Holidays and 28 Weeks

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year everyone! In the last several weeks we have been painting our new place, packing up for our extended time away, and traveling down to GA. We have had a great past few days with family celebrating the birth of our Savior. Baby Avery even got a few presents under the tree. :)

Baby is moving a lot lately which is a great sign. Today in church I think she was doing gymnastics in the womb.

Another update: After "failing" the first gestational diabetes test (eating a large bowl of oatmeal beforehand was not a good choice), I passed the 3 hour one with flying colors. So that means that I don't have gestational diabetes and I need to continue to eat healthy foods.

Here is a 28 week belly pic, and some others from the past month:

New doctor, Bradley classes, and a fun weekend

After a couple weeks of living in Normal, it feels like home. I have already had a couple appointments with my new doctor, Dr. Nord, who I like but haven't had much interaction with so far. My next appointment is Feb 9th since we will be going to Florida for January.

Pete and I have been able to meet privately with our Bradley instructor, Anna, three times so far. Each time we've fit in more than one session. She is trying to get us "caught up" (in advance) so we can practice exercises in Florida and then come back and join in with a class of other couples giving birth in March. We've really enjoyed the material so far and have been refreshed at being able to focus on the pregnancy and birth.

This past weekend we were blessed to be able to attend a wedding of some of our best friends, Jon and Siobhan Syu. The whole weekend was really fun and special. The wedding was in New York and Pete and I drove with our friends Matt and Leslie Sfura. For a pregnant woman, I think I did pretty well on our 18-hour car ride back to Normal on Sunday. :)

We both had the privilege of standing up in Jon and Siobhan's wedding.

25 weeks

Pete and I are looking forward to our first Bradley class tomorrow evening!

Normal

Well, Pete and I are officially moved in to our new home in Normal, IL. We are in the middle of unpacking and organizing, meeting neighbors, and getting to know the area. So far we really enjoy this town. Pete also finds great pleasure in making jokes about the name.

I just made an appointment with our new doctor for next week. Our baby has grown a lot in the past couple of weeks. She is about 9 inches long and over a pound and a half!

It has been fun moving in to our new place because both of us are thinking about how soon we will have another person here. Soon we will start decorating and setting up the baby's room. :)

Everybody has been asking me how I'm feeling physically considering the move and everything: I feel very well. Despite some sore and swelling feet and a slightly achy back in the midst of those hectic few days, I really don't have much to complain about. We are SO thankful to the many people who came to help us move (both in Evanston and Normal)!!! It made it so much easier for us. We have been able to rest and settle in to our new place over the past couple of days.

Baby Shower in Evanston

This past Sunday some good friends hosted a baby shower here in Evanston. It was such a fun surprise that not only Pete's mom, aunt, and sisters could come, but my mom as well! I really enjoyed seeing everyone and felt so encouraged by people's words and prayers. Here are some photos:

First, Here is a picture of me and Pete before the shower.

Here I am with two of the hostesses, Alicia and Keyna, who are both Crusade staff wives with me. The shower was held in Alicia's home.

Me with my good friends Sarah and Siobhan.


Pete's mom, my mom, Aunt Teresa, me, and Pete's sisters Margaret and Elizabeth. Somehow we all managed to wear blue.

Here I am opening the gift from Pete's family: A laundry basket full of "laundry"! All the clothes were pinned to the laundry line- it was very cute. :)

Thank you to all those who came to the shower, gave gifts, gave advice, and prayed for me! It was so special and fun for me to be able to spend time with good friends and family.

Busy Times

Hi Everyone! So sorry we've been slacking on keeping this updated lately. We have been experiencing one of the busiest (but exciting!) times of the quarter. Last weekend was our Fall Retreat which was a huge success. These past three days the staff has had to attend an event called Cross '09 where we have been engaging in different cultures- Pete and I got to do some really neat things in Chinatown and IIT university with Chinese people and students. So with preparing for fall retreat, going on retreat, and then putting in a few 12 hour days with Cross '09, we are, needless to say, a bit tired. :)

I had my monthly prenatal appointment this morning. Sadly, it was our last one with Dr. Herndon. We are moving in about 2 weeks (the weekend after Thanksgiving) so we are in the process of finding a new doctor in Bloomington-Normal.

