Aiden's birth story

Aiden is sleeping and the boys are watching a movie in their room so I am going to take this chance to write this rather than taking a nap or cleaning house.

August 14th was a very difficult day for me. The day before my planned c-section. It was spent making sure everything was ready. Cleaning, organizing, notes, lists, crying, more cleaning and even a little cooking. The crying was the most difficult part. I could not stop. Owen and Ethan knew the basics of what was going to happen but they couldnt be ready. We were changing their world without them really knowing. Every time I looked at them I cried and they noticed. They kept hugging me and that made me cry harder. By the time they were in bed for the night I was exhausted.

Sleep never came. We had to be at the hospital at 530a for prep. Every time I closed my eyes I would think of something else that I should do before I was gone for a few days. At 230 I was still up doing things. At 330 the alarm went off so I could shower. At 430 we left and by 5 we were in the hospital. Because we were early they didnt have a room ready for us (they were just putting it together). As soon as we got in a room I had Erick snap one last pregnancy photo.

No sooner did Erick snap the picture did the nurse come back and say we were moving rooms. Can I just say now that I HATED this nurse. She was just my prep nurse and not part of my team but she drove me batty. She talked to me like I was a kid "ok mama time to go peepee in the cup" Anyway we get into our new room and get all hooked up. I requested that I not get cathed til in the OR and after my spinal (so much better). BUT I reacted to the IV and almost blacked out. That was new. Erick said I turned pale and looked scared (I was).

My OB came in as soon as he got there. He had starbucks. It smelled so good because I hadnt eaten in hours. He said they were just finishing prep and we were waiting on one last member of the team to show up so we were running a little late.

Once it was time they walked us to another room. They told Erick to wait there and I followed the nurse into the OR. I told them my horror stories about almost being rolled off the table last time and she promised that it wouldnt happen. I also told her I didnt want my left arm strapped and she oked that as well. The spinal was difficult again. He kept hitting a nerve and this would send a shooting pain into my right hip/butt. He didnt take as many attempts as the boys did but this hurt a lot worse. The nurse holding me kept talking me through it and even refused to leave me when another nurse asked her for help.

It wasnt long til I was numb, cathed, and lying on my back getting basted with iodine. Then it wasnt long til they were started and Erick was brought in. Some of the next parts are a little fuzzy but the just of it is I started to get cold, in getting cold my nose started running, because of that I started snuffing, this caused my tummy to fill with yuck and make me feel sick. Eventually this led to me spitting up.

A planned c/s is a lot different than an emergency one. For one everyone is in a better mood and a lot more talkative. They also take more time. I was told it was 17min from start time to baby cry. Well this didnt go as planned for the OB. He had to clean up my scar tissue and things took a little longer to get through. BUT I did hear some interesting stories LOL.

At 813 we heard it. Aiden Michael was here. Erick even got to cut the cord.

Aiden's apgars were 9 and 9 he weighed in at 6lb 15oz and 19in long.

Erick went with Aiden to do skin to skin while I was closed up. Even this took longer than they thought. My BP dropped way way low. When I got into recovery they brought Aiden and Erick to me but I wasnt allowed to hold him yet because they didnt want me up. My BP was still VERY low (in the 90or80 over 50or60 range). When they let me try to set up it dropped again and I had to lie flat again. Eventually they got me sitting and I got to attempt to feed Aiden. I got the itchies again and scratched off my lip under my nose even with being given Benidryl (sp?).

Eventually we got moved into our final room. I had to have liquid diet for 2 meals but Aiden was here and beautiful.

Around noon Erick left for lunch with his mom then she came back with him to visit. At 4 my mom showed as did a friend and at 5 Erick came back with the boys.

The boys were so excited to meet Aiden. They had picked out gifts for him. Aiden had gifts for the boys too. BUT I must admit as cute as it was having the boys at the hospital it was just as hard and even harder to have them leave without me and Aiden.

Over the next few days more people came to visit.

Aiden also spent some time under the lights. The nice thing was that he stayed in my room for it.

Aiden was born on Monday and on Friday we finally got to go home.

Our homecoming was so cute. The boys and my mom made a sign for the wall that said Welcome home Aiden. The boys colored hearts and put stickers on them. For the next 3 days Owen made us take Aiden to the sign so he could show his brother.

Look what I learned

So as you can see my blog got a little face lift. What do you think of the new look? In addition to the new look I learned how to do a few other new things...like video. Wooo hooo so for no real reason I think I will show you some home movies.

