Remember How Blessed You Are.

Ever since Irelyn was a tiny baby she has done the sweetest thing. While nursing she periodically takes a break and just stares up at me. She patiently waits for me to stop whatever I am doing {usually messing around on my phone} and then just stares into my eyes for a while. Every time she does this I feel like she's saying to me, "Mommy, stop being distracted. Soak this moment in. I'm not going to be little for long. Touch my soft cheeks, memorize my tiny features, hold my chubby hands, remember how blessed you are." So that's exactly what I do. I am so blessed to have my two sweet girls in my life. They bring me so much joy and I can't imagine being happier than I am now. I am so grateful for this little reminder from Irelyn to pay attention and enjoy the little moments. And then she gouges my eyes out, grabs my glasses off my face and pinches my nose and I memorize these little moments too because someday I won't have a nursing baby scratching up my face and snuggling with me and I don't ever want to forget what a joy it is.

Dear Irelyn: Month Five

Dear Irelyn, 

You just turned five months old yesterday and I am already getting your five month post up! Shocking, I know! :] This is just such a fun age and I want to remember all of it! 

This month you have started to learn lots of new things. You had a couple of grumpy weeks and Mimo {Grandma Olmstead} said that she remembers her babies would get grumpy just before they learned something new. That turned out to be just the case of you! You were grumpy just before you learned how to grab your toes and then you were grumpy just before you learned how to sit up! You are not totally sitting up on your own yet but you can go for quite a while before you fall over. I just make sure you are always surrounded by pillows so you don't bonk your head. You decided to try this whole sitting up thing yesterday {on your five month birthday!} and then today you pretty much have it down for up to about twenty minutes at a time. We are all super impressed with your skills! You have rolled over a few times from your stomach to your back and just once from your back to your stomach {and I didn't even see it happening!!} but you are not all that interested in rolling over and you really aren't a fan of tummy time. We're not too concerned about it though since your big sister didn't roll over regularly until after she learned how to crawl! It has been so fun watching you learn these new things and you are definitely a happier baby once you add these tricks to your book! 

This month you went to the doctor for the first time. Haha. I didn't take Holland until she was three months old and then we barely got you in before your fifth month! Clearly, we're really good at going to the doctor. Hopefully from here on out we'll keep you on track though! You did great with the doctor and with getting shots. You fell asleep within about two minutes of nursing afterwards and even slept while I transferred you to your carseat for the drive home. It was shocking and such a relief! At the doctor we found out you weight 17 lbs. 3 oz. {85th percentile} and 24.5 inches {24th percentile}. I think you are going to be like Holland and just go down in the weight percentile from here on out though. We will see though! We sure are enjoying your chunkiness!!

Some other notables: 

-You have started doing this cooing/screaming sound and it is the funniest, cutest thing ever. It cracks your dad and I up every single time! 

-You still blow little spit bubbles all the time. 

-You are super good at holding onto your toys so you can chew on them. 

-You've decided you have no need for a binky anymore. Mostly I'm sure this is a nice thing {no weaning you from it later on} but I do miss it sometimes! 

-I figured out that I had been wearing our Ergo carrier wrong {I needed to move the back strap up} and ever since then you {and I} are so much more comfortable and happy in the Ergo. I have started using it a lot more and we are big fans! I used it at church yesterday and you even fell asleep in it {only for a few minutes though because then sacrament meeting got out and it was loud--sad!}!

-I have started putting you down for naps without nursing and the first couple of times you weren't a fan but you've been doing great the past few days! I am attempting to get you on a little bit of a better schedule and since we started doing naps without nursing you have started sleeping longer in the night. I'm not sure if they're related but they happened around the same time. It works for me! 

You are such a sweet, beautiful little girl and we love glimpsing more of your personality as you learn to do new things. We are so happy to have you in our family! 

Love, 

Mom, Dad, & Holland

Falling over

Sitting skills! 

The cutest chunky profile. 

Gorgeous blue eyes. 

More sitting and some spitting of course!

Goodness I just love this little girl of mine! I am the luckiest!

Dear Irelyn: Months Three and Four

Dearest Irelyn,

My blog has been a little bit Holland-centric lately so I wanted write you a little note about how grateful we are to have you as part of our family {And to catch up on your bi-monthly posts since I'm behind on those!}!

