Asa Joash

Well, our fourth miracle made his entrance into the world on January 4th, 2013. We were worried that we were going to have to have a c-section, but praise the Lord, the baby flipped! We had already scheduled the c-section for the 4th and had child care secure (I was only 39 weeks, but that gave us a longer recovery time). Less than a week before the 4th, I met with the doctor to go over the plan. I asked a billion questions and was so discouraged by the whole idea of a c-section. Before I left that appointment, she went to check the baby and she thought the baby had flipped! WHAT?! He had. Praise God. Our sweet little baby boy was head down and ready to go (to read another blog post about that story, click here).

We considered moving back the induction date, but we weren't able to line up a babysitter on a day my doctor could induce us... so, we decided to stick with the 4th as originally planned. I was nervous going that early, but figured if the Lord could flip our baby then He could help our baby get ready to come a week early. That week of his birth was crazy. Jason worked all the way up until the time, we were trying hard to get the house cleaned and the rooms ready, etc. It was a blur to say the least.

On Thursday night, our babysitter arrived and spent the night at our house so she could watch the new bedtime routine (now that all the children have moved rooms!) and so that the children, especially Selah, would recognize her in the AM. After the children went to bed, she helped us take this photo of my belly. :)

I finally went to bed around 2am that night and I still didn't get everything accomplished. I told Jason I wanted to sanitize the floors and he said, "I think you are going to have to let that go. Tomorrow you have to push a baby out of your body and you are going to need strength." I always appreciate his wisdom in those moments. After about an hour and half of sleep, my alarm went off and I got into a quick shower and then we left for the hospital around 4:30am.

We checked in on time (5am) and I took my time getting set up in our room. The nurse hooked me up to all the monitors and said that they like to observe the baby for 30 minutes to an hour before beginning the induction. Jason used this time to get some sleep and I used it to pray about our baby's name, our children still at home, and the day's events.

Around 7am they came to check the baby via ultrasound to make sure he was still head down. He was. With that, they got me hooked up to IVs and started the pitocin medicine. Every 20 minutes or so they would turn up my dosage and were trying to get me into a regular contraction rhythm. My doctor came in around 9am to break my water and then I got my epidural - which went in smoothly and perfectly! They also allowed Jason to stay in the room which they didn't allow with Selah so that was a special treat.

Once my epidural was in, I laid down and took a nap. I woke up close to noon and they said I had progressed from 3cm to 8cm. I was having a small "window" of pain in my lower right side - which they said was most likely due to where the baby's head was. Aside from that, it was pain free. With all three of other births, I always had moments during labor where I thought I was going to puke - I did not have that even for a minute with this one. I kept thinking, "I can't be ready yet, I haven't felt sick." Ha. I felt so alive, so awake. I was chatting up my friend Lisa, who was there to take photos, and my husband. I could feel every contraction, but never any pain (until the end when that "window" would hurt, but that was very small and very brief). Around 12:55pm they said I was ready to push and they set things up. I pushed one time and out came our little boy at 12:56pm. It was so quick and easy. They held him up to me and my first thought was that he was small. The doctor kept saying how big he was. Clearly we had different opinions of big and small. ha. They placed him on my chest and Jason was able to cut the cord. That was the first time I was able to see him do that. I can't express, again, how clear headed and alert I was. It was amazing and makes me realize how bad my epidural was with Selah's birth.

He weighted 8 pounds, 3 ounces and was 21 inches long. He was, by far, our smallest baby. Havana was 8 pounds, 12 ounces... Jonah was 8 pounds, 7 ounces... and Selah was 8 pounds, 14 ounces. I remember the doctor telling me that she didn't have to work for her pay check that day because I made birthing so easy. Jason said, again, that I always do make it look easy. That always warms my heart. I got to snuggle with him for a while and the nurses brought me food (which is always an important part of my recovery!). Lisa, Jason, and I stayed in the room for almost two hours holding our newest miracle.

