2 Weeks Old and On Our Own

Asher is 2 weeks old today.

My parents went home today.

It's a day of mixed emotions.

When my parents arrived the Tuesday before Asher's birth we had no idea what the next 2 weeks would hold for us. I think they originally planned to stay until Sunday. But Asher obviously didn't want that, so he made sure they would stay a few more days. When they decided to stay a few extra days, they had to have my sister overnight their meds! Mom then decided she wanted stay because I was still having a lot of pain. Dad decided he would go home on Thursday so he could start his garden. The plan was that he would come back the next week and get her. So Dad left Thursday morning as planned but when he received word on Friday about Steven, he immediately headed back this way.

And yesterday, they almost got another reason to stay. I've been battling some kind of weird virus since Sunday. I was having severe head pain, not a headache but pain to the touch all over my head. I would have bouts of chills and then I would get so hot I'd be sweating. And a very low grade fever. I felt so bad on Sunday, I even called my doctor and she felt like it was a virus and that it was no big deal. On Tuesday, I woke up with a red streak on my forehead. Yesterday morning the red streak had spread down towards my eyes, so I went to the doctor. It turns out that I have some kind of bacterial infection in my sinuses. Since I don't have allergy problems and I haven't had as much as a sniffle, I have no idea how I contracted this. The doctor told me that I had to stop nursing and that until I stopped running a fever, I couldn't be around Asher.

I told my parents, you better get out of dodge while you still can!!!

So this morning, they packed their things and headed back to N. Ga. To say that I've been blessed with wonderful parents would be a huge understatement. I can't even begin to list all they did for us while they were here. I guess I could sum it up by saying, my parents didn't come to stay, they came to do! Since I know they'll be reading this, let me publicly thank you Mom and Dad, I don't know how we would have survived these past few weeks without you. I hope I can be a blessing to my children the way you've been a blessing to us. I love you!!!

I know this post is already long but I've got to give you an update on Asher. As you know by now, his name means blessed and he is living up to it. He is such a blessing! He has literally put himself on a schedule. He eats right at every 3 hours. On Mon. and Tues. night, he skipped his middle of the night feeding and slept from about midnight until 5am! He doesn't spit up, he only cries when he's hungry or dirty and he can sleep soundly in a room full of people! If you think I'm just bragging, I've had my parents here as my witnesses for almost 2 weeks. They will tell you that I'm speaking the truth! He is a wonderful baby! We are the ones who are blessed!

My cousin, Kaylan took this while she was here last weekend. Isn't it just the cutest?!

Love Y'all!!

When I did my last post on Thursday, I wrote "it should be a fun weekend." Well, if we're friends on facebook, you know that this weekend has been anything but fun.
On Thursday afternoon, Steven had a mild heart attack. We didn't know it until he went to the doctor on Friday and his blood work showed that his cardiac enzymes were elevated.

He went to the gym Thursday afternoon and came home within 30 minutes. When he walked in, I could tell something was wrong. I asked him if he felt ok and he said, he just had a lot of pressure in his chest. His words were, "I don't think it's heart attack kind of pain, though." He laid in the recliner for almost an hour until he began to feel a little better. I remember him taking a couple of Bayer aspirin.

The rest of the evening was uneventful and he seemed to be feeling a little better. He later told me that he took 3 more aspirin before bed and then took 2 more when he woke up Friday morning. I'm so grateful my husband is not stubborn and if he feels something is wrong, he will go to the doctor. So he called his doctor first thing Friday morning. They did an EKG and ran some blood tests. The EKG didn't show anything but it was the blood work that alerted his doctor that he had possibly had a heart attack. When they called to tell us about the blood work, they wanted Steven to get to a cardiologist immediately. They called one for him and the cardiologist wanted him to go to the emergency room to be admitted.

Since I couldn't drive him to the hospital (which is an hour away), one of the deacons from our church drove him. Once he got to the hospital, they ran more tests and determined that he needed a heart cath. They scheduled it for Saturday morning. By Friday night, my sister and cousin and my dad had all gotten to my house. So Saturday morning, my dad and I went to the hospital.

The heart cath showed that 2 of his small veins were severely blocked but they were too small to treat with a stint. His major arteries showed some blockages but nothing more than 30%, so no stints were needed. He's being treated with medicine and of course he has to change his eating habits and make sure he gets plenty of exercise.

The nurse in the cath lab told Steven that she had no doubt that the aspirin he took saved his life.

I can't even go there.

We are praising God for watching over Steven and for HIS protection. God is so good!

