2 months

Our little Ava Sue is 2 months old already! I can't hardly believe it. She has changed our life forever and we are so blessed to have this little angel in our family. Here are some facts about our little sweetheart:

-10 lbs 13 oz
-23 inches long
-wears size 1 diapers
-sleeps about 5 hours straight at night!
-hates being swaddled
-sleeps with her arms straight over her head
-kicks off every blanket we put on her
-loves the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse show!
-loves sleeping in mommy and daddy's bed
-won't sleep in her bassinet
-eats about 4 to 5 oz at a time
-smiles a lot!
-is a total drama queen when we are taking too long making her bottle
-still loves to cuddle!
-her eyes look like they are going to stay blue!

and last but not least, she is a total mama's girl! When Brandon comes home from work he watches her so I can get some work done and she totally freaks out. He has to bring her into the room I am working in just so she can stare at me. I don't know what I am going to do with her.

We love our little cuddle bug so much!

Ava Sue Henrich - Birth Story

I know that most people don't care about this, but I need to write it down so I don't forget some of the details from the day our little angel was born.

My due date was December 27. I was convinced that I would go early. Once Thanksgiving was over I was ready for her to come. I waited and waited and nothing happened. At every doctor appointment I was the same, dilated to a 2 and 80% effaced. My doctor even said that she would be surprised if I made it to my due date.

So I came home and started doing everything I could think of to kick start labor (with the exception of castor oil). Nothing happened. My due date came and went. I was getting so frustrated and stressed out.

My doctor scheduled an induction for January 3, one week past my due date. I didn't think it was going to come to that. I was obviously wrong. We headed to the hospital the night before so that they could "ripen me up." We got there at 8pm and they got me all hooked up and started the pitocin. I was having contractions before they started the pitocin but they were so little I didn't even feel them. The nurse told me that I could get the epidural anytime I wanted it. It was around midnight that I started feeling some pain so I decided to go ahead and get it. Epidurals are amazing! The only pain I was feeling was from my IV and my catheter was bothering me. The nurse came and checked me around 2am and I was only dilated to a 4 (I arrived at the hospital at a tight 3). At that rate I wouldn't be ready to start pushing until 4pm. That was really discouraging. They weren't able to increase my pitocin as often as they would like because my uterus wasn't getting in a rhythm like it was supposed to.

Luckily things started to pick up and by 10am I was at a 7 and a 10 by noon. Once I was a 10 we waited a little bit for her to drop so I wouldn't have to push as long. Then I had this feeling like I was going to poo my pants (I know, too much information). Little did I know that meant I needed to start pushing. I had my epidural but the pressure was killing me. I was halfway through pushing when the anesthesiologist came in and gave me a re-dose of the epidural. I only pushed for 45 min to an hour and then our little girl arrived.

Ava Sue Henrich was born January 3, 2014 at 2:08pm. She weighed 8 lbs 2 oz and was 20 inches long.

I was so proud of Brandon. He is very squeamish but he did so great through the whole process. He held my leg while I pushed and he even cut the umbilical cord.

Unfortunately I didn't get to hold Ava until she was 3 hours old. When they delivered my placenta it broke apart which caused me to hemorrhage. I lost a lot of blood. (A normal blood count is between 40 to 50 and I left the hospital with a blood count of 22.) I started passing out and was shaking uncontrollably. Luckily my doctor was able to get all of it out without having to perform a DNC. I have to take an iron supplement everyday so I can replenish my blood supply.

Our little angel is perfect in every way. Her hair is much lighter and thinner than I thought it would be. She is 3 weeks old today and I can't believe how big she is getting.

