Asher Eli Dickson

Our little man is finally here! And a week old actually, but I'm just slow finally getting this posted ;) Asher Eli Dickson was born 11/21/16 at 6:04 PM. He weighed in at 7 lbs 9 oz and was 20 inches tall (Colton weighed 7lbs 10 oz, so Asher is the smallest!). Seriously, he is perfect. Like, the best baby ever. Never cries, and is letting mommy sleep at night! Fingers crossed that it stays this way ;)

Here's his birth story and pics!

Robs mom was amazing enough to agree to come down and help out at home for a few weeks following baby, so she flew in on the 19th, Saturday evening. We had scheduled to get induced on Monday, November 21st, first thing in the morning. I was a little nervous about getting induced again, but my doctor was leaving town the next morning for three weeks, so we got it scheduled. 
Rob and I showed up at the hospital that morning, right at 7am. The nurse that was with us for the day, was absolutely amazing. She really listened to what we were wanting, and tried her best to work with us, and help us however she could. She got us all hooked up and the process started. We start the Pitocin around 8:30 that morning. Shortly after, LaNae, Weston, and Colton all showed up. The boys hung out for a little bit, and then my mom came and took the boys for the day. LaNae stayed to help coach me and Rob through the labor. With the other boys I had gotten an epidural, and I really didn't want to get one this time. I had had different issues with the other two, and desperately wanted to avoid it if at all possible. Contractions slowly started getting more intense, but it still seemed like it was taking forever. Rob and I danced, listened to relaxing music, laughed, and I snuck food whenever my nurse wasn't watching. As contractions got worse Rob helped relieve some pain as I used the birthing ball to sit on and lean on. As the labor progressed however, it looked like Asher's heartbeat kept dropping with each contraction. We kept it monitored, and tried different things to help, but we just couldn't seem to fix it. Of course I was totally freaking out. At that point all thoughts of getting the epidural went out the window. I just wanted to get him here safely and quickly, and I knew an epidural would only slow things down. Eventually the nurse and doctor decided that I needed to stay in the bed, so that they could keep an eye on the heart monitor better. I was scared they would make me get a C-Section, so I quietly got into bed, and kept praying. Once I was in the bed, it seemed like the contractions got a lot worse. Rob was amazing, and helped me breathe and focus through each one. He even had me laughing (which hurt a lot more, so he got told that wasn't allowed :)  ).  Although I've been told I was only in the bed for a few hours before Asher were born, it felt like a life time. And yet, almost out of nowhere I was told it was finally time to push. Baby had been a trooper, and he was finally ready to be here! LaNae told me it only took 5 contractions to get him here. I honestly have no idea how long it took, but it was such an amazing experience. Finally, at 6:04 PM Asher was born! 

The first couple of days he kept spitting up really bad, but they said it was just amniotic fluid that he were still trying to clear out of your system. After a couple of days that cleared up, which has been such a huge relief, because it was really scary every time. At his newborn check a few days later they said that his jaundice levels were high, and they made us put him on a bilirubin light for 2 days. Even though he was home, it was so hard, because snuggling was pretty much not an option while he were on the light. Everything cleared up quickly though, and the last few days we have been snuggling him nonstop :)