Thank you all for praying for us this weekend. Steven was so encouraged by all the people who were praying for him. We feel so blessed by this community of friends that God has blessed us with.

WE dearly love y'all!

One Week Old

I can't believe Asher is one week old today. Steven and I took him for his first check up today. He weighed 7 lbs. 5 oz. which is just 2 oz. less than his birth weight. He didn't get any shots, thank goodness. After we left the doctor, Steven took us to eat mexican. It was soooo good. Asher slept and we were able to have a very enjoyable lunch. Then we took Asher to W*l-Mart for the first time! You know what the bible says.....Train up a child...=)
So far, he is a very easy baby. I told mom the other day, if I didn't know any better, I'd say he's putting himself on a schedule. He eats right at every 3 hours. He's nursing very well but we are supplementing with some formula.
I'm recovering. Thank goodness for my mom and dad. All I've had to do is nurse Asher and rest. My dad went home today but Mom is staying a few more days. My sister and nephew and some others are suppose to come tomorrow night. It should be a fun weekend.

Here's a slideshow of some pictures from Asher's birth.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Love y'all!

Asher's Arrival.....

As you all know by now, Asher arrived April 16th. He is healthy and beautiful! But his arrival didn't go exactly as we had planned.....little rascal!
We arrived at the hospital at 6am to find that there were so many women giving birth, they were literally out of nurses! By the time they started my IV at 7am, I had already seen 3 different nurses. Finally, they assigned us a nurse and they began the pitocin. My Dr. came by around 7:45, examined me and broke my water. She said that Asher was in the proper position and that his head was still a little high but that would change pretty quickly. She told me that whenever I was ready for the epidural, just to let the nurse know.
My contractions were coming pretty regularly but the pain wasn't too bad and I was about 4 cm. dilated. I remember looking at the clock and it was 8:20 and I was thinking, "at 9, I'll tell the nurse that I'm ready for the epidural." Just a minute or so later, the nurse said, "Let's lay you on your side, because your baby isn't happy during your contractions." Now I've watched enough TLC shows to know this is code for your baby's heart rate is dropping during each contraction. At the same time I hear Steven on the phone with my parents and as he hangs up he says, "everything is going fine." Famous last words.
A few moments later, another nurse sticks her head in the door and asks my nurse if everything is ok and says something like, "because it's been so busy this morning." Which I knew immediately was a cover up, something was causing this other nurse to check in on us. She then comes in and I immediately look at her name tag, her title, "Charge Nurse." I knew. Both nurses began talking and watching the monitors, they have me flip to the other side and then I hear the charge nurse say, "I think her doctor is still on the floor, why don't you page her."
By 8:45, my Dr. is back in the room. She performs another exam and without sharing details, let me just tell you I hope I never have to experience that again. Somehow, Asher's umbilical cord had gotten above his head and with every contraction, as he was descending, his head was pressing against the cord and cutting off his blood supply. Not only that, she felt his little hand by his head and he was holding onto the umbilical cord! My Dr. looked at Steven and said, "We're going to do a c-section and I mean emergency. We have got to get this baby out now!"

The next thing I know, the nurse is having me sign a form to do the c-section, there are about 50 people swarming around me. The anesthesiologist magically appears and begans saying something about spinal block if there's time, if not we'll put you to sleep. I'm crying by this point, trying to find Steven. He's calling my parents whom he had just told everything is fine and telling them they're doing an emergency c-section. When he hangs up, I tell him, "call somebody and tell them to pray." From what I've been told, word spread like crazy and people were lifting us up! Thank you Jesus!

They took me into the OR, the spinal block worked, and at 9:13 am, Asher Jordan was born.

Whew!! I still can't believe how quickly everything happened but I praise God that everything worked out. And even though it wasn't in my plans to have Asher delivered this way, God was in control and knew what was best for Asher.

He's Here!!!

Well the name says it all: Asher Jordan is born!!! He was born at 9:15 am, April 16, 2009! He is 7 lbs. 7oz. He is 20 1/2 in. long. I haven't seen him yet, except in a picture sent to my friend's phone. You are probably thinking, "How is that possile?" I, Emma, am typing this. Momma is still at the hospital. She called this morning to talk to us and asked me if I would update her blog for her. She just said to tell his name, his weight, his length, and then I could type whatever I wanted. Ok well,you've heard the news. Please continue to pray for her and the baby.
Thanks, Emma

APRIL 16, 2009!!!

