Two and a half weeks old

Adam is doing very well. At his two week appointment he weighed 7 pounds 7 ounces, gaining almost a pound after losing some weight after birth! He also grew two inches. In addition to eating well, he slept a couple of (almost) 4 hour stretches last night which gave me a chance to catch up on some sleep.

We had the pleasure of having my cousin, parents, and one brother, as well as almost all of Pete's family come to stay or visit during the first two weeks. It was so fun to have all of them, not to mention a huge help. :)

But now that they're all gone, we are getting used to just the four of us. Pete, Lucy, and I are all enjoying our new addition.

Labor Story and 5 days old Update

With my water breaking at 5:30 AM on Friday, I assumed we would have the baby by 1 or 2 in the afternoon, this being my second pregnancy and all. I even thought we might have him sometime that morning! Not so.

After getting some things together, doing last minute chores, and figuring out a plan for Lucy, we left to drop her off at a friends house, stopped by Panera to get some breakfast for Pete (he forgot to eat before we left haha) and headed to the hospital. We probably checked in to the hospital around 9 am and I had been contracting every 6 or 7 minutes all morning.

When they checked me I was only dilated to 4 centimeters, but was determined not to be upset, thinking it would quickly move a long soon enough. The nurse suggested we do some walking to speed things up... we probably walked for 45 minutes off and on over the next couple hours, and watched a few episodes of the Cosby Show on netflix in between.

The next 9 hours went by extremely slow. We used the birthing ball which I liked a lot. Mostly what I remember is that every time the nurse checked me, she would say, "okay, you're only at about a 4 to 5 still, so definitely don't push." An hour later: "okay still only about a 5, don't push." This pattern continued for awhile. It seemed like I was in transition forever stuck at 7 centimeters. I kept on thinking, maybe if I try to push a little it'll feel better and move things along. (That was the case with Lucy when I wasn't sure I should be pushing yet and I was at 10 already.)

They started me on antibiotics at 5:15 because it had been so long since my water broke. When they told me that morning I would need to go on them if I hadn't had the baby by 5, I dismissed the possibility thinking that I would definitely have a baby in my arms by then!

The hours dragged on and on. After I "cried wolf" about 4 times telling the nurse to come a check me because I thought I might need to push, it was about 8:30 pm and I was still at 7. Not happy. My contractions were excruciating and I was extremely disheartened because labor had already been longer than with Lucy and I had no idea when it would end.

Pete was an excellent coach during the whole ordeal by the way, constantly reassuring me and encouraging me. I couldn't have done it without him.

At about 8:50 I had a contraction where I could not help pushing. I told Pete and he called the nurse. As she came in, I had a huge contraction where I'm pretty sure Adam almost came out. The next 5 minutes were chaotic as my body decided to push him out quite violently. I feel like I just pushed for several minutes while nurses yelled at me to stop pushing, called for Dr. Nord. The doctor came just in time, even though they told me I'd probably have the baby without him because baby was coming so fast. He arrived in time to join in the party of people yelling at me to stop pushing so fast and breath. At 9 pm sharp, Adam was born.

The cord was wrapped around his neck a couple times so he was slightly blue and needed some oxygen. He was fine after a few minutes and scored an 8 (I think) on the apgar test. He was 6 pounds 11 ounces and measured 18.5 inches long.

Because pushing was so fast and furious, I had a second degree tear and the doctor took awhile to stitch me up. Adam had a little bit of bruising on his head but I couldn't notice it the day after.

Despite a long labor (or at least way longer than I expected), and a chaotic delivery, my recovery has been really good. I needed almost no pain medication afterwards and was able to walk out of the hospital when we left Sunday afternoon. Its only 5 days after birth and I don't feel sore at all.

Adam is a dream. He is eating really well and sleeping wonderfully. He weighed 6 pounds 8 ounce at his doctor's appointment yesterday, and didn't cry at all last night except for when he was hungry. I'm pretty sure I got more than 6 hours of sleep combined!

Lucy is also doing well. She loves her baby brother, says "hi" to him and gives him kisses often.

I should mention too that we were very blessed to have Pete's parents come in on Friday night to help us take care of Lucy and adjust these first few days. We are so thankful for them and thankful that God decided to bring Adam in on a weekend to they could come.

Adam Joshua

Our son was born tonight at 9:00 pm sharp, after a loooooong day of labor (began around 5:30 am). This is great timing though - we have a weekend to recover and family is able to visit to help keep Lucy entertained. We're grateful everything went smoothly. Thanks for your prayers!

At the hospital!

We left around 8 am this morning for the hospital after labor started. It appears we'll have the baby some time today! Keep us in prayer!

