Asher James McDonald
Born June 21, 2011, 5:57 am (right on his due date!)
7lbs 120z, 20 3/4 inches long
So our little man is finally here, and almost two weeks old now! Time has gone by so fast and it has been so wonderful! It all started last Monday. I was getting pretty frustrated that I had not gone into labor yet. The Thursday before I had a dr appointment and I was 4cm dialated and 80% effaced. When Monday rolled around I couldn't believe I was STILL pregnant. This whole pregnancy I was certain this little guy would come early. I had another dr appointment Monday hoping she would schedule an induction since he still hadn't come on his own. So she scheduled my induction for Wednesday morning, one day after my due date. She stripped my membranes (for the 3rd time), I was then dialated to a 5. Thinking that NOTHING would work to get this baby to come on his own I was not counting on meeting him until Wednesday. Since we now live in Bluffdale and my dr is at McKay Dee I had about an hour drive to my appointments so Ashley was kind enough to drive me there so I didn't have to drive myself, which turned out to be a very good thing. After the appointment we ran some errands and headed to my Mom's for a while. My back was hurting pretty bad but that was pretty common for most of my pregnancy so I didn't think much about it.
Born June 21, 2011, 5:57 am (right on his due date!)
7lbs 120z, 20 3/4 inches long
So our little man is finally here, and almost two weeks old now! Time has gone by so fast and it has been so wonderful! It all started last Monday. I was getting pretty frustrated that I had not gone into labor yet. The Thursday before I had a dr appointment and I was 4cm dialated and 80% effaced. When Monday rolled around I couldn't believe I was STILL pregnant. This whole pregnancy I was certain this little guy would come early. I had another dr appointment Monday hoping she would schedule an induction since he still hadn't come on his own. So she scheduled my induction for Wednesday morning, one day after my due date. She stripped my membranes (for the 3rd time), I was then dialated to a 5. Thinking that NOTHING would work to get this baby to come on his own I was not counting on meeting him until Wednesday. Since we now live in Bluffdale and my dr is at McKay Dee I had about an hour drive to my appointments so Ashley was kind enough to drive me there so I didn't have to drive myself, which turned out to be a very good thing. After the appointment we ran some errands and headed to my Mom's for a while. My back was hurting pretty bad but that was pretty common for most of my pregnancy so I didn't think much about it.
Ashley and I decided to head home and realized in the car that my back pain was probably contractions. We started timing them and they were about 10 minutes apart. Once we were almost home Tim called and had locked his keys in his car at the gas station. Ashley took me home to get the spare key and then back to Tim at the gas station. By this time, my contractions were about 5-7 minutes apart so we decided it was probably time to head to the hospital since we were about an hour away.
We arrived at the hospital at about 8:30pm and I was monitored until about 10:30 when they finally decided not to send us home and move us into a delivery room. Up until this point I still wasn't convinced I was truly in labor, I thought they would for sure send us home. The contractions were not nearly as bad as I thought they would be. I still requested to receive my epidural as soon as possible. At about midnight I got my epidural and then my dr broke my water. She was able to tell that the baby had already had his first bowel movement, which could cause some issues for him but she didn't think it was very much. After that we just had to wait. My mom and sister came to wait with us so they could be there for the birth. It all went pretty fast after that point. By 3am I was feeling a lot of pressure so my nurse checked and I was at a 10. I felt like I needed to push and didn't think I could keep him in there. My doctor had another patient at the same time who was just as far progressed as I was so she was having to "take turns" between the two of us. I had to wait until just after 5am for my doctor to come in so I could start pushing. Throughout the whole time we were waiting I was pretty tired and because of my epidural I was also a little loopy. I was not totally aware of what was going on the whole time. Once I started to push the doctor could tell there was more meconium than what she had originally thought. She let us know that when he came out he may not be moving much and that he would not be able to take a breath until they had cleaned out his mouth so that he would not swallow the meconium. While I was pushing he was not coming out at quickly as my doctor wanted and his heartbeat was starting to drop. She said we would need to use the vacuum and if that didn't work quickly then I would have to have a C-section, which I so did not want to do. At this point I was pretty scared but luckily the vacuum did it and at 5:57 our little man was here. He was covered in green meconium but we were very lucky that he did not swallow it and did not even need to be taken away from us. After he was born I started bawling because I could not believe he was actually here. The vacuum caused a pretty big bruise on his head but other than that he was perfect! We did not decide on his name until a few hours after he was born. We had a few names we were deciding between but Asher was the only one that seemed to fit!
