Birth Story

Well since more and more time is passing and I don't want to forget, I guess I will post about what happened when Asher was born, and since my mom can't find her camera cord (I will have to go out sometime and help her look) this is going to be a LONG post, with NO pictures. Just a warning! On Thursday the 20 I had my regular doctor appointment. They did a non-stress test to make sure he was looking OK, which he was, did the other stuff (measure me, listen to his heart beat, etc), and measured my amniotic fluid. Everything looked great so they made an appointment for a week and I was done. I left there and did some shopping for about an hour and a half/two hours, then went home. I spent the rest of the day just relaxing and paying bills. Then about 6:30 I called Jason to see if his class had left yet (I was going to go to his work and look to see if I had left our camera there from the shower that his class had given him), then I went to the bathroom (graphic I know but an important part of the story). When I stood up I felt a little wet, I thought it was weird and sat back down for a few seconds then tried again. More wet. While I was doing this Jason called me back, so I finally go get my phone and start to call him back when I start feeling very wet. When he answered I told him, "I think my water might have broken." he say "Well that's great." and told me to call my mom to see for sure. My mom of course told me to call my doctor. The doctor on call told me I might have and when I told him I was supposed to deliver in Utah told me to go straight to the hospital. So I called Jason back and told him we needed to go to the hospital, it seemed like it took him FOREVER to get home, (even though it only takes him about 3 min to home from work). He got here and we immediately headed for the hospital. I didn't even say goodbye to my puppies because I thought for sure that they were just going to send me home. As I was speed walking to the labor and delivery, and I'm leaking down my legs, Jason asks me how come I didn't walk this fast the last eight months. I told him I hadn't been this motivated. We got taken back to a room and got checked in. They were going to run a test to make sure it was amniotic fluid but there was so much they were sure what it was. So then they try to call my regular doctor. She isn't on call that night. They try to call the doctor in Utah who is supposed to be delivering. He isn't on call. So they get the two doctors who are on call and through Dr. Belfort, who is in Utah, kind of get caught up on what is going on with Asher and why we are delivering in Utah. So the doctor at EIRMC comes in and tells me that I'm going for a little ride in a helicopter, because they don't want to take a chance of delivering him there. So they sent Jason home to start packing and so he could start the long drive since there wasn't enough room for him on the helicopter, and got me ready for the ride. They actually gave me a shot to stop my contractions since they were only 3 min apart and they didn't want me to deliver in the helicopter. We got in the helicopter and left IF at about 9:30pm. The ride was pretty uneventful and since it was so late you couldn't see anything so it didn't really feel like you were even moving, but the one guy in the back let me look through his night vision goggles for a little while which was cool. We arrived at U of U at about 11:00pm and as we were trying to find the Labor and Delivery ( the people there made the two who rode down with me try to find where to take me. They had never been in the hospital before. Also the pilot had never flown or been there either, but we made it safe and sound!) we went past the waiting room and my brother Krey and his family were there! Apparently my mom had called them so there would be someone there when I got there so I wasn't all alone. So we just hung out until Jason and my mom got there at about 1:00am, then Krey and Brandi took their kids home to go to bed. They also had to start me on Pictocin because the shot worked too well and I wasn't starting to contract enough again. The rest of the night consisted of them turning me down because Asher's heart rate was dropping too low during contractions and then turning me back up after a half and hour of rest. At some point I did get an epidural which worked really well for like an hour. Then they made me lay on my right side because Asher did better, then my left side started un-numbing. So I told my nurse and after what seemed like forever they finally sent someone in to give a bolus, it worked everywhere except for the top of my thigh and an area on the right side of my stomach. They tried two or three more times but they could never get those spots covered. The rest isn't extremely clear because of the mixture of pain and Benadryl that they gave me for the itching. I do know that I bawled through the entire delivery and Jason's favorite part was when they asked if I was crying because of the pain or if I was scared. I told them I didn't know. I think it was both. They ended up using the forceps because his heart rate was dropping too low and I was on oxygen for Asher's sake. After he was born they held him up to show us, cut the cord, and then handed him through the window in our room to a nurse on the other side in the NICU. We didn't get to see him again until THREE HOURS later. They immediately did an echo of heart and some other precautions, and I had to wait 40 min while they stitched me up but it was all worth it when we actually got to hold him. He looked, and still does, just like Jason. I have to say before I finish with this extremely long post, that Jason was amazing. He was very supportive and I know that there is no way I could have done it without him. One of my biggest fears during this whole ordeal was that he wasn't going to make there in time and I would have to do it alone. I am extremely grateful that this was not the case. Well that is the birth story, the NBICU story is a whole 'nother matter and probably twice as long. So I will spare you for now. I will say that he was there for 19 days and trust me it seems like A LOT longer!

Asher James

Not the best picture of him, it was taken with Jason's phone, but at least it's a picture!