Tate's Birth Story

It's a BOY!

Tate Asher  (TAYT ASH-ur)
Born March 12, 2017

Tate: English Origin. Meaning: Cheerful

Asher: Hebrew. Meaning: happy, blessed, fortunate. In the Bible, one of Jacob's sons - promised a life blessed with abundance.  Genesis 30:13

First of all, I can't believe I haven't written a blog since Makena's Birth Story! Now almost two years later we have another child!  It's so incredibly mind-blowing awesome to think of everything that has happened in the last two years in our lives.  More on that later. 

Tate's birth story is a complete 180 difference than Makena's.  Basically everything that didn't happen with Makena, happened with Tate! Once again, I wanted to write this blog mostly for myself to remember all the juicy details of Tate's birth, and to remember the current long road ahead with having a baby in the NICU.  Maybe this blog post will find you with memories of when you had your child, or maybe an encouragement to you with something similar you're going through.  Whatever the case, I hope this post finds you well :)

It all started at an ultrasound done on a Thursday at 33 weeks.  I was scheduled to have this ultrasound in order to check the growth of the baby since he was considered small for his gestational age in other ultrasounds.  When meeting with the doctor afterwards, she told me the baby was definitely small, more symmetrical and proportioned than a typical baby at 33 weeks gestation.  So small in fact he was in less than the 10th percentile and only weighed 3.2 pounds. Another red flag was that my amniotic fluid was low.  At this appointment as well, my blood pressure was particularly higher than it had ever been (but it was also a stressful work week).  All these things together now made my pregnancy considered as "high-risk".  Basically when this happens you need to go in twice a week or more for a non-stress test and ultrasound or whatever tests they feel they need to give you. 

The following Monday I had an appointment for a non-stress test and later a follow up with a doctor.  The baby seemed fine on the non-stress test, not super active, but active enough I guess.  However, when meeting with the doctor he said he noticed there were high levels of protein in my urine and wanted me to get some blood work done just in case because he didn't want to ignore it.  So I stayed, got blood work done, and they said they'd call me later with the results.  

Afterwards I went back to work, taught piano after school, picked up Makena, and got the phone call.  My doctor said two of my tests came back with higher than normal results, and he wanted me to be monitored overnight in the hospital. 

Woah.

After a minor panic moment we went home, quick ate dinner, I showered, got ready, and we were on our way.  

The next three days and three nights in the hospital were a blur of blood tests, non-stress tests, ultrasounds, vitals, pee tests, doctors, and hours of waiting.  Basically doctors were trying to figure out why the baby wasn't growing, why my fluid was low, and why my body was reacting to things in weird ways.  When I left, there really weren't any conclusions made, except what was initially thought to be preeclampsia was decided that it wasn't that.  

So home I went on Thursday.... told to be on half bed rest and forced to start my maternity leave 6 weeks earlier than expected.  

On Saturday I went to school to try to clear up the chaos of having an unexpected sub all week, and when I came home I did my normal stuff and after Makena went to bed I laid down to relax in front of the tv, and started Moana.  While watching Moana I started feeling light-headed and almost buzzed like from drinking a little too much alcohol (obviously I hadn't been drinking).  My heart felt like it was beating out of it's chest, along with my head. Something was wrong.  Brian called his coworker/PA friend and he came over to check on me.  He stayed with Makena while me and Brian quick went to Meijer to get my blood pressure checked.  

It was high.

I called the answering service for my doctor, and after the doctor called me back he told me to go into triage just to get checked since my pregnancy was high-risk.  So off to triage we went! On the way to the hospital I felt fine again, and super tired since it was 1am, so I was telling Brian to turn around since I was fine.  Luckily, he didn't and we went in anyway.  In triage, they took my blood and put baby on the monitor for a non-stress test - something I had become very familiar with. After about an hour of being on the monitor, baby wasn't being very active (not something uncommon with these tests) so they sent me to ultrasound.  Baby did all his movements required to "pass,"  but my fluid was a lot lower than it was on Thursday when I was discharged from the hospital - went from 5.6% to 4.3%.  They also noticed after my ultrasound, when I went back on the monitor, that every once in a while the baby's heartbeat was decelerating but not consistently.  

SURPRISE! 

Because of the lower fluid and heartbeat decelerations.....

