Life

Lily and Levi are currently gone to the home improvement store with Jacob, so I thought I would grab the chance to post a couple pictures.

Life these days is busy, busy. We are doing well, although I will be the first to admit that having 3 babes age two and under is not a cakewalk...at all. We have good days and we have rough days (sometimes it seems like the rough outweigh the good), but God's grace is all-sufficient!

Just an example of the things Lily and Levi do when mama is feeding Asher or taking two minutes to clear the table after a meal. Seriously. I'm not sure where their clothes went, why Lily's shorts are pulled up so high, or what possessed them to pull all my ribbons off! I walked in the room from clearing supper off the table and just had to laugh. 

Asher obviously thought it was quite humorous too.

Happy Friday!

Still Alive...

Hopefully I'll be back to regular blogging soon...life is just crazy busy these days and I'm finding myself on the computer less and less. 

Asher is doing great! He already weighs 8lbs! So thankful.

Midweek Randoms

How can it already be Wednesday night? The days are flying by and I can hardly keep up!

-- Asher was back up to his birth weight last Friday...at 5 days old! That is a record for my babies!

-- We have been enjoying beautiful warm weather this week. 

-- Asher is such a happy baby!

-- I have only left the house (as in driving somewhere) twice since we brought Asher home. Once to go vote and the second time to go to Walgreen's. It's been so nice to just chill and not be up running around! We have been extra cautious about getting Asher out around sickies since we went through so much last year with Levi getting RSV and Pneumonia and being in the hospital for a week. 

-- Lily and Levi love piling all their toys on sharing their toys with Asher. Ha!

-- Jacob took Lily and Levi out to run some errands this morning. They went by walmart to pick up toilet paper, peanut butter, and chocolate...you know, the necessities. Ha.

-- Lily and Levi have been eating some of their meals at this little table. They love it! I'm not quite sure why Lily has her foot on the table though. Silly girl!

-- Jacob took Lily to prayer meeting tonight. I enjoyed spending some quality time with Levi while Asher was napping. I gave Levi a bath and let him play until his hands and feet were all pruny. He loved it!

-- All three kids have been napping at the same time each afternoon this week. It's been such a blessing! Lily and Levi always nap at the same time, but I've been surprised at how well Asher has fit into our normal routine.

-- I could just sit and stare at my baby man all day long.

-- We made lemonade yesterday. I always have willing little hands to help me with whatever I'm doing.

-- There is absolutely nothing like holding a sleeping baby.

Hope y'all are having a wonderful week!

too precious for words.

Asher's Birth Story

{just a few minutes after birth}

Asher's due date, March 4th, came and went with no signs of him making an appearance anytime soon...which was perfectly fine with us. Hubs had a super busy week with teaching, conducting, orchestra rehearsals and a concert. I honestly hoped that Asher would wait to come until the crazy week was over. Lily, Levi, and I stayed busy playing together, keeping the house cleaned/picked up, going to the library, and grocery shopping to re-stock our kitchen. I went to the mall every day to power walk for about 30 minutes. I also continued to exercise, do pelvic rocks, squats, and hula hooping each day. I saw my midwives on Thursday, and I was only 1-2 cm dilated and 60% effaced. With Lily and Levi, I went into labor being at least 4 cm dilated, so I thought Asher's labor would be as long or longer since I wasn't very progressed.

{not happy about being weighed! check out his long feet!}

On Sunday, March 11th, we "slept in" a little because of the time change and then hurried off to church. Oh, I did have a pineapple core smoothie for breakfast...and just so those of you who don't know...with all three of my babies, I've eaten a fresh pineapple core when I'm overdue, and I have always had a baby within 24 hours...now, I don't know if it's the pineapple core kicking in labor or not, but it works for me. Ha!

Throughout the day I started losing the mucus plug and having a little bloody show (which doesn't always mean the baby is coming immediately). I had a few contractions, but they weren't really different from what I'd been having for weeks. I was in touch with my midwife, and she said not to worry about coming until I had a few consistent contractions.

