All About Asher

With Asher in our family our life has been a bit of a blur lately.  From learning to breastfeed, to doctors appointments, to many sleepless nights, it has been non stop fun :).  Luckily for us, Asher has been a wonderful baby.  He sleeps all of the time (except for at night, of course), when he is awake he hardly ever cries, he eats like a champ, and loves to cuddle and be warm.

Seriously though, Asher loves to be warm - and I don't just mean a little warm - we are talking serious heat.  We dress him super warm at night to make sure he'll be toasty, one night he kept crying and we could not figure out why.  We'd fed him, changed his diaper, made sure everything was taken care of - finally we take took him out and cuddled him next to us for even a few seconds and he fell right asleep, but as soon as we put him back into his crib he would start to fuss again.  Finally, I did the unimaginable and added another blanket around his already tightly swaddled body - presto - he slept like a champ.  All he needed was a 20th layer around him, haha. 

Baths have been a bit of a challenge so far.  His umbilical cord didn't fall off until just yesterday, so we've been doing our best to keep his belly dry when we give him baths - which means he doesn't get to be submerged in the warm water.  We have one of those newborn slings for the baby bathtub that we have been using.  As soon as he is in the water his legs immediately wrap underneath the sling and we practically have to pry them off when we take him out - its hilarious to watch.  If we make sure that we continually are pouring warm water over him, he does great.  That is until we get him out and he poops all over the towel and himself and gets another bath right away.  Oh, and we are just going to go out on a limb and guess that this little guy has some curl to his hair... what do ya think?

One thing we are still learning to be careful of are Asher's bodily functions.  From the start he was displaying his talents.  When they laid our little buddy on my chest when he was first born, as they lifted him off me I had his lovely tar mess all over haha.

Then, last Sunday I was changing his diaper when I had placed the changing pad on the couch and was in the processes of wiping him when old faithful erupted.  I covered it as quickly as I could, but then the pee started to pool on his changing pad and roll off.  I was frantic grabbing his blankets and throwing them on his mess to soak it up.  In an effort to mitigate the damage I tossed a blanket on the floor and put Asher on it.  No sooner had I turned away to wipe down the couch then I heard him let loose.  You guessed it, poo all over the blanket in an eruption of bodily goodness.  I just had to laugh at my little baby with poo up his back and pee in his hair and mentally award myself the mother of the year award. 

Also, the mystery of our lives, is how Asher's clothes can be completely soaked up his back and his diaper can still be completely dry.  And, huggies newborn diapers, how can they even call themselves diapers.  Every single time we put Asher in one, he ends up wet in a matter of seconds. Lately we have been sticking with the pampers swaddlers - halelujah.  Furthermore, can babies have taste in clothing? Asher has the cutest outfit that is navy blue with little crabs on it.  Seconds after I put him in it, it either has spit-up, pee, or poop all over it.  I don't think it has been worn more than five minutes consecutively before I have to change his outfit.

Facial expressions are one thing that Asher has mastered, or at least one facial expression.  We call it his concerned look, complete with furrowed eyebrows.  Not sure what causes this look, but it is a frequent one.  We also get the occasional smile, usually right before he falls asleep, or right after he has eaten - we love getting smiles.

Feeding Asher is the easy part.  What amazes me is how many people tell me, oh, it is so nice because your baby will just pull away when he is done eating.  This has NEVER happened, even when we are using the bottle.  Sometimes I try to let Asher eat until he pulls away and we are talking hours here... not really, but he just keeps eating.  The good news is that when I unlatch him, he is just happy as a clam and doesn't seem to mind - and the fact that he weighed 9 lbs at his 2 week visit means he must be getting enough.  He hardly spits up either and has the hardest suck - when he sucks his binky he gets marks on his face - hence the reason we try to use the Soothie binkies instead of the Nuk.  We may just have a little tank on our hands here in a little while.

Above all though, Asher loves his dad.  They spend all of the time that they can together, and I am so incredibly grateful for a husband who loves both Asher and me and takes care of us all of the time.  Naps and tummy time are always so fun for me to watch Adam with Asher - melt my heart.

