Day 273

This morning Rian asked if I'd take her to the library. The kids' books are due back Wednesday, so I agreed so I wouldn't have to take Asher along too. Steven decided to come. Aiden doesn't get to go anymore since school started, but I always check books out for him.

Then like a typical Monday, Steven spent his day outside working on a vehicle.

Asher's officially part of Dad's outdoor crew!

 

 

Rian took a really long nap and woke up with a fever... then proceeded to spend the rest of the evening throwing up. Ugh. I feel so worried for Asher. And me. How am I going to take care of him if I'm sick...

Day 272

Today I went grocery shopping for the first time since Asher's been born. Definitely didn't miss it! And thankful for Steven for going... maybe I can talk him into continuing. :)

 

I'm 25 days old today!

(The first set of 0-3 jammies he's fit into.)

Day 271

This morning my Mom called to tell Aiden how proud of him she is. While we were on the phone Rian asked if she could go over to their house. What?! This is huge! She never wants to leave me. So I took them over to my parents house for a few hours. I did a whole lot of nothing! Watched tv and took a long nap.

 

So relaxing.

Today Asher seems really big. Almost a month old already.

Day 270

Life's been nuts lately!

 

My house is so messy and the laundry is piled up. Dry shampoo has become my favorite product because I hardly ever shower. But I wouldn't have it any other way.

 

Aiden came home with an envelope with stamps on it that said, "Good job" etc. Inside was a note that said, "Shining Star Award The money that you found and turned in was not claimed. It is now yours to keep. Thank you for your integrity!" and there was a dollar stapled to it. So proud of my little man!

Day 269

My loves:

 

 

Day 268

Aiden's been begging for Asher to sleep in the crib at night, so we agreed. He was SO excited to have his brother in his room! The cutest. It's pretty squished in there.

One day there will be bunk beds instead.

 

He slept so well, better than he does in the basket. But I missed him being right next to me. :(

 

Day 267

Today I pulled out the old bouncy seat. This seat was a lifesaver when Aiden was a baby! He didn't care much for the vibration (which is now broken) but he loved when I bounced it and most days, that's how he fell asleep after hours of endless crying. :(
\

* I'm updating this over a week later and Asher has lost so much hair. :( He looks like an old man with his receding hair line!

Day 266

Steven set up Rian's old crib for Asher today.

 

 I don't want him to get too used to sleeping in the basket in a small space and have trouble when we switch him at nights, so we started daytime naps in the crib today!

Day 265

Lazy Sunday...

"Help me, Ma!"

 

 

My parents are in Washington for one of my dad's oldest friend's retirement party, one of my mom's brother's lives there too. So Rachel came over to hang out with the kids and ate dinner with us. Sunday dinner at our house for a change!

 

 

Today after nursing Asher, I noticed my nipple is so raw. I Googled it and I guess it's cracked. :( I'm going to just pump tomorrow to see if it'll start to heal up. I'm positive he latches on correctly, all the signs are there, but he sucks soo vigorously on me. With bottles, he's so lazy! I'm jealous of the bottle. Wah. I hope it gets better quickly.

Day 264

The backyard's looking awful these days! The last few weeks of my pregnancy, I stopped going out and watering the flowers. And the grass is ehhhh. Not as green as I like it! So I decided this morning that it was time to make I pretty again. Rian, Asher and I went to Lowe's (AJ spent the night with Grandpa and Grandma) to get some flowers.

Pooped out helper before we even began!

 

They only had a few types of flowers, and luckily, they're kind I know I can keep alive... if I just don't get lazy again. But I don't see that happening.

 

Later that night, we all watched The Sandlot together. Steven got it a few weeks ago and has been so excited to show Aiden, who loved it, of course!

Day 263

Umbilical cord and circumcision ring have both fallen out, which means:

No more being wiped down with a wash cloth!

 

Asher loved it. I've always loved bathing my babies, especially in sinks! So cute.

Day 262

It's taking Asher forever to open his right eye! It opens a little more every day though. And it's almost always wide open during his second nighttime feeding.

He is SOOO cute!

Today Titi, Oliver and Renai came over for a visit. So good to catch up and be around other grown ups! Oliver played with the kids, soo fun!

Day 261

Mommy's little helper!