Irelyn-girl, a lot of the nicknames we have for you are recycled nicknames. They are just ones that we'll probably use on all of our babies just because you can't help it. Names like chunk-a-monk just fit with lots of babies. But a couple of names we never used with Holland are: sweet pea, sweetheart, sweet girl, etc. Holland is definitely sweet {now--haha} but I guess during the first few months of her life that is just not the first word that came to our minds to describe her {see Holland's one month and two month posts to see some of her nicknames!}. Anyway, I'm not here to bag on your big sister because we love her so stinkin' much {and she was super fun in lots of other ways} but just to say that we love your sweet nature and are so grateful for the peace and love you bring to our home with your calm, mellow demeanor.

Your third and fourth months have been so much fun. It is such a joy to watch you grow and learn new things!

Here are some highlights from the past couple of months:

-You have been spitting bubbles like crazy! I don't remember this stage with Holland {although I'm sure it happened--maybe??} but it is so cute and fun! Whenever you are bored you just entertain yourself by spitting. It's pretty hilarious to watch!
-You have also started "talking"/cooing a lot more. So much in fact that the other day Holland thought you said "yellow" and then proceeded to say "Don't say yellow baby sister!" Apparently the word yellow is a little offensive. Haha.
-You stick your tongue out all the time and let me just tell you, you have a dang cute tongue! I didn't even know tongues could be so cute!
-You LOVE it when people talk to you/around you. Whenever I am having a conversation with someone you are convinced they are talking to you and you just grin like it is the best thing ever! A few Sundays ago you were convinced the Sunday School teacher was talking JUST to you and you smiled at him for a good fifteen minutes. I guess I need to sit in the front row more often!
-You have started giggling at your big sister so much more! Witnessing the two of you interact is one of the best things ever! I am grateful you like your big sister even though she is constantly smothering you in hugs and kisses.
-You chew on EVERYTHING! I do remember this stage with Holland. So. Much. Slobber! Good thing you can pull off the drool face super well!
-You have started bathing with your big sister while in the Bumbo {instead of showering with me} and you seem to enjoy it a bit more. Like, I mentioned, Holland is your constant entertainment so being in close quarters with her is definitely fun for you!
-You are definitely getting your own look as you get older. The first couple of months you looked quite a bit like your sister but you are looking less and less like her. I think the family consensus is that maybe you have the Olmstead eyes/eyebrows? I have the hardest time seeing these things but you are definitely looking different than your big sister!

I should also probably write about some of the not-so-exciting stuff just so I can remember later on:
-You don't sleep through the night yet but that's probably because I spoil you and just let you half-nurse, half-sleep the second half of the night. It's easier for me to sleep and I just love to snuggle with you.
-You are, however, a GREAT napper. You usually take two to three naps a day unless I mess with your schedule by leaving the house. But even if I do that you make up for the lack of one nap with a ridiculously long afternoon/evening nap. It's pretty awesome.
-You have always been a great at nursing for which I am so grateful! You and Holland both never had any problems nursing {knock on wood for my future children!} and while I have never had an oversupply of milk I definitely never have to worry about supply since you have both been so stinkin' chunky!
-Oooh you do have more hair than Holland had! Which has me so excited even though you are still basically a little baldie! Haha. Anyway, I love your tiny wisps of hair that blow in the wind!

Some Stats:
3 months- 15.5 lbs.
4 months- 16.7 lbs.

We love you sweet girl! You are growing up much too fast--of course--and we are just trying to soak  everything in before you are walking and talking like your big sister!

Love,
Mom {&Dad}

Three Months

Four Months

Chatting with Holland {Part 2: Featuring Cousin Madison}

We have Holland's cousin Madison visiting us for the week while her parents pack and move all week long. Every day is filled with a whole lot of fun and a whole lot of crazy. I have been enjoying listening to the girls chat during meals and stuff. Most of the stuff they say makes absolutely no sense! And half the time I'm not even sure if I'm hearing them right. Anyway, I've been trying to record some of their conversations throughout the day and I thought I would put some of them up on the blog for everyone to enjoy!