Latest pregnancy updates:

• I've been feeling the baby kick a lot lately! It feels more like little flutters most of the time, but sometimes there's a more forceful one, which Pete has also had the chance to feel.
• One not-so-great thing is leg cramping that wakes me up in the middle of the night (nobody knows why, but it is common in pregnant women).

Here's a picture of my belly growth at 22 weeks:


And here's a picture of me and Pete at Fall Retreat with most of the Loyola group that went. Pete is in the very back and I'm on the very right hand side.

20 weeks + Halloween Fun

Michaela at 20 weeks:

Michaela dressed as a cowgirl:

Pete dressed as Buddy Holly:

We had fun this weekend catching up with friends at various Halloween gatherings after such a busy fall so far. This was one of the only free weekends we have before we move at the end of the month to Bloomington-Normal. Next weekend is our fall retreat- we have over 100 students signed up to go!

Our baby girl is around 11 or 12 oz right now which is apparently pretty big. In fact, the ultrasound technician moved our due date up a few days to March 17th.

Some other good news is that we think we've found a new doctor and a Bradley instructor in Bloomington-Normal!

I'm becoming outnumbered very soon...

I too am excited about our little girl :). Here are some of the photos from the ultrasound today. I'm a little slicker with operating our scanner, so I figured I should go ahead and take care of this.



This one shows the heartbeat down at the bottom. That was fun to hear again. And then this one below here shows one of her hands, probably trying to push the ultrasound detector off of her. You apparently have to push pretty hard, and you could tell the baby wasn't ecstatic about it :).




And lastly, my favorite picture was this one of her face side profile close up, on the left side of the picture there. I think she's cute :). We can't wait to meet her!




That said, man I really hope that ultrasound lady is right. She said she was 90% sure it's a girl, but man, 10% wrong is pretty high. We'll choose to trust her for now though - I'm sure she knows what she's doing.

And the gender is...

We just had our 20 week ultrasound appointment which was pretty amazing. The technician said she is 90% sure its a girl considering we looked around for twenty minutes and couldn't find any male parts. :)

We got to see all sorts of things including her spine, fingers, face, nose, lips, kidneys, and heart chambers! According to the tech, everything looks fine and normal. She said the baby looks like she's about 11 ounces, and my due date might be a few days earlier then March 20th.

We will upload some of the pictures soon!

19 Weeks

Here's a picture of me at 19 weeks:

I don't see much of a difference between this on and the last one, but I definitely feel bigger. Lately my hands and feet have been swelling too.

We're excited for a couple different things this week:

1) Tomorrow I'm making a trip to Babies R Us with some of the other staff wives who are moms so scope out what we really need to register for. Later, Pete and I will go back to register together on our date night. :)

2) Our 20 week ultrasound is Wednesday morning! We're looking forward to getting a peek at how God has been forming our little one, and of course, excited to find out if the baby is a boy or a girl!

I'll make sure to update after our appointment on Wednesday!

Starting Our Week

Pete and I both had a relaxing day today. Mine was filled partly with much needed planning time for my week, and we both topped off the night with our student Bible studies that we lead. Here is a common Sunday afternoon activity for soon-to-be Daddy:


He's excited to play songs for our little one and teach him or her all about classic rock. :)

Both of us are feeling much better compared to a week ago, but we still have lingering coughs. Our hope and prayer is to get plenty of rest tonight and have a productive week on campus, relying on the Lord for our strength and effectiveness.

We are excited for a trip to Normal, IL scheduled for this Friday to visit our friends the Sfuras and look at an apartment we think we want. We also get to visit Pete's sister Elizabeth who attends Illinois Wesleyan.

