Cove's Birth Story

Wednesday, June 14th 2017

That evening I worked my last shift at WestJet and my sister flew in on our flight! I was SO excited for that flight to get in! Once my sister arrived and I got to hug her I instantly felt relieved and ready for baby boy to make his arrival. That was one of my biggest worries before I went into labor was thinking of who was going to watch Harbor for us. Something you don't have to think about with the birth of you first baby! So knowing that my sister was here and that I had just finished my last day of work I felt ready to have this baby!

Thursday, June 15th 2017

Thursday morning I had a membrane sweep scheduled with the OBGYN. I had purposely pushed the sweep back until my sister was in town JUST in case it actually did put me into labor. My sister, Chelsea stayed home with Harbor while Sean and I went to the appointment. Holy CRAP. That sweep was like no sweep I have ever had before! It literally took me off the table, made my eyes water and took my breath away. The OBGYN wasn't messing around. After the appointment I even told Sean, "If that sweep doesn't make me go into labor than I don't know what will!"

An hour later I had a hair appointment (it was the ONLY day I could get in and I desperately needed my hair done so had to do it!) I even joked telling my hair gal that I apologize in advance if my water breaks in her chair haha I was so uncomfortable and was in pain.. I felt beat up down there.

Later that evening my sister and I took Harbor to the park and I kept telling Chels that I just didn't feel the best. When we got back home I laid down on the couch and took a little nap. I just felt kind of off and sick. We had dinner, put Harbor down for bed and then washed up for bed myself. That night Sean slept in the guest room so my sister and I could sleep together (we always stay up late talking and catching up). 

10:00 pm

I started to get some stronger contractions. "A good one" is what I always say when I have to close my eyes and breathe through the pain! After laying in bed and chatting for a while Chelsea dozed off, but I just couldn't sleep through the contractions. I ended up waking her up once they seemed closer together. Chelsea timed them and said, "Yeah they are like 3 minutes apart Ash! You should fix up, do what you need to do before heading into the hospital and I will go wake up Sean." She was right.. while brushing my teeth and grabbing my stuff the contractions got WAY more intense. Before we headed out the door I tip toed into Harbor's room and rubbed her head and said bye. (I couldn't lean over her crib anymore to kiss her with my huge belly!) While walking to the garage I started to tear up.. Harbor won't be my only baby anymore and I already felt like I missed her. I felt a mix of emotions I just couldn't explain. 

Friday, June 16th 2017

2:50 am

When we got to the hospital they checked me and I was at about 3 cm dilated. My contractions were about 3 minutes apart. I was given a shot of Morphine/Gravol to help with the pain a bit. I honestly didn't feel like it helped at all. It made me feel a bit tired, but that was it. Sean walked the halls with me and I also labored on an exercise ball until the nurse came in to check me again. 

4:00 am

I was 4 cm dilated and contractions were still strong so they admitted me and we checked in to room #3. Once we got into our room Sean ran the bath for me and I labored in the bath. I felt calm and focused in the bath. Sean played the music playlist that I had created (it was actually the playlist I created for Harbor's labor and delivery but I never used it) and it was so nice to try and relax, listen to the music and focus on it. I felt like that really made a difference for me. It was peaceful and exactly what I was hoping for.

6:00 am

My nurse came in to check on me and said I should hop out of the bath so they can check me again. I was 6 cm dilated and baby boy had dropped a lot lower. I then stayed out of the bath for the rest of my laboring. At this point I started inhaling Entinox (laughing gas) to help me breathe during contractions. The laughing gas definitely didn't take the pain away, but helped me focus on my deep breathing. When we first had checked into the hospital I was very honest and open with my nurse about my birth with my first child and how anxious and nervous I was about this delivery. I told her this time around I am definitely open to having an epidural. She was very positive and kept reminding me that it was going to be a different scenario this time around and that I CAN do it. I appreciated her positivity and I remember just telling myself that, "I CAN do this!"

6:24 am

8 cm dilated

8:10 am

9 cm dilated 

9:24 am

My water still hadn't broke so the doctor said if it didn't soon he would break it. I started receiving doses of Fentanyl to help with pain. I started to doze off in-between contractions. 