The following conversations were from this afternoon within a ten minute period: 

H: Got this for my paint nails. {Talking about a spatula}
M: It's for my paint nails.
H: This one got for my paint nails. L-M-O-P Okay I need color. {Holland likes to go off on random tangents spouting parts of the alphabet}
M: Hey! You color my finger nails!

M: This is my finger! This one is for my toes.
H: It's for my toes. Okay...
M: Don't hold this! Okay?
H: K... my knee! My knee! It's my knee right here!
M: Got it.

M: You use it first. I use that one!
H: I'm using that one!
And...the fighting commences. Haha.

H: You can't take these away!
M: You have to share!
H: There's lots of books!
M: I don't want them. I don't like 'em.
H: You don't like them? Also, you can get down.
M: No, you can't get down.
H: You like this one?
M: No I don't like books
H: You like birdie?
M: No, I don't want them.
H: I can read you book?
M: No I don't want them.
H: This one's about a birdie. Come by me.
M: No I don't want to come by you.

{Holland just happened to be the peacemaker this time around...kinda. She wouldn't share in the first place and then she decided she could share her books but only by "reading them" to Madison. Haha. Madison wasn't having any of that! The girls seem to take turns being the peacemakers. They are both really sweet just also really stubborn and a little bossy towards each other!}

From breakfast on Sunday morning {and the rest of the conversations are all from Sunday}: 

H: She don't have any pants! 

M: Yeah 

H: It's a very hard day 

M: It's a happy day! 

H: I don't have any ideas! 

M: Clothes? 

H: No...

H: Ow! 

M: Did you poke yourself? 

H: Ya 

*Giggles from both girls* 

M: I have to burp again...see? 

H: Woah! It's getting to fall! 

M: It's getting to fall! You catch it! 

H: I did it! 

M: Ew! That's disgusting! 

M: Look at that spill! 

H: What? 

M: Oh! Don't touch it! Did you make a mess on your cereal? 

H: No! 

M: What? 

H: I need to feed that birdie! {Talking about the birds outside} 

M: No! That's the blinds! *giggles*{Pointing out the blinds on the window...I guess thinking Holland thought they were a bird??} 

H: I eat cereal! 

*Giggles from both the girls that scare Irelyn so she starts crying** {She was sitting in the bumbo on the table while the girls ate breakfast and chatted} 

H&M: I'm so sorry! Shh! Shh! Shh! 

H: Baby sister is so crabby mommy! She's coughing! 

M: You're drinking your milk! Why would you bite your spoon? 

*Silly noises from both girls* 

M: I burped! 

H: I burp too! 

M: Ewww! That's disgusting! 

H: Ewww! That's isgusting! 

M: That's isgusting! Is that your hair? 

H: Yeah. 

M: You got it on your head? 

H: You can't go on my head! You can't go on my *BURP* 

M: You burped! 

All finished with breakfast and just playing around the house: 

H: I need this pillow! 

M: Ahh, nahh, I need another pillow! 

*Giggles from both girls while sitting on the couch** 

H: Jump! 

M: No jumping on the couch! {Apparently some of the things we say stick...at least some of the time!}

H: I need to jump on the bed-y!

M: This is a couch! 

H: This is not a couch! 

H: I'm not the queen! I'm Elsa! 

M: You Anna! {Of course they talk about Frozen all the time...what kind of two- and three-year-olds would they be if they didn't?!} 

H: You puppy Madison? You puppy? 

M: You have my puppy?! 

Post-nap snack conversation: 

M: I burped! Excuse me! Ah Ah Ahchoo! Excuse me! {This whole sequence was repeated about twenty more times! Haha} 

M: Is that yummy?! 

H: Mmmmhmmm!

M: I don't like it! 

H: Okay.

M: Did you say that?! 

M: Is that chocolate milk? It smells like milk! 

H: I have milk too! 

M: Just like chocolate milk! 

H: Chocolate milk like me! 

M: I don't have any chocolate milk. 

H: I don't have choc. milk. 

M: Are you eating chocolate milk? Or drinking it? Chocolate milk? Let me see! 

*Toots. Giggles* 

M: I tooted! 

