things are looking up

Well, last night I think we finally had a breakthrough. Ava and I finally slept about four hours together. Obviously she sleeps lots more than me, but it seems like my body is letting go and adapting and Ava seems to sleep best on me or next to me. My breast milk has come in very well, as Jeremy has posted for the world to see, but hey, this is the first time in my life to have luscious bosoms, why not show them off?!

One of my favorite things I've been told this week was said by our new pediatrician--"I combed my hair, I brushed my teeth, it's a good day." I'm just trying to keep that in mind. Having Jeremy's mom around has been a fantastic help, and despite lack of sleep we all keep working together to make it through the day. The rewards are great, as Ava seems to slowly be adjusting to life outside the womb; she's so healthy and strong and I'm really thankful for so much right now. That we made it through labor (which I'm still not ready to describe yet), that we all have our health, and such loving and supportive friends and family. I'll tell ya something else too, when Ava smiles after a feeding, a burping, while she sleeps, or ripping a big one, that's all the reward in the world.

Dayish six

The pictures and events being described are real, only the sequence of events and chronology have been changed to protect the innocent.

Actually:
Only one of us is innocent...
And the meaning of time has become blurred and distorted...
Much like the humble tea bag.

A lot of these pictures are fun and beautiful and sweet. They show only the best of times. When times is rough, naturally I don't take pictures. In fact I run out of the house and go climb up my favorite tree. Which is a bar. In Texas. So if reading this blog makes you think babies are all cupcakes and wonderful, think again before making one. My advice is keep practicing, and enjoy it.
That being said, (drumroll pleez)... here now for your viewing pleasure ... Domestic Bliss!!!

The non-dynamic quatro

In some late hours of the night, Gail gets treated with a smoothie, including a funny straw.

Another treat I made her, although its hard to see, the strawberries are resting on slices of banana, and the tops are hollowed out and filled with whip cream and love.

Kitty says - Fuck gravity!

The next photos are a storyboard of a script I'm working on, so stick with me people...

Dad: Hey Ava, want to hear a funny joke?
Ava: Skeptical look

Dad: No seriously, you'll like this joke sweetheart!
Ava: Does it involve boobies?!? I like boobies...



Dad: No honey, breasts aren't funny, they are objects of admiration.
Ava: Guffaws in appreciation of dads wit


Dad: Begins to tell the joke about a horse, a pile of turnips, and his local congressman
Dad: (finishing the joke through tears) ...and if it hadn't been for my horse - I never would've gone to college!!!
Ava: Laughs uproariously.

...

That's all I've got so far. To be perfectly honest, our lead actor has limited range and isn't perfectly continent, but we are working with her and have high hopes to later weave in a musical score. She's got a fine set of pipes on her.

A MidSpring Night's Post

Currently Grandma is sleeping, and I'm pulling first shift. Here's a brief glimpse of the homestead this time of night.

Pika resting cozily on the new blanket that Grandma must have bought just for her. Her eyes are saying she'll kill me if I put this picture on Facebook and her friends see it.


Sleepy or bashful? Either way, a heartwarming rascal. He's like the Fabio of dogs, great looking, but fit mostly for cover art. Don't expect depths of insight from him. He does have mad chewing skills, and likes to follow his momma around and sleep by her.


Gail is partying like its 2009! I guess since she refrained from drinking for 9 months, she now feels that it's ok to pound 'em down any time, day or night. (Actually the wine is recommended to help Mom relax while breastfeeding.)


Enough with the filler - y'all know you want some baby pictures :-) Here's one of Ava swaddled in the crib.
I call this the baby burrito. Swaddling is a wonderful technique to soothe babies. If you haven't heard the word, search for "The happiest baby on the block". There's a doc in Californy that has been teaching a method of calming infants. This burrito isn't done all that well, her little hand should be down by her side, but they have a way of wiggling out such that you have to rewrap it every once in a while. I haven't convinced Gail to allow me to use duct tape, but the night is young...

