He's Here!!

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.

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!

Waiting...

39 weeks & 4 days

That is about all I am doing these days. Just waiting for this baby to get here. With my due date only 3 days away we are definitely ready. Up until now I thought he would for sure be early but he sure seems to be taking his time. I have made enough progress that I am surprised he is not here already. At my last appointment on Thursday I was dialated to a 4 and 80% effaced. To me that means I should be in labor by now but apparently not! It seems as though my doctor is set on making me go on my own too. I have been having contractions a little bit but they have mostly been in my back and they have not really been very regular. On Thursday night I was having contractions for a few hours but they never really got closer together and once I decided to go to bed they stopped, since then there really hasn't been much else going on. I have officially started my maternity leave now so I have had the last few days off. It has been nice to have some time to relax but I wasn't planning on having this much time even!

So even though I have had some time to relax I have not been sitting around too much. I have been trying to stay active to help get this baby out. My sister and Tim have both been walking with me so I have been able to go on some nice long walks everyday. Yesterday my sister and I were so determined we went on a super long walk up some big hills. It ended up being more of a hike than a walk really, which if it had worked would have been well worth it but no baby yet so I'm not so sure! We have also tried rubbing my feet hoping that would put me into labor but I guess he is just not ready yet!

During our "hike" yesterday

Ashley

16 Days

Only 16 days to go until my due date. Tim and I have been spending the last couple of weeks making sure we have everything ready for our little guy to arrive. We are just finishing up the nursery and then we are all set! I cannot wait to meet him! Also, I am totally ready to be done being pregnant. I really shouldn't complain because I have had such an easy pregnancy, but the discomfort has sure set in. It is kind of funny to think a few weeks ago I was totally okay with the baby taking his time to get here because I was so nervous about the whole labor and delivery process, but now I am so uncomfortable and anxious I just want it to happen! There is a very good chance baby McDonald will make an early arrival. I have been making some good progress and should be able to be induced at 39 weeks if he has not come on his own by then. I am pretty determined to get him here soon though so I am shooting for next weekend :) I am still working and will be until I deliver so that also gives me a little more motivation to get him here early.

We are all moved in and settled into our new place and we are loving it. I never thought I would be able to say that I lived in Bluffdale but it has been great so far. I always thought Bluffdale was in the middle of nowhere but we are actually so close to everything. We also only live about 10 minutes from my sister, Ashley, which has been so much fun. It has been a long time since we have lived so close to each other so it has been great. I am excited to have Ashley around to give me baby advice too, she is a great mom and hopefully I can learn a few things.

I will try to post some pictures of the nursery this week. I am so excited about it! It is going to be super cute thanks to all the help from my parents!

Time for an update...

Well it's time to update again! We have had so much going on lately that things have been a little overwhelming, it has all been good things though! Just a lot of changes all coming at once.

We were incredibly grateful when Tim was offered 2 jobs a couple of weeks ago. One at Overstock.com and one at Universal Systems. He was really hoping for the second one because that is more of an IT job whereas Overstock was more web design. So he accepted the one at Universal Systems. It is such a great opportunity for him. He will have the opportunity to learn a lot of things that will be so beneficial for him. They will be putting him through some training to get certifications that will really help him and set him apart in the future. We are so grateful for such an amazing opportunity, especially after waiting so long for him to find something good.

Since Tim's job is in south Salt Lake we decided to move that direction. We found a great condo in Bluffdale that we will be moving into on Saturday. It was a long and stressful process to find something to rent, especially because we did not have a ton of time. I think we made a good choice though. It is little further south than we wanted to end up but the condo itself is great. It is somewhere that we can be comfortable and feel safe, which is what is most important. Anything closer was really expensive unless we lived somewhere that we weren't totally comfortable with. I am a sad to be leaving our house here but I am excited for all the changes that are coming our way.

Baby McDonald is doing great. At my appointment last week weighed 4 pounds, which puts him in the 37th percentile. (I thought 4 pounds already sounded huge but I guess not!) He is head down and right on schedule! I have to admit that I am getting a little scared about the whole labor part of it. I have to keep reminding myself that once he is here it will be worth whatever pain/grossness I have to go through! I really can't wait to meet him though. I am just over 33 weeks now and it seems so unreal that he will be here in just 7 weeks, or less! My mom and sister, Ashley, threw me a fabulous baby shower on Saturday. It was so much fun. There was delicious food and fabulous company. We are so blessed to have so many people supporting us! Baby received some wonderful gifts and it feels nice to be a little more prepared for his arrival. I am excited to move so we can put his room together and start getting all the little things ready. Unfortunately, I did not get pictures of the shower, I was too busy having fun :) I got one picture with a few of my friends there but that was pretty much it. Thanks so much Mom and Ash! It was a great shower!

The only decent picture I left with :) Me, Megan, Nicole, Kate and baby Lauren

Where to begin...

So a lot has been going on around here lately! I don't even know where to start! Lets see... A few weeks ago we finally sold my car. It was a little sad since I had that car for so long and I loved it so much. We really wanted something with 4 doors though to make it easier once the baby is here. We found a 2008 Corolla for a great deal though and that has been great. I was excited to get one step closer to being prepared for baby to get here. Just after that Tim was called as the ward clerk. Not an assistant ward clerk, the actual ward clerk, which is basically a part of the bishopric. He was set apart about a week ago and has already had a lot to learn and a lot of meetings to attend. It is a super busy calling but it is also a really great one. THEN, 2 days after Tim was set apart in his new calling we sold our house! We couldn't believe it. After having our house up for sale for a year we thought we would end up being here forever! I still can't really believe it. It feels weird to think we will be living somewhere else. We moved into this house 3 days after we got married. I am really excited to be moving into this next phase in our lives but I have been super stressed all week trying to figure out where we will live. We are going to be renting somewhere for a while until we are ready to buy again and know exactly where we want to end up. We have been waiting for Tim to hear back on a couple of jobs before we really decide where to move so hopefully we will know by the end of the week or early next week so we can start making some plans. We have to be out of here by May 12! It feels so soon.

