The arrival of Avery Carys McReynolds

Avery Carys McReynolds graced us with her presence this morning (4/30) at 9:42am. She weighed in at 8lbs 7oz and is 21in long. Avery is absolutely perfect in every way and we are so in love.

Looking back, labor was fast...but seemed slow during the process. Mommy labored at home for several hours on Thursday night, and then again on Friday afternoon. Then the "real" contractions started about 9:30pm Friday night. At 2am this morning, Mommy decided she needed some help and it was time to go to the hospital. We arrived at the hospital at 2:30am and got straight into a L&D room. Mommy's epidural was inserted and working by 4am and the world was a better place! After some needed rest and full dilation, Mommy was told to push around 9:20am. Five pushes later, Avery was born and she has been a joy ever since.

Easter 2011

Last Sunday was Easter. The three of us (and Avery) went to church and returned home to take some family pics in our backyard. It was a beautiful day.





Later in the day, we were invited to our neighbors for Owen to participate in an egg hunt. Although we followed him around with encouraging words (and some hints), Owen did remarkably well finding eggs and placing them in his basket. It amazed us that he grasped the concept so quickly. Including taking a break during the hunt to sit in the grass, open an egg and eat the jelly beans inside! To this day, he LOVES his Easter Basket and asks for it morning and night. He loves to take the eggs out and open them all. After they are all open he asks for help to put them back together in order to start the process all over again. Who knew a few plastic eggs and a basket could be that entertaining.

Avery's due date has come and gone

Today (April 28th) was Avery's due date. I went to the doctor this morning and received the disappointing news that I had made no more progress from last week's check-up. Next steps - A stress test has been scheduled for Tuesday. The test consists of measuring the fetal heart rate and my contractions through a monitor strapped to my belly. It is typically performed when the baby is not moving as frequently as usual (which is my case) and when the baby is overdue (which is my case). It is noninvasive that poses no risks to me or Avery.
In the meantime, I am employing all the tricks that I used to bring on labor with Owen. I have been eating pineapple and licorice as my snacks. And tonight, we all went to The Pasta House here in Mechanicsville and I had eggplant parmesan.
More positives - I am feeling good (in my opinion) for being 40 weeks pregnant. I am hardly swelling, I am sleeping ok (other than all the interruptions to use the bathroom!) and I don't have too many aches and pains. In a way, I would like to have some more aches and pains in the form of contractions!
But....we still firmly believe that Avery will be born when she is ready. :)

Name Announcement!

We have chosen a name for our baby girl. We actually chose it several weeks ago and I fully intended to blog about it before this...but I also wanted to get a picture of her name on the nursery wall. We finally got the letters up this weekend.

Here is her name:


Depending on where you look, Avery is either an English or French name. It means Elf Counsel. Obviously, we did not choose her first name based on the meaning. We just thought it was a very (pun intended) name.
Her middle name will be Carys. That is a Welsh name (like Melissa's maiden name of Lloyd, which is also Owen's middle name) that means Love.

A little Texas Rangers Fan

Owen got some mail today from our friends in Texas!!! The Gallians (Michael, Elizabeth and Sarah) sent Owen a Texas Rangers baseball hat! At first, Owen called it "Dada's hat" since he is used to seeing Clint in a hat. We kept telling him it was Owen's hat and after dinner he asked to wear "Owen's Hat".
Clint captured this pic just before we headed outside to play (since it was 80F and beautiful out!).



Thanks Michael, Elizabeth and Sarah for sending Owen his new favorite hat!!!

Sonogram

Last Thursday Clint and I went to the doctor for my 37 week check-up and it included a sonogram. We enjoyed watching our little girl on the screen for almost 30 minutes. The tech did all the measurements she needed to in order for the computer to calculate that our baby is estimated to weigh 7lbs 6oz +/- 1lb at this point in the pregnancy. Owen was 7lb 6oz when he was born...so our baby girl may be a bit chunkier when she arrives. The baby is supposed to continue to gain .5lb a week until birth. With three weeks left...that puts her at 8lbs 14oz +/- 1lb. But...the sonogram weight is JUST an estimate...so we'll be patient and see.

