The Asmussen Family: Grant Michael Asmussen

Our third little gift from God was born into this world on June 24th at 1:34pm. Almost a month ago! So I figured I'd better try my best to recount that special day before life continues to happen and I gradually start to lose track of all the little details.

Though I was extremely fortunate once again to have a relatively easy pregnancy for the first three-fourths of it, my pregnancy with Grant was by far the most stressful one yet. We found out we'd be blessed with another baby at the beginning of November 2010, just weeks before Mark decided it would be best for us to find a new job situation for himself and our family. We never expected we'd be making a major move during this pregnancy, but God apparently saw otherwise. So between getting our Lubbock house ready to sell, selling it, moving to The Woodlands and in with my parents, finding a new house in The Woodlands, moving once again, getting our new house set up, and continuing to take care of Kolbe and Reagan all the while, it's safe to say that this pregnancy was hectic, busy, and stressful. As expected, the last few weeks got a little tougher as my blood pressure creeped up and lots and lots of swelling set in. Since the other two boys were both born right at thirty-six weeks, I fully expected Grant to make his appearance then too, but was completely thrilled when I ended up making it seven extra days to thirty-seven weeks...full term!

I woke up on Friday morning with a bad headache and lots of dizziness. The blood pressure cuff had been a good friend of mine the several weeks prior to this, and on that morning, it was reading even higher than it previously had been. In the "not safe" range. When the dizziness and light-headedness wouldn't clear up, the blood pressure wouldn't go down, and lots of contractions set in, I went ahead and called my doctor who had me come in to labor and delivery right away. Mark was at work and we weren't exactly sure what was going to happen, so my mom came over and got me and the boys. We took the boys back to her house and dropped them off with my dad and she accompanied me to the hospital. After checking in and getting set up, they told us I'd be having the baby in just an hour and a half or so.

Things moved quickly from there. Mark arrived shortly there after and the nurses began giving me medicine to prepare for my third C-section. I was so excited to meeting our new little guy, though I think the excitement was masked by the effects of the blood pressure dips and spikes, the dizziness, and the headache. Just before they took me back to the OR, the anesthesiologist came in to go over everything and asked if I would like for my mom to come in to the OR too. Since I am my mother's only daughter, I always hoped that she would be able to be there with me to see one of her grandchildren be born. After Kolbe and Reagan's births, I assumed that this was essentially impossible since they usually only let you have one person in the OR with you. I was thrilled by this kind gesture from the doctors. And we didn't even ask! They just offered! It was a gift that I knew my mother wanted badly and that I never thought I'd be able to give her. I was so thankful for it! Of course, having my husband there with me too was absolutely wonderful. His presence always makes me feel reassured that everything is going to be okay.

Grant's delivery took just a few minutes. It sure did feel like a lot longer, but as soon as I heard that little cry, time stood still. Man, nothing can beat that moment! They took him to get cleaned up and checked over; both Mark and my mom were back and forth between me and Grant. I loved that this time they had the baby just about five feet away from me so I could see everything that was going on. Of course, some of that excitement was masked by the fact that I got hit by a major wave of nausea and within a few minutes I was trying to toss my cookies while laying down. Pretty impossible. And even more impossible considering I hadn't had anything to eat since the night before! Meanwhile, I just about rolled off the operating bed when they announced that Grant weighed in at seven pounds and ten ounces. Really? My baby!?! The other two were five pounders! He came in at literally two whole pounds more than Reagan and even more than that compared to Kolbe. And at just seven days further along than them. I'm guessing that if he had made it the full forty weeks, he would have been quite the chunk!

After that cleared up they took us all to the recover room where I got to hold Grant for the first time. We tried nursing right away, which was when the nurses started noticing how much he was grunting. He seemed like he couldn't try to nurse and breath well at the same time. They tried getting him to cry more by giving him a bath...supposedly this helps clear fluid out of the lungs some. Still, the grunting was getting louder and happening with each breath so they decided to take him to the NICU. Surprisingly, this didn't bother me too much since I had already had some good time with him, knew he was doing really well, and felt confident that it was just a little problem and nothing major. In fact, I found it so ironic that my full-term, biggest-yet fella was the only one to go to the NICU!

Unfortunately, the "hopefully just a few hours" stay in the NICU turned into about forty-eight hours. Even though his oxygen levels were always right near 100%, the grunting was still there...and even got louder for a while...so they were forced to tube feed him my pumped milk through his nose. As is started to clear up, they allowed me to come down at each feeding and try nursing him and then hold him on my chest while the tube feeding was taking place. Of course, this wasn't how I wanted things to start out, but I was willing to do whatever it took to get him cleared up and in the room with me. Between pumping frequently, going down to the NICU for each feeding (which was gradually given to him over an hour's time), and taking care of my own medical needs, this meant very little sleeping the first few days! They decided they would release him as soon as he would latch on and nurse consistently for ten minutes in a thirty minute period. By Sunday morning, he was finally up in the room with me! Eating well and breathing well!

In the midst of all of this, we also celebrated two more birthdays! Friday, the 24th...the day Grant was born...was also Mark's dad, Maury's birthday. How cool to have a grandson born on your birthday! He was still in Lubbock so we were celebrating from afar, but it was still very special to get to tell him that he'd have a grandson that shares his birthday. And then, on the 25th, I rang in big number twenty-nine. I told everyone that I secretly planned it that way so that in years to come when I'm in my thirties...and then forties!...my aging would be overshadowed by Grant's birthday. Every little kiddo wants his birthday to be noticed, and everyone leaving their twenties has no problem with their birthdays being forgotten! It was still a very special birthday with the best gift I could have ever wished for! It will be pretty impossible that!

Grant and I finally got to go home on Monday afternoon and were welcomed by two eager big brothers and one eager grandma, G-ma (Mark's mom), who flew in for the week to help out with our transition home. Our birth experience was a wonderful celebration of life and as special and wonderful as I could have hoped for it to be, especially considering the past experiences. We are so thrilled to have Grant! Considering Reagan is now two-and-a-half, we had almost forgotten what it was like to have a tiny little newborn. It's such a fantastic feeling and we just can't get enough of this precious boy: the sweet smells, the squeaky little cries, the silky soft skin, the helpless, innocent little eyes look up and trusting that you'll be the ones to care for him forever. And we will!