Asher Joseph's Birth Story

So even though I haven't written here in over two years, I documented Isaac's birth story, so I thought it would only be fair to document Asher's. Not that little boys would ever care whether or not their birth story was remembered, but I guess this is more for me than anyone else :)

Well, I guess to start from the beginning, Asher measured BIG my entire pregnancy. I felt like around 30 weeks I looked (and felt) about as big as I did full term with Isaac. At 36 weeks my doctors ordered a growth ultrasound to make sure baby wasn't too big. Although baby measured 6 lbs 15 oz, it was nothing of concern. I continued on teaching and living my normal life, hoping baby would make his or her entrance on their own, and I wouldn't have to be induced again!!

Fast forward to 38 weeks and my doctors told me to think about possibly inducing if I wanted to. They said since I had a successful induction with Isaac, there was really no point in going past my due date when the baby was measuring so big. At first I was totally against induction, but when you are super pregnant, and the doctors are assuring you that you and the baby will be safe, it starts to sound much more appealing just to get the baby OUT!

We decided to induce the Wednesday before my due date which gave my family time to plan to come up her to take care of Isaac. I took off the three days before the induction to get some last minute things done and spend one last full day with Isaac before he became a big brother. Finally, Wednesday arrived. My parents came up from Atlanta, and we all went out to eat for my Dad's birthday downtown. After dinner I kissed my baby good bye (I was SO emotional about him not being my baby anymore...is this normal???!!!) and Josh and I headed to the hospital.

We checked in, and I started to feel a little nervous. Last time, I feel like I totally had the mindset of "ignorance is bliss" and just let the nurses tell me what to do. This time, I knew what was about to happen. They strapped me up to the IV, the contraction monitor, the baby's heart rate monitor, and gave me my first dose of a pill called Cytotec. This pill was a million times better than the Cervidil they gave me last time. The Cytotec game me a little back labor and the IV made me have to pee basically every hour, but other than that, the night was uneventful. 

In the morning, they checked me and I was at a 2! I labored really slowly with Isaac, so I this is pretty much what I was expecting. Slow and Steady! They then started the Pitocin which cranked up my contractions some, but still not nearly as bad as with Isaac! Josh and I were having totally normal conversation while watching House Hunters on TV when they checked me again and said I was at a 4! I was nervous to get the epidural because the pain really wan't too bad. My doctor assured me it was fine to get the epidural because she wanted to go ahead and break my water soon. 

Soon after the epidural, my water broke on its own and I was at a 5- keeping up with my "slow and steady" pace :) A little while later, my nurses came in and seemed a little alarmed. They said the baby wasn't liking the Pitocin and baby's heart rate kept dropping with every contraction. They had to turn the Pitocin down and eventually turn it all the way off to stabilize baby's heart rate. I was getting super shaky at this point, and really trying hard to stay calm even though I was freaking out a little. Dropping heart rate and only being 5 cm was not what I wanted to hear. Josh was SO great in this moment and he helped keep me calm. I just prayed that God would keep my baby safe no matter what happened!!! 

I texted my mom at 3:35 and told her they were cutting off all the Pitocin because of baby's dropping heart rate and to please pray that the baby would be ok. After cutting Pitocin, the nurses put me on the peanut (kinda like a big, long yoga ball) for half an hour on each side. At 4:35, Josh left the room to go to the bathroom, and my doctor came in to check me. Miraculously,  I was at 10 cm, and she said I was ready to push!!!!!!!!

As soon as Josh came back in, I told him we were about to have this baby!!! My doctor and all the nurses were SO excited because no one knew the gender! We got everything ready, I pushed for about 6 minutes and we got to meet our sweet baby ASHER at 4:57 pm!!!! Thank goodness he was a boy because Josh and I still had no girl name picked! They placed him on my chest, and I felt like everything was in slow motion. He was perfect in every way, and we couldn't be more thankful for another healthy, beautiful baby BOY :) 

Last dinner as a family of three. 

First bath 

Meeting his baby brother for the first time. 

Asher Joseph Hollar

8 lbs 3 oz 

20.5 inches long 

Half a Year?

So I have been majorly slacking on my blog posts. Apparently blogging is a lot easier on maternity leave. HA! I just had to post this month because this has been the biggest months of firsts yet! I just have to write it all down because it's all going by so fast!

