Presenting Ava Isabella Rogers...

Here she is after two days of labor. She was born on Sunday, August 13, 2006 @ 5:36 PM. She weighed 8 lbs. and 5 oz. and was 20 1/2 inches long. She is at home now and doing well except for a slight case of jaundice. We will update more later after some much needed sleep.

Love, Tiff

Hospital tomorrow (Friday)

Bradley and I went to the doctor today and my blood pressure was the highest it has ever been. It was 152 over 118. She doubled the dosage of medicine that I am supposed to take. She is still not worried about the baby because I am not leaking protein into my urine. While we were there, the hospital called and said they still have no rooms available. Dr. Mello said the turnover rates on the maternity floor are not quick enough because of the pediatrician not releasing babies fast enough. She said they had enough room for delivery, but the rooms you go to after delivering are all full.

Anyway, Dr. Mello said go the hospital tomorrow night (Friday) @ 5 no matter what. She said that she is the on call doctor this weekend and wanted me there so we could get this done. I am really anxious though because of the room situation. The rooms are supposed to be private and I definitely do not want to have to share a room with someone. On the other hand, I am ready to get through with this and the constant waiting. So tomorrow begins the process and she says that she doubts I will have Ava until late Saturday. Our bags are ready and we can't wait! Just keep your fingers crossed that we get a room! We'll keep you all posted!
Love, Tiff

Well, don't know when Ava is coming...

Last night I called the hospital at 6:00 to see if they could get me started last night with the induction. I didn't expect them too, but was surprised when the lady told me that I was on the schedule for the next day (today) but they were so full they didn't know if they would be able to get to me. She said to call back in the morning and they would let me know something.

So I called this morning and surprise, surprise...no openings. The lady said they had 3 ladies who had just delivered and no rooms for them yet. She wasn't sure if they were discharging anyone or not. She said Dr. Mello wanted me to call her office and make an appointment for today to check my blood pressure and maybe it was possible they would have some beds by 5:00 tonight. I asked her if they couldn't get me today would they let me come tomorrow and she said they had c-sections scheduled for tomorrow and she was not sure what would happen! How could all these people in such a small town be in labor! It is just nuts!

I am going in at 2:15 to see Dr. Mello and get my blood pressure checked. Not sure what they will even do if it is high and they have no beds! Crazy huh! I will keep you all posted!

On the bright side, I have had some time to mess around with the new camera that Bradley got me. Here is one of me yesterday. The above one is of Zoe yesterday while she was looking out the back door.

Well, that's all for now. Keep us in your prayers!
Love,
Tiff

Ava is coming soon...Like at the end of the week!

So sorry that I have been a bad blogger lately. I have just been so tired and exhausted!

Bradley and I went to the doctor this morning and she did another stress test on the baby. Ava is still doing fine and I am having a lot of contractions, but they are not regular enough yet. Dr. Mello checked me out and said that my cervix is thinned out and she can feel the baby's head when she examines me, but I am not really dilated yet. BP was really high 152/108. But we did go ahead and set up the induction. Here is the plan... Follow closely...

1. We call the hospital on Wednesday night @ 6:00. If they have an opening, they will go ahead and let us come in, but they are inducing two other girls that day. So depending on them, I may or may not go in.

2. If we don't go Wed. night, we go to the hospital @ 10 on Thurs. morning. They will hook me up to some type of medicine that finishes ripening my cervix and starts to dilate me. She said this could take a couple of hours or a long, long time.

3. If contractions start on their own, I will be in labor, but if not, they will have to give me pitocin to start the labor.

4. So in summary, she said that just because they start inducing on Wednesday or Thursday does not mean I will have the baby then. It just depends on how fast my body responds to the medicine. I think she is leaning more towards the induction starting on Thursday and the baby coming sometime on Friday.

So, she said we don't need family there because it is going to probably be a long process. When actual labor starts, we will call our parents and let them know, but there is no point in people just hanging around when nothing is happening.

If you want us to call you, respond under the comments section (If you are not registered, I think you can post as anonymous) or e-mail me at tiffanyannrogers@hotmail.com with your number and someone will get in touch with you. (Right now, my mom will be calling people I have programmed into my cell phone.) So just let us know because we don't want anyone left out by mistake.

Keep us in your thoughts and prayers! Love, Tiff

Still no baby...