I was nervous about how Rian would react to a new baby being around, but she's been 100% normal. No better, but more importantly, no worse. She wants to help me with everything, so I try to let her as much as I can. She hugs and kisses him all day and always asks to hold him, and of course, wants her picture taken with him constantly. :)

My little man's two weeks old already. I don't want time to go any faster than it already is, but I'm so excited to watch the bigger kids relationship with Asher grow. I love watching them all together. So blessed!

Day 260

Daddy and his two littlest babies.

I love Sundays and Mondays (Steven's days off) now more than ever! When Monday comes to an end, I have a little bit of dread in my gut. Our days haven't been too hard yet, Asher still sleeps most of the time, but there are challenging moments and it's nice to not have to deal with them for a couple of days. Steven's dad has been picking AJ up from school since we came home from the hospital, so thankful! I'll get brave enough to try it out soon.

Day 259

Love. Love. Love

I'll get back to posting pictures of my other kids one of these days. ;)

Day 258

I don't know if I mentioned in here (I'm trying to catch up!)... after my milk came in, Asher stopped latching on my right side. So he eats from and I get the most milk from my left side when I pump. I'm going to be lopsided soon- yikes! Oh well. 

I have just over 100oz in the freezer already. Pretty exciting stuff!

And my first glass of wine since December. :)

Day 257

She kisses him all. day. long.

We're all obsessed!

Day 256

We went back to the doctor again this morning for Asher's circumcision. He's up to 7lbs 13oz!

My nursing pad pulled some of my skin off, so I've been bleeding and have been having to hand express: not fun! This is shaping up to be quite the experience. It still hurts for the first minute or so when he latches, but after that it's okay. Not 100% pain free but not excruciating like before. No matter how long, or even little, we nurse, I'm just glad I'm finally able to be doing it. It feels really good knowing I'm providing nourishment for him. I hope it gets a lot easier and better soon.

One thing I'm pretty relieved about is, I don't feel any more bonded to him than I did to AJ and Rian. That's always something that has bothered me. The fact that my bond with them was lessened because I didn't breastfeed them. I know it's different for every mom, but for me, I feel/felt the exact bond with all three of my babies.

Rad like Dad!

Day 255

I made dinner tonight! First time since we've brought Asher home. My mom and Jeanette love us so much they've been brining food over! It has made life so much easier and we couldn't be more grateful.

Honestly though, I was happy to feel a little back into routine. I even bathed all three kids afterward.

Three clean babes!

 

Each day gets easier and easier. There are plenty of crazy moments, like when Asher wants to eat at the same time I'm trying to help AJ with his homework or he wants to eat right when I'm about to eat... you get it. Most of the craziness happens because it seems like Asher wants to eat all the time! But for the most part, I feel like I'm getting the hang of this Mom of three thing!



Day 254

All around good reports at today's doctor visit. Asher's color is perfect! And he's up another 2 1/2 ounces since Monday. Now 7lbs 10.5oz. :)

Already...

how?!

 

He's opening his eyes a little more each day. He still has trouble opening his right eye. He sleeps with his fist up on that side most of the time, I'm wondering if it was squished against his cheek while he was in my belly and that's why he can't open it. He already looks so much bigger than he did last week.

 

My last baby's milestones are definitely going to be the most bittersweet of all. Cherishing this time so much. 

Day 253

Yesterday the doctor told me I need to put Asher in as much sunlight as possible. We have to go back for a weight and color check again tomorrow. She said he looks okay, but a little yellow, so we're not totally in the clear. Makes me nervous thinking about my baby being sick. :\

But he sure looks cute sun bathing!

AJ: "He's like a plant!"

(Somebody is always all up in his face, we're so obsessed!)

 

His size one diaper is giant on him! Aiden and Rian only used the newborn packs we got from the hospital, then moved to size ones with no problem. I'm going to get another pack of newborns for my little peanut!

Day 252

This morning Asher had his newborn well-check. I was so nervous about him losing weight, I hope he's getting enough from me! But since I was so worried, I've also been giving him breast milk through a syringe, no bottle yet. I'll probably introduce it soon though, he got a paci yesterday and is still latching on just fine.

7lbs 8oz, only down one ounce!

(Aiden was wrapped in this blanket at his newborn check too, I swear I didn't do it on purpose! It just happened to be the blanket that was in my bag.)