(Side note: this is not me bragging about all my little babe can do, but just so I can document!! This will probably be boring to most with the exception of my mom lol) 

Starting daycare 

When I knew Isaac was going to have to go to daycare, I prayed and prayed and searched and searched. Everything either fell through or I just didn't feel comfortable with it. I told everyone at my school I was looking, and someone finally connected me to a stay at home mom looking to keep one more baby. I met her, Isaac and I LOVED her, and I decided to go with my instinct and let her keep my baby. She has been incredible!!! She is a huge God send! Isaac loves playing with her boys, and I could not have asked for anyone sweeter to take care of my little babe all day. She even sends me pics of my man while I am at school:) She is seriously the BEST!! These are some of the pics she has sent me; I think it is safe to say that he is loving it!

Rolling Over - both ways and Belly Sleeping 

He started rolling consistently onto his belly first which kinda freaked me out because I thought he would get stuck with his face in his mattress. Thankfully shortly after he started flipping over the other way more. Now, he usually sleeps on his belly with his little bum in the air. The cutest! 

Eating food 

Since Isaac was still waking up so much during the night, and he was downing three 9 oz bottles of milk at daycare, I came to the conclusion that maybe little man was hungry! I decided to let him try some food a few weeks ago. We started with avocado mixed with some of his milk first. I wouldn't say he was super crazy about it, but he didn't hate it. Then I made sweet potato, carrots, butternut squash, green beans, and tonight he got apples! The first few days he spit out more than he actually ate, but now he practically shoves the spoon into his mouth. He LOVES it, and I have so much fun feeding him!! 

Sleeping through the night...more than not  

HE is still hit or miss on this one, and I have no clue what the magic formula is! Some nights, he still wakes up, and I try everything before eventually nursing him. However, the combination of food plus belly sleeping has helped immensely! I don't hate it...

Scooting backwards

Last week, I sat Isaac down on the kitchen floor while I was cooking, and he scooted backwards out of the room!!?? I had no idea he could do that! Usually when I put him on his belly, he just chills there and watches me cook or stares at Gus! Now he is on the move. Time to baby proof...

Laughing and talking alllll the time

He loves to scream and squeal and hear his own voice. Isaac's personality has really been coming out this month. He thinks Gus is SO funny and will just randomly start cracking up at him. He is SO loud!!

Sitting Up 

He has only done this at daycare, and luckily she got a picture!!!! Of course, he was staring at one of her boys! Hoping he will do this more consistently soon. 

Riding in his strolling facing forward 

He loved it and thank goodness he did because I forgot his paci. He just looked around thr whole walk and "talked" with his buddy, Gus. 

First snow...I am not sure he even noticed, but I definitely had fun and didn't complain about an extra day at home with him ;) 

Time, please slow down!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

Isaac is THREE months!

How is this even possible? Isaac is HUGE! He is wearing mostly six month clothes, and I feel like every time he wakes up he's bigger!! This month was filled with so many fun things as I was living up the last few weeks of maternity leave.

On that note, work is going so much better than I expected. Obviously, I am hating being away from Isaac all day, but he's having so much fun with my mom, GRAM, at home. On the other hand, I have loved getting to hang with all my favorite people at Palmetto, and my students have been super sweet and silly so far! I guess I forgot how much I loved teaching middle school kids since it had been nearly half a year! I'm trying to be super productive at work -- even while pumping ;) so that I can have every extra second at home for snuggles with my man.

One of my favorite things we did this month was go to Panama City Beach with one of my very best friends, Jules. Every one kept telling us we were crazy for taking five kids under five to the beach, but it was honestly such a blast. The car ride down was really the only difficult part. Driving 6 hours (took over 8) with a two month old alone isn't really the greatest, but we MADE IT! Jules has four incredibly hilarious and sweet kids, and I loved seeing them interact with Isaac! She is such an insanely awesome mom, so you better believe I was taking notes the whole time! What's funny is Jules and I used to loooove to lay out all day long in college, catching as many rays as we possibly could. We quickly learned that is not the way to beach with babies. We would go out early, come back in for lunch and naps, and then go back out before dinner! Long gone are our days of laying out from sun up to sun down, and I wouldn't have it any other way!