{Neither one of the girls had chocolate milk. I guess it was just wishful thinking. Haha.} 

M: Hi little baby! 

H: Hi little baby! 

M: Peek-a-boo! 

H: Peek-boo! 

M: Listen to my baby ever! 

H: She wanna say hi to me! 

M: Peek-a-boo! 

H: She's saying hi to me! 

M: Peek-a-boo! 

H: Peek-boo! 

M: You're so cute!

{This was all a conversation with Irelyn}  

It might be a lot of work having all three girls around but they sure are great entertainment when I take the time to just listen to them talk. It's like getting a little glimpse into what they think about/how they think. 

And here are the cute faces of those silly conversations 

{along with Irelyn since I just can't leave her adorable face out}! 

Lakeside Lavender Farm

Claire and I took our girls to a lavender farm yesterday. It smelled absolutely amazing and was such a gorgeous place to get some pictures of our girls!

There is just so much beauty in this world Heavenly Father created. It was wonderful to be able to capture some pictures of this small part of it. 

********

I was originally going to end this post right at the sentence above but for the sake of journaling I wanted to write a little bit more about the details of this day/week. 

********

I love how these pictures turned out and how peaceful they look. This week has been anything but peaceful. Race has had some bad back problems and because of that I feel like I have been running around like a crazy lady. Race has been to doctors, physical therapists, a spine specialist, and a chiropractor trying to figure out what is going on with his back and he has been on some pretty strong pain killers so the girls and I have been driving him around to all of these appointments all week. The girls have been such troopers through all of this. Irelyn sleeps tons and is pretty good in the car and Holland has been so sweet to Race. She keeps talking about how his back hurts and he has to go to the doctor. I'm sure Holland also hasn't minded eating out three times this week. Ketchup with a side of chicken nuggets might just be her favorite meal ever! 

Anyway, when Claire told me about these lavender farms earlier in the week I knew I wanted to go but wasn't sure how to fit it in with everything else. I am so glad we found the time to go though. I might have been way exhausted and a little stressed while we were there but there were a few little blessings about our afternoon at the lavender farm that I want to remember:

• Irelyn slept in her stroller while I got some photos of Holland and then she was so sweet when I woke her up take some pictures of her {I know, I'm crazy for getting her up to take pictures!}. 
• Holland was in a good mood and let me take lots and lots of photos of her {with some marshmallow bribes}. 
• Holland didn't have any accidents while we were out and about {We bring her toilet with us everywhere so she just goes on that in the car}!
• And finally, I was able to enjoy some of Heavenly Father's beautiful creations. 

I know that I will cherish these photos for years to come because someday my girls won't be little and things won't be this same kind of stressful and I'm sure that I will really miss this time in our lives. 

Anyway that's my spiel! Now here's to a relaxing weekend {hopefully}! Happy Saturday everyone! 

Irelyn's Blessing: The Small Details

Irelyn's blessing day was so beautiful. You can read about that here. Some of the things that made it so special were the little details about her dress and outfit so I wanted to give those things their own post.

Irelyn's dress was made by my mom out of the shirt Race wore on our wedding day. 

Front

Back {with original buttons from Race's shirt}

 The original tag from Race's shirt sewn into the bottom of the dress. 

 Her itty bitty ring is from my sister-in-law Amber and I bought the bracelet to match it {I now wear the ring on a necklace with the girls' initials that my sister-in-law Nikki gave me}.  

Her shoes are ones that my mom bought when she was a teenager, saved for her daughters to wear, and then passed on to me. I love them! 

I love the tradition of baby blessings and I love having so many little details that carry family history with them.

Irelyn's Blessing Day

We were able to bless our sweet Irelyn Sage Ashby while we were in Oregon for a family reunion {June 22, 2014} and it was such a wonderful day! It was so special having both of my grandpas in the circle as well as my dad, one of my uncles, and a few of my brothers. Race gave Irelyn such a beautiful priesthood blessing to start off her life here on this earth. I am so grateful for the priesthood and for my amazing family. Here are some pictures from the day!

Irelyn on her special day. 

{A post with details on her outfit will be coming soon!}

Ashby family of four!

Race and his girls. 

Me and Irelyn 

My cousin, my mom bribing the kids with candy, my brother and sister-in-law and niece. 

