1 Month Checkup

We have had a very busy week with appointments almost everyday. I have had severe pain when breastfeeding so I went to the doctor on Wednesday to see if something was wrong. Unfortunately, my doctor was out of town so I had to see another doctor in his practice. This new doctor said that nothing was wrong with me so maybe Ava wasn't latching correctly. I started going to a new mother support group on Wednesdays. It is offered through the hospital free of charge and is led by our lamaze coach. That has been a big help with any of my concerns or questions regarding raising a baby. They suggested that I see a lactation consultant to see if they can figure out what was causing all of the pain. So, yesterday Ava and I went to the see the consultant. We figured out a few things. First, Ava is latched correctly! :-) YEAH!! Second, I have a yeast infection which is causing majority of my pain. I got a prescription from my doctor this morning and should be feeling much better by tomorrow. Third, Ava doesn't know how to suck correctly. Because her tongue was tied, she never learned how to suck correctly and now her muscles in her mouth don't work as good as they should. The consultant gave me some oral exercises to do on Ava's mouth to strengthen these muscles and teach her to stick out her tongue. She likes to keep it inside instead. Another option down the road if needed, is to see a oral motor therapist who will determine which muscles aren't working correctly and do more vigorous exercises with her. We are going to try the exercises at home and give her some time to figure it out on her own. If she doesn't figure it out, then we will see the doctor. The bad thing about her not being able to suck is that it takes her forever to eat. It normally takes her at least 1 hour to eat and then when she is finished she is exhausted from all of the work. Poor girl!

Today we had her 1 month checkup with her pediatrician. She weighed 7 lbs. 15 oz. and is 21 1/2 inches long. She is in the 95th percentile in height but in the 12th percentile in weight. I was concerned with the 12th percentile but our doctor was not concerned at all considering what she has already gone through since birth. She is gaining at a good rate now and that is all that matters. She got her 2nd Hepatitis B shot today. She was all smiles at the beginning and then quickly turned to screaming. Luckily, it was short lived and now she barely knows what happened and has a Bugs Bunny band-aid to show for it. :-)

We don't have big plans for the weekend. We plan on celebrating Curt's 1st Father's Day on Sunday! :-) We aren't sure how we will celebrate yet but we'll make it special somehow. We will try to post some pictures soon. I haven't taken many pictures this week since it's been such a busy week. I will make sure I take some and put them up for you to enjoy. :-)

Doctor's Visit

Ava had her ENT doctor's appointment today. It went very well! The doctor was very friendly and gentle with her. He said that her tongue was really tight to the bottom of her mouth and he suggested that it be cut. So, we decided to have him cut her tongue today while we were there. It took about 5 minutes to do the procedure. It was a little difficult for me as I had to help hold her down so that she wouldn't move. Luckily it didn't take long. She barely knew what was happening and only fussed for a few minutes. I think she was more upset that his fingers were in her mouth than her tongue getting cut. :-) She can now stick out her tongue and move she should be able to. I told her that this is the only time that I will be happy that she sticks her tongue out at me. :-)

We bought a new computer over the weekend. I know some of you are going through Ava withdrawal so I hope this helps. :-) Ava loves to sleep! We have been trying to upload a video of her trying to wake up from a nap but it keeps failing. I'll try to take another video and see if that one will work better. Here is a picture of her all ready for bed. She just had her bath and is ready to go to sleep for the night. You can also see her tongue! YEAH!!!

I Love to Sleep!

We are finally getting around to posting new pictures. I am so sorry about the lack of pictures lately but we are finalizing our computer choices and will hopefully make a purchase over the weekend.

Ava made her first visit to school and got to meet my students and some of the teachers and staff. She was loved by all! These are just 2 of the teachers that were fighting over her that day. :-) Ava was very good and even raised her hand a few times...I think she was just stretching but she might have had a question!?!

