Welcome!

I'm creating this blog as a way to update all of my friends and family on Avery's progress in the NICU as she grows. Here is Avery's story so far...

Avery Carmella Eck'Art was born on January 19, 2010 at 7:28 a.m. She weighed 1 lb. 1 oz. at birth. She was born prematurely at 26 weeks due to my severe case of pre-ecclampsia (pregnancy induced high blood pressure).

On Monday, January 18th, I was at home and not feeling well. I had a bad stomach ache and couldn't keep any food down. I could also feel my heart racing. I knew immediately that these were the signs of pre-ecclampsia because I had the same symptoms right before I gave birth to Brielle six years ago (Brielle was also born early at 30 weeks). I called Luke and asked him to stop at the store and pick up a blood pressure cuff and some Tums for me. We tested my blood pressure which showed up as 189/115. We knew we had to head directly to the ER. We got to the ER at Southern Ocean County Hospital and they took my blood pressure again and again it was through the roof. They brought me directly to Labor and Delivery and continued to monitor my blood pressure along with doing blood work, setting up an IV, and measuring my urine output. My parents were called and sat with me through the night. The on call doctor called my high risk doctor who told me that I had to head up to Jersey Shore University Medical Center immediately. I was taken by ambulance to Jersey Shore. I arrived there shortly after 4:30 a.m.

After more monitoring and a meeting with Dr. Fernandez, my high risk doctor, the decision was made that Avery had to be delivered via c-section immediately. She was not receiving the nutrients that she needed from me and I was in risk of having a stroke due to my high blood pressure. My mom headed into the OR with me and Avery was delivered at 7:28 a.m. She even let out a tiny yell as she was being born. She was extremely tiny, but holding her own. I headed to the recovery room and Avery headed to the NICU where she has been ever since, being cared for 24/7 by the best doctors and nurses in the area.

I stayed in the hospital for 4 days and visited with Avery every day. She has her ups and downs, but mostly good news so far. We are being "optimistic, but realistic" regarding her situation. Obviously she is still considered "critical", but she is growing more and more stable by the day. We had a few small scares regarding a heart murmur (which has been rectified with medication), kidney function (low urine output was recorded for a day, but has since improved), and multiple blood transfusions already. Good news is that she is tolerating all of this quite well. She is a strong little girl who has a long road ahead of her, but with all the prayers and thoughts and love from her friends and family we are confident that she will gain strength day by day and grow up to be a strong, beautiful girl just like her big sister.

My plan is to update this blog every few days to let everyone know about her progress and to post some pics as I take them so you can see her grow. Thank you for reading and thank you for your support so far...