Welcome Ava!

Ava was a champ last night and actually slept at night and in turn I was able to sleep some too. The past couple nights she only slept 2 hours and was up the rest of the night. So I actually feel like I can do more than sit with her and feed her!

At my 38 weeks appt. my dr. said that he didn't want me going past my due date and that he wanted to induce me Christmas night so I would have her on her due date and that if I progressed more he might even want to induce me earlier. Then on Tuesday at my appt. I had progressed enough that he said I could have her on Thursday! I called my mom and told her and luckily she and sister were able to make down here before the blizzard in Nebraska hit.

At 39 weeks before going into the Hospital.

(This might be boring for people but I wanted to write it down so I can remember it) I had to go into the hospital on Wednesday at 2 to do some blood work and then go back in to be induced at 8. Well Wednesday morning I woke up at 4:30 with some pains and I thought it was just nerves so I went back to bed and then woke up again like 20 min later with the same pains. For a while they were semi constant and then stopped after 30 min and then came around randomly throughout the day.

When mom and Jordan arrived at around 6 the pains were getting really close together and hurt a little more. I was convinced that I was making them up in my head and I didn't want to go into the hospital 2 hours early with nothing happening.

We left for the hospital and Spencer decided to take a short cut and it ended up taking us twice as long to get there so we were a little late. Luckily we only live 2 min from the hosptial. Once we got  there, they set me up to monitors. I was having contractions 3-5 min apart and they said that they couldn't induce me because I was already in active labor. Which was something that we both preferred would happen, but we didn't want to spend Christmas in the hospital. It was good that we planned for the inducement though otherwise my  mom wouldn't have been able to be here!

I was debating if I wanted an epidural and after like 4 hours I gave in. Before hand they gave me some pain killers. Let me tell you, I dont remember any of those 4 hours minus the pain from the contractions. According to Spencer here are some of the things I kept saying:

- I want chicken nuggets with buffalo sauce ( Apparently i said this a lot and the nurses were all talking about it. One nurse helping with the epidural was like "oh you're the one they're all talking about!")
-What if I forget to breathe. (at the beginning I had trouble breathing during contractions so I guess this was a big worry for drugged up me)
-How am I suppose to tell you how much pain I'm in when I can't open my eyes.
-I wouldn't be a fun drunk.

I don't think I'll take another pain killer again.

After I had the epidural I was able to sleep off some of the pain killers and went from a 4 to an 8 in like an hour and a half. They called the dr. and he came in (he wasn't going to arrive until about 6 and when they called him it was about 2) and then got the room prepared for Ava to come. I think he jinxed me since I was stuck at 8 from 2ish until almost 5. They decided to give me medicine to make my contractions stronger and at 6:00 I was a 10 and at 6:30 am exactly she was here!

She weighed 6 lbs 15.8 oz and was 19 inches long. I had to ask again how much she weighed since I was a little shocked. I was expecting her to weigh a lot more (not that I am complaining) since at 37 weeks they said she weighed 6 lbs 14 oz and they told me they were expecting her to be an 8-8 1/2 lb baby if she went the full 40 weeks.

It's still a little weird to think that she's my baby and that she's only 3 days old today.

Here are some things that we've learned about her so far:

-She loves to eat! In the hospital it seemed like all she did was eat. Literally. The second day she slept for 2 hours and then the rest of the day was spent with her eating, giving me a break of maybe 30 min between feedings.
-She can get very angry if she doesn't get fed exactly when she wants to be fed. (She might have gotten that from her Mom)
-She is the only one I know who stretches and yawns for 20 min without waking up.
-She makes the most adorable faces when she sleeps and can go from a happy smiling face to a what are you doing face in 1 second. She is also a very active sleeper always kicking her legs or waving her arms.
-She is very jumpy, and gets startled very easily. Something she also gets from her mom.
-She hates being moved when she's up and likes staying in one position.
-Also I swear when she sleeps her dreams are about eating. I have tried to feed her but she refuses and turns her head away from me but keeps acting like she's eating.

Chubby Cheeks!

Mommy's little angel

kisses/ Dreaming of eating

How Ava looks when you try waking her up.

Chillin in her boppy.

A rare moment when she has her eyes open and isn't eating

A happy, tired Daddy!

Daddy trying to calm Ava down

Daddy daughter bonding, watching soccer.

We can go home!

Happy Halloween!

Well this week we are 32 weeks! We're so close, it's so weird. So for Halloween I wanted to dress up in a white shirt and have a baby doll's arms come out of my belly, but my co-workers wanted our department to dress up as the cast of the wizard of oz, and wanted me to be Dorthy. Another person in a different department had a Dorthy costume that she let me borrow. The problem was that it fit 3 weeks before when she gave it to me, but a couple days before I tried it on again and it didn't fit quite so well. So I went to walmart and bought blue fabric and no sew adhesive stuff and made a semi blue apron. It worked, ish. 

