Little Update

What a month it has been! After moving into our duplex we discovered that all of the dsl lines in Blue Ridge were in use so we are having to suffer through a year of slower than a snail satellite internet. Ok. It's not that bad. An hour ago I began uploading 41 pictures for this blog so far we've managed 12. Go satellite internet! You're the best!

7 months.

She crawls now. Well it's not really a crawl-- more of a pushup lunge but she gets around. Tugging on cords, eating random things off the floor, getting into the DVD's-- she is mobile. It's exciting to see her grow. My eyes have been opened to how un-baby-proof my house is. We're trying to house proof the baby. I spanked her hand the other day and she looked at me like I was crazy. I'll let you know how it goes. 

Pushup lunges have become second in worry land to pulling up on furniture. This is a new skill that she has developed over the past few months. She is still not so great at it so I am pulled away from laundry, dishes, vacuuming, decorating, alphabetizing my library, and cooking several times a day. There is a bang and then a terror filled scream that can only be halted with a hug and a nurse. 

She still has little to no interest in baby food. I've begun giving her small little bites off my plate whenever we sit down to eat and she seems to do alright with that but she makes a big show of coughing and gagging anytime we try baby food. I think she may go from nursing to solids. 

After she wakes up she'll sit still and watch an entire episode of Baby Einstein that is when I get the majority of my work accomplished. She is pretty content to play by herself unless she's sleepy and then she wants me to sit next to her. 

At night Brady and I like to watch movies. She sits on the couch with us, in the crook of my arm, and watches too. She is turning into a little person--it's hilarious. 

weight loss. 

In March I weighed a whopping 220.3 lbs. I decided to start the 30 day shred and adopt a couple healthier eating habits. Before I got pregnant with Avey I weighed 204 lbs and at my heaviest weight ever--9 months pregnant and ready to pop I tipped the scales at 258 lbs. 

I remember the last time I was below 200 lbs. It was in 2008. The day after I hauled all my stuff to Colorado Springs to begin attending the New Life School of Worship. I stepped on the scales and was appalled to see that I was 198 lbs. I called a friend and swore that I'd never see the other side of 200. I was on a mission to get my weight under control but no matter what I tried--eating healthy, working out-- I just couldn't seem to lose the weight and when I came home in 2009 I was 212 lbs and it was then that I was told that I had hypothyroid disease-- an autoimmune disorder that can cause significant weight gain.

When we moved to Texas in 2006 I was 125 lbs. 

87 lbs in three years. 

It was horrifying and humiliating. I was 20 years old and I had stretch marks and cellulite. 

I've tried diet plans and gym memberships but nothing ever worked. I'm addicted to food. The other day the power went out and all I could think of was going to In-n-Out to get a burger because I was upset that my plans to decorate that evening had been spoiled. I eat when I'm sad, bored, happy, annoyed--any emotion is a reason to eat.

In March I began to lose. In April we moved and I used that as my excuse to go back to the way I ate before. I told myself that as soon as we moved into our new place I'd go back to the diet. I did not anticipate that our home renovations would take us two months. 

I weighed 209 lbs the day we moved into our new home and I am proud to report that I weighed in at 197 lbs this morning. 12 lbs in three weeks. I'm very proud of myself.

I've lost 23 lbs since March and 61 lbs since I had Avey. I am very very proud of myself. 

The day I saw that I was no longer in the 200's was a life changing day. I cried. I hadn't seen the 100's in three years. 

Today was also a very happy day. When I met Brady I was over 200 lbs. I have weighed more than my husband since I met him. This morning... I weighed less. It made me feel all skinny and womanly.

I would like to get down to at least 185 before we get pregnant again. We'll see...

A tour of our new little home is coming soon!

The Boy Who Cried Wolf

moving day.
After almost two months of living with my Grandparents we are finally moving into our new home!! There is still work that needs to be done but today I am happy to be unpacking-- filling up the cupboards in our new kitchen, positioning furniture the way I've planned it in my mind, and convincing Brady that the bed does indeed need to go in the center of the wall in our room instead of up against the wall. Silly boy wants to have one us crawl over the other one to get out of bed.

We did that before. In the apartment. It was short lived and after I finally convinced him to let me position the bed differently to his surprise he actually like it better. I have no doubt that he'll come around--eventually-- this time too.

6 month old little monster. 
We bought her a jumpy thingy because she likes to stand up and bounce around while you hold onto her hands. We figured she'd love it but she's still trying to figure it out. We put her in it and after five minutes she starts to fuss because she's done.

