AveryAnn's Birth Story

So after we got down to labor and delivery I was hooked up to all the monitors to see if anything was happening.  We chatted with the nurse and just hung out.  I was having a lot of contractions but they weren't too painful so I wasn't sure if I was making any progress or not.  Patrick went to get Barrett and I settled in to watch Friends on tv while I waited to see if I had progressed enough to have a baby that afternoon or if it would be the next day.  I thought I would be more nervous.  But I was mainly just relieved.  Dr. Crowe came in around 1:00 and decided I'd progressed enough to have a baby that day.  I called Patrick and told him to hurry back.  She said she'd see me at 4:00 in the OR.  The nurse started my iv and started getting everything ready.  I was so ready and so excited.  Patrick got back around 2:00 and we were able to relax and just soak in what was about to happen.  I'm so thankful for that time with Patrick, just the two of us before both kids birth.

After being prepped in the triage room, it was finally time to walk down to the operating room.  I started getting a little nervous, which I imagine is pretty normal.  I was finally going to meet my baby girl.  I had to leave Patrick and Crystal (my friend and photographer) in the hall while they did the spinal block and got me all ready.  The anesthesiologist  made small talk and asked what lipstick I was wearing because it still looked great at 4:00 in the afternoon.  Before I knew it they let Patrck and Crystal in and everyone was in place, it was time. 

It didn't feel like it was long until I heard Dr. Crowe say "She's huge!  She looks like a 3 month old!"  The anesthesiologist told Patrick to stand up and look.  He was not interested in seeing anything gross so he reluctantly stood up to see the doctor pulling her out.  It felt like an eternity before she cried and I couldn't hold back my own tears.  I don't think there is a sweeter sound in the world than hearing your baby cry for the first time.

 

They finally brought her around for me to see.  I thought she looked so much like Barrett and she had a head full of dark hair. They weighed her and everyone just laughed when they announced she was a whopping 10 pounds and 4 ounces. 

 

 

Two pounds bigger than her brother.  They brought her back and I got to really check her out and then Patrick held her while they finished putting me back together.  It was time to wheel me out and
 they let me hold her for the first time. 

Then I started feeling sick so I gave her back to Patrick for the ride down to our room.  My parents arrived pretty quickly with Barrett after we got into the room.  You forget how much goes on right after birth.  It was a flurry of activity.  I got to do skin to skin and she immediately wanted to nurse.

 Not long after that Barrett came in to meet her and he was intimidated by all the commotion and everything hooked up to me.  He stayed glued to his daddy, which I totally expected.  He gets overwhelmed so easily, I knew this was going to be a lot for him to take in. 

We let him go and get my parents to come in a meet his sister for the first time.  He was excited for everyone else to meet her.  When my older brother came in with his family, Barrett couldn't wait to show Harper and Porter his baby. 

Patrick's parents and John and Hope and Madelyn came to see us too.  I loved seeing Madelyn and AveryAnn together.  It was so funny because AveryAnn was so much bigger than Madelyn. 
I was so hungry and begged the nurse to let me eat.  They let me have some water and said if I could keep that down I could eat.  Well I didn't immediately get sick so I begged them to let me eat.  I'm sure my nurse that night hated me.  I was a pain.  I started getting really hot and begged them to let me take off the compression things on my legs.  They said not yet.  My brother and dad were fanning me and it was terrible.  I got sick.  I'm pretty sure it's because I ate but I got sick after I had Barrett too and I thought it was because I didn't eat and they were giving me pain meds.  So who knows.  After I got sick I started to feel better.  After everyone left the nurses came in and made me get up and walk.  Patrick and I watched the end of the Bachelor.  I just sat and tried to soak in every newborn inch of my baby girl.  I was so happy to finally have my girl on the outside.  She's much easier to carry around in my arms.

We are so in love!

All photo credit goes to my friend Crystal Bailey who did an amazing job!  I'm so in love with all these pictures.  I was so thankful it worked out for her to be there. 