Brothers

Day 251



 

Today nursing hasn't been painful! Well, the first minute or so it is, but after that its fine. He's latching faster too. I still feel a little anxious before each feeding, but it's only been a few days and its already a little easier.

 

 

 

So thankful for the progress we've made.

Asher's first Sunday dinner at Papa and Nana's!

Day 250

When we had Aiden, the people that did the hearing test also took his picture and sent us a free 8x10. They don't do that anymore, so we took our own picture of Rian when we were in the hospital for our hallway.

AJ

Rian

(She would not open her eyes! And we didn't realize til way later that there's a little bit of spit up behind her. This girl threw up SO much when she was a baby.)

Asher

 

Today my baby's three days old! That means he has to wear the official "three days old" jammies. Aiden wore them on his third day and Rebecca, not even knowing, also put my nephew Ryan in them on his third day! So of course, she had to put Jake in them too. I haven't done a side-by-side of all four boys yet, but here's the first three and then Asher.

 

 

 



Day 249

Today my milk came in and we successfully fed, without an insane amount of pain, from each side. So far Asher prefers my left side and only nurses for a few minutes on the right side. Doesn't feel real that we're actually doing this. He's making my dreams come true! (Not like my other kids didn't, but like I've said a million times, everything about this time has been soo different. In the very, very best way.)

I'm tired!

He makes the cutest little sounds, has the sweetest, tiniest cry and smells soo good. I can't get enough of him!

Day 248

Asher and I were both cleared and discharged by our doctors. We just needed to get his hearing test done and we'd be free! With Aiden, we were ready to leave by 9am, we just needed him to poop... which he didn't do until after 5pm. With Rian, we had to wait for the pediatrcian. They do their rotations in the morning and later when the office closes, so both times we didn't get home til evening/night. I was excited to get home during the day! 

We were ready and on our way to start our new life about 11:30. We couldn't wait to take naps!

When we picked up Rian from Steven's parents', we also picked up a  huge bin of clothes from Rebecca's boys. So many clothes! So I did a few loads of laundry, love folding itty bitty clothes again.

From the second Asher came out, Steven said he looked like Aiden. It took me a few hours to see it.

They look exactly alike when they're asleep!

Our first night home, everybody's ready for bed:

I have three kids, omg!

Day 247 (Asher's birth story Pt. 2)

In triage, the nurse checked me and I was 3cm, 80%, -1. (Earlier at my appointment I was 2cm, 60%, -2) She said she was going to call Marsha and see what she said. Marsha wanted me to walk for an hour... not possible. My pain went from okay to not okay, at all, so quick. She called her back and she said she was going to admit me, as soon as a room opened. Ugh! I couldn't wait to get a room and get my epidural.

In the meantime, I signed some paperwork electronically and they started my IV. She was able to give me some pain meds, I was unsure if I wanted anything because I took some with Aiden and it made me sooo loopy. But I was desperate. Honestly, I don't understand how (or why!) women want to do this naturally. No thank you! She gave me something different than what I had the first time and it took the edge off, but only lasted an hour.

Twenty-thirty minutes later, a room opened. She wheeled us out, we got there around 3:15am and she checked me, 6cm. That's what I was when I got my epidural with Rian and after that, things went insanely fast with her. I didn't get totally numb and knew when it was time to push and when I needed to with each contraction. This time, I was SO numb. I didn't like it, I was worried I wouldn't know when to push, but it beat being in pain. That's for sure! I called my mom around 4am and she said she'd be there after she showered (she was going to work afterwards, good thing she works at the hospital!) I tried to get some rest in the meantime, I'd been up all night so far.

An hour later, my mom and sister showed up. I'd felt some pressure by this point. Around 5:15, the nurse came in and said my contractions were going crazy and asked if I was feeling anything. I told her I was feeling some pressure and she checked me: I was complete. She got on the phone and said, "Get in here, it's time." And they started setting everything up. I started crying. I couldn't believe I was about to do this, that it was finally time to meet my mystery baby.

Excited!

Marsha came in right away, I was glad she was going to be in there while I pushed. Apparently the head was practically hanging out! Everybody kept commenting about it. She asked Steven how many pushes he thought it'd take, he said two. Everybody was talking and excited so we missed a few contractions. They were still talking when I told them I felt one and wanted to push. I pushed holding my legs, but they were so heavy so I didn't the next time. She told me I did better when I held them, so I grabbed them again for the last push.

