Picture of Avery

I recently came across this picture of Avery, right after she was born. They had cleaned her up and assessed her and taken her down to the NICU, where they hooked her up to a bunch of monitors and got an IV going (in her head). The IV was just precautionary in case an infection had caused my water to break early. It hadn't and when her blood cultures came back a day or two later normal, they were able to (painfully) remove the IV... well, the IV itself wasn't the painful part, it was the gobs of tape stuck to her hair. Also, she may look pretty chunky (which technically she was for a 6 week early preemie) but she wasn't. Once you could compare her to someone's hand, you could tell how little she really was. And she obviously was going to be a chunker, but the rolls on her skin you see were empty... it was weird. She was born right at the gestational age where fat starts to store up under the skin. Although the tight arm bracelet definitely makes her look chunky! :) I am so curious as to how Hadley will look - like Avery? Will she be chunky too? Or a peanut? Not too much longer! :)

Oh, and in case you never read it and are interested, here's the link to read about Avery's birth:
http://nothingtodobutwait.blogspot.com

ANYTHING!

I originally started this particular blog because pretty soon it won't be "nothing to do but wait" because the waiting will be over and Hadley will be born and I hope I never have to go back to waiting and dealing with losses and surgeries to have a baby (if I decide to have any more, that is). So, anyway, this blog was started to keep up on my girls (I seriously just love saying that). I've just been kinda catching everything up, but now it's time to blog about current things Avery's been doing... for instance her new favorite word: ANYTHING.

As in, the following conversation:

Mommy: "Avery, what would you like to wear today?"
Avery: "ANYTHING!"

Mommy: "Avery, what would you like to eat?"
Avery: "ANYTHING!"

Oh, I know you're reading this and thinking oh, how sweet is that little girl? And she's so compliant - and easy to please!

ERRRRRRRRR WRONG!!!!!

You see, she's almost 3, so she misses a lot of words from her sentences still. Like "I don't want to..."

So, the conversation really reads like this:

Mommy: "Avery, what would you like to wear today?"
Avery: "I don't want to wear ANYTHING!!!!" (Imagine almost-3-year-old attitude here.)

See? Not so sweet... and it gets rather frustrating. But I still ask everyday, letting her show her assertiveness. Unfortunately, this sometimes turns into a huge fit. Especially regarding clothes. She really doesn't want to wear anything, or she just wants to wear her pajamas all day and night. Luckily, my sister is currently watching her most days at our house, so we can leave the house without trying to get her dressed (she is not a morning person), but the days we do have to leave early, she throws huge fits over the clothes I pick out for her. I try to give her options. I try to let her choose out of her closet full of way too many clothes. Neither way works. Then, when I pick something out, she will scream and scream and scream.... which is not very great for my pregnant self here lately. I have no patience for it. And I end up arguing with her. Which doesn't really work with her age.

I didn't really want this post to be all negative about her recent diva-like behavior. As frustrating as it is, it's extremely exciting to see her personality shining through. I know she's just going through the "terrible two" phase or whatever. It's just a way for her to figure out her boundaries and become more independent (which is a little sad). Although the bad times can be a bit draining, the good times are oh-so-good. She is lovable and sweet and smart as a whip. She never lets us leave her without double kisses and double hugs. She is super sweet to us, telling us how much she loves us, how much she loves her sister, and everyone else in her life. As spoiled as she is, she's extremely sweet when she receives gifts or new presents (I hope she's always like this!). When we go shopping, she rarely asks for anything, and if she does, we remind her to add it to her birthday or Christmas list and she nods her head and puts the toy back. She's so much fun to go clothes shopping with because she has a serious opinion about clothes and she loves to look at everything, which can be tiring and entertaining at the same time. And I know her stubborn behavior will be useful in the future. I mean, I'm the same way and look how great I turned out. :) I know Andrew is praying that Hadley has his disposition more so than Avery does. It would be difficult living in a house with 3 Darreths. :)

