Happy Birthday!

Forewarning it's a little long and written on an iPhone so no grammar police.

Introducing :
Aiden Christian German
Born 6/28/11 @ 5:27pm
8lbs 3oz
20.5 inches

His story:
After being on bed rest for a week and a half and having to go to the hospital again for BP monitoring, we had an apt with the Dr. on Monday the 27 @1:00. My BP was still a little high, so since I had made it to 38 weeks my doctor said "well I hope you have your bags because I'm gonna go ahead and admit you and start the induction today". Well needless to say I was excited and nervous all at the same time. One of my biggest fears so far was the uncertainty of the situation, never knowing when I would be at home and all of a sudden have sever labor pains and then have to rush to the hospital, at least that fear was gone. So with bags in hand we headed to the hospital. After getting admitted and settling in, the first of my three biggest fears came: the IV ( I know of all things labor related that was one of my big fears) well the nurse did and excellent job, never had to move it and it never had a problem. After that they started my pitocin and then we waited..... Nothing happened, well they said I was having contractions but I couldn't feel them. All night I would drift in and out of sleep, uncomfortable because they shoved a wedge under one side of my hips to keep me off my back, a blood pressure cuff was on my arm, and IV in the other, and two monitors strapped to my stomach to monitor contractions and baby.  Needless to say I lost it emotionally at about 5:30am after staring at the clock on the wall for over and hour just wishing I could sleep and wishing the pain in my back would go away... And cussing that wedge. Every trip to the bathroom was a huge ordeal, unhook monitors and cuff, unplug IV.... Get Chris to walk with me to the bathroom.
At 6:30 in the morning my Dr. came to check on me and broke my water. That was one of the most interesting feelings I've ever had, I realized then why Aiden didn't want to come out because it was so nice and warm. After she broke my water apparently that was all my body needed to progress. I went from 2cm to 9cm in two hours. They came to put my epidural in (biggest fear number 2 of 3) and it was def. not pleasant at all. She asked me about how my body handles numbing medicine and I explained how when I go to the dentist they always have to give me extra shots to numb me in the middle of procedures because my body goes through pain medicine fast. Well needless to say an hour after she gave it to me she had to come back and re-do it, just in time too, because when they checked me after she did the second I was at 9cm. So I had to have two epidurals... :-/ not fun. So after I got to 9cm apparently Aiden hadn't dropped far enough so I had to lay propped up to try to get him down. After about 30minutes I could feel the contractions again full force so they had to come and give me additional medicine in my epidural to control the pain, after that everything was fine, I even took a small nap. At about 10:30, after being at 10cm for two hours I was feeling the urge to push, but my Dr. was in surgery. So she stopped the pitocin and had me relax for a bit to wait on my Dr. It wasn't until 2:00 when I got to start pushing.... Well needless to say my shot that I had received earlier to help my pain was wearing off and I started feeling contractions and the nurses hand in my va-jay.  After about 30 minutes another nurse came in to bring mine something and decided she would help out.... Apparently Aiden wasn't facing down so she proceeded to take her whole hand according to Chris and shove it in me to rotate his head.... After warning me I wasn't going to like her very much.... She was right. That was the most painful thing I have ever felt, because by now I could almost feel everything that was happening. Chris said at one point my leg came up and he thought I was getting ready to kick the woman in her head. After that I think the nurse finally realized I wasn't lying about my pain... No shit!.... And called the anaesthesiologist back in to give me another two shots in my epidural. Instantly felt better and began to push again.... 1 hour later (1 & 1/2 into labor) I started feeling pain again. So another call to the anesthesiologist and another two shots and I was better. I was exhausted by now and I was crying because I didn't think I was pushing hard enough even though the nurse would tell my Dr. when she came in that I was pushing really hard.

