Lazy Days

We have spent the last two days relaxing around the house and enjoying our little bundle of joy. Saturday afternoon, Josh's parents stopped by on their way home from San Angelo. Mr. Chris was sick when they came in for her birth so he never got to hold her. He was feeling better Saturday, so he FINALLY got to hold his first granddaughter. They could only stay for an hour or so because they were driving straight through back to Luling in one day. We are so glad, though, that they got to stop by again to see Miss Avery.

Later that day, Leah and Brian came by to meet her.

Brian cracks me up. He has never held a baby, and he is waiting until he and Leah have their own baby to hold his first one. Avery was so good while they were here. She was wide awake when they first got here, then fell asleep while Leah was holding her.

I got my first taste of the maternal instinct yesterday. I noticed throughout the day, that the heater would sound like it was coming on, but never actually started blowing. The house was getting colder and colder, so I finally pointed it out to Josh. After troubleshooting on the phone with his dad and two A.C. and heater repairmen, he figured out that the control panel is broken and cannot be fixed until Monday! It was 38 degrees last night and the house was getting COLD. I got so upset! I was so worried about Avery getting cold throughout the night. I bundled her up with a hat, mittens, socks, fleece onesie, and a blanket, and was holding her up against me for body heat. Poor girl started sweating, haha! Josh being the good daddy that he is went out to get a couple space heaters for the house. He had to go to 6 different stores and only ended up with one! But it was a good one and we were able to keep the house warm through the night.

Avery slept very well last night. Josh rocked her on the recliner until about 2am, then I fed her and she slept till 6. She woke up, ate, got her diaper changed and slept till about 9am. These are some pictures of her this morning when she woke up. She is very alert in the morning.

Grandma is in LOVE!

Today has been a pretty quiet day. We have been relaxing and enjoying the baby. She has slept very well today, it also seems like she is eating more at each sitting. I can't stop looking at her and taking pictures of her sweet face. She doesn't really like the flash though!I absolutely love this picture. This was her and Josh taking their nap today. She actually looks like my little brother Jacob when he was a baby in this picture.My mom is leaving tomorrow :( So we decided to order out from Texas Roadhouse tonight for dinner.She has been such a big help around the house and with the baby. I don't know what we would have done without her. I am so glad she was here for everything, and I know her and Avery are going to be close like my Gigi and I were. After we ate dinner, Avery got her second bath. This one went a lot smoother, with A LOT less crying. She is cuddling on her daddy right now with just her diaper on.

I can't believe she is already almost a week old! The time is already flying by. This week will be another adjustment for us with my mom gone. Josh will also probably be at the clinic more this week. I am excited to start getting into a little routine with her during the day. Hopefully she continues to be the sweet baby we are getting used to! She really is a good baby. She is very easily consoled, unless she is hungry, but once she gets what she wants she is happy as can be. We are enjoying every second with her and can't stop holding her, kissing her, and just watching her.

Popular girl!

Avery has been a popular girl the last two days! She had lots of visitors yesterday. Lauren and Jamie came by first, they brought us the prettiest flowers.Daddy got home from school after seeing a few patients, he missed her so much! Izzy is getting more and more comfortable with her little sister.

Pete came by to meet her.

Aimee and Menka came over too.

Menka brought Avery the CUTEST outfits.

We took a nap together yesterday afternoon. She is such a cuddly baby.

Last night, Josh had a meeting in Houston. When he got home we gave Avery her first bath! She did NOT like it very much!

Poor Josh felt so bad that she was crying the whole time. She settled down though as soon as we were done. We wrapped her up in a warm towel and she got to cuddle with her daddy.

She did so good!

Josh stayed up with her till about 1am, so I could get some rest. We had a good night, she woke up twice to eat and once for a diaper change. We had to wake up early this morning for her doctors appointment. These are some pictures before her appointment this morning.
Don't you love the bow Leslie :)Her doctors appointment went well. Her weight is back up to 7#1oz, she had gone down to 6#12oz in the hospital after birth. That is normal after delivery.Dr. Anderson wanted to recheck her bilirubin level. So we had to go to the lab at the hospital to get it drawn. Poor baby got her heel stuck again. But her daddy calmed her down her after it was all done.When we got home we ate lunch and all took a nap together. When we woke up, I talked to her pediatrician. He said her bilirum levels were "tolerable." So we will watch her color this weekend and talk to him on Monday. He said the level usually peaks between 3-5 days so it should be going down soon.

Linh and Tony came by to visit this afternoon. They brought her a cute little outfit, a boppy pillow cover and personalized pacifiers. They are so cute with her name on them.We are having a quiet evening tonight. Josh is cuddled up with his baby girl on the recliner. He loves having her lay against his chest, she stretches her arms out around him and rubs the sides of his chest with her little hands.

She is such a good baby. She doesn't fuss as much when we change her diaper now. She eats every 2-4 hours and dozes between feedings. She has been very alert in the mornings and in the early afternoon. Her little eyes go all over the place like she is taking in the world. We fall more and more in love with her everyday!

Avery's first 2 days of life.

Avery has been a busy girl since she was born. After her delivery, she went to the nursery and got a bath. Josh got to go in there and watch them bathe her. She did not like that very much! Once we got her back in our room, there were lots of people who wanted to meet her. Joe was her first visitor. Josh got to change her first meconium diaper! That was an experience. He did a great job though and didn't make too much of a mess.

Mr. Chris and Ms. Aleta got in a little after that. Once the benadryl wore off and they got on the road, they were stuck in traffic for over an hour!

This is our first family photo. I had been up for almost 24 hours by this point, we were pretty exhausted.