Avery's Birthday

I cannot believe my little girl is turning 3 in one month... it is so crazy to think back on all that has happened the past 3 years! Here's a breakdown of our 3 years with Avery:

Preterm birth, 1 week NICU stay, first trip to Oklahoma City to meet new baby cousin Addy, butterfly for Halloween, first Thanksgiving, first visit to Santa/first Christmas, baby dedication at our church, baby dedication at Andrew's parents' church, Children's Hospital stay with helicopter ride to STL for the croup, mini-vacation to Chicago, FIRST birthday, Desiree and Joel's wedding (unofficial flower girl), OKC for Addy's first birthday, duck for Halloween, moving in with Grandma and Grandpa (awaiting our house to be finished), another Christmas!, flower girl in Donea and Kyle's wedding, trip to the Ozarks, SECOND birthday, first big vacation and trip to the beach to Myrtle Beach, bought our first home!, Addy's 2nd birthday, Foofa (Yo Gabba Gabba) for Halloween, new baby cousin Zoey is born, first Christmas in our new house, going to be a big sister to a little sister!, another Chicago trip, beginning to share a room...., waiting for baby....

Ahhh and pretty soon I get to add 3rd birthday and a brand-new BIG SISTER to the list. I cannot believe how big she is getting. And how amazing she is. This year, we're having her party about 20 days before her actual birthday, which is probably going to be confusing to her and she'll probably think she's 3 from her party on, but I just couldn't risk having Hadley early or being so tired I can't do anything the day of her party. We're having a Yo Gabba Gabba birthday bash, along with games, face painting and a guy to make balloon characters (thanks mom and dad!). Her party is in 2 short weeks and I still have tons to do, but everything always seems to come together and I'm trying not to stress out about it because we have such great family members that always help out so much! Can't wait for my baby to turn 3 and become a big sister! (Though I'm getting quite emotional thinking about how she won't be the only little princess around... but I'm so excited for our family!)

Scariest Day of My Life

So, since I'm trying to catch up the blog on Avery, so when Hadley gets here we can just move right along with this little blog here. And that means including some information about Avery that upsets me when I think back to it.

It's time to share with you all the scariest day of my life... sometimes when I think about this day and what went on, I get tears in my eyes. And I pray like a thousand thankful prayers for the good ending we had on this day (or these days, as it encompasses a few days).