South Carolina Trip

I know I am way behind, but I need to document about our trip before I totally forget what we did. Brandon and I traveled to South Carolina on Oct 22 and came back on Oct 29. This was the first time I had been home since last summer! I hate that it took us over a year to go back home, but we have had a very weird year with unemployment. I was 30 weeks pregnant when we left Utah for our trip. I had a very hard time on our flights. My back was killing me almost the entire time and our daughter would freak out during take off and landing. We almost missed our connecting flight in Baltimore, but luckily we got there just in time. We finally arrived in Charleston at 10pm. Needless to say we were exhausted and ready for bed. My brother Chad came down from Knoxville, TN to see us while we were in town. It was really good to see him, even though he loved making comments on how fat I am. Haha but I guess that is what big brothers are for. Our trip was spent shopping, eating great food, and spending time with family! I loved every second of it! My aunts threw me an amazing baby shower while we were in town as well. It was so great seeing everyone and seeing just how much our little girl is loved. She got such adorable things! She is already such a spoiled little girl. I can't wait until she comes so I can start dressing her in all the cute outfits she got. I was really sad when we had to leave to come back to Utah. I miss my family and South Carolina like crazy. Hopefully we will be able to go back sometime this summer! Now enjoy these pictures from our trip :)

Gratitude

I have been reflecting today about this past year. This year has been a whirlwind to say the least. This time last year we were preparing to graduate from BYU-Idaho and didn't know where we were heading. Here are some of the things that happened this year where the Lord has blessed us:

1. We were very fortunate to be offered an internship with the Church right before our lease ended. We were able to make the move to Utah and have Brandon start his internship without being delayed. Brandon got great experience at his internship and he was paid very well to top it off!

2. I was able to find a job preparing tax returns. This has been one of the greatest blessings we could receive. I was a seasonal employee so my job ended in May, but my boss contacted me and wanted me to come back when extensions came due. I started working again in September and now I am about to start working part time from home. This was something we never expected, but we feel so blessed that I have the opportunity to work from home after I have the baby.

3. Brandon's internship ended in May as well so we found ourselves both unemployed. We are fortunate enough to live close to my sister-in-law and her family. They graciously let us move in with them while we were battling unemployment. We are extremely grateful to them for their hospitality and helping us in our time of need.

4. Brandon accepted a job offer with NBS in July. We are so fortunate that we were only unemployed for 2 months. It could have taken much longer than that. He is able to support our family with his job and it is giving him great experience and a stepping stone to a great career.

5. We moved into our current apartment in September. We were so fortunate to be able to find this apartment. It gives us what we need and we don't have to kill ourselves every month to pay our bills. We live relatively close to both of our jobs and we don't have sketchy neighbors like at our old place.

6. I have been extremely blessed with this pregnancy. I didn't have morning sickness like most women do. My blood pressure has been great at all of my appointments and so has my weight gain. Little girl has a very strong heart beat and she moves around like crazy. I do get back pain and she makes me uncomfortable, but I have nothing to complain about.

7. We are extremely grateful for our families. They are always there for us and support us no matter what.

8. Last but not least, I am extremely grateful for our daughter. We have 23 days until the due date and I am starting to get really anxious to meet her. I can't wait to see Brandon with her too. He is so smitten with her already that it melts my heart.

We have had a tough year by anyone's standards, but we have been blessed beyond measure. The Lord has looked after us this year, and for that we are eternally grateful. The year isn't over yet and I know that I will be grateful for so many more things before it ends. Now here are some pictures of my ever growing baby bump for your enjoyment!

(27 weeks)

(30 weeks)

(33 weeks)

(35 weeks)

(Thanksgiving 2013, 36 weeks)

(Thanksgiving 2013)

Life Update

We have had a lot of changes happen for us since the last time I posted. Let me just get right to it.

April:

12th - I turned 23! To celebrate we went to a Jazz game with my sister Kamilla. That was my first NBA game, so it was a great way to celebrate.

21st - We found out we were having a baby! It was actually my parents 26th wedding anniversary, so it was pretty cool to find out that day we were giving them their 1st grandchild!

May:

3rd - My seasonal tax job ended.

7th - Brandon's internship with the Church ended. Unemployment began for the both of us.

