From Auntie Hill

So special to me that my dear friend Hill got to be present for Ashlee's arrival! Here is a letter she wrote to Ashlee.....Ashlee's birth story from Auntie Hill's perspective.

Dear Ashlee,

Wow, the day you were born…it was a pretty awesome day. I was so excited, so nervous for your Mom, so just wanting to be a part of it all.

I got a phone call from your Mom, or should I say, Ingalls Memorial Hospital, in the middle of the afternoon. My heart immediately began thumping hard because I knew it was probably her and that you had decided to make an appearance. Your Mom told me that her water had broken right after her ultrasound and that they were moving her to a room at the hospital…and so the race began.

I sat on pins and needles the whole rest of the afternoon: wondering, praying, waiting, waiting, and waiting some more. I so much wanted you and your Mom to be healthy and I was also SO secretly praying that you would be a girl because I knew that that was what your Mom was dreaming about. Now, don’t get me wrong…she loves Trevor so much and would never trade him in J but there is just something about having a daughter, you guys are pretty special.

Anyway, as soon as Uncle Troy got home from work I fed your buddy, Quinn, and jetted off to the hospital. I met up with your Grandma, Auntie Jana, and Auntie Amy in the waiting room. They were pretty excited too and talking about what a great job your Mom was doing and how well she was progressing through labor! You will find out soon enough when you become a Mom, but working your way through labor is a tough thing!

We actually sat for quite a bit, just chatting it up until your Grandpa VanderMeer came down from your Mom’s room and told Auntie Amy and I to get up there. I had not thought in a million years that you would decide to hurry it along so fast but you had plans about being born that night!

Auntie Amy and I made a quick run upstairs and your Mom’s doctor was already in the room when we got there. The nurses were bringing all the new baby stuff: warmer, any tools they might need, blankets, etc. I couldn’t believe I was actually going to see you be born…talk about a heart going about ninety miles an hour!

I watched your Mom have about 2-3 really strong contractions and let me tell you, she was such a trooper! There are not a lot of ladies who can have a baby without having some sort of medication and she did it!!!! She was super calm, talking and joking around with the doctor and when she would have a contraction she would take your Dad’s hand and squeeze it. Your Dad was pretty quiet, hard to believe huh? I think he was nervous and excited too! J

Well, they got all of their gear ready and your Mom started to push to welcome you into this crazy world. Ashlee, it’s amazing. I hope that someday you will have the honor of watching a sister, friend, or cousin give birth. It is the most amazing, overwhelming experience you can imagine and I am crying again right now remembering it.

Anyway, I don’t exactly remember how many times she pushed…maybe 2 or 3 before your head popped out…but then it suddenly got very serious in the room. Your head was out but your shoulders had gotten stuck. No one was shouting or anything but the atmosphere in the room changed dramatically. The nurse standing next to your Mom told her pretty emphatically that she needed to push like she had never pushed before. Okay, so I don’t remember her exact words but she was pretty serious. Another nurse came around her bed and took her leg, which your Dad was holding, and was giving orders to your Mom too.

I could see that the doctor was working hard to try to wiggle you out. It all happened so fast that there wasn’t a whole lot of time to get scared but it was definitely a tense moment for that minute or two and all I could think was “don’t let something bad happen now, God”. But, you finally appeared, the doctor declared that you were a girl, and we all sighed with relief and commenced with the crying.

It was so cool to listen to you cry in the baby warmer…to see you those first few minutes of life, and to know that as you grow up I have that experience in my heart to remember.

Your Mom was obviously extremely happy but I have to tell you that it was more fun to watch your Dad those first few moments. At first he didn’t move from his spot next to your Mom’s bed but within 5 minutes he inched his way over to your warmer to check you out. It kind of felt, watching him, like I was invading on such a private moment, a daddy and his new daughter having a conversation for the first time. He talked to you in that baby talk that he always uses and I couldn’t help but smile.

