Chris and Cherie's blog!: Miss Avery

It's been a long time since we updated our blog. We started a few posts but didn't finsh them because life got a bit crazy with our new baby girl.

Avery Noelle Foster was born Aug 5 at American Fork Hospital. Labor was short (all-in-all about 6 hrs total) and very stressful. I had romanticized the idea of childbirth and imagined myself walking the halls, sitting in a water bath, and watching Lord of the Rings while my supportive husband and caring doula held my hand, assisted me in rhythmic breathing, and led me in guided meditation.

Instead, contractions hit hard, starting at only 2.5 minutes apart! My water was already broken (possibly for the previous two days), and walking/standing/sitting just intensified the pain and pressure, which was the most excruciating thing that I have experienced. I had planned on a natural delivery, but after an hour I called for an epidural. It was the best decision that I made. Being pain free allowed me to concentrate on dealing with some of the complications that we experienced: our baby had already passed her first stool in utero (a sign that she was stressed), I then spiked a very high fever, her heart rate became quite elevated, the cord was wrapped around her neck, and she had a lot of respiratory issues including a colapsed lung (pneumothorax).

We were extremely blessed with a wonderful midwife (Erica), supportive doula (our friend Sarah Vraines), and a life-saving pediatrician/medical team of nurses and respiratory therapist. Avery spent two days in the intensive care unit recovering from both a simple medical procedure to remove the air in her chest cavity from the collapsed lung and a possible infection. We felt so grateful to be able to take her home with us on time.