Well, it is Sunday night and still no baby. We went back to the doctor on Friday and the blood pressure medicine has not done much to keep my blood pressure down. I am at 37 weeks which is considered full term, but my doctor does not like to induce before 38 weeks. Since the BP was still up, she sent me for an ultrasound to check the baby's size and my amniotic fluid. We didn't get to see much on the US because the baby is taking up so much space. She was face down so we didn't get to see her face. The US tech did say that she was good size and that her head is already measuring 40 weeks (so Ava has a giant head!). According to calculations she currently weighs approx. 7 lbs and 10 oz. So she is good size already! She does not have very much hair right now either, just a light peach fuzz.

After the US, the doctor did a stress test on the baby to make sure that my BP was not affecting her. She is doing great, has a strong heartbeat and is moving well. The doctor said the US (which showed I had a little too much amniotic fluid) was good. She said a little too much fluid is good news because if I had too little, it would mean that I was suffering from preeclampsia which is where my placenta stops working and the baby does not get what she needs due to my high BP. So she felt good about the results of both tests.

So, here are the plans. I go back to the dr. on Tuesday for a blood pressure recheck. She wants to wait until at least Friday to induce (I will be 38 weeks). If I am dilated and she thinks the induction will bring labor on quickly, she will induce that day. If not, it will probably be sometime around the first of next week. She said until then to take it very easy, get lots of rest, and not to try walking to bring on labor on its own. Bradley told her not to worry about that because I steer clear of exercise and physical activity! So once again, we are just continuing to wait and see!

Still on Bed Rest

We went to the doctor yesterday and my blood pressure is still really high. She put me on medicine and wants to see me again on Friday. She talked about inducing labor, but wants to wait until I start to dilate. I am hoping that tomorrow something different will happen. Maybe I will have started dilating (not likely) or she will decide to just go ahead and induce. Anyway, the medicine makes me feel very weird and I just don't like that. So, just pray that something happens tomorrow. We are ready for Ava to get here and tired of all this stress.

In other news, I am posting a picture from the baby shower we had at church on Sunday. My friend Kristie G. hosted the shower and it was great. Lots of goodies to eat and lots of yummy presents to open. We had a good time. Thanks Kristie!

The cute wreath pictured was made by my friends Stephanie D. and Tammy W. It is so adorable, I just had to take a picture. It is made of diapers and then attached to those are tons of little cute things. There are some washcloths, nail clippers, bottle brushes, bottles, a cute pair of shoes, and tons of other little goodies. It is just precious and hanging on Ava's door right now.





Last night I got my hospital bag packed and ready so we can go when the doctor says its time or I go into labor by myself. While I was gathering things together and getting ready to put them in my bag, I noticed the bag moving. It was a stowaway. I guess Paisley is wanting to go the hospital too. Isn't she adorable!
Well, that is pretty much all the news here. I will let you all know what the doctor says tomorrow. Just be praying that I dilate some! The sooner Ava comes, the better!

Love, Tiff

Starting back to work... and stopping work

Well, today was my first day back to work. Inservice; not the best thing! So, I had a dr's appt at the end of the day. Needless to say, my blood pressure was so high that I am now on bed rest and cannot work until after the baby is born. My reading this morning before I left for school was 142/93 at home. By the time I got to the dr's office, it was up to 160/104. So, I am now at home and resting. I go back to the dr. on Wednesday and if it is still high, I will be put on medication and then we will begin to discuss inducing labor. She wants me to get to 37 weeks (which is this Friday) and then go from there.

All in all, I have had a miserable day and don't think I could have lasted much longer working. Just remember me in your thoughts and prayers and I will keep you all posted! Who knows, Ava might be coming earlier than we thought!

Love, Tiff

Childbirth Classes

Last night was the second night of childbirth classes for Bradley and I. The first one was pretty much a waste of time, but last night's was much better. Last night we got the chance to start breathing. We are the oldest couple in the class (most of the others are in their early 20's or teens) so most of the stuff they go over, we feel like we have read enough to already know or that it is common sense.

To me though, last night was much better. The best part was practicing the breathing exercises. We had to get down in the floor and we were beside another couple that goes to our church. They are about as skeptic as we are, so we were already getting tickled at trying to get down in the floor. Once we got there, our teacher started leading us through relaxing moves to ease tension from our backs and shoulders. For whatever reason, the teacher was directly in front of us two couples and for some reason she was keeping her eye on us. So we start by doing some neck exercises and rolling our shoulders back. I could handle all that, but then she wanted us to roll our shoulders forward. This is a move I can't do! Bradley got to laughing and making fun of me saying that I looked like I was trying to stab someone with my shoulder blades. That got me laughing even harder and soon, Kayce and Kent (the other couple) were laughing to. This got the teacher laughing and from that point on I was uncontrollable. I had tears streaming down my face and couldn't breathe. It might not sound funny to you all, but it was hilarious to us. The teacher said, "I don't mind you laughing in class, I just hope that you can laugh like that during labor and you will have no problem!" For some reason, I doubt that will happen, but I can hope.

