asher trent agnew

so i've finally gotten around to uploading pictures on the computer and figured it would be a good time to post about asher's birth...especially since he will be 2 months old this upcoming wednesday! mother of the year i am not. on friday, may 1st, tom and i arrived at williamson county medical center at 5:00 A.M. (i still can't believe that i had to be there that early) to begin my induction. after the check-in, hooking up iv process, talk with the doctor, etc., the pitocin wasn't started until approximately 6:30 and i felt my first contraction around 6:45. they continued to up my pitocin intake by 2 units every 30 minutes until my contractions were 7-8 minutes apart. after that, i labored at the same pitocin level until fully dilated. i also had to have a large dose of penicillin through the iv because i was group b strep positive. to be honest, i don't know exactly when they stopped increasing the pitocin level because i was w-o-r-k-i-n-g. the only similarity to caleb's birth was the fact that i was laboring without an epidural, or other pain-blocking drugs. i had no idea how differently labor felt when artificially induced. don't get me wrong, labor is painful no matter how it starts, but the pitocin amplified the intensity of the contractions to a level much higher than i remember with caleb. at 12:45 p.m. i was ready to push. up to this point, i had been mentally complaining about the external monitors on my belly. i wanted this birth to be minimally invasive, and those two monitors (which were irritating my skin) were invasive. however, i should have kept my (mental) mouth shut because those monitors proved invaluable during the next 30 minutes. asher was progressing out the birth canal slowly, but steadily with every contraction/push and receding back into the birth canal (a little less than before) when i was not contracting/pushing. the old saying "two steps forward, one step back" really is true when it comes to birthing a baby. dr. scott and the nurses wanted me to turn on my side to see if that would help speed the process along. however, the longer i pushed, the lower asher's heart rate dropped. it fell to 68 at one point and prompted dr. scott to order a room ready for an emergency c-section. since i had had no drugs, i would have had to been completely knocked out for that procedure. thankfully, that didn't happen because i just kept pushing. every time i felt a contraction, i pushed. at one point nurses were rushing around getting ready to move rooms and didn't notice that i was pushing until tom said, "uh...she's still pushing!!!" my stubborness really paid off because with a few final pushes the amazing dr. scott was able to help me birth a healthy 7 pound 14 ounce baby asher at 1:18 p.m. asher was a full 1 pound 3 ounces bigger than caleb at birth. after delivery, dr. scott told me that his umbilical cord had been wrapped around his neck causing his heart rate to drop when i pushed...poor thing! thankfully, he had absolutely no ill-effects from the dramatic labor and delivery. later that evening, big brother caleb came to visit with gran and grandad. caleb was soooooo excited to see baby asher. he asked to hold him as soon as he got there. in fact, he held him almost the entire time he visited. tom and i were, and continue to be, extremely humble and thankful to be the parents of two sweet boys.

time goes by soooooooo slowly

had my final pre-natal visit this afternoon. still no asher, but at least there has been some progress. i have dilated 2 cm. and effaced 50%. my ob/gyn was very pleased, so i have decided to be encouraged also. while that doesn't mean that i will go into full-blown labor on my own prior to friday, it does mean that there will be less work to do once i get there. my induction is scheduled for this friday at 5:00 A.M...that's right, A.M. feel free to insert your own sarcastic comment here. while dreading the early wake-up call, tom and i will be ready to get to work.

just waitin'

well, my due date (4/25) came and went without asher making an appearance. however, we do know that we will not be waiting past this friday (5/1). if asher still hasn't come by wednesday when i go back to the ob/gyn, then i will be scheduled to be induced on friday. induction is not my first method of choice to have this kid, but i do realize that it would not be healthy (for mom or baby) to wait longer than 41 weeks. i'm just praying that i will go into labor on my own prior to friday because i don't think that i will be a very good patient if i have to have an iv, lie in a bed, and just wait. some may call that being a control freak, but i prefer to think of it as knowing one's limitations. the passing of my due date has served a very useful purpose. during this past week, i have begun to realize that tom and i will now be responsible for raising 2 little boys into godly young men. i know, i know, amazing that it only took 40 weeks to figure out, right? just the differences in pregnancies clues me in that these boys are going to be different. caleb was 2 days early, asher is "late"; caleb weighed 6 lbs. 11 oz., asher was estimated at 7 lbs. 4 oz. at 38 wk. ultrasound; caleb displays several type a personality traits (mommy), and it appears that asher could be more laid back (daddy) since he's not really concerned about time constraints like due dates. the possibilities for differences, similarities, and yes, even oddities, blow my mind and asher isn't even (fully) here yet. it is amazing how fearfully and wonderfully we are made. **disclaimer** yes, i realize that the above picture is not recent, nor of asher, but i lost my usb cable and can't find an universal one to fit my camera. caleb is shaving in the picture.

