a {baby} story

wow. can you believe that little avery mae is actually HERE?!?

her arrival eight days early totally threw us all for a loop...but we wouldn't have had it any other way.

{and to be honest, i hope the rest of our children all come as early as she did!}

i have been meaning to get this post up for a while now, but life has all of a sudden become so incredibly wonderful...and exhausting. i spend my days feeding TWO children, changing dozens of diapers, {we really should work on potty training max...is it too early to teach a 19-month old? :)} feeding myself and my husband, playing with a very active little boy, attempting to get ready for the day, putting two children down for naps, and in between all of that, trying to get a little bit of sleep. i really am starting to wonder if i'll ever leave the house again!

{seriously, those of you with more than one child...want to share your expert advice???}

i probably could just have you read max's birth story again and have you replace max's name with avery's...because their birth stories were so identical it is crazy! but there were a few differences, so here goes:

{p.s. if you are like my husband, you won't want to read all of the following details. he believes blogs were made for pictures and pictures only. :) however, i like hearing all the details, and i want to document her birth, so proceed if you so desire.}

tuesday, april 11th, i went in for my weekly check up. for the past couple of weeks i had been inlots of pain {due to avery sitting very low in my pelvis...} so i was hoping that the doc would check me and i would miraculously be dilated to a four. no such luck. he said basically nothing was happening and i should plan on at least another week...if not two. awesome. we scheduled my appt. for the following week and i was on my way.

fast forward to friday, april 15th. danny didn't have students that day, so he took max into work with him...looking like this:

yes, danny dressed him. and yes, i allowed him to go out into public like that. he makes a cute little hillbilly. :) i apparently was in a "nesting" mood, so while my boys were gone, i cleaned the house from top to bottom. when they got home, we scooped up some bowls of ice cream and played out in the front yard. it was wonderful. danny and i relaxed on a blanket in the sunshine while max threw little dirt clods into the flower bed. he probably would have kept at it all night if we had let him...

when we finally came in and got max to bed, danny folded laundry while watching "how to train your dragon" and i cut out fabric for miss. avery's quilt. i got everything cut out in one sitting {my plan was to finish the quilt the next day...avery had different plans however!} after laundry + ironing, we had a midnight cereal snack and watched an episode of wipe out. by the time we made it to bed at 12:30, i was exhausted...but my stomach was hurting a little bit too. i mentioned it to danny, but we figured it must have been something i ate...

at 3:30 a.m. i realized that it probably wasn't just something i ate. i was having pretty regular contractions and though they weren't super painful, i definitely wasn't getting any sleep. i tossed and turned for a few hours, but at 5:30 i told danny to get up and get ready to go to the hospital. i hopped in the shower, got a small bag packed {in case she really was coming!} and we ate a light breakfast {i definitely should have eaten more!} our neighbor lynelle came over around 6:30 to listen for max, and we were on our way.

the hospital looked deserted when we arrived, so that was comforting! when we finally found some doors that were open, we were met at the counter by the sweetest old lady ever. she took one look at me and said with a huge smile on her face, "are you in labor?!" and let us in the doors. the nurses at the desk inside didn't look quite as convinced that i was in labor, but just like with max, they took me back to a room and had me change into a beautiful hospital gown. my nurse, nic, checked me and said i was already to a 3+, but she also had news that i had a urinary tract infection. apparently, those can induce false labor, so they decided that since i was eight days early, they were going to monitor me for TWO HOURS and if i hadn't progressed, they would have to send me home. booooooo. that was at eight, so when ten o'clock finally rolled around we were antsy to hear the news. i had been having steady contractions throughout the entire two hours, so i was quite convinced that this wasn't false labor {all i wanted was my epidural!!} but when the nurse checked me and i was at a five, i wasn't surprised at all. {danny was though...apparently i need to be more dramatic during labor so people will take me seriously!} they officially admitted us...and also brought with them some bad news. my doctor was out of town!!! booooooo again. i was a little skeptical of the dr. they assigned me to, but he ended up doing a great job.

at 10:30 i received my epidural, from a goofy looking guy. he came in wearing a juab high football t-shirt and jeans, and made references to cows while performing the procedure. {"it's going to feel like a cow is licking your back!"} he was funny though and also did a great job, though i was skeptical of him too. my right side took to the epidural much more than my left side did, so they propped me up on a little triangular pillow and pretty soon it had all evened out.

around 11 they checked me again {already to a 7!!} and my doctor informed me that he was going to run to the town easter egg hunt, but he would be back. {only in nephi...} it was then that the hospital got "slammed" with two other girls in labor, so no one came to check on us for a good 45 minutes. around 11:40 i had the sudden urge to push. i told danny to go get a nurse, but he said, "i'm sure someone will be in soon..." five minutes later, when the urge came again, i practically demanded that he left the room. two nurses ran in shortly after, and what do you know?? i was complete!! woohoo. little miss. avery had decided to come. they called dr. jones {he had to leave the easter egg hunt early, poor guy} and they started setting everything up for the delivery. that was around 12:10. and at 12:21, avery mae entered this world!! it was a wonderful delivery--short and sweet :)

the umbilical cord was wrapped around her neck twice, so that was a little scary for a few moments, but everyone in the room stayed very calm, so amazingly, i didn't freak out. as soon as the doc clipped the cord, she let out the cutest little cry ever and her skin pinked right up. i still can't get over how incredible it is to have a child. the spirit has been so strong for both of our children's birth's and it makes me so grateful to know about Heavenly Father's plan for us.

life has been a little crazy...adjusting to having TWO children. but we are trying our best to enjoy every minute. because it really does go so fast. before avery was born, max still seemed like my little baby, and now...he seems so BIG. he is such a sweet big brother and loves little avery so much. {pictures to come of the two little ones together! they are cute :)}

so there you have it. the multi-page birth story from mom :)