Prayer Request

Hi everyone, we just wanted to take a minute and request some prayers for Avery. She tested positive for RSV yesterday and we spent most of last night in the hospital. We're home now, but she is on breathing treatments every 4 hours and needs to be closely monitored. There really isn't anything else to do, except let it run it's course and hope it doesn't get any worse. If it does, she'll end up in the hospital. The biggest thing right now is making sure her breathing stays regular and she doesn't get dehydrated. 

Thank you for your prayers, it's going to be a long week, but we'll keep you posted.

N&B

Photo shoot, Easter & First Bath

Okay, so Nate wanted me to post more pictures from this past weekend. I asked him if he thought people were sick of seeing pictures of Avery, and he assured me that is not possible. So here you go--the first pictures are the funnier ones from a little photo session we did on Saturday, then there's one of Avery in her Easter dress, and finally, daddy giving her a bath. I will say that her first bath went better than expected, and I think we have a water baby on our hands!

Some more pictures

Some of you requested some more pictures of Avery, and who are we to deny you! These are some of our favorite so far...

"Enjoying" her play mat

She loves her swing

Napping with mommy

Milkface!

Sweet lady sleeping

All curled up

More to come...

One week down...

Avery has officially been part of this world for 6 days, and so far they have been filled with visits from family and friends. We were lucky enough to have Nate's mom with us since Tuesday. She was a great help and it enabled us to get some much needed sleep, not to mention eating actual meals. It's crazy how the days just fly by. They are filled with feeding every two hours and lots of diaper changes, but mostly just staring at Avery. She is incredible. Absolutely perfect and sent from God. We are off to bed, but I just wanted to post some pictures from the first week. 

World meet Avery ... Avery - World!

HELLLLLLOOOOOOO everyone! I just wanted to take this opportunity to introduce everyone to Avery Grace Rulis. She was born at 9:00 p.m. on March 10, 2008. She came to the world at 6 lbs. 3 oz. and a full 17.5 inches.





She's got a full set of lungs on her and has absolutely no problem letting you know it ... but she is absolutely the most precious thing that either of us have ever laid our eyes on (as I am sure those of you with children of your own felt when your beautiful children were born). Well we finally were given the go-ahead to bring her home earlier today, and so we are getting settled in as a new family at home.



Finally, I also just wanted to say thank you to all of you for the amazing amount of encouragement that we received in the last week, your prayers and support was wholly overwhelming and completely incredible... so THANK YOU, we really appreciated it. Also, we readily accept more prayers as she has a little bit of jaundice (which you may notice in some of the pictures) and we really need her to get over it.

And so I leave you with a few pictures of our beautiful baby:







The House of Rulis (Nate, Brittany & Avery)

The (Very) Latest

Well, we went in this morning after a restless night's sleep to be monitored. Dr. Kirsten said that my tape looked "iffy" and wanted to go ahead with the amnio. I was REALLY nervous, and I had to wait nearly a half hour, so that made the anxiety even worse. Well, it was over and done with in less than 15 second, and then all that was left to do was wait the four hours for the results. We went to BJs and got some lunch and then came home to try and relax. 

About 15 minutes ago, I got the call, and Avery's lungs are mature! She's ready to go, and I guess there's no going back now! We are supposed to go to labor and delivery at midnight, so now the waiting begins. Nate just ran to Blockbuster to get some movies and hopefully I can get a substantial nap in, as I feel like I'm going to need the energy. 

So, wish us luck! We are super excited and a teeny bit nervous for the 48 hours ahead, but the important thing is that by Monday all of the discomfort will be a distant memory and we'll have our little girl. We very much appreciate all of your calls, emails, and texts. Please pray for us as we start this journey!

Love, Brittany (and Nate too!)

The Latest

Well, I had monitoring today and my doctor didn't really like what see saw with regards to Avery's heart-rate. She called it "suspicious". So, I go back tomorrow morning at 8am for another monitoring, and if I have another "suspicious" tape, it looks like we'll be having a baby this weekend. I'll have an amnio to make sure that her lungs are mature, and then off to the hospital we go! It's all very surreal. We've waited so long for her to be here, and now that it's just around the corner, a bit of nervousness has set in. I just can't wait for us all to be home as a family, everyone healthy and safe. She was still sunny side up on the ultrasound today, so I pray that she decided to flip over tonight. We'll keep you posted with any new info.

-B

Updates

I had a doctor's appointment yesterday with good and so-so news. Firstly, the urine test came back borderline. I had increased amounts of protein, but not enough to diagnose with pre-eclampsia. Basically, I'll just continue to get monitored, and I'll have to repeat all the tests after Avery comes to make sure all my levels go back to normal. My blood pressure was still elevated, but not as bad as last week, so hopefully all of this laying around is helping. The good news is that I'm progressing and starting to dilate. This is especially good since I'm being induced, because it means my body already has a head-start doing what it's supposed to. The other thing we found out is that, although her head is low and engaged, she's sunny side up. Meaning that her head is facing my tummy instead of my back, where it is supposed to me. We really want her to flip over in the next week, because being in a posterior position can cause quite a few problems during delivery, including a 5 times greater likelihood of a c-section, which we REALLY want to avoid.

Other than that, I'm just doing my best to take it easy and keep my blood pressure down. I go back in on Thursday to be monitored and talk to the doctor about specifics. I cannot believe that we are 9 days away (at the most). I've been having a lot of contractions lately, but not in any kind of regular pattern. 

Thank you again for all of your continued support and prayers. I can't wait to meet my little girl!

B