Photobucket Photobucket Photobucket Photobucket Photobucket

March 31, 2010

Sneak Peek of Ava's Newborn Photos

We did a our first newborn session with Ava this morning. We got some great shots before she peed all over Mommy and started to wake up and was all squirmy. Here's a little sneak peek, can't wait to get the birth announcements done.
Little hands.
Little feet.
In her room.
My fave so far......

Miss Ava is 1 Week Old Today

I can't believe how fast a week has flown by with our girl Ava. Can't believe a week ago today, I was in the hospital about to give birth to our baby girl, and Orion and I's lives would change forever in the best possible way.

She's already had so many milestones in this last week, I want to take pictures of them all and document them as best I can.

Already this week she's pooped all over Daddy, peed on Mommy, made tons and tons of silly and great faces. Smiled at us, and melted our hearts in more ways than one.

I find myself watching her sleep, and not sleeping myself because I am to busy watching her sleep. We've been adjusting to life with Ava, sleepless nights, mastering the fine art of breast feeding and getting to know what it's like to be a family of three.
With Grandma & Great Grandma

With Great Grandma Hazel, I'm so glad she was able to come out and meet Ava.
Sleepy Girl.
I'm so forever grateful that I have such good help here with me for the next two weeks. I'm not sure what I would have done with out them here to help us and me during the day. Orion gets to take two week paternity leave after my family leaves, so I'm looking forward to having him here for two weeks to spend with Ava and I.

I took part 1 of Ava's newborn pictures today before she peed all over the blanket and we had to take a break. Sneak peak of those coming soon!

Until then, Happy 1 week birthday to my little girl! I've fallen in love with you already!- Love, Mommy!

March 30, 2010

Miss Ava

Just a few pictures of our beautiful baby girl!





March 28, 2010

Ava Hadley's Birth Story

Note: This is our birth story, if you don't wanna hear the details and have a weak stomach, etc please don't read any further. But, this is our blog and I'm always honest and want to note every detail of this experience.

Last Friday marked 39 weeks for us. I was excited to hit 39 weeks as my Doctor has told me between 39-41 weeks is when most women deliver and I was hoping I would be one in the 39 week mark.

Monday, I had my doctors appointment and I was hoping she'd tell me that I had great progress. She told me I was dilated to 2 cm and still 80% effaced. Not the news I was hoping for but 1 more cm. was good enough for me. We talked about an induction, but I wanted to at least wait until our due date passed before discussing that. I really didn't want to be induced.

Orion and I had decided that we wanted to have one last "date night" before Ava came and we became parents. We decided that Tuesday would be a good day for this since Orion had the day off, and the rest of the week we'd have family coming into town for the birth and it would get crazy.

Tuesday morning we woke up and got ready to see a matinee movie before heading to staff meeting that afternoon. We had a fun time at the movies and then headed to staff. We left staff meeting and came home and chilled for a few hours before we went to dinner that evening.

We went to dinner at a local restaurant here that Orion hadn't been to. At dinner we talked about how everything is going to change, etc and made some plans to get some last minute grocery shopping done before going home. By the end of dinner I wasn't feeling so hot and just wanted to go home. We ended up going home and not running any of our errands. When we got home we watched the tail end of American Idol and then I said I wanted to go to bed. I got ready for bed and had crawled into bed ready to try and sleep.

I headed to bed about 10:30 pm and just a few minutes later at 10:39 pm I felt like I had to pee and thought I was going to pee my pants I quickly got up and ran to the bathroom only to find that I was gushing a liquid and I lost my mucous plug at the same time. I was a little freaked out and then immediately thought, I think I'm going into labor. I quickly called Orion to help me clean up my mess I made all over the bathroom floor.

I started having what I thought were contractions, and had Orion start to write them down and time them. About a half hour into it, I decided that this was the real deal and we'd better start getting ready to go to the hospital. We got all ready, finished packing our things. I changed into some new clothes and Orion started to load the car so we could head to the hospital. It's about a 10 minute drive to the hospital, I continued to have contractions about 4 minutes apart.