10:34 am

I was fully dilated, the doctor broke my water and I started pushing. No more Fentanyl or laughing gas could be given.

While pushing I tried in multiple different positions. Laying on my back, kneeling and hugging the back of the bed, standing and wrapping my arms around Sean, squatting on the side of the bed and even sitting on the toilet. I didn't really find one position more effective than another so I ended up laying on the bed for the most part. Sean kept giving me juice to sip on and kept putting cool cloths on me from the freezer that my sister had previously made up and froze. The cloths were frozen with water and lavender oil in them. I do remember them feeling really good in the moment cause i was really hot and sweating.  I remember asking Sean and the nurses over and over if I was making progress. During the excruciating pain I needed to hear that I was getting somewhere! They did say I was making progress and that baby boy's head was crowning and the had dark hair! 

11:00am 

My nurse said to me, "He is right there Ashley! You will have baby boy in your arms by 11:15am!" and I couldn't believe that she really thought I was going to push this baby out within 15 minutes!

12:00 pm

Still pushing... 

12:30pm

I was still pushing, but baby boy was now stuck and I wasn't making progress. :( The nurses were calling my doctor, but just my luck he was in the middle of a c-section! This was the part of the delivery that felt like it took forever. I was in SO much pain, felt so much pressure and kept pushing, but baby boy wasn't moving! It was awful. I remember at this point feeling so weak and telling Sean that I didn't think I could go any longer.

1:20pm

My doctor finally arrived and explained to me that he would be using a vacuum to help get baby boy out. I pushed while he pulled and oh my gosh I just wanted baby boy to be out!! The doctor told me he was going to need to do an episiotomy.. When he told me that I really started to panic. After a few more contractions...

1:37pm

Cove was born!

7lbs 13oz

21.25"

My sweet baby boy has arrived! Such a surreal moment holding your baby for the first time. I was so in love and so relieved!

So later on when the doctor came into our room to come check on Cove and I he explained to me that he had actually pushed back his scheduled surgery because he had thought I was going to be delivering right away when I was making progress, but as my progression slowed down he wasn't able to push back the c-section any further! He also explained the anesthesiologist was tied up with him during the c-section so when I was asking for an epidural (after pushing for 2 hours) I wasn't able to get one! This was the hardest part about the delivery.. I felt as though everything went pretty smooth up until he got stuck and I wasn't making any progress. I asked for an epidural but I kept being told, "He is RIGHT there Ashley! You can do this!" but he didn't come right away! It was very frustrating and in the moment I felt so defeated. The doctor also explained to me that he didn't leave his c-section to assist me because both baby and I had good vitals. 

Proud dada!

Meeting auntie!

Meeting his big sister!

My recovery after Cove's birth was much better than my recovery with Harbor (thank you God). I did have an episiotomy but I didn't tear any further. I was happy the laboring went pretty smoothly, but I would be lying if I said the delivery was easier.. the long hours of pushing and him needing to be vacuumed out made me feel disappointed, BUT I have a healthy beautiful baby boy and it was all worth it!

xo

Bumpdate: 21 Weeks

And just like that I am half way there! It really is true what they say about your second pregnancy going by even faster. I feel like before we know it baby boy is going to be here!

We had our 20 week ultrasound last week and it was so amazing to see baby moving around in there. It was for sure confirmed baby is still a BOY! He was moving his arms and legs around, sucking on his thumb and opening his mouth. It is just truly a miracle. 

Baby boy is measuring just a bit over average. 

(Oh PLEASE don't be another almost 10 pounder! haha) 

We have a new due date: June 24, 2017!

We will be meeting baby boy even sooner :)

There are definitely some things that are different this time around compared to when I was pregnant with Harbor. The biggest thing is obviously being more busy with taking care of a busy toddler and not being able to relax or nap when I would like to. I kept a journal during my pregnancy with Harbor and I wrote down a lot. I do currently write in a journal for the 2nd pregnancy, but I am for sure finding it more difficult to find the time to write everything down! I will try my best though. 

I thought it would be fun to do a little comparison of my pregnancy with Harbor and this second pregnancy so far!