So the rest of the class was pretty uneventful. Next week we will be touring the delivery room and maternity floor and talking to the anesthesiologist about pain and pain management. Hope ya'll are having a good week!
Love,
Tiff

Excellent Finds

I got a call early this morning and my supervisor at work told me she was having a yard sale. Her daughter has an adorable little girl that is 2 years old and she was selling all of her baby clothes. So I went and found some cute things. I bought mostly winter things and clothes that I hope Ava will be able to fit into next summer. My mom wanted to see what I got so I decided to post them here. You can't tell a lot about them from the pics, but there are some adorable outfits here. Super cute. Bradley said, "This baby has more clothes than I do!"

35 weeks...

Well, today I had my 35 week appt. 5 more weeks until my due date. The dr. said everything was looking good, the baby is starting to drop a little bit, and she thought I was doing good. My blood pressure was down just a slight bit, but next appt will be my first day back at school for inservice (the 24th). The receptionist doesn't think she will let me start back officially but maybe just get inservice out of the way. It all just depends on how my blood pressure is once I start getting back into the swing of things. I really want to work up to my due date so I don't have to take extra days off, but baby comes first so we shall see.

Yesterday's 4 year anniversary was pretty uneventful. Bradley picked us up some Taco Bell and we both felt really sick for the rest of the night! But it sure was good. Nothing like Taco Bell to celebrate an anniversary! We were going to watch our wedding video, but for some reason, it won't play on our VCR. IT is so frustrating. You can see the picture when you rewind of fast forward, but when you hit play the tracking is all off. Since the VCR has digital tracking, there is not much you can do.

Tomorrow we are planning on looking for some border for the upstairs bathroom. We want to try and get it painted this next week while I am still off from work. I have had a hard time finding what I want to use, but I am looking in a new direction. I will past some pics of it when we are through.

Well, hope everyone has a great weekend. Love, Tiff

Our 4 Year Anniversary

Today is our 4 year anniversary. Bradley and I got married on July 13, 2002 at half past six o'clock in the evening. I have some wonderful memories of our wedding and the events that led up to it. Our friends and family made it such a special day.

Here are some of the most memorable moments/stories for me:

1. How scared I was that I would cry all the way down the aisle (like I did at the rehearsal), but our ring bearer kept me laughing right up until I walked down the aisle.
2. We chose such a long song during the lighting of the unity candle and Bradley and I talked and laughed through most of the song (we were caught on video).
3. The sparklers when we left the reception were so great! (One little boy even lit one during the middle of the reception!)
4. Bradley and Uncle Earl dancing during the dollar dance.
5. All the help from my bridesmaids as I was getting ready.
6. Freaking out because Bradley was late to the church (as if he is not always late for everything!).
7. Bradley and I dancing to Elvis's "I Can't Help Falling in Love (With You)" while people were blowing bubbles.
8. The Alpha Sigma Alpha song and cheer.
9. My dance with my dad.
10. Bradley and his mom's surprise dance.
11. How I cried when my flowers arrived. They were so beautiful!
12. Our first kiss as Mr. and Mrs.

Here are some photos from 4 years ago. Thanks for the memories!

Good Things

Sorry it has taken me so long to update the blog. Bradley and I and our families have been super busy getting ready for the baby. With two weeks before I am supposed to start back at school, I have been trying to cram things in. We have had a lot going on, but have gotten a lot done.

Last week, my parents came and stayed and helped finish getting everything ready in the nursery, my mom did all of Ava's laundry, they helped store stuff in our attic, my mom cleaned our floors, and my dad did some yard work. They did a ton and we really appreciate all their help. They also stripped all the wallpaper down in our upstairs bathroom (which was amazing!). Thanks so much for all you did!

My mother-in-law got the curtains ready for Ava's room, check them out because they look awesome!

The shelf was hung by my dad while they were visiting. With these curtains, the room really looks complete!

I went back to the doctor on Friday and will now be going every week. I am 34 weeks along (6 weeks left!) and things look good except my blood pressure was up again. Please keep me in your prayers because I really need it to get back down. On Friday she will see me again and if it is still up, she will most likely put me on medicine.