I feel like Isaac is changing so much every day. He had his first giggle which literally made me cry!!! We've only seen it a few times since then, but he smiles all the time now. He loves weird noises and me doing my crazy high pitched voices. I definitely miss my morning snuggles terribly, but I am just making up for them with some extra after school squeezes. He's getting better at holding his head up, loves kicking his feet - especially in his bath, is obsessed with his hands, usually sleeps through the night in his crib, can roll onto his side, and I THINK he is starting to recognize me/my voice. I could be delusional on that last one, but whatever :)

Ok now for the pics.....

                                                      Nice hand placement there, Isaac :)

Headed out to eat with this little bear!

Dunkin Donuts bathroom that Isaac pooped on the floor of..oops

First time in Kidspring!!!!  

Hanging at the Palmetto game

Future babysitter

Loves his dad

Halloween costume #1

Matching my boy at church! 

My kind of Sunday afternoons!

Helping me do a little school work! 

Love this happy boy!!! 

After his two month shots..napping with Gus. 

Two Months!!

I am sure I will say this every month, but how is Isaac TWO months old? I feel like he isn't a newborn anymore, and he is actually starting to show his little personality. I will make some crazy noises, sing some insane high pitched songs, dance around, anything I can think of to see him crack a smile. My favorite time with him is the mornings. He wakes up every day in the best mood. I wish I was like that!! He is so smiley and silly, and I cannot get enough snuggles!! How I am I going to survive without my morning snuggle session when I go back to work??!

I take him everywhere with me, and so far he has been such an easygoing baby. He loves his car seat, walks and runs, his ergo, his swing, pretty much anything. He has already made two trips to Atlanta, gone on two hikes, been to Asheville, a brewery, Apple Picking in North Carolina, and lots of other adventures. Even though taking him out can be risky since he can still freak out at a moment's notice, my mom taught me that I can't just sit around and wonder if he would have been good or bad. This month I finally feel like I am starting to figure him out a little better. Ninety percent of the time if he cries he is usually just hungry! I guess he just loves to eat!!

He is also working himself into a semi-schedule. Josh usually gives him his bath around seven. Since he loves his bath so much, sometimes we leave him in there for 30-45 minutes as long as he's happy. After bath time, I nurse, rock and snuggle him, and he's usually asleep by 7:45 - 8:15. The past week or two he has been sleeping from then until between 2 - 4. I am pretty pumped about that 6-8 hour stretch. When he wakes up in the middle of the night, I usually nurse him and he goes right back to sleep. The past few nights I have been putting him in his CRIB in his room for his second 3-4 hour stretch of sleeping. Usually about 8 he gets up, eats, snuggles, and stays up until his morning nap. The rest of the day's schedule just depends if we are out and about or at home, but he usually takes a short morning nap and a longer afternoon nap. I try to keep him up after 5, so he's sleepy for bedtime at 8ish!

I only have one more month until I go back to work. I feel very conflicted about this! I absolutely LOVE my job, but I am so scared I will feed like I am missing out on so much with my babe. I went to look at daycares one day a couple weeks ago, and I had a (totally unexpected) nervous breakdown!! So embarrassing!!!! I need to pull it together! My sweet mom will be keeping Isaac November and December, but we need to figure something out ASAP for January! Ahhhhh :(

Ok done rambling, here are some of my fave pics from month TWO!!!

First bottle with Dad

                                                   Isaac only likes tummy time on this pillow :)

Testing out his new Nikes

Hanging out at the Greenville Farmers Market 

So cute I just want to wake him up!!

                                             How I am going to make it without these snuggles!!??

hmmmm..wonder what Isaac is doing here ;) 

Isaac Mark Hollar is finally HERE!!!!

We had been waiting and waiting for Isaac to make his arrival, but every time we went to the doctor to check on him, he was still measuring small. I had a feeling he was going to be late the whole pregnancy, and I was right. At 40 weeks 5 days we went to the doctor to check on baby, and they said his fluids were low. Time to get him OUT!!!

We had our last date night on Friday, and got everything ready for the hospital induction Saturday at 6! We got to the hospital, got checked into our room, and had one crazy nurse. She was making jokes with Josh the whole time she was sticking me with the IV!! A little later they put in the cervidil to start the whole process! This was extremely painful, but only the tip of the iceberg of the pain to come!

My contractions started about midnight that night, but didn’t get too bad until about three, so I let Josh sleep for a while. Once he woke up, I asked him to rub my lower back while I was having the contractions, but he was too busy watching Jackass on TV! I made him turn off the TV and get to rubbing!!!