Day Four

I got a full nights sleep last night, clear through to 5am, and woke up feeling perky. With plenty of energy, I helped mind the baby while Gail and Grandma got some sleep. Poor Gail can only sleep for brief intervals because Ava needs to eat every hour or two. It is really exhausting for mothers in the beginning, I can't imagine how single moms manage. Actually the whole bit is harder for me than I expected. I figured I'd get off pretty easy, just being nearby, cracking wise, and changing a diaper or two. But since Gail's doing around the clock baby support, she has needed a lot of help. We're very lucky to have Grandma here. We set up an appointment to see the pediatrician today, and carried Ava in around 1:30pm. She now weighs 7lbs 4ozs (typical to lose weight during first week), and is now certified as the cutest baby in Athens. Ava was scheduled to get a Hepatitis B vaccine, and Gail was anxious about having to watch her cry from the needle. I promised her if she (Gail) didn't cry that I would take her to DQ for some ice cream. The nurse did a quick and tidy job of it, and I immediately swaddled Ava after which she stopped crying and chilled out almost immediately. It wasn't nearly as bad as we'd feared, and we stopped on the way home and got a Georgia Mud Slide, which descriptively is akin to what Ava has been manufacturing lately. The afternoon was another fine spring day, and we all enjoyed the weather while doing some chores around the house and letting Gail get a little shut eye.

Rough Night, Happy Day

Last night was a rough one. We were at the point where the milk hadn't started flowing yet, and Ava was thinking it was time to get down to business. Gail couldn't do much for her during the night, and I couldn't either. Both of us were at the end of our ropes (which I suppose must get longer). Grandmother to the rescue! She stayed up and rocked the baby in the recliner most of the night while Ava cried and struggled to wring some milk out of the pacifier. Gail slept fitfully and fretted thoroughly, and I managed to catch a few winks here and there. By morning Ava had settled down a little bit and fell asleep, and Gail crashed out until about noon. Meanwhile Grandma kept puttering around the house and being in general a wonderful help, and it turned into a gorgeous day outside. By the time Gail woke up and was feeling better, we wrote down some questions and called the lactation consultant at the hospital. (This too much information for y'all?) The consultant told us several useful and comforting things that Gail probably remembers. Later in the afternoon we had another visitor - Uncle Nathan!



Initially he thought maybe we should have returned her and gotten another one, but it wasn't long before Ava had him pinned down and helpless. Nathan is pretty strong, but he's no match for 3 tons of cuteness. It was a treat to have him over, he'd been blacksmithing in the North Georgia Mountains, and was a little tuckered. So he got some shuteye in the dappled shade and gentle breeze while laying in the hammock.


I'd set the hammock up in my fit of nesting. (Which unfortunately for Gail only manifested itself in projects outside the house.) One end is wrapped around a huge oak, and the other is attached to a cedar post I'd put in the ground. Unfortunately it was never set quite right, and had a slight but noticable inward lean to it. This had always left me vaguely dissatisfied, but not so much as to make me do anything about it. Once little miss thang got in there with her 4 tons of cuteness (she grows on you...), the cedar post began to lean inward to a degree that was no longer acceptable. Luckily her Uncle Nathan is a wizard with metal. He recommended a guy wire, and I had some steel cable lying around. We planted a big 'ol cedar stake in the ground, looped one end around the top of the post, and wrapped the other around the stake, attached it, then pounded it into the ground. The result is most victorious.

Now lazy dogs everywhere can be secure in the knowledge that the hammock will not sag too low to the ground and interfere with a good roll in the hay.

more pictures as I muster up text

I'm working on the birth story for ya'll which is long, and I get kind of tired and overwhelmed thinking about it but I will post it as soon as I'm finished. In the meantime, more pics to share.

Hi, I'm new here!
Leaving the hospitalAva and her Grandma Ginger

Ava Pictures!!! Yay!!!

Sorry to have to make ya'll wait but something is ALWAYS happening at the hospital following delivery. I've put together several photos that I'm gonna try to get in before we get interrupted again. I'm recovering from labor and will post much more detail about everything once we get home, which we look to do tonight. We are very happy and very in love with our beautiful baby girl! Thank you all for your love and support.



Can you tell her Daddy is smitten...?Ava with "Pa" Tarver, who's just tickled silly!