I spent the afternoon posting my 41 week update, playing with Lily and Levi, and making brownies to take to my parents for supper after church. I felt fine all through church, and I had a few painless contractions. After church we headed to mom and dad's. My midwife called to check on me and said that we could come to the clinic anytime, we didn't have to wait for consistent contractions. I still wasn't convinced that Asher would be born that night, so I told her we would let her know what we decided to do.

I was helping Mom get supper on the table when we realized that Levi's glasses were missing. I went out to check in the van and suddenly had a contraction that kind of made me think, "hmmm, maybe we will have this baby tonight." I went back inside and told Jacob that he should go ahead and eat so we could go home and get the kids in bed...just in case labor started up.

We got home about 40 minutes later and I had another contraction...still not strong enough or consistent to make me jump in the car and head to Tennessee. Jacob and I got the kids in bed. I had been praying all through the pregnancy that I would go into labor at night after Lily and Levi were in bed so they wouldn't even know we were leaving and we would come home the next morning. Thankful for answered prayer!

I made sure our bags were ready to go and just kind of piddled around doing dishes and picking up the toys. Right at 10:00 pm, I had a hard contraction that made me stop, breathe and relax through it. I knew active labor had started. I told Jacob he should call his mom to come right away. At 10:05 I had another one. I texted or called (I can't remember which) my mom and sister since they were going to meet us at the clinic. Jacob's mom got to our house and we left right away. I think it was about 10:25.

{getting measured}

I called my midwife and let her know we were on the way. About 10 minutes into our drive, the contractions started coming 3-4 minutes apart and the intensity picked up a lot too. I started feeling extremely nauseous. I wasn't sure if I was in transition or if it was just Jacob's driving making me sick. About half way to the clinic, we were stopped at a red light and I said through a hard contraction, "if it's clear, you'd better go!" Poor Jacob! I'm afraid that made him really scared that we were going to have the baby in the car.

Asher was extremely active even through the contractions. With Lily and Levi, they hardly moved when I was in labor. The thought crossed my mind that there was going to be a problem with the cord, but I didn't think anything more about it.

We made it to the clinic at 11:10. My midwife checked me and I was 7 cm dilated. I asked Jacob to please call Mom and Myra and tell them to hurry. I sat on the birthing ball through 3 or 4 long hard contractions. Jacob was such a great encouragement to me (as always!) holding me and massaging my back through the contractions. My water broke at 11:30. I was like, "um, this baby is coming now!" 

Jacob and my midwife helped me onto the bed and I got ready to start pushing. Mom and Myra rushed in right then. I don't remember how many times I pushed, but it didn't seem like very many until Asher's head was born. Then the room got quiet and my midwives were busy doing something. I had my eyes closed, but I knew something wasn't right. Asher ended up having his fist up by his face, and the cord was wrapped around his neck, arm, and shoulder. My midwives told me to stop pushing and it seemed like an eternity before everyone said, "push! push! push!" Asher was born at 11:50! They immediately put him up on my chest. When I opened my eyes, he was grayish and limp. I thought he was dead. Praise God, he was breathing, even though he didn't cry for a little while. 

{proud daddy! so happy he's here!}

I held him for awhile before Jacob cut the cord. I kept saying over and over, "I can't believe he's here!" Asher Lee weighed 7lbs 5oz and was 20 inches long. We slept for a few hours at the clinic and then headed home on Monday morning.

{the next morning, ready to head home!}

I am so incredibly thankful for the grace and strength God gave me, for the quick and easy birth, for my midwives - that they worked quickly and skillfully to get Asher untangled, for my awesome husband who was right beside me the entire time, for my mom and sister making it in time, and that we didn't have the baby in the car! God is so good and we praise Him for His faithfulness to us.

Click the links below to read my other birth stories:

Lily's birth story

Levi's birth story

Coming Home.

We got home from the birth clinic around lunch time on Monday. I really wanted to get home earlier because I missed my babies, but the daylight savings time change added to having a baby on the same day really did us in!

Lily was especially excited to meet her new little brother, but Levi wasn't too sure about him.

Our little family of five.

My precious babes.

So sweet!

Introducing...

Asher Lee

Born March 11, 2012 at 11:50 pm

7lbs 5oz, 20 inches long

More pictures and birth story to come soon!