Pressing On: Happy Birthday Avery!

On June 26th we joyfully welcomed Avery Grace into our family. Due to Avery being 10 days past her due date, we had been scheduled for an induction on the 26th. Thankfully, I went into labor early that morning and by the time we got to the hospital for the induction, I was already having fairly regular contractions. To ensure that my labor continued, Dr. Heck augmented it with an induction medication. However, Miss Avery was not a fan of this medication and within a minute or two decided to tell us by having some heart irregularities. Intense is the best way to describe the next several hours. We went from preparing to have a c-section due to the heart irregularities, back to normal labor, back to c-section, back to normal labor and then to a very quickly progressing labor that thankfully resulted in her birth! Avery Grace was born at 2:44pm weighing 6 lbs, 8ozs and was 19.5 inches long. She waited for what seemed like hours to make her first cry, but when she did it was the most beautiful noise I've ever heard. Labor was one of the most intense experiences I've encountered- on a physical, emotional, psychological and spiritual level. Zach was an incredible coach- I couldn't have done it without him. We are also grateful for Dr. Heck's excellent care in helping bring a healthy Avery into the world with the least intervention possible. We knew so many were praying for us during this time as well- and really felt strengthened by these petitions. Thank you for your prayers. They were effective! Meeting Avery for the first time went beyond my best expectations. Zach and I were/are amazed by her. She is absolutely worth the wait and we thank God for creating her and allowing us to be her parents. Sometimes it's hard to believe that she's really here, really ours- seems too good to be true!

The first week of Avery's life was a tad bit crazy. Zach had to go back to Laredo to finish up the last few days of his residency. And then he moved the remaining things out of our little apartment there and back to San Antonio. While he was moving out of Laredo, my parents were with me at our house in San Antonio along with some movers trying to get half of our things moved to storage and the other half packed up to move to Fort Worth. Zach's mom and brother, Bailey, joined us later that weekend and joined in on all the moving fun. Our families should receive the family of the century award. The time and effort they willing gave to care for us and help us move was unbelievably generous. We were also blessed by friends bring by meals and giving a hand with the packing. They all were such an extension of the love and grace of Christ to us. Last Monday, when Avery was 6 days old, we all got in our respective cars and trucks: my mom drove Avery and I, Zach drove the moving truck, Bailey drove Zach's truck with the trailer and my dad drove my parents car- and we made the trek northbound I-35. Zach's mom headed back to Abilene with Luna and Bear for a little more time at "summer camp." Avery was a great little traveler. She slept save 10 minutes until we arrived in Waco to stop at Grandma Dot's house so she could meet Zach's dad, aunt Janey and Greg. Then she continued to sleep all the way into Fort Worth. We all made it safe and sound to our new apartment and our sweet friends, Jake and Laura Mitchell, were there to greet us and brought us all dinner! Our plan is to be in Fort Worth for at least 6 months. Zach will be working at a pediatric dental clinic here and continuing to work on the upcoming practice in Midland. We're excited about the time to come: getting to know our sweet baby girl and how to be her parents, getting to know a new city, Zach starting a new job, and for me to be staying at home with Miss Avery.

Here are a few (plus a lot) of photos from Avery's birthday and first week.