Avery Joelle Shaw

I was told by my friend Carrie that I REALLY needed to update our blog because our last entry dated back to October 2008, almost three months ago. She's absolutely right! A lot has happened to us since Halloween. Our family has since grown by one and we've been busy adapting to this big change in the midst of celebrating Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years with friends and family. Oh, my dear blogging friends, it's been too long. So let me briefly update you on what's been going on in the Shaw household these past few months...

Here she is, our new addition...Avery Joelle Shaw. Born Monday, November 10, 2008 @ 1008 am, 7 lbs 20.5 inches, at Kaiser Permanente Hospital in Woodland Hills, CA. After a mere 36 hours of labor (only 5 of which were considered "active"), she finally decided to grace us with her presence.

Here she is getting her first physical assessment. When the Nurse Midwife broke my water at 6 cm they found meconium in the fluid (baby's first stool). Often times this is the baby's response to the stress of labor. When meconium is present the doctors are concered about the baby aspirating (inhaling) some of the contents. They had a pediatrician on hand to assess her immediately following delivery to make sure she was ok, and, as you can see, she was perfect. Apgar scores of 8/10 after 1 minute and 9/10 after 5 minutes.

Avery and Mommy

Avery and Daddy

Avery with Grandma Heather and Grandpa Bruce

Avery, Uncle Cole & Devon

Avery and Auntie Taylor

Some More Visitors While in the Hospital:

Great-Aunt Lynn

Erica, Avery's Second Cousin

We were blessed to have so many friends and family visit us on our ONE night in the hospital. We're sorry we didn't get pictures with everyone, but among those who came were Great-Uncle Jerry and Kurt (another second cousin), Cyndi Hayes and her lovely girls, Delaney and Camden, Ross and Audrey DeRoche, Larry and Sherryl Shaw and some of Mommy's coworkers from the Infusion Center.

Getting burped by Daddy

AAAHHHH...that feels much better!

Now it's time for a nap

All ready for our first car ride home

Even though it was a long, painful, emotional process, Geoff and I felt everything went as well as could be expected with regards to our first labor and delivery experience. Maybe even bettter than expected. Sure it hurt worse than I could have ever imagined, there was lots of noise and writhing and Geoff's hand was slightly crippled in the process, but then there was the EPIDURAL, the DILATION, and the beautiful words we'd been so eagerly waiting 9 months to hear...it's time to PUSH!!! After only 1 1/2 hours of pushing we both saw the light at the end of the tunnel...our beautiful, healthy baby girl, Avery, had finally entered the world. Ahhh, thank you, Lord. Relief, elation, tears of joy...everything was as it should be. What more could two people ask for? It was at that moment that Geoff and I looked at each other and realized our lives would never again be the same, that they would forever be changed, and in that same instant we discovered that it's true what they say...it really is all worth it in the end!

TO BE CONTINUED...