Topaz Mountain

This year for Memorial Day weekend we took Ashie to Topaz Mountain for the first time! :) It ended up snowing on us (in the middle of the desert, can you believe it?!) so we were stuck in the trailer for a lot of the time but Ashlyn seemed quite happy with that. Her ducky is her favorite toy and she played with him and some of grandma's stuffed animals all weekend long. I was worried about how she would do in the truck on the drive there and back but she did great! She was awake for about half of the drive, both ways, and she was as happy as a clam. She would just sit in her car seat and stare at me, then she would turn her head and stare at Andrew. And she LOVED when we would sing or talk to her. She would get the biggest smile on her face. :) By the time we got home she was blowing raspberries at me!! I don't think she's been able to figure it out since then but it was really cute.

 Here is Ashie and her best friend Ducky.

I love this picture! She looks like the queen of her little animal kingdom. :)

Ashlyn and Me

I don't remember for sure when this was taken but I think Ashlyn was around 6 weeks old in this picture.

Ashlyn Echo Herbst

Ashlyn Echo Herbst

Born on March 7, 2011 at 3:30 pm

6 pounds 11 ounces

20 inches long

Andrew and I went to the hospital on Sunday March 6th at 9 pm to start a scheduled induction. I was 41 weeks pregnant and Ashlyn wasn't showing any signs that she was going to meet us anytime soon, she seemed very happy in my belly. *stinker!* We got to the hospital and the nurse got my IV going (after having to fish for my vein) and they strapped a heart rate monitor and a contraction monitor to my belly. It was cool to see Ashlyn's heart beat on the monitor and we could hear it too. The nurse was going to start my induction with placing a pill of Cytotec on my cervix and she told me that once the pill was placed I had to stay laying down for an hour, well being pregnant and having an IV I decided it would probably be best to use the restroom before she placed the Cytotec. The nurse showed me how to unhook the monitors and how to take the IV bag off of the holder- I had to carry it with me- and I used the restroom and came back. When I came back she showed me how to hook my monitors back up and as she did that she noticed that I was having contractions. I couldn't feel them so I didn't know until she showed them to me. Since I was having contractions she couldn't place the Cytotec so she decided to monitor me for an hour and see if the contractions would stop or if they got stronger. She came back after an hour and my contractions were staying the same so she called the doctor and see what he wanted to do. They decided that they would just let me labor on my own and we would start Pitocin around 4 am to speed things along. So Andrew and I were in for a long night. The nurse came to check on me every hour or so and neither of us slept very well. Next time we need to bring a pillow for Andrew. lol! So the nurse came back in around 4 am and started the Pitocin. My contractions still weren't very painful yet so I tried sleep a little bit more. I woke up just before six am with very painful contractions. There wasn't a gradual increase in the pain, one minute I was sleeping and the next I was in excruciating pain. So I called the nurse and she came in and said that the anesthesiologist was scheduled to come in at seven so she gave me some painkillers through my IV and said that it should help me make it until he got there. Well, fifteen minutes later I was in pain again and there was still 45 minutes until I would be able to get my epidural. Finally, right at seven am the anesthesiologist walked into my room and we started the process of inserting the epidural. Let me tell you, that sucked! I had to sit up in bed and round my back much as I could and then not move. Ummm.... it's extremely difficult to not move when you are having a contraction. For some reason my body decided to be difficult again and the needle would not go where it needed to. The poor anesthesiologist had to try three different spots before he could get the needle into my spine and get the tube put in. I think it took around a half an hour to get it put in completely. Even though it was such a pain to get in I am so happy that I got the epidural! From that point on it was easy sailing, except for the pushing part. The morning went well, family started showing up and we just hung out and rested all morning. Around noon I started feeling the contractions more and I was having some pretty bad pain on the right side of my stomach. I used the little button that puts more pain meds into my epidural and it just wasn't working. So I finally called the nurse in and she call the anesthesiologist and he ended up putting a different type of medication in my epidural catheter. Then I was good until around 1:30 pm when the pain started coming back again. At that point I was super close to being fully dilated so it was a rush to get the anesthesiologist there in time for me to get some more medication. As we were waiting for him the nurse suggested that we try a few practice pushes to see what that did for the pain and to my surprise when I would push the pain would go away! I was fully dilated so we just decided to start pushing and hope the baby was out before the pain got too much worse. I was lucky (I think anyway) and my legs didn't go super numb so I was able to move them myself and I could feel the contractions, not pain but pressure, and I think that that helped with the pushing. I pushed for just under two hours and at 3:30 pm Ashlyn was born! The doctor put her up on my chest and I just started bawling!! She was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen in my life!

I'm posting this for now but I will be back later to finish our story and give updates. :)

36 Weeks 4 Days

I know I've said it before but I really am bad at keeping my blog up to date. :( I'm sorry!!