Harbor- H    Baby Boy- B

Finding Out the News

H- 5 weeks, boobs KILLED & certain smells would really gross me out

B- 5 weeks, period symptoms.. not really any big signs

First Time Hearing Baby's Heartbeat

H- 9 weeks at the Drs office on ultrasound

B- 11 weeks at the Drs office on ultrasound

Food Cravings/Aversions

H- carbs + fruit through the whole pregnancy

I couldn't eat salad or vegetables!

B- carbs at the beginning + right now currently craving caesar salad quite often

No food aversions thank goodness! 

Bump Showing

H- I think I started showing around 16 weeks. Carried high.

B- I felt like since the day I found out I was pregnant! You really do start to show sooner with baby #2! I was almost worried at the beginning about how big I looked and how we hadn't told anyone the news yet. I think my belly started growing really fast at the beginning, but has slowed down a bit now. Carrying lower.

First Time Feeling Baby Move 

H- 18 weeks

B- 20 weeks 

I found this kind of interesting. I thought for sure I would be able to feel baby #2 sooner than when I did with Harbor since I knew what to expect! Guess not.

Nursery Prep

H- I was planning her nursery since the day we found out we were having a girl!

B- I haven't even thought about the nursery yet. Better get on it!

Bump Pictures

H- I took a weekly bump picture at first, but then every couple of weeks

B- I have only taken 2 so far. Seriously the days fly by!

Nerves + Stress

H- I was pretty stressed out about having everything we needed for Harbor and wanting to get the nursery ready. Labor scared me, but I just kept thinking I can do it!

B- Definitely feeling more relaxed since we have all of the main baby items that are needed. Unfortunately, baby boy is going to be using a lot of pink colored items ;) We will have to sit down and make a list of things that we do need for him though. I am so scared of labor this time around. Some moms say they didn't feel as nervous the second time around since they knew what to expect, but I will be honest.. I am scared shitless. After having a pretty traumatic delivery with Harbor I am really nervous for baby boy's entrance into the world. I am just praying it will be a smoother delivery!

I am beyond excited to meet baby boy. I am also really excited to see how Harbor is with him. She will be 19 months old when her baby brother is born so I am not sure if she will be old enough to fully understand, but I really look forward to seeing their bond. Sometimes I do find myself thinking about how once baby boy arrives Harbor won't be the center of our attention anymore.. and it kind of makes me sad. That's normal right? It just kind breaks my heart thinking of my baby girl not being the baby anymore! Well, in the mean time I am going to enjoy my time with Harbor as the only child and enjoy the wonderful movements in my belly from her little brother.

xo Ashley

Preterm Labor Journey

I did a lot of updating along the way during our journey the last month on my Facebook page to keep friends and family in the loop, but I still wanted to do a blogpost to maybe write from a different perspective and thoughts after it all. So before all of this happened Sean and I had a very busy summer and for the month of August we pretty much lived out of our suitcases. Once we were back in Fort St John from traveling we were so anxious and excited to move into our new house, unpack, get settled in and get ready for the arrival of our baby girl! The day we moved into the new house we felt so relieved. We were in the new house for 3 days before heading to the hospital. We literally had JUST hung our clothes in the closet, put the nursery furniture together & started to unpack the essentials. Little did we know we would be living out of our suitcases again!

September 19th (33 weeks + 4 days) 

I woke up in the early morning with pain in my upper stomach so we went to the hospital to get it checked out. It started out as a pain between my upper ribs and eventually got stronger to the point it was taking my breath away. I almost thought maybe it was baby girl's foot kicking my ribs, but the pain was consistent and didn't let up so I woke Sean up. Once we arrived to the hospital to our surprise we were informed that I was in preterm labor. I was having consistent contractions and 1.5cm dilated. Everything seemed to happen so fast with the nurses explaining everything to us, examining me, telling me all the names of the meds I was about to be given.. I felt like in a daze almost because I couldn't believe it was all happening. Here I thought I was just going to be told it was just a foot in my rib and be sent home, not be told I was in labor. I'm not very good with needles (I never have been) and man oh man when the nurse said the words "shot & in the hip" it really overwhelmed me and I almost felt like I started to panic. Thank goodness my husband was there holding my hand and talking to me during the shots. I remember being told before that I was going to have to get over the fear of needles once I get pregnant and I am trying very hard haha Just keep telling myself I am doing it all for her! After I was given the meds and fluids to stop the labor it seemed to be working. We had to stay over night to be monitored & make sure I wasn't continuing with labor. 

