The Birth of Ashton



After Ashton was born we used 3 different
size of diapers for our 3 children.



     A few weeks before I turned 23 I found out we were expecting our third child.  We were happy.  We just bought our first home on Bond St. in Allegan and Brian was working at B&B Trucking over in Kalamazoo.  We had a three year old boy and a two year old girl still running around in diapers but I guess we were going to add another one to the mix. 

     Our neighbor was also expecting.  She was due October 14 and my due date was set at October 7th.  We would talk, during the summer, of our pregnancies and how they are both developing.  She found out she was having a girl and my doctor didn't see a need in having an ultrasound so it was going to be a suprise for us.  We guessed our first two children correctly and I was thinking this was going to be a boy.  It didn't matter to us if we had a boy or a girl.  We already had one of each so we just focused on having a healthy baby. 

     Our last two children were born in Grand Rapids and we decided to have our next baby born at Allegan General Hospital.  We were maybe two miles from the hospital and it would be easier to deliver there instead trying to get the children ready and find a babysitter and drive 50+ minutes to Grand Rapids when we both know my labors are quick.  I told my doctor that both my last two children were induced and I wanted to go into labor naturally.  He knew my requests and worked with me on it. 

     Our due date came.  Later on in the afternoon I was outside playing around with the kids.  Our neighbor pulls into the driveway all excited.  He said his wife had her baby earlier that morning and they are both doing great.  I rubbed my bellying thinking I was supposed to have this baby first.   A few days later they all came home and I was able to see the new baby.  It was so odd looking at this baby, who wasn't supposed to be due until a week later, who was perfect in every way a baby can be perfect and imagined that right now my baby is fully developed the same way.  She can now hold her little one and mine is still incubating on the inside not wanting to come out.   I was happy for them all yet a little jealous that her pregnancy pains and labor are all done and over with and she can now enjoy her daughter.

Our neighbor's daughter (just turned 1) on the left and her sister in the middle. 
Ashton, on the right, was just a week before turning 1 year old.

     The waiting after the due date is the worst.  Every ache and pain you wonder if this is going to be the big one to set me off into labor.  At one doctor visit he mentioned that we really shouldn't go too much longer after the due date.  I pleaded with him that I wanted to experience going into labor naturally.  I took a stress test and all was well.  So he said we will talk about it more at the next appointment. 

     Sunday, October 15 started out like any other day.  I remember it was a warm day outside.  We did some grocery shopping and even bought a cake to be made praising the republicians to be given to my mom the next day at her office in honor of the Bush vs. Gore presidental election coming up in a few weeks.  She is a democrat and we always taunt each other during elections.  This was going to be our prank to her.  A few people had yard sales going and we stopped and looked around.  Later on that evening my sister came down from Grand Rapids with her almost 5 year old and her one year old twin boys.  Her husband and Brian went to Brian's mom's house to work on a car.  Everyone was having a good time.

     It was getting late and my sister was packing up to head home.  She looks at me, "Are you okay?"

     "Yea, I feel great."  I replied.

     "You are not going to go into labor now, are you?"  she asks.

     "No!  I am fine.  Just sore from running around all day.  I am good.  You can go home.  Brian and your husband are over at his mom's."

     Lisa gave me a weird look and figured I was doing okay so she left.  Christian and Elizabeth were winding down watching a taped Blue Clues on the VCR and I was picking up all the toys and putting them away.  Suddenly and without warning it hit.  CONTRACTION!  It brought me down to my knees.  I was doing good then all of the sudden there it was.  I looked up at the clock so I could time them.  It was exactly 9pm.  It lasted for a short moment.  I looked at the kids.  Their backs were to me so they didn't see me drop down.  They looked so precious just sitting there side by side.  In a few hours they are going to have a sibiling and they don't even know it yet, I thought to myself.  I stood up and a quick moment later another contraction hit.  Okay, this time I knew for certain I was in labor.  I needed Brian.

     I managed to get to the phone and called Brian.  "Hi hun, Can I give you a call right back?  I am waiting for a phone call from Mark about advice on the car." 

