First Moments

Ava was born at 2:58 A.M. on Friday the 13th (yikes!) of April, 2007. She weighed in at a whopping 8 lbs. 15 oz. and measured in at 22". Randee had a bit of an infection and temperature for much of the time she was in labor, so that infection (whatever it was, and they probably won't ever know) was passed on to Ava. Because of that, the NICU folks were on hand as she was being born in case she needed some monitoring because of the infection. It was a good thing they were there.

Ava came out pretty limp and purple and wouldn't start breathing on her own. She was rushed to the NICU with Randee's mom and Faith right behind them. They started her breathing and shortly thereafter she started to breathe on her own. Within an short time she had her proper color and was laboring to breathe on her own while oxygen was being piped in.

The oxygen was removed this morning at 8 A.M. and when I called the nurse at 10:30 A.M. she said that she was laboring a bit to breathe, but that she was breathing just fine. She also told me that there wasn't much of a risk of any brain damage in that her Apgar Test score was basically normal after five minutes despite not being that way at one minute. The nurse did, however, tell me that she will be in the NICU for at least 48 hours while the anti-biotic takes effect and the baby is all better.

As for the parents, we are all pretty exhausted after 22 hours of labor. Randee is at the hospital. When we left her at 5 A.M. this morning, she was being moved to her room and was very sleepy. Faith, although very worried, conked out at around 5:45 A.M. this morning and is still asleep. As for me, I am just hanging out answering the phone and writing this blog to let everybody know how everybody is. All in all it has been a good experience. Give me a call if you have any questions!

Thanks,
Dustin and Faith

Enjoy the Photos!



Faith literally seconds before birth- this look quickly changed to a look of horror. Seriously- like in literally 30 or so seconds.




Ava winced and stuck her tongue out at Faith when she took this picture and the flash went off. Apparantly babies don't like flashes and the doctor quickly made sure Faith knew that.









Yup, she's a big 'un! She's already as long as my 2 month old nephew and only a two pounds lighter!