It has taken me a little while (ha, 6 months!) to write Asher's birth story since Asher's birth was not quite so pretty as his big sister's. There are no pictures of me smiling with pretty hair with a soft newborn in my arms. There are pictures of me with barf in my bangs, absolutely amazed at the blessing I'm holding, but SUPER glad that was over. Difference? I was in labor for 20 hours with Evangeline, but it was less... how to say this... intense.
Yep, that's not pretty.
But that's pretty cute!
Evangeline's birth was entirely natural- I went into labor 10 days past my due date on my own, a true answer to prayer. This time, I had to be induced 15 days over my due date. We waited, we prayed, we hoped, we tried all sorts of crazy things... no baby. So my midwives decided it was time to go for it. Even at 14 days over, my body wasn't doing anything that even looked like labor or getting ready for it. I was very sure about my due date with both babies, Asher especially, because I had wanted to be pregnant for a long time before it happened. My cycle returned when Evie was about a year old, but they were "anovulatory" cycles- meaning very light with no egg released each month. I was taking ovulation tests each month, and nothing was happening. I decided when Evie was 21 months old I would go ahead and wean her since I couldn't get pregnant. This just broke my heart for a few days, but it was time. She was down to only nursing before bed. I remember crying on our bed about it, so sad she was stopping, and hubby said, If you don't want to wean her then don't! :) So I nursed her one last time and that helped me let it go. I thought I had missed my chance to ovulate that month, but apparently not! God allowed us to conceive this sweet baby boy 3 days after I finished nursing my precious girl. Amazing! And it turned out for the best- I was so very sick in the first trimester, there was NO way I could have nursed Evie and been pregnant at the same time. God knows what He's doing!! Anyway...
My big boy!
Where he gets his good looks :)
We were scheduled for an induction on January 25, and I went in the night before for cervadil since my body just wasn't even dilating. Cervadil getting placed is an unpleasant experience I would not like to repeat. We'll just say that. My midwife offered me sleeping medication since she knew I had a big day ahead of me the next day! We were supposed to start pitocin in the morning. Evangeline was staying with my parents that night, and my mom was going to drop her off the next morning with a friend of mine so she could come up to the hospital. She was there for Evangeline's birth and it was very special. I am extremely close with my momma and it was important to me to have her there, but it was MUCH more important to me to know Evie was with someone she loved and completely trusted. They placed cervadil at around 1030 or 11 pm I think, and hooked me up to monitors. I was blessed with an AMAZING nurse who had 5 of her own grown children. She was such a blessing and an answered prayer. She was very supportive of me and natural childbirth. Soon after the cervadil was placed, I started having contractions and cramping and generally feeling poorly. I tried watching a movie and eating a good meal, but I knew I wasn't going to be sleeping. I didn't want to take any drugs though. Hubby was drinking energy drinks since he is not a night person and just had a feeling he'd be up all night :) Eventually I was miserable enough to call my nurse in, and she said, yes these are contractions, but not clustered and you're not really in labor. Not music to my ears, but I was dealing fine. My midwife came in, and bless her, she said she wasn't going to leave, just sleep at the hospital in case I needed her. My midwife has three children already, all of which were induced and birthed naturally, so she was a great encouragement. My midwife's assistant had 8 children of her own, and I felt very comforted by their supportive presence. A little while later, I was too miserable to watch tv or anything, and I started to feel very sick, so I headed into the bathroom. I started to feel crazy bad once in there, and I couldn't really think straight, and I remember kind of falling/ dropping to the floor and I threw up everywhere (hence the hair barf, lol) and my nurse came running in. Apparently the emergency cord got pulled as I fell down and it called her. She said it was my guardian angel who pulled it, because just from looking at me she could tell I was moments from the baby. I trust a woman who has had five babies and delivered countless ones :) So they coaxed me back to bed and she ran to get my midwife. My midwife literally came running in, took one look at me, and said "Wait, wait wait wait wait!!!" :) The nurse told her, I never tell women to wait, they never listen! :) My water literally exploded and scared everyone in the room. Then Asher came, veeerrrry quickly! It was a bit of a traumatic experience, but I am thankful it went so quickly because otherwise I don't know if I could have done it naturally. As it was, I honestly told hubby afterward, I think if someone had offered to hit me over the head, I would have said, "Yes, please." Ha! I will say the recovery was easier though... whether that is because Asher was my second or because labor was so short, I don't know, but I am thankful for. It was a blessing and lots of prayers were answered. I hope the rest of my babies come without induction though, Lord willing!
There's a better picture of mommy. Asher is a few days old here.
I have a sweet memory of my wonderful nurse just holding me after I had Asher. For whatever reason, I was shaking VERY hard, and she told me she remembered from when she had her babies, the only thing that made her feel better was someone holding her very tight. So that she did. And I laid my head on her chest, and felt much better. She was so kind. My mom ended up missing his birth, of course, since no one expected him to come so quickly, so it was a blessing to have someone there like that. Daddy was so great throughout the whole labor, and was able to give Asher his first bath. I don't know what I would have done without his backrubs and holding pressure on my lower back.
I called my mom at about 3 in the morning and asked her if she'd like to come meet her first grandson! She was so surprised :) It was wonderful, she came up with Evie in the morning. It was all in all a huge blessing, and a beautiful experience, and I want to do natural childbirth again. :)
