Aiden is finally here!!

Finally! My little man is here! Many of you reading this know already that we all had a really rough start but before I go into everything I want to start off by saying that Aiden is now doing great and so is Mommy for the most part. I intended on getting this updated much earlier than now but who knew how time consuming a newborn could be?!?! :-) I sat down yesterday determined to get it done but just as I was turning on the laptop I felt something wet in front of my pants and when I looked down I was bleeding and after further investigation found that the blood was coming from my c-section incision....that can't be good! It wouldn't stop bleeding so rather than take the risk that something could be wrong I headed for the emergency room where they didn't really do anything but apply more strips that hold the incision closed and by the time they took me the bleeding had stopped. So, I'm instructed to do as little as possible.....easier said than done but I will do my best and hopefully it heals up soon so I don't have to worry about it. Now, onto our story.....

It all started Sunday night the 10th (12 days past due date) after several hours of cleaning the house. I started to get a bit crampy but didn't think anything of it just yet as nothing consistent was happening yet. Between 7:00-9:00'ish things started to be a little more consistent.....every 8-10-15 minutes I would feel cramping but it was nothing unbearable at all so I still wasn't sure if I was in labor yet? By 10:00-11:00'ish things started to happen and I was getting contractions every 5-6 minutes so I decided it was time to call the doctor who then instructed me to head into the hospital. Little did I know that was going to be the beginning of a very long day with a not so happy ending to it.

We got to the hospital around 12:30 in the morning with no sleep at all in my system so that was my first strike against me. Not much happened through the night, myself and the baby were monitored to make sure we were both doing ok and I was 1cm throughout the night with no progression. Throughout the night either me alone or both Ryan and I roamed the halls a bit to try to get things moving along but around 8:00AM the Doc came in to check me out and I was still only 1cm. Well, she didn't allow it to stay like that for long. During my exam SHE dilated me to 3cm's and if you're a woman reading this who has had your doctor do that to you you know what I mean when I say.....OUCH! At around 8:30AM she came back in and broke my water and that is when we discovered that the baby had had his first bowel movement already (it's called Meconium) which was a cause for concern but I was reassured that it is not uncommon and most of the time is not a problem at all as it gets suctioned out before the baby has a chance to do any damage. Unfortunately, this was not the case for my sweet baby Aiden :-(

Once my water was broken and I was hooked up to Patocin the action really started to happen! The contractions were getting a bit unbearable so I was given a pain medication through my IV that made me REALLY loopy! This pain medication lasted about 2'ish hours and then the pain all came back again. I believe by this point I had dilated another cm to 4cm's. Once that wore off we decided to take a trip to the bath tub where my contractions seemed to intensify a bit and I could only handle about a half hour before I was being helped back to bed where I was now anxiously awaiting my intrathecal to help me with the pain. After I think about an hour of waiting and bearing through the contractions I finally got my intrathecal and was able to relax for a few hours as that is all it lasted. My contractions for hours now had been only about a minute or two at most apart so I wasn't getting much relief between them at all so the intrathecal was great as it took away the pain. Many of you reading this may not realize the difference between an intrathecal and an epidural but the an intrathecal is only temporary and wears off whereas the epidural is continuous until manually turned off. I chose the intrathecal because I was told that you do not lose mobility and can still get up and walk around but I did not find that to be the case. I felt too numb from the waist down to do anything but lay in bed.

A few hours passed and the intrathecal wore off and I was in more pain than ever and begging for more relief. I believe at this point I was about 6 cm's so progress was being made! Unfortunately, the anesthesiologist was tied up and it could be a while before they could get to me....GREAT! I should have gone with the epidural to begin with but I really didn't want to be bed ridden which I explained earlier I was anyway. I think about an hour had passed before I was given the epidural and if memory serves me correctly this was around 3:00'ish in the afternoon (almost 15 hours after being admitted) and boy.....did that take away ALL the pain! I didn't make me loopy or anything just completely numb from the waist down which is a really weird feeling! So, I was able to get a couple of hours rest before my body and the patocin was able to complete it's job and get me up to 10cm's.

When I was told I could start pushing at around 5:30PM Christina, my cousin and God Mommy to Aiden was there with me and Ryan, his Mom and step Dad were down in the cafeteria getting something to eat. Christina called Ryan and told him they were getting my legs in place and I was going to start pushing. Even though it was going to be a while before we'd be close to delivery they of course made their way up and were in the room within a few minutes (not his step-Dad of course). Let the fun begin! Actually, the first hour of pushing was with the epidural in place so there was actually no pain at all but when I wasn't making the necessary progress the epidural was turned off and that is when the fun really began! It didn't take long for the medication to wear off and I was on my own to bear with the pain.....I honestly do NOT know how anyone does it without pain medication throughout the whole labor....pure silliness! I pushed and I pushed and I pushed some more but not much progress was being made still. I'd push for (3) 10 second intervals with a quick breath in between each attempt then I'd get about 30-45 seconds to catch my breath and do it again. I did that over and over for a total of 2 1/2 hours with the last 1 1/2 being without pain medication. My doctor doesn't like to see this final stage of pushing go more than 3 hours and at 2 1/2 hours she just didn't see the kind of progress necessary to allow me to continue on and told me that it was my choice but that her recommendation was to go in for a c-section. I REALLY wanted to avoid that at all costs but at this point I just couldn't see how I could do it anymore so I quickly agreed and begged for them to turn the epidural back on! I guess it doesn't work like that so it felt like an eternity before I was making my way down to the OR and I was left to lay there in bed and deal with contractions coming at me every minute and wanting to push but knowing that it wouldn't do any good.