My sisters with Irelyn, my aunt with my nephew, and my sister with her sweet baby girl. 

 With my Olmstead grandparents! So glad my grandpa was able to be a part of Irelyn's blessing day and so grateful to my grandma for arranging a brunch for everyone afterwards!

Dear Irelyn: One and Two Months

Dear Irelyn,

I had a one month post for you in my drafts that just never got finished. So now you are two months old and I'm just going to combine the two!

Your first month you were just about the gruntiest baby ever. Because of that you gained the nicknames Grunt-a-babe and Little Baby Grunting {among others}. You have since grown out of that and I have to say that I miss it quite a bit!

It's also important to note that you have taken a binky since the very start and have even taken a bottle {twice}! Your big sister never did either of these things so we're feeling pretty lucky!

During your first month you pooped almost every time I got your diaper open. It was crazy! It didn't matter if you had just pooped or I was just changing a pee diaper or anything! You were bound and determined to poop every time your diaper was off! Cleaning up baby poop isn't the best job but you always just looked like it felt soooo good to get it all out so I just couldn't help but laugh every time this happened! We sure did A LOT of laundry that first month! It was extra funny because Holland NEVER pooped or peed on us while we were changing her and then you came along and decided you needed to make up for her perfect record in the first couple of weeks! You are now past that stage and have only pooped two days in the last two weeks! Which is a whole new adventure. I'm always trying to figure out how many extra outfits I'll need to pack since your "poop day" means there will be A LOT of poop when it does finally come. Haha. You chose the day we drove back to Idaho to poop {and amazingly didn't get any poop on your carseat} and then your blessing day. But, being the little angel that you are you pooped after your blessing and even after you were out of your dress! Haha. So neither of those ended up being too disastrous--thank goodness! I'm sure we have many more poop adventures to come though. And I'm sure you'll be thrilled that I've recorded them all for you! ;)

This last month you traveled to Arizona and Oregon. On those drives you passed through Nevada and Utah as well. So you have been in five states now! You did wonderful in the car and sleeping in weird places and having your schedule messed up every couple of days. You really are such a mellow baby which has been a wonderful blessing!

You have been smiling for a while now but you smile at us more and more every day. I love to get you smiling and cooing at me. Your cooing {or talking} is just about the sweetest thing I have ever heard! You are almost starting to laugh. Sometimes we can get one little tiny giggle out of you and it's adorable! I think you'll be laughing pretty soon! You absolutely love to be talked to and are even starting to enjoy having Holland get up in your face...sometimes. Haha. She can still be a little overwhelming! I can't wait to see you girls develop your relationship over the next few months and then years though.

You are just such a joy to have around. Being a mom to two definitely has its hard days and we just got home from being with family for the past month so I'm sure we have lots of adjustments to make but we really are so happy to have you as a part of our family!

Some Stats:
One Month: 11 lbs.
Two Months: 13 lbs.

And of course some pictures!

Irelyn's Birth Story

Irelyn’s actual birth story is not that long but I have a lot I want to preface it with. I feel like I learned so much from both of my birth experiences and I think it is so important to share what we learn with those around us so I’m going to start Irelyn’s story with a preface. If you want to skip forward to the actual story you are welcome to (I bolded where it starts)!

Holland’s birth twenty months ago was a pretty hard experience for me. (You can read about it here—part 1, part 2, and some of the after effects here). If you don’t have time to read all of that you mostly just need to know that I ended up having a C-section when I had planned to have a natural, unmedicated birth. I honestly did not realize the implications of having a C-section until I was in the OR and my midwife happened to mention that the doctor doing the surgery was really good about stitching me up in a way that would make me a great candidate for a VBAC (Vaginal Birth After Cesarean). That is when it really hit me: Holland’s birth would affect all of my future births.

When I got pregnant with Irelyn I knew my goal was to have a VBAC. I immediately went on a local Facebook forum and asked if people knew of any VBAC friendly doctors in my area. I was so grateful to get TONS of recommendations from the ladies in this group. I was also told about a forum on Facebook all about VBACs (VBAC Facts Community—anyone who has had a previous C-section should check out this forum and website to learn more about VBACs/RCS (Repeat C-Sections)). I joined the group on Facebook and started researching the many doctors recommended to me.  

