Cutest little mole I've ever seen

Remember way back in January when the Dr. at Urgent Care told me I had a molar pregnancy & would have a d&c later in the week???

Well thank HEAVENS we have a real doctor that clarified...

no mole, real baby.

Here she be:

Ashby Atwood

She's perfect. 

The name:

So we were planning on the name Harper.

But in my mind, Harper was identical to Avy.

She had awesome red hair.

So when she was born, & didn't look anything like we imagined Harper would look like, she stumped the chump.

We were without name.

We were staring at a beautiful blondie who needed the perfect name.

We had orginally liked Ashby too.

So we toyed back & forth between the 2 names & several others for the whole hopsital stay, & then finally agreed upon Ashby.

It fits.

The stats:

September 23, 2011

(yes, Avy's birthday too)

8:53 pm

7lbs 6oz

20.5 inches

The delivery:

I woke up Friday morning with some contractions, hoping & praying this was it...

finally!!!

I had contractions off & on all day, & then they started to get more regular & painful towards the afternoon.

We decided we should get moving to the hospital, but had to celebrate a certain little someone's 4th birthday before we took off.

Even 6 minute apart contractions won't stop me from downing me some cake & ice-cream.

I'm a die hard.

We got to the hospital around 3pm & got all checked out.

I was only a 3.  Hmmph.

They said, well, you can go home & labor, or since we have you all hooked up & here in a bed, do you just want to get things moving along & have that baby?

ummmm.....YES!

I had an induction scheduled for the next day.

I was trying to avoid the girlies sharing the same birthday, but realized that this baby would likely be coming on the 23rd whether I went home & sat in pain & anticipation, or whether I labored in the hospital with the comfort of my friend the epidural.

So I got the epidural & pitocin at 5pm.

Felt the need to push about 3.5 hours later, got permission from nurse & dr,

pushed through 2 contractions and out came Ashby.

I hope to not curse myself for any possible births in the future, but really,

this one was easy breezy.

Less than 10 minutes of pushing...I'll take it.

In fact, the Dr. said,

"They shouldn't even pay me for doing this. This one's too easy."

You know Tyler took note of that.

The reds:

In love.

They can't get enough.

Linc is constantly asking, "Where's Baby?" in his own verbage, of course.

And everytime he sees her, he says, "My Baby!"

Exactly what I predicted...very protective of "my baby!"

Avy is so helpful & just adores Ashby.

She can't get enough snuggling & is already

 trying to teach her the fine art of patty-cake.

They couldn't be more sweet.

The dad:

No shenanigans this time.

Really, none at all.

With Avy's labor, he slept through the majority of it.

Poor guy just couldn't please me when I needed him to rub my hand.

With Linc's labor, he went out to get himself some dinner & stopped by the car dealership before heading back to the hospital.

And, also with Linc, if my memory serves me correctly,

I asked him at one point to go get the nurse, & he pretended to go do it bc he didn't really think I was ready to push.

But it's all good.  I know he meant well.

Ashby...he was fully present, both physically & mentally.

He rubbed my hands at the perfect pressure when I got the shakes.

He was very attentive when I asked for water.

He retrieved our nurse at the moment I asked.

He wins the Labor & Delivery Husband of the Year award.

Thanks, Tyler!

A few more random pics:

So there you have it.

Ashby is a bundle of love & we are soaking up every moment of her.

Thanks for all the well wishes & congratulations you've all given us! 

We feel very loved & blessed.

Oh wait!

Hold the phone!

I almost forgot to mention one of the most AWESOME parts about the past few days.

Let the picture speak for itself:

That's right, folks.

I somehow scored not 1, not 2, but 3

of the coveted hospital water bottles.

I got one a few days before from the false water breaking alarm

(see previous post)

And then after Ashby was born I dropped mine on the floor at the hospital so the nurse told me to throw it away and she would get me a new one.

Heck no.

She got me a new one, but you better bet your bottom dollar we kept the fallen one as well.