Finally.....I was in the OR and was rec'g the necessary medication to take me through a c-section. You know when people tell you you lose all modesty during times like this.....totally right! I was spread eagle on that table in front of several people I had never met before and I didn't even care one bit! This epidural was a little different then the last....it felt like someone had set my legs ON FIRE! That feeling did go away though and eventually just felt completely numb again and I was all worried that I was going to feel them cutting me but the very nice woman who administered the medication assured me that I wouldn't feel anything and she knew that because they had just made the incision right before I asked her if I was going to feel anything. After they made the incision is when they allowed Ryan into the room. Ryan sat by my side reassuring me that everything was going to be ok while they pulled and tugged at Aiden to try to get him out and I think it was only about 5 minutes and my wonderful little man was finally out at 8:31PM. I saw tears in Ryan's eyes as he caught his first glance of him. He was 7 lbs. 14 oz. and 21" long. Many of you are probably thinking that that is a good size baby but if you've been keeping up on my blog you know that I was convinced that I wasn't having anything below 8 and was further convinced that he'd be more like 9lbs. I wasn't all that big during my pregnancy but I thought for sure that since Dad was 9 lbs. 1 oz. at birth and Mom was mid 8's coupled with the fact that he was 1 day shy of 2 weeks late that I didn't have any chance at delivering anything in the 7 lb range or lower. He looked so much littler to me though and still does now too.

Being that he had had his first bowel movement already there was no time for me to see him unfortunately. They brought him over to the heated table and got to work. I didn't hear any crying so of course I was getting nervous but Ryan could see him the doctor told him that he's alert and breathing. I could hear little whimpers and such here and there but that is about it. After what seemed like forever they FINALLY brought my little man over to me so I could see him for the first time and OH MY GOD I can't even put into words the emotions that ran through me when I set eyes on him for the first time!! He was absolutely beautiful! A little cone headed from his failed attempt at natural delivery but other than that he was just perfect! 10 seconds is all I got with him though and then he was whisked away :-( I didn't think anything of it at the time but soon I would find out why.

Ryan went with Aiden while the doctors finished putting me back together again and recovery was a bit more rough than I had anticipated it would be. For almost the whole surgery for some reason my right shoulder was really bothering me and I couldn't get it to stop aching! I finally found a way.....the pain in my abdomen while waiting in recovery after the doctors finished with me made me forget all about the shoulder pain! I was shaking uncontrollably from the medication and was told by the nurse a dozen times to take deeper breaths and try to relax a bit (easy for her to say!)

It was about 10:30PM I think before I was wheeled back up to maternity and of course I was a bit out of it. It didn't take me long though to start asking about my son and where he was and how he was doing. When I asked the room full of people which consisted of Ryan, Christina, and Ryan's Mom and Step-Dad how my sweet baby boy was doing I knew there was a problem because no one could look at me. They all looked at each other and burst into tears. I can't even put into words how all the pain I was feeling quickly didn't matter anymore.....SOMEONE TELL ME WHAT IS GOING ON WITH MY SON!

The doctor had come in before I got up there to tell them what they knew at that point. Apparently Aiden had swallowed too much maconium and they weren't sure yet what was going to happen. Fortunately, Ryan was able to make trips over to where they were working on him where they allowed him to take a few pictures and bring the camera back to me so I could see him......










It was so difficult looking at these pictures with all of these wires hanging off of him and being poked and prodded!! I knew that they were doing what they needed to do but words can not describe the feelings it gave me.

We anxiously awaited another hour and half for the doctor to finally come in an fill us in more. I honestly couldn't believe that this was happening to us!! Almost 4 hours had passed since his birth by this time and we were informed that Aiden was suffering with both of his lungs being partially collapsed and he was very susceptible to infection in addition to the collapsed lungs. We were told that for him to receive the best care possible he was going to need to be transported to a nearby hospital (Maine Medical Center) where he may need to stay for up to a couple of weeks. Maine Med was only about a 20 minute drive away but as far as I was concerned it was half way across the world! They were taking my baby away from me!?!? Throughout my 10 months of pregnancy I envisioned what the birth and afterwards would be like and never in a million years did I ever think that this could happen. I'd had such a wonderful pregnancy that I just assumed that birth would be the same but sadly that was not the case.

I was able to see my son for all of 5 minutes before he was wheeled away from me not knowing if I'd honestly see him again. I know that sounds morbid but it was a reality I had to face. If he was serious enough to be taken to a different hospital for care then in my head it was serious enough to be prepared to expect the worst. All I was able to do was touch his little body for that 5 minutes because he was in a plastic cube rec'g oxygen....I wasn't even able to hold him....that killed me! He was so cute and I was so sad that they had to take him away from me but he needed care that this hospital couldn't provide to him. I'm literally crying as I type this because I remember so vividly the fear I had for my poor little newborn boy.

After they took him away I tried to get a little rest and actually did dose off now and then due to the morphene I was on. Ryan and I gave it all of an hour and a half before we called over to Maine Med to make sure he arrived ok and he did and it turns out that they had already done a chest xray and found that his lungs had started to clear a little so that was good enough news to put me a little at ease. Within several hours after that I called again and Aiden had managed to strengthen his lungs enough to be reduced to 30% oxygen instead of 100%.....more good news! Things get a little fuzzy as far as what he accomplished when but it wasn't long after that they were able to take him off of oxygen completely. I'm pretty sure the only thing that got me through all of this was Aiden's constant ability to heal himself and with every phone call things got better and better!

Being that I had a c-section they don't like you to leave the hospital in under 3 days but given the circumstances my doctor didn't have a problem releasing me 2 days later (Wednesday) so I could finally go and spend quality time with my new son. I have never been through anything so emotional in my life. I wasn't even in the NICU yet before I started bawling with the anticipation of what was about to happen. The moment I laid my eyes on him was a moment I will never forget! He was still in his little plastic cube and had numerous wires hanging from his body but I was finally able to hold him for the first time and it was the most incredible feeling ever! It made me very sad to see him with all those wires but every day, one by one he was able to get rid of them. Here is a few pictures of him in the NICU and the first picture was of our first kiss....poor kid....I was dropping tears all over him!



