an update

just in case some people still check the blog, i've got a few updates. first (and this is a big one), we moved!!! that's right, we officially are home owners...again. and with that home ownership comes, the internet. alas, i will be able to blog and further waste time on the internet until my heart is content, or caleb wakes up from his nap, which ever comes first. second, i'm still pregnant, all of 33 weeks. it is insane how quickly this pregnancy has passed compared to caleb's third, jack (our beloved bulldog) is coming home to stay tomorrow. we are super excited, but jack probably won't be. he's been living the good life while at nana's house and that will come to a screeching halt once i get a hold of him :) i've got to compose a list before i even attempt to make some posts. i have severe episodes of pregnancy brain these days!

caleb at 2 years old!!!

january 2007 it is seriously hard to believe that caleb is 2 years old!!! when i start to write down all the things he can do/say, i feel like he's such a big boy and time has just slipped away. but then i think of all the things that he has ahead of him and realize that he still is our baby boy and every day is to be cherished. caleb is very interested in learning. he loves to sit down and read with me and tom. sometimes, i ask him to read to me and he'll turn the pages pointing out things that he knows and telling me what they are, or acting out what the story asks him to do (i.e. smell the flowers, wheels on the bus go around, etc.). his current favorite books are: "brown bear, brown bear what do you see?" "the wheels on the bus," "big and little," and a book he got for free in a chik-fil-a kids meal (it has lots of words on the pages and he "reads" it by himself-won't let me touch it!). he also likes to work puzzles, build with his legos, and label things with their size and color. he currently knows, brown, green, black, orange, gray, and blue and uses big to describe objects. i'm pretty sure he recognizes yellow and red, but refuses to say the words. he also knows the answers to a few big questions. for example, i'll ask, "who made you?" and he'll answer "God." he also can answer, "how old are you?" with "two." and if asked if he wants to read his Bible, he'll say, "baby Jesus." some nights, we read 3 or 4 chapters in his Bible because he asks us for "mo" (more). he's doing pretty good with his manners. please and thank you are pretty common since he's realized that he has to ask nicely if he wants something. however, he still sounds like a typical 2 year old a lot of the time. a demanding "down!" followed by a quiet "please" is his idea of asking to get down from his chair nicely. he also has fallen in love with feeding himself with a spoon and fork. he does a really good job too. he manages to eat entire bowls of spaghetti, mac & cheese, cheerios and milk, oatmeal, mandarin oranges and the like by himself with very little getting on his clothes or floor. caleb has also developed a love of dancing! he's so cute. sometimes he just jumps up and down and spins and at other times, he does a little dance very similar to the one that bill cosby did on the cosby show...moving his feet very little (if at all) and moving his arms in a bent knee stance-hilarious! sometimes during the day, we'll take a music break and i will sing (i know, painful thought) and let caleb dance. he's really good at keeping up with "head, shoulders, knees, and toes." he'll point to all the body parts and even join in with a hearty "knees, toes." the other songs he just bounces and claps. acting more and more like a little boy, caleb loves to do whatever tom and i do. he'll sweep, dust, "fold" laundry (basically shakes it and drags it around for a little while), help daddy with chores, etc. if i think he can do it, i ask him. he loves having little jobs to do and it's good for his confidence and work ethic to be able to complete them daily. he's also getting closer and closer to full-blown conversation skills. he'll say expressions like, "all done," "oh no," "fall down," "go home," "tie shoe," etc. and his motor skills are growing like crazy. he can catch a tennis ball, take his coat and hat off, kick, run, slide, and do all the necessary little boy things. he also has his two bottom 2 year molars and is currently cutting his top ones...yeah! he still weighs in on the 10th percentile for weight at 24 1/2 lbs. and 30th percentile for height at 33 inches. however, i'm not believing the height because his pants are seriously short and ready for a 2T length wise. i could write all day about caleb, but internet time is almost over. hopefully, i'll be able to post again with pics from his two birthday parties!

24 week check up

on friday, january 9th, i went back to the ob/gyn for my 24 week check up. baby boy is doing well. heartbeat is good and i've gained a total of 11 pounds so far. i have to constantly remind myself that weight gain is good, normal, and necessary for a healthy baby. but is it ever hard to watch my face get rounder and rounder...you can't hide a fat face! on a more pleasant note, i go back on february 6th for my 28 week check up and glucola screening. shouldn't be too bad. they gave me the drink already, so i can drink it at home and just show up a little early to have my blood drawn. much better than with caleb when i had to wait in a doctor's office for an hour after i drank the stuff before i could have my bloodwork done. i do believe that we have officially picked a name for baby boy...asher. it's in the Bible in case you were wondering of its origins. however, we haven't settled on a middle name. we have 2 strong candidates and are basically waiting on me to make up my mind. tom loved asher as the first name, so i get creative license over the middle name :)

more Christmas and Tom's birthday pics

i have so many events to catch up on and so little internet time to do it, so...less talk, more pics!!! it's daddy's birthday...get excited!!! tom isn't really 321, my mom just didn't have two "3" candles for his gooey bars. you'll have to forgive her, all of her children are under 30...ooooooo, burn! who am i kidding? tom doesn't care. he had gooey bars for cryin' out loud! uncle adam and leo caleb and gran with his big dump truck caleb is ready for school with his bus and blue backpack :)