We pulled up to the hospital at 11:45 pm and they checked us into OB Triage, and began to monitor me and check me. When we got there they told me I was 3 cm. along, and they wanted me to walk around the hospital to try and get labor going a bit more. I felt like I could barely walk through the contractions but I said ok and Orion and I started walking the halls of the hospital. That lasted about 10 minutes before I was in such pain that I told him we have to go back. When we came back they checked me again and told me that I was 5 cm along, and that they were now going to admit me into the labor/delivery floor. Orion and got all our stuff and they put me into the wheel chair and away we went upstairs.

Finally they got me checked in and I met our labor/delivery nurse Laura. The contractions were coming harder and stronger at this point and I felt like I wanted to push so bad, they told me they were waiting for my doctor to get there and I couldn't and just to breathe at this point. Orion was so great helping me through then entire labor process.

Finally they checked me again since I was in such pain and couldn't handle it, I was trying my best to breathe but the pain was awful I started to hyper ventilate and my blood pressure dropped. They checked me and I was at 7 cm, and at this point the jump from 5 to 7 hurt so bad I opted to have the epidural. Which my doctor said would be best since my blood pressure had just dropped.

They quickly got the epidural in and I began to feel some relief. It was around 3:30 am by this point and I just sat there laboring and feeling much better. Orion made some phone calls to family at this point, and I was Twittering labor progress as well.

An hour later at 4:30 am we started pushing. Ava had dropped a few weeks ago but didn't drop enough so I was pushing to get her farther down the birth canal at this point. The nurse and Orion could both glimpse her head each time I pushed. The nurse set up a mirror so that I could see as I pushed my progress.

We had a great nurse, and her and Orion counted down from ten each time I had to push. We pushed for about an hour like this before we saw real progress of her moving down enough. We were getting closer and closer.

I got a leg cramp really bad, and could feel it through the epidural. I vomited all over the place right after pushing during the cramp. At this point my blood pressure dropped again and they put me on oxygen for the last half hour of pushing.

I got all cleaned up from throwing up, and started pushing again. By this time the nurse was paging the doctor and other nurses to come into the room for the delivery. They were taking their time getting the table ready, and the doctor was getting her smock on and I told my nurse and Orion I have to push, I need to push now........

I pushed for a couple minutes and just like that Ava was born!
March 24th, 2010
6:10 am
6 lbs. 12 oz.
19 1/4 inches long

They right away placed her on my chest and I started crying, Orion was crying, Ava was crying, we were all in tears! They left her there with us while Orion cut the chord and we bonded with our girl.
Orion went with Ava while they weighed her, measured her and did all those things. At one point I looked over and saw Orion leaning over and talking with Miss Ava just minutes after being born.

Giving birth is the hardest thing I think I've ever done in my life. But, I'm so thankful and blessed to have such a loving and supportive Hubby who coached me the entire way through my vomit, hyper ventilating and screaming sometimes.

Seeing our girl in front of us was the most amazing and surreal experience for the both of us.
After being born they stitched me up, and told me they would monitor me there for 2 hours and then I could go up into the post pardon ward. During this time my blood pressure dropped again and they put me back on oxygen for a bit.
They tried to remove the catheter from the epidural and it was stuck and wouldn't come out. 3 nurses tried to remove it and couldn't, so they got the Doctor. He came down and it wouldn't budge either for him. He told me that 2% of the time they get stuck and won't come out right away and that it would eventually work itself free. So they wrapped it up in gauze and tape and told me they would check again in a few hours. It wasn't medically harmful but very uncomfortable to have stuck in your back.
I stayed in the labor and delivery room for more than two hours being monitors, shortly after 10 am they finally moved me up to post pardon. Orion and I were able to get some rest. Later that afternoon we had visitors and we able to show off our baby girl to friends and family. My Mom flew into town and came straight to the hospital.
Finally, at 7 pm that day they were able to remove the catheter from my back and I was able to feel some relief.
She's so amazing already. She has such a little personality already. Some things I've noticed about our girl already is that she's a little stubborn. She doesn't like to have her hands pinned down in a blanket. I've wrapped her in swaddling blankets so tight thinking that she couldn't break free and like a little Houdini she gets out in a matter of minutes. She's removed the scratch mittens as well, she doesn't like those.
My Mom and Sister are here with us helping us out a ton. I am so happy to have them here, they have helped me more than I thought I needed so I feel really blessed to have them here.

