Nina Shields took these pictures for us... Thank you so much Nina. http://www.npsimages.com/-/npsimages/wildcard.asp
6 years ago
Monday, July 28, 2008
Pictures That Will Melt Your Heart...
Nina Shields took these pictures for us... Thank you so much Nina. http://www.npsimages.com/-/npsimages/wildcard.asp
Saturday, July 26, 2008
Avery's 1st Bath 7-21-08...
Avery had her first bath in her new tub ( thanks Ms. Sherry Ellis ;)... She was not happy at first but as soon as I put some water over her head, she loved it. Avery's first bath 7-21-08...
Monday, July 21, 2008
Avery Marie 2 Weeks Old 7-20-08...
Avery was 2 weeks old on Sunday 7-20-08, she is already changing her looks and becoming her own little person.
Here is a picture of Avery at the end of her nap... blanket kicked off. : )
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Scottish Rite Hospital...
Avery had her first of many visits with Scottish Rite Childrens Hospital in Atlanta on Thursday July 17. The visit was so helpful, they helped us with her feeding and she has actually gained back to her birth weight plus an ounce so she is now 6 lbs 14 ounces. The group of people at Scottish Rite were so nice and very helpful. They told us that normally they repair the lip at 3 months old and then at 6 months they will repair her palate. We were informed that Avery will have a team of doctors, surgeon, dentist and speech specialist at Scottish and she will continue visits to this Hospital until she is 21 years old, sounds like we will be one huge family with The Scottish Rite team. We will meet the surgeon on Friday July 25 and I am sure this visit will be very informative. Avery was a real trooper she only cried one time and that was because they stripped her down to her diaper and weighed her and she was very hungry. 
Until next time...
When Avery left the hospital that she was born in, she used a special needs bottle for babies born with a cleft palate and lip... when we went to Scottish Rite for her feeding appointment on Friday they switched her nipple to a more normal nipple that can be used with most any bottle. We are going to use the Playtex Vent Aire because she does take in more air than most babies. I have added a picture of her old bottle an nipple and now her new bottle/nipple. With the new nipple she will have to do all the work on the old one I could help her by squeezing the neck of the nipple and it would squirt into her mouth. She does a great job with her new bottle.
Until next time...
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
And Baby Makes Three...
With patience and faith we waited for our miracle. And now with love, we joyfully announce the arrival of our angel… Avery Marie… born July 6, 2008 at 12:45 pm...6lbs 13 ounces, 19 inches long.
We started this new adoption journey last May (2007) with Bethany Christian Service, and here we are almost a year later and at last… we are a forever family. God is so amazing.
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We were accepted into Bethany’s domestic infant adoption program in June 2007. We started classes with Bethany in November of 2007 and completed those in January 2008. After completing the classes we had to put together a profile/scrapbook for Bethany to show birth moms and dads. This profile would also be available on Bethany’s website under “Family Profiles”. We completed our profile around the end of February early March and then we started the wait. “The Wait” ... sound familiar, this was very familiar to us but we seemed to be much better at this… God teaches us lessons and so many times we don’t even realize they are happening, what an awesome God.
In April 2008 we received an email from Bethany with an adoption opportunity… would we be interested in Bethany showing our profile??? The birth mom was Hispanic (she is from Guatemala). Phillip and I prayed about this… on May 1, 2008 we emailed Bethany back and said… yes, we were interested. May 13, 2008…we received “The Call”. We had been chosen by the birth mom. I can not put into words the joy and excitement we felt and we could not get over how fast it had happened considering we had just submitted our profile in March… (Gods time, not ours. : )
On May 22, 2008 we met the birth mom, such a blessing to have had that opportunity. We were told during this visit that the baby was due June 30, 2008… everyone was certain the baby would come early at least 2 weeks early. The early date was based on the one ultra sound that the birth mom had. We went on vacation June 7 and felt sure we would get the call to head back home for the birth… No call. : ( June 26th rolled around and we were getting a little nervous since everyone thought the baby would come early, so we called Bethany and they set up another meeting with the birth mom. We met the birth mom on June 28th and it was another wonderful visit. We were able to get pictures of the birth mom and her 18 month old daughter and were also able to get pictures of all of us together. This was such a blessing, one day we will be able to show Avery her birth mom.