I was being admitted to the labor and delivery floor. And I couldn't eat or drink anything - not even water. Ugh. 

Rewind an hour before that at 3am. I ate a huge thing of these amazing french fries Brian got because I was STARVING. Thank GOD I ate when I could! 

So now we're on the Labor & Delivery floor.  I met with the doctor from my office on call, and it turns out MY doctor was on call right after her at 7. There's something about having your doctor with you that makes you so much more comfortable.  So I met with my doctor and the  Maternal Fetal Medicine (MFM) doctors that I had met last week, and they started talking about keeping me on the monitor for a while and if the heartbeat continues to have decelerations they'd do a c-section to get him out of there since that meant he was in distress. If not, I might have to stay in the hospital to be monitored.   I started praying so hard that there would just be a clear answer already, and if Tate was meant to come out today that it becomes clear for doctors to do so! 

Within the hour (it was about 8am), my nurse came in and tried to mentally prepare me for the fact that the doctors were saying I'd probably have a c-section this morning.  Also, the anesthesiologist came in and talked to me about everything as I signed consent forms.  And around 8:30, it was obvious to doctors that they needed to get that baby out, since "the risk of fetal death was greater being inside than out" - their words, not mine. They had to do a c-section because the baby probably couldn't survive a vaginal delivery. It wasn't a super emergency, but they wanted it done sooner than later, and said they'd wait for Brian to get here. 

Oh man. 

I called Brian at least 27 times.  He had gone back home right before I got admitted to rest and be with Makena because it didn't seem like anything huge would be happening. Whoops. And he sleeps like a rock and wasn't picking up the phone! I called my Aunt and she sent my uncle to come down to the house to bang on some windows to wake him up.  After finally waking up, he got Makena ready and dropped her off at my Aunt's, and finally made it to the hospital around 10am.  

I really didn't even know what to think or how to feel...I just wanted to make sure baby was okay and do anything I could to help him.  

So off I went to get a spinal tap.  After they numb you up your husband can come in.  The rest went really quickly.  C-sections are really weird, because you can't feel anything sharp or painful, but there's major pressure when they're shimmying the baby out of your uterus.  Pretty soon we heard a cry and baby Tate was born! 

3lbs 7oz
16.5" long

Welcome to the family, buddy :) 

He seemed fine, just really teeny! He was breathing on his own, and regulating his own body temperature, which are really great signs.  I got to give him a kiss and he went off to NICU with daddy following. 

Holding Tate for the first time,
about 6 hours old

Taking advantage of Meijer auto-wheel chairs,
I'm a hot mess in every way you can imagine!

Honestly, everything went really well.  Doctors were super surprised and kept commenting on how calm I was during the whole thing. Honestly, I knew God had everything under control and I was just thankful for the answer to prayer of having clear answers on what was best for Tate. For my first surgery ever, I’d say it went pretty well! Recovery isn’t pretty, but when is it ever? I’d say the hardest part of this birth story was having to be discharged from the hospital without your baby. Absolutely the worst moment of this whole experience. 

Other than that, we’re now leading the double life of NICU visits and “normal” life. But it’s been encouraging to see improvements with Tate every day, and hopefully he’ll be home with us soon.  I’ll continue to post updates about Tate in the NICU as we go on this journey.

Makena's Birth Story

It's a girl! 

Makena - "mah/KEN/ah"

Hawaiian origin.

Meaning: abundance, many gathered, happy one

I've decided to write out Makena's complete birth story (with all the nasty, personal, gross labor and delivery details) for two reasons.  
1. I want to remember everything.
2. I LOVE reading other people's detailed birth stories, and now I have one to share! 

So, as a precaution, if you don't want to know all these details, this may not be the blog post you want to read.  Can't say I didn't warn you ;)