As far as the baby goes, everything has been great. I am 30 weeks as of yesterday! We have a dr's appointment tomorrow and then will be going every 2 weeks after that. I am excited to hear his little heartbeat! We don't have ultrasounds at every appointment so it has been a while since we have actually seen him. He sure is getting big though. He moves around like crazy, especially while I am trying to sleep (which I should probably just get used to since I won't be getting a good nights sleep for a LONG time). I do love it though when he is moving. I feel so grateful that he is so active and to constantly know that he is doing okay. It is starting to hurt a bit and get a little uncomfortable but that's okay. I am just grateful to have him there! The only thing that has been a problem is that I am pretty sure I'm having issues with my sciatic nerve. It has been bothering me for quite a while now but has been getting worse lately and causing pain all through my lower back and leg. I'm sure the fact that I am standing at least 40 hours a week at work is not really helping either. Only ten weeks to go though! I can't believe how soon he will be here! It is a little scary actually but I am way more excited than scared!

Tim and I also had our 4 year anniversary last week on the 7th. 4 years sure has flown by. I had to work the night of our actual anniversary so we had a nice dinner at home a couple of days before. We had candles and music and actually sat at the kitchen table! (We always sit at our bar). Tim is such a great husband, I am so lucky to be married to him :)

I feel so blessed for all of the amazing luck we have had the last few weeks. Our lives will be very different so soon but I am excited for all that is to come. It has been so amazing to see the Lords hand in our lives and I am so grateful for all the blessings we have received. I feel truly blessed right now and can't wait to see where life will take us next!

Here I am at 30 weeks

Grateful.

I have not been as good at blogging as I want to be lately. Tonight I am feeling especially grateful though and I wanted to make sure not to forget it. With the baby coming we have been anxious to figure out what exactly our lives will be like. Will we be able sell our house before June? If so, where will we live? Will Tim be able to find a good job before then? Will I have to go back to work afterwards? It has been a little scary not knowing what to expect with all these big changes that could be happening. In the last year or so we have wondered a few times why things can't just work out easily. I think we have a learned a lot from our experiences though. I feel like we have learned to have more patience, see our blessings more clearly, and have faith that everything will work out.

A few days ago I was feeling a little nervous/down about all the unknowns. I was saying to Tim how nice it would be if everything could just work out the way we wanted. He said something to me that really helped me to remember what is important. He said that of all the things that could be happening how we want, we have the most important thing going so well. We have a baby coming into our family that has been perfectly healthy throughout the whole pregnancy, and has been growing exactly how he should. We may not have a big house, we may not be sure exactly what we will be doing 3 months from now, but we know that we have this amazing little guy coming into our family. What could be better than that?

I can't even explain how in love I am with this little boy already. And I love how much Tim loves him already too. I am grateful to have a husband that is going to be such an amazing dad. We can't wait to meet him and see him grow. He is constantly moving now and I love it. He is so active, I'm sure we are going to have our hands full with him :) Every time he moves I am reminded of how lucky we are and how excited I am to be his mother. I already know how special he is and how happy he already makes me. I am so grateful for our growing family. I have the best husband and the best baby on the way. I love them :)

I know that things may not always happen just the way we want, and things may take more work and patience than we expected, but that's okay. Everything will work out and everything will happen in its own time. I feel so grateful and comforted to know that our Heavenly Father knows us, he knows our needs, he knows how to teach us and he loves us and wants us to be happy. He will never leave us alone and is always there to help through. He has a plan for us, even when we don't know what it is yet. We have so many things to be grateful for and I am excited to see all of things He has in store for us.

20 Weeks!

So we had our big ultrasound a few days ago and it was so cool! I loved being able to see every bit of him and he is perfect! Everything was just as it should be and he is right on schedule. Oh, and he is definitely still a he! That was one thing he was not shy about at all! I was a little disappointed because our ultrasound was not 3D like I thought it would be but that's okay, it was still so neat. He wasn't very cooperative in giving us a good profile/face shot but we did get a couple at the very end.
He is moving like crazy now and I love it. At about 18 weeks and 1 day Tim was able to feel him move and we could start seeing his little kicks. I love that he is moving so much now and that Tim can feel him, it makes it feel so much more real. It also makes me get even more excited for him to be here, even though I am only halfway there. I don't know how I can wait all the way til June!
Unfortunately, I learned yesterday that 20 weeks pregnant and the flu make a BAD combo. I was feeling a little off yesterday morning and once I got home from church I got in bed and was there the entire rest of the day. By 7:30 I was vomiting and miserable. I was up pretty much the whole night sick and not able to even sleep. Luckily, it didn't last too long. I have been feeling mostly better today, thank goodness. I have had the entire weekend off of work and I have to go back tomorrow so I definitely cannot be sick. I can't believe I had made it through the entire first half of my pregnancy without throwing up once, which I was very proud of, and then get the flu. It has been no fun!
We are so happy that our little guy is doing great. We were thrilled at our appointment to find out how well he is doing. We love him so much already!