life: Asher was ready...

We've had a crazy 2 weeks. I went into preterm labor last Sunday afternoon. I was admitted to the hospital and put on Magnesium to stop contractions and given steroids to help with Asher's lung production in case I was to give birth.

After 48 hours on the Magnesium, the contractions had stopped and the baby was good.

They kept me over night and then discharged me around lunch time on Wednesday. Went home, was fine, taking it easy, and went to sleep.
On Thursday, I woke up around 6 am and went to the bathroom and there was blood. I told Timmy and he was so calm and got everything ready. We dropped Cogley off at daycare, went into Labor and Delivery, peed in a cup and my water broke, and got all hooked up again. They started me on Magnesium again to stop contractions, but by 5 pm I was having painful contractions much closer together. Timmy had left to go pick Cogley up from daycare and headed right back to the hospital. The pain was so intense that I got an epidural even before Tim and Cogley arrived. The epidural kicked in and I was on cloud 9 again.
After about 2 hours on the epidural, the doctor came to check my cervix and I had dilated 10 cm and she said she wanted to go ahead and start pushing, this baby was coming! They got the room set up, all the NICU docs and nurses came in, and then the pushing started.
I pushed twice and he was out, along with a gush of amniotic fluid in the docs face, but that's a story for another time. She held him in one hand and we could hear his little, kitty-like cries. How amazing to hear a 26 week old baby cry when they are born.

After that everything moved quickly. Timmy got to go take pictures of Asher and watch them get him ready to be moved to the NICU. I was all cleaned up and made ready for postpartum.
Asher was whisked away to the NICU and we were told that all had gone perfectly and he was looking good.

After a few hours in postpartum, getting the feeling in my legs back, and the arrival of my in-laws from Texas, we walked down to the NICU to see him. He had a CPAP mask on, a ton of cords, and looked so small.

They said he was doing great and his lungs were awesome.
Since then we have visited him everyday, I've been pumping and taking the breast milk for him, and have only heard good things each time we go in.

Today I was allowed to hold him skin-to-skin. It was so wonderful and made my momma heart happy.
What a miracle baby! Friends and family have been sharing the news of his early arrival and so many people are praying for this sweet boy. We thank you all and appreciate your prayers and support.

Now, as far as Cogley goes, well....he's a big brother!

Asher was born on his 11 month birthday and they are Irish Twins (born within the same 12 months). Very cool. Cogley has no idea, of course, that he has a brother. I can't wait until he understands and can recognize that Asher is his. The funny story from Asher's birth is that Cogley was sound asleep in the pack-n-play in the corner of the delivery room and slept through the entire birth. Such a sweet boy!

This entire experience has been like a dream. It's weird to not be pregnant anymore. There will not be a birth on June 20th. Been there, done that. Crazy! I'm so happy he's out, though, and taken care of so well by those nurses.

God Bless!
#asherspreemiestory