Over the weekend we stayed busy watching tv, playing card games, took my time showering and doing my make up and tried to sleep when we could. Sean would show me Lilly through the hospital window and I would sneak into the waiting area at night to see her. He also ran out lots to grab us food so I didn't have to eat hospital food thank goodness :)

I won by the way! I think that's twice I've beat him now!

I love that dog way too much.

A little make up always makes you feel better!

September 20th (33 weeks + 5 days) 

I was still having contractions and had multiple tests done to see where my cervix was at and the thickness measured less than what the doctor would have liked to see (2cm) as well as tested positive for a hormone that shows high possibility for early labor. Two things I was really hoping to hear better news back on from the doctor. We were told we would have to be flown to Prince George to be at a hospital with an NICU (Fort St John does not have the staff & level of care for premature babies) and stay in the hospital there. Honestly that was pretty tough to hear. I knew that we had to because it was best for the baby, but I felt in that moment as though I had no control and was just being told what I had to do. I didn't want to go to Prince George, I don't know Prince George, we have no family there and I didn't want to deliver my baby there! I don't want to sound selfish and again I wanted to do whatever was best for our baby BUT it made me feel pretty upset and took a bit to sink in. The doctor did explain to us that IF baby girl did not come while we were in Prince George in the next 2 weeks and I reach 36 weeks then we would could come back to Fort St John and be able to give birth to her here. So that was a positive thing. Again, I think it all was just happening so fast I couldn't wrap my mind around it all. Plus, on top of all this my sister had a flight booked for the next day to fly into Fort St John to come visit us! I felt pretty disappointed that now my sister wouldn't be able to come to FSJ, see our new house and help me set up the nursery. That really meant a lot to me. We switched her flight for her to fly into Prince George the next day instead. At least I was still able to see her and she could still come up and be with me! 

September 21st (33 weeks + 6 days)

Baby girl and I were flown to Prince George in a medical transport aircraft. I had to take an ambulance from the FSJ hospital to the airport, fly to Prince George and then take another ambulance to the Prince George hospital. I felt pretty overwhelmed and a bit sad to be honest. Sean was not able to fly with me so I was kind of scared to be without him while he drove the 5 hour drive to Prince George. The paramedics were very nice and talked to me during the whole trip. The flight was a short 45min flight and I must say that was the first flight I have ever been able to lay down on! I was having contractions 9 minutes apart during the whole trip and was starting to feel a little nervous about the fact of maybe going into full labor and Sean not being with me!

Once I arrived at the hospital I was hooked up to the monitor, had a few tests done and tried to relax until Sean arrived. Sean made it just in time to come to my ultrasound with me and that made me feel very relieved! As soon as I saw his face and he hugged me I lost it. I just felt so happy he was with me and that he made it. Baby girl was doing just fine. All of her measurements were showing her to measure closer to 35 weeks & 3 days. Which is great! She weighed approximately 5lbs 14 ounces. It was great to see her moving around in there and sucking on her little thumb! The doctor wanted to keep me hooked up to the monitor to keep an eye on her heartbeat (it had been a bit high) and my contractions. I'm still having contractions, but they are all over the place. We are just waiting to hear the more in depth results from the ultrasound. At this point the doctor said they won't be trying to stop me from going into labor, but hopefully baby girl will stay in there!

After all the tests were done and Sean and I could just relax all I could do was count down the minutes until my sister landed in Prince George!! Her trip definitely turned into a different kind of trip, but I am SO happy she was going to be here with me! Of course once she walked into the hospital room I hugged her and started crying. (yes, I was very emotional that day. I felt drained.) I couldn't believe she was in Prince George with Sean and I. To have my sister there for the support meant more than I could say.

September 22nd (34 weeks)

Hubby's 31st birthday! I'm sure it didn't feel like much of a birthday hanging out in a hospital, but I was glad my sister was there to go run some errands with him and go out for lunch while I took a nap! 

Sean's brother Pat & his fiancé had sent us a beautiful flower arrangement with a card to me & a happy birthday card to Sean! That was such a nice little surprise!

