Our journey to this little guy was quite a rough one. I lost six babies between Grayson and Asher.
He is my rainbow and the light at the end of the tunnel that I thought I would never see. I so badly wanted Grayson to have a sibling, and Asher is the perfect little addition to complete our family.
The last couple weeks of my pregnancy were hard. I think he was already trying to give me a run for my money. I was having migraines out of nowhere, which I have never dealt with. I was at the hospital getting tests done to make sure I wasn’t at risk for preeclampsia. Luckily, that wasn’t at risk. The week after that I started itching like crazy, so I was getting blood tests drawn again. Then the next week my OB was talking about induction. My baby was coming that week.
It was kind of nice to be able to prepare a little bit, especially already having a kid this time around. It helped me stop stressing a little bit about how things would go, because now I knew when he was coming. The night before I was going to be induced I had talked with L&D about my induction. I was scheduled for 8:00 A.M., but they said if it was a slow night they would possibly call me by 4:30 A.M. to come in at 5:30 A.M. I made sure to shower and wash my hair that night since I would be having a baby, and be in the hospital. I didn’t want to have to worry about my hair not being washed until I got home again. I got all my stuff ready to go and in the car so I didn’t have to worry about it in the morning, especially if they could possibly be calling me so early.
I surprisingly fell asleep pretty easily. I thought I would be up anticipating the next day. Grayson woke up sometime in the night and came in our bed. I went back to sleep after he came in, and then I woke up again right around 2:30. I started to roll over and I felt my water break. Of course I thought I had just peed a little. If you remember my last birth story it was pretty similar to that haha. My water broke with both of my babies in the middle of the night. So knowing it could be my water, but not entirely sure, I stayed in the bathroom for about thirty minutes trying to make sure. Just like last time, except it didn’t take me that long to figure it out this time!
I woke Shaun up and called my mom. She was taking Grayson while we were having baby boy. We got to the hospital just after 3:30. They already had my room ready for me since I was actually scheduled to be induced. The nurse said she was going to call me in early anyway, but baby beat her to it. He was a eager and couldn’t wait. They got us in the room, and the nurse came in to ask all the questions and check me. I was dilated to a four and my water had definitely broken.
She called my doctor after checking me to make sure it was okay to get everything going. She put my IV in to get the Pitocin started. Shortly after that I got my epidural. It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t as painless as it was with Grayson. Shift change was around 5:00. The nurse coming on checked me, and I believe I was at a four or five. She got us some drinks, ice chips and suckers. She let us rest for a little bit. My contractions started picking up and I was feeling more pressure with each one. The nurse came in to check me again. I was dilated to a seven. She checked my Pitocin and said the valve was actually turned off, so all the dilating and contractions I was doing all on my own.
It got to be around 7:30, and I was starting to feel tons of pressure. The nurse called my doctor to let him know I was ready to start pushing, because I was dilated to a ten. She started having me push around 7:45, and shortly after I started she had me stop, because baby was crowning and my doctor wasn’t there yet. He was luckily just parking and about to come in. She let me start pushing again, and my doctor walked in a little after 8:00. He came in and said, “you were scheduled for 8:00. I didn’t know you wanted to be done by 8:00”. I pushed a few more times after my doctor got there,and Baby Asher was born at 8:17 A.M.
That first cry is such a heartwarming sound to hear. To know your baby is here and is okay is all you ever hope for while you’re pregnant. My baby was here, okay and absolutely perfect.
Asher Raun Barker
January 31st 8:17 A.M.
7 pounds 14 ounces
21 inches long
