Ready or Not...here comes Ashton Taylor!

Well so much for denial....reality has been a whirlwind! On Friday afternoon birthmom called and told me she had been to the doctors earlier that day for her regular monitoring for the cholestatis. They told her she was having contractions every 3-5 minutes and was a tight 3 cm dialated, so they recommended she call her doctor at Hopkins. They suggested she come in. We arrived around 4 or 5 p.m. They hooked her up to the monitors. After a frustrating couple of hours, they said that she was only 25% effaced and her cervix was high and still only a tight 3 cm. dialated. They sent all of us home. Telling her that it was pre-term contractions and she could possible experience this for several more weeks. They did advise her that if she continued to be uncomfortable, she could go to her local hospital to have them check her and if they thought she was progressing and it was safe to transfer her to Hopkins than they would.

So saturday morning, birthmom continued not to feel good. She went to her local hospital, they told her she was now 4 cm and her contractions had continued. She had thought maybe her water had broken They took some tests to see if her water had broken and they all came back positive. While the doctor wasn't 100% sure her water had broken,the midwife felt that it had. Once again we traveled down to John Hopkins. We arrived around 5 or 6 p.m. Once again they hooked her up to the monitors. She remained at 4 cm and continued to have contractions. They tested to see if her water broke...and again the tests were inconclusive. Around 10 or 11 pm bm decided to go for a walk. The walk did it! While her water didn't fully break, it was finally evident when they did the second batch of tests that it had a tear. That meant baby was coming in 24 hours! That night bm, me and bm mother all got some rest! They hooked birth mom up to potossin and then we waited til morning to see what the day brought.

Sunday was such an exciting day...bm went from 4 cm dialated and 90% effaced to completely ready to deliver! The doctors came in and taught bm how to push and told her that she had some work to do and they would come back in 3 or 4 hours. Boy were they wrong. Tweleve pushes later...Ashton Taylor entered the world! How awesome was it to watch his birth! When I first learned that I would get to be present at his birth...I thought...oh no...what if I pass out...I didn't want to make a scene! I even watched a couple of deliveries on you tube so I won't be totally shocked. I have to say it was one of the most awesome things I have had opportunity to witness! I could of kept watching it over and over...REPLAY...REPLAY...of course I am sure bm...would not say the same! Absolutely nothing grossed me out at all!

Ashton came into the world on Sunday April 10th at 9:49 a.m. He weighed 5lbs and 15 oz. He was approxmately 19 inches long. Of course I am biased...but he is truly a beautiful child!

Bm and I spent 2 precious days in the hospital together. It was so precious. In some ways I didn't want it to end. My prayer is that God will bless our bm beyond measure in her life!