We are so grateful that Asher will take a pacifier.  Whenever we go to put the pacifier in his mouth, his hands shoot up and grab our hands and Asher won't let go as he holds our hands to his little chest.  

It has been so fun to see Asher with all of his grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins.  Asher has a cousin Hazel who is just a week younger than him, and they are mighty cute together - both with dark dark hair.  Belle was the first cousin to get to hold baby Asher and unfortunately Asher's cousin Platte (2 years old) was sick and couldn't come near Asher when he was first born, Platte was super bummed, but has since been able to play with baby Asher.  Fae and Ila love baby Asher and this past weekend Asher had more kisses on his head than any baby could ever wish for.  It is so fun to see them just already love their little cousin, and we can't wait until they can all interact with each other.  

Lucky for Asher he has plenty of aunts and uncles who always want to hold him and help take care of him.  Between Nathan, McKay, Whitney, and Amanda he gets plenty of attention.  Lyndon and Amanda offered to watch Asher while Adam and I ran to the store to get some much needed supplies.  Our only request was that they try to keep him awake (in hopes that Asher would sleep better at night). When we got home, both Lyndon and Amanda were doing everything they could to keep those little eyes open - singing, rocking him, Amanda was belting songs to him while walking around the house - so cute!

Needless to say, life is a bit crazy with a little newborn, but we are so in love with Asher and could not ask for anything more.

Asher Taylor Ricks

He is finally here! Our baby boy was born on January 28th at 6:16 pm, weighing in at 8 lbs 11 oz and 21.5 inches long (they officially measured him at 22.5, but at his 2 day appointment we did some thorough measuring and he is really only 21.5 - go figure).  We are three and a half weeks out and just fall in love with Asher more every day.  

The week before Asher was born was torture.  We were WAY too excited to meet our little boy, and I was WAY too ready to not be pregnant anymore.  His due date came and went and I practically convinced myself that he would never come.  Because I hadn't progressed at all, it was almost for sure that I would have to wait and be induced on Sunday the 27th.  I admit that we could've gone to church on the 27th, but I couldn't bear having everyone ask me and feel bad for me being a week over due haha.

Sunday finally came, the weather was incredibly snowy and the roads were terrible – all I could think of was thank goodness for modern medicine and the fact that I could be induced rather than have to wait for Asher to decide to come on his own.  Adam and I stayed home from church planning on having to be at the hospital by 5pm.  Around noon I realized that we hadn’t received a call from the hospital to find out the details of when we were supposed to come in.  I called labor and delivery and found out that I wouldn’t be able to come in until around 7 or 8pm.  More waiting…

I called again at 7pm and they said that I could come anytime after 7:30pm.  I didn’t feel nervous at all, just excited that he was finally coming.

We finished loading our stuff into Opa’s truck and set out for LDS hospital.  It all seemed so surreal, like there was no way that this could really be happening.  As we drove there were cars pulled over all the way up 5^th south past the University of Utah.  Our little Corolla would never have made it, so thankfully Oma let us use the truck.

After all of the contractions that I had been having I thought for sure that I would have progressed at least some since my doctor’s appointments.  When we finally got checked in, the first thing they did was check to see if I had progressed at all, but still, nothing. 

Consequently, I had to start with Cytotec before they could even start the Pitocin.  Cytotec is a tiny little pill that had to dissolve in my mouth instead of be swallowed that is meant to soften the cervix.  I started the Cytotec at about a quarter to 9 and would take it every 3 hours after that. Cytotec increased my contractions significantly.  Both Adam and I tried to sleep as best we could, but between the joy of being in a hospital and my contractions, it was nearly impossible.  Nurses came in to check me ever hour or so and I was as uncomfortable as could be.  

By 5am I was in a lot of pain and asked for something to help ease the pain.  Fentynal—I hadn’t ever heard of it before, but boy was I grateful for it.  Immediately, I felt a little loopy and the pain wasn’t nearly as bad.  Admittedly, I loved it... at least at first.