Okay. Here we go. 
Just to explain the timeline a little better, I got pregnant in September and was due June 13.  Now, I'm a control-freak teacher.  I don't like substitutes teaching my students, let alone planning for a sub.  I love the subs we have in our school, but I'd rather do all the teaching.  So, of course, I planned on staying till the end of the school year instead of taking a maternity leave at the end of the year.  The last week of school, on Monday June 1 I was having contractions that could more or less be timed starting after school all through the night.  I had a doctor appointment the next day, so I figured might as well wait since the contractions weren't super consistent and relatively far apart.  At the doctor, she checked me and I wasn't even dialated or effaced really. Awesome.  Since I had been up all night I didn't go to work that day since I desperately needed rest.  
I ended up finishing the school year on Friday, June 5th - VERY thankful to have gotten the opportunity to finish the year with my students :) 
The next day, I started spotting light brown, and also noticed every time I went to the bathroom there were chunks of something that fell in the toilet.  I assumed it was my mucous plug - which I knew was a sign of labor coming soon.  On top of that chunky stuff in the toilet, I was leaking a watery substance slowly throughout the day. Not a ton, which didn't make me think anything of it.  
Sunday was the same.  
Monday was a little different.  The chunky stuff falling in the toilet was now bloody/pinkish, and I had what felt like period cramps.  I figured I should probably call the doctor about that since I knew anything bloody while pregnant should be discussed with a doctor. After calling, the doctor wasn't too concerned about all that stuff, but WAS concerned if the baby wasn't moving as much.  If she wasn't, the doctor wanted me to come in to get a no-stress test on the baby in the afternoon.  After coming home from Target and trying to feel the baby move, I was starting to freak out.  I couldn't feel her moving around that much - and after crying about it I was sitting in the nursery on the rocking chair and realized my routine is different now. I'm not at school anymore, and am moving around differently, so I'm not feeling her at the same times as when I was working.  After sitting and praying, I felt her kick several times, and felt a lot better about everything.  

I debated going to school on Monday to finish things up in my classroom to check out, but I was having mild cramping off and on and really didn't feel like going in.  In the afternoon, I went to my grandparent's house to do four loads of laundry (since it's free there!).  While sitting on their couch filling out my common core standard workbook for the school year, I was timing contractions going in and out more or less every 12-14 minutes.  After coming home around 6ish, and after Brian got home, the contractions really weren't going away at all.  I decided to call the doctor again around 7:30pm, and explained to the phone nurse all my symptoms.  She said just to be safe, we should go to triage and check if the fluid leaking was my amniotic fluid slowly breaking.  

I really wasn't thinking anything of it.  I assumed this wasn't "it" and slowly added a few things to my hospital bag just in case.  After eating a half of a PB&J sandwich, off we went in the car to the hospital.  We got to the hospital around 9pm, and around 9:30 changed into a gown and got into the hospital bed.  The nurse practitioner did an exam on me to first check if I was dilated at all.  Let me tell you. That was the WORST exam I've ever had.  She was all up in there.  Apparently my cervix was way far back, and I was only dilated a fingernail's worth.  SERIOUSLY?! I was a little frustrated... Then she checked to see if my water leakage was amniotic fluid leaking with a really long looking Qtip. At first the nurse said, "I doubt it's amniotic fluid, because it usually isn't, but we'll check." After looking, she changed her mind and said "maybe it IS fluid." And after checking under the microscope she came back in the room and said "well, I have good news or bad news, depending on how you look at it. It IS amniotic fluid, and you're staying! But you're probably going to have the baby tomorrow afternoon or evening. And once you go up to labor and delivery you can't eat anything." 

I have never been more thankful for that PB&J I ate before leaving home.  

After waiting about an hour and a half to go up to labor and delivery, I walked up to the second floor with Brian to our new room.  

Around midnight, the doctor checked me again and said I was 1-2cm dilated.  She administered Cytotec to ripen my cervix and get it more effaced.  It kind of worked, but not as much as they'd like.  So, they started me on Pitocin.  The epidural people came in and gave me the schpeal about the risks and consent in case I wanted an epidural at some point.  I signed some liability papers, and the anesthesiologist left all in a whirlwind.  At that point I was only kind of tired, but I figured I should try to sleep since I knew I was probably in for a long next 24 hours.  The nurse offered me an Ambien to help me sleep, so I took it.  That was dumb.  I think I just didn't realize I was actually in labor, and labor means stronger and stronger period cramps.  It took me a while to realize these cramps really were strong contractions, and throughout the night would be getting worse and worse.  Sleeping during strong contractions? Yeah. Right. 

As the contractions got worse, I started getting a headache and kind of felt like vomiting.  The whole time Brian was "sleeping" as I was literally moaning in pain and praying to God out loud that it would stop.  Brian wasn't feeling great either.  He claims it was because he didn't like seeing me in pain and that made him feel sick.  