Sleeeep

We are happy to say we all slept pretty well last night. Just thought you'd want to know after the last post. :)

39 Weeks

One more week until due date! My doctor's appointment yesterday revealed that I'm still 1 centimeter but a little bit more effaced, and the baby has dropped a little more.

Everybody keeps asking me how I'm feeling... Well, I haven't been sleeping well at all. :( So, physically I really don't feel that great. But emotionally I feel calm and ready. We're just praying we can both be rested for when God decides to bring Adam into the world.

Feeling Ready To Meet Baby Adam

It feels nice to have a couple of hours of quiet to myself this afternoon while Lucy naps and Pete is out. We had a great Thanksgiving with Pete's family this past week and now, more than ever, I finally feel ready to have this baby.

Pete's dad surprised us with bringing us some homemade furniture- well, the surprise was how quickly he made it, and how good it looks! So our house seems MUCH more put together and lived in now. Also over the week, Pete's family helped with little odds and ends such as getting our Christmas tree set up, switching out the crib with the toddler bed, putting shelves up, etc...

Lucy has done very well with sleeping in her big girl bed. :)

I'm thankful for a calm heart right now.

Due date is 9 days away. Hmmm, maybe I'll do a poll... ;)

Little Update

I went to the doctor yesterday. He said the baby's head is definitely down, I'm 1 centimeter dilated and 50% effaced. If that isn't enough to be thankful for, we are excited to host Pete's parents and siblings for Thanksgiving tomorrow!

We hope everyone has a Happy Thanksgiving!

A Few Pictures

Here are a few pictures of the nursery as we have it set up so far. (The toddler bed will be switched with Lucy's crib soon). The walls are a dusty blue and we're using green and brown too.

And of course Lucy wanted to get her picture taken. She's really in to saying "cheese" lately. :)

Adam Joshua Avery

"Adam" means "Man" or "Of the Earth."

"Joshua" means "The Lord Saves" or my personal favorite: "Yahweh is Salvation."

Both of us had always kind of liked the name Adam, but Pete came up with these two names together. In his words, Adam brought sin into the world, but God saves. So his full name means God saves sinful man.

"For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive." 1 Corinthians 15:22

Our prayer even now is that God would graciously save Adam from his sin and draw him into a relationship with Himself.

Updates... and Something Fun

Our morning started off a bit crazy with Lucy throwing up her breakfast and me trying to rush to a doctor's appointment.

Baby Boy is doing wonderfully. My appointment, which obviously I ended up going to by myself, went well. Doctor Nord has recently changed his policy on vaginal exams. He used to do them starting at 36 weeks, but changed it to starting at 38 weeks. So I have no idea about anything. I'm a little disappointed, but kind of thankful too since its good to not mess with anything too early. He didn't seem concerned with the cramping this weekend since everything else looks great.

The rest of the day went pretty well actually. Lucy seems to be doing not just okay, but very well. We both took extra long naps today (praise the Lord!) sleeping for a solid three and a half hours. I found time to fold the three loads of laundry I did yesterday and wash some dishes, and my wonderful husband did too many helpful things to count.

And now for something on a much lighter note: Pete and I have finally settled in on a name for our boy! Hands down, the most frequent question I get asked these days is "Have you picked out a name yet?" I never knew people cared that much, but apparently its a big deal. So here it is:

Adam Joshua Avery

We'll explain more of why we chose this name later, but for now, there you have it. :)

Another fun thing is that Pete and I bought a package of newborn diapers at the store when I all of a sudden had a moment of "oh no what if we have this baby and I don't have any diapers for him?" I opened them up and was absolutely shocked at how small they were! It just made it a little more real that we will soon have a little person around again.

Sunday Morning Thoughts

On Tuesday I will be 37 weeks (full term.) Last night I woke up in the middle of the night to two unsettling things: 1. Lucy coughing pretty badly, and 2. bad cramps. I was having a lot of trouble figuring out what was causing the cramping (something I ate maybe?) and if I should be concerned... for a few brief minutes I wondered if I might be going into labor. Eventually I settled back to sleep and it has gone away.

Needless to say, my own heart is quick to worry. I don't feel like I'm ready to have this baby and the list of things I could be or am anxious about seems to go on and on sometimes.

My prayer right now is that Pete and I would both trust God in all the details of our lives: When He chooses to bring the baby, allows physical pain, when Lucy is sick, when we are short on sleep... when my expectations are dashed.

I realized this week that I have a lot of expectations for what the next two months of our lives are going to look like. And, I have no guarantee that any of it will happen the way I think or hope. I am not in control.

Lucy and I are stuck at home this morning as our conditions prevented us from going to church. As we sit and play together in the living room, our entire house is creaking from the massive gusts of wind outside. I think about the God who created that wind. He is strong. He is mighty. He is loving.