     I thought for a moment, "Sure.  Call me when you are done."  The words slipped out of my mouth.  There are times when I can be too polite and this was one of those moments.  I should of told him I was in labor but I didn't want to disturb him if he was busy.  I started getting things ready to head out to the hospital and waited for Brian to return my call.

     Twenty minutes goes by.  Contractions were coming and going.  The phone finally rings.  "Hey hun, what did you need."  It was my husband's voice.

     "ummm, I am in labor.  I kinda would like to go to the hospital now." I said patiently.

     Brian stumbled over the phone and said he would be right home.  Soon Brian and Doug entered the doorway.  I was in the diningroom on my hands and knees breathing hard.  Doug takes one look and says, "Yep, she is certainly in labor."

     Doug stayed with the kids and we went straight to the hospital.  We must of got there shortly after 10pm.  Labor was fast and hard.  Suddenly I had to use the bathroom.  I needed to sit.  I was scared to.  I didn't want to push the baby out thinking it was a bowel movement.  I told the nurse my fears.  She asked if I wanted something to make using the bathroom easier.  I agreed.  She gave me an enema.  Trying to use the bathroom and having hard contractions was not an easy task even with the enema but boy oh boy did that ever clean my backside out.  Brian, who is very sensitive to smells, could not handle the poisonous gas that was escaping from the bathroom.  It was so bad he had to leave the room.  Brian was out in the hallway, bending over, gagging ready to throw-up.  A nurse approached him and patted him on the back, "Is this your first baby?"

     "No, it's our third.  My wife just used the bathroom."  Brian said without looking up dry heaving.  The nurse started to laugh. 

     We ended up moving to another room to ease my husband, and probably the nursing staff and doctors, sense of smell.  I do not remember what I ate that day or the day before but it was taking its vengeance out.

     The rest of the labor went smoothly as much as labor could.  At 11:43pm a new Moyer entered the world.  "Congratulations!  It's a girl!"  said the doctor. 

     "A girl?"  Brian and I said at the same time.  We both were thinking this was going to be a boy.  She was going to be called James Reagan.  We even called her James when she was developing in my belly.  We did think of a girls name but we put that name in the back burner of our brains.  For a moment we didn't remember what we agreed upon.  Finally we remembered it.  Ashton Kae.



North and South's naughty southern belle Ashton Main with Bent.



     We chose Ashton from one of our favorite books and TV series that we both enjoy, North and South by John Jakes.  We both enjoy learning about the civil war and even though the character Ashton in the book was something of a not nice southern lady, we still thought the name was pretty.  Kae is from Brian's mom's middle name but we changed the spelling to adapt it to a part of my maiden last name.  It sounded nice together.

     As soon as my sister made it back to her apartment my mom called her to let her know I was in labor.  They immediatly drove back down to Allegan to the hospital to see the new baby.  They arrived  at a set of doors and there was a security guard sitting there in a chair.  The hospital was in the middle of a make-over and there was a lot of the hospital torn up and you had to take different ways to get to certain parts of the hospital.  "Are you here for the lady that was having a baby?"  he asks my mom and my sister.

     Bewildered that he knew that was the reason of their visit they responded, "yes, we are."

     "I think she just had it.  There was a lot of noise coming from that window," he points to an opening in the wall to where a window should be a few floors up, "then I just heard a baby cry."

     "That must be Jill." my mom says and the guard showed them how to get to my room. 

     They enter the room and I was already holding Ashton.  My sister looks at me, then around the room.  "Do you realize there are not window's in your room?!"  All I could do was laugh.  The whole floor was turned around due to the renovations. 

     Ashton's entrance to the world was nothing short of a comedy.  Personally, I like things quiet and private when I am in labor and this was so far from it.  Part of me expected Candid Camera to come around the corner to let me know this portion of my life was a joke and I can redo it to the way I wanted it to happen.  A week later we still ended up bringing my mom her political republician cake to her office but I also got to show off my sweet little new daughter along with it. 



Ashton Kae just a few weeks old.