She's Here!

Our little Ashlyn Marie is finally here!! She arrived on October 14th at 1:21 in the morning. She weighed 6 lbs. 15 oz. and was 20 inches long. She took her sweet time and nothing went according to plan but that was ok. It all started with our doctor's appointment on October 12th, her actual due date. We had the doctor strip my membranes to see if labor would start. Sure enough contractions started immediately and lasted the whole night. I cleaned the whole house and David knew then that I was in labor. I went to bed and woke up on the 13th to use the bathroom and the contractions were stronger and lasting longer. I got up at 5 and couldn't go back to sleep, so I just timed my contractions. They were getting pretty close together around 8 when I decided to take a bath. Once in the bath tub the contractions stopped and I started back at square one. I got out and walked around and contractions started up again! By 11:30 they were 4 minutes apart for 2 hours and we decided to go to the hospital. They told me I was 5-6 cm. but baby was still high. We walked and used the birthing ball and we were told I was a 7 around 4 pm. I was so excited that I kept moving around and thought this isn't too bad! Then my "birthing crew (Kristyn, Mom, Dad, Tami, David) started to show up. I stayed at a 7 for about 3.5 hours before deciding to have my water broken. Once this happened contractions started to get stronger and closer together. Around 9:30 I decided after being at a 9 for 3 hours I would get an epidural to help my body relax so I could finish dilating and baby would move down. That was a lifesaver! Once that was done I dilated within an hour and a half and started pushing at 11:30. It was so neat to see her head crown in the mirror and David helped deliver her! It was such a great experience to watch her be born and to feel her head once it came out. I never thought I would be so happy but it is also surreal that I have a baby that will be going home with me! Once out she didn't cry but just looked around and made some noise. We finally got to sleep around 5 am after 24 hours of labor and we couldn't be happier to have our little girl with us!

39 Weeks

Our little peanut is being so stubborn! I am now 39 weeks pregnant and so uncomfortable! I have so much trouble sleeping and every time I eat I get sick. I have not had any contractions that hurt or felt too many for that matter. I am retaining a lot of water and my feet don't fit into anything! David has been so understanding of my mood swings, discomfort, and irritability. I don't know what I would do without him! He is going to be such a great hands on daddy! He always wakes up in the middle of the night when I get out of bed to eat or go to the bathroom. He has to make sure everything is ok before he rolls over to go back to sleep :) I am currently 4 cm and 80% effaced and we go to the doctor again tomorrow. I might have the option of getting my membranes stripped but not sure how I feel about it. My blood pressure was high last time so hopefully it has gone down. We have everything ready now just waiting for the show to start. David has been super busy with work and is planning to work from home for a little while after the baby is born. We got our windows replaced so now we don't hear the neighbors anymore! We also got our new dishwasher which is helpful since all I feel like doing is sleeping. We went on a quick trip to Yellowstone and The Grand Tetons about 3 weeks ago and it was so fun! I am so glad we got to go and have one last camping trip before baby gets here! It was so exciting to learn about how Yellowstone was formed and of course the little misadventures that happen on all of our trips :) We had a great camping spot by Jackson Lake in the Grand Tetons and had fun going into the water. In Yellowstone we saw a lot of the hot springs and of course, Old Faithful. It was one of the best spur of the moment trips and we are so lucky we got to do it. I can't wait to take our little Ashlyn there one day to show here nature's wonders!