AP Dept

I also had another dr. appointment. I was wanting to travel back to Omaha during thanksgiving since most of my siblings were going to be there but I got completely shot down by the dr. Like there's a no and then there's' what happened to me. I swear I have never seen a bigger eye roll then I did then. So needless to say,  I will be staying in Dallas for Thanksgiving. 

I don't really think Ava likes our dr, or at least the little machine(the fetal doppler thing).The last time he used it she kicked it. This time she made the dr. frustrated because he would hear the heart for a second and then she run away from it. He did like five times and the last time she stayed still enough for him to get her heartbeat. And she is still head down and very low and everything is looking good! 

After work we also went to vote! The line was kinda long. We were there for about 45 minutes in line waiting and the line was almost out the doors. If that's what it was like before election day, I'm glad that we went early! I was a little upset though(still am!) that I didn't get a sticker! So I settled on taking a picture. 

Can you guess who I voted for?

The WORST thing about being pregnant this Halloween was not being able to eat all the junk food that was at work! Next year I will make up for this!

I'm really bad at this updating thing...

But we've had quite a bit going on this past month. Mid-September I went to my first soccer game, It was FC Dallas vs. some Canadian team. Obviously we won.  Ava kicked seriously the entire game, from the start when they sang the National Anthem until we left she was kicking non stop it felt like. Spencer thinks that it's because she's going to be a soccer player. I think it was the noise that scared her. But I guess we will see.

My favorite part of the game was at the beginning when number 6 slapped the Canadian player in the face when the refs weren't looking. And that was about it. But we did have really nice seats. We were midfield front row... and it only cost us $5 per ticket. Spencer got tickets from school. We might have to go after Ava's born see if she really likes soccer or not. 

Spencer has also decided that he's going to be doing a diplomate in neurology. It'll take 300 hours but hopefully it will help him in getting a better job. And it was something that he really wanted to do. 

More good news: I get to work from home after Ava's born! It's probably going to be really hard, but It's going to be such a huge blessing for us! I was so excited and relieved when I found out. Now we won't be AS poor as I thought we would be (so basically we won't have to take as much out for loans). But it'll be a big help.

We also experienced our first earthquake(s) the last Saturday of September. We were both almost asleep when I felt this shaking. My first thought was that it was Ava. In my defense she's kicked me so hard sometimes that I have woken up, but it didn't feel like those other times and ruled that out and I was like okay did I dream that? So I asked Spencer if he felt that, he had but he just told me to go back to bed. Then not even 5 minutes later we felt another big shake and there was a booming noise. It sounded like something that weighed a couple tons fell off our roof or like a plane had crashed and we live semi close to the DFW airport so I was freaked out and we went out to check and see what happened. Spencer was like it was probably an earthquake let's just go back to bed. So we did but not before I put my shoes and purse by my bed with a snack(a single fruit snack) and went to bed completely dressed. I was a little paranoid. But there was no damage and no other quake. Spencer made fun of me, but if there had been I would have been prepared and I wouldn't have shared my fruit snack!

I also helped with a friends baby shower, Just wanted to show off my oreo ball making skills:

They looked pretty good and I was told they tasted really good. Too bad I couldn't eat one. It kinda made me sad. 

And while we are on the food subject, we have gotten over our carrots phase and are now into apples. More specifically the Gala or Honey Crisp apples. I don't know what is up with this little girl. I thought all girls were suppose to like Chocolate. There are little candies that I have found that I can eat like jolly ranchers, or sweet tarts. Oh well, If I've made it this long I guess I can make it another 10 weeks.

Hmm, what else. I also went to the Hospital. One Saturday we went to the Temple and I was in pain the entire time, and had been for like 6 hours. So we finally called my dr. and he said to come in and check just as a precautionary since I had had some trouble previously. I had an infection, and it turns out I need to be drinking more water(apparently me drinking a lot of water at work during the week doesn't transfer to the weekends when I drink none) and I am a baby when it comes to pain. I hate water. I prefer my water flavored. 

I am also torn between wanting to have an epidural and not being in pain, or being in pain and not having a huge needle being stuck in my spine. 

So this week I got to see my little miss Ava. I'm starting to go every 2 weeks now! And we only have 10 weeks left! Hopefully less, but we're 30 Weeks! 

I've been measuring big at every appointment and my dr wouldn't say anything about her being late or early really, but he said that I am measuring like 5 days bigger than noraml. So fingers crossed to coming early. I kinda want her to come on Dec. 12th so she'll be 12-12-12. But that would also be during Spencer's finals. But she's head down so lets hope she stays that way. 

So at church someone in the bishopric had a baby a couple weeks back, they thought it was going to be a girl, and turned out to be a boy. Since hearing this I have been paranoid so during the ultra sound I had the lady double check. She's still a girl!

I guess Ava likes to be in a curled up ball position, because the last 2 ultra sounds she has had her feet in front of her face. . Either she's really shy, or she's really stubborn and doesn't want to take pictures. Spencer thinks its the last one, and if it is this little girl is gonna have to get used to Mommy taking lots of pictures of her!

