Ava Drew Stringer

Ava Drew was born on October 11, 2011 at 2:21 pm. She weighed in at 7 Ib 6 oz and 21 inches long.


I’m giving a lot of details so I will remember in the future!

I woke up on Tuesday morning at 4:30 am to use the bathroom and Bryce was still up taking a test for one of his classes. I went to check on him and that is when my water broke. I called my mom to tell her I thought my water had broken so she told me to call the hospital. Bryce called his mom while I was on the phone with a nurse. They told me to go ahead and shower and pack and then head to the hospital.

Bryce and I went into the hospital at around 5:45 am. My contractions were getting worse by the minute so I requested an epidural about an hour after I arrived. Best decision I have ever made!!! All of my nurses and my doctor were so nice! I had never met my doctor until this day. (In a military hospital, you don't get to choose your doctor. You get what is available which means you could have a different doctor at each doctor visit). I was in labor for about 10 hours total and pushed for 2 of those hours.

Before I delivered Ava, they discovered that she had a little bit of meconium (poop) so if she didn't cry when she came out, they would have to take her to get her all cleaned up and make sure she didn't swallow any of the meconium. Sure enough, she didn't cry so I didn't even get to see her until she was all cleaned up. 

 Warning: This is kind of graphic... After Ava was born, and they were examining the placenta, they discovered that I had a Vasa Previa. If you don't know what it is, look it up. Basically, there was a large vein that was on the outside of the placenta that wasn't supposed to be there. It happens to 1 out of 3000 women. It is very rare and very dangerous. If my water would have broken along that vein, it could have killed Ava or I or both of us. 95% of babies with Vasa Previa are still born.

With that being said, we are VERY blessed and God was definitely looking over us! We had a lot of people praying for us that day and I know God heard every single one of those prayers!

Once I had Ava, I was in a whirl of emotions. I was SO excited and SO sad at the same time. I was so sad that we didn't have any family or friends there to celebrate with us but I was so excited to finally get to see our baby girl.

We stayed 2 nights in the Mother/Baby unit and it was horrible. All of my nurses were men and it was just really awkward and uncomfortable. I didn't get any sleep because the nurses were coming in every couple of hours.

We are now home and so thankful to be home. I hate hospitals! Especially being a patient in one!! I don’t feel human when I am there!
Ava has been perfect! The day she was born, she was laying on my chest and then she raised her head…yes, she RAISED her head and looked at me…paused for a few seconds and then turned her head and laid it back down on my chest. She is a very strong girl!! I guess all those Tums I took did her good!



Bryce and I planned on not giving her a paci until she was at least a week or so old. I really wanted her to get the hang of breastfeeding and I didn't want a paci to mess her up. Well, the second day of her life, she wanted to breastfeed about 30 minutes after I had already fed her. I attempted to feed her again but realized that she wasn't hungry. She just wanted to suck on something in order to go to sleep. I did NOT want to be the human pacifier so I caved and gave her a paci. The moment I gave it to her, it was like the paci was nothing new to her. She even knew to hold it in her mouth with her hand! And she took the paci out with her hand and held it. She is a smarty!!


Ava sleeps ALL the time! Its fabulous! I have to wake her up for every feeding!! To keep her awake, I have to strip her down and rub on her face the whole time while she eats! She is a great sleeper even when its loud! Praise Jesus! We took Ava to the BX today to get some things and it was very loud and she slept the entire time!













Ava also had her 3-5 day well check up today. She has lost a little weight, which is normal. She weighed 6 pounds 9 1/2 oz. She is in the 21% range for her weight. Her head measured in at 38 cm which was in the 97% range! The doctor said that her head is still a little big from delivery but it will get better in a couple of days. I can already tell that her head has gotten better since the day she was born.



God has truly blessed us with Ava and I am honored that God would trust us and give us the honor of raising His precious girl! I am so thankful for my little family! I don’t think I have ever been happier!