It's hard to believe little A is already three weeks old! We've been continuing to settle in at home and get used to having a little munchkin around. She's getting better at sleeping at night and we're continually trying new things.
This past week we had her two week doctor appointment as well as an ultrasound to look at her dialated renal pelvis on her right kidney. The ultrasound was not as bad as I thought it would be and Audrey did really great considering she had to be on the table for quite a while and she hadn't eaten in almost three hours. We found out her renal pelvis still shows a dialation but there doesn't appear to be an obstruction which is great. We have to repeat the ultrasound in one month and I'm not positive what the next step will be if she still shows a dialation. At her two week appointment, she is weighing in at 9lbs 2oz and 21 1/2in long. Everything else is absolutely perfect and we don't go back until her two month appointment in May.
Yesterday, we went to Audrey's first birthday party for her cousins Noah and Benjamin who were turning 6 and 4. They celebrated with a great baseball themed party at Grandma Barb's house. It was a beautiful day, finally, and they were able to spend a good part of the party outside playing baseball in the backyard! They loved it!!
The last picture was A through the majority of the party, oh to be 3 weeks old and just sleep all day :)
We are looking forward to a low key week. Daddy is off on Easter and most of the day on Monday and Tuesday which is very exciting! The highlight of our week will be on Tuesday when we find out if Auntie M is having a boy or girl!! Since this baby will be so close in age to Audrey I just can't wait to find out. No matter what I know they will be great friends but I would love for it to be a girl so they can be BFFs since they will be in the same grade in school since Baby Reeves will be here right in August. We cant wait to find out!!!
We've been home a little over a week now and we've managed to survive :) We came home from the hospital on Monday, March 11 and we've had a long week of adjusting to life as 3 instead of 2. She is such a joy to be around that it makes the sleepless nights completely worth it. This week has been all about us adjusting to her and vice versa. We've spent most nights sleeping in the living room with Phil on the couch and me in the chair which we both actually prefer, Phil loves the couch and the chair is easier for me to sleep in with my incision because I can't flop around like I do in bed and end up in pain which has happened everytime I've tried to lay down for a nap in our bed.
Audrey is doing a great job eating, she is such a big eater and would probably eat 24/7 if she could. She has such a great personality and I love just snuggling with her in the middle of the night even when I can barely keep my own eyes open. We had a few great days with the three of us before Phil had to go back to work last week but then we had great visits with Auntie Rachel and Grandma and Papa to help me out with her. We even had a great day at Grandma and Papa's house on Saturday with visits from Auntie M and cousins Benjamin and Luke.
Here are some great pictures from the day we came home and the week we've spent together.
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| Ready to go home! |
At 10:59am on Friday, March 8, 2013 our world changed for the better. Our daughter, Audrey Ellen LeVasseur was born weighing 7lbs, 13oz and measuring 21in long. She was a perfect baby and we both loved her from the moment we heard her cry. It was the best most overwhelming feeling I've ever known and as she is 5 days old today I've grown to love everything about more and more each moment. She is loved by so many and we can't wait to see her grow into a beautiful, strong, independent woman.
At her birth, her Grandma, Papa, Aunt Melissa, and Auntie Rachel were anxiously awaiting her arrival. Her Nana and Puppa came down from Pinconning that afternoon and Aunt Andrea and her cousin Maybelle drove all the way from Chicago to meet her as well. She was also visited by her Uncle Josh and cousins Noah and Benjamin and friends Jen and Ella as well.
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| First Family Photo |
Our little hunny bunny is here! Now that we are home and settled, I finally have a few minutes to share our story of our little lady's birth. Today was my due date and it already feels like she's been here forever even though she's only 5 days old. Here is our story of her grand entrance into this big, bright, beautiful world!!
On Thursday, March 7 I was scheduled for a 39 week ultrasound to primarily check for size. With the Gestational Diabetes, the chances of having a very large baby are much higher than not. Four weeks previously at around 35 weeks the ultrasound was measuring her at around 6lbs 11oz which was about a 2 pound weight gain from the previous four weeks. I went into the ultrasound thinking another 2 pound weight gain was possible and expecting them to tell me she would weigh around 8.5 pounds. After the ultrasound techs first measurements she shocked me beyond all belief when she said due to the size of her head and abdomen she was measuring around 10lbs 6oz!! Wow!! She could tell I was beyond shocked so she did the measurements one more time and came up with 9lbs 12oz, still big and putting her in the 95th percentile for every measurement!!
I left the ultrasound office and called my OB because I was very concerned about her size and didn't think they would want to wait until Tuesday to try and induce labor add on to it that I was very concerned about trying to naturally give birth to a 10lb baby!! I spoke with Dr. D who recommended that I come into the office and he would try to push me into labor by stripping my membranes. Within about 1 hour of leaving the office I started to have contractions, they weren't terribly uncomfortable but they were coming about every 4-5 minutes. When I noticed some blood in my urine I called triage and they told me to go ahead and come in and they would check everything out. I called Phil from work and we headed to the hospital. By the time we got to the hospital, my contractions were coming every 2-3 minutes. They checked my cervix and I was only about 2cm dialted and 50% effaced. They wanted to wait a bit and see if the contractions were real labor or not. They had me walk around the hospital for about an hour and then checked again. After an hour and some really uncomfortable contractions for me I hadn't dialated any further so they didn't classify what was happening as being in true labor. Dr. Cook told me I could wait at the hospital and see if anything happened further or because of her size I could elect to have a C-section in the morning because they had an opening. My first thought was concern to go home and try to sleep through the night with my contractions but I thought that trying to get a good nights sleep at home would do both Phil and I some good. So that was the plan...we would come back at 8:00am and have us a baby!!
