A Baby Story: Labor and Delivery with Aiden

We checked into the hospital around 7:30 a.m. on January 18, 2011, and my induction was underway shortly after that. I remember being pretty impatient to get things going because I wanted to meet this baby boy!

They attempted to break my water with the hook, but since baby's head was so far down, there was too much pressure - it was distinctly uncomfortable, which I found odd because it wasn't at all for my induction with Asher. Since that wasn't working, they inserted a tiny wire that makes a small hole, causing a small leak, which is supposed to eventually break your water. Well, it worked, but it took a while and it was frustrating waiting for things to get moving.

Our first picture together . . . Glad I'm looking my best ;)

Finally it broke! They gave me a small dose of pitocin and I walked the hallway about 2 times before calling it quits. It wasn't distracting for me (I know that strategy works well for a lot of women) and the nurses kept getting signals that they couldn't get the readings of baby's heart-rate while I was walking around. Back to the room . . .

Once contractions started, they moved pretty quickly. I had been 3 1/2-4 cm dilated before they induced me, so when the doctor checked me and said I was at 5 cm after 3 hours I felt a little depressed. I (for some unknown reason) assumed the labor and delivery would fly by and we'd have our baby by early afternoon. Nope.

I had an epidural, and they noticed baby's heart-rate was a little lower than they like it, but it would steadily come back up between contractions so they weren't concerned (thank goodness, because I was having flashbacks to Asher's labor and delivery and didn't want another C-section). Things were progressing smoothly, and it was finally time to PUSH!!!! It was a glorious feeling to have gotten to that point.

Perfect little peanut

I was patting myself on the back because with the first few pushes my nurse was saying, "Wow, you're a really good pusher, good job!" So, again mistakenly, I thought I'd push for 15 minutes and have a baby! Forty-five minutes later my epidural started to wear off. I was in horrible pain, to the point where I couldn't push during contractions. Our nurse stopped me from pushing until the doctor came in because she was concerned my uterus might be rupturing (cue terror in Dusty and myself). She was wrong.

The doctor came in and, in not so many words, said "Toughen up, Nancy, that's what labor feels like." It was the kick in the butt I needed. When Dusty and I talked later that night he said he didn't know if her attitude would annoy me or motivate me; thankfully, it worked as a motivator in this case! After about 5-10 minutes of pushing with the doctor in the room (which we had to wait for because she was delivering someone else!) little Aiden William was born! My foremost emotion right when he came out was relief because the pain had stopped and I was exhausted from pushing. Then, they laid that goopy baby on my chest and I fell in love.

At 8 lbs 2 oz., and 21 1/2 inches long, he was a little chubbier than his big brother, and 1/4 of an inch shorter. He was beautiful. He had round cheeks and dark, dark hair, like his daddy. God had given us another little miracle!

First picture with both boys . . . Asher is less than enthused about his brother.
In fact, he's playing with Dusty's Ipod . . .

Come back to find out how we all adjusted to life with little Aiden as part of our family! And to see if Asher took more interest in him. :)