The Pregnancy

Throughout the 9 months of my pregnancy I was soooo sick. It was no different than when I was pregnant for Hallie though. Threw up all day, spent some time... a lot of time... in the hospital for dehydration and contractions. Through all of this though, she was a healthy baby. Dr. Scroggs just kept reminding me that SHE was OK because she took everything from me which was making me sick. I figured, hey as long as it's not life threatening, I'll take one for the team. Despite all the sickness, I still made plans for our beautiful baby girl's future. Washing and oxy-cleaning Hallie's hand-me-downs, ordering the most beautiful bedding, rearranging rooms in our house, buying new clothes, and for anyone who knows me well.... monogramming everything possible! We knew (or thought we knew) that this would be our last child so I wanted it all to say Avery Kate on it, or at least have her initials. There was a blanket at Pink & Blue Ave. that I wanted really badly. It was around $50, and Brandon thought that was an absurd amount of money to spend on one single blanket. I may have thought the same, but I had to have it, so I was constantly bringing it up. One weekend, I was out and about with my friend Elise when Brandon calls me. He's fishing with my dad and realized he was going to be a lot later than he originally told me. So he wouldn't "get in trouble" with me, he said, "Honny, why don't you go get that blanket while we fish a little longer." Oh yea! He could've stayed in that boat for the rest of the week. I had my blanket and was so excited! I got home and immediately washed and dried it, and put it in my hospital bag. I could not wait to swaddle up little Avery Kate and hold her in that soft little blanket.
I started teaching 2nd grade in mid-August just waiting for my water to break in the middle of class. The janitor, Mr. Mike, was already so nervous that this would happen and he'd have to be the one to take me to the hospital! I assured him that I had a beach towel handy and everything would be OK. After almost three weeks, I got the word from Dr. Scroggs that I was finally 4cm and ready to be admitted! I went back to school that day, tied up my loose ends, and hugged my kids goodbye. "September 1, 2011... that would be my baby's birthday, a day I'd never forget," were my thoughts as I wrote the date on the board preparing my sub for her first day solo. Little did I know just how special that day would be to me for the rest of my life.