Around 6am, someone checked on my progress, and said my cervix was cooperating now and I was 5cm dilated.  That's when I realized "oh my gosh. this is happening." and the nurse said "you know, you can get an epidural any time!"  At that point, I was like "uummm, yes please!" and they made the call to get the anesthesiologist.  Let me tell you. BEST. DECISION. I'VE. EVER. MADE. The prick of the epidural was NOTHING compared to the crampy contractions.  But I am still glad I didn't get an epidural right away.  Something inside of me (before labor) wanted to go all natural, and I really respect and admire those women that go through childbirth without drugs.  However, getting an epidural made giving birth so much more enjoyable!

After the epidural started working, I could smile again and breathe a little bit.  About 45 minutes after feeling zero contractions, I felt this pressure - like baby's head was pushing into my butt. I told the nurse, she checked me, and I was 10cm already! She called the doctor, and about 25 minutes later the doctor came in and said I could start pushing.  

10cm!

 I started pushing during every contraction, and every time the nurse said she could see a little more of the head.  I pushed for about 30 minutes with every contraction, and then the doctor and nurse got ready for baby to come out.  You know it's getting close when the doctor puts her gloves on! 

I pushed about four more times. Around the end of pushing they noticed meconium in the bloody liquid coming out, so the doctor called the pediatricians to be present for the birth just in case Makena didn't start crying right away when she came out. The second to last push baby's head was half way out and crowning, and I felt her with my hand.  That was the weirdest and most amazing feeling ever.  Then with one more push, Makena was born at 9:05am, 7 lbs. 3oz. - a little green from the meconium, and crying nice and loud. Praise the Lord!
They placed her on top of me to warm her up skin to skin for an hour before bathing or running any routine tests on her.  That was the most surreal moment I have ever lived.  I never felt or noticed my placenta being delivered or getting stitched up - just kept staring at this little tiny human that apparently just came out of my body.    What a wild experience.  I did have a second degree tear from pushing her out, but none of that mattered.  We brought a baby into the world! What a miracle that God has given us! 

There you have it.  Makena's birth story.  I was lucky to only be in active labor for 9 hours, 6 of those without an epidural, and be pushing for less than an hour.  Now, 16 days later, I can't believe how my life has changed becoming a mom.  Sleeping for a span of four hours a night is a "rested" night, breast feeding is hard but getting easier, I cry every day about something, and I love my squirmy, awkward, beautiful baby girl more and more every day.  I was made to be a mom, and I'm so blessed God has given Brian and I the opportunity to parent this beautiful baby for Him! 


Please keep praying for us, for wisdom that we'll know more or less what we're doing, great health for all three of us, I would continue to heal after giving birth, and specifically we find a good day care for Makena when I go back to work in the Fall. 

Change. Again.

I tried writing a blog post a couple months ago, but it didn't quite click yet.  I think I'm finally ready to update my blog.  We'll see. 

After reading my last post in July of last summer, I couldn't help but think my feelings haven't changed much since.  Things still don't feel "normal," although there is routine in our lives now.  Someday things will settle down? Someday. But God has decided to take us on another few roller coasters in the next few months that he is equipping us for in ways I know we can't even see yet.  

I'm pregnant!

There, it's announced to the blogging world.  By now this is no surprise to people.  Yesterday makes 26 weeks pregnant with our baby girl.  Can I just say I've been waiting for this day for, well, literally my whole life?! Ever since I'd had my first doll, I've wanted to be a mom.  And can I just say I LOVE being pregnant? I mean besides the back pain and all that stuff (like crying during every State Farm and Zillow commercial), feeling her kick and squirm in there is incredible and weird all at the same time.  We can't wait to meet our baby girl (due in June) - and I get the whole summer to spend with her 24/7 :)

On top of becoming parents, Brian is almost finished with medical assistant school! Yay! He should be starting his externship at the end of this month, and finding a full time job in May. He's really excited about starting this new career path in the medical field - and he does a great job at it! I'm very proud of him! 

Our lives are about to change. 

Again.  

Just thinking back on a year ago this week we were starting our new lives in the US, not knowing where God would lead us, taking a huge leap of faith, and now here we are again...taking a huge leap of faith that he will guide us in the right path with the right careers and parenthood - all to honor His kingdom! 