We're all home now happy, healthy and safe adjusting to life with Ava. I'm already amazed at this journey we've been on I can't wait to continue this journey with her and our little family.

39 weeks & Due date week!

It's due date week, can't believe that we're almost there. Orion and I decided to have one last "date" before the baby comes. One last hoorah, before she comes and we're parents and we have to start finding baby sitters to make date night happen.


Here we are after our matinee movie together......
Us at dinner that evening at Firebirds, little did we know just a few hours later Ava would be making her grand entrance into the world!

Me at 39 weeks!!

How far along? 39 weeks

Total weight gain: 22 lbs.

Maternity clothes? yes.

Stretch marks? yes.

Sleep: still the same.

Best moment this week: hearing that we're 2 cm along at our doctors appointment Monday.

Movement: lots and lots especially during the night!

Cravings: none.

Gender: baby girl.

Labor Signs: 2 cm and 80% effaced.

Belly Button in or out? out.

What I miss: nothing.

What I am looking forward to: family coming into town.

Weekly Wisdom: none.

Milestones: hitting 39 weeks, it's out due date week.

March 26, 2010

Ava Hadley Worley

Welcome to the World
Miss Ava Hadley

Born March 24, 2010
6:10 am
6lbs. 12 oz.
19 1/4 inches long

Mommy, Daddy & Ava are all doing well!




more pictures and birth story to come.....

March 22, 2010

Blog Roll Monday: Cakes by Andrea


I don't know how she does it, she's an artist for sure and her cakes are delicious works of art. Almost to pretty to eat...almost! My Mom found Andrea Rouse at a craft show in Iowa, and we had her out to our house for a cake testing when I was engaged and in the market for a wedding cake. I don't usually like cake much, so I was a little nervous to try a bunch of cake not being a fan of cake really.

Andrea came over with these adorable little cakes in all kinds of flavors and designs for us to try and I took one bite and became the BIGGEST fan of her! Besides the yummy cakes she made, who could resist working with another lady that has your name? I couldn't! I'm glad we picked her and my family and I have been using her ever since for all of our confectionery needs! She made my Mom's 50th Birthday cake, both my brother's graduation cakes, my baby shower cake and my Brother's wedding cake this past January. We heart her, and ever since we've become good friends, I've photographed her adorable children and enjoy every encounter I have with Miss Rouse.

So, if you're in the market for a cake and live in Central Iowa promise me you'll check out her site and give her a jingle if you need a cake!

And if you don't live in Iowa, jump on over to her site and drool over her cake goodness!

photos: Andrea Rouse

March 21, 2010

Visitors in Sunny AZ!

This past weekend we had visitors in town. My best friend Sara, her baby girl Macie, and her sister Meliessa were all in town for a visit. Sara and her daughter stayed with Orion and I. I was giddy wit excitement for the last couple weeks anticipating her visit. I wish Ava was here already to join in the fun, but we'll have to save that for another visit.

I miss her already, but I feel so blessed and thankful that she was able to come and see a little bit of our lives here in Arizona now. We shopped, lunched, and laughed a lot this weekend. Took advantage of the warm Arizona sun and hung out by the pool, and had many chats about soon impending Motherhood!

Love you girls! Come back to visit us again soon! Here's some pictures from their time here:
Hanging out Friday morning.
Nap time!
Me & Macie by the pool Friday afternoon.
Mother & Daughter
Orion teaching everyone the art of eating Edammae
Sara & Macie @ West Gate
Love them!

She's such a smiley and good baby!
Sara doing her best to soak up the AZ sun!
Yummy smoothies with your bestie! What could be better?!!

The next time we see each other I will have a baby girl of my own to add to the mix of Sara's two baby girls! They will be best friends too, they don't have a choice! :)

March 17, 2010

BC Challenge Week #11

For this weeks challenge I had to find some way to remember the sizes of some shoes that I bought for Baby Worley a while back. I'm not sure why they don't print the sizes of the shoes on all baby shoes but some brand don't. So how is a new Mom supposed to remember what size these pretty red ones are?

