Ava's Second Week...fun-filled and action-packed!

Her weight is down, but her cuteness rating is way up! Can you tell Dave and I have turned into super new parents who can't help but think their little girl is the cutest baby on the planet? I hear this happens to everyone.

The pictures don't lie - see for yourself here.

It was a pretty fun filled week. Ava went to the Park Chalet at Ocean Beach for lunch, has been to the doctor again, went to Duboce Park for some fun in the sun with Nandita and Jochem and had some visitors - including Erin, John and Luke, and Gordon and Gary. Grandma was still here all week - helping out with Ava and slaving away doing cooking, cleaning and laundry. She has been a lifesaver and I am not sure how we will function without her!

Ava goes to the Doctor...x 3

The last week has been full of doctor visits for little Ava. The first visit was to check on her weight and jaundice. She was still yellow like a daisy, so we had to get her a blood test, which told us she was worse than when she left the hospital. We were told to continue to feed her often and put her in the sun. Then, we had a follow up appointment the next day where we found out she lost more weight and had to get another blood test, because she was still looking like a daisy. She doesn't like the blood tests.

Then, come the weekend, we thought we all were doing well. Ava was eating well, seemed to be less yellow and more pink and Jill was up and walking all over the place....

Then came Monday. Ava got an eyelash in her eye in the morning and in the afternoon it turned into a yellowish-green mess of goo that was preventing her from being as cute as she normally is. We called the pediatric clininc, as it was after hours and got her an appointment. Luckily, it wasn't an infection and the doctor just wiped it all out and said it was a clogged tear duct. He told us we needed to massage her ducts to get them working right...and one day later, she is back to her normal self.

I am sure this week is only the beginning....I will have to learn to love the doctor's office.

The First Few Minutes of Life

The first few minutes of Ava's life seems as magical as it really was...especially with her screams replaced by a soothing French woman.

Ava Has Arrived!

Although it was Friday the 13th, there was nothing but good luck in our lives. Ava was born on Friday, April 13th at 8:44 in the morning. She was an even 7 pounds....enormous for a 5 week premature baby! We can thank Daddy for that....as he was almost 11 pounds when he was born. Even though she was a healthy weight and was performing well, she had to spend 2 days in the NICU (Newborn Intensive Care Unit) because she was born before 35 weeks. She had a little scare with not breathing when eating, but that went away as fast as it came.

The doctors are saying she is a miracle baby. Apparently the placenta and cord were one of the worst they have ever seen, so it was amazing she was able to get all the nutrients she needed to grow. It doesn't matter now though, because she is here, healthy and amazing.

We were discharged from the hospital on Tuesday, April 17. We have been spending the last few days eating, playing, pooping and sleeping - in that order. She has visited her doctor twice, as she is still jaundiced. There is a slight possibility she will have to go back into the hospital if it doesn't get better...but given her brief history, she will be just fine. She just needs to hang out in the sun, eat more and poop more - I think she is already a pro!

Mommy and Daddy are doing well. We are amazed at the beautiful baby we created and can't believe we have the capacity to love someone so much. I don't think we have both ever cried so much! We are so happy...and even more happy that she sleeps so well. She feeds at night around 10, 2, and 6, so we get plenty of sleep. And...she sleeps in her Moses basket all by herself without waking up...unless of course we decide to keep her in bed with us to sleep, which is possibly one of the most fun things. It makes sleeping so much better than it was before.

Well, that is a good run-down of the first week. Even though we don't want her to grow anymore because we are happy with her little peanut body now, we will have plenty of updates in the weeks, months and years to come as she grows into a beautiful young girl!

View her first week of photos here.

We're Not Superstitious.....

So, change of plans. We wanted to spice things up a bit, so instead of waiting until April 17, we decided to move Ava's birth to Friday, April 13th, 2007. Yes, Friday the 13th. She will never forget what day of the week she was born on. We aren't superstitious, so this is no big deal...not at all....it is silly really....am I right?

In all seriousness, it is because the doctor has to do surgery on someone with cancer and the cancer specialist could only do the surgery on the morning Ava was being born, so we had to move my c-section. It is actually a good thing, because I have been on bedrest for 2 weeks already and the thought of having Ava in a week and a half - meaning I can get out of bed - sounds fantastic!