She's going through this awesome stage where she likes to have my attention every second of the day. If I'm not looking at her she gets upset. Like--woah. We had a diva. She fake chokes now because she knows that I immediately drop whatever I'm doing and rush to her side. Smart, funny, little diva.

The other day I made myself a sandwich for lunch and I had just sat down on the couch to enjoy said sandwich when Avey went into this coughing, choking, fit. At first I thought she was joking but then she didn't stop when I looked at her so I freaked out. Dropped my sandwich on the ground and then stepped on it while rushing to her aid-- ready to do some serious pounding on her back to get whatever was stuck in her throat out.

When I got next to her on the floor she started to laugh because Momma is a funny fool and Avey is a good little prankster. I don't know where she learned how to fake choke herself but she did and now she does it once or twice a day. I tried to tell her the story about the boy that cried wolf but I don't think her comprehension skills are quite up to par yet. Sister drives me crazy.

"I coulda been a contender."

She's also become a little mimic. For months I've been placing my hand over my mouth while I say "awahwahwahwahwah". Like the Indians. Then if she makes noise I move my hand over her mouth too. Like I said we've been working at this for months and the other day while we were sitting on the couch, in the garage, in the duplex she placed her hand over her own mouth and let out a mighty Indian holler.

She likes to use the back of her hand for her Indian cry--so funny!

I grabbed my camera and hit record while we went back and forth--speaking Indian to each other. It was AWESOME. 

Also awesome? The way she started crawling two nights ago when everyone walked out of the room and it was just us two. She got up on all fours and crawled... twice. I woke my Grandparents up in hopes that she would do it again but she didn't. Last night after several failed attempts at trying to get her to crawl toward me I placed the TV remote at my feet (because Sister loves the things she's not allowed to have). Wouldn't ya know it? Girlfriend got up on all fours and crawled right over to that TV remote. I called for Brady and he was finally able to see it too. The look on his face was priceless. Big, huge, grin-- mouth wide open, he was radiating proud papa.

duck face. 
Avey started making this sniffy duck face shortly after we moved in with my Grandparents. It's ridiculous how funny it is.

toys.
Avey likes the toy for the tag. If the toy doesn't have a tag she isn't interested.

wet t-shirt contest.
June 12, 2012
My Grandparents are having some work done in one of the rooms of their house, needless to say, there has been a handy man walking around for the better part of the morning. Avey and I are here by ourselves so I took it upon myself to play hostess and offer the man a cold, refreshing, beverage. He laughed and said he was fine drinking out of the hose. I insisted that he come inside and have something cold and filtered.

While he was drinking and telling me some silly story Avey started to fuss in the other room as I prepared lunch. When I sat down on the floor with Avey in the living room I realized that the front of my shirt was wet and thought to myself, "Hmm I must have spilt some water."

Wrong. 


Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. 


Not water. Breast milk.

My handy dandy little milk pad was not positioned correctly and my milk let down-- in front of the handyman. I just thought I should share how utterly humiliated I am and how it sucks to be so leaky all of the time. Nursing is awesome, it saves a bundle, and it is much more convenient than formula. The pros outweigh the cons by far but sometimes I think back to a simpler time where my boobs were my own (+Brady's). One day...

Kisses.

Availeth Joy: Neonatal Intensive Care Unit

November 21, 2011
If you haven't read Avey's birth story you can read it here.
Today we had a little girl. When we arrived at the hospital we were immediately hooked up to fetal monitoring and shortly thereafter were told that Avey was having some pretty massive heart decells. The hospital staff wasted no time. We were in and out of the OR within the hour. A few weeks before I went into labor I noticed decreased fetal movement but I thought that it was because sister was growing and because she was bigger she wasn't able to move around as much. I googled it and other mothers noted that they had decreased fetal movements in the last few months of pregnancy so I didn't think much of it.


I had a friend who went to the ER multiple times during her pregnancy for decreased fetal movement and it never amounted to anything. It was my greatest concern that I would be a bother. I didn't want to be that girl but looking back I wish I had been.





When Avey was born she was swimming in a big pile of meconium (a baby's first bowel movement) they theorized that she'd been in it for quite some time. Her umbilical cord was  stained dark green. The doctor said that she was stressed because my placenta was not functioning like it should have. It had weird purple, rubbery, lesions on it. The doctor said that it looked like swirls or waves. After 20 years in the medical field she had never seen anything like it.


During Avey's birth I remember her commenting "The placenta looks old." After having the placenta sent to the pathologist's lab they still were unable to determine what happened exactly. One thing is for sure-- sister was not getting the nutrition she needed. Which was why she was so small. 5 lbs 1 oz and term.


"They took Avey to the nicu because her blood sugar and temperature is low. I only got to see her for ten minutes today."