Okay, so it was the week of Valentine's Day in 2009. I believe February 14th was on a Sunday that year, so that means our story begins on the 10th, the Wednesday before. Avery had a cold and a fever that started on Tuesday night. On Wednesday, her fever was still up and her symptoms were still there, so I left work early and took her to the doctor. My sister went with me and when we got there, we noticed she was having a bit of a croup-type cough, a little like a barking seal. My sisters and I had this type of cough a lot when we were little, so it wasn't anything new, but a little scary in an almost 8 month old. Her doctor was out, so we saw another doctor in the practice, and she told us to treat her symptoms and keep an eye on her. That night, we noticed her cough was getting a little worse and she was having some problems breathing. We tried to take her outside in the cold air, sit in the bathroom with the steam on, etc. but it didn't seem to get much better. I called the on call doctor and she said if we were too scared, we could take her to the ER, but most kids get the croup and you just have to manage my symptoms. Well, it came to a point that we weren't comfortable dealing with, so we went to the ER. The ER was NOT helpful. They gave her 2 breathing treatments while we were there and discharged us, pretty much saying that it was normal. That poor baby had trouble sleeping, as did I, all night long and it was pitiful to watch. The next morning, she wasn't getting better, so as soon as her doctor's office opened, I called them and her doctor was in and wanted to see her right away. My sister went with me again and when we got there they took us right back. Her doctor was quick and efficient, giving Avery a breathing treatment and a shot of steroids right away. She also said she wanted her evaluated in the ER again and we were to walk across the street to the ER- they would be waiting for us. She seemed rather concerned, which scared me quite a bit. Once we got to the ER, they had us come right back and from there it was as scary as could be. They did a chest xray, a few tests, and some more breathing treatments and steroids. Basically, at this point, Avery was concentrating so hard to breathe that she wasn't responding to us. The good news was her nails were still pink (it can be scary if they turn blue) and although her pulse ox was down, it wasn't incredibly low, but they were nervous that it wasn't getting any better. I completely lost it and was sobbing uncontrollably, calling Andrew to get to the ER as soon as possible as it wasn't great. They ruled out pneumonia and RSV, which was good. But they couldn't treat her the best and they wanted her airlifted immediately to Children's. That was really scary. I mean, the only people I know that have ever been airlifted are the really bad stories of people not doing well. Andrew finally got there and so did the helicopter. They were strapping her into this huge gurney, and it was just so sad to see. When she cried and got upset, her breathing got worse. And she was not happy about me not holding her, and being naked, and being strapped down, with oxygen in her face. The worst part was neither of us could fly with her. We had to meet her at Children's. Thankfully, Andrew's parents called and knew she was going there, so they went straight there. And the amazing doctor that was flying with her got my number and promised he'd call when they landed. I also had to sign a waiver saying if she stopped breathing, I gave them permission to do whatever necessary to get her breathing again - also really scary. The worst part was seeing them load her in the helicopter as we were getting in our car. We quickly drove to Children's. Andrew was a mess, whereas I had calmed down enough to call the rest of our family. The doctor also called telling me they landed and we got there and got inside and to her room, in the PICU, right away. Andrew's parents heard the helicopter land and they got them right back to her room to hold her, so his mom was holding her when we got in, which I am so thankful for. I would have hated her being all alone. She had an oxygen mask on and was still not very responsive, but I thought she was already looking better. They got an IV in her for her steroid medicine. She ended up receiving like 3x the normal dose, because it took that much to get it even working in her body. She was in the PICU for 1 night and then was moved to a regular floor on Friday. She was released on Saturday, acting much better. Pretty much, she went into respiratory distress due to the croup, caused by a cold-like virus. With stuff like that, you have to treat the symptoms and wait for it to pass. Thankfully, her cold was almost gone by Sunday. I learned later that her pediatrician felt it was the worst case of croup she had ever seen and she was actually scared when she saw Avery in the office on Thursday morning (yikes!!). Writing it out like this actually makes it easier for me to deal with, because when I think back, I think of the emotions we were experiencing too and how awful and scary it was at the time. I never thought we'd have to deal with a hospitalization from a simple cold! And the thing I've learned with this girl over the past almost 3 years is that she gets a cold, she gets a fever and she gets a croup cough. Luckily, the older she got, the better it became, but there for a while we were having to treat her with oral steroids every time she got a cold to keep that croup away. I'm hoping that Hadley doesn't have any issues like this too, but at least I know what to look for and I also know that a mother's instinct is by far the most important. Because the doctors on the phone and at the ER kept saying it was normal, and I just felt like it wasn't and I'm glad I kept trying for someone to see her even though we had been seen several times. So, yeah, even with 5 miscarriages and a preterm birth, this was BY FAR the scariest day of my life- and one I hope never to experience again!

So thankful that Avery is still a healthy girl and pulled through that, and that God has saved her now more than once - that girl is destined for amazing things. :)

Avery - 1 week old

On July 1st, Avery was 1 week old. It was the same day she also came home from the NICU for good. And Mommy and Daddy's 2 year anniversary. What a blessed day! It was interesting bringing her home. It wasn't a typical farewell from the hospital. It was nerve-wracking and scary... she was still a little peanut. And in the NICU she was hooked up to monitors to show her strong heartbeat and prove she was breathing correctly and enough. Unhooking her was terrifying, yet exciting at the same time. After a week, the nurses already could tell how often she ate and how often she slept. We knew she didn't really fuss when she needed a diaper change, but she sure could get mad if she wasn't fed fast enough. It's weird she was already on this schedule. It was also weird knowing in that past week that as often as one of us tried to be there, nurses were still feeding her, burping her, holding her... it was a sad thought, but the one thing that made it better was knowing from now on she was OURS and only OURS! :) When we got her home, we had a few visitors and after work hours, we had several more visitors. Although it was fun to show her off, it was also tiring. And it was weird once everyone left and it was so quiet in our house. And that was the first night we had to get up several times throughout the night for feedings. All in all, she was a wonderful and easy baby. She ate on a pretty regular basis, and in between she slept. Preemies tend to sleep a lot because they really should still be in the womb and they don't need a lot of stimulation. Plus, they tend to grow bigger when they sleep a lot (I have a feeling this will be much different when our new full-term baby gets here).