So, I decided to take a cue from my Mom who often wrote on our clothing in Sharpie.

I wrote down the sizes on a few pairs that didn't have them on the insides near the tags, so that I would be able to remember them. This way they will also be hidden to anyone. See below:
Pretty easy, and hopefully they will not fade.
PS- Aren't these shoes adorable? I got them on sale at Sears for $2.99 each! Such a steal for some cute shoes! I wish my shoes were that price!

BC Challenge
Week #11

March 16, 2010

38 Weeks & Counting!

We only have 2 weeks left! It's crazy how this time has been flying by. I've been using these last few weeks to finish up getting ready for Baby's arrival. This past week we installed our car seat, finally! We had a really great time figuring it out, and putting it into the car. Good thing Orion wasn't as confused as I was with the directions. He's a genius, that's why he's the Dad!

We got baby monitors, and I finished washing all the last of the clothing, towels, and sheets we've gotten in the last few weeks.

And, Orion and I are enjoying the last few moments we have together just the two of us before we become a family of three! It's hard to imagine just how our lives will change, there are the obvious changes that we expect but then there are those that I have no idea about so I'm just relishing and enjoying these last few days with my Husband before we become Mom & Dad!
Me @ 38 Weeks after our Doctors Appointment
Here's our car seat: after literally testing out every car seat at Babies R Us & Target we decided this was the best option for us. It was the easiest to dis mount, and takes up the least amount of space in our trunk. It was also the easiest for me to maneuver, which is pretty important. It has neutral colors, which I love and it's perfect for us.

I thought long and hard about getting baby monitors, we don't live in a big space so we didn't necessarily need a monitor to hear sounds since our place isn't that big. But, I decided to make the investment now for when we do eventually have a bigger space and have a need. Plus, I am the heaviest sleeper in the world (just ask my college roommates) I don't wake up for anything, not even my alarm clock so I need all the help I can get.

We decided to go with these Safety 1st Brand monitors. What sold it for me was they are Eco friendly, they don't suck a charge unless they are turned on. Which all other electronics do by just being plugged into the wall and draw energy, these do not! I liked that, I also like that they are made from recycled materials too. They have a good range, we tested them out together and they were affordable too!

We had a good report this week at the Doctor. No change from last week still 1 cm & 80% but I'm not discouraged. Even though I'm soooo sick of being pregnant, I know that we're in a good spot.

The baby has a heart rate of 153, and the Doctor guesstimates she's around about 7lbs. She said it's just a guess and she could and is wrong sometimes.

We have friends coming in this week, and next week my Mom and Sister arrive. Looking forward to having friends and family here. I've been planning meals, and doing almost everything I can think of to prepare. And now I can finally say we have everything done, and we're ready!

C'mon baby!!


How far along? 38 weeks/ 9 months/ 3rd trimester

Total weight gain: 20 lbs. I've finally hit the weight gain that my doctor set for me, I'm hoping that I won't gain to much more in the next two weeks.

Maternity clothes? Yes, daily.

Stretch marks? Yes.

Sleep: None. and I'm pretty much over it at this point, I'm not going to be sleeping anytime soon. I've come to terms with it :)

Best moment this week: Getting the last few things we need for baby and finally feeling completely ready.

Movement: Lots during the evening, she sleeps and is pretty calm during the day but comes alive at night. It's been pretty funny this past week seeing my belly move into all these weird positions. She's doing acrobatics in there I think.

Cravings: Nothing specific, but I def. feel hungry a lot more in these last days and I can't seems to ever get full.

Gender: Girl.

Labor Signs: Some Braxton hicks contractions, but they aren't lasting to long. 1 cm & 80% effaced.

Belly Button in or out? out and flat.

What I miss: Nothing.

What I am looking forward to: Friends & Family coming to visit!

Weekly Wisdom: Just relax and enjoy these last few moments together with your Husband. She'll come when she's ready and the time is right for her. - my beautiful friend Lisa.

Milestones: Getting the car seat it, crazy to see my backseat with that in there!

The bump Fairy: 38 weeks

2 weeks to go!

LinkWithin

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...