Baby Ashlyn Nicole is born!

      Baby Ashlyn Nicole was born just two days after her estimated due date on Thursday, January 13th 2011 at 5:35pm. She was born 8 lbs 6 oz and 21 inches long, to the surprise of the doctors (who guessed she would be barely 7 lbs!). The entire delivery happened very quickly and smoothly, but of course there is a story to tell!

The morning started off with a very large and delicious breakfast with one of my best friends at IHOP (or if any of you have ever watched Jim Gaffigan - ISAG - lol). I'm pretty sure that those buttermilk pancakes, two eggs over medium and hash browns made the whole process possible. Anyway, at about eleven am I left IHOP and began the long trek out to my parent's ranch in Spicewood, TX (about 45 minutes away) to give my younger siblings their piano and riding lessons, plus give my family's Shih-Tzu a hair cut. Somewhere during that drive the contractions started at just 3 minutes apart, but were only lasting about 45 seconds each. By the time I got to RiverCliff I felt horrible, but because they weren't a full minute in duration each, like the doctor said they would be, I was convinced it wasn't real labor and that they must still be very strong Braxton Hicks.

I felt horrible and they were getting stronger by the minute. I called Labor & Delivery to see what they thought and they too seemed pretty sure it was false labor. They did however recommend me head back home (closer to the hospital) and relax and drink some water. My husband (who was at work) also wanted me to head back home. So I did.

By the time I got back home the contractions were just 2 and 1/2 minutes apart and were so strong I was in tears. I still wasn't entirely convinced though that this was the real thing, because again they were only lasting about 45 second each. Some were even shorter and on occasion longer. They just weren't consistent. At this point I called my husband and asked him to come home. About forty minutes later we were on our way to the hospital.

When we arrived they admitted me into a delivery room as soon as they checked me. I was already 7 1/2 cm dilated. The exact words of the nurse were "Well you get to stay and have a baby today." All I remember thinking was "Thank God, because if this is fake I don't want to feel the real thing!" Of course though, my doctor was on her day off and so a different doctor was called in. Thankfully it was a doctor I had met before and liked. But to be honest, I was in so much pain and could care less if the nurse was the one who delivered her. I just wanted her out!

From that point until she was born was a whirlwind of just 3 hours! As planned, epidural free. The entire procedure was complication free except for three things.

The first was that for some unknown reason I lost all feeling in my legs, arms and face. I was physically incapable of talking or un-fisting my hands. That horrible burning tingling feeling you get when your leg falls asleep? Yeah? Imagine that all over your body. Of course I could still feel every contraction though. The only thing they could guess was that she was pushing on a nerve as she dropped lower and started delivery. Because this only started once I was admitted. To combat the issue they had me on oxygen the whole delivery.

The second issue came when Ashlyn's heart beat stopped. Fully and completely stopped. The alarms (loud beeping down the hall and on the monitors) started and the nurse arrived within seconds. I can very distinctly remember hearing her heart beat being to slow and drone out with every heart beat as I lay there helpless. The sound of it still sickens me as I think back. Thankfully after they rolled me onto my side and started kneading my stomach (which was excruciatingly painful) to get her to move it started back up full strength. The nurse was pretty sure she had somehow cut the circulation off from her umbilical cord by rolling onto it or something. I'm just beyond glad that the fix was so simple and quick.

The third strange thing was that I got the worst Charlie horse of my entire life! It was almost more painful than the delivery! I was crying I was in so much pain. All of this while trying to push her out! I got cramps in three places. One on each hip and then my right leg. The recovery from the Charlie horse also was more painful then recovering from anything else. I couldn't put weight on it for a couple days. Ugh.

Little Ashlyn Nicole was born at 5:35 that evening. Much to the excitement of all of my friends and family eagerly awaiting her arrival in the family waiting room, and much to the relief of her newly made parents. We are so excited to watch her grow up and be her parents. She's a precious angel that has a great future. God has grand plans for her life.

Right now it's still too fresh in my memory to say I would ever want to do that again. The delivery really wasn't the worst part for me, as being pregnant really was emotionally a struggle for me. Im really excited to be a mom and to raise this little girl, but maybe we might adopt the next couple kids. Ian and I have always wanted to adopt, but we will see what God has in store. Because I know whatever I plan won't be the way things turn out. If I've learned anything from life so far its just that, plan for the future but be willing to let it change.

Welcome home little one!