AIDAN THOMAS is here!!

I went in at 6am on Valentine's day to be induced at 40w6d. I forget when they started the Pitocin, maybe around 8am or so. I was only 2cm at this point. My OB broke my water at 9:30am and my contractions were coming every 1-3 minutes from then on. I got my epidural at 10:40am but that turned out to be a nightmare. The woman giving it to me, didn't know what she was doing, was very green to her job and took about 15-20 min to put it in and caused me so much pain, I cannot even tell you how bad it hurt. I was crying with tears streaming down my face, and then after all that, it didn't work. 45 min later, I could still feel everything. They put a new med in my epidural and that seemed to work for a few hours.

I was checked again at 11:20am and was 2.5cm. Then at 2pm I was 5cm, 4:23pm I was 7cm and at 5:10pm I was 9.5cm - that's when my epidural quit working altogether. At this point, they were also concerned b/c Aidan was not coming down and unless I could push him into the birth canal, we were looking at a C-section. Another anestesiologist came in and said we should re-do my epidural since it wasn't working. This was the LAST thing I wanted to go thru again! After talking to this new man and a potential c-section on the way, I decided to trust this man and redo my epidural. It turned out to be a good decision and was over in 5 min and didn't hurt at all! By this time, it was around 6:30pm and they had me lay on my side to get Aidan to move down. At 7pm, I started pushing. At 8:01 my son was born. It was the most emotional, wonderful moment of my life and my husband and I were so in love and amazed at what had just happened. Words cannot describe what it's like. We both cried like babies.

We were all surprised by his size, b/c u/s had showed maybe a 7lb baby and he was 9lbs 6oz, 22in long! I ended up getting an episotomy and then tore anyway; a 3rd degree tear. I am still sitting on a donut b/c it hurts otherwise, but I'm getting better. Thanks to the epidural, I never had any idea, never felt any of the tearing or cutting or the delivery of Aidan coming out of me. Epidurals (when they work) are wonderful! Aidan was so big, that he almost got stuck, it was hard getting his shoulders out, but they used 3 bottles of olive oil and my OB was able to get him out. I didn't know any of this until later when Ray told me.

Anyway, Aidan is perfect and beautiful! He has a full head of dark hair like me, and blue eyes like his daddy. I love him so much. Thanks for all your well wishes and support in my journey to motherhood!

Patiently waiting

We are just waiting on our miracle to make his debut appearance. As soon as he is here, I will post with pictures of him.

Today is my due date

Today is my due date, I am 40 weeks pregnant and my son is showing no signs of coming out anytime soon. I know estimated due dates are "estimated", but our situation is a little different in that we know exactly when he was conceived since we had to do artificial insemination to get pregnant. So there's no guessing how far along I am based on measurements alone like most pregnancies. All that said, I am convinced he won't come until next week. I'm fine with that, but these last few days are hard when your waiting on something so special; something that was so hard and took so long to create. We can't wait to see him, touch him, kiss his sweet face, see what color hair he has, count his fingers and toes. I know once he comes, all this waiting will be a distant memory.

The longest wait...

Today I am 39w5d and am still only 1cm dilated but have increased from 20% effaced to 40%. I felt so disappointed leaving the doctor's office; didn't expect to feel so sad that nothing was happening yet. I'm so very ready to meet my son. They want me to come back in on Friday to check me again and then schedule an induction (if needed) for as early as Monday the 12th. So unless I go into labor on my own, it's looking like we'll have him on Monday.

Any day now...

I'm at that point now, where everyone is asking if it's time yet or if we have an induction scheduled (since those are so common). Everyone is so excited! So far, as of tonight, nothing is happening yet. We have an OB appt tomorrow (Tues) to check my cervix again and see where I'm at. I'm also thinking we'll set an induction date too, but we'll see. My due date is this Thursday! I did do a lot of walking around today w/my mom and MIL, we had errands to do and it's probably smart if I'm not driving around by myself at this point. We all had our nails done today, so we are ready for the hospital! In the last 2 wks, I feel SO big. The pic I posted is from Saturday night, when I was 39w2d. Sleeping is difficult and often interrupted by reflux or having to pee, picking anything up off the floor is out of the question (I now understand why PG woman always wear slip on shoes) and my right hand is still numb/tingley from pregnancy induced carpal tunnel syndrome. All that said, I am content and would do this all over again. Aidan is worth all this and more.