Getting cleaned up
Daddy holding Asher for the first time
Relaxing with Mommy
Coming home!
These last 12 days have been so amazing. We love Asher so much and cannot imagine not having him now. It is like he just belongs with us. Tim is the best dad already, he cannot get enough of our little guy. He is probably the proudest dad I have ever seen! I am so grateful for my little family. Even though it has been tiring and a lot of learning so far I would not trade it for anything. I have wanted to be a mom for so long but it is so much better that I ever imagined. I love having the opportunity to take care of Asher, he is such a good baby! From the moment he was born he has been so calm and content. He has the sweetest spirit and already loves his mommy and daddy :) We couldn't ask for a more perfect baby.
I also have to say thanks to our wonderful families. We have had so much help and support already. We love you all!
One week old!
We arrived at the hospital at about 8:30pm and I was monitored until about 10:30 when they finally decided not to send us home and move us into a delivery room. Up until this point I still wasn't convinced I was truly in labor, I thought they would for sure send us home. The contractions were not nearly as bad as I thought they would be. I still requested to receive my epidural as soon as possible. At about midnight I got my epidural and then my dr broke my water. She was able to tell that the baby had already had his first bowel movement, which could cause some issues for him but she didn't think it was very much. After that we just had to wait. My mom and sister came to wait with us so they could be there for the birth. It all went pretty fast after that point. By 3am I was feeling a lot of pressure so my nurse checked and I was at a 10. I felt like I needed to push and didn't think I could keep him in there. My doctor had another patient at the same time who was just as far progressed as I was so she was having to "take turns" between the two of us. I had to wait until just after 5am for my doctor to come in so I could start pushing. Throughout the whole time we were waiting I was pretty tired and because of my epidural I was also a little loopy. I was not totally aware of what was going on the whole time. Once I started to push the doctor could tell there was more meconium than what she had originally thought. She let us know that when he came out he may not be moving much and that he would not be able to take a breath until they had cleaned out his mouth so that he would not swallow the meconium. While I was pushing he was not coming out at quickly as my doctor wanted and his heartbeat was starting to drop. She said we would need to use the vacuum and if that didn't work quickly then I would have to have a C-section, which I so did not want to do. At this point I was pretty scared but luckily the vacuum did it and at 5:57 our little man was here. He was covered in green meconium but we were very lucky that he did not swallow it and did not even need to be taken away from us. After he was born I started bawling because I could not believe he was actually here. The vacuum caused a pretty big bruise on his head but other than that he was perfect! We did not decide on his name until a few hours after he was born. We had a few names we were deciding between but Asher was the only one that seemed to fit!
Getting cleaned up
Daddy holding Asher for the first time
Relaxing with Mommy
Coming home!These last 12 days have been so amazing. We love Asher so much and cannot imagine not having him now. It is like he just belongs with us. Tim is the best dad already, he cannot get enough of our little guy. He is probably the proudest dad I have ever seen! I am so grateful for my little family. Even though it has been tiring and a lot of learning so far I would not trade it for anything. I have wanted to be a mom for so long but it is so much better that I ever imagined. I love having the opportunity to take care of Asher, he is such a good baby! From the moment he was born he has been so calm and content. He has the sweetest spirit and already loves his mommy and daddy :) We couldn't ask for a more perfect baby.
I also have to say thanks to our wonderful families. We have had so much help and support already. We love you all!
One week old!