So, today I will leave you with a picture of my 34 week belly. Hope you all have had a great weekend and I will try to post more this week! Love ya'll!

Showered with Love

On Saturday, friends and family gathered together for a baby shower. We had a great time and I just wanted to post a couple of pictures. I will post more later when we get our film developed (these were from my digital camera).

Special thanks to Bradley who spent an afternoon with a bunch of women to take pictures, my sister-in-law Bethany who also took tons of photos, and my other sister-in-law Libby who stepped in at the last minute to run the games and help with the gifts. To everyone that came (or sent gifts), thank you so much for coming and for the beautiful gifts. I will post a gift list later and some more pictures. Also thanks to my aunt, Bo, for the beautiful decorations, cake, fresh flowers, etc.

Right now we are sorting through the gifts and putting things away. It is just a little overwhelming, but hopefully we will get it done tonight. Thanks again!

Good quotes and hopefully a good weekend.

This weekend Bradley and I (and Squiggles) are traveling up to Princeton, KY for a baby shower. I am really looking forward to seeing family and friends that I have not seen in a while. It takes about 2 hours to get to Princeton from here and I know I will have a hard time sitting that long.

We went for a doctor's appt. this morning. I am 32 weeks along and everything looks great! I go back at 34 weeks (July 7) and then I will start going once a week. My blood pressure was good today and everything looked great. Pretty soon we will be going to the hospital to do our preadmittance work. Everything is going so fast now!

Here are a couple of quotes that I found (used to have them posted on my dormroom door at Clark!). Man that seems like forever ago! If any of you old Clarkies are reading this, post a comment and let me know how you're doing!

The way I see it, if you want the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain. ~Dolly Parton

The world is like a box of crayons - some are long, some are stubby, some are sharp, some are blunt, some have different wrappings and they have different colors, but all have to live in the same box .

And my all time favorite:

Before you criticize someone, walk a mile in their shoes. That way when you critcize them, you're a mile away from them and you have their shoes.

Have a great weekend and I will post pictures from the shower next week!
Love,
Tiff

I love this card...

I am addicted to the Fresh Ink cards that Hallmark has. Everytime we enter a Hallmark store, I head for the Fresh Ink cards. They are hilarious! Here is one of my newest ones. Hope it brings a smile to your face today! :)

Two More Anniversaries

Today is my parent's (Kenneth and April's) 29th wedding anniversary. They were married on June 18, 1977 in Princeton, KY. Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad! I love you!

Today is also the 1 year anniversary of two of our friends, Katie and Grant. They were married on June 18, 2005 in South Carolina. Bradley was a groomsman in the wedding and you can see him in the second picture. Happy Anniversary Grant and Katie! Hope you are both doing well!

Ava's Nursery

Here are some pictures of Ava's room. We have all the furniture in place but have a little bit more decorating to do on the walls. Our theme is Classic Pooh. This is not the regular Disney Winnie the Pooh, it is the old vintage type of Pooh (where the animals don't wear clothes). It is too cute! We decided to go with this because it works for a boy or girl and we can reuse the decorations for our next baby. (yeah, thinking ahead already!) Here is a picture of Ava's bed. It is one of the convertible beds that eventually becomes a full size bed.
Bradley couldn't resist the 3 foot tall Mickey and Minnie. He ordered them from Disney World and didn't tell me until after the order was already placed. When I tried to tell him that the baby doesn't need toys like this right now, he said, "It's my daughter and I will buy her whatever I want to!" So there you go, the spoiling begins!
Ava's dresser and beginning of her stuffed animal collection.
Ava's bedding. Adorable.
This is a changing table, but right now we have it junked up a little bit. Once we get the changing pad, we will have to move some of this stuff elsewhere.

So, that is the nursery as of today. There are a couple of other things I want done and Ava's Nana (Bradley's mom) is going to be making curtains for the room. Can't wait to get them done and put up!

I love this picture...

This picture was taken when I was 19 weeks pregnant. Bradley tried to act annoyed at all my picture taking, but I think he was secretly enjoying it! He is going to be a great dad and I know Ava is going to be spoiled rotten!

Ava's Picture

Just wanted to post a picture of Ava. This is an old ultrasound photo, but it is the best one that we have of her. This was done at the end of March when we had to go to the specialist. We went back once more and the doctor thinks that everything is fine with the baby. Thanks to all of you who have been praying for us and the baby. Just continue to do so please because we won't know for sure if anything is wrong until after she gets here. We are just going on faith that everything is okay!

Happy Anniversary!

Happy one year anniversary Nick and Libby!