We are all doing great! We had some friends from church come over to meet Ava last night and they brought us pizza. Curt was very thankful since we haven't had pizza in 3 weeks! I think he was going through pizza withdrawal. :-)

Today we are just relaxing around the house and getting little things done. We are going to attempt our first trip to the grocery store later as well. Luckily, we haven't had to do this yet since my parents stocked our kitchen before they left.

We are also going to attempt church for the first time tomorrow. If Ava sleeps like she did last night (from 9:30pm to 5:00am) then I don't think it will be a problem.

On Monday we have a doctors appointment with an Ear, Nose, Throat doctor. I talked with a lactation consultant on Wednesday about our difficulties with feeding. They ended up telling me that Ava is tongue-tied and that is preventing her from being able to completely suck. They suggested that I immediately see a specialist and have this taken care of so that she can grow at a quicker rate. I called our pediatrician to get a referral and we have an appointment on Monday at 1:00. Hopefully this doctor will cut her tongue (the string that connects your tongue to the bottom of your mouth) that day. Please pray for us as this will not only be painful for Ava but painful for me to see her go through this procedure at such a young age. I will make another update on Monday night to let you know how the appointment went.

3 Weeks Old

Ava is 3 weeks old today! We can't believe she has already been with us for 3 weeks. She is such a sweet little girl. We have had some difficulties in the past week. It all started last Thursday when our home computer crashed which is why we have not posted any new pictures of updates. On Friday, we went to Ava's 2 week appointment. She weighed 7 lbs. 3 oz. which was not quite enough weight gain since our last appointment. Our doctor wanted me to start supplementing formula 3 times a day. So, we started supplementing the formula which we soon found out that Ava did not care for. She got really gassy, fussy and refused to sleep. I quite the formula on Saturday evening in hopes that this would help and get her back on her schedule. It worked! We had hoped to make it to church on Sunday morning but that didn't happen when I woke up with a fever and flu-like symptoms. Luckily, it only lasted for 24 hours and I was much better Monday morning when I woke up. On Monday, we went back to the doctor to check on her weight. She now weighed 7 lbs. 8 oz. She is now 1 oz. above her birth weight!!! YEAH!! We officially discontinued the formula and she is doing much better.

Ava has decided that she likes to refuse to sleep about one night a week. She is very content during this time but just wants to be held and stay awake the entire night/day. Luckily, it doesn't last too long but it has been frustrating when this does happen.

We are sorry for the lack of pictures and will hopefully get some pictures up soon. I am updating this using Curt's work computer but I don't have access to that as often or during convenient times. We are searching for a new computer and will hopefully make a purchase in the next week. Ava's next doctor's appointment is on Friday, June 13th. We will keep you updated as much as possible until then. :-)

13 Days Old

Today is my first day home alone with Ava. It has been a very good day so far. We woke up around 7:00 and then napped for majority of the morning. We took a walk to the grocery store to get a few things for dinner. Now we are just hanging out at home waiting for Curt to get done with work. We had a rough day yesterday with Ava not wanting to sleep at all! I think she got a total of about 3 hours of sleep in 36 hours. She was tired!!! She finally went to sleep and did not want to wake up after that.

Here is a picture of Curt with Ava and then another picture of Ava in her first mini-skirt. We received this outfit (and a purple one just like it) from our neighbors. She looks so adorable in it.

I am also including a video I took of her yesterday when she had the hiccups. She gets a little fussy at the end but she is so cute when she has the hiccups.

Our Little Angel

Here are some recent pictures of our little angel. We are all doing great! We are getting into a schedule. Ava loves to sleep which we are taking advantage of. She normally eats around 10-11, 2-3 and then again when we wake up at about 6. We are told that we are very lucky and are hoping that this doesn't change too much in the next few weeks/months.






Shadow is doing great with Ava. She is still getting attention...mostly from Curt. She will lick and smell her but never gets closer.

Curt goes back to work on Tuesday. We aren't looking forward to that but I think Curt is getting a little bored at home. Luckily it's a short week because of Memorial Day so it shouldn't be too bad of a transition. We go back to the doctor on Friday. I'll let you know how that goes on Friday afternoon. Until then, I will keep posting more pictures. :-) Enjoy!