I swear, Andrew must have gotten up about 10 times in the middle of the night to check that she was breathing in the cradle next to us. After that, we moved the Angel Care monitor from her crib into the cradle, although she only lasted a few nights in the cradle by our bed; she seemed to like her own bed better and she slept longer and was more rested while in her own bed.

I remember how scared I was that first night, yet so excited.... when I can figure out how to work this Mac, I'll post some pictures of Avery from the NICU and our first week home with her (the cutest little redheaded baby you've ever seen).

Mother's Day 2011

Today marks the last Mother's Day that I am a mom of one. By next Mother's Day, I'll have another little baby girl (and hopefully another pretty ring!). This year my husband bought me a rig I've had my eye on for some time. It's from The Vintage Pearl. Avery's birthstone is a pearl and my good friend Mal clued me in to this site- they have some really cute jewelry there! For Avery's 2nd birthday, we bought her a necklace from this site (even though it's an "adult" necklace) that has a little heart with her name on it cupping a small pearl. It's adorable. Well, I saw this ring that looks kind of like a bird's nest with a big pearl in the center. Since Avery's birthstone is pearl, it seemed perfect. And I actually got that gift a few weeks ago (he couldn't hold on to it til today- he knew I wanted it). I love it. It's so pretty and reminds me of my little girl. So, I'm hoping by next year I'll have another little ring with someone else's birthstone in it. :) Last year, I received a mother's necklace with Avery's "stone" and so next year we WILL have to update that. There's a good chance that baby girl could come early and also end up being a pearl baby. Otherwise, she'll have a July birthstone which is.... ruby! (I had to look it up.) Oooo, rubies are pretty, that could be nice! So, today, I am enjoying my last Mother's Day with Avery. I've been getting REALLY sad thinking about our Sunday morning routine when Andrew's already at church and how different it's going to be once Hadley is here. Luckily, Avery enjoys watching a movie in the morning (she is NOT a morning person and we have to work her up into a good mood, ha), so I assume she'll be doing a lot of that in the future. Hopefully, Hadley is as good a baby as Avery was and we can all snuggle on the couch for an hour before heading to church. I'm so happy to be expanding our family, and super excited about Avery becoming a big sis, but I'm so sad our time with just is slowly coming to an end. She is just the sweetest thing!

On a Hadley note, I'm REALLY excited to celebrate this day with her next year, even though she'll still be a little squirt. She is a rockin' and a rollin' in the belly, so I'm anxious to see her personality (and looks) compared to Avery. Just 8 more weeks or less! :)

Current Events:

Current events on my sweet little girls:

Avery is currently 2 months away from turning 3. She loves Yo Gabba Gabba and Disney Princesses (particularly Belle and Ariel). She was Foofa from Yo Gabba Gabba last year for Halloween, which is also the theme of her upcoming third birthday party. She loves puzzles and coloring books. She also really likes Toy Story 3, which is what type of toys she's been asking for her birthday. (Luckily, Mommy got her a Bullseye and Hamm, plus a Jessie tshirt and TS3 on Ice tickets for this September.) She's also a fan of Dora and SpongeBob, as well as Bob the Builder here recently. Good thing we have Netflix streaming so she can watch all these crazy shows. She JUST became potty trained, and we could not be happier! No more pull ups- just baby diapers now! We went to Chicago this past weekend and we didn't experience any accidents the whole time we were gone- fabulous! Avery has one of the best personalities I've ever experienced in a 2 1/2 year old. I just love everything about her- she loves to sing and dance and have a great time! We are learning about toddler boundaries though, and boy, does she love to push them! It's hard for me while being pregnant because I get tired fast and my patience wears thin very quickly. Thank goodness Andrew is so great, he really helps out. Avery is learning her alphabet and she can currently spell her name and she's working on writing it (and getting very good!).