I say I want our lives to get a little more "boring" and settled, but in a way I don't. I think that's a big issue with believers of God - that things become so routine and settled that the magnificence and brilliance of the power of God becomes desensitized in our lives.  Who would ever wish for that? 

I continue to be in awe of Him, especially growing this little miracle inside of me. Wow.

Cinco Meses.

It's been about five months /cinco meses/ since we moved back to the United States to Grand Rapids, MI. Has it really been that long? It feels like we just left Jarabacoa...still. 
It also feels like our lives keep changing and there's always something new going on.  

"Can't things just settle down already?" 
"Why is everything such a huge adjustment?!" 
"When will things finally seem... normal?"

These are things we constantly keep asking ourselves.  There's no doubt about it - change, in any circumstance, is DIFFICULT. Sometimes exciting, but that doesn't mean it's not difficult. Ugh.

Here's the latest news, for those interested...
Jessica: After long-term subbing in a first grade Spanish Immersion classroom at Northpointe Christian (NPC) since March, NPC hired me on for this coming school year as their Third Grade Spanish Immersion (SI) teacher.  The SI program at NPC is relatively new, and each year they add on a grade in their SI program.  This coming year they will be adding third grade, which I'm VERY excited to be teaching! Basically, if you're unfamiliar with a Spanish Immersion Program, it's that the students learn everything a "normal" English school would, except everything is taught in Spanish.  As the grades get higher, the students are expected to only speak Spanish throughout the day with each other and their teacher.  In third grade though, I'll be teaching every subject in Spanish except for Social Studies, which will be in English.  I'm pretty excited to basically doing the exact opposite that I was doing at Jarabacoa Christian School (teaching in English Immersion to native Spanish speakers).  It'll be challenging, but exciting :).  
 This summer I've been working at the Humane Society of West Michigan, helping run day camps for kids.  This entails teaching kids about becoming advocates for animals, and learning how to care for animals.  On top of everything, we get to play with the animals up for adoption! Probably the best job ever, in my opinion. I actually did the same thing about six years ago, and kept in touch with them since.  Strange how it all works out!

Brian reading to Kenya, our great friends' 2 year old :)

 Brian:  Brian is again an active member of the US Army Reserve, based out of a base close to Battle Creek, MI (about at hour south of where we live). This basically entails that he go to Drill once a month for a weekend and two weeks out of the summer. He also has been dreaming of going into the medical field, so in April he started going to school to become a Medical Assistant.  The program he is attending is a 10-month intensive program, and after he graduates he'll be eligible to work in any doctor's office or hospital as a medical assistant.  Since he's been in school, he's managed a 4.0 in all his classes :).  He also just recently got a part time job at Pier1 Imports.  I'm one proud wife! :)

We've moved into an apartment in May that accepts large dogs (VERY HARD TO FIND over here) and have slowly been settling in.  We are very blessed that all of our furniture and other things have been given to us by some very generous people! Kai loves being an indoor dog, but also loves the fenced in dog park at our apartment complex.  

Deer in our "backyard"

We've found a church we love, called Kentwood Community Church.  They have a pretty diverse population, and even sing songs in Spanish.  I can honestly say not a Sunday has gone by where I'm not a puddle of tears at church.  I can't help it. I completely fall apart when I look back at how God has been on our side throughout this huge move and transition.  He's still preparing us for something big that we just can't see yet...I can feel it!

As I sigh in awe for a way to close this blog, I want to go back to one of the questions we continue to ask ourselves... "when will things finally seem...normal?"  I can't really say I know what "normal" means at this point.  We've been gone from this country for four years. We've changed.  Time hasn't stopped for people here. Life has moved on without us during the last four years. It feels like it should have just paused and we could take off where we've left things in the past.
Nope. 

Celebrating Grand Rapids Art Festival

How do we live in this constant struggle between what we've known before, how we want people to see us now, how not to go back to what we did/would have said in the past, and how things have changed? It's a battle. Truly. 

In closing, I ask that you keep praying for our transition.  We have some specific needs as well...
1. We will be in need of another car to buy/long-term borrow in a few weeks.  Our schedules will start conflicting too much in the third week of August, and we're in need to purchase another car. Please pray for miraculous funds for this!
2. Finances for the rest of the summer. 
3. Wisdom. That we as a couple come whole-heartedly to the Lord when making decisions. 
4. We get the funds to have internet in our apartment.