Wednesday night was my first attempt at breastfeeding him and it was actually quite humorous! I of course was trying to figure out what the heck I was doing and the wires on his body didn't help when trying to properly position him but that little bugger took all of 2 seconds to latch on and go to town! I couldn't hardly believe it! The nurse was a little shocked too because he figured it out so quickly and he's been like that ever since. I wasn't producing nearly enough to nourish him so they needed to feed him through a tube in his nose since he had no interest in drinking from a bottle.....a hurdle he'd have to overcome before they let him leave the hospital. Leaving him was very hard but it was really important that I get my rest and being home was the only way to do that. If he hadn't been making the great progress he was making there was no way you could pull me away from him but he was making such great progress and was in such good hands that I decided that I needed to go home and get the rest I needed to heal properly. Oh, and by now too we were told that all of his tests for detecting infection had all come back negative and he was taken off of the antibiotics!! One hurdle overcome so now we just had to get his lungs reinflated and that's exactly what Aiden did!

On Thursday we were told that his left lung was completely back to normal but that his right lung still had a little clearing up to do. Along with that he needed to be feeding from a bottle before they would allow us to take him home and he needed to have his circumcision done along with get his Hep-B shot. It was about mid day on Thursday that we were told that he is TOO HEALTHY to be in the NICU and that he was going to be moved upstairs to Pedeatrics. Music to my ears!! He was TOO HEALTHY!!!! Yippee!!! So, we packed him up and off we were to see his new temporary home. Through all of this waiting in the hospital Aiden was such a wonderful baby too! Very easy going and loved to just look around and check things out. Of course he couldn't see much but he was so content to just lay in his crib (elevated steel crib) and look around....he really didn't fuss much at all! Aiden continued to want to breastfeed which was such a relief given that we were apart for the first couple of days of his life. My milk still wasn't in yet (and one week later I am still struggling with that but I'll get into that later) and he still didn't want to take a bottle so they had to continue to feed him through a tube in his nose. Here are a few pictures, we bought that blanket/Christmas hat so we could use it for our Christmas cards, honestly....have you EVER seen anything cuter?!?!? The other picture is of me enjoying him sleeping on my chest......










It was VERY difficult to leave on Thursday and Ryan almost turned the car around a couple of times because I would just burst into tears. I had had enough of having to leave my baby in the hands of the hospital and I just wanted him home! We eventually got home (snow storm) and went straight to bed in hopes that we would be able to bring Aiden home the next day.

When I got up to pump in the night (like I had been doing every 3-4 hours since Tuesday) I called the hospital to see how he was doing and I was informed that he had finally taken his first bottle! Again, yet another accomplishment that made me so proud of my little man! He was healing himself so quickly and I went back to bed tickled pink at the thought that our chances of taking him home on Friday just increased greatly.

We got to the hospital a little after noon time and we were told that his most recent xrays taken that morning showed that he had cleared up his right lung in addition to his continued bottle feeding and his feeding tube was removed....yet another wire removed that I didn't have to worry about pulling out by accident. We were told that they were really trying to get him in for his circumcision but it was short notice but they would do their best. Meanwhile, we were being told that he may not be able to go home even if they could do the circumcision because they typically like to see the baby feed from a bottle for at least a 24 hour period before releasing them. We were told that it was up to our Pedeatrician to make that decision so we waited to hear from him.

We got word shortly before 3:00PM that they were able to perform the circumcision so that was great (well, not for Aiden but it needed to be done). Ryan went in with Aiden to have that done...yup...you read that right....he went in with him to watch and comfort Aiden. Normally they have to strap all 4 limbs down but Ryan was able to hold his arms while they did the procedure. I'm so thankful that he had the stomach to do that because it really made me feel much better that one of us was in there with him and I KNOW I couldn't have handled listening to him scream bloody murder. It wasn't but maybe 15 minutes before Aiden was back in my arms and that is when we rec'd word that our Pedeatrician was giving us the OK to bring baby boy home!! You have no idea how happy it made us to take him home.....ok, so I'd be lying if I said I wasn't scared ^$%&*# too but it had to happen sooner or later and we were ready for the challenge. Before we headed out though he also had to get his Hep-B shot so the poor kid that was just butchered had to endure yet a little more pain but he was a trooper and handled it well.

On our way out of the hospital a pretty cool thing happened! Slugger (for those of you reading this that are not local that is the mascot of the Sea Dogs minor league baseball team) along with an older gentleman tied to the Red Sox were on the Pedeatrics floor visiting kids and the Red Sox guy had the world series trophe with him. Guess what?!?! Aiden was on my lap in his car seat and slugger got behind me and the other guy holding the trophe stood in front of us and we got our picture taken with them! Then the guy put his hand down by Aiden that had his ginormous world series ring on it and we got Aiden in a close up with it!! Check it out!!!......













So, off we went home as a family of 3 for the first time! Right from the get go Aiden is a very good night sleeper and other than having to wake him up for feedings he slept through the night. We placed him on a pillow between us so we could snuggle with him anytime we wanted to :-) I know that having him sleep in bed with us may not be the wisest choice due to the fact that it is a hard habit to break so after 4 nights of sleeping with us we decided to give the bassinette a shot and it turned out to be a good move. Although reaching over and snuggling with him now and then was heaven we slept better and I'm thinking he did too. I was just concerned that the cats would jump in with him and smother him so I relieved that fear by using the stroller net we have to cover the bassinette. If the cats tried to jump in with him I would be able to hear them before the got comfy in there.

Watching Ryan try to figure out just how to handle this fragile little guy was quite cute too. Daddy did really good with helping me out and took care of most of his diaper changes while I pumped to continue to try to build up my milk supply. The first night came and went which lead us into Saturday and this is when I began to fall apart!

