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!
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