July 3, 2008 we received a call from Bethany rep, the birth mom was having pain and was headed to the hospital… oh my, this is really happening. After getting to the hospital the birth mom was sent home due to only being dilated to 1 1/2…. but we found out based on the ultra sound that… “It’s a Girl”
On July 6th Bethany called at 7:30am to inform us that the birth mom was going back to the hospital. Bethany's rep told us to sit tight and they would call once they had more information… "birth mom dilated to a 4, they are keeping her." Phillip insisted we go to church to keep our minds off things; I wanted to stay by the phone. I kept my phone on vibrate during church, but nothing happened. After church I walked to the car realizing I had 2 voice mails (cell phones are not all they are cracked up to be)… We needed to get to the hospital!! I was trying to get Phillip to come on and he is in the parking lot trying to get a one pitch ball game up for Friday night : ) I told him, “Phillip, we need to go… We need to go now”. So off we went to the hospital. We were going to have a baby…
The ride to the hospital was terrible; it rained so hard that we could only go down the interstate 50-55 miles an hour. I just wanted to get to the hospital! Bethany’s rep called and told me the birth mom was dilated to a 7 and she wanted me in the delivery room. I wanted to be in there so bad but the rain kept me from seeing our beautiful daughter born… but she was here… Talking to the Bethany rep on the phone she told us she was here and that she was beautiful, but…she was born with a cleft palate and cleft lip. http://www.choa.org/default.aspx?id=779 Talking to the Bethany's rep my facial expression changed when she told me the news… Phillip asks me, “is something is wrong”? I just shook my head yes. After I got off the phone I told him what was wrong and this is what he asks me… “Is she healthy?” I said yes and he said… “That is all that matters”. I love this man so much. The next thing he said to me I will always remember… “Gina, don’t you think it would be selfish of us to not take this child because she has something wrong with her mouth, something that can be corrected” Wow, what an amazing man my husband is, so lucky to have him by my side for the last 18 years.
In April 2008 we received an email from Bethany with an adoption opportunity… would we be interested in Bethany showing our profile??? The birth mom was Hispanic (she is from Guatemala). Phillip and I prayed about this… on May 1, 2008 we emailed Bethany back and said… yes, we were interested. May 13, 2008…we received “The Call”. We had been chosen by the birth mom. I can not put into words the joy and excitement we felt and we could not get over how fast it had happened considering we had just submitted our profile in March… (Gods time, not ours. : )
On May 22, 2008 we met the birth mom, such a blessing to have had that opportunity. We were told during this visit that the baby was due June 30, 2008… everyone was certain the baby would come early at least 2 weeks early. The early date was based on the one ultra sound that the birth mom had. We went on vacation June 7 and felt sure we would get the call to head back home for the birth… No call. : ( June 26th rolled around and we were getting a little nervous since everyone thought the baby would come early, so we called Bethany and they set up another meeting with the birth mom. We met the birth mom on June 28th and it was another wonderful visit. We were able to get pictures of the birth mom and her 18 month old daughter and were also able to get pictures of all of us together. This was such a blessing, one day we will be able to show Avery her birth mom.
July 3, 2008 we received a call from Bethany rep, the birth mom was having pain and was headed to the hospital… oh my, this is really happening. After getting to the hospital the birth mom was sent home due to only being dilated to 1 1/2…. but we found out based on the ultra sound that… “It’s a Girl”
On July 6th Bethany called at 7:30am to inform us that the birth mom was going back to the hospital. Bethany's rep told us to sit tight and they would call once they had more information… "birth mom dilated to a 4, they are keeping her." Phillip insisted we go to church to keep our minds off things; I wanted to stay by the phone. I kept my phone on vibrate during church, but nothing happened. After church I walked to the car realizing I had 2 voice mails (cell phones are not all they are cracked up to be)… We needed to get to the hospital!! I was trying to get Phillip to come on and he is in the parking lot trying to get a one pitch ball game up for Friday night : ) I told him, “Phillip, we need to go… We need to go now”. So off we went to the hospital. We were going to have a baby…
The ride to the hospital was terrible; it rained so hard that we could only go down the interstate 50-55 miles an hour. I just wanted to get to the hospital! Bethany’s rep called and told me the birth mom was dilated to a 7 and she wanted me in the delivery room. I wanted to be in there so bad but the rain kept me from seeing our beautiful daughter born… but she was here… Talking to the Bethany rep on the phone she told us she was here and that she was beautiful, but…she was born with a cleft palate and cleft lip. http://www.choa.org/default.aspx?id=779 Talking to the Bethany's rep my facial expression changed when she told me the news… Phillip asks me, “is something is wrong”? I just shook my head yes. After I got off the phone I told him what was wrong and this is what he asks me… “Is she healthy?” I said yes and he said… “That is all that matters”. I love this man so much. The next thing he said to me I will always remember… “Gina, don’t you think it would be selfish of us to not take this child because she has something wrong with her mouth, something that can be corrected” Wow, what an amazing man my husband is, so lucky to have him by my side for the last 18 years.
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We waited to start a blog until after our 10 day wait was up... It's official the 10 days are up today7-17-08. The birth mom had 10 days to change her mind or keep her original adoption plan. We would like to thank each and every one of you that prayed for us with us and for Baby Avery. We love you all!!
Please journey with us on our new blog... God Bless
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