Ashton is Born!

Santa Claus came early to our house this year and it seems like he has recruited some new help. Instead of having the usual Elves help with our presents, he hired a stork to oversee the production that was destined for our home. And to top it all off, there is even a little stocking stuffer for Bryan from Uncle Sam!

Monday, December 19, 2005 started just like any other normal winter day around our house. Bryan woke up around 6 am to clear the driveway of the 2 inches of snow that accumulated throughout the night. With the driveway free of snow, we were ready to take on the "hectic" week before Christmas.

We rushed out the door to make it to our 8:30 am appointment at the antenatal office at Cottonwood Hospital for another non-stress test. This test determines how much amniotic fluid is present around the baby as well as monitors the baby's heart rate and any uterine contractions. Our fluid level was measured at a 5.5 when typically they would want to see a 10. The nurse contacted Dr. Ronald Larkin to find out what he wanted us to do given our current situation. He decided he'd like to measure the fluids for himself. Around 9:30am we made our way across the hospital to find ourselves in his office doing the same test. He obtained the same results and gave us 2 options. Option #1 was to have Alicia go on bed rest for a week and increase her fluid level. This is what she did 2 weeks before and the result was an incresed fluid level. Option #2 was to induce labor on on Wednesday (Dec 21st). Alicia and I looked at each other and decided we wanted to just get things rolling. With a rush of adrenaline, we said that we would like to be induced. He left the room to go make a phone call to set things up with Labor and Delivery. When he came back into the room he said, "I am glad you are both sitting down for this. In fact, I may need to go get some smelling salts. How would you feel if we induce right now?"

We looked at each other and that rush of adrenaline quickly turned to hyperventalation! Alicia asked if we could drive home so she could take a shower and pick up our bags that we had previously packed. He said, "No!" He wanted to get things started right away with the anticipation that it would take at least 12 hours.

So, around 10:15am we made it back across the hospital to Labor and Delivery in the Women's Center. By 10:30am, Alicia and I were in room 109 making "the phone calls."

With the IV, epidural, and petocin dripping - we were out of the starting gates. Initially, it was slow going at first. At 10:30am when Alicia started to be induced, she was dialated to a 1 and at 2:30pm she was still only dialated to a 3.

Throughout the labor, the anticipation was growing as we watched the monitors to see the frequency and intensity of Alicia's contractions. The wonderful effects of the epidural required me to actually have to look at a monitor to see the contractions as opposed to the alternative without the epidural. Thank goodness for modern medicine! Also, it was exciting to see Ashton's heart rate accelerate through the contractions. Heart rate acceleration is a sign of a healthy baby during contractions.

Around 3 pm, there was a nursing change and about an hour later the new nurse came into the room and checked on us. At that point, Alicia was dialated to a 10 and was ready to go. It didn't seem like she had to push for very long. I am sure she would agree with me when I say time flies when you are having fun. Dr. Larkin was called back into the room and exactly 5 o'clock (and 52 seconds), our little miracle took his first breaths in this world as his cry was heard throughout the room.

Special Delivery:

7 pounds 9 ounces and 19 inches long

Delivery Day:

Just a few happy people:

Going Home:

For those of you wondering how Chico is responding to the new addition, this pretty much sums it up:

Our hidden spy camera caught the entire delivery on tape!
Thank you very much Santa.

Happy Holidays!

We're Ready...We think!

This week we have tried to hurry and finish up Ashton's room and we're pretty much there, all except the leg kit to the night stand which is currently in-transit to Babinski's.

We just went to yet another doctor's appointment this last Friday and Alicia was put on a temporary bed rest due to low amniotic fluid. She was ordered to rest completely for 3 days and to drink 2 quarts of water each day (which she should have been doing otherwise).

We went back again on Monday for a repeat Non-Stress-Test and found out that her amniotic fluid is back up to a safer level and our Ashton is still doing fabulous. In fact, normally during a contraction a baby's heart rate will decrease, but not our little guy- his actually goes up!

So, because of that brief moment of worry--we thought we could have been induced this week and therefore felt the urge to get things all tied off in the baby preparation department. The last minute preps were obviously left to Bryan, but was very well supervised (of course) by Alicia. Who knows, the baby still might appear on his own when we least expect it and our mad rush wasn't totally unnecessary.

"My name is Chico, I live in Mexico..."

The title of this post will only make sense if you know the "Mexico" song. As far as the latest dog news - Chico recently turned five years old! Here he is in his Birthday Suit...

Chico is such a warm weather dog. Now that winter is setting in, it is that much more obvious. He just wants to sit next to the heat vent, lay under a blanket, or curl up in someones lap (again, while under a blanket). In fact, the other day I noticed he was wearing sunglasses while browsing the internet for cruises in the Mexican Riviera. Well, not really - but if he could surf the web that is what he would be checking out.
We are trying to make him a part of preparing for Ashton to arrive. In fact, our strollers and car seat that we have are named after him. They are Chicco brand!

Getting Ready for Baby!

We've had a lot of fun preparing for the baby...there is so much to do with what seems like plenty of time! Setting up Ashton's room has been a blast--as well as all those baby shower's! Some have been more "entertaining" than others...

Want a Sneak-Peek?

This is our little Ashton at 29 weeks. We think it's pretty amazing what technology can do these days!
P.S. Ashton is now at 36 weeks and shows no sign of entering the world...

The Hottest Alternative to Reality Television!

It is official! The Alexander Family Blog is finally alive. We have been inspired by friends and family members to create a personal web page dedicated to sharing the news and highlights about what is happening in the lives of Bryan, Alicia, Ashton & Chico.

Our goal is to keep this site updated as best we can. It is easy for me (Bryan) to say this now because Junior has not been born yet. The time is soon approaching when life as we know it will change! And believe it or not, Alicia and I are greatly looking forward to this new adventure we are about to begin. We hope to be able to share this incredible journey with those that mean the most to us.