At about 6 the next morning the contractions were getting much worse, but still bearable. They moved me to the labor and delivery room and told me they were going to start the Pitocin. This is a drug that forces your body into labor and makes the contractions come faster and harder! I think everyone thinks they have a “high pain tolerance” until they feel those contractions!!!  Yikes. I thought I was dying! I really wanted to try to make it to 5 cm before getting my epidural because my doctor told me a good time for the baby to get it was between 3-4. However, once those contractions started coming faster and my nurse checked me and said I was at 3, I begged for the epidural!

The doctor came in to do the epidural, and it was heavenly. Other than Josh almost passing out, it was a huge success. Once I got the epidural I felt almost no pain at all and was able to sleep pretty much all day.

At about 7, the nurses came in and told me I was getting close to time to push! They said a lot of first time moms had to push for about an hour, so save my energy because pushing was hard work! Next thing I know I had pushed Isaac out in about 12 consecutive pushes in less than 10 minutes. Once I pushed once, he was ready to get outta there!!! Josh had oxygen on my face, and everyone was screaming at my to just keep going! It was crazy!

And of course, I would say the ONE thing in childbirth that really is just like the movies is the moment you see your baby for the first time, you completely lose it. It is such an overwhelming love you feel for them in a single instant. It is an an absolute flood of emotions and you cannot believe how perfect they are and that they are all yours :)

Last elevator ride before we are parents! 

Josh trying the side trick! 

Love this little man!!! 

One Month!!! We did it!!!!!

So I decided to update my blog for the first time in FOREVER because I really want to attempt to document Isaac's babyhood. Even if no one ever reads this but me, I hope it will be a little reminder of what I loved about each stage of his first year. I am so over the moon that we made it to a month!! I will not lie, parenting is not a joke. Here's my version of month one..

Week one - Josh was not working and my mom was here to wait on us hand and foot! Oh my gosh!! I am so in love with this little creature!!! Why do people say this is hard?!!?? This is PURE BLISS!!!  Other than the first night in the hospital, Isaac slept a ton, and I just couldn't get over that he was really OURS! I will say labor and delivery was much harder on my bod than expected, but I was so glad to have my mom and josh helping me out so much. I just couldn't believe that little perfect babe had been in my belly!

Week two - Josh starts a new job working 55 plus hours week and my mom goes home. Ok, now I see why people say this is hard. This IS extremely hard!!! I just love little Isaac so much, and it breaks my heart to see him cry -- which he does...A lot!! My hormones were literally going insane. Josh would send me heart emojis, and I would burst into tears?? Isaac would be up for 4-5 hour stretches in the middle of the night..not cool!

Week three - Feeling like I am getting the hang of this a little then BAM! Witching hour hits! Isaac gets a little cray cray when the sun goes down. Apparently this is normal? Then Josh gets some kinda psycho sickness where he constantly feels like the room is spinning and his head could explode at any moment??? WHAT??! Thankfully, Isaac was such a sweet little man while we rushed Josh to the doctor. I did have to feed him in the back of a Wal-Mart parking lot - not my classiest mom moment! This week really made me appreciate my husband and pray for him to return to normal health ASAP.

Week four - We are settling into somewhat of a routine, and I am getting used to a newborn's sleep schedule. I feel like each time he wakes up from sleeping he's just a little cuter and a little bigger!! It is just the craziest thing. I still get a little teary thinking about how big he is already and how in love I am :) I am realizing being a mom is hard, but the best thing that has ever happened to me.  I still feel like I have a ton learn, but so excited for all the adventures to come with my little man. Josh is finally starting to feel better, and I am hoping we can do something fun as a family this weekend to celebrate our little one month old!!

Favorite parts of this month: 
Just staring at Isaac in awe of this gift God has blessed us with. I still cannot believe it!!!!
Isaac gaining THREE pounds from his birth weight! Makes me so proud!
All the sweet visitors coming and bringing lots of yummy food! I still have yet to cook a meal!
Seeing Josh love on baby Isaac..no words :)
Having my mom here to help so much. She has been incredible!

Hardest part of this month: 
Witching hour! MWWAHAHAHA (I am hoping this phase is almost over)

Those little toes!! I just cannot get enough! 

Already outgrowing his newborn PJs!

Snuggles with Daddy! 

    

                                                           We love when Gram is here!!

                                                          Riding on big brother's back!

The absolute sweetest :)