Avery is 2 Weeks Old!

Avery is the perfect two week old baby: sleeps, eats (a lot!), poops, pees, and loves just staring at us!  She has been working on building up her neck muscles and she is starting to "watch" Pico!  She is beautiful, amazing, and fills our days with smiles and laughs!  She eats about 24 oz each day!  This of course leads to about 12 diaper changes every day.  I have officially switched to pumping breast milk full-time, since my frustration was getting the best of me and I realized that my sanity was at jeopardy!  Pumping about 8 to 10 times a day is difficult, but at least I know that Avery is getting enough milk and she and I are staying much happier!

Avery had some out-of-state visitors on Saturday!  Jackie and Mike Barrett (from Chicago) and Rachel Dockendorf (from Phoenix) were both in town and we all enjoyed catching up with each other.  Jackie and Mike are expecting their first baby (a little boy) on August 23rd!  They will make great parents!

Me with Jackie and Rachel

Avery had her two-week check up yesterday with Dr. Wendy Johnson at CentraCare, who confirmed her growth since birth!  Her current stats:  8 pounds 5 ounces (48th percentile), 21 1/2 inches (87%), and 37 cm head circumference (74%).  She was awake and happy during the entire appointment, Dr. Johnson was very impressed!  We questioned the "birthmark" that we noticed on the base of the back of her head.  Apparently that is very common and is called the "stork bite" and should disappear by the time she is a toddler.

Milestones for Avery recently:
She had her first tears on day 16, and on the same day she lost part of her umbilical cord (the remainder was taken off by her doctor the next day).  Her doctor still recommended waiting about a week before we give her a real bath (not a sponge bath) since there still is just a little scab on her belly button. 

PICTURES (from week 2)

Just relaxing!

Stretching!

Avery with her Uncle Steven

Working on a burp after feeding

Daddy feeding Avery

She sure likes to sleep during tummy time!

One of her many funny faces she makes!

So cute!

Avery in her onesie given to her by Jen and Corey Eystad!  So cute!

PICTURES!

So I never would have guessed how fast this time at home would fly by! We are finishing up with her first week of life already and just starting to adjust to this crazy schedule...if I can call it a schedule at all.  It is about time I updated you with some of the first photos of our sweet Avery!

This picture was taken just a few days before I gave birth.  This is me with James' sister, Sarah, and her youngest, Madeline.  

James was awesome to take pictures immediately after the delivery.  Here are a couple to share...

More pictures from the hospital...

Avery all bundled up in a perfect swaddle

Avery's footprints!

James showing some friends, Ryan and Corey (soon-to-be fathers), how to change a diaper...so cute

James chillin' with Avery

Avery right before we were discharged

 

Avery and Daddy completely zonked out!

Avery having some tummy time

 

Avery in her vibrating chair...she loves it!

Avery in her swing...she loves this too!

Our friends Rachel and Ryan had their baby girl on Monday.  Jessica Margaret was 7 lbs 11 oz and 19 1/2 inches.  They will be great friends and only two days apart in age!  I love Jessica's hair! 

We visited Rachel and Jessica on Thursday...and here they are, friends already!

With our struggles with breastfeeding, we are probably heading toward solely pumping the breast milk and feeding Avery by bottle.  We will then be able to make sure she is getting enough and not have to spend over an hour on each feeding. 

I also wanted to share the link to see Avery's birth photos that were taken at the hospital.  She was so good during the photo session and the photos turned out great!  

Here is the link to the photos:

http://www.our365.com/NewbornPortraits/BabyDetail.aspx?birthid=8860cc03-c049-4256-9662-9f620709be0b

We are loving every minute with Avery and she makes us smile and laugh every day!

More updates will come as Avery grows!

Avery Ann Unger!

I feel silly that it has taken me this long to update the blog, our news is already two days old!

Our beautiful baby, Avery Ann Unger, was born on Saturday, July 17, 2010 at 7:33am. She was 7 lbs 8 oz and 19 inches long! The delivery was quicker than I had ever expected it to be. I started having mild contractions that I didn't think were even real around 6:00 pm on Friday evening. But my first "real" contractions (regular and strong) started shortly after 12:00 am on Saturday morning. We went to the hospital around 2:00 am, already dilated to 4cm, and five and a half hours later, our baby was here!

We are so overjoyed and in love! And have already begun to realize just how much of our time she will take...but she is so worth it!

Pictures have been hard to upload with the slow connection I have here at the hospital, so I promise to get you pictures once we are home! We will get discharged today after the doctors are in to see us!