I found a wonderful doctor and my pregnancy passed quickly (thanks to Holland keeping me nice and busy!) without any complications. I made sure to talk to my doctor about my plans to have a VBAC at every appointment and the more I talked to him the more supported I felt. I would come home from each appointment just so grateful to have such a supportive doctor.

As I got closer to my due date I felt like I needed to mentally prepare for whatever birth experience I would end up having. I felt like I needed to face the reality that things might not go the way that I wanted. At this point I really felt like the most important thing I could do to prepare for this birth experience was to take my concerns/fears/desires to my Heavenly Father and then let things happen the way He planned. The last few weeks of my pregnancy I went to the temple a few times, read my scriptures, wrote down scriptures and hymns that I could read before/during/after labor for comfort, and said a LOT of prayers. I knew that having a C-section again was something that I might have to face and I wanted to be able to feel peace with whatever birth experience I ended up having.

My due date came and passed uneventfully, just like Holland’s. Let me tell you, going over your due date is not fun at all! I do not wish it upon anyone. With Holland I remember crying every day I went over my due date. I would go to bed every night thinking, ‘Tonight could be the night!’ and waking up every morning was really disappointing. This time I wasn’t quite so upset but I didn’t know if I could emotionally handle going two weeks over again and then going through the same labor experience just to end up with a C-section again. So just after my due date passed I started praying about whether or not I should schedule a Repeat C-Section. This was something I had not even seriously considered my entire pregnancy and honestly, before I started considering it I had thought it was absolutely ridiculous for people to schedule Repeat C-Sections for their personal convenience. But, here I was considering it. And as I prayed about it I felt peace. I felt like it was an okay decision for me to make and this was a reminder to me not to judge others for their decisions.

I had an appointment the following Wednesday (40 weeks and 3 days) and I talked to my doctor about scheduling a C-section. I went over the pros and cons with him and explained my reasons for coming to this decision. He was very supportive and understanding of my decision and we scheduled the C-section for one week later (41 weeks 3 days) with the hospital. He reminded me that if I went into labor before then that of course we would still try for the VBAC. I cried on the way home from that appointment because I felt like I was giving up on my lifelong dream of experiencing natural, unmedicated childbirth. I prayed and let Heavenly Father know that I was trusting in Him that things would happen the way they were supposed to. After getting my tears out I again felt at peace with my decision. I knew that I was still giving my body/my baby time to start things and I also had a week to come to terms with having a C-section if that’s how things turned out.

And then things actually started happening.

Thursday through Saturday I had Braxton Hicks for a couple hours each night but they would inevitably fizzle out and be gone when I woke up the next morning. I did not have these with Holland at all though so that was definitely a positive change! Saturday during the day I did some serious nesting. I am not an awesome housekeeper (just ask Race) but Saturday I deep cleaned our kitchen and bathroom and just did other general house cleaning things. I spent hours cleaning and organizing. I’m sure we’ve all heard stories about people doing serious nesting RIGHT before their babies come and I’m not going to lie, I was hoping this all meant something for me but I also didn’t want to get my hopes up too much. So I went to bed hoping I would wake up to contractions in the night or to my water breaking or something but I woke up the next morning a little disappointed. I couldn’t be too sad though because it was Easter!

Race, Holland, my brother Solomon, and I headed to church and enjoyed some wonderful talks and musical numbers speaking of Christ and His wonderful sacrifice for all of us. I was pleasantly surprised to notice that I was experiencing Braxton Hicks (during the day!!) so we headed home after Sacrament meeting so that I could get some rest and see if the Braxton Hicks were going to turn into anything more.

At home we ate a delicious Easter dinner, hid Easter eggs for Holland, ate lots of yummy candy, rested, and just enjoyed the afternoon together. The Braxton Hicks got a little bit stronger but they weren’t any closer together or really regular at all. I wasn’t getting my hopes up that Irelyn was on her way just yet. I did start looking up some information on Spinning Babies about how to turn a posterior baby while in labor. I was pretty sure that Irelyn was posterior just like Holland and I didn’t want to end up with a C-section because I couldn’t push this baby out. So around 8:30 PM with my contractions becoming a bit stronger but still somewhat irregular I decided to try some abdominal lift and tucks. In between/during contractions I did some work, showered with Holland, tried to rest, helped put Holland to bed, and just tried to see if things were progressing. I was totally in denial that things were really happening until 11:13 PM when I texted my mom telling her that the contractions were stronger and closer together but that I was going to try and rest and time them for a few minutes before we decided to head out the door.