The first two videos are ones that Erick took in the NICU. They were the first time I really got to see my boys. I asked Erick to go in there and get some pictures for me and this is what he brought back to me.





This next video is the boys doing a little tummy time today.



Next thing on my list to learn ... slideshows

We have boys

About the boys
So we are home now but I know you all want to know everything that has happened before now. Well I went in for an NST and Erick came with me at 8am 12-27-08. He had been to only one before then and we were there for 6 hrs for observation. This was my follow up to that appointment and Erick walked in and said that if we were going to be there another 6 hrs he didnt want to leave without the babies. Well about 20 min later they came in and said I was having some contractions and once again baby b's heart rate was dropping we were waiting to hear back from a call put into the dr. About 10 min later I was being told Erick got is wish. The Dr was happy that I was 36 weeks and didnt want to wait any longer. We were told to get me changes and I would be going in for my c-section at noon.

I got ready and Erick and I were talking. We were both excited and nervous. The Dr came in to talk to me about 930 he said he was ready and to get me ready. About that time though the lady next door started pushing so I got to wait. During the wait I met everyone and had everything explained to me. I also go preped and all that that entails. Just before 10 they came in and walked me to the OR across the hall. Erick had to wait (he said he paced the whole time). They sat me on the table and started to give me the spinal. He couldnt find the space it needed to go (i was warned that I may need to be put under). On the 7th (yes you read that right) time I poked me it worked. He said my spine was so deep it took the whole needle. They laid me down fast almost rolling me off the other side of the table. All of a sudden the room was full of people (11 medical staff). Erick was brought in. He sat by my head and they let me keep my had unstrapped so that Erick could hold it. At 10:29am they told Erick to stand and quick. 3 seconds later I heard a cry and Erick looked at me with the biggest grin. Owen Carlos was born weighing in at 5lb 4oz 18.5 in long. The one Dr then told everyone to stand back for the splash. Erick cringed and then smiled. There was another cry and at 10:30 (really 10:29 and seconds) Ethan Joseph was born 5lb 9oz 18.5in. I got to see and kiss the boys and off they went to be monitored. Erick went with the boys and I laid on the table crying while getting stitched.

Recovery was an hour long in a tiny room with Erick in and out and a nurse filling out the paperwork that didnt get done before surgery like it should have. Then I was taken to my first room. The babies were still in the NICU for observation and people were in and out watching me. This is where things get fuzzy. my mom and in-laws came to visit. They all got to meet the babies before me because they could walk to the NICU and I couldnt. It would be 8pm before I really got to meet Owen. They then told me it would be a little longer til I would get to meet Ethan. At 10 they finally got to meet my little man but I was told he couldnt stay with me. Erick stayed with me til 2 even though visiting wasnt allowed after 10 we were overlooked and it was great int he private room. Owen slept on my chest the whole night. After lunch the next day they finally brought Ethan to stay.

The rest of my stay was a sad one because the boys were taken away from me again due to jondice (sp?) and because I didnt have the boys I lost my private room. That is a long sad story. They wanted to send me home on Tuesday (12-30) but when I told them I was attempting to establish breastfeeding they said I could stay. Not long after that the Pedi came in and told me she was switching both boys formula because they were not doing as well as she would have liked and Ethan may not get to go home right now. He lost 5oz and was spitting up everything we were giving him whether it was breast or formula. This caused me a lot of tears. There was no way I wanted to come home with only one of my babies. After more crying and talking with Erick we decided that i would stop pumping and breastfeeding and just worry about the boys gaining weight and getting big and fat. This was a very hard choice for me to make and even trying to type this out I am crying. I so wanted to be able to breastfeed but to be honest it was killing me as well. In order to do it with the boys under the billy lights they would bring me one baby I had 30 min to feed him any way I chose. If the baby was put to breast I had to use the last 10 min to give him formula. Then I would walk (if thats even what you can call it) to the nursery with baby 1 and sit in the nursery to feed baby 2. Then I would return to my room and pump for 40 min. when I was done I walked back to the nursery and gave them the breast milk. Then I had 1 hr and 20 min to go to the bathroom, shower eat or sleep. Even with doing this Ethan was still getting sick.

It was not until noon on my last day there that I knew for sure both boys were coming home with me. Erick got up early and get everything ready then sat at the hospital with me. Finally at 2:30pm on New years Eve after getting my staples out all 4 of us got to come home together.

Our first night was a rough one as we were given very specific instructions on feedings and amounts but we made it through it and are doing great.