Due to the 2 day delay in trying to breastfeed and only having a few opportunities to breastfeed in the next couple of days my milk supply just didn't seem to want to come in and as I type this on Thursday of the following week I am still struggling to get my body to do what it needs to in order to nourish Aiden without having to bottle feed him too. Having said all that it was quite confusing on what the right thing to do for Aiden was. Do I continue to try to breastfeed and give him formula very limitedly?!?! Do I supplement with formula as much as he wanted!?!? I really didn't want to bottle feed him too much for fear that the would choose that over nursing so the whole weekend I spent in tears wondering if what I am doing is right! Not to mention that the poor kid didn't do much peeing or pooping all weekend which really had me stressed out that I was totally starving my kid!

After a wonderful but also rough weekend of worrying we got into see the pedeatrician right away on Monday and oh my goodness did she really help! She totally got me to understand that there is nothing wrong with giving him formula until my milk supply comes in fully (if it ever does!) as long as I continue to breastfeed him first before giving him formula so that is what I do. It is quite a process I must say. This is what I do every 3-4 hours including late nights.....feed on one side for no less than 10 minutes, feed on the other side for no less than 10 minutes, get the formula warmed up while I change him, feed him the formula and then pump for 15 minutes and again.....the pumping after is all in an effort to establish my milk supply. Normally a woman's supply is well established by now and if anything she's pumping to get rid of excess milk that the baby didn't take in but that is not the case for me.....I'm very much trying to develope a supply and it is quite challenging to go through that whole process every couple of hours! I just keep trying to think of the big picture though and if I can get my supply up and running then it's not only the best thing I can do for him but it's the best thing I can do for me not to mention it's much easier than dealing with formula and I'd be lying if I said that it wasn't also to help out financially.....formula is expensive! Oh, and she reports Aiden as having gained 7 ounces since he left the hospital....he was 8 lbs. 5 oz. and also rec'd a clean bill of health during the rest of her exam. She said that his lungs sound good and I asked if there will be any long term affects of what happened to him and she said that there shouldn't be. His circumcision is also healing nicely along with his umbilical cord. Good news all the way around!

So, since leaving the Pedeatrician on Monday I have been quite content because I know now that my sweet baby Aiden is getting all the nourishment he needs with the formula after I am done with him and as long as he continues to latch onto me like he does then I'm not going to worry too much and hopefully I'll be able to get my production up and running so we don't have to bother with formula anymore and I don't have to be attached to that dreaded pump 24/7!!

Fortunately visitors decided to hold off and give us the weekend to just be a family because we really needed that time alone but we've had many visitors drop by this week and ahhhh and ohhh over Aiden. I LOVE watching people meet him for the first time and gush over how cute he is!! I had a lactation consultant over on Tuesday and the visiting nurse over on Wednesday which was nice. The lactation consultant showed me some things that I was doing wrong and introduced me to a new position to feed Aiden....the football hold....I love it! So much better than what I was doing!

On Tuesday Grammie and Grampa Therrien came to visit and they were very excited! They were with us during everything that happened at his birth and took a trip to the NICU to see him too and through all of that they were unable to hold Aiden so you can imagine that Grammie was more than ready to hold her Grandson the moment they walked through the door. Aiden must have known they were coming because he was wide awake for about an hour and a half just staring at them. Grammie was in heaven! Here they are holding Aiden shortly after they arrived and there's another picture of Grampie holding Aiden in the Santa suit they brought with them since we were unable to make the family party the weekend before and they wanted to make sure Aiden got his picture taken with Santa for his first Christmas.......



















again.....how cute is he?!?!?! Here are a few more pictures we've taken in the last week. I just love this first one! Daddy was burping him and I snapped the picture just at the right time to capture that hilarious face! Then there's one of Daddy snuggling with Kitty and Aiden.....






















I also have a kodakgallery slide show of pictures that I put together. Just cut and paste the link and it will take you to a login page. If you don't have a login already it doesn't cost anything to create one and you'll be able to view the pictures......

http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLandingReg.jsp?Uc=7ovuf0f.1mhcrwvz&Uy=-2tseo9&Upost_signin=Slideshow.jsp%3Fmode%3Dfromshare&Ux=0&UV=525806408524_890183168207

Well, that's the whole story! Turned into a bit of a short book I think but there was just so much to tell. Although we had a rough start things are so wonderful now and he's a happy and healthy boy that brings us so much happiness! I absolutely love him being so little and so cuddly but I also look forward to all the upcoming changes and I can't wait for his first intentional smile! He smiles now and then but I don't think it's particularly at us....gas or something!?!? :-) I'm pretty sure I'll be starting a new blog to document at least his first year of life so stay tuned for that new blog address. I hope you enjoyed my post, as sad as some of it may have been the big picture is that it had a happy ending! Thanks for reading :-)

I have a confession!!!!

Everyone.....I have a confession.....I am NOT pregnant! I was just trying to hide the fact that I'm putting on the pounds is all! Oh, and all those movements I'm feeling inside must just be bad gas I guess because I'm now convinced that there is no baby in there and I'm not giving birth.....that's got to be it!!! :-) Ok, so obviously I'm joking but this really is getting to be a bit much now. I scolded my unborn son for the first time yesterday. I awoke around 5:00AM and rather than lay in bed and stare at the clock I just got up, went downstairs to have breakfast and watch TV. Well, I turned it on to a show called "Special Delivery" and Aiden got his scolding after watching this poor woman desperately tried to deliver a large baby that was stuck at the shoulders and his oxygen was cut off for 4 minutes. I turned off the TV when they started to try to get him to breath on his own but he wasn't. At that point I looked down at my belly with tears in my eyes and told him that gosh darn it.....it's time to come out now! I actually raised my voice to my belly and freaked out for a moment! That is the exact moment I decided no more watching "Special Delivery" until after he is born. That show is specifically about labors and deliveries that have complications. Why do that to myself?!?!?!