As for Hadley, well... Hadley is probably weighing around 3 1/2 lbs or so (though Andrew thinks she's on the chunky side, so maybe bigger) and she's about 15 inches long... we are so getting close to her due date! Hadley also LOVES to move around and around and around.... sometimes keeping me up allll night long without a whole lot of sleep. But I kind of like it. :)

She also finds it entertaining to jump on my bladder and literally shoot out pee. That's not very fun. It kind of hurts. She occasionally gets the hiccups, which is weird feeling.

We are super anxious to find out who she looks like- me, Andrew or Avery? Only about 8 work weeks left until she'll be on her way. I also wonder how much she'll even talk with Ms. Chatterbox living here. I have a feeling Avery will speak for Hadley a lot. :)

So, there it is! You're up to date on our sweet little girls!

June 28, 2008

Dear Avery,

Today is not June 28th. In fact, it isn't even 2008 anymore, but 2011 (I really almost wrote 2010 - pregnancy brain - we can discuss that later). However, starting this new blog about you made me think about your birth. And June 28th. You're right, you weren't born on June 28th, but June 24th. And you didn't come home from the NICU that day, that was one week after your birth day on July 1st (Mommy & Daddy's 2nd anniversary). Well, what was June 28th? Count it up... 4 days after your birthday. The day I was released from the hospital. The day I got to go home, but you had to stay behind. I'll always remember this day. The sadness started the day before, on Friday the 27th. When I realized what was about to unfold: me and Daddy leaving the hospital with just the things we had accumulated the week we had been there (not a whole lot, you came early and bags were never prepared for the hospital). No baby. She had to stay behind. And when we were set to leave they told us you could be there until your due date, August 4th. That was a pretty traumatic thing to hear. We had prayed so hard for you and now that you were here (and fairly healthy), you were still having to stay behind. Not fair. :( I remember going down to the NICU alone and seeing you under the bili-lights (for jaundice) and I just lost it, realizing what was about to happen. You see, after a baby's born they're supposed to be held and cuddled, while we figure out how you like to be held and when you wanted to eat. The NICU nurses fed you most of your meals, though we tried to be there as often as we could. The NICU nurses rocked you when you cried at night. The NICU nurses knew more about the kind of baby you were than we did. This did not settle well for Mommy. The day we left was heart-crushing. I seriously felt like my heart had up and ran out the door, or just merely stayed behind I suppose. Your Grandma & Grandpa Naylor were nice enough to get me and Daddy a hotel room just a short way away from the hospital that first night, but it still wasn't the same. I had to leave you alone for what I thought would be 5 weeks of pure torture. Fortunately, you were so strong that the next morning they told us to drop off our car seat on Monday as they may try your car seat test sometime that week (you have to have a "car seat test" and pass before you can be sent home). Car seat tests only happen right before you are released, so although we were realistic, we were pretty hopeful you'd be home soon - which turned out to be true. And thank God you were home early. No, really, I thank Him all the time for that. Because I don't know what I would have done if the nurses got to rock you for 5 weeks more often than I did.

So, anyway, June 28th may not be a significant date to others, but it was to me. It was the day I realized I had fallen completely and utterly head over heels in love with you. My unending love for your Daddy is very real, but it was a process. Love with you was a smack-upside-the-head-wow-I-am-s0-in-love-with-you type of love. Crazy. You'll feel it for yourself one day (waaaaay farther into the future, my dear).

I love you more than a million red m&ms, my little sweet.

