Welp, I'm officially the worst blogger in the world. It's a whole lot easier to update our lives on social media than here, so I apologize If you've missed my blog updates recently ..
  As most of you know, our sweet Ava Louise Heyrend was born on December 31, 2014 weighing 6 pounds 7 ounces and 21 inches long. My birth was the easiest thing I had gone through my whole pregnancy. I would take that and the recovering process over the kidney pains I experienced during pregnancy!
  I went in for a checkup the morning before her arrival with contractions 5 minutes apart. The doctor told me to go walk around for an hour and if they got any closer to check In to labor and delivery.. as soon as we got to target to do some last minute shopping, they were 2 minutes apart. I checked in to the hospital, the nurse told me to bounce on an exercise ball for an hour and when she came back to check me it was go time! The doc came in and broke my water, I got my epidural and we patiently waited.. a few hours later with 45 minutes of pushing, she was here!
  About 30 minutes after ava arrived and got checked out and cleaned up, the nurses put her on my chest for some mommy cuddles. All of a sudden her little body went limp and her breathes were shallow. I called for the nurse, she listened to her heart, took her out of my arms faster than I could blink and rushed her to the NICU with my husband and step dad. My mom stayed in the hospital room with me for hours before anyone could tell us what was going on and if Ava would be okay.
   Finally our doctor stepped in and let us know that she had to be recessitated with a few pumps of air and that she was doing okay and being tested for anything that could have caused her apnea episode. While justin worked most nights, I spent most of my time in ava's NICU room, waiting for her to be discharged. She had a few more times where her heart rate would get really low or she would stop breathing. It was the most traumatic experience for me to go through as a first time mom, always expecting the worst.. $41,000 in NICU bills (thank goodness for great insurance right?!) and 9 days later, she was FINALLY sent home with us attached to a heart monitor. It would go off anytime her heart rate would drop or get too high. It was as loud as a home smoke alarm to make sure we always knew if something was wrong. Luckily she only had to wear it for 2 weeks as she grew out of her apnea.
  The doctors assume she quit breathing because of acid reflux. As newborns are still adjusting to the outside world, they don't always know how to react to certain situations (like having acid reflux).
  She sees a doctor about every other week for her reflux. He has tried switching her from breastmilk to different types of formula. She takes medicine 3 times a day still. We are taking her to a chiropractor to see if an adjustment will help and her doctor wants to send her to a pediatric gastroenterologist for further testing.
  This little one keeps us on our toes at all times but we wouldn't have it any other way. We love her so much and are so grateful she's here with us. I know heavenly father has a plan for all of us and this is just one of those trials we are trying to get past. I have learned to have so much more patience than I am used to and I am thankful for the things I learn everyday with her. ❤