November 22, 2011
Brady and I received a phone call from the nicu this morning saying that I could try to give Avey a bottle for her 9am feeding if we made it down to the nicu in time. My nurse almost didn't let me go. They had just removed my epidural and my legs were still a little numb. It was hard to stand up and make it to the wheel chair but I was determined. I hadn't seen Avey in 18 hours.





We only stayed in the nicu for a short amount of time because my nurse told me not to overdue it. They told me I could come back for every feeding if I'd like to. 3,6,9,12. Avey's blood sugar and temperature are still low. They gave her an IV to boost her sugars. I just hope we can take her home when we leave Thursday. I might beg them to let me stay till Friday if they don't let her come home Thursday.


Avey had her first bath today. She is so beautiful and her little cry is so funny!


"I have the most incredible husband in the world. Can not believe how well he takes care of me. Avey Williams is blessed to have such a loving Daddy."




November 23, 2011
8:42am-- Things are looking good! They told us we may have be able to have in her in our room as early as tonight! "Thank you everyone for your kind and encouraging words. I am feeling much better and I'm getting around really well. Still very sore but the incision is healing well. Avey is a champ. Her blood sugar has been perfect for the last 24 hours and she is maintaining her body temp all by herself. We are so in love."






5:12pm-- Received some pretty devastating news. Aveys platelet count is very low. They never mentioned it. I guess they've been keeping an eye on it all this time. I was shocked when pediatrics told us that they were going to have to give her a transfusion. This isn't fair. They said that sometimes when two people who have different platelet types have a baby the baby inherits the dominant platelets, which sometimes belong to the Father. If the baby's platelets are different than the mothers than after 
birth the body attacks the foreign  platelets.


If this is what had happened it could take up to two weeks for her body to get rid of my platelets. I feel like this is all my fault.  




"Keep praying. Baby girl is having a platelet transfusion. She'll probably be in the NICU for awhile."




November 24, 2011
Happy first Thanksgiving baby girl!






"Meet Availeth Joy Williams. This is right after her feeding tube came out so she still has tape on her chin. The nurse was rushing to get the tube back in so the video is a little shaky. Baby girl is so brave. She is doing so well in the NICU."













I was overjoyed when they took the tubes out of her nose and put her under a humidity hood. No more stuffy nose for baby Avey!


Still no improvement in her platelet levels. Doctors still don't know what is causing this. 







November 25, 2011
Four days old and she is so alert! They were able to remove her feeding tube today she is eating all by herself now. All we are waiting on now is her platelet count which still remains very low. The doctors are a little baffled.









November 26, 2011
The doctors no longer believe that Avey and I have different platelet types. If we did the IV IG would have fixed the problem. They don't know what is causing this. 


I was discharged today. We stayed at the hospital in the nicu all day. I refused to go home. Around 8pm we went to Target to pick up a couple things. I broke down in the parking lot. I sat in the passenger side of Brady's truck and cried because things are so different then I thought they'd be. I am not supposed to leave the hospital without my full term baby. 


I wasn't suposed to have a c-section. 


I wasn't suposed to have to ask for permission to hold my baby and change her diaper. People were supposed to ask me. I'm jealous of the nurses that get to love on her all day. I'm jealous that they get to spend all night with her while I am sent home. This is not how things are supposed to be. 


10:26am-- "Availeth is off her humidity hood, feeding tube, and everything that was wrong is perfect now except for her platelet levels, that even though she had a transfusion and IV IG, continue to drop. Please keep praying. Brady and I left the hospital at 10 last night. Pumping and feedings are keeping us busy. I am at peace and on a mission. Baby girls gonna get better."






November 27, 2011
5:14pm--"Ok. So. Here's the deal. After another transfusion yesterday Avey's platelets are at 121. Great! Now. They are going to test her again tomorrow. If the count goes up... she comes home! :) If the count stays the same... she stays till she normalizes. :/ If the count goes down... they transfer her to Medical City. :( Prayers are being answered. She is doing so much better. believe with us and for us that our little girl is healed and coming home tomorrow!"

November 28, 2011
7:39am--"Happy One Week Birthday Baby Girl!!! We will be celebrating one week of life at Baylor Frisco. Her levels stayed the same. I am a happy momma."

November 29, 2011

7:15am--"Prayers have been answered! Avey is coming home today! On her due date!"

Avey's favorite nurse!

Her going home outfit was 2385713745 times too big!

Such a proud papa!

Putting the car seat class we took to good use!

The most beautiful thing I've ever seen.

Hmmm... I wonder where I'm going?

We were so excited to get her home! I video taped the walk from the nicu to the car. 

I'm home!