I didn’t end up being able to rest at all. Race and I started getting last minute things ready to go, and over the next 45 minutes while we rushed around things finally started to feel real to me. I really had to stop and concentrate when I had a contraction and I didn’t have much time between contractions. I kept trying to braid my bangs so they would be out of my face during delivery but after trying to quickly do that between 3 contractions I gave up and just twisted them back quickly.

At 12:00 AM we headed out the door to the hospital. My mom has always said that you don’t leave until you don’t want to get in the car. I hadn’t intentionally done that but the car ride was absolutely the hardest part of my labor. It was not fun to labor in the car at all. My contractions were close and very strong the whole drive so the drive felt like much longer than the 30 minutes it actually was. I responded to a text from my mom asking how close contractions were saying “Not sure. 1-3 minutes. 1 minute long. Really strong. Car is bad.” So eloquent. Haha. On the car ride I was a little ridiculous during contractions but Race just kept comforting me—letting me know that we were getting close and holding my hand.

We arrived at the hospital around 12:30 AM and I had to stop two or three times on the very short walk from the car to the ER to squat through contractions. At this point I had realized that I was feeling the need to push and I couldn’t really help trying. We were taken up to labor and delivery and I was admitted into triage at 12:35 AM. I got into my gown quickly and the triage nurse checked me. She didn’t actually say how dilated I was but as she walked out of the room she said to the other nurses “She’s good to go.” I wasn’t sure what that meant but immediately after she walked out I kind of pushed through a contraction and my water broke…all over the triage floor. It was seriously so loud and so much water that I was convinced for a half second that my baby had just shot out of me! Super ridiculous, I know, but it was really super loud! All the nurses heard it so they rushed right in and got me moved into a labor and delivery room right away. By 12:39 AM I was hooked up to monitors and by 12:50 AM I was pushing.  Pushing felt AMAZING. It felt so good to push through the contractions and to know that my body was doing just what it was supposed to. The entire time I was pushing I was just thanking Heavenly Father for this wonderful experience. At 1:09 AM Irelyn Sage Ashby came into the world and was immediately placed on my chest where she stayed for the next hour or so. Eventually we found out that she weighed 7 lbs. 12 oz. and was 20 3/4 inches long. I was so in shock at how wonderfully things had gone and so grateful and happy to meet my sweet baby girl and to have had such a wonderful delivery experience.

My doctor was unable to make it to my crazy fast delivery but the doctor on call was wonderful! Dr. Bradley did some massaging of my perineum while I pushed to help avoid serious tearing, which I was so grateful for. The nurses were also amazing. They coached me a little on how to push more efficiently and then just let me do my thing. Afterwards they said they wanted me to come back and teach classes on how to have a successful VBAC and one nurse kept telling me that I had such amazing control while pushing at the end that it seemed like I had an epidural. I was so grateful for the loving, encouraging words and was just so overwhelmed with joy at how wonderfully the whole experience had gone. Even though our experience with Holland was a little scary and loooong and exhausting for Race and I both, Race was still so supportive of my decision to have a VBAC. He was my constant support and he was so happy to have had such a wonderful experience this time around. I am so grateful for him and I am so grateful that we were both able to experience such a healing, beautiful birth. I am also grateful to have learned so much from my birth experiences, and I feel like because of my very different experiences I can be more understanding and empathetic towards people who have had all kinds of births.

And now for some photos! 

Last bump photo on Easter Sunday {41 weeks} 

Sweet new baby with Mom. 

Meeting Dad for the first time.

So tiny and adorable.

Our first "family picture". Holland is holding her new baby doll while Race shows her Irelyn and I'm hiding back behind the faucet in the reflection. Haha. Holland is absolutely in love with her "baby sisser"!