We named him Asa Joash Dugger. Here is the story behind his name:

When we gave birth to Selah, we did not know if she was going to be a boy or a girl. We had decided a few months before her birth that if she was a boy we were going to name her Joash. Joash was a young boy who became king at age 7. We loved what the Bible tells us about him in 2 Kings 12 where it says, "Joash did what was right in the eyes of the Lord all the years Jehoiada the priest instructed him."  We liked that Joash had similar letters to Jason and Jonah and we just thought it fit well. However, Selah was a girl and with her name she became our third child whose name ended in the short "a" sound. After we found out that this baby was a boy, we discussed keeping the name Joash, but Jason didn't feel comfortable having one child whose name ends differently than the others.

So, we began to look at boy names that ended in the "ah" sound. We liked a few names... our top runners were Zephaniah, Hosea, or Obadiah.. but if we had chosen any of these names it would have been based on the fact they were a Biblical name and not much more. Plus, none of these names sounded "good" with Joash as a middle name. I was pretty firm that I wanted to keep that name as his middle name because I had attached to it so much.

Last winter, our church studied the King Asa from the Bible. I loved his story and even though at the time we weren't even pregnant, I did think, "hm, Asa would be a good name for a son." The Bible tells us in 1 Kings 15 that Asa did what was right in the eyes of the Lord and that his heart was fully committed to the Lord all his life. I loved the part about his heart being fully devoted to the Lord all his life. Something else about King Asa that Jason and I liked was his determination to stand up to society and even his family to worship the Lord with a pure heart. He was determined to be a cycle breaker from the idols of their day and we want that for ourselves and for our children. We loved the name Asa, his story in the Bible, and thought it was a perfect fit for our son. It had a special meaning and ended in the short "a" sound.

We went back and forth on Joash. Did it sound good with Asa? Are we sure we still wanted to use the name? King Joash in the Bible did what was right in the eyes of the Lord all the days he was instructed by a priest, but later in life he chose to worship idols instead. Did we want that legacy in our son's name? We thought and prayed about it and decided that we still liked the name. We like his leadership and child like faith at the young age, but we also realized that everyone of us and everyone we read about in the Bible (save Jesus) has a time when they fall short. Which is why we need Jesus. It seems like Joash followed the Lord when others were instructing him to do so, but not later on in life. How easy would it be to simply spoon feed our own children our faith and never let it become their own. Hopefully, as I say and pray for Asa Joash, I will be able to take that to the Lord and ask that my children won't make that mistake, but that they will develop their own relationship with the Lord rather than simply adopting our faith. That would be a different name legacy for our little boy than the boy king he was named after.

Asa Joash Dugger. I love his name. It is unique, follows our pattern, and has a special meaning.

The rest of his first day was great. Jason was able to give him a bath while I finished recovering. We made our way to our nice room where Jason actually had a bed to sleep in! We texted friends the news, enjoyed time with our little boy, and prayed together. We were up almost all night with Asa who kept having horrible reflux and choking. I was worried about him, but Jason's calming presence kept me calm.

Today (the 5th) has been much better as he has only choked a few times (unlike every few minutes like yesterday). He is getting into a better eating, waking, sleeping pattern and is enjoying some much needed snuggles. Jason left around 11:30am and then he quickly brought the children back to meet the baby. Asa met his grandmother (Jason's mom), his brother and sisters today. Havana was very excited to meet him and did a great job holding him. It is neat now that she is 4 how she can get excited and want to be very maternal. What a big helper. Jonah was a little more unsure - not wanting to hold him. Selah loved him and thought he was a baby doll. She quickly said, "Aw" and then gave him a big hug (which was really her slamming her head down on his... it is the thought that counts, right?!). Jason then took the children home and it has been just me and the little boy all evening. I will admit I am a little sad to be away from my other children, but Jason has been very good about sending me photos of all that they are up to. I am thankful he is such a great dad and can handle all three children while I am here.