Three pushes (two contractions) later, I peaked down and saw a little squished up face. Out the rest of the baby came and I heard Steven's voice, "It's a boy." and lots and lots of crying from me.

They laid him on my lower belly and we waited for the umbilical cord to stop pulsing before Steven cut it. Then I finally got to hold him!

Love at first sight.

Asher Jeffery

7lbs 9oz, 19 in

(I'm seriously in shock that he's so small!)

Asher: "happy, blessed" and Jeffery after my dad.

Daddy!

My placenta took forever to come out. In the meantime they weighed him and all that, then I wanted him on me skin-to-skin. We stayed like that for awhile, til they wanted to give him a bath and Steven and I were able to eat breakfast. We were exhausted, but in heaven.

Around 9:00-9:30, we were moved to another room. We were left alone for quite a bit of the day, except when the lactation consultant stopped in. She wanted me to keep him skin-to-skin only, which was perfectly fine with me. He finally latched around 1:00- ouch! But pretty amazing since it was my first latch ever, finally with my third baby.

I took a small catnap, but we had family in and out all day so it was hard. It's weird to be so tired, but it not really bother you because you're on such an amazing high. I couldn't stop starting at him, I didn't want to sleep! 

Meeting for the first time!

Love.

We're so in love with our new little guy. It doesn't matter how many times you meet your brand new baby, its truly the most amazing feeling in the world. He spent the night in my arms and we continued to work on his latch, which he seemed to be doing just fine. If I could only get past the pain!

Every single thing about this pregnancy, and now birth, have been totally opposite of my first two experiences. A non-induced baby, born on his due date! I'm so in love with him!

Welcome to the world, Asher.

Day 246 (Asher's birth story Pt 1.)

This morning I had a baby appointment. I saw the other midwife, Julie, since Marsha had a really busy schedule. I don't really care by this point anyway. Marsha introduced me to Julie last week, they alternate being on-call every two days, so I was happy I got to see her today in case she delivers me.

I haven't progressed, boo. But she swept my membranes and there was blood. I had it done for sure once with Aiden, can't remember if they did it twice, and last week. There's never been blood. She said the same thing Marsha did about Baby's size, she guesses 7 1/2 pounds. She had me make an appointment for next week, but said she was certain I wouldn't be back. I'd been told that with both the other kids too, at like 38-39 weeks. So I didn't believe her!

I spotted and cramped off and on all day. I packed a bag for the kids while we'd be in the hospital.

Around 7:00 pm, I had my first contraction. The boys were watching Top Gear, their favorite show and I was about to sit on the couch. By 7:30, I'd had three really short, but really strong contractions. That's when I started timing them. Two hours later, I'd had eight of them. They varied in strength and length, by that point I didn't think anything would be happening. I went to bed around 10pm, still having them, and that's when they started getting longer and closer together. I felt scared. I didn't know what to do! I've never gone into labor like this before. At 10:30, I paged the midwife line. Marsha told me to wait until they became 5 minutes apart, but to go in if they stared getting stronger... which they did.

At 11:30, I woke Steven up and told him that tonight was the night. I was unsure of what to do with the kids, we already knew his parents would be taking them while we were in the hospital, but I didn't know when we should take them over. He thought it'd be best if we just took them right then. I was going to stay home while he took them over, but thought I'd better go just in case we needed to get to the hospital afterwards. We went home, but only for a few minutes. My contractions were starting to hurt pretty bad by then, I thought we needed go. If I hadn't progressed enough, worse thing they'd do is send us home and we'd have to go back later.

We got to Triage at 12:40.

Waiting to see if I can be admitted.

Day 245

Waiting for baby!

 

Everything's prepared.

 

We're more than ready.

Day 244

September! Baby month is finally here. Finally?! It flew by SO fast!

We always have dinner at my parents house on Sundays. The party we went to last night was originally going to be tonight but got moved last minute, so we were home for dinner tonight. Steven made hot wings and cheesy fries- yum! So unhealthy and delicious.

Afterwards I walked around the neighborhood, so much walking!

"When I do this, that's how you know I'm Spiderman"

:)

 

Since there's no school tomorrow, the kids got to watch a movie in our room while we watched one in the living room. Aiden misses doing that on Sunday nights!