Simon Asher Newsome

Seven weeks.

That’s how long this post has been in the drafts folder of my WordPress account. I’ve started and stopped several times. This has to be one of the hardest posts I’ve ever written. How can I put one of the greatest days of my life into words that convey its importance? It seems like an impossible task.

And tonight, as the most precious person in my life sleeps soundly five feet away, I can’t sleep. All I can do is look at him and smile. And write this. Because yesterday, he turned two months old. As much as I wished the first two weeks would speed by, I regret it now. I feel like time is flying by, and my little boy is already seeming so grown up. So that’s why tonight- instead of sleeping like I should be- I want to write about his birth story. I want to remember it forever. And not just kind of remember it… I want to remember every detail.

On May 7, 2018 we went in for our 39 week check. We were so excited because it seemed we had finally gotten to the “any day now” stage. Everything looked great. Simon’s heartbeat was fabulous, he was measuring fairly big (which was good), and I was 3 cm! I couldn’t believe it. The greatest news was hearing the doctor say I wouldn’t be surprised if we had this baby by the end of the week. And with that sentence, everything got real!

Right after the appointment, we went walking across the Walnut Street Bridge. (I’d end up doing this about 6 or 7 more times before Simon made his entrance) Along the way, I was having very mild contractions. They were very irregular and didn’t make it to where I couldn’t talk. Later that evening, I had my bloody show. I was SO excited that I called my doctor. He said he wasn’t surprised and he wouldn’t be surprised if we had to go in before the night was over.  With that, we began packing the car, walking, and calling our parents. I bounced on the ball, ate spicy food, and took a hot shower. And just like that, all of my signs of labor stopped.

Over the next week, I had little contractions when we would go on our walks, but nothing regular or significantly painful. The next Monday, May 14, rolled around. I was now 3 days past my due date. The doctor checked me again and I was STILL at 3 cm. This was slightly discouraging because over the week we had done everything imaginable. No progress. Our doctor recommended induction because of Simon’s size. He was measuring about 8.5 lbs on the ultrasound, and the doctor was concerned that with it being my first, I’d end up having a C-Section if I waited it out much longer. We decided to go ahead and schedule our induction for the next morning.

We arrived at the hospital at 2 am. They checked me into my room immediately, had me undress, and began asking their infinite list of questions. We were both very nervous, and I didn’t really know how to feel. Joel prayed with me, which helped me feel much more at ease. It also made me cry- I blame the pregnancy hormones! I got my IV (which was a huge ordeal- I almost passed out) and all of my fancy bracelets. Simon seemed to be under stress when I was in certain positions, and I ended up having to be put on Oxygen for a bit, but it was never anything alarming. At about 4 am they started my Pitocin drip. The contractions got stronger and very consistent rather quickly, but it was never anything unbearable. They increased the amount of Pitocin every hour or two. Around 10 am, they broke my water. It was the weirdest thing I’ve ever felt. I kept saying “OK, NOW I think I’m peeing on myself.” They assured me I was not… but it sure felt like it! At about noon, I was at 7 cm, I believe. This is when I ended up getting my epidural. It wasn’t that the pain was intolerable, but after talking to the nurse and my doctor, I wanted to go ahead and get it before it got to that point, especially since they were continuing to increase the Pitocin. They gave me the “peanut ball” and within an hour I was fully dilated. I remember the nurse that checked me said “ok, you’re complete” to which I responded with “completely what?” Joel was downstairs getting food, so I called him and told him it was time to come up. After reaching 10 cm, they had me wait for an hour or so to begin pushing to give Simon some time to make his way down the canal. I’m so thankful my OB decided to do this- it made my delivery time much quicker.

At about 3:30, they began prepping the room for me to start pushing. My family left the room and it was just me and Joel. I just remember him grabbing my hand and we looked at each other with the most nervous excitement in the world. In a few moments we’d meet this little boy that we had been praying for, talking to, and wondering about for the past nine months. It was almost like we never thought we’d meet him until this point. At about 4 pm, I started pushing. I feel like this part flew by. It was everything and nothing I expected all at the same time. It wasn’t horrible pain like I expected. It was just a lot of effort. I was giving it everything I had because I wanted to meet my son so badly. After 20 minutes of pushing, my beautiful baby made his appearance. The second they put him on my chest, I melted and sobbed. (Like I’m doing now) He was the most perfect thing I had ever seen. I looked up at Joel who kept saying “Good job, pal. I’m so proud of you!” and thought I could never be happier than I was at that exact moment. We held, kissed, and cuddled him for the next hour as we had private skin-to-skin time. Our amazing doctor prayed with us for our new family. Everything about those moments was perfect.

After our time alone, we brought our family in to meet him. The next minutes, hours, and days flew by. It was a whirlwind of visitors, tears, frustration, excitement, and poop.

Looking back, I’m so thankful that God didn’t give me the desires of my heart- to go into labor early, have a natural childbirth, and not have family come until after he was born. Instead, He showed me that His will is so much more perfect than mine. If I could, I wouldn’t have changed a single thing about that day. The Lord has taught me so many things through having a baby. Trusting in His plan and not holding onto my own was one of the first. Sometimes He still needs to remind me, but Simon’s birth will always be my greatest example of God’s perfect plan.

Simon Asher Newsome

May 15, 2018 – 4:22 pm

9 lb 12 oz – 22 in

If you’d like to stay updated on life with Simon, or how we’re adjust to life as new parents, follow me on Instagram and YouTube. I’m going to start posting more videos about daily life with a newborn and things like that- just like a video memory book for myself and anyone else interested in watching 🙂