So, I had another ultrasound and Non Stress Test today and I'm not surprised to report that everything is status quo. The ultrasound technician did say that my placenta was showing signs of getting tired however she tested both the vein and artery that run through the umbilical cord and my placenta is still healthy enough that it is still providing everything to Aiden that he needs and although my amniotic fluid is running lower than normal which of course is to be completely expected I still had enough that they are not worried about that either. I wasn't able to get any pictures this time though as it looks like Aiden has shifted a bit more as his face is facing my back (which is ideal) a little more than it has been. He is still looking more to my right and his spine is on the left side of my belly but he shifted just enough so that I couldn't see his face this time but I did get to see his right arm and he was making a fist. I was half expecting his teeny little middle finger to come up as if to say....ha ha!! I'm still in here and I know you want me out there!! :-)

After the Ultrasound I headed to the hospital for my Non Stress Test and again....all looked good. My blood pressure was 116/70 which is about what it has been for 5-6 weeks now but that is higher than it was the whole pregnancy. However, it is still spectacular for an almost 42 week pregnant woman so there is no concern there at all either. Aiden's heartbeat fluctuated from 120-160 with the occasional drop below and above those #'s but for the most part it was 120-160. I was hooked up to the monitors for about an hour and somewhere right around the middle of it I started feeling a bit of cramping and I looked over at the monitor and I was having a contraction!!!! I couldn't believe it!!!! I'm not getting all excited just yet because there was only one and it lasted about 4-5 minutes and basically just felt like a cramp. I wasn't even sure it was a contraction but the nurse said it was but again....NOT getting excited at all as it was the only one I've had so far. As the nurse was unhooking me from the monitor she made a comment about how I should have a baby in my arms by next week at this time, I told her when she was hooking me up that either way I was being admitted into the hospital no later than Tuesday....is it possible that the labor process could take 3-4 days?!??! God help me!!!! I tried to call my Doctor this afternoon to ask why we have to wait until Tuesday but she was gone and wasn't going to be returning until Monday so no go on trying to get in any sooner unless I go into labor on my own (wouldn't that be nice!). So, although I've typed these words what feels like 100 times here we go again.....and still we wait! I'm really hoping and praying that he FINALLY decides to come on his own over the weekend but there is an undeniable end in sight now so at least that feels good. All of it is a bit scary though I will admit. Stay tuned......

And still we wait !

Yup....you read that right! We're continuing to wait yet some more. It turns out that my estimated due date is not what they had in my charts. When I got pregnant I used a few of the online due date calculators which put me at November 24th, they have me at November 27th which puts me only 8 days past due right now instead of the 11 I thought I was. So, that means that technically I am not 2 weeks past due until next Tuesday the 11th and that is as long as they are willing to let me go and we are already planning on induction on the 11th if I don't go on my own before then. Will this ever end?!?!?! :-) I have another Non Stress Test and Ultrasound planned for Friday just to make sure Aiden is still looking as healthy as he has been all along and if he passes with flying colors like I know he will then I have another appointment with my regular doctor on Monday where I'll get one last exam before they admit me to the hospital on Tuesday. I honestly can't believe it COULD be almost another week! This really is a very wild experience!

The doctor of course did another internal exam today and I am still only 50-60% effaced however her poking and prodding pushed me to dilate 1 cm so there's at least a start right?!?! Oh, and she said she could feel the top of the baby's head.....so exciting!!!! I did it though....I asked her what my odds are of vaginal delivery at this point where my progress is so slow and she gave me the daunting news that more than 50% of Mothers in my situation at this point have to go in for a c-section :-( She may have just been telling me what she thinks I want to hear but she said she thinks that I will go into labor on my own before my appointment on Monday.....I really hope so!! She also estimates Aiden at being approximately 8'ish lbs, of course this is no surprise! She really doesn't think that he's much bigger than that because my belly is only measuring 35 cm's right now and technically because I'm 41 weeks it should be measuring 41 cm's. Hopefully he stays in the 8 lb. range!! :-)

So STILL......we wait.........

Surprise! Surprise!

THEY SENT US HOME!!!! How much longer are they going to let me go?!?!?! Baby boy passed all of their tests with flying colors so they want me to continue to sit home and let him decide when he wants to enter the world. This is getting to be a bit much at this point but it is what it is and as long as he is healthy that is all that matters I guess. They hooked me up to 2 different monitors, one for his heartbeat and one for my contractions. One was flat line, guess which one that was!!! Yup! Absolutely zero contractions! His heart rate was very normal and bounced anywhere from 130's to 170's. We got to have an ultrasound though so that was really neat! The technician was such a nice guy too! His name is Ron and he explained everything as we went and Ryan got it all on video. I got to see my little man's face!!!! It was so cool!! Of course his face was quite smooshed on the monitor but we could make out his nose, eyes, mouth and one time we could see his tongue too. His right hand was curled up under his chin too. Ron said that my amniotic fluid level looked pretty good and my placenta still looked pretty healthy which are 2 of the more important things right now so that is why they were in no rush to admit me I guess. The nurse checked me out too and she says I'm more like 50% effaced unlike last weeks estimation of 60%.....can you believe that?!?! I'm going backwards!!! I'm thoroughly convinced that he is taking up permanent residence in there and has no intentions of coming out!

What's the next step you ask!?!? Well, we sit and wait yet some more. My next appointment with my normal doctor (as today was at the hospital) is on Wednesday. I'm really hoping that they tell me to head to the hospital and they are going to get things started because even though I'm not incredibly uncomfortable......I'm ready! What exactly does "get things started" mean you ask? One would think that that means they would induce me right? WRONG! My cervix is not ready for induction so they have to get that ready first and I'll spare you the details of how they do that but in a nutshell they insert medicine to help it along. When my cervix is where it needs to be then they can administer the induction medication. It could be quite a long process or it could all go very quickly. As with anything in pregnancy.....everyone is so different. So, I'm really hoping that Aiden gets things rocking and rolling on his own over the next 24 - 36 hours so I don't have to go through everything they are telling me I might need to go through later this week. I will of course keep posting to this blog though with the latest and greatest so stay tuned. Oh, and how could I have forgotten to mention this?!?! Aiden's weight at this time......8 lbs. 10 oz.!!!!!! Ahhhh!!!!! Keep in mind that they can be off a pound in either direction so please.....everyone......think 7 lbs. 10 oz. and NOT 9 lbs. 10 oz.!!!!