Here we are, 36 weeks and 4 days, that means only 3 weeks and 3 days left!! I started my weekly appointments on Tuesday and I have been waiting for these forever! Not that the appointments are necessarily fun but they aren't bad, it just means that Ashlyn's birthday is getting closer! I know that they say that your dilation and effacement aren't very good indicators of when you will go into labor but it's still fun to know how my body is progressing. My first internal check was on Tuesday and the doc said I wasn't dilated but he could feel the baby's head and my cervix is 50% effaced. The doctor also said that if I went into labor this week they would try to stop it but if I were to go into labor next week that we would be good to go. My next appt is next Tuesday, the 8th, and I'm excited to see if anything has changed. My blood pressure was good, I think it was 106/68, that's pretty normal for me. I have discovered that when Andrew doesn't come to my appointments with me my blood pressure is always a little bit higher, the 120/70 range. lol! The baby's heartbeat was 138, the same as it was at our last appointment two weeks prior.

I can definitely tell that she is getting bigger. *rollie eyes* She likes to stick her heel into my right side and just push. I am very glad that she's not in my ribs but it still hurts! If you put your hand on my side you can feel the little circle of her heel moving around.... well I'm assuming it's her heel based on where her head is and what position she is most likely in. She also likes to push on my left side just barely above my hip bone. It's really weird when she does that because it feels like she is going to put her hand or whatever it is between my skin and my hip bone.

I still feel good. No swelling or contractions (that I feel). I have the normal back aches and a tired body but I think I am probably getting off easy. I started waddling (or wobbling as I like to say) about a week ago. Some days are worse than others, depends on how heavy she is that day, but I did notice that my thighs don't rub together as much when I walk so I think that means my hips are spreading.... not that they aren't wide enough already! Lol! My wedding ring still fits and I even wore high heels the other day with no issues!! :) My boobs are leaking, they've been leaking for almost two months now I think. It's really strange to me still but I guess it goes with the territory. We are not going to breastfeed so I'm worried about when my milk comes in, it's supposed to be super painful and since I'm already leaking so much I'm worried I'll have a lot of milk come in. :( My eyesight is still getting worse. I won't drive at night unless I absolutely have to and it's really hard for me to read the TV guide from the couch. Even though I don't have a ton of pain and discomfort I am very excited to have my body back to myself. Mom bought me a pre-natal massage and I am SO excited for it! I still need to schedule it but I can't wait. :) I feel like I've been more ornery and grumpy the past few days. I don't know if it's because I'm getting more uncomfortable and tired or if it's just nerves and me being anxious for her to be here. I really would love to just lay in bed until she gets here.

Here is a pic of my belly from today:

Ashlyn's room is getting closer to being finished! I finally finished her dresser and Andrew put it in her room for me and I've already filled it with clothes, diapers, and blankets. :) We have her crib (Thanks Chris and Katie!) and my awesome rocking chair from Mom and Dad. I still need to finish cleaning out her closet and then I can get everything else put away. The night I put her clothes away I had a dream that she was here and I kept changing her outfit every few minutes! lol! She was so cute in my dream and it felt so real, it made me want her here even more than I already did.

Andrew and I bought a new car last night! It's a black 2006 MazdaSpeed6 and her name is Delilah. She is super fun and I'm glad that we got her before Ashlyn got here. I loved my Grand Cherokee to death but it was a 1999 and we were worried that she was going to start having problems and be more expensive to maintain. So we got a new car that will be more reliable and will last us for the next few years. Now we just need to put the car seat base in the backseat. :) I also need to finish packing Ashlyn's diaper bag and my hospital bag. I think I have pretty much everything I need for my bag but I need to make sure it's all in there and ready to go.

I think that's all for now but I will do my best to make a new post on Tuesday with another update. Cross your fingers!!

Your Baby in Week 37 of Pregnancy


Congratulations! You've got what is officially considered a full-term baby, even with three weeks to go. That doesn't mean he's finished growing — in fact, he's still packing on about a half pound a week (at this age, the average fetus weighs about 6.5 pounds). That makes it a little crowded in your uterus, so he’s probably not kicking as much, though he’s probably stretching, rolling a bit, and wiggling (all of which you’ll be able to feel!). Right now, your little superstar is busy rehearsing for his big debut, inhaling and exhaling amniotic fluid (to get the lungs ready for that first breath), sucking his thumb (to prepare for that first suckle of milk), blinking, and turning from side to side.


Your Body in Week 37 of Pregnancy

Your body is going through its own preparations for childbirth as your practitioner starts looking for signs of labor. On the checklist: the baby's position in relation to your pelvis (engagement) and whether effacement (thinning of the cervix) and dilation (opening of the cervix) have begun. Your practitioner may also determine whether your cervix has begun to soften and move to the front of the vagina, another indication that labor is getting closer. Keep in mind that these processes can occur gradually (over a period of weeks or even a month or more in some women) or overnight. So while they're clues that you're indeed progressing, they're far from sure bets when it comes to pinpointing the actual start of labor