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 Precious Profile |
 Thumb-sucker? |
 It's A Girl! |
Avia's pregnancy began as a happy surprise for her father and I. We had talked about a new addition to our family but were planning to wait a few
more months before pursuing that course of action. In mid-April I started to feel like something was definitely going on with my body that was out
of the norm. I was tired, gaining weight, feeling clumsy, having strange dreams.... I took a pregnancy test the evening of my 28th birthday and the
result was unmistakable. I was definitely pregnant. My first reaction was shock even though I was suspecting the possibility. I immediately showed
Matt the test stick and while we were both surprised we were at the same time instantly joyful at the prospect of another child coming into our lives.
At our first appointment with an OB the doctor noted that my thyroid seemed enlarged. At our next appointment a few weeks later the doctor was
concerned enough about my thyroid to refer me to a surgeon. At this second appointment we also got to hear Avia's heartbeat for the first time. It
took the doctor a long time to locate it because she was still very tiny. Already she seemed quite active because once the heartbeat was located, she
immediately darted to another corner of my abdomen. At home, Matt and I calculated that the heartbeat seemed to be in the 160's. Quite a bit faster
than our son's prenatal heartbeat. That was the first indication to us that this child could be a girl. Shortly thereafter I began to have some
morning sickness. Since I had no nausea with our son, this too made us think we might be expecting a baby girl. Caeden from the beginning believed
he was going to have a sister and often told people that.
In mid-May we got word that we might be moving from Atlanta to San Francisco Bay in August or September. Matt's company was being considered by
investors in California. We had always dreamed of living in California so we were excited but also very nervous since it would mean a huge move and
life changes in the middle of the pregnancy.
At the end of May I went to see a surgeon for my thyroid. He did not seem alarmed but refered me for an ultrasound of the thyroid area. About a week
later I underwent the ultrasound. I was expecting it to be nothing so I was quite surprised and dismayed when the surgeon called and told me I needed
to have surgery to remove a relatively large nodule (about 3cm in diameter) on my left thyroid gland. Because of the nature of the growth he felt it
would be unsafe to wait until after the pregnancy to perform the procedure. I was soon set up to undergo surgery on my thyroid in August. Anticipating
the California move, I had asked that the surgery be held off until then to ease the transition at my job.
On July 9th it was official. The move to California was definite although the date was still up in the air. The surgery and the move loomed in
the near future and I was feeling very stressed out. My mother and Matt's mother both made plans to come out to Atlanta to help me recover from the
surgery. Matt was working feverishly to finish his PhD research and thesis. His defense date was set for the day after my thyroid surgery. Luckily,
the pregnancy was moving ahead smoothly because every other area of our lives seemed to be in chaos. The first week in August I gave notice at work
that I would be leaving the company. I had mixed emotions about the termination because my job was very important to me but I was looking forward to
having more time to spend with Caeden and this new baby.
The first week in August we had the most anxiously anticipated obstetric appointment of all, the sonogram. Grandma PJ was in town for the upcoming
surgery and she was thrilled to attend the sonogram. Avia's brother and father were also present. The ultrasound images revealed a beautiiful,
healthy baby and -- it was a GIRL! We were all thrilled at the news. Except Caeden, he seemed unimpressed at the news. He already knew hew was
going to have a sister. After the sonogram Caeden refered to his sister as "the little gray baby" because of the black and white images he had seen
on the screen and the souvenir photos we took home with us. He told me that "our little gray baby was very cute."
The week before my scheduled surgery date I went in for my pre-op appointment. The surgeon felt my neck and suddenly decided he wanted to cancel the
operation. He felt that the nodule had not changed significantly over the past 2 months and that surgery posed more of a risk than the nodule at that
point. I was stunned. And so relieved. I was very nervous about undergoing this procedure just a couple weeks before our baby would be able to
survive outside the womb and also fearful of what might happen if the nodule proved to be malignant. The surgery being cancelled was a huge weight off
my shoulders.
The rest of Grandma PJ's visit was filled with joyous preparations for a new baby girl. We went on a huge shopping spree and took advantage of the last
few weeks I would have my company discount. We celebrated both the new life I was carrying and the new lease I felt on life not having to undergo
surgery. My staff at work threw a surprise baby shower for me and Avia got lots of beautiful things. It was about this point that Matt and I began to
settle on the name Avia Noelle. I had wanted to name the baby Avery and Matt gave me a list of several girls' names he liked. One of the names on his
list was Ava. I came across the name Avia on babyzone.com. That seemed like a really good compromise for us. We both agreed that Avia was very
feminine sounding and Matt was partial to the name being short. I liked that Avia was unique and I felt it would allow her to establish her own
personality and that the name would become what she made it to be. It sounded very nice with Noelle which I felt was a special moniker for a child to
be born during the Christmas season.
On September 8th I revisited my surgeon to check up on the thyroid nodule. He did another ultrasound at this point and I was thrilled to learn that
the nodule had shrunk to about half its size back in June. It now measured only 1.6 cm in diameter. The surgeon was confident we could safely
postpone surgery until after the pregnancy and advised me to have my thyroid rechecked in 6 to 8 weeks once we had moved to California.
In the first weeks of September we made the move from Atlanta to the San Francisco Bay Area. Our house in Atlanta was on the market and we
temporarily moved in with Matt's aunt in California. We began searching for a new home that would suit our growing family. After some searching we
settled on a townhome in Santa Clara. Our offer was accepted and we are now waiting to close on the property so we can move in and make it our own. I
can't wait to get started on a nursery for our little girl!