when jon joined the army in march one of the biggest things he was going to miss was the birth of baby girl. shortly after, ash asked me if i would be her coach....
so here is my side of the birth story {hopefully it's correct}.....over a month later.
but still an amazing story.
sunday august 5th ash was having contractions off and on all day. she had worked the day before and didn't sleep much saturday night because of the contractions. sunday evening my parents and sister came to her house for dinner since we were all thinking maybe this was it. the contractions weren't that consistent so we even went for a walk around the neighborhood to see if that would help. she was feeling pretty miserable at this point but still...not consistent enough.
everyone went home but my mom brought her stuff and was ready to stay for the long haul. beau and i went home after dinner and got our girls to sleep and i tried to lay down thinking i would probably be taking ash to the hospital at some point. my mom was texting me every hour or so giving me an update. finally i just decided to go hang out with them since i was too excited/anxious to rest anyway. this was about midnight or so.
we didn't hang out for too long because contractions were getting closer and ash was really uncomfortable. we decided to head for the hospital since we live in SF and we were driving to American Fork about 25 minutes or so away. the weather was pretty crappy. it was raining a bit and stupid me forgot my glasses. {stupid coach mistake #1} i am TOTALLY night blind without them. i had to drive pretty slow and really concentrate on what i was doing. poor ash was NOT happy with me. she was anxious to get to the hospital and going slow was not helping.
we finally made it up there and they got us into a triage room. after checking her out they said they would let her hang out for an hour and then check her again. if there wasn't any change they would send us home. now keep in mind that ash had a previous c-section and they should have admitted her at this point to watch her and the baby. a painful hour later they come back. no change. serious bummer. by this point it was about 4 am or so and ash had been up for almost 2 days and me almost 24 hours. we were lucky enough that jon's sister lived nearby and told us to come over and rest there instead of driving back home. we knew this was the day, just not time yet.
we got to kristy's around 5 am and she pointed us towards a couple of beds. i crashed hard for a few hours. {stupid coach mistake #2} poor ash didn't get much rest because the contractions were so painful. beau had downloaded an app on the ipad for her to use and she had spent the few hours i was resting timing her contractions. finally around 10 am or so she called her midwife who was just down the street as well and told her what had been going on. she told her come on in and she would figure out the next step.
on our way there i asked ash if we could stop at sonic really fast so i could grab some breakfast {stupid coach mistake #3} she wasn't very hungry {obviously} but i hadn't had anything to eat since dinner the night before and i didn't think me passing out from hunger would help her much. we waited in the drive thru lane for about 5 minutes or so. ash was having contractions about every 3 min. or so i think at this point and they were super painful. she may have told me at some point to pull out of line and forget the food. unfortunately i was boxed in so we were stuck. the poor girl that brought half our order out was probably given the look of death. i pointed at ash and said "um, she's in labor!" and she just about dropped our drinks, ran back in and brought out the rest of our food.
we got to the midwives office and they brought her back as soon as they could. after just a little bit the midwife said that she was sending ash right over to the hospital.....hooray!!!!
by noon we were checked in and they were getting her the epidural. i have to point out that the only time i felt lightheaded was during the epidural. the nurse did ask me at one point if i need a chair. we both survived and pretty soon ash was feeling great!!! jon had been "out in the field" for the past couple of weeks and was unreachable. thankfully just a few days before this he got back to base and was given permission to skype for the birth. we got that all set up and he was able to talk to ash for a bit and was then able to watch the whole birth.
ash talking to jon. technology is amazing
once we got all settled and ash was feeling better we called up everyone and told them it was happening soon. my mom, jon's mom, our sister kelsey, me, a nurse and the midwife were there when she was born. talk about female power. the midwife said it was one of the most amazing births she has ever been apart of. we're bff's now!
at 6:30 p.m on august 6th
Isla Marie was born
7 lbs. 7 oz. and 18.5 inches long.
i was actually able to deliver her. one of the most wonderful experiences of my life. the feeling in the room was amazing and i will never forget it. baby isla and i will share a very special bond for life.
afterwards family came in and was able to see isla and hold her. i went with isla to the nursery for her check-up and for her first bath. i know that it was sooo hard for jon not to be there and for ash to not have him there, but i am so thankful that i could step in.
most aunties don't get to do this!
i spent the two nights ash and the baby were in the hospital with them. we had a blast. just hanging out in our own little "bubble" it was kinda a bummer when we had to go back to real life. the hospital and the nurses were amazing. what a wonderful couple of days.
someday when isla is fighting with her momma about curfew or clothes, i hope she calls me up to vent and i can tell her how i was the first one to hold her and what a perfect little spirit she is. what a blessing she is to our whole family.
check out all that hair and the little bow they stuck on her right away.
so here is my side of the birth story {hopefully it's correct}.....over a month later.
but still an amazing story.
sunday august 5th ash was having contractions off and on all day. she had worked the day before and didn't sleep much saturday night because of the contractions. sunday evening my parents and sister came to her house for dinner since we were all thinking maybe this was it. the contractions weren't that consistent so we even went for a walk around the neighborhood to see if that would help. she was feeling pretty miserable at this point but still...not consistent enough.
everyone went home but my mom brought her stuff and was ready to stay for the long haul. beau and i went home after dinner and got our girls to sleep and i tried to lay down thinking i would probably be taking ash to the hospital at some point. my mom was texting me every hour or so giving me an update. finally i just decided to go hang out with them since i was too excited/anxious to rest anyway. this was about midnight or so.
we didn't hang out for too long because contractions were getting closer and ash was really uncomfortable. we decided to head for the hospital since we live in SF and we were driving to American Fork about 25 minutes or so away. the weather was pretty crappy. it was raining a bit and stupid me forgot my glasses. {stupid coach mistake #1} i am TOTALLY night blind without them. i had to drive pretty slow and really concentrate on what i was doing. poor ash was NOT happy with me. she was anxious to get to the hospital and going slow was not helping.
we finally made it up there and they got us into a triage room. after checking her out they said they would let her hang out for an hour and then check her again. if there wasn't any change they would send us home. now keep in mind that ash had a previous c-section and they should have admitted her at this point to watch her and the baby. a painful hour later they come back. no change. serious bummer. by this point it was about 4 am or so and ash had been up for almost 2 days and me almost 24 hours. we were lucky enough that jon's sister lived nearby and told us to come over and rest there instead of driving back home. we knew this was the day, just not time yet.
we got to kristy's around 5 am and she pointed us towards a couple of beds. i crashed hard for a few hours. {stupid coach mistake #2} poor ash didn't get much rest because the contractions were so painful. beau had downloaded an app on the ipad for her to use and she had spent the few hours i was resting timing her contractions. finally around 10 am or so she called her midwife who was just down the street as well and told her what had been going on. she told her come on in and she would figure out the next step.
on our way there i asked ash if we could stop at sonic really fast so i could grab some breakfast {stupid coach mistake #3} she wasn't very hungry {obviously} but i hadn't had anything to eat since dinner the night before and i didn't think me passing out from hunger would help her much. we waited in the drive thru lane for about 5 minutes or so. ash was having contractions about every 3 min. or so i think at this point and they were super painful. she may have told me at some point to pull out of line and forget the food. unfortunately i was boxed in so we were stuck. the poor girl that brought half our order out was probably given the look of death. i pointed at ash and said "um, she's in labor!" and she just about dropped our drinks, ran back in and brought out the rest of our food.
we got to the midwives office and they brought her back as soon as they could. after just a little bit the midwife said that she was sending ash right over to the hospital.....hooray!!!!
by noon we were checked in and they were getting her the epidural. i have to point out that the only time i felt lightheaded was during the epidural. the nurse did ask me at one point if i need a chair. we both survived and pretty soon ash was feeling great!!! jon had been "out in the field" for the past couple of weeks and was unreachable. thankfully just a few days before this he got back to base and was given permission to skype for the birth. we got that all set up and he was able to talk to ash for a bit and was then able to watch the whole birth.
ash talking to jon. technology is amazing
at 6:30 p.m on august 6th
Isla Marie was born
7 lbs. 7 oz. and 18.5 inches long.
i was actually able to deliver her. one of the most wonderful experiences of my life. the feeling in the room was amazing and i will never forget it. baby isla and i will share a very special bond for life.
afterwards family came in and was able to see isla and hold her. i went with isla to the nursery for her check-up and for her first bath. i know that it was sooo hard for jon not to be there and for ash to not have him there, but i am so thankful that i could step in.
most aunties don't get to do this!
i spent the two nights ash and the baby were in the hospital with them. we had a blast. just hanging out in our own little "bubble" it was kinda a bummer when we had to go back to real life. the hospital and the nurses were amazing. what a wonderful couple of days.
someday when isla is fighting with her momma about curfew or clothes, i hope she calls me up to vent and i can tell her how i was the first one to hold her and what a perfect little spirit she is. what a blessing she is to our whole family.
check out all that hair and the little bow they stuck on her right away.
her first bath
a little out of order but here is momma holding her for the first time all bundled up
hahaha, too cute
getting love from papa
big brother and little sister
um hi, don't you wish you looked this great the day after you gave birth?!
tired out
going home. i was soooo nervous driving them all home.
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