Off to the hospital!

Don't get all excited just yet! Still no baby action and I can hardly believe it! 9 days past due and counting. We're heading to the hospital for my Non Stress Test and Ultrasound to check things out so you never know. Ryan took the day off since we're currently getting blizzard like conditions and he's going chauffeur me around in the 4 x 4. We're convinced at this point that they are going to want to induce me today. We got married in a horrendous rain storm, honeymooned in a category 5 hurricane so what better day than during a blizzard to give birth to our son?!!? :-) I snapped a photo of Ryan a few minutes ago snow blowing the driveway......

yup....lots of fun! Here's the LAST side portrait of me too that I just snapped a few moments ago.......


that is most definitely the last picture I will be posting of myself pregnant because no matter what.....Aiden will be here by the end of the week as they will only let me go 2 weeks overdue and that is Saturday. If they send me home today I will post again with an update of what they told me but the next post could very well be with pictures and details of Aiden birth. I'm excited and scared all at the same time!! Stay tuned :-)

He must be comfy in there!

Another week come and gone and baby boy must be comfy in there because again....he doesn't seem to be in any rush to meet everyone that is so anxious to meet him just yet. I am 60% effaced though so that is at least a start! Again, it was confirmed that he is definitely head down (unless he has a really hard butt is what the Doctor said :->). My blood pressure was a very normal 120/72 and Aiden's heartbeat was in the high 150's and I couldn't help it....even though I didn't look at the scale I did ask and it turns out that I haven't gained anything for about a month now. Up a pound or two/down a pound or two....I'll take it! (as long as he is healthy and he is)

If next Monday the 3rd rolls around and still no Aiden then I will have a non stress test and ultrasound to make sure that it is still healthy for me to continue to carry him. So, we'll just go on with business as usual and wait for him to decide to enter the world. Meanwhile, I'm going to continue to take every day as it comes, write in his baby book, read, watch TV and just relax. Oh, and I can't forget about Christmas shop. For the 2nd day in a row now I went shopping for about 3 hours and I'm starting to make a small dent in the list. I will try to continue to do so every day for just a couple of hours until he decides to join Daddy and I. Maybe the walking around will help move things along!

Won't be long now????

Notice I put the question marks after "won't be long now". I had an appointment this morning at 3 days from my due date and no signs of birthing sweet Aiden just yet. My cervix is slightly softened but absolutely no dilation as of yet. If you remember last weeks appointment they thought I might be showing signs of preeclampsia but those blood tests did come back negative so all is good. My blood pressure came down too but not by much.....130/74. Still higher than it has been almost the whole pregnancy but still quite good too. Aiden's heartbeat was a healthy 136 and the Doc confirmed once again that baby is head down and it's been a while since I've seen this Dr. but I really like her....Dr. Bittler. So, that is the 3rd Doc that has confirmed the baby is head down so that makes me feel good! :-) Guess what else?!??! She seems to think that Aiden isn't going to be that big of a baby as I have been fearing! (for no apparent reason other than at birth I was over 8 lbs. and Ryan was over 9!) She's guessing about 7 lbs. right now but then again Dr. Manning guessed 6.5-7 lbs. a few weeks ago too so you never know! My belly is supposed to measure as many cm as I am # of weeks but I am measuring a few under at 37cm, another reason why she thinks the baby is smaller than I was anticipating. Well, here's a picture of me a few days ago at exactly 39 weeks.....

as you can clearly see I've popped quite a bit but I am NOT complaining because my whole life I've thought that when it was my time I was going to be a WHALE! :-)

Oh, and I am officially DONE working! That's right.....when I left work after yet another 10+ hour day yesterday and I walked out the door a HUGE weight was lifted from my shoulders! Work has been challenging to say the least and very emotional lately due to many things going on internally but I can let that all go now and enjoy the rest of my time with Aiden in my belly and anticipating his arrival. Today has been magnificent and I've been humming a tune and happy all day! I know at this point in the pregnancy you hear most woman complaining that they just want the kid out already but not me......I'll be completely ok w/ it if he decides to stay in there another week. I really really would like a few days to just sit around the house, write in his baby book, watch some movies, sleep late and continue to feel him wiggling around in there as he has been....I love it!! If he comes soon then that will be ok too but I've been talking to him and telling him there's absolutely no rush!! Hopefully he obeys Mommy's first wish! :-) Maybe on my next post you'll finally get to meet Aiden....stay tuned!!

Almost time.....

Well, you're used to me posting and being all boring and uneventful telling about how great everything is. Not this time! Actually there is nothing to be alarmed about yet. On Monday I stayed home from work as I wasn't feeling all that great (a bit of nausea & a headache). I felt better on Tuesday and went to work however was very uncomfortable as I was experiencing a very uncomfortable feeling, almost like a burning sensation in my upper right abdomen area. I was describing it to friends as feeling like Aiden was going to bust out of my belly like a scene right out of Alien! Well, at today's appointment my blood pressure was much higher than normal coming in at 138/78. Normally, this is not all that bad of a reading for a normal person, not great either but considering where my blood pressure was for all of my pregnancy it did raise a red flag. The symptoms I just mentioned above (nausea/headache/high blood pressure/upper abdominal pain) all point to signs of preeclampsia however the biggest indicator of precclampsia is protein in my urine which I don't have so I'm not really sure what's up!?!? Just to be on the safe side they sent me to have some blood tests so if I don't hear back from them soon I'm too assume all is fine and I have another appointment next Wednesday. At this point that is also my last planned day at work.....YIPPEE!!!!! :-) If I can make it to that point then Thursday is Turkey Day, Friday the company is closed and the next work day puts me 2 days past due. All I'll want to do is lounge around the house, write in Aiden's baby book, do some reading and anxiously await my baby boys arrival. I REALLY hope that the blood test come back fine because I REALLY am looking forward to the element of surprise and I REALLY don't want to be induced if I can avoid it. Oh, the Doc says that my cervix is just now starting to thin out a bit but nothing to write home about yet and no dilation yet either. Well, hopefully I don't have to post again until AFTER my next appointment next Wednesday. I really hope he's at least a few days late as that will give me a bit of time to relax at home before he comes but it's his rules we're playing by now so we'll see. Stay tuned.....10 days and counting!!! :-)

Tick - tock - tick -tock.........