That night I was given a "pass" to be off bed rest and leave the hospital so we went out for some birthday dessert & was glad Sean could grab a beer!  

Yay off bed rest! Get me out of this room!

September 23rd (34 weeks + 1 day)

The doctor came to talk to us about the results from our ultrasound. She said the ultrasound showed a back up of urine in her left kidney and that I would be having another ultrasound done with a specialist the next day. I felt really nervous. No mother wants to hear the word "abnormal" from the doctor. She made it seem like it was not a huge emergency, explaining it's not like the baby needed to come out right away, but it did need to be looked at further. I was able to get another "pass" that night so we went out for dinner. Whenever we left the hospital I almost felt like I had a curfew and kept looking at the time to make sure I wasn't going back too late! haha

I took this picture just outside of the hospital for my 34 week belly picture. We thought it was pretty neat to see a rainbow that evening!

September 24th (34 weeks + 2 days)

We had our ultrasound with the specialist and it's always nice to see baby girl on the screen! The specialist said that baby girl had a "big belly" and "luscious lips" haha She was measuring around 6.5 pounds! He wasn't concerned about her hear rate which was great, but he did see the urine build up and explained that we would need to go to Children's Hospital in Vancouver for another ultrasound. I got a bit emotional at the end of the ultrasound because I just didn't want to think about something being wrong with her or her needing surgery to correct anything. I just all in all felt worried.

Just having some lunch!

September 25th (34 weeks + 3 days)

I was discharged from the Prince George hospital! The doctor said she was working on making an appointment for an ultrasound in Vancouver and that in the mean time we can head to Vancouver! She examined me before we left and I was dilated to 2.5cm and still having my off and on contractions. So my sister and I flew to Vancouver and Sean drove so that way we had our car. We weren't sure how long we would be in Vancouver for. I think the drive was about 7 hours for Sean.. poor guy was doing so much driving. Once we were all in Vancouver I felt like I could relax a bit and I was SO happy to be able to show my sister this beautiful city! We were very fortunate to be able to stay with Sean's uncle who lived very close to the hospital.  

Sean dropping us off at the Prince George airport

September 26th & 27th

Over the weekend we showed my sister the city. I was still told to be taking it easy and not do too much walking, but I was feeling okay. We took a lot of breaks and I knew if I needed to stop walking if contractions kicked in. We drove a lot as well to different beaches and areas. The weather was so nice that weekend! I even heard my sister say "Ok, I could live here." (YES! Please move to Canada haha!) We went to Granville Island, English Bay, False Creek, downtown Vancouver and a few other places. Over the weekend we were still waiting to hear from the doctor and I was having my irregular contractions.

Granville Island

Out for lunch... Lilly loves her aunt Did!

She's such a beach dog!

Okay my belly seriously grew so much between 34-36 weeks!! Baby girl did a lot of growing!

September 28th (34 weeks + 6 days)

Bringing my sister to the airport was hard. I seriously don't think it ever gets easier. Plus, this time she was going to take Lilly to Minnesota with her and I was so sad to be saying goodbye to my fur baby! We just didn't know how long we would be in Vancouver for and with everything up in the air we thought it would be best for her to go on a little vacay to Minnesota with my sister and see my mom. Just thinking how the next time I would see the both of them again would be after baby girl is born had me filled with a bunch of different emotions. My mom called me right as we were leaving the airport and that helped talking to her. Mommy's always make you feel better :)

September 29th (35 weeks)

We had our ultrasound at the BC Women's Hospital. Baby girl of course was moving around like crazy during it! I swear whenever there is an object touching my belly she likes to push back at it. Her head is so far down there the ultrasound tech had a difficult time getting measurements of her head. Definitely going to have a little cone head when she is born! After the ultrasound we went to the fetal medicine and met with a couple doctors to go over the results. LONG story short the doctors explained they had a team look over the results and they did not see evidence to believe baby girl is in immediate need of any sort to fix the backed up urine and they think it may be something that goes away once she is born. They said there is a 12% chance (not sure exactly how they came up with the 12%) something may need to be done to correct it, but we will not know until after she is born and we see how she is peeing. They requested to have an ultrasound done on baby girl when she is 1 week old and we will go from there. Plus, they were not concerned with her hear rate! Thank goodness. We were also told that once I reach 36 weeks we could head back to Fort St John!