Joe and Leah came back to visit that evening.

I can't stop taking pictures of her sweet face!

After 7:00pm, the night shift came in to meet her. Sabrina was my nurse that night, and she took great care of me.

We changed rooms around 10:00pm. We moved to a postpartum room with two beds, so Josh had a place to sleep. She did very well her first night, except she DID NOT like ther bassinet they put her in. She wanted to be in bed with me the whole time, and of course I did not mind :)

The next morning her pediatrcian came by to tell me she heard a heart murmur during her assessment. She ordered an EKG, echocardiogram and chest X-ray to see how bad it was and if it was causing any problems. After they got done with her tests, her grandma and Mimi had come to visit. She was wide awake!

Making funny faces at her grandma.

I love her so much!

In the afternoon the cardiologist came to let us know that she has a VERY SMALL murmur, but it is not causing any problems with her oxygenation, heart or lungs. He said that these usually close up on their own, but we will follow up with him in a month to make sure there are no further problems. Thank God!

The newborn photographer came by on this afternoon too, so we put her in her going home outfit for pictures. This was one of the shots we got before she started SCREAMING!

The hospital sent this little birthday cake for her.

That evening, when the night shift came back on, a bunch of my friends came to meet her. This is Andrea and Jimmie, they work on the postpartum unit.

Yvonne and Sandi came to visit too.

So did Ana and Nicolle. Nicolle is due with her first baby in August.

Our second night was uneventful. She continued to make herself at home in bed with me, but her feeding schedule was a little bit more regular, and we got a little bit more sleep. Dr. Hernandez came by Wednesday morning to check on us. I am so thankful for everything he did for us through the pregnancy. I couldn't have asked for a better pregnancy, labor or delivery.

She was wide awake this morning too!We got all of our discharge orders by 10:30am so we started to get ready to go home. This was us all dressed up and ready to go.

On our way home!

Daddy driving us home.

We got home and ate lunch. Avery was so content all day long.

Izzy is adjusting well to the new baby. Well she basically ignores her! But she will sit up on her dad while he is holding her.

I went to bed pretty early last night. Josh stayed up with Avery until about midnight so I got some good sleep. We all slept pretty well, she only woke up a few times to eat and be changed. We fall in love with her more and more everyday. I love just holding her or laying with her and staring at her while she sleeps. She makes the cutest little faces and expressions. We are so blessed that everything has gone so smoothly so far. She is a very content baby who LOVES to be swaddled tightly. She eats every 2-3 hours and is a pro at breastfeeding. She fusses a little while when we change her diaper or her clothes but stops when we get her wrapped back up. When she is awake and alert she looks all around with her big blue eyes. She is starting to focus better and follows sounds with her eyes. We are loving every minute with her while we learn her habits and likes and dislike.

Avery's Birthday!!!

Sunday January 24th...I woke up around 11am. I was actually able to sleep in a little bit and decided to skip church to let Josh sleep in as well. I told him it might be the last time he is ever able to sleep in...haha. We got up, watched the Colts/Jets game, and just lounged around the house. I had been feeling some irregular contractions, but nothing that felt like labor. I had to work this night, so we took a little nap and I got ready for work while watching the Saints/Vikings game. I had Josh take some belly pictures before I left for work. I was 38 weeks and 3 days here:

I felt HUGE:When I got to work we were not very busy, so I went into one of the rooms to finish watching the Saints game. What a game it was!!! For the first time in franchise history the Saints are going to the Superbowl!!!! During the game, I kept feeling more and more contractions. After it was over, I had Dede put me on the monitor and check me. I was contracting every 4-6 minutes and I was 4cm dilated! I was in LABOR! Dede called Dr. Hernandez, he said to go ahead and keep me and to start Pitocin at 0300. I was going to have a baby on Monday! I started making phone calls. Of course Josh and my mom both freaked out. You would have thought they were the ones in labor! Josh's parents had both just taken a benadryl after the game so they were drugged and couldn't drive! Josh got up to the hospital about 11pm. I was still feeling good! Rachel and Dena came up to draw my blood!

I got my IV started, and we setteled in for the night. My contractions spread out after IV hydration and I stayed 4-5 cm most of the night. Dede started the Pitocin at 0300 and my contractions started coming a lot closer together. My mom got in at about 0430, she had driven straight through as soon as I called her.

At about 0530, I still wasn't THAT uncomfortable, but my favorite anesthesiologist was leaving at 0700, so I decided to get my epidural. That was such a crazy sensation! I couldn't feel ANYTHING from my ribs down. After I was nice and numb, Dede checked me again and my water "broke" I was now about 6 cms. Dr. Hernandez came in to see me at about 0700, I was 7 cm dilated and Avery was still pretty high in my pelvis (-2). We started turning me from side to side to help dilitation and help her to come down. I had a couple of variable as she was moving down. At about 0800 I was 10/100/+2! She was so low, Josh could see her head when they checked me. Dr. Hernandez was finishing a surgery case, so I just had to wait for him to get there. They told me not to cough or laugh or anything so I wouldn't deliver! This is us getting ready to start pushing! I still couldn't feel A THING!

Everyone is ready to go!

After about 8 pushes and a 2nd degree episiotomty Avery Yvonne Leblanc entered the world!

She came out screaming and crying. Apgars were 9:9. She was perfect! It was love at first site for both of us! Josh got to hold her first.

Then it was my turn.

Presenting our baby girl...Avery Yvonne LeBlanc, born January 25th, 2010; weighing 7 pounds 5 ounces, and 20.5 inches long.