Doctor's Appointments

We can't believe how fast this first week has gone. Ava is now 8 days old! On Monday, Ava had her first visit to the pediatrician. We really like our pediatrician and she actually did her residency in Marshfield, WI where we are from. She couldn't believe that we were from Marshfield and that someone even knew where it was located. :-) She thought Ava was doing great. She weighed 6 lbs. 12 oz.. She wasn't too happy with her weight but since she was extremely sleepy from the antibiotic she could understand why her weight went down from her birth weight. She wanted to see her back on Wednesday to recheck her weight to make sure that she wasn't still losing weight. We went back yesterday for that appointment and she now weighs 7 lbs. 1 oz!!! Our doctor was very pleased as she only expects her to gain 1/2-1 oz. per day. She gained 5 oz. in only 2 days!!! Good Job Ava! She has been doing great and loves to eat!

My parents have been here since the beginning of May. It was great to have them here and to share in the joy of the birth of Ava. They were a huge help and we really appreciate everything they did for us. They took care of Shadow while we were in the hospital, decorated the house with "It's a Girl" decorations, went grocery shopping, made food, and helped Curt with many projects around the house. They started their journey back to WI today and they will be greatly missed. We aren't sure when they will get to see Ava again but hopefully it won't be too long. Thank you Dad and Mom for everything!!! We love you!

My cousin Abby also lives here in Orlando. She was able to come to the hospital to meet Ava and then come over for dinner on Monday. It was great to have her over and get to know her new cousin. We had a great time!

Pictures from the Last Few Days

Sorry about no updates for the past few days. We have been very busy trying to get settled at home and things are finally slowing down and we are getting into a routine. We got home at about 11pm on Friday night. Discharge from the hospital took about 4 hours and we were extremely tired by the time we got home. We made it through our first night with a success. Last night was a bit of a struggle as she refused to eat even though she was starving. Ava has struggled the past few days as she has been extremely sleepy due to the antibiotic she was on and the medicine I was given from the doctor. We believe she has turned a corner this afternoon as she has been more awake and willing to eat on a regular basis. Ava has her first doctor's appointment tomorrow morning. I will give you an update after her appointment and let you know what her pediatrician says. Here are some pictures that we have taken over the past several days.

A visit from our friend Corrine! She brought Ava a little gift to snuggle up next to. As you can see in the next picture, she loves it! Thanks Corrine! :-)
A visit from our friend Stephanie. Unfortunately, Ava's visit with her was cut short because of the next antibiotic schedule. Thanks for coming to visit!
Ava's getting ready for her first ride in the carseat. She was a little fussy getting in but we figured it out and she was happy in the end.
The happy family getting ready to leave the hosptial! :-)

Day 2 with Ava Claire

We made it through our first night! It was an interesting night but we all got some rest. Because I had lost so much amniotic fluid before Ava was born, I was given an antibiotic before delivery to prevent any possible infections for myself and Ava. Last night, Ava had blood drawn to check for any possible infections. Everything came back normal except her white blood cell count was slightly elevated. For precautions, they started her on an antibiotic just in case she would have an infection starting. They will retest her tonight and then again tomorrow evening before we head home.


We are having so much fun getting to know our new little girl. She has been sleeping most of the time and is a very good baby so far. Hopefully it will stay that way! :-)

Ava had her first visitor yesterday! My friend/coworker Nicole came by to meet Ava. Ava has gotten used to hearing Nicole's voice all year and she loved finally meeting her!




Here are just a few pictures that we have taken. Enjoy and we'll keep posting pictures. :-)

Welcome to Ava Claire Cattanach

Ava Claire was born at 1:08pm, weighing 7 lbs. 7 oz., and 20-3/4" long. She has a full head of dark hair and beautiful dark eyes. The delivery went well and we are so thankful to God and to each of you for your prayers. The picture on the right is with our doctor, who was sensational during the past 9 months.