Phil and I left the hospital around 8:30pm on Thursday and stopped at Chili's to get some dinner since neither of us had eaten. When we got home we ate dinner and watched Peter Pan :) We got to sleep around 10:30pm and tried our best to sleep. I got up around 4:30am and finished Peter Pan and tried to get more sleep on the couch which didn't work very well. Phil and I got up and finished getting ready to head to the hospital. We were there ready to go at 8:00am. Our wonderful nurse, Janet who would be with the whole way through the birth helped get us ready. They gave me my IV and Mom and Melissa came back to see us before the surgery. As time passed, I started to get very nervous but Janet did a wonderful job explaning to me exactly what was going to happen throughout the procedure. Dr. Walsh came by and answered questions for us as well and I felt really great about the wonderful team we had in place to deliver Audrey.
Phil got dressed in his scrubs and mask and we were all ready to go in for the c-section at right about 10:15am right on schedule. It took two tries to get the spinal in and feeling numb but once that was in place everything seemed to happen so quickly. I felt a few bouts of nausea at the beginning but the nurse anesthetist did a great job helping me get rid of it very quickly. Once Phil was brought into the room the c-section was underway. It seemed to go by so fast and before I knew it at 10:59am we heard that first little cry as our daughter was born. Dr. Walsh brought her over so I could catch a glimpse of her very quickly and then they whisked her away to the warmer and to check her out. A few minutes later Phil was able to go over and see her and take pictures of her. They weighed and measured her and as they closed me up Phil was able to hold her for the first time. He brought her over so that I could see her and I couldn't help but feel very overwhelmed because she was so perfect.
They finished getting me closed back up and Phil was able to go out and tell Grandma, Papa, Auntie M, and Auntie Rachel that Audrey had arrived and was perfect. Below are some pictures of everything leading up to Audrey's birth.
Wow, I can't believe we are at 39 weeks, looking back now this pregnancy has really just flown right on by. I feels just like yesterday was July 3 and I was finding out that we were expecting our first little peanut. So much has happened in these 9 months and I'm so grateful to be exactly where we are. Phil is doing so well in his new job and even though he's working a ton I know he loves every minute of it because he is finally working with people who appreciate him and his incredible talent. I love working for my Dad, I know he appreciates what I do for him and I couldn't ask for a better boss. Most people thought I was crazy for wanting to work with family but I think it's the best decision I could have ever made for myself and for my family. We are so happy being back in our home in Canton, we are both used to the drive into Saline and it really isn't so bad. The dogs love having all the space and especially their backyard back, I certainly couldn't imagine bringing Audrey home to anyplace else now that we are here.
We had a doctors appointment on Monday with Dr. Cook. She checked my cervix and so far I am only 1cm dialated which is really better than nothing. I haven't been having too many contractions and don't really feel anything exciting happening in there. We are scheduled to go in for our induction on Tuesday night if I don't go into labor naturally before that. My feeling at this point is that she's sitting tight until they make her come out :) At this point, the plan is to check into the hospital at 6pm Tuesday night. We will stay the night as they try to soften my cervix which will help move the process of the induction along on Wednesday. On Wednesday morning they will start the medicines to get the contractions flowing and take it from there. It could be a quick or slow process, everyone is different so we will just have to wait it out! Nana is coming down on Tuesday afternoon to stay with the pups while we are in the hospital. My Mom, Dad, and sister will be with us at the hospital on Wednesday to wait it out and Auntie Rachel will be there right after work so hopefully she holds out until 4:00 when she's done with school.
I do have my last growth ultrasound tomorrow so we'll get a good idea what Audrey's birth weight would be. If for some reason they notice anything abnormal or she's shot off the charts in weight they may decide to induce sooner but I don't think that will happen. My guess is she's around the 8.5 pound mark right now which is just fine. They would likely only expedite the process if she's 9.5 pounds or bigger. That would mean she would have gained almost 3 pounds since our last ultrasound 4 weeks ago and I just don't think that's possible because I haven't gained that much weight. I've gained about 2 pounds since then so that's why I'm assuming she's around 8.5 pounds. Then tomorrow afternoon I have another NST which have all been great so far, her heart beat is in normal range which means my placenta is holding out since I've done the best I can to control my blood sugars. We do have one more doctor's appointment scheduled with Dr. Beemer on Monday and what would be my very last NST. If all goes well we are sitting pretty for Wednesday!! I can't believe she will be here in just a week if not sooner. We are all so excited to meet her and start our lives as a family of 3 :)