Well, I'd love to give you an exciting update but there just isn't one. Aiden is perfectly content all snuggled up in my belly and I'm pretty sure he'll arrive close to or after his due date. Today makes me exactly 37 1/2 weeks and I of course had another weekly appointment. Blood pressure was a bit higher than it usually is, 120/70....but this is still really good so I'm not worried. Aiden's heartbeat was a wonderfully normal 140 bpm and as I promised myself.....I didn't look at the scale! Oh, and this week she didn't ask...."do you want to know if you lost or gained?" like she did last week (same girl) so I know I gained but it's all good.....I'm passed worrying about it at this point :-) It's pretty cool to feel him moving around in there but you can definitely tell he's getting cramped! I made the Doctor venture a guess on his weight at this point and his best guess was about 6.5 -7 pounds right now so if he does what he should which is gain an ounce a day and I deliver close to my due date then he'll be right around 8 pounds but my close girlfriends and I have a bet going on and I'm just convinced he's going to be at least a 9 pound porker! :-) I was over an 8 pound baby and Daddy was over a 9 pound baby so the odds are we'll have a larger baby but you never know! A healthy 7 pounder would be perfect for me! Here's an updated picture of me and this time I went bare belly!

and here are some pictures of Aiden's room all finished and awaiting his arrival (I'm just in love w/ it!)........



















of course he won't be in his crib for a few months because he'll be right next to Mommy in his bassinette but only for 3 months at most then it's off to the crib! I've had the wonderful privledge of having several very close girlfriends that have children and I'm able to take bits and pieces of what they do and try to figure out a strategy for what might be best for me but ultimately every child is different so we'll be making up our own rules as we go. Well, that's it for this week! Oh wait....I almost forgot, my work threw me a surprise baby shower today too so I've got a few more things to add to Aiden's collection. Thanks my Jotul buddies!! I knew they were doing something I just didn't know when and my boss said to meet him in conference room B for a quick meeting and I honestly didn't even put it together until I got in there. Now it's time to go get the rest of what I'll need for his arrival which isn't much at all and I certainly don't NEED to have for him to come but if you know me well enough you know I have my lists and would love to have everything done off of it before he comes but if it's not all done....oh well! Until next week (or maybe he'll be here before my next appointment.....stay tuned!) :-)

Another week passed, won't be long now!

I had another appointment on Monday and I'm happy to report that my Group B Strep test came back negative....one less thing to worry about so that is great! I really stuck to my guns too about not looking at the scale and I actually stood on it backwards. Then the nurse asked me if I wanted to know if it went up or down and I thought to myself.....duh.....it went up of course! But....it actually went down a pound so I must have just had an off week last week. I'm all for the natural thing happening which IS to gain weight however I was gaining it pretty fast and that is NOT necessary. Enough about that! My blood pressure was 112/64 so great as usual but the baby's heart rate was a bit high....in the 160's. This new doctor I was with (there are several in the practice and I just hadn't seen him yet) asked me if Aiden had been active that morning and he was squirming around a bit on the ride there so he didn't think anything of the heartbeat being on the high end. He said if I told him he had been really quiet all morning then he said he might be concerned and would want to monitor me for a bit but since the little bugger was squirming he's certain that is what contributed to the higher than normal heart rate. This Dr. also confirmed for me that Aiden is butt up and head down, just the way he should be. Hopefully they are correct. My belly was measuring 36 cm too which is right on target. Same old story huh?? Very boring I am with everything being just exactly what every woman hopes for.....I'll take it! Hopefully he's as good to Momma on the outside as he is on the inside :-)

Oh, and Daddy was thrown a baby shower from his friends at work last week too. It was absolutely wonderful to watch him squirm as HE was the center of attention this time (sorry honey! :->) They called me the week before hoping I could be there and fortunately I could be so when he was brought down to the cafeteria on the impression that there was cake down there (and there was.....only it was for him!) he was quite surprised to see me there and of course I brought the camera!! Here is him seeing me when he walked in.........

he couldn't believe that HE was actually having a baby shower thrown for HIM....it was hilarious! :-) Thank you to everyone at Sensata for everything! The diapers, cloths, picture frames, and gift cards were all VERY much appreciated and I really hope my husband has sent out his thank you cards! :-) Here are a few more pictures.....










I have my next appointment on Wednesday the 7th. Stay tuned......

1 month left to go!

Well, it's October 23rd and one month from tomorrow is my due date. I can't believe that it won't be long before I get to hold Aiden in my arms. I had the first of my now weekly check up's yesterday and all looks good. Aiden's heartbeat was in the very normal 140's and my blood pressure was great.....110/67. I'm not even going to talk about the scale though.....let's just say I looked and that will be the last time I do that until after my little man arrives! They took my Group B Strep test so I should know those results soon, I'm sure all is fine and even if I test positive Aiden should be fine as long as I get the medicine I need at time of delivery. I'll post on that as soon as I know. I guess from this point on too all my appointments are actual "exams" if you know what I mean! During my exam I was told that I had not started dilating yet (not surprised) and that the baby hadn't yet dropped (again....not surprised). I'll tell you what though....I kinda can't wait until he does drop because this kid is seriously invading my rib cage! Ever since I left the Dr's yesterday morning Aiden has been really active! I'm not sure if it has something to do w/ the exam but I've seen a change in him since I left. He's all over the place in there and I'm actually starting to feel specific body parts and such and up until now I could feel him move but not necessarily be able to tell what I was feeling. The doctor confirmed the position of the baby for me......he is definitely head down and his bum is right up against my rib cage and his legs/feet are off to my right side. As far as I can tell this is the position he's been in for quite a while now too. Today I'm pretty sure I felt him moving what I think is his right arm and several times today I felt the elbow of that arm push against my belly. It definitely is the neatest experience ever and I'm loving every minute of it! Here is a picture of me as promised at 35 weeks at a wedding we went to on Saturday........

getting bigger and bigger! :-) Oh, and here is a picture of the items for Aiden's bedding and decoration....
once that comes in and I've put it all together in his room I will post more pictures of the nursery.