You were such a cutie…such much hair, so much little chub, so cute even after going through a bit of a traumatic birth. You looked just like a girly version of your big brother and I don’t think your parents could have been any prouder.

So, that’s the story. That’s what I remember from the night you were born. When I realized how many grandparents were waiting downstairs to meet you I made a quick exit so they could get their chance to love you up. I pretty much ran back to my car, full of energy, wanting to get home to the girls to tell them the cool news!

Ashlee, as you grow up you will definitely have moments where you don’t agree with your parents or don’t appreciate the decisions they make for you. But please remember this: Your parents love you more than you can imagine! Your Mom struggled for SO long and wanted you SO badly! You were prayed for, wished for, dreamt about…you are a special kid to your family and they will always only want the best for you!

I hope that you grow up to be a strong, Christian woman like your Mom. You have cool things ahead of you and I can’t wait to see you grow, to see your kids, your daughters, and know that I got to be a witness to see your entrance to God’s earth. We love you!

Love,

Auntie Hill

Happy Happy

Yep, thats the words to describe you for sure. You are an amazing baby! Very contented, very alert, very smiley and very loved!

I hesitate to make this public but it is no secret that you have slept through the night every night since the day we took you home from the hospital. I am talking 8 hours or more every night. It is wild to even type! You are a great nurser and burper. We lay you awake on your back in the crib and you don't even cry, you just go to sleep. You don't really even cry when you wake up in the morning, you usually just cooo and we go in to get you. Your face lights up when you see us, in fact we usually end up scaring you and you startle every morning when you see us. You smile almost instantly and now your feet and legs go flying like you are running a race.

You smile 95% of your waking hours and you generously give anybody a smile. You turn most consistently to your Daddys voice (it is quite uniquely high pitched and loud) :-). You always keep track of where Trevor is in the room and if he leaves the room you follow him with your chubby and smiling cheeks!

Your eyes are soo alert and beautiful! You have always made eye contact with us and it has seemed like you were looking, gazing at us intently! As a baby baby you were equally as alert.

And your hair, something everyone comments about. It is well crazy....talk to your brother he can relate totally to you. You had a ton of it and it was really dark when you were born. Like your brother it is changing to blonde quite quickly....we are currently in the strawberry blonde stages. :-) Mommy has always put bows in it. As of the past month it is more tame. This means it doesn't stick up everywhere ALL the TIME! Within the past 2 weeks we can now get it into a pony tail on the top of your head! Oh it is sooo cute....combined with your chubby cheeks, bright giant smile you win the cutest and happiest little lady award in my books!~

Crying and fussing are not really on your agenda at all. Every once in a while when your tummy hurts or when we put you in your car seat do you cry but 99% of the time you are cool as a cucumber and girl are we ever thankful for this. We are curious to see if your current laid back, contented, happy self continues into your toddler and later years. :-)

Ashlee Nicole

Well, well haven't even blogged since she arrived! Well so I have but just not publicly. Ashlee is almost 5 months old and is such a gift to us! So without further adieu:

Dear Ashlee,

My dear darling daughter oh you are to me a bundle of joy and a daily reminder of Gods love for us all. You my dear have been the prize at the end of a long fertility marathon. Dad and Mom and half of the world have prayed for years for the miracle of life to happen. Of course all children are miracles but you sweet heart will always hold a special place in our hearts. Oh how we longed to have a baby, oh how we prayed for God to grant to us the desires of our hearts, oh how we tried to be patient for HIS timing, oh how we celebrated each blood test, ultrasound, kick, heartburn(well maybe not every) episode. We loved you long before we knew you and felt your movements.

Pregnancy was so fun for Mommy. I loved watching you grow in my tummy. I loved the maternity clothes b/c it was probably cuter than most of my normal clothes. I loved the ultrasounds, I loved feeling you kick, I loved not knowing your gender, I loved making a nursery for you, I loved watching Trevor prepare for your arrival and come up with names (he wanted to name you Apple for a girl and Banana for a boy), I loved the compliments I got being pregnant (often I was told I was glowing), I loved that God gave your Daddy and I the gift of being parents to another little blessing, I loved dreaming about your birth and life!

