Introducing...

Miss Avery Mae Michael made her grand entrance on Monday September 16th at 3:15pm. She weighed 7 lbs, 15 oz and measured 20 inches long. She has dark hair and it looks like she might have dark eyes like me! I had dreams while pregnant that she was going to have dark hair so I was really happy to see it! Avery's birth story happened just the way it needed to (except for the epidural failing!). I had made a goal to finish the Book of Mormon before she arrived and I was about 75 pages away two days before she came. Since I wasn't sleeping I got up in the middle of the night and plowed through! Who knew I could read 30+ pages in one night. Once I finished I knew it would happen soon. I woke up Monday morning around 5:00 with contractions. I started timing them and they were pretty consistent for about an hour. I woke Dave up and took a bath. They were about 8-10 minutes apart for a few hours. Then they got closer and closer. I was starting to feel really uncomfortable every time they came and they were getting harder with each one. My mom kept Addison busy outside and distracted since she kept asking me what was wrong. Dave did really well helping me breathe through the pain and gave me a priesthood blessing a little before we left. Around noon I told Dave I had reached my pain tolerance and needed to go in. We got there and I was already at a 5! I was really happy that all the pain wasn't in vain. I got checked in and moved into a room. Meantime I was curing my toes dying with the pain. My nurses name was Andrea and she was heaven sent! So much better than the terrible nurse I had with Addison. She called for an epidural for me right away. They made Dave leave the room which he was pretty upset about since he had had a rotation there. The guy kept humming in my ear which kept irritating me! Nothing happened after he left the room so the nurse sent for him to come back. He took it out and tried again, but still nothing. The midwife checked me and I was already at an 8 so they told me to hang in there.....blahhhhh. Dave came back and he told me to lay on my right side to see if it would help distribute the medicine. Before we left the house I told Dave he needed to be a better birthing coach than with Addison:) He was very supportive and kept reminding me how to breathe. My doctor, Susan Erk arrived and I felt like the end was near. I was at a 9, but they didn't want me to push yet. Since I was feeling everything I was feeling very ready to push. I told them that I couldn't wait any longer and was going to have to push. Everyone ran over and got things ready quickly. It all seems very surreal looking back, but 15 minutes later I heard Avery Mae's cry for the first time and started to bawl. I feel very blessed to have been in the care of the woman who helped me through this delivery. They spoke words of encouragement and helped me stay focused. Dave held Avery for a while until I was able to catch my breath and come back to reality that I just had a baby. It was a fast three hours and and even faster 15 minutes of pushing. Compared to three hours of pushing with Addison and almost 24 hours of labor I felt really blessed this time. They let us hold Avery for an hour before they took her to the nursery. She nursed right away which caught me off guard! We got moved to our recovery room and I couldn't believe how I felt. I was able to walk and sit up on my own. My mom brought Addison over and it was one of the sweetest things to see her hold and talk about Avery. She came running in with a big elephant stuffed animal and a pink balloon. She held Avery and she started to cry a little bit. Addison looked down at her and said,"It's okay Heavenly Father loves you." I about burst into tears. What two year old says that! It melted my heart and I felt very blessed to be a mother of these two special girls. We stayed for another day and by the time we left I was so ready to get out of there. You don't feel normal with nurses checking you and sleeping in a stiff bed. My mom and Addison visited a few more times and each time Addison was pretty good with her new little sister. Addison had a little pink bear to give Avery and she gave Addison a bigger version of it. Addison was pretty happy to have something special from her little sister! It's now been a little over a week and we are adjusting to being a family of four. Dave was able to stay home for a whole week and I was very grateful. Him being home when I went into labor was an answer to many prayers. Dave is back to Rochester and my mom is here filling his shoes. I am in love with Avery and can't wait to see who she becomes!