WELCOME AIDEN!!
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| Our first family photo! |
Whew! Hugh and I are tired. Aiden is two weeks old today and
I finally have a few minutes to write about how she came to be in this world.
Sunday, May 20th
Hugh and I had a busy day. We went to do some baby gear
shopping at Target and then decided to walk around in the Memorial City Mall
for a while. MISTAKE! It didn’t take us but about 5 minutes to remind me why
Hugh and I steer clear of malls. People are just weird. ANYWAYS…we went to HEB,
did some shopping and ate a late lunch. This is when the contractions started.
They were painful, but inconsistent. When we came home I pestered Hugh into
taking a walk with me in the neighborhood. I’d been dilated for two weeks and I
had decided that it was time to bring on the LABOR! After our walk, in which
I’m pretty sure we both almost had a heat stroke, we went over to our
neighbor’s house to swim and cool off.
We came home and the contractions started to get closer and
closer together. We called the doctor and she suggested that we go in to Labor
and Delivery and get checked. I told Hugh that we were just going to wait. I
went and took a shower, fixed my hair, checked our packed bags and then decided
to live in denial. Hugh put his foot down at around 9:30pm and decided that we
were going in. Good Decision.
While I was definitely having contractions, they weren’t the
concern. Every time I would have a contraction Aiden’s heart rate would dip.
The nurse explained that in certain positions the baby might have been laying
on the umbilical cord causing her heart rate to dip too low. I was placed on
oxygen and turned on my right side. My doctor decided to admit me overnight and
monitor the contractions and heart rate. About an hour after I was admitted I
had an ultrasound to check cord placement and my amniotic fluid level. My fluid
level was low, and it seemed that I’d had a slow leak for a few days. I spent
the night getting IV fluids, going on and off oxygen and being moved from my
right side to my left and then to sitting straight up. Her heart rate did crazy
things with every contraction.
The next morning, the new nurse came in and informed us that
my doctor had called and after she had watched my monitor all night she’d
decided that I needed to be induced. IT WAS BABY DAY!!!
Hugh and I were shocked. Even though we knew that we were
headed in this direction, nothing ever really prepares you for the realization
that you’re going to have a baby THAT DAY. The nurse brought in pitocin, hooked
it up to my IV and we were starting! Around 8:30 my doctor came in to break
whatever was left of my water. I kept waiting to feel this huge gush of water,
but apparently I’d really been losing fluid overnight. No gush. Nothing like
the movies.
The contractions started getting stronger immediately. I went
from being mildly uncomfortable to serious pain in about an hour. AND…I seemed
to stop dilating, but that didn’t stop the pain. I ended up getting my epidural
a few hours into labor, but I was only dilated to 2cm. The epidural was the
BEST THING in the world. I went from extreme pain to being comfortable in about
20 minutes. It was a Godsend.
Hugh was great the entire time. When it was time to push, he
held my hand, supported my back and made sure I got oxygen in between
contractions. I pushed for about 45 minutes and little Aiden Eleanora McCrea
was born! I’ll never forget the moment that the doctor announced, “It’s a
girl!”. I was so excited to meet her. It had been a long pregnancy not knowing
if we were having a boy or girl. She was placed right on my chest, eyes open
and Hugh cut the cord.
Aiden was 6lbs 9ozs and 18.5 inches long. She was born at
5:58pm after 10 hours of labor on May 21st 2012. She was 3 weeks early. Hugh and I are so in love with our baby girl.
Hugh and I were left alone with Aiden for about an hour
after she was born. It was awesome. I managed to nurse her some and Hugh and I
just spent the time staring at our perfect little baby. After that, Hugh went
outside and announced the birth to our families.
Here are some of the pictures from her first few days of
life.
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