This last one is my favorite. Near the end she finally moved her feet enough that we could see her face. It's kinda hard to notice and the nurse had to point it out to me then I had to point it out to Spencer when he saw the picture. But I love it! She was super squirmy, but at least she didn't try to kick the ultra sound machine like she did at the last appointment when the dr. was trying to take her heartbeat. 

Sorry it was so long. I'm gonna have to get better at remembering to update this thing. 

New Tricks

So this little girl is very mobile. And she's learned this new trick, it's called be still until mom is almost asleep, then kick her awake. Her kicks have gotten really strong now and sometimes I get surprised at them and jump. I think I startle her too, so I guess we're even. She's also learned the art of retaliation. If you push on my stomach, she'll kick back. It's kinda fun, except when I'm sleeping or at the chiropractor and she gives a nice good kick after getting my back adjusted.

She's getting bigger, and apparently I "just popped over night" according to people at work. According to them I was too small, and now I'm huge. Not sure how I feel about that.

 Also we're over peaches and have moved on to carrots being our favorite food. We bought a 3lb bag of them at Sam's Club and they're almost gone. I swear I have never eaten this healthy in my entire life. It kinda makes me sad and I have made a list of things that I am going to eat after she's born. Top of that list: French Fries, Brownies, Buffalo Chicken tenders and Banana Cream Pie. Not all at the same time though.

We also got mail from Aunt Meredith and cousin's Charley, Gabby and Dani. It was a pretty romper and shoes. (if you're interested the romper is from www.babylacerompers.com) Can't wait to take her pictures in this.

 This next picture is not my idea but Spencer's. If it were up to me no pictures of me would be taken. We're 24 1/2 weeks!

I feel like I've gained like 50lbs, but at my last Dr. appointment last week, they told me I've just gained 7lbs this entire time(although it's probably a lot more now!) I was a little worried since people were telling me I looked small but the Dr. said I was measuring a little big and the weight was okay, I just need to gain 1lb a week from now on.

Nana & Grandpa Visit!

So my Daddy and Mommy came down last weekend to visit! I was super excited to see them. While they were here they helped me put up pictures (they were laying in the living room and I had no clue what to do with them!) We went shopping and we got to show them Texas!
They got me some clothes that I was in desperate need of!
And they got Ava started on her shoe and hair bow collection. Something Spencer doesn't understand, but she probably has about the same amount of shoes as Spencer now and definitely more hair accessories.

Aren't they so cute! I think my favorite are her little pink ones! The red ones are for the picture of her in her the red dress.  So far all of my sister and I have taken our first pictures in this dress and we continued this with all my nieces!

Oh and they also came down with a bassinet for her. She finally has something to sleep in! It's so cute a frilly! I don't know if you can see it or not, but there is a pink and blue ribbon/bow at the top, so we can use it again if we have a boy next... Or not.

We also ate at Costa Vida. I have been wanting to eat there since I moved away from Utah and there is exactly one here in Texas, and that is in Colleyville, which is like 20 min away. I wanted it for my birthday, but I couldn't eat meat then, and it just never worked out to go. It was Yummy!

I loved that my mom and daddy were able to see me! I really missed them and I can't wait to see them again. The next time they come to visit, she'll be here, or close to it! 

Ava Grace

On Monday we had our Dr. appt. and found out that on Dec. 26th we're going to have a baby girl! We are hoping that she comes sooner though, like right after Spencer takes his last final so we'll have a month with daddy helping change diapers and all the fun stuff that comes along with a new baby!

Spencer thought that it was going to be a Boy and I wanted it to be a Girl, but since Spencer is usually always right I was convinced that we were going to be having a boy. Luckily we decided on a girl name WAY before we knew it would be a girl. Her name is going to be Ava Grace Zimmerman.

Because of this I have given in and decided that I would start a blog. I don't know how many people will actually read this but be warned: This will probably all be about Ava.

I would also like to note that as much as I make fun of my dad for being technology illiterate, I'm not that far ahead of him as it took me literally hours to figure out how to start this thing.

So, I knew I was pregnant while we were working at the Temple and I had to get people to cover my spots I was at because I felt sick and nauseous and had to run to the restroom a few times. This kid didn't like any kind of meat from weeks 4-12. I could pretty much eat only fruits and vegetables. Luckily at13 I was able to eat other meats and can now eat anything I want as long as it's not chicken, avocados, any sweets, or super fatty/fried food. So pretty much everything that I love. Oh and she loves most fruits, especially peaches! She's taking after her daddy with the whole picking fruit over dessert thing.

I've already decided that when she doesn't want to eat her veggies and just wants to eat chocolate I will have to tell her no because she didn't want it when I was pregnant with her and that she has to eat her veggies since that's all she wanted then. 

                                                                       Ava at 8 Weeks:

Ava at 11 Weeks(she would not stop wiggling for the Dr. to get a clearer picture): 

Ava at 19 Weeks(being stubborn and not letting us see if she was a boy or girl):

And again like 20 minutes later after doing some jumping jacks to get her to move, but it worked:

On another note, all of my clothes are shrinking so I might just have to go shopping sometime soon, for both of us!