"...do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:6-7

My next doctor's appointment is Tuesday. I'm really looking forward to it because they can tell me a lot more about how my body and the baby are prepping for labor. I'll try to remember to update soon afterwards. :)

35 weeks

There's really not much to update on (which explains the infrequent postings) since nothing is out of the ordinary. I feel like this baby could come any day even though I still have 5 more weeks left and I'm measuring just right. Being pregnant with your second child and having to run around after a 19-month-old is tiring to say the least.

We still have quite a bit to do to prepare for this baby boy. His room has nothing in it right now. We need a dresser and a shelf for Lucy's room so we can move her furniture to his room. I have to finish making curtains, and we still have some odds and ends to do around our house since we've only lived here for 6 weeks. Oh yeah, in case you didn't hear, we moved to a house in mid-September.

This has been a busy fall for us. I think that this pregnancy feels so different because we're just doing more: ministry, church stuff, taking care of Lucy... all things that we weren't doing last pregnancy due to our season of life. I'm also doing water aerobics. :D

He looks healthy!

Yep, we had our appointment this morning and were thrilled to find out that we're having a boy!! Everything looked good according to our doctor and it was again so amazing to get to see his limbs and spine and everything.

22 Weeks with Baby #2

Tomorrow we find out if Baby #2 is a boy or a girl! I can't believe I'm already over half way with this pregnancy. Thankfully it's been uneventful so far. I've been feeling movement a little bit, but mostly I've just been feeling hot. I liked being pregnant in the winter better.

Our family has had a ton going on this summer, and really for the past year and a half. We just got back from six weeks in CO for our summer assignment with Campus Crusade for Christ (now Cru!) and, although we had a great time there, we are glad to be home. We are looking forward to staying home and not traveling for awhile. I don't think we've spent more than one or two months at home without having to leave again for more than a month since December 2009 (staff training, support raising, and summer assignment...).

We are looking forward to this Fall! We're so excited to be doing ministry here in central IL with college students.

It is so fun to watch Lucy grow. The 16 monther toddles around everywhere and babbles endlessly. She brings us so much joy and we can't wait for our new little bundle in just a few short months!

We need to change the name of the blog...

...because it isn't just about Lucy anymore. Hopefully you have already heard that we're expecting #2 in early Dec. That puts me a little over 14 weeks. Everything has gone pretty well with the pregnancy so far.

Lucy is 14 months old and quite a handful. I cannot imagine having a little one in addition to chasing her around the house and endlessly saying "no touch." :) Its a good thing we have a few more months to prepare.

One of these days I will get around to posting some pictures.

1 year has passed too quickly

Lucy turns 1 year old tomorrow! We are excited to have a birthday party for her on Saturday and will post pictures soon.

In other news, we are back home in Normal and relishing every moment. Lucy seems to know this is home now and we are ALL benifiting from routine. :)

11 Months Old Tomorrow

Wow, we cannot believe so much time has passed. Lucy seems to us to be acting more like a toddler than a baby nowadays. She cruises along everything, army crawls, and loves walking with her dinosaur. She even attempts walking while holding just one of our hands sometimes.


This week she is getting four more teeth... yep, four. This has made for some interesting nights. None the less, she will soon have a whole mouthful of teeth which will be fun.


Lucy also loves experimenting with her voice. We love listening to her talk as though she is speaking in sentences. She learned some sign language a few weeks ago too. It is such a relief to see her trying to communicate with us, and actually knowing what she's trying to say! ("More please," "I want to read a book," "I'm hungry.")

Making different faces is also something Lucy loves to to do.


Family update: We are nearing the end of our support-raising time! We literally could be finished within a few days and finally go home to begin our ministry with college students.

Lucy's First Walking...sort of

Yesterday she started walking really well with this cruiser dinosaur whatnot. Today she was a pro.

Travel, Christmas, New Friends, and Still Not Crawling

This past month, our little family of three has endured much traveling. Our little Lucy, thankfully, does pretty well in the car. We first traveled back home to Illinois. Then on to St. Louis for Christmas. After Christmas we went to the Campus Crusade Christmas Conference, and then home again. A few days later, we started out for Georgia again, and this time, we stopped at a hotel halfway to break up the 12+ hour trip. Do you blame us? :) We have decided we are not leaving Georgia until our support raising is finished and we're praying that will be sometime in February.

Here is what Lucy does more than half the time we are on the road:

Lucy had a good time playing with her toys at home:

A Christmas picture:

Here she is making some new friends at Christmas Conference. Lucy loved the other babies. It was cute to see her interact with and "talk" with them.

Lucy had her 9 month check up earlier this month and weighed 17 pounds and was 26 and a half inches tall. Also, we went swimming for the first time with her at the hotel and she loved it. She still doesn't crawl but rolls everywhere and LOVES to walk with somebody holding her hands.