I have to say that yesterday was tiring but Avery and I slept surprisingly well last night. It was great. Avery had her first Dr. appointment with Dr. Allen (her ped) yesterday. It is funny because I had already made the appt for her on 12/1 a month ago when we had my induction scheduled for 11/24. Dr. Allen wanted to see her the Monday after she was born because of the VSD (hole in the heart). I never canceled it and it just so happened that it was perfectly planned because she had to see her ped the day after her hospital discharge anyway. I love it when things like that just happen.

So she and I had our first outing and she did well in the car. I was a little nervous with her in the back by herself but she was a champ. It was great seeing Dr. Allen and his nurse Nancy. I just love both of them. Dr. Allen reminds me a lot personality wise of my ped when I was a kid. I adored Dr. Morrison and while we lived in Montgomery he was also Mackenzie's ped. Avery had what I think might of been her first anal temperature reading and not her last I'm sure. Her temp was a good 98.1 so I had done a decent job keeping her warm and helping her mantain her heat. She was a whopping 4lbs 14.5oz. That's up 1/2oz from Sunday but this is a different scale and it could be the difference between a pee and poop so who knows exactly how much she lost/gained in 1 day.

Dr. Allen looked over her heart echo and said that it seemed as if it should close on it's own but only time will tell. He is setting up and appt for her w/ the pediatric cardiologist from P'cola who travels to Destin. She will have a repeat echo to see if it has gotten any smaller. He listened to her heart and told me that it was really loud (the murmur) but that the louder they are the better it is. She was so good for them. We got back on Thursday for them to recheck her weight. This and the body temperature and amount of formula she takes are really important rigth now. We will probably be going 2-3 weeks for weight checks until the end of December.

Good news is they had the special formula that she's on (Enfamil Enfacare 22 calorie) and gave us all they had which was 5 cans of the powdered formula. He's only going to keep her on it until she reaches her due date of 12/21 or a weight comparable to a birth weight of a full term baby or until it's all gone. He thinks we'll have more than enough to last us and if not he said they can make a call and have a case sent to our house for free. I think that is so nice of them. This formula is very expensive and I can't imagine paying for it continually.

After her Dr. appointment we stopped by the bank and headed over to pick up Mackenzie. I had given my parents the pick up card for my car to pick up Mackenzie at home so I had to go inside the school and get a new one. Connie, the best front desk support person who holds the school together ever, didn't see me set Avery down and asked me how I was feeling, etc. I didn't mention Avery at all to her. I was getting ready to leave and she was walking around the desk to go somewhere and she about fell over. She had no idea she had been born. She was off the day we were up at the school for Mackenzie's T-giving play. She ooooo'd and awwww'd over her. I then had to peek my head in nurse Lisa's office. She's been keeping up with the pregnancy and has been so wonderful ever since Mackenzie had those horrible stomach problems last year. She said she had to see her. She told me when she's a little bigger I have to come back so she can hold her. I assured her I would.

While waiting in line to pick up Mackenzie Avery started fussing. I realized that it was time for her to eat. I had Mackenzie sit in the back to help feed her. She was really excited to help. When Avery started sucking Kenzie got all excited and started praising her. She only took 5cc but when we got home she wolfed down the normal amount.

I took Jackson outside to see if Witt or Stevie could play. It was really windy and cold but I knew he wanted to play so badly. We went down to Stevie's house and Witt was over there with Anna, his mom. Jackson didn't want to go inside and play. So off we went to play outside. My sweet neighbor Donna came outside and talked to me for a bit. She had come by the house a couple of times to check on me while I was at the hospital. Of course Lee doesn't give the details that people want to know. He just told her that he'd tell me she came by. He did and it was nice knowing someone came by. Anyway, we did end up back at Stevie's house.

I was talking to Landis and Anna about the birth and c-section. Both of them had c-sections and Anna is having a repeat c/s this time around. Oh and she finds out today if she's having a boy or girl. I know she's really excited to find out because I am and it's not even my baby. I told them about the abscess and all the "fun" stuff that came along w/ the c/s. I told them that they should come over on Tuesday (today) to see her while the big kids are in school. Well lo and behold there was a knock on the door and Lee had brought down Avery to me. He thought the ladies would want to see her. She was a big hit with them.

Stevie saw her in my arms and he's Jackson's age and asked me if she was real. It's funny because Jackson thought she wasn't real too the first time he saw her. Stevie is a really rough and tough boy but was so sweet over Avery. It was really cute. She just slept for them. Now I dont' have to worry about having people over at the house. Not that I mind but I just hate having to get all dressed and ready unless I have to. I did not use to be that way but man how things have changed.

Last night went so well with Avery. She ate 45cc at 6:00 and shocked me by that. That's the most she's ever eaten by bottle. She started getting really fussy around 9 and I could not imagine her being hungry but I tried the bottle any way. She only ate 15cc and then was snoozing away. I figured she'd eat again around 11 or so. I was so wrong. She slept until 1am. I felt a little bad her going that longbut she did have enough to last her that long if you count what she had a 6. So I fed her about 40cc and then she fell fast asleep again. I put her in the bassinet and didn't hear a peep. Imagine my surprise when I woke up to her stirring at 6:00 on the dot. I felt so bad because she needed to eat by 5 even if it meant me waking her up. I fed her and all seems well. She ate another 40cc and seems to be increasing her food on her own.

She's sleeping in the bassinet next to me right now. I've got Jackson to the right of me in the bed rubbing his cheek on my arm. He's so soft. Lee is still gone taking Mackenzie to school. Hopefully today will be a calm day. I spoke too soon because I hear her fussing. Off to see what she needs.