We are thrilled to announce baby Asher's birth. He was born on February 19, weighing 7 lb 12 oz. He was 19.5 inches long and is cute as a button. I think he looks just like Ben. He looks more like Lizzie as a baby than Samara, but definitely looks like a boy. Asher means "fortunate, blessed, and happy" in Hebrew. Ben and all his brothers have bible names so we wanted to keep with that tradition. In the Old Testament, Asher was the 8th son of Jacob and the second son of Zilpa and the founder of the tribe of Asher. Our Asher's middle name is Kenneth, after my dad. We hope he'll have a sense of humor and work ethic like his grandpa.
A few minutes after he was born.
Everyone in the delivery room was rooting along with us for a redhead. His hair did look very orange in the delivery room and still does in the sunlight. We'd love a redhead, but we'll take him whatever color his hair ends up being.
Asher struggled a little with his breathing and needed a CPAP treatment. Babies delivered via c-section commonly have this because the fluid isn't squeezed out of their lungs since they don't go through the birth canal. He was quite gassy and tired the first 24 hours after the treatment. Thankfully, he just needed one treatment and his oxygen levels were fine after that.
I love when babies start to open their eyes!
He had his first date in the hospital with sweet baby H. She is about a month older than him. He's already charming older women.
After a game of peak-a-boo and
a very thorough inspection, Asher was deemed ready to be discharged. He made it home just in time for his first family movie night.
Now for the birth story. I want to record my thoughts before I begin to suffer from sleep deprivation. :) I'm fascinated by birth stories but posted pictures first so skip this part if it doesn't interest you. I'd been debating for a couple months whether or not I wanted to attempt a vbac with two previous c-sections. I switched to a new doctor in January, who is extremely experienced (he's delivered over 7,500 babies) and thought I was a good candidate for a vbac. There were precautions to consider, but I loved having the option of a vbac.
Samara's labor was long and brutal and ended in a c-section. I stalled at 8/9 cm, when they determined a c-section was necessary. By the time it came to a c-section, I begged the doctor to just put me out. I would have gladly been knocked out for a week or two. My arms were strapped down during the surgery and I was so physically and emotionally exhausted that Samara's birth wasn't really a joyful experience. Of course, I was thrilled to have her, but the experience of getting her here was less than ideal. The "failure to progress" diagnosis has haunted me ever since.
Lizzie was breech, so her birth was a scheduled c-section. My doctor and anesthesiologist were great, but they were just more reserved and serious. After the delivery, they let me hold Lizzie, which was really neat. But then I had to recover in a big room with all the other patients out of surgery. I felt like a person buried alive in a morgue. I couldn't move, the recovery bed was cold, and there were people moaning all around me. Part of me actually worried that I may be left there forever. After that, I had a bad reaction to anesthesia and again those first 24-hours were less than ideal--not the joyful experience I hoped her birth would be.
My hope this time around was to have a better delivery experience. Like I said, I'd been debating which mode of delivery would be best for Asher. I thought it would be wonderful to avoid another surgery, but I didn't want to labor and have a c-section or put him at risk.
I had some contractions during the night of the 18th, but nothing too regular. I woke up at 1 AM on the 19th with pretty regular contractions that lasted until 5 AM. The 19th is both my sister and my niece's birthday and I was pretty sure (one way or another) that Asher would share a birthday with the two of them (thankfully, they don't mind sharing their day:)). Side note: My niece with whom he shares a birthday was delivered by the same doctor and nurse exactly 6 years before. Asher also shares the days with the twins of the friend who set Ben and I up.
The contractions continued throughout the day fairly regularly--sometimes as close together as 3 min. By the time I got to my appointment at 5:30 that night, I was exhausted and ready and anxious to have him. I was only dilated to 1.5 cm. Seriously?! I knew I wasn't in advanced labor, but I thought I would have progressed more than that. The doctor said my options were to get a shot of morphine so I could go home and rest or check into the hospital to have my water broken to get things moving along. Though I'd been prayerful about Asher's delivery, I had been waffling about how he should be delivered and could never fully commit or feel right about either. I was excited at the possibility of a successful vbac but did not want a repeat Samara experience. On the way to the hospital, we stopped at the temple where we were married and talked about it. By the time we got to the hospital, I knew a c-section was the best choice.
My doctor had called ahead to tell them I was coming and when I got to the nurse's station, I was so happy to find out the charge nurse was one of my sister's childhood best friends. She's wonderful and I was thrilled to have her. She'd been told someone was coming for a vbac so when I told her I was going to do a c-section, she was surprised and took me into my room to talk about it and make sure that was what I wanted. When the doctor got to the hospital, he spent a while in my room trying to convince me into trying the vbac and basically just making sure I was positive about my decision (after all, I'd sought him out to do a vbac). His efforts to try to convince me helped make me all the more confident in my decision. It took me a long time to get an answer to my prayer, but once I did, I was sure of what was best.
The delivery was wonderful. I felt more connected to the medical staff as we all joked and laughed while they prepped me for the c-section. I felt much more a part of the delivery than with either of the girls' births. I am thrilled with Asher's birth experience. The doctor was great to remember what I'd told him about the adverse reaction to the anesthesia and things I'd asked him to look for in the event I had a c-section. He found an adhesion of my uterus and ovary, which causes me pain every month, and fixed that. My stomach muscles separated with Lizzie's pregnancy and he was able to stitch one part of that. He also found my uterus was quite thin on one side because of the other c-sections. This information further confirmed my delivery decision. I'm grateful for a wonderful medical staff, for prayer, the option to chose, and that his birth was such a good experience. And more than anything, I'm so grateful Asher is here safely and for the miracle of life.
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