Sean and I felt so relieved to hear this news! I felt so thankful with the results. Yes, there is a part of me that is still worried of course, but I don't want to think the worst. Also being told that we could head back to Fort St John and not have to stay in Vancouver to deliver was a huge relief! We felt as though finally all of our questions had been answered and now we knew what the plan was. 

September 30th - October 6th (36 weeks)

Well for the rest of the week in Vancouver we tried to enjoy ourselves and did the rest of our shopping that needed to be done before baby girl arrived! We sold our car, bought a new SUV (we had been wanting to do this for awhile now so it worked out perfect), bought some new furniture for the new house, saw some family members from the Murphy side and then we drove back to Fort St John as soon as I hit 36 weeks! 

The beaches are so pretty in Vancouver.. Really miss the smell of the ocean and seeing palm trees!

Love this Cactus Club in English bay that's right on the beach

Of course we had to satisfy our craving for Mexican! Tacofino is SO good.

We are pretty excited about the new car! We love it! 

So we maaaay have bought so much stuff that we needed to rent a little u-haul trailer to get it all back to FSJ! 

On the road back to our home, hands out the sunroof on a beautiful day and feeling so thankful!

Overall the whole journey turned out to be good in the end and for that we are so thankful. Yes, it was stressful and something I wish we wouldn't have had to go through, but I really believe that everything happens for a reason. This whole experience taught me a lot. Everything from having to let go and not have everything go as planned, being strong for my daughter, to be patient and to be grateful to be able to come back to Fort St John and be "home". No FSJ does not feel like home to me, but for the first time ever I wanted to get BACK to FSJ. I wanted to be back in our house, get the nursery ready, sleep in our bed and to deliver her in a city that Sean and I have made memories and built a life together in. It's our home for now and we get to start our own little family here. I am happy to have her be born here and to give her this place to call home.

xo Ashley

Mini Babymoon

I have been wanting to do some posts for awhile and now just finally have the time to! The 

last month has been pretty hectic. I am going to reminisce back to our mini baby moon we 

went on back in the beginning of September. We decided to do one last trip just the two of 

us before we moved into our new house and before everything got crazy busy!

 We took an early flight to Vancouver and took the skytrain downtown to our hotel. The 

skytrain is so convenient to be able to catch it right from the airport and take you to so many 

different locations! 

Sean booked us an amazing room at the Fairmont Pacific Rim and wow was it a beautiful hotel! 

Our room had a whole wall of huge windows looking over downtown, a comfy king bed and 

a stunning bathroom! I could have lived in this bathroom. From the bathroom we had a 

pretty view of Coal Harbor and the ocean.

Sean had booked a prenatal massage for me and it was honestly one of the best massages 

I have ever had. I was in preggo heaven! To lay on my belly with a belly cutout pillow and

 have my sore back rubbed hard was amazing.

After the massage I felt so relaxed and just so grateful to have had such a lovely massage. 

We hung out and relaxed in the spa area that was a rooftop lounge with comfy beds, a rock 

fire place and 2 hot tubs. We laid on the comfy beds, nibbled on snacks and just soaked in 

the sun. The weather was wonderful while we were in Vancouver! Hot & sunny!

We relaxed quite a bit in our huge tub in the room and enjoyed the view while Sean sipped 

on champagne and I enjoyed my sparkling water :) We walked around downtown, lounged 

by the pool, enjoyed the spa lounge more, had naps before going

 out for dinner, walked to the Cactus Club and Tap & Barrel for dinner (we can't go to 

Vancouver and NOT go to Cactus Club! We love that place) and just took our time

 enjoying it all. Oh and we took the skytrain to the mall to do a little shopping and purchase

 things from Babies R Us that were on our list!

This trip was a mini babymoon I will never forget. It was the most relaxed I had felt in a 

really long time! From packing up our house, selling our house, buying baby stuff and 

traveling to see our families it was just really nice to spend some time just the two of us and 

do nothing but relax. I am so grateful to be able to go on these nice trips with my husband. I 

love him so much. We really enjoy our time spent together, but oh man are we excited to 

add our baby girl into our lives!

xo Ashley