half apart and very strong right after my water broke, so we left for the hospital. When we got there the anesthesiologist on call was asleep so I had to wait two hours for the epidural, which seemed longer with the contractions. Once I was given the epidural I was able to relax and let labor progress. Tyler and I thought it would be all night before I would be ready to push so he went to sleep. The delivery nurse and I were surprised that two hours after I had gotten the epidural I was ready to push. Tyler is a very heavy sleeper so the nurse had to shake him and let him know it was time to start pushing. He woke up confused and had no idea it was time to deliver our daughter.

Avery is here!

After two hours of pushing Avery Grace Nelson entered the world on October 4th, 2013 at 6:20 am. She weighed 8 pounds 6 oz and was 21.25 inches long. She had blue eyes and light hair. Right away I thought she looked like the Nelson side of the family with a few Burns aspects. The moment she was placed on my chest and we could see her little face we both started crying. People always tell you that when you meet your child for the first time it is overwhelming, but the experience was so much better than imagined. We spent the next hour or so just the three of us along with all the nurses weighing and bathing her. She is the first grandchild on both sides so everyone was outside in the waiting room anxious to see her. We spent that day staring at her and visiting with family. Right away Avery found her thumb and started sucking on it and had very busy hands and feet, she also had a pretty strong neck for a new-born.

What Pneumonia?

The night of her delivery, which was a Friday, I started getting uncontrollable shakes followed by high fevers. The nurses thought it was from labor and thought it would go away. Then I kept getting fevers and shakes so they thought it was a uterine infection and gave me antibiotics to treat that. My fevers and shakes kept coming back and by Monday morning I was having trouble breathing. I had come down with a serious case of pneumonia and was rushed to the ICU to be treated. Avery was discharged and sent home with Tyler and our parents. It was horrible to be separated from our new baby girl, but I knew she was in good hands and concentrated on getting better. That Monday my oxygen levels were so low they thought they were going to have to put me on a ventilator and put me under for a few days until my oxygen levels returned. When the doctor was talking about putting me under and on a ventilator it was the scariest moment of my life. Luckily I was able to improve on a cpap breathing machine instead. I spent four days in the ICU and then went back up with the labor and delivery floor so Avery could come and visit. I was finally able to go home the following Saturday after what seemed like a lifetime in the hospital. We are so blessed to have family and friends that helped us through my hospital stay and recovery plus adjusting to having a new baby.

Milestones: She now weighs 9 pounds 14 oz. I think she is starting to get a little chubby which i love!

Sleeping/ Eating: She goes to bed around 12 am and then wakes up once at either 3 am or 5 am and then sleeps til 7 am. She will then go back to bed until 10 am so if i need extra sleep I snooze with her. Then she has two good naps during the day. She is eating every three hours a combination of breast milk and formula. I went to the lactation consultant this week and my milk supply doubled since last time. It still isn’t enough to fill my little chunky baby up, but it was nice to know my efforts are improving what I can give her. The pneumonia and antibiotics have made breastfeeding difficult.

Clothing: She is definitely out of her newborn clothes, they are way too short on her. The first little outfit I bought her when I found out I was pregnant no longer fits her, which is a little sad. She is also moved out of newborn diapers into the size one.

Avery’s Favorites: She loves her little bouncer chair. She will sit in it and kick her legs, smile, and coo. Before this chair she wasn’t really letting me put her down that much during the day. It is nice to have a few minutes to eat my lunch and clean her bottles.

Things I want to remember: This week she started cooing and being able to look into your eyes for short periods of time. She is smiling consistently in reaction to faces and noises you make at her. Avery is such a joy to be around and such an easy baby. I don’t have a comparison, but I think we are pretty lucky. She has also noticed our dog cowboy a little bit when he makes noises. It is easier to get out for walks and errands now since she has a semi schedule.

What we did this week: We had such a special weekend with my dear friends from high school who flew up her to meet her. You know you are true friends when you only see each other once or twice a year and it feels like no time has passed. It was so fun to share Avery with them and it was so nice to have all the extra help around. We made freezer meals, went shopping, went to a very girly movie, and took a gorgeous fall walk to Starbucks. I wish we could all live closer, but since we don’t our visits together are very special. We also did our weekly FaceTime with my family and her Nana and Papa came up separately to see her and her auntie Megan.