2 weeks old!

Hard to believe 2 weeks ago today we were in the hospital just welcoming our precious baby girl Ava Paige Kautz. Ava and Mom are feeling much better this week and we are starting to get out and moving around a lot more than we were just a few days ago. This week Ava has enjoyed every moment with Grandma and Grandpa Kautz. We have been to Leavenworth, beaches, grocery stores and enjoying cuddle time.

Ava's 2 week memories:)

<3 Lots of kisses, She loves kisses

<3Loves to sleep (especially in the car)

 <3 Got her newborn pictures taken

<3 First trip to Leavenworth WA

<3First trip to the beach

<3Pooped on Grandpa (Grandpa learned to always have second diaper ready)

<3Belly button fell off (NASTY)

<3Loves to sleep on Mom or Dads chest 

<3Neck is getting very strong (Can lift her head up on her own)

I cannot believe how different she is from the day she was born. She is more alert and aware of her surroundings. She is still sleeping a ton but when she is awake she has her big beautiful eyes wide open and taking in her surroundings. 

First DR appointment. Only .5 ounce down from Birth weight

Ava's Beautiful eyes

This weeks must haves:

*Breast pump and bottles- Late night feedings are a lot easier when you have a bottle and when husband can help you out

*Bottle drying rack- Go through a lot of bottles a day..this helps a lot!

*Resolve- Lots of stains- Poopy diapers (explosions) leak onto cute outfits! 

*Burp rags-

ALWAYS burp a baby because when you don't, or when they over feed..this happens....

That is a lot of throw up....This is just SOME of what came out of poor Ava. I learned a valuable lesson on over feeding and burping.

My FIRST week

   People aren't kidding when they say that time flies! Time has literally flown by. I am loving being a parent and Ava seems to be loving life too. Justin and I are soaking in every moment as parents. My labor and delivery was MORE than I could have ever imagined, the best experience of my life. I would do it all again in a heartbeat (but we will wait a year or so :) ).  Ava's birth day was the best day of my life.. and while it gets better every day.. it's sad to think that the day we anticipated for so long is gone! My labor went so smoothly and recovery has been pretty amazing too. Luckily I had minimal tearing and only a few stitches so that wasn't bad at all. I am still sore and still bleeding (TMI but oh well) The worst part about everything is probably the hormones. Luckily now (11 days in they are FINALLY leveling out). For a few days I would cry for NO REASON and at the most random times, poor Justin he had no idea how to handle me. It is funny that you hear all these stories about pregnancy, labor and delivery...but NO one tells you about the bleeding, emotions, and the struggles of breastfeeding. All of these "struggles" are so worth it when you hold your little baby. People are right when they say you get NO sleep and that you will be exhausted, but its a different type of exhaustion. Being exhausted because you are parent is far better then being exhausted because you have been studying for hours or something like that. I will take exhaustion over anything in this world if it means that I get to be a parent. 

We have spent the last few days just staring at our little girl.

For Avas one week celebration we had DQ ice cream cake. As you can see in the picture she was a PARTY ANIMAL.

This sign pretty much sums it up. She loves all kinds of things....

Sleeping (during the day), eating( always hungry), playdates (with her two James, Cooper, and Emma), Watching sports with daddy (this has been a tradition since the hospital), Pooping ( WOW, so much poop. We are also doing ALOT more laundry then we use to), Cuddling ( Cannot get enough), Hiccups ( all the time), Car rides (she loves car rides and sleeps the whole time..Just like mommy), Keeping mom and dad awake at night ( she loves to wake up right when we get cozy).

We also had our first sponge bath, still waiting to have her first "real" bath because her poor little belly button hasnt healed (*that is also something the don't prepare you for, so nasty, smelly, bloody)

She still loves me even after she SCREAMED the whole time.

Look at how beautiful she is and she is only one week old. I just love this face!

Ava is now enjoying quality time with Justin and I, Nana and Grandpa Brancheau, Alex, Melissa and Cooper, and Grandma and Grandpa Kautz.

Grandma and Grandpa Kautz are here for the next two weeks and that will be my next blog all about there stay with Ava and all the exciting things we do. 

Welcome Ava Paige Kautz!

August 16th, 2012: 

The three of us went to a doctors appointment where Erin received a foley catheter.  When we got home Erin was feeling very uncomfortable and it seemed that everything was becoming very real very fast!  We spent over 2 hours soaking Erin's feet in cold bath water to deal with the 90 degree heat while counting contractions.  Around 9:00 pm the contractions slowed down enough that Mommy could get one last sleep before meeting her baby.  We were so anxious for the day to come that we kept waking up every hour during the night.  Justin would roll over at 1:30 and say, "is it time to go to the hospital?"  Erin would respond, "I wish!"  This would go on for the next 3+ hours every half hour.  But when we woke up at 3:00 am we were well rested and starting the adrenaline rush.  We did last minute cleaning around the house and showered.  Then Justin went and picked up donuts.  We could only eat one, because we were so excited so we saved the others for the hospital.  We called the hospital and confirmed our check in and then off we went....

August 17th, 2012: Ava's Birthday!

We arrived to the hospital at 7:00 am and checked in at the front desk.  By 8:00 Erin had her blood drawn, got comfortable in her bed, and Justin unpacked our bags. 8:15 the pitocin drip was started and we were on our way.  At 10:00 Dr. Wittman came and took out the foley catheter and also broke Erin's water (an experience that was not as scary as she had thought).  Erin was 4 cm at this point.  This was when Erin decided to have her donut she had left, but she quickly learned that it caused some pretty bad acid reflux.  She was given some medicine to calm it. Our nurse said labor officially began at 11:00 when the contractions got closer.  By noon the contractions were strong enough to where Erin could order an epidural.  She received it within 15 minutes and was pain free by 1:00.  She was now 5 1/2 cm.  2:30 Erin was 7 cm dialated and our visitors (Nana and Grandpa Brancheau and Auntie Melissa) had gotten some frozen yogurt from the cafeteria.  There was a lot of time to explain to our wonderful nurse Jennifer the story of 'Mark and Sally," which she cracked up about.  She became an honorary Sally by the end of the night.  

