Thursday, April 7, 2016

Introducing Asher // 6 months


So this is our lil guy Asher Evan <3


Asher Evan is a name we finally chose because of the deep meaning and from the peace it brought us as we prayed about it.  Asher means "blessed/fortunate/happy" and Evan means "God has been gracious" and it's also Peter's middle name as well.  We really felt like this fit who our little man is.  He is the blessed one to whom God has shown favor.  We love it!!

Here in the sonogram he is seen sucking his thumb, shoulder touching his chin, and snuggled up against the placenta ;) what an amazing morning it has been seeing him move around inside of me.

He is 23 weeks this week (or, 6 months along) and is moving around like crazy.  He loves to be super low which also puts a ton of pain on my round ligaments (gah!)  But, he looks to be growing really well and is even sucking his thumb which we got to see him do on the sonogram!  This will most likely be the last ultrasound we get until we meet him :)  

Since my last posting at 19 weeks, this past month has been full of new pregnancy-related things for me!  I finished up reading this awesome book called 'Ina May's Guide to Childbirth' by Ina May Gaskin.  It is such a good read and has a ton of research put into it, which I absolutely crave right now.  It seems like I can't get enough information about pregnancy, labor, and childbirth right now.  So, ask away!  I most likely have read about it.  And if I haven't, I'd love to know about it! =) Here are a few things.


Did you know?

Hospitals have a 30-80% c-section rate depending on which one you go to. That reaaaaaally threw me off and made me dig deeper into the why's of the statistic.  I found that by having a home birth or birthing at a birth center the rates go down dramatically, even to 3% in some cases (not to mention the stats on how bad the drugs are for you and baby, the trauma that cesareans put on your body, all of the risks that doctors fail to mention, etc.)  The birth center we decided on only has a 8% transfer to hospital rate, and c-section rates out of that are even lower (and then even LOWER because I am hiring a doula to help me alongside of the midwife).  YES PLEASE!  I also feel like this definitely isn't for everyone because not everyone is low risk.  But, we decided that this is what is best for me and baby.  I also honestly just feel like God is calling me to do this personally.  I can't live in fear of what the world says.  I am standing on what God says I can do and how He has designed my body... perfectly!


Snippets from this past month:

-feeling and seeing him move
-Peter feeling him move
-chose a birth center
-hired a doula
-major round ligament pain
-starting to work out again
-craving tea, ice cream, eggs, and sauerkraut
-starting to receive gifts from our Amazon registry
-his drawers are filling up with clothes already
-emotions going a little wild at times
-fighting off tiredness and backaches

I also have received so many maternity clothes and baby clothes from our community and I am feeling the love tremendously.  I've been seeing how much God has truly taken care of me through the whole process... from giving me other mommas to talk with, to borrowed cars for the past 3 months, to every single hand-me-down.  I am so grateful.

Some things that I still question are like... when will we have a car?  Where are we going to live when we need more space?  But, I know He has a plan that I can trust, even if I can't see it.  Will you pray with us?  To trust in His timing, to be content and full of joy, and for Him to open up doors of provision for us?  Thanks guys!