Almost 18 weeks: Picture and Update

We just got back a few hours ago from this months prenatal appointment on this chilly October day. Dr. Herndon gave me some advice for getting over my cold completely in the next few days, and told me when to get the flu shots. She said the baby looks like its grown a lot in the last few weeks and sounds healthy.

Fun News: Our 2nd ultrasound is scheduled for Wednesday morning October 28th! This is when we'll find out the gender. We're really looking forward to that- especially since you all can't seem to come to a conclusion on whether you think its a boy or a girl. :)

Sad News: I got Pete sick. Who didn't expect that though? So he stayed home with me today and then drove me to my appointment.

Here's a picture of Pete taken last week. I made a yummy homemade carrot cake. He iced it and made the decoration, which he was very proud of.

Update on My Immune System

I am sick with either a bad cold or some kind of virus, but thankfully it is not the flu. I've pretty much been in bed sleeping for the past two days and Pete has been wonderful about taking care of me. Although I've had a slight fever and nausea (I think its just pregnancy related or induced), I've been progressing through the sickness just like a typical cold virus. The only bummer thing is not being able to take any medicine for relief or to help my immune system. I have however, at the prompting of Pete's mom, been drinking lots of fluids, and getting lots of rest. :)

I learned the other day that a pregnant woman's immune system is not as strong as normal because you're body needs to not fight off the baby (a foreign object). I thought that was interesting.

Well, as soon as I get better from this cold I'll get the flu shots. I'll also post a new picture soon along with an update on our appointment on Tuesday.

Something to pray for

I'm staying home from campus tonight (even though its our weekly meeting!) which makes me sad, because I'm feeling a little under the weather and frankly kind of exhausted. I don't think I have the flu, but I do work with college students and a lot of students have it now- its going around. Apparently pregnant women are much more susceptible to getting the flu, and the risks are higher after you get it. Im going to make an appointment to get both flu shots (regular and H1N1) very soon, at the recommendation of my doctor, parents, and in-laws. :) The prayer request would be that I would get a great night sleep tonight and feel better tomorrow morning- pray that I'm not in the beginning stages of the flu now... we have a pretty packed weekend of ministry that I was looking forward to taking part in.

Its official

We are moving to Normal, IL in December! Yesterday we signed a piece of paper to end our lease in Evanston at the end of November. As our new assignment with Campus Crusade for Christ is Illinois State and the surrounding universities, we thought it would be wise to go ahead and move before our new staff training (5 weeks in January) and before Im too pregnant to travel. That leaves December as the optimal time.

So we will finish our time here at Northwestern and Loyola, pack up in late November, and move. First we need to find an apartment and sign a lease in Normal. We have our eye on several nice apartments, all of which are way cheaper and better than ours here in Chicago, yet another motivation for leaving soon. :)

Im not looking forward to saying bye to people here yet though...

Our new apartment will obviously have a room for the baby and a little more room in general, which we are looking forward to. Also things like a washer and dryer, a garbage disposal, a dishwasher, and a parking space- all things we've done without for the past year!

16 weeks

I'm pretty sure there were moments this past week when I could actually feel my belly getting bigger. Other than that, some of my pregnancy symptoms include a stuffy nose and the occasional headache.

October has begun here in Evanston and has brought the cold with it. Most of the time I rush through my day meeting with and talking to students, forgetting that I have a baby growing inside me. Pretty soon there will be no mistaking that I'm pregnant- up until now I've been pretty good at disguising it while I'm walking around the dorms. :)

Lately I've enjoyed talking about birthing methods with some of my freinds and family, and reading up on them.

Michaela a little over 15 weeks

Hey everyone- here's a picture of me at 15 weeks. Today is the first day we've been able to take a breather and think about other things besides ministry. Its been an incredibly busy but good week at Northwestern and Loyola. I am thankful for the extra energy the second trimester has brought me!