After 3 hours my Dr said "Kelli I don't think it's gonna happen, his head is down there, but not passing the pelvic bone. I think we are gonna have to do a section". I think she thought I was gonna be upset, but honestly after all the pain I had been in and all the muscles that I had strained I was relieved, a little, that I was done.  Of course my family kinda lost it a little when they heard I was going into surgery, but I was only scared I would feel something. The C section went great, I started to feel something, but the  anesthesiologist knew me by now and gave me meds before their was any pain.  My mommy friends always said that the greatest sound in the world is their babies cry right out of the womb. They were right, there is nothing like it, to hear him cry and know he's OK, I cried, and I'm not a crier. I only wish Chris would have been able to video that moment, I can't wait till the next baby one day to hear those cries again. After the C section was over they took me to recovery, gave me two shots of pain meds, then moved me to my room.  The surgery and recovery time felt like 5 minutes. After I got to my room I got to see my family again. The nurses finally brought baby Aiden to me and I got to hold him for the first time, one of the most special moments in my life. Just to look down at this tiny human that God gave us and helped me bring into this world, it truly is a miracle how two tiny cells can grow into a cute little bundle of joy. Again I teared up knowing that this little guy was ours and that in what will seem like a blink of an eye he'll be walking/talking and growing up too fast.

Being the over achiever that I am, I wanted to breast feed. Well Aiden wasn't having any of it that night, the nurse tried to help get him to latch, but he never did, he just screamed every time he got close to the boob like we were trying to kill him. So the nurse advised after trying two times over an houre and his blood sugar dropping to 50 something, just to give him some formula for the night and try with the lactation consultant the next morning. Big mistake. The next day he wouldn't latch for anything... After going all day with him not latching, and the nurses sticking his tiny heel to check his blood sugar every few hours, I couldn't take it anymore. I was crying and trying to not give in to this tiny little man, but an infant that was barely 24 hours old broke my will and I gave in to just formula feed and try to pump to get my milk to come in. I was so disheartened because I wanted him to have the nutrients from me, but couldn't take them sticking him one more time. As of today I'm still pumping, and would advise any mom that wants to breastfeed, no matter what, don't let them have a bottle before they latch or they will never go back.

I had to stay in the hospital until Friday. They released us around 2:45 right as a thunderstorm with hail was coming through.

Over all the recovery wasn't too bad to say that I was sore from pushing, the second epidural (because she hit the bone a few times) and from the C section. The worst part was the swelling from all the fluid, a week and a half later and I think I'm finally back to my normal size feet. I came home from the hospital expecting to have lost at-least Aiden's weight and found that I was actually heavier than when I went in because my legs looked like those of a linebacker with all the fluid.

While I was in the hospital  I was talking to my friend Colleen and made the comment .."next time when I'm pregnant" and she told Chris how crazy it was that after all that I had been through that I was talking next time, but over all it was worth it. All the pain in the world would have been worth hearing those cries and getting the gift of a healthy beautiful baby boy. I have decided that I actually liked being pregnant :) I guess Chris has a shot at his 4 kids if I can have the same pregnancy experience next time.

We've been home now for one week, it's been a major change, but a good one. I have to realize that when I go places or go to visit friends its OK to bring him and that hopefully friends realize he's coming :) I remember asking my dentist if it was OK to bring him and he laughed and said well yeah, you kinda have to, he goes everywhere with you now. Our friend Bryan invited us to a BBQ this weekend and I had to ask if it was OK to bring him, I'm sure he thought that was a stupid question since his other friends are bringing their baby that they actually baby sat for the other night. I guess this is the next stage of our generation and everyone realizes that.

Thankfully Aiden has been a wonderful baby for us, he eats about every 4 hours and sleeps in between during the night. When he is awake he's so well behaved, as long as we let him look around he is happy. I would love to know what's going on in his little brain as he learns about the environment around him. Hopefully I'm not jinxing us by talking about how good he's been. My mom, grandma, and Chris' mom have been here from Monday when I went in the hospital until today and tomorrow. They have been a huge help! I know it's been a lot easier this first week with them around. Next week it's just Chris and I so hopefully we can continue our good fortune. Hopefully I can get my hormones in line, I've cried more this past week than... Probably ever. I go to the OB next Friday and hopefully she will clear me to return to normal activities, I feel ready, but know I still can't push it too much if I want to recover fully.