Love, Mommy

Avery Lucille

So, a good place to start with a new blog would be a quick rundown on our oldest daughter, Avery. Born 6 weeks early (for the rundown of our issues conceiving and having Avery, visit our old blog), Avery was born on a Tuesday at St. Mary's Hospital in Clayton, Missouri (St. Louis) at 3:23 pm. She weight in at a chunky 5lb 5oz (for a 6 week early preemie) and was 18 inches long. She had a little bit of jaundice that was treated during her 1 week NICU stay, but other than that, she was completely and utterly healthy. Her birth story is an interesting one, so head over to that other blog to get the very long rundown of that too- it's a long story. :)

Avery was released 3 days after I came home from the hospital, which was 1 week from the date of her birth. She had a fairly mild NICU stay, and for that I am forever grateful. NICUs are not fun places to be, nor are they very fun to leave your brand new baby in while you head the 45 minutes home alone.

Since this blog is about Avery, let me explain to you about the first time we met. When they were pulling her out of my belly (c-section thanks to my breech daughter), her daddy was able to watch her come out since I couldn't (even though I think I would really like to see that). I was staring at him as he watched and he looked at me, with tears in his eyes, and said, "She has a full head of hair." Well, I kinda expected that from the wicked heartburn I had been experiencing (okay, I know it's an old wives tale, but really I did expect it). The nurse got Andrew and led him over where he got to meet her for the first time (maybe he should make a blog post about his first encounter with Avery), then when he came back by me, he told me a little more and they brought her over for him to hold. He got to be the first to hold her, which is just fine with me. He's a pretty good dad. The first place I touched her was her nose. And she was just staring at me. And I was just thinking, "No way, that baby just came out of me- I'm a mom!" Well, they took her back to the NICU and after a while he followed them back to check her out. When I was done in the OR and done with the longest 2 hours of my life in recovery, they wheeled me down the NICU and back to her bed, where they explained a few things to me and placed my practically naked daughter in my arms for the first time. Her cord had been cut, she had a diaper on, and I think she had her IV already in her head (because of her small veins in her arms), but I'm not sure. I just remember she was pretty still and we stared each other down. I don't even remember saying anything and I don't even know if I cried (which would be unlike me if I didn't), but I remember looking her over and thinking for a 6 week old baby, she was bigger than I expected. 5lb 5oz is a teeny tiny thing, but she was still bigger than this minuscule baby I was expecting. And she was breathing on her own, without any tubes. That was a big accomplishment and my first clue-in to the fact that she was strong and ready for the world. And did I mention her full head of RED hair? Perfectly adorable. Every time I think back to our first bonding moment, I just think how ready she seemed to be and how absolutely petrified I was to be in charge of the well-being and safety of this tiny creature. She seemed to trust me though, so I accepted the challenge. :) It was the first time I encountered the absolute complete sweetness of my daughter. (I still feel weird saying my daughter.... and soon, I'll get to say my daughters.... my girls.)

That was the beginning of my mommy-hood and Avery's life as a daughter! Couldn't love that girl more if I tried...

Brand New Blog!

I realized that my old blog (which really isn't all that old because I deleted it and started fresh less than a year ago) is all about my troubles and trials experienced while trying to get pregnant and stay pregnant with 2 children. I'm currently in week 31 of the 2nd child, with everything seeming to be going along smoothly when I realized that blog, albeit extremely full of useful information (really, just stories of what we've been through, along with some random things thrown in) is really not about my children, but me. Which is fine. Mommy needs her own space too. But I'd really like to try write down more things that my children do or will do. I have kept up with my daughter's baby book very well and Facebook is full of funny sayings, but I need to keep a better log of what we have going on.

So, hi, I'm Darreth, I'm 27 years old, my husband, Andrew, is 28 years old and we have a daughter, Avery Lucille, who is almost 3 and another daughter, Hadley Elizabeth, due to make her arrival into this world sometime about July 6th. This is their stories and the sweetness that is little girls. :)