My dream drug wore off about 6:30 when it turned from bliss to nightmare.  I was so incredibly nauseous and had to have a blue barf bag next to me at all times.  To make matters worse I was in pain again.  Bring on the Epidural. 

Cytotec did its job and we were ready to start the Pitocin.  I asked for the Epidural to be started around the same time as the Pitocin.  After all of the horror stories I had heard about the Epidural, I was extremely grateful at how well my Epidural experience went.  The anesthesiologist came in, had me bend my back and try to push out my spine.  Both he and the nurse complimented me on my superb Epidural posture and told me I should have been in a demonstration video, I was sooo flattered… haha.  By 7:30 I was dilated to a 2 and I had my Epidural and Pitocin and was all set to go.

Lucky for me, I didn’t even feel the Epidural go in, no pain, nothing – glorious.  Unluckily for me, I still felt nauseated and the nausea stayed through the whole rest of the day.  As the Epidural started to take effect, my right leg got ever more numb while my left I could still feel.  Consequently, I could feel the contractions on my left side and had to up my dosage – causing my right leg to become even more numb.  It was obvious to me that the Epidural was dosing my right leg much more than my left. 

Dr. Holmes stopped by to check me around 8am and broke my water.  By 1:30 I was dilated to a 5 almost 6 and things were progressing which definitely helped to boost my morale.  However, I had pushed my “give me more pain relief” button as much as I could and my contractions were feeling stronger.  We called for the nurse to get the anesthesiologist to come up my dosage of the Epidural. 

It just so happened that the anesthesiologist had just gotten called into an emergency C-section and I would just have to wait.  For the next hour I could completely feel all of my contractions, which was a little bit upsetting since the reason I got an Epidural was so that I wouldn't have to feel them... it was something I wasn't planning on and needless to say it was a bit traumatic for me and Adam.

The anesthesiologist finally showed up and upped my dosage, it was another 20 minutes before I felt relief.  What made it so hard was the fact that I had gotten the Epidural planning on not being able to feel the contractions, and then being surprisingly subjected to the worst pain I have ever felt. 

When I finally felt a bit better the nurse checked my cervix again and I was dilated to a 9.  In the hour that I was without pain relief I had contracted so hard that I went from a 5 to a 9.  No wonder it hurt so bad. 

The next few hours flew by in a blur.  I dilated to a 10 and the nurse called Dr. Holmes to see what the plan was.  She had me wait for an hour to let the baby descend before I started pushing.  Around 4:30 I started pushing - I was hoping for the two push and out he comes type of deal... not so lucky.

Just over an hour later Dr. Holmes showed up.  Asher had descended, but wasn’t coming out all that fast.  Finally, Adam was able to see a whole lot of dark brown hair.   Throughout the whole ordeal Asher’s heartbeat remained steady and he gave us no scares.  He was so close to coming for multiple sets of contractions, the Dr. couldn’t believe that he was doing so well.  

Finally, at 6:16 Asher entered our lives and I truly could not have imagined the immediate feeling of love and gratitude that overwhelmed me as they placed him on my chest.  I touched his face and little hands, admired his tons of dark brown hair, and held him tightly to me.  Adam cut the cord, and my pregnancy was finally over.

Asher gave a little cry before he spent a lot of time grunting.  The nurses were a little concerned that his lungs hadn’t expanded properly.  After letting me hold him for a few minutes they took him over to weigh and measure him and make sure he was doing ok.  They were able to suck a bunch of gunk out of his system, which helped him to get the lung capacity they were hoping for.  Our little guy weighed in at 8lbs 11 oz and was 22 ½ inches long, or so they said.  (We later found out that he was more likely 21 ½ inches).  But, one thing was for sure, he had a beautiful full head of hair and was absolutely the most wonderful baby in the world.  What a blessing to finally have him here safe and sound. 

By far the most incredible sight was Adam holding our little boy.  Watching my husband hold our baby was one of the most precious memories I think I will ever have.  The love that I have for my two boys is more than I could have imagined. 

What an incredible experience that we are so grateful to our Heavenly Father and Savior for bringing Asher to us.

And just for fun we wanted to post what my family lovingly calls Asher's superhero photo.