Ashton's Birth Story

My due date was supposed to be Monday, August, 17, 2015. I went to my last doctor appointment August 10, exactly a week before my due date, and was still only at a 1+. My doctor stripped the membranes in hopes that it would help get things going and said if I haven't had the baby by my due date, we would schedule an induction. That's when it hit me that the baby could be coming any time, and the waiting game was getting terribly frustrating. I still wasn't feeling any contractions, but my belly was constantly as hard as a rock.

To kill time for the next few days, we ran errands like crazy and started a Prison Break marathon. On Thursday, August 13, we watched Prison Break that night, and I was feeling a little crampy, but didn't think too much of it. It wasn't until I woke up the next morning feeling even more crampy that I wondered if these were contractions. I wasn't sure if they were contractions though because it was a constant cramping with little peaks of harder cramps here and there. All that Friday morning, we were timing the cramping peaks  I had until they were five minutes apart. At about 1:45p.m., we decided it was time to head to the hospital. (Please excuse the photos as I didn't use a professional photographer during the birth; these pictures come from the amateur work of my mom and sister)

We arrived at the hospital 2p.m., and was only dilated to a 2+. The nurse said they would check me in an hour again and if I haven't progressed, they would send me home. So I walked the halls... carefully and painfully. By the way, this photo is not staged, that's a real life contraction face, folks.

They checked me at about 3:30, and I was at a 3+/4 so they wheeled me into my room where I was going to deliver. By 4p.m., I was hooked up to my IV and started on Penicillin. They waited for the antibiotics to kick in, and at 5p.m., I received the epidural. Immediately, the pain was gone, but I noticed that my left side was more numb than my right. My favorite position to lay was on either side. The nurses wanted me to switch positions every 30-60 minutes, but whenever they tried to have me sit up straight, I felt like I was about to throw up and pass out. So I stuck to staying on my side.

(Also excuse how swollen and large I am at this point. Chase's jaw line puts me to shame)

At 5:30, a doctor came in to break my water. At this point, I was dilated to a 6. Once all of this happened, I just waited. Nurses shuffled in and out checking on me and my contractions. The nurses kept moving the monitor around my belly trying to find a more accurate spot to see my contractions, but they noticed that my contractions were continuous with higher peaks.

The next couple of hours were a blur. I tried to close my eyes and rest, but between my family, Chase's family, and all the nurses coming in and out of the room, rest was near impossible. Sometime during all of this, I started to feel some pressure so the nurse checked me and I was at a 7. The nurse said usually women dilate one centimeter an hour, but I was dilating 2 an hour so things were getting real close.

By 9 or 9:30p.m., it was time to push. The pressure was so strong, but the nurses encouraged me not to pump more epidural because I was so close. At this point, the epidural was wearing off so I was basically going natural. My mom thinks I could have done a natural birth, but I disagree. Having an epidural helped big time with contractions and labor. I will be honest, delivering a baby was the hardest thing I've ever had to do. It was an experience I will never be able to explain. On my last push, I could see my baby's body entering into the world! When I looked up, I saw that I had a beautiful baby BOY! He only cried for a couple of minutes. When they layed him on my chest, he just quietly snuggled up to me with wide eyes and a scowl on his little face. We all couldn't believe how calm and alert he was!

So many emotions! It was the most unbelievable experience. I'm so glad I had Chase there by my side to bring our sweet and perfect boy into the world! It was a long, exhausting, but amazing day!

He was born at 10:39p.m. so the rest of the night was pretty crazy with family coming in to see him, feeding him, and then getting wheeled to my room. We were exhausted. The next morning was one of the happiest moments of my life! It was really the first time Chase and I got some alone time with our baby boy. This is where we decided to name him Ashton. His middle name, Chad, is my dad's name. The name had floated around throughout my pregnancy, but that morning was when we officially decided that it was just right, and Ashton is my dad's first grand baby! 

Nurses were amazed at how good of a baby he was! He would sleep for like 4-5 hours at a time and never made a peep. We are pretty happy and lucky to have such a good little baby! 

We stayed in the hospital for two nights and by Sunday, we were so ready and excited to go home! What a crazy weekend, but a very happy one as well! So in love with my little family!