In baby news, I actually had a dream last night that we had a girl. So I don't really know what that means. We've both had the feeling that baby is a boy... only 5 more weeks until we find out! Let us know what you think by voting in our poll on the right. :)

Books

In the midst of our crazy schedule this week, we managed to obtain several books which we are excited to start reading soon. On the recommendation of wonderful family and friends, here are some that we are currently reading (or will start soon) to prepare us for pregnancy, childbirth, and parenting:

• "What to Expect When You're Expecting" by Murkoff and Mazel - this is a classic pregnancy book that I've enjoyed because it takes me through each month and then breaks it down into weeks... it has a lot of information in it about everything that could possibly happen, so its good that Im not prone to worry about stuff like that.
• "Husband Coached Childbirth" by Bradley - even reading just the first few pages, I think this is a book that we will really enjoy.
  
• "On Becoming Baby Wise" by Ezzo and Buchnam - I haven't started this one, but Pete has and he seems to be enjoying it so far.

We have several other books that people have loaned us that we've been using- many thanks to those that have let us borrow their material. We welcome any other suggestions!

Week 15 baby growth update: Baby Avery is 4 1/2 inches long, 2 or 3 ounces, and about the size of a naval orange. Apparently he or she is moving a lot this week even though I can't feel it yet.

14 week appointment

This afternoon I had my second official prenatal appointment. It was pretty short. I found out my blood type is A+ and that everything looks real good on my labs and tests. Dr. Herndon told me that I'm growing at a good rate and that the baby's heartbeat sounds strong, steady, and healthy.

Tonight Pete and I start our whirlwind of New Student Week at NU!!

Week 14 Picture

Here I am towards the beginning of week 14. I feel pretty good, although I am definitely more emotional than usual lately. We're gearing up for some traveling starting tomorrow to St. Louis for Pete's Grandfather's funeral, and then coming back to Evanston for NU New Student Week starting Tuesday!

Fall Quarter! And some sad news as well...

On Tuesday, Pete and I attended our first staff get-together for the year. This week marks the start of our fall staff planning, followed by the chaos of New Student Week starting next Tuesday. It is a very exciting and busy time as God does amazing things on campus!

As baby gets bigger, my body is sometimes achy and I feel awkward a lot. I'm definitely in that weird phase where I won't look pregnant to someone who doesn't know I'm pregnant. But to someone who knows, you can see a definite pooch. :) Hopefully I will start to show a little more before ministry starts up in full swing. Baby is the size of a peach this week.

Its been a fun week so far with our staff team, although not without some sad news. On Sunday, Pete's grandfather died at age 84. We're really sad to lose him, but we believe he is with the Lord. His funeral is next Monday. Our little one will have to meet his or her great-grandfather in Heaven. We're looking forward to seeing Pete's family this weekend.

The Theme of the First Trimester: Fatigue

I took this photo this morning, right after Michaela finished spending some time with the Lord. Michaela has been exhausted most of the day for the last several weeks. She's done a lot of reading, watched the 5 hour A&E Pride and Prejudice not once, but twice in the last two weeks, and still managed to get a lot of work done in the meantime. She's managed to be a great wife and a great friend in spite of her tiredness. Also, I'm pretty sure our apartment is cleaner than it's been in a long time. And that not because of me. We'll see if the rumors are true that an energy boost will hit her in the next two weeks :).

The Avery Family at 12 Weeks

Pete, Michaela, and Baby Avery!

To answer a popular question again, we do not know if the baby is a boy or a girl yet. He or she is way to small to tell. We will find that out in about 8 weeks.

First Ultrasound Pictures!

Here are a couple of the ultrasound pictures they gave us at the doctor's office this morning! Currently the baby is breech (which she said doesn't mean anything right now since the baby is constantly moving) and measures 2 inches long. If you look closely you can see the outline of the baby's face on the top right. The head is on the right and the rump is on the left, and he or she is facing up. The doctor told us the placenta is forming on the bottom, near my back.

In the first picture, the heart beat is visible on the bottom. Today we got to hear the heartbeat, and see the baby's heart pumping on the ultrasound monitor. It was pretty fun. :)

We praise God for our healthy baby!