In the beginning of January I had to go back to work after Winter Break. I was a tad bit uncomfortable at that point but kept telling myself I only had 2 weeks to go. I got nervous towards the end when I wouldn't feel you move as much. I had a Drs. appointment on the 26th and we scheduled to induce on the 28th. I needed to have a non stress test and ultrasound on the 27th. You passed the Non stress test with flying colors. The ultrasound really hurt me and they kept trying to get a good measurement of your head. I almost kicked the ultrasound tech on her 5th attempt....anyhow my water broke as I sat up from having the ultrasound.

I went up to Labor and Delivery....I told the nurse what I thought happened and sure enough that is what it was. I tried going home to get a bag packed of the things I wanted to have but the nurse put the cabosh on that one. I called Daddy, Auntie Amy and Hill to tell them the news. Daddy sort freaked out, especially as I was trying to tell him what to all pack over the phone. He just wanted to be with me at the hospital and not miss out on anything. He did a great job and made it in plenty of time

The worst part of the whole delivery was the IV! It really didn't hurt this time as bad as before. Anyhow, my water broke around 1:30pm. The pitocin started after a bag of antibiotics around 2:45pm. The contractions started becoming intense around 4:30pm. I kept progressing rather quickly. Every time they checked me I kept telling myself, "You can do this for 15 more minutes." I was dilated to 8 around 6:15pm and they called Dr. Torres. 6:30 pm the contractions were VERY painful and I was unsure how much longer I could do this without some drugs. Auntie Amy and Auntie Hill were the special people that got to be there for your birth! :-) The nurse checked again and said I was at a 9 almost 10. I tried really hard to just focus, Daddy kept letting me know when the contraction was on its way down. Dr. Torres got there and I felt like Jesus had just arrived. I knew the end was in sight! :-) She checked me and watched the monitor for a few more contractions. She then suggested a practice push to see how far down you were. Practice push and wabaam we were ready for action, within about 1 1/2 mintutes the room transformed into a delivery room, it was crazy! First push and there was your head. I couldn't believe it, then your shoulder got a little stuck, it was a little intense for about 22 seconds and then there you were. I remember just looking at you and your eyes were open and you looked right into my eyes.....all I could say repeadetly was, "I am your momma, I love you, I am your momma, I love you, I am your momma, I love you."

Then you had to be checked, cleaned etc. My favorite moments were watching Daddy hold you and watching Daddy intently look at you with such pride. It took a while for it to sink in that you were a girl, I really thought you were a boy. We weren't sure if you were going to be Ashlee Nicole or Abby Nicole. Daddy said, "She is an Ashlee" We spelled your name with 2 e's because you have a great grandma Lee, a grandma Debra Lee and an aunt Jana Lee, so in keeping with the family we chose AshLEE.

Oh those first hours were precious to me...we made the grandparents wait to see for themselves that you were a girl! And what fun it was to have everyone oooooohhh and ahhhhh over you. I was overwhelmed with joy, pride, gratefullenss, love and couldn't help but smile from ear to ear! I kissed your adorable cheeks probably a million times and thanked the Lord for you 2 million times. You were so alert and had your eyes open all the time for a newborn!

http://www.our365.com/NewbornPortraits/BabyDetail.aspx?birthid=1ad6d61e-bced-4ef5-9205-58916dae56ca

You had so much dark hair and were amazingly always bright eyed! Your long toes made me chuckle and I apologized to you for inheriting them from me. I was instantly smitten and felt an amazing connection (something I was a bit worried about). I remember holding you close as close to my face as I could and telling you, "I am your Momma and I couldn't be more happy about this."

Ashlee, we have a lifetime to journey through together. Your Daddy and I are looking forward to celebrating your milestones, to molding you into the woman God wants you to be and to sharing our hearts with you. You my dear are a gift to us and we promise to cherish your gift always.

Love,
Your Mommy