By this point Erin was only able to eat ice chips as she dealt with a left hip pain that was a hot spot with the epidural.  This meant she could feel all the contractions in this area but it was relieved by a visit from the anesthesiologist and some movement around in the bed.  At 4:30 Erin was 9 1/2 cm and 100% effaced.  She would soon be pushing.  Erin also received another dose of medicine for acid reflux as it got worse closer to the birth. Our nurse informed us that the doctor may be in and out of the room because there were 2 other girls on our wing that were 9 1/2 cm at the same time as Erin.  All of our visitors moved their way back to the waiting room and our room transformed to a delivery room.  Ava's basinette was brought in as well as the scale and other various instruments.  At 6:30 Erin began pushing!!!  Justin was by her side as she tried different pushing techniques.  After an hour and a half of pushing the doctor came in for the moment we have all been waiting for.  Ava made her arrival at 8:08 pm.  After a few intimate moments as a family Ava was measured, weighed and cleaned up a bit.  Justin began calling his family and also walking out to the waiting room to tell all of our visitors.  Ava was 9 pounds 1 ounce, 21 1/2 inches.  Her hands and feet were definitely from her mother and very big.  She is so beautiful and the most precious thing we had ever laid eyes on.  Ava was able to skype her Grandma and Grandpa Kautz and meet her visitors from the waiting room.  Everyone went home and it hit us, that the three of us were finally a family.  Mommy had to get some rest, and Daddy did eventually as well.  Throughout the night the nurse came in to check on Ava and make sure she was enjoying her first night on this planet.  

August 18th, 2012:

We woke up at 6:45 and had moments of staring at Ava and reminiscing on the night we just had.   Ava passed her hearing test with flying colors.  We were so excited that she had her first Pee at 9:00 pm right around her 24 hour check-up. We had plenty of visitors throughout the day that made for a busy first day meeting so many people.   We discovered by her early feedings that she may have been tongue tied, where her skin that attached her tongue to the base of her mouth was restricting her tongue reach.  She had a procedure done where they clipped a small part of this skin and she handled it very well.  Also at her 24 hour check up she weighed 8 pounds 10 ounces which fell in the normal weight loss.  She also passed her jaundice test and she watched her first Mariners game with daddy which they won of course!  This night Mommy and Daddy were able to get some more rest before their big day leaving the hospital the next day.

August 19th, 2012:

Ava showed all of us that she was ready to go home by being so healthy with great color and even a little smile.  Erin was cleared by her doctor around noon and all we needed was for the paperwork to go through so we could hit the road.  We signed paperwork to order a birth certificate for our little girl.   Uncle Alex and Aunt Melissa came and helped us get our stuff packed up and into the car.  We also took some pictures with Ava and got her all situated in her car seat.  We were told we could go and we were off.  Ava enjoyed her first car ride in our new car, by sleeping and enjoying some music that Daddy played for her to listen to.  After we got home Grandma and Grandpa Brancheau came over and fixed us all burritos.   After our visitors left we were able to enjoy our family time together.  Ava kept us up several times through the night and we realized our lives were changed forever.  We did not care that we missed out on a normal night's rest because we love this little girl so much.  We look forward to every day to come.  

This is the story of Ava Paige Kautz, from her last moments in the womb, to her birth and life at home.  We hope you have enjoyed following our blog on this Pregnancy journey.  We will continue to blog the story of Ava Paige Kautz for people to get to know this precious gift of ours! 

What a great date day! I just had to share:)

What a fun day! Technically our last FULL day together before induction. Tomorrow I go in for my Foley bulb placement at noon and that's when it all BEGINS!

We celebrated by going to a mariners game! What a beautiful day game VS the Tampa Bay Rays. We decided to splurge and sit in Kings Court because Felix was pitching and we had never sat there before..oh and we got free shirts so WHY NOT! There was a lot of debate if we should go or not because I am 41+ weeks pregnant but We decided we would park VERY CLOSE ....20$ :( just in case my water broke or I wasn't feeling good. Well I was feeling GREAT, I got my kettle corn, Justin had his nachos and we were enjoying a great ball game. Around the third inning Justin whispered in my ear about this possibly being a no hitter, but didn't want to jinx it so we kept it on the down low. We continued to cheer for Felix as he struck out basically every hitter that came up. It was such a fun atmosphere. The ninth inning came and people went NUTS!!!!!! Justin and myself included :) Felix struck out the last batter and the stadium exploded, Mariners ran on the field and tackled Felix. Felix threw the FIRST perfect game in Mariners History and we were there to witness it! It was definitely a once in a life time opportunity to see a PERFECT GAME!! I am so happy that we decided to go, and that we decided to sit in Kings court. I would have felt AWFUL if we missed out on an opportunity like that! Such a great way to spend the afternoon together before our lifes change!


I am very excited and a bit nervous for tomorrow and the days that follow. I am beyond excited to meet this little girl and finally see what has been growing and punching me for the last 41 weeks. I am nervous about all the unknowns that are about to take place...but then again I am excited for those as well:)

 

 
  Here I am 41 weeks Prego..My last public appearance with a belly!!!!