Busy Month of December

December came and went too fast for us. Brandon and I celebrated his 30th Birthday in Las Vegas babyless. It was nice to have a weekend together, but we missed Avery so much. Christmas was much more meaningful to the both of us this year because of our little girl. Avery definitely got spoiled with gifts by everyone and she had a chance to be held by all of our extended family members:) Brandon surprised me with a plane ticket to go see Trina, Monte, and Hannah in April. It was by far the best gift ever! I can't wait to bring Avery to DC for 8 days. Here are some pics from Vegas and Christmas.

Where did 3 Months Go?

Avery just turned 3 Months Old yesterday and it seems that time has flown by. My first day back to work was also yesterday and Daddy had Avery for 12 hours. He sure enjoyed his time with baby girl and realized how hard of a job it is to stay at home with her. I'll be working two days a week which will be perfect! Avery is sure talking up a storm with her vowl sounds lately. We can sit there and have a conversation with her for a good 10 minutes. Her smiles are contagious and it just makes us melt. With her sleeping pretty much through the night, both Brandon and I feel a bit more refreshed these days. We took her to the San Ramon Pumpkin Patch and have posted a few pics of her in her Halloween tutu. I brought her to the Tipton's to spend her first Halloween with baby James. Since Katie is a professional photographer I let her snap the photos of the babies dressed up. She hasn't edited them yet.

Long Overdue

Wow! We are so overdue with updating our blog. Avery is 2 months old and just went for her immunizations and check up yesterday which was not fun. She weighs 9lbs 13oz and is constantly changing. She is no longer a newborn, but an infant now.We have transitioned her into her crib and she's sleeping 6 hours at night. She smiles constantly which is so rewarding.
We celebrated our 2 year wedding anniversery in Lake Tahoe with Avery and for the most part she was pretty good. I am back to running and Avery seems to love the jogging stroller which is nice for me. Brandon has been back to work for about a month now which makes for a very happy Otto but a sad mommy and baby! I am flying solo with Avery next week to Southern California. We will stay a week with the Blanks and even get to visit Papa Greg's family. They just can't wait to meet Avery. I go back to work in November which I am actually happy about. I get to work 2 days a week and Avery will be able to spend those days with her Nonni, Grammy, and Papa.
Papa Greg had an emergency brain surgery over the weekend and he gets discharged from Stanford hospital hopefully today! He keeps asking for his grandbaby and I can't wait for him to hold her. It will make him so happy. If he's not able to go back to work, he will be able to play with Avery a lot. Can't wait to see how handy our little girl is going to turn out. She'll know how to build a home, work on cars, and use every tool possible! That's all for now.

August 2, 2009 Avery Sage Hensel was Born

I finally was able to sneak away from feeding, changing, or snuggling with Avery to post a blog. One week ago today Avery was born and besides our wedding day, the happiest day of my life. I went into early labor on Friday night. Brandon came home from work at 2AM and i was up all night charting my contractions. I thought I needed to go to the hospital, but Brandon kept saying that my contractions weren't putting me in the pain like the women in the childbirth videos we watched... The next morning, after hitting the grocery store to stock our fridge like we would never be able to get to the market again, my mom came over and we went to the Livermore Art Festival. I was continuing to have contractions and they were becoming more painful. We decided to go to the hospital so that i could at least be checked. I was dialated on 1 1/2 cm but they decided to keep me. After receiving the epidural i could rest and within an hour and half, I dialated from 4 1/2cm to 10 and was ready to have Avery. With very little pushing and zero pain, she was out in 45 minutes:) She was born 7 lbs even and 19.5 inches in length! Her weight surprised us all since the doctor had continually told me that i was carrying such a small baby. To us, she's PERFECT! We went home a day later and have been enjoying every second, day or night with her. We've had visitors pop their heads in and it has been nice to have social time with our friends and family. So thank you to all that have made the haul to San Ramon to see us. We will continue to keep you updated. I didn't realize that i would be so busy:)

xoxo,

Brandon, Nicole, and Avery

39 Week and an Update

I have been going for Non Stress Testing two times a week to monitor Avery because I've been measuring small for weeks over the past month and a half. With two ultrasounds and two non stress tests, all has seemed ok. Dr. Oliveira stripped my membranes yesterday which didn't feel so great:( She said that she has such tiny hands and that it most likely won't put me into labor, but hopefully dialated me more than the 1 cm that i am at. She did schedule me to be induced this coming Monday, August 3. I am scheduled to see her for an exam appt at 9:15 in the morning and then we will go from there. So looks like Avery will be arriving early next week, unless she decides to make an appearance sooner. We can't wait to see what she looks like and I cannot wait to hold her:) I have been off work for about 3 weeks now so everything is ready. Brandon worked his last overtime shift (thank God) and now we are just trying to relax while we wait. We will keep you updated as to what the Dr decides to do on Monday.
xoxo

Maternity Photo Shoot

My amazing wedding photographer, Daniela Degrassi photographed me at 36 weeks prego. We went to San Francisco and had a wonderful afternoon together. She is so creative and extremely talented. Here are a few of her favorite pictures: