Asher's Arrival

At 37 weeks, I was diagnosed with high blood pressure and put on bed rest. I took the time to relax and get caught up on some Netflix. The night of the 15th, I started having contractions every 7 minutes starting around 10:30pm. By 3AM, I was pretty sure we would be having a baby that day. Unfortunately, my contractions stopped around 5AM. At my appointment that day, my doctor checked me, and I had made no real progress. I was still 1.5 cm / 80%, which is what I was measuring at 37 weeks. I was devastated. I really thought I had made at least a little progress after all the contractions. So I went home and continued my bed rest.



On December 20th, I realized I hadn't felt Baby move very much. This was very out of the ordinary. The night before, he had been moving like crazy. I drank cold water, ate some sweets and pushed on his little bottom, and I got barely anything in response from Baby. I called my doctor's office, and they said some one would call me back shortly. After an hour, no one had called me back. Paul and I were getting antsy. We decided to head into town and go to Labor and Delivery to be monitored. While on the monitors, we noticed there was a sudden drop in Baby's heart rate. I had also been having contractions all day, and they were showing up on the monitors every 5 minutes or so. Because of Baby's heart rate dip, my doctor decided to have a biophysical profile ultrasound done. Baby would not practice breathing or use fine motor skills and there was almost no amniotic fluid left. Needless to say, we failed the test.


Paul had to go and pick Emma up from school at this time, and my friend Kelly came to keep me company while we waited to hear back from the doctor. After a short wait, my nurse told me everything looked fine except for the amniotic fluid. It was no longer beneficial for Baby to remain inside, so my doctor had decided to induce me. Not later that night. Not tomorrow. Right then. I called Mom to tell her to pack her bags and get ready to meet her new grand baby. And I called Paul to tell him we would be a family of four sometime in the next 24 hours. I was taken to my room to begin the induction process. Kelly was company for the next hour or so.

We started out with a dose of prostaglandin gel at 6:00pm. I was to lie flat for an hour. Then I would be able to walk for an hour to help me progress, and they would give me another dose of the gel afterward. At 6:30, my water broke on its own. When my water broke, Baby stopped moving again. Walking around was out of the question. I had to drink a bunch of juice, but that didn't help. the nurse decided some IV fluids may be the answer, and that perked Baby right up. I was allowed to walk around for a little while. My contractions were coming faster and harder. Kelly had gone home, and Paul was waiting for Mom to come and watch Emma at the house. I was losing confidence in myself. I cried as I wandered the halls of the hospital. I knew I wasn't going to be able to have the natural birth I hoped for. At 9:15PM, I made my way back to my room just as Paul got to the hospital. I cried even harder when I saw him. The nurse found me and said she wanted to check my progress. She also offered to give me something to help me relax. I had gotten way too worked up to relax on my own. We all could see that. When she checked me, I had progressed to 4cm / 100%. The nurse gave me stadol take the edge off, and I was able to relax for a few hours. Paul took the opportunity to nap. Around 12AM it wore off, and I was sent to walk the halls again. My contractions were unbearable and right on top of each other again. I couldn't go more than a few steps between contractions, and I was nauseous and shaking. I finally broke down and got an epidural, and I was so glad I did! It was 1:00AM, and I was 5cm and in active labor. The nurse figured I might have a little while still, so I tried to nap but couldn't. Paul had no problem in that department. I missed Emma so much. I dozed for a few minuted and dreamed I was snuggling her.

At around 2AM, my nurse came in to check me, and I was 8cm. She said not to get my hopes up, because I still had some dropping to do and progress to make. I knew better. Once I hit active labor with Emma, I was ready to push in a few hours. At 3AM, I called my nurse to say I felt pressure. She checked me, and I was complete. The nurse called for the doctor. I started pushing at 3:40AM, and my little guy was born at 4:05AM. Asher Huckleberry Hancock was born perfect and healthy. He was the best Christmas present we could have asked for.