 

Week Three

By week three we were back to regularly scheduled programming.  School, work and life.  It was not as bad as I thought it might be.

More group snuggles.  This time before bed.  Barrett fell asleep on me.

My first day just the three of us.  I braved putting them both in the car for a coffee/donut run.  It was worth it.

First bath!  Her cord fell off so much sooner that Barrett's did.

One night we met the Stokley family at the park for the boys to play.  Dawson and AveryAnn slept through most of their first date. 

Barrett loved pushing his sister in the stroller.

I caught Barrett reading his coloring book to his sister.  Such a sweet moment!

Ava and AveryAnn catching a nap at Nana and Granddaddy's house after church.

Showing off her muscles.

Two week checkup (at three weeks old) she weighed 10lbs 10oz and was 22inches long. She found her hand and would not look at me because she was fascinated by it.

That night we went to Brittany's to watch the bachelor finale with the girls.  It was Ruby and AveryAnn's first time to meet and their first girls night. 

I ran to the store for a couple of things and came home everyone passed out.

Love these sweet snuggles.

I had to post this because I can remember going and sitting on the bathtub while my mom went to the bathroom. She would complain but we were always right by her side. So this picture of Barrett sitting on the bathtub totally cracks me up. 

St. Patrick's day cuties!

Matching cousins.  I bought these onesies before we knew what we were having.  I love seeing our girls in them. 

We took a family trip to the zoo.  Barrett loves the zoo and I love taking him.

The Dino Discovery opened that week and members could see it for free so we took advantage. Barrett was not a fan of the TRex.

This picture cracks me up.

Daddy helped Barrett brush the goats.

Barrett and Jackson checking out the Bears.

Love this squishy baby fresh out of the bath. Look at all those rolls.

We had a mommy/son date to the Just Keep Smiling LIVE with the characters show. Barrett was not a happy camper because AveryAnn got to stay with granddaddy. But we had a fun morning.  

This girl was just a smiling at me at the office one day.  

Easter Weekend

We kicked off Easter weekend Saturday morning by heading to church for the annual Easter Egg hunt.  Only we didn't get the memo that it started an hour earlier this year so we got there and it was over. 

So we stopped by the park to let Barrett play for a little while before we headed to my grandmothers for lunch.

Barrett was riding this power wheels my grandmother got for him. He was having fun as long as Porter was far away on the go cart.

Mom holding the babies.  Before my sister left she nicknamed them "Annie & Frannie" and it's kind of stuck. (Madelyn is Madelyn Frances that's where Frannie comes from).  We laughed because for two weeks I've been complaining that AveryAnn never sleeps and she slept pretty much the entire weekend. 

Barrett and Harper had a blast digging all the leaves out of the pond.

Love this picture of my girl.

As you can tell the Horton kids were very excited to have their picture made.

We took entirely too many pictures of the girls but I just can't help but. This time last year Hope and I were both hurting after we both had miscarriages and praying we would both have babies.  Here we are a year later with our girls that are 6 weeks apart and I'm so thankful we were blessed with these babies.

Swapping babies! 

Told you we took entirely too many pictures.

Love this one of AveryAnn with my Grandmother.

The first of many matching outfits this summer.  

The Easter bunny came to our house and dropped off two baskets this year! 

AveryAnn's first Easter! 

I was able to convince brother to get in a picture.

I just wanted one family picture. 

One of us was not having it.

Real life with a toddler I guess.

More pictures of Annie & Frannie

Matching babies again!  I bought these outfits before AveryAnn was born and I've been counting down the days for them to wear them.

Barrett was taking pictures.

Love these sweet monogrammed bloomers. I didn't realize all the accessories girls required.

Love my sweet girl! (I love my sweet boy too but he was not having his picture made.) 

Sunday was our first day back to Mass as a family of four at our church.  (We went last week but we were at my uncles church).  It went pretty good.  Barrett was a little loud but the baby did great!