Introducing Avery Nikole

Avery Nikole

6 lbs. 15.5 oz.

19” Long

March 28th, 2012 at 7:11am

Our sweet little girl finally arrived. After 2 months of battling pre-term labor and being on bed rest we made it. They took me off of the meds 2 weeks ago and bed rest last week. We made it to one day shy of 37 weeks. Everything about this pregnancy and delivery has pretty much been different. I’ve never experienced pre-term labor for one thing. That was pretty stressful and harder than I even anticipated. But thanks to my sister, Wendy, and my Mom coming and helping out, we survived.

Generally when they break my water, I have a baby in arms in about 30 minutes. Well, not little Avery . . . she stayed in for over 7 hours.:) Turns out that she was face up instead of face down and that’s what lengthened it. When they realized they had me start pushing because the baby automatically starts to turn and come down when you do. She turned herself about halfway around, so delivery was a little bit rough on her. She had a bruised nose and you could actually feel where her skull plates had shifted to allow her to come through. That’s righting itself today. She was also pretty purple and had no intention of crying or breathing for about the first minute. Also a first. She had Mom a little panicked. Her back is bruised a little bit because they had to rub her so hard to get her to cry. Then oxygen for a minute and she was as good as knew and pretty as could be.

She’s my third child to be born at 37 weeks and weighs the EXACT same as Tanner. All of the kids have done fine, but Avery’s struggling a little more. There was blood in my water, so she’s having trouble with digestion (it should go away in the first week or so) and her blood sugar is a tiny bit off. We’re still hoping to go home today, but we’ll see.

As I sit here staring at this sweet, little girl in my lap (she only wants Mom today) I am reminded of the miracle and blessing that she is. Pregnancy is always hard on me, but this one was extra hard. I had to fight harder and sacrifice more for her to get here safely. It makes me incredibly grateful for motherhood . . . for the sweet blessings that my children are and for the joy and experience they bring to my life. I pity those who have no desire to be mothers. Motherhood is the essence of life and the divine, God-given role of women. We were created for it and our souls possess the amazing capability to rise to the occasion, if we so choose, no matter who we are. These incredibly precious little souls need mothers who realize how important their job is. I have never apologized for choosing motherhood over a career and I never will. I shouldn’t have to. And I love my job and responsibility to these little ones that I’m lucky enough to call my own.

Avery has my heart feeling tender for another reason today. She’s named after my good friend, Nikole. Nikole passed away when we were seniors in high school. The hole in my life left by that loss has never completely filled . . . and honestly I don’t think it’s supposed to. But giving Avery Nikole’s name somehow adds sweetness to her memory for me. She was a good friend and a wonderful person. I love her still today. And I’m happy to have a daughter who can carry that name and memory. I like to think that they met before Avery got here to me. Yesterday was a sweet day.

So, I thought that I finally got a brunette. I was all excited. Then they washed Avery’s hair. Ummm, no such luck.:) She’s a blondie. Same color hair that Hunter had. I was only depressed for a second, I swear.:) She looks a lot like Hunter too. But then sometimes she looks like Tanner. And then later she’ll look like Haylee. It’ll be interesting to see what this little girl looks like in the near future. Instead of being a Walker or a Huwe, she may be a mix. That’ll be a first.:) Anyway, we may be home today . . . if not, it’ll be tomorrow. Either way I’m incredibly excited to have Avery join our family and bless our lives. She’s adorable.

She thinks I’m really funny. Which, let’s face it, I am.:D