Today's the day. I just finished my quiet time and I'm about to get ready to leave for the hospital. As I was reading my bible ths morning, I was expecting some great revelation, the perfect scripture for today, and God in His infinite wisdom did not disappoint! As I was readng Proverbs 16, my tummy was growling and I was thinking, "I'm so hungry already and I can't eat until after Asher is born. I sure hope he comes quickly." And then I read Proverbs 16:26

"The laborer'sappetite works for him; his hunger drives him on."

Y'all, I just had to laugh! God knows with my emotions in hyper drive this morning that I needed a good dose of laughter. God is so good but He is also so funny!

Asher, I'm looking forward to holding you today. Mommy loves you so much already. And even though your name means 'blessed', I know well be the ones who is blessed by having you in our lives.

Easter 2009

Just like all of you, we had a busy Easter weekend. Our church had an egg hunt on Saturday. The weather was absolutely perfect. This year Caleb really understood what to do but the sad thing is, this will probably be my baby girl's last year of hunting. :(





On Sunday, we went to the sunrise service which was wonderful! Afterwards, the kids and I came back home to change clothes. Steven stayed at church, so we didn't get a family picture.








I wish I could claim these beautiful azaleas but they belong to my neighbor.

We had a great lunch at home with just our family. It was nice and relaxing. Later, we went to some friends' for an egg hunt and cookout. I have pictures from that too but I'll spare you! But here's one more picture that we took Sunday afternoon, we're not professional photographers but I just love it!







Love y'all!

If you're like me, you've been wondering about the results of Red Envelope Day. Here is a link to an article to do some praising over!

The White House mail office has confirmed it received a "deluge" of as many as 2.25 million red envelopes symbolizing the empty promise of lives snuffed out in abortion in a massive campaign that was larger than most White House mailing movements in the last 35 years.


SCRIPTURE FOCUS

We were therefore buried with Him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.

Romans 6:4 NIV

He's Alive!!!!!

Alive Forever Amen-by Travis Cottrell


The Angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay."

Celebrate the Risen King!

Just popping in to say, no baby yet. But if not before, we know he'll definitely be here one week from today!! Thanks for all your prayers through out this pregnancy. Except for this one event, this pregnancy has been pretty much stress free. Praise be to Jesus!!!!

Love y'all!

Stop by Melinda's blog and read about some very interesting legislation that is being presented in several different states.

SCRIPTURE FOCUS

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life.John 3:16

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On another note, I went for my final check up today. Everything looks great, Asher is still in the proper position, thank you Jesus! When my Dr. examined me, she said that she could have easily broken my water, so she didn't do a full exam because she really wants me to hold out until the 16th. But she also said that I could go at any time. Personally, I'm hoping for anytime before the 16th! But God's timing will be perfect!

The kids are on spring break this week, so I probably won't post again for a while unless......

well, you know!

Love y'all!

That's my boy!

I don't tend to share a lot of stories about Dougie here on the blog. He pretty much flies under the bloggy radar and when he does do something that's blog worthy, he usually makes me promise not to put it on the blog!

But he doesn't know about this, so it's fair game!

Last week, I was cleaning out and getting ready for the baby. Since we live in a 3 bedroom house, the 3 boys will be in one room hence the cleaning out! While cleaning out their closet, I found a backpack and duffle bag of Dougie's and it felt like he hadn't unpacked them. He used both bags a few weeks ago to spend the night at a friend's house so I expected to find his dirty clothes and socks in there. Now before I share what I found, let me tell you we live in a rural part of Ga. but our house is 'in town.' But his friend's house is in the country, like four wheel riding, in the mud, stay out all day, in the country.
Here's a picture of what I found in those bags:

• a ball cap- standard for any boy!
• bb's, but no bb gun.
• pliers
• 2 bungee cords
• about 3 feet of rope
• a crow bar- are you serious!?
• 4 carabiners
• and the all important camouflage wallet

The next time he packs to spend the night at his friend's house, you won't here me saying,

"As long as you have clean underwear and clothes for church, I don't care what's in your bags."

Not that I would've said that last time, I'm just sayin'.........

On another note, Dougie had his first baseball game this past Saturday. He's moved up into the pitching machine league and loves it! He's playing first base and loves it too! They won their first game 11-10 and Dougie hit a homerun to score the tying run!!!!! WOOHOO!

THAT'S MY BOY!!!

OH MY WORD!!!
I woke up about 4:30 this morning and couldn't go back to sleep. So I got up and thought, "I can catch the early showing of 'Wednesdays with Beth'."

Y'all, she began a new series today......"The Blessings of Asher."

I'm so excited about this I can hardly stand it!!!!!!!!!

About Asher he said, "Most blessed of sons is Asher; and let him be favored by his brothers, and let him bathe his feet in oil."

Deuteronomy 33:24