Blogging is hard

We organized some photo's and a couple of short video clips, and I'd given the laptop to Gail to make a post. But before she was able to get started we encountered had a steady stream of nurses, lactation consultants, nutritionists, and visitors. The skinny is that mama and baby are still doing great, we're planning on breaking out of here later this evening. And at some point we'll try to get a post from mom :-)

One more leaf to the tree

Meet little Miss Ava Lucille Tarver. Born Thursday April 23rd, 6:04am. 7lbs and 11ounces, 22 inches long. She's beautiful and absolutely must get that from her mother. She is also apparently sweet and quiet. Not sure I'm the father after all. I'll probably let Gail do a more thorough posting about the labor later, but I just wanted to share some first pics with friends and family.
This first one is a photo of Gail taken about noon. The the lighting was dim, and she's just endured 30 hours of labor. I still think she looks beautiful :-) You can't quite make out Ava for the swaddling.


We've got a great video of Ava moving around in her first hour in the world, but after I started uploading it realized it was 179MB. Gotta trim it down first, and the laptop battery is about to run out of juice. So thats the skinny, more details later!
Jeremy

Still waiting...

I know everybody is just about as anxious as we are to hear news about Ava, but she's still a no-show so far. I've been cramping a bit more so I'm hoping that's a sign that things will start soon.

We had our prerequisite bit of prelabor drama this weekend when we woke up on Saturday and our well pump had quit working. It wasn't fixed until midafternoon yesterday and my poor landlord was so sweet and concerned. I bet he called the well people about 20 times this weekend. Although I want Ava to come soon, I'm glad she held out the weekend so hopefully we can indulge in that early labor bath that's supposed to feel so great.

Here's a late evening pic of me on her due date (that's why I look kinda sleepy)
and here's a pretty picture from "Engagement Hill" (where Jeremy proposed on the farm). I took a long hike with the dogs yesterday to try to make something happen. It was a beautiful day!

Due date plus...

Well, my best friend Gaby took me to see the midwives today for our weekly appointment. Everything is fine, my blood pressure is good, I actually lost some weight since last week (water weight I think), Ava's heart beat is perfectly normal, we're just in limbo basically waiting for the action to start. I did get to ask the question that I've been asking all the different midwives I've seen the past few weeks "How big do you think she is?" Today's response was- "I'm not exactly gonna tell you because if I said 9 pounds, what would you think/feel about it?" Instead, I got a safe "She is very long! Like 22 inches long! (I encourage you to pull out a ruler right now and show yourself exactly how long that is...No way! I know!) Look at her feet over here, her bum over there, you might just have to bypass all those little clothes(0-3m) or they might just last for a week or two. " So, apparently those long bones contribute a lot in the weight factor, and it looks like she's gonna be a long skinny girl.
As far as what happens now is we wait for things to start naturally up until 41 weeks, and they did say I'm officially not late, really you're late after 41 weeks, and today I'm at 40 weeks plus 2 days, so when/if 41 weeks rolls around next Wednesday and Ava's still not here, we'll be having an ultrasound done and wear a fetal monitor for a little while to assess the situation and decide on the next step depending on her status. So either way, it looks like we'll probably only be waiting to see Ava for a week or so! Yippee! I'm getting so excited! But who knows, may be she'll come this weekend...

Thanks everybody for your support and excitement as we come down to the end of pregnancy here. I can't believe she's nearly here and really, really can't wait to meet her. No new strong braxton-hicks, but Jeremy and I are going on daily walks to try to motivate Ava a bit. I really don't think we can fit much more, but my belly button is STILL hanging in there. (Jeremy says I had a deep bellybutton to begin with anyway). We'll keep ya'll posted. She's due tomorrow but we'll give her another week or so. My friend asked after returning from a trip "Where's the pop tart?" I say she's still getting her frosting and sprinkles put on. : )

Pictures of Ava as we wait

and Ava practicing her best Mick Jagger for her Grandpa Don...

Viva la bellybutton!

Having fun as we wait for the baby... ; )

The start of the ninth month.


The latest picture of me wearing the shirt my mom actually wore when she was expecting me.

one week and counting...

I think this is the hardest part. Not knowing when and being somewhat uncomfortable as you wait. She's just putting on ounces every day but I can tell by her movements she's getting strong! The moon is moving towards full now, at least it will be in a few days. So we just wait.