Soooo big

Can you believe it? The baby is the size of a large plum now according to my "What to Expect When Your Expecting" book! That sounds huge to me, especially because you can't even tell there's anything in there yet.

This week, we are looking forward to our first ultrasound. We will update on Wednesday, right after the appointment (hopefully with a picture!)

Why we think this baby is coming at the perfect time

Well, obviously the number one reason is because God ordained this baby to be conceived and born in His perfect timing. He is sovereign. He knows best. He opens and closes the womb. Even if we didn't understand, we would still trust in His timing for our lives.

As we tell people the news, we have frequently been mentioning how perfect the timing is considering our plans for this next year, God-willing.

Here are some of our reasons and ways we see God's perfect timing:

1. Thankfully, during the first 3 months, characterized by much fatigue and some morning sickness, we have been able to relax, rest, and take it easy. We have been so blessed to be on some vacations with both of our families during these times (who have been so accommodating!) and able to enjoy each other and relax with very little stress/busyness. This comes right after our time in Ocean City which was far from "taking it easy." :)
2. Apparently, around 13 to 14 weeks, most pregnant women experience a boost of energy that lasts throughout the 2nd Trimester, which happens to be our entire fall quarter at Northwestern. I couldn't of asked for a better time to be able to do ministry, and finish well at this place we have loved being at for so long.
3. In the winter, comes a wedding that we're both in, the holidays, and then New Staff Training. Our doctor already okay-ed us to be traveling in January for the training, assuming there will be no problems with the pregnancy.
4. After the training, our full-time job (for at least 6 months) is to raise our full financial support for full time staff. This is a GREAT time to have some time off for the birth and be able to adjust to our new life as a family of three.

On a fun note, The picture above is of our first baby toy! It is a little soft blanket with a frog head that says "I love hugs," given to us by my mom on my birthday. :)

Michaela at (almost) 11 weeks

Here is my first belly picture. You can think of it as a "before" picture because I'm not yet "showing." However, most of my clothes I wore earlier this summer do not fit me anymore and I feel bigger. Thank you to all those who have loaned me maternity clothes! I'm just starting to wear some for comfort's sake. :)

The Second Most-Asked Question:

Q: How are you feeling?

A: Surprisingly well! I have been very tired (feel like I could go to bed at 9, wake up at 10...) and sometimes queasy. I haven't thrown up in several weeks (week 6 and week 8 were marked by some of that.) Sometimes I get crampy, and I generally have most of the other pregnancy symptons you hear about to a small degree. Thankfully, Pete says I haven't been too moody. :)

On another note, we have been pretty amazed at what's going on inside my body. Check out these cool facts:

• Even though I'm not showing yet, the baby is 2 inches long already!
• Even though the baby is only 2 inches long, he or she already has a nose, lips, eyes, hair follicles, nail beds, tiny fingers and toes, kidneys, bones, a growing brain, muscles, gums, a tongue, and much more.
• His or her heart started beating 6 weeks ago!

We're pretty in awe of God and how He creates. I've never felt Psalm 139 be so real before now when it talks about how God knits us together in our mother's wombs.


At the request of several people so far, I'll start posting "belly pictures" soon.

Fun Due Date

At our appointment, Dr. Herndon told us our due date is March 20th, which is my (Michaela) brother Aaron's birthday! Even if we're early or late we could have the baby on any number of my cousins birthdays which are numerous during that month.

Speaking of our doctor, we really like her. She is a Christian, recommended to me by some other staff wives and is familiar with Campus Crusade. She made us feel very comfortable and at ease.

10 Weeks!

We just had our first prenatal appointment Tuesday morning, and everything seems to be going well. We were given a [verbal] "gold star" by our nurse as she interviewed us on our genetic histories. Apparently we have good genes.

So far our most common question has concerned gender. No, we don't know the baby's gender yet. That's still about another 10 weeks from now before they can tell that from an ultrasound. Sad face. We're both ok either way though, although I think Pete would prefer a boy...