Here are some sonogram pics.
The first shows two pictures in one. Her face is on the left and some of her hair is on the right. The second is one of her feet. I can count five toes!!!



We met with the doctor after the sonogram and she continues to tell us that everything looks great with the baby and me. My blood pressure is creeping up ever so slightly...but nothing to be worried about. Dr Dausch asked if I had thought about how long I wanted to be pregnant. I said "Not forever...but I was willing to wait and see if she would decide to come into this world on her own". She told us that we could schedule an induction any day after April 21st (39 weeks) and if I hadn't delivered on my own by 41 weeks, then she would want to induce. 41 weeks is MAY 5th!!! It would be fun to share my birthday with my daughter...but for whatever reason (even though I have made no progress) I don't think she will wait that long to be born. We'll see!

Then Thursday evening, we got to tour the Women's Pavilion at Henrico Doctor's Hospital (where I will deliver). It was REALLY nice. The L&D rooms were huge and had a lot of the same features as RMC in Anniston (where Owen was born). The hospital here has a Level 3 NICU, which I hope to never see the insides of (we peeked through the window) and a great looking nursery. The recovery rooms were also nice. Not some place that I would want to spend a whole lot of time...but it will be fine for the time that we need to spend there.

Yellow Dip

Owen LOVES to dip his food in something. Anytime there is a condiment bottle on the dinner table (be it salad dressing for our salad, BBQ sauce for our meat, or ketchup for us to dip)...Owen needs some on his high chair tray. We used to place the dip in his drink holder on his tray...but then when got a hold of his drink he would return it to the drink holder and cover the bottom of his cup in dip.

Sometimes, the foods that Owen dips do not really go with the dip. Perhaps some of it is our fault..because we fail to clean up the ranch dressing before he starts eating pineapple. Or we don't wipe away the BBQ sauce before he eats his carrots. Owen does not seem to mind though. He just dips and eats!

The first time we gave him BBQ sauce, his reaction was priceless. It must have been tangy to his little taste buds, as he pulled a face, clenched his fists and his whole body shivered. He didn't get upset, he just dipped another piece of food and ate it.

Owen has been a bit finicky at dinner time lately. He does not want his veggies nor the main meal. He just wants applesauce (or a-sauce as he calls it). He eventually eats a few bites of dinner and once we are all done, he eats his a-sauce. Owen is doing really well with feeding himself (including things like a-sauce, oatmeal (for breakfast) and yogurt). He gets a TON on his spoon, and most of it actually makes it to his mouth, despite the fact that he tilts the spoon just as he gets it close to his mouth.

Last night, we had hamburgers for dinner. Sadly, Owen did not want the hamburger...but he wanted the bread. Fair enough. Since Momma and Dada were going to eat hamburgers, there was mustard and ketchup on the table. Without hesitation, Owen he asked for "Dip". Dada gave him some ketchup and Owen pointed to the mustard and said "Dip". So...Dada put mustard on Owen's tray too. Owen pointed at the blob of mustard on his tray and said "Yellow dip". So....from now on....mustard will be called "Yellow dip" in our house! The story gets better. This morning at breakfast, Owen asked for toast. So...Dada made him some toast. When it was served to Owen, Owen said "Yellow dip". HA!

First Haircut for OWEN!

A few weeks ago, Dada needed his haircut so we decided to make it a family trip to Great Clips and get Owen's haircut too. At 20 months, he still had not had his first haircut. He didn't really need it...but it was getting a little unruly in the back. What is the saying?!?!? All business up front and a party in the back? He was kind of getting a mullet. Owen's hair at the back was getting long and curly. As sweet as it was...it needed to go!
We tried to take some before and after pics...but he moves so fast and is still very interested in the camera...so it is tough to get a good shot.
Here is the before (back)

Here is the after (back and front)