Smile!

For the past week or so, Audrey has been starting to smile. It's hard to catch it on camera because the flash confuses her!

Jason magically got my camera to hook up to the computer, so here are some more pictures of Audrey that I put on Shutterfly:

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Da Bears

Audrey has had a busy weekend. Her friend Ethan from Columbus came up to visit on Saturday and on Sunday, she went to visit her cousins, Grandma and Papa, then into Mommy's office. Afterwards, she watched the NFC Championship game with Daddy. Go Bears!

Friends

Here is Audrey and her friend Emma. They had a great time playing together yesterday as you can see from this photo!

One month checkup

Audrey had her one month check up this morning. She weighed 9 lbs 3 3/4 oz and is in the 50th percentile for height and weight. Next month she gets 3 shots at her visit - I don't know who will be more upset, her or me!

Pictures

I finally got the pictures off of my digital camera. The first few are from my 30th birthday dinner with the Hoffman/Stevens clan about a month before Audrey's arrival.

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Welcome!

I thought I'd start a site so everyone can keep up with Audrey Claire! Here is her story:

We found out that I was pregnant in early April. Due to a loss the previous fall, we got to have an ultrasound at 7 weeks and were relieved to see a strong heart beat in our little "blob." At our 16 week appointment, we were very excited to learn that it was a girl! We decided on the name Audrey Claire that day, although we did not tell anyone until her arrival (the one and only time I was able to keep a secret!). We had fun picking out the nursery decor and "non-pink" clothes (Daddy was tired of all of the pink stuff). Between the two of us, we had four showers and were overwhelmed with the support and love for Audrey!

On Monday December 11th, I had my 39 week appointment at the OB/GYN. The midwife told me that I was only 1 cm dilated, but that she could strip my membranes to speed things up. I started getting minor contractions that night. By Wednesday, the contractions were 10 minutes apart but they still were not too uncomfortable. Around 2 am on Thursday December 14th, I woke up because the contractions were getting a little stronger. I decided to sit up and time them. Right after I sat up, my water broke!

On the way to the hospital, Andy was pulled over for speeding! Luckily the cop was nice and let us go on our way! I was only 3 cm when we got to the hospital, so they gave me the epidural and told me to try to get some sleep. Sometime around 9ish, the contractions were getting stronger and the pressure was really uncomfortable, so they had me start pushing. Audrey's head was visible and we could see tons of brown hair, but she wasn't coming out. After about an hour and a half or so, the midwife decided to give me some pitocin to make the contractions stronger. I rested for about an hour and then started pushing again. At 12:50 pm, after much crying and pushing on my part, Audrey arrived! She was 7 lbs, 6 oz and 21 inches long. Her long hair was amazing!

More to come later...