12th - Mother's Day! We told both of our families we were expecting baby Henrich. My mom cried when we told her. It was awesome!

June:

3rd - First doctor's appointment at 10 weeks and 3 days. The pregnancy was confirmed and my due date was estimated to be December 27th. This was the first day we got to see our little baby.

18th-25th - My mom came into town! Jessa started the summer semester at BYU so we were able to spend some time with my mom. I loved every minute of it.

24th - Second doctor's appointment at 13 weeks and 3 days. My mom was able to come with us to the doctor and was able to hear the baby's heartbeat. That was a really cool moment for all of us.

July:

15th - Third doctor's appointment at 16 weeks and 3 days. This was the day we found out we were having a baby GIRL! I thought for sure it was going to be a boy, so I was pleasantly surprised. Brandon also accepted a job at NBS (National Benefit Services).

22nd - Brandon started his job as a Compliance Specialist in the Welfare Department.

August:

12th - Fourth doctor's appointment at 20 weeks and 3 days. We had another ultrasound and it was reconfirmed that our baby is girl. They took a good look at all of her organs and everything looks great!

26th - 2nd wedding anniversary. I can't believe its already been two years!

31st - Moved into our new apartment. We are now living in Taylorsville (about 20 minutes south of Salt Lake) in a two bedroom one bathroom basement apartment. It is a little small, but it will work for now :) We were also able to see my dad and sisters! They drove all the way from SC to here so they could have a car with them at school. It was so nice to see my dad for a few days, and he was a big help with our move as well.

September:

3rd - I started back to work part time for the tax extensions season. I will be working until October 15th (the tax extensions due date) and then after that I will be able to work from home part time.

9th - Fifth doctor's appointment at 24 weeks and 3 days. Everything is still looking great with baby girl. She is growing like a weed and weighs almost 2 pounds!

I think that is all of the excitement we have had over the past few months. We have so many things to look forward to. I am going to be in SC from Oct 22-29 and I can't wait! I haven't been home in over a year and I miss it dearly. I will be 30 weeks (about 7 1/2 months) pregnant so I will be HUGE! We have so many things we still need to get our baby girl. One pretty important thing we need to come up with is a name. Yes, she is still nameless. At least we still have about 15 more weeks to think and agree on one!

Now here are some pictures for your enjoyment!

(there was no denying it)

(with my Mom and Jessa at Bridal Veil Falls)

(the way we announced it to the Facebook world)

(baby girl's first picture. look at her cute little profile)

(20 weeks. this was my first day in maternity pants!)

(24 weeks. my belly is getting big!)

my new job

I have been at my new job for about 2 weeks now and I love it! I know that doing taxes isn't the most glamorous thing in the world, but this has been so different from my internship I did last tax season. All of the programs we use are on the cloud. That means I can access all of our programs from any computer. And everything is so organized! It makes doing taxes so much easier. I can see already that this job is such a good fit for me right now.

Brandon only has a month left with his internship! Man, time has flew by. Pretty soon he will be officially a college graduate! He has been applying for jobs since the beginning of this month, so hopefully he won't be without a job for too long. But all we can do is have faith that everything will work out the way it needs to!

I will make sure to update everyone when we get some good news on that front! :) In other news, it is supposed to be in the 50s next week. Let's hope that turns out to be true!

i got a job!

I finally got a job! I know that it takes some people months and months to find a job, but I am so glad that I have been blessed to get a job so quickly. I am going to be working as a Seasonal Tax Preparer for a CPA firm in Taylorsville. The office is only 10 minutes away, which is great since it has been extra snowy here lately.

I don't start until the middle of February, but I am glad that I don't have to go out and interview anymore. The interviewing process was starting to get pretty annoying. I was told multiple times that I don't have the experience they were looking for. But I guess that is the problem almost all college graduates face after graduation. I feel so blessed to have this opportunity to work since we don't have any kids yet. This extra income will help us save money for our future!

Besides, unemployment wasn't a good look on me. :)