I really can't believe that it is almost time for him to be here. It's all so exciting! It's all on his terms now, he could decide to come any day or he could continue to pack on the pounds for another 5+ weeks! Stay tuned............

What a great time!

My shower was last Saturday the 6th and it was wonderful! There was a good turnout and Aiden rec'd so many wonderful things! He's well on his way to being spoiled rotten :-) Here are some pictures......















































I'm really bummed though that a few really important pictures weren't taken like me with my Mother-in-law's and my step Mother. I just got so wrapped up in everything that I didn't think about it until it was too late. I'm really hoping a few surface so I can post them but I'm not remembering specifically if they were taken. I want to send a special thanks to my Mother-in-law Julie and my cousin Christina for taking the time to plan the shower for me, I had a GREAT time! Also, to my other Mother-in-law Barbara who helped pay for it along w/ Julie.....thank you!!! I also want to thank Corrie for playing Bob Barker....the games were fun, especially the one where people had to guess how many inches around my belly was. Most were very nice and guessed right around the actual # of inches or lower but there were a few of you who were way off the charts....you know who you are and I won't forget that! :-) I'm sure there were more of you who had a hand in the planning too, I'm just not sure who did what say thanks to all of you :-) Aiden is surely coming into this world w/ so many people that already love him very much!!

I forgot to take a side portrait of myself in my baby shower outfit but I am going to a wedding this coming Saturday and I am wearing the same outfit so I will be sure to take a picture and post it after my next appointment on Oct. 22 (my birthday! :->) I did have an appointment last Monday though and again, everything looks good. I am experiencing some menstral like cramping now and then but that is mostly when I'm overdoing it by being on my feet a lot. It sounds easy enough to stay off my feet as much as I can however if you know me....you know that I'm attacking a list of things before the baby is due. I'm getting through all of it little by little however it seems like every time something comes off of the list, something else goes back on!! :-) I guess it's good that I get used to that now though anyway huh? So, belly was measuring what it should be, Aiden's heartbeat was 140's/150's which of course is very normal and my blood pressure was excellent! Next Monday's appointment is an exciting one! NOT! I get to put my legs up in the stirrups for the first time since the 1st trimester as it's time to be tested for Group B strep which if positive can be a very bad thing for the baby but I am not worried as everything has been wonderfully healthy up to this point. I will post again in about another week w/ another side portrait of me and details on my next appointment. Oh, and Aiden's room is all set up and every piece of clothing/blankies has been washed and put away. What a project that was! I really tossed and turned on whether I should wash everything or not as so many people I know didn't bother and it wasn't a problem for their children but I finally decided that I would and I feel much better now that it is all done. (Thanks to my OCD friends Katy and Corrie for persuading me on that , and thanks to them for helping me set up the room too :->) I didn't get any decorating items for my shower though so I will wait until I've finished off his room before posting more pictures of it. For now though I will continue to be kicked, poked and prodded by my little man. There are times when he is very quite and other times when he is just all over the place in there and I'm having great fun w/ all of it! :-)

Things are moving along....

Another bi-weekly appointment last Tuesday and another clean bill of health for both me and Aiden. Aiden is head down (very down!) and I mostly know that because lately he's had hiccup's and before my appointment I could feel those hiccup's way down low and the Dr. confirmed that for me at the appointment. Apparently he could feel the baby's head, I couldn't really feel it though?? I'm up another very normal 2 pounds, Aiden's heartbeat was high 130's low 140's and my belly is measuring exactly what it should be....between 31 and 32 cm. Here's another new picture of me at 32 weeks......


yup, growing bigger and bigger now! Things with me have been going great too as far as how I'm feeling. Some days can be tough on me and all I want to do is get horizontal and take the pressure off of my belly but other than that I have nothing to complain about. I think I experienced a few Braxton Hicks contractions last week too because my whole belly got really hard for a few seconds and then it subsided. All very normal!!

A few of my wonderful girlfriends Katy and Corrie came over last Sunday to help me paint Aiden's room.....thanks Auntie Katy and Auntie Corrie!!! :-) Here are a few pics of me and the Auntie's in action.....

We didn't notice what a messy job the previous owners had done with the Purple it used to be until we were actually painting. The trim work had lots of purple where there shouldn't be purple and the only choice was to cover those mistakes with blue instead. It was funny because the whole time we're purposely messing up to cover the purple where there shouldn't be purple we would make comments about how much it was killing us to do such a sloppy job!! Well, if you know me you know that that annoyed me to no end and by the end of the night I had repainted all the trim work and it now looks spectacular!! I just got lucky that the can of trim paint I had matched perfectly so I didn't really need to repaint all of it, just needed to go around and cover the sloppy blue we had to cover the purple with. I also sponged a shimmery pearl like paint to the ceiling and it looks really nice. Here is the room all finished before furniture......


I'll post another picture when it's all set up too. His furniture is ordered and 2 of the pieces are in stock and being held for us, the 3rd piece is will take 7-14 days to come in and then we get to set up his furniture and start putting away his stuff as I'm assuming it won't be until after my baby shower that we're able to set the room up. Yes, I do know when my shower is, I spoiled all the fun!! Can't wait!