Ashment Family

On Thursday I had to take Owen to get his weight checked since he had been loosing weight since he had left the hospital. He was 8 lbs. 8 oz. at birth, 8 lbs. 3 oz. two days later, and 8 lbs. 3 days after he was born. Then, exactly one week later, he weighed in at 9 lbs. 3 oz. Wow! Dylan did something pretty similar to this, but it still amazes me that someone so little can gain so much in such a little time! They say that they like to see babies reach their birth weight by the time they reach 2 weeks, and Owen cleared that by a healthy 11 oz.

In other news, Dylan has been funny about having a baby in the house. Most of the time, he pays him no attention. But, some of the time, he will talk to him in his high pitched baby voice saying, "Baby Owend," or "little fingers". He also includes him in prayers (sometimes several times in the prayer) when we are saying what we are thankful for. He hasn't been too jealous either, although, sometimes when I am feeding Owen he hands me a car and wants me to play with him. All in all it has been a pretty smooth transition.

Owen has still been a pretty good baby for me. Last night he only woke me up twice for feedings and after changing and burping him, he went right back to sleep. I think Heavenly Father knew that I really could not handle another Dylan in my life right now!

Owen is fairly decent in not trying to break out of his swaddle, but he's so precious when he does manage to wiggle his arms out.

Owen's Arrival

So, our story begins on Monday. I had been running around doing a bunch of errands that morning and was getting ready to put Dylan down for his nap. I was holding him and as I sat down to read him a story I felt a tiny little pop and a small amount of water come out. I stood up and went to the bathroom expecting a massive gush to follow (which is what happened when my water broke with Dylan). But, no gush followed. How odd! So, I changed and sat down to read to Dylan again, and guess what happened? Another small gush. Hmmm. I called Isaac and told him that I thought that my water could have broken but I still wasn't convinced and was in denial. He started telling me all of the things that I already knew, i.e amniotic fluid has a sweet smell etc. But I still wasn't ready to say that it was definitely that. So, I changed again and for the third time the same thing happened. I think by this point I was finally sure that my membranes had in fact ruptured.

This all started around 2:00 in the afternoon. I quickly put Dylan down for his nap and started to call around and make preparations for going to the hospital. It was so funny because instead of hurrying to grab my bag and run to the hospital, instead I was just straightening up around the house and doing silly little things like packing snacks for our stay in the hospital. I wasn't really feeling any contractions so it all felt a little surreal.

By the time we finally left for the hospital it was about 4:45. By this time I was finally starting to feel some small contractions that didn't seem entirely regular.

This part is kind of funny to me because the next several events were entirely different from my experience with Dylan. When we got to the hospital, we walked in together, instead of being dropped off at the door. When we signed in, they sent us to the waiting room (for 1 hour and where I walked laps around the waiting room the entire time) instead of being automatically put into my own room. When they finally called my name they sent us to finish our paper work in contrast to having them do it in my room. And then to top it all off, once I got done filling out my paper work they put me in a triage room.

When I arrived in triage, around 6 PM my contractions were finally coming on a bit stronger and more regular. When the nurse checked me I was 80% effaced and only 2 1/2 cm dilated. I was sad when they hooked me up to the fetal monitoring because I wanted to continue walking but I was told that I had to wait until I talked to the doctor before they would allow intermittent monitoring. I made do with either standing around by my bed or laying on my side while I waited there. Then, at about 9:30 I left triage and was in my room. Which happened to be the room next door to where I labored with Dylan.

I loved my nurse which is VERY important. She was super supportive and had given birth to 4 kids herself. My doctor was also really awesome and although he did end up telling me the things I didn't want to hear (no walking and no labor pool) he did it in a way that was not as harsh as the way some others in the practice had put it.

They did not check me again for awhile because the more you check, the chances of an infection go up. But some time around 11:30 I asked to be checked again just to try to lift my spirits that all of that pain was doable and that I was making progress. She consented and told me that I was at 4 1/2 cm dilated and was just about completely effaced. Which kept me content in my decision to not have the epidural for a while longer. Although, if I didn't have my super hot heating bag for my back pain, I am not so sure I would have kept going.

The next part was crazy intense. I kept on shifting positions through the intense contractions. I tried to be as vertical as possible but felt so light headed that I laid on my side some too. I also threw up during this time. I was sitting backwards in a chair using the back of the seat for support when I swore I couldn't go on any longer. When the contraction would hit it would come on so strong that it took my breath away and then I'd try to make up for the lack of oxygen but would end up hyperventilating. A nurse came in to find Owen's heart beat because my monitor had shifted. And while she was there, I had gotten up on the bed when all of the sudden my contractions started to change and I felt the urge to push. I was so hoping that I had experienced transition and it was time to push and then, the nurse checked me. I was indeed fully dilated and effaced.

That happened around 12:45 AM. So, in a little over an hour I dilated 5 1/2 cm! They pretty much left the pushing up to me. I was laying on my right side because that was the best place that they could find to get Owen's heart beat. Each time I'd feel a contration, I'd push while Isaac supported and pushed back on my thigh. The nurses made me feel so good when they said that I was so quiet and made less of a fuss than a lot of women who get epidurals. They said that women who don't have an epidual have an amazing sense of control and that is why they pretty much let them call the shots. Mom's job was to dab my face down with a wash cloth that was full of ice. I felt like I could fry an egg on my forehead and when it was all said and done, I had been drenched in ice water and Mom's poor hands were numb.

I expected to never progress but when they told me his head was coming and that my pushes were actually effective I was so excited and could hardly believe it. Isaac said that somewhere around 1:35 to 1:40 you could really see the head coming. And Owen finally came out at 1:52 AM.

I kept on saying, "I did it!" I had wanted it SO bad and I DID it! It was such a gratifying experience. I was so proud of myself that not only did I achieve my VBAC, but I did it without drugs. All 12 hours of it!

Owen was rushed over to be worked on because he had a bunch of fluid in his lungs. Just like his Mommy and older brother, he did not cry when he came out. Although, those would have actually helped him out so he could clear out his lungs. He didn't even cry when they stuck a tube down his throat to suction out some of the fluid. This is true to his character as he is so easy going and hardly makes a fuss over anything. This is TOTALLY different from how Dylan behaved as a baby.

We feel so blessed to have this handsome addition to our family and that he is so healthy

Here they are cleaning out his lungs.

8 lbs. 8 oz.

Mommy before.

Proud Mommy after. Notice how my hair is now curly from being soaked from all the ice I insisted on having on my forehead. Also, notice how proud my Mom looks.