Aiden Michael :: Hello World!

When Eli and Maddie were born, I knew that my ideas of what I wanted our birth to look like would have to be held loosely. There are just so many factors with twins, and my body often decides to do its own thing...so we had to pray for the things we wanted, but ultimately trust the Lord with how things would happen. And the Lord was incredibly gracious to allow some of my "wants" to still happen {no C-section, no NICU time, etc}. We had some complications, but the Lord was good to keep us all safe through it all.

So when we learned that we were having a singleton, I started to think about what I wanted this birth to look like. I knew that it would probably be safer for me to still do a hospital birth. My body just can't be trusted, and being near medical intervention is important. And I love that the hospital where we deliver is baby friendly, because a lot of my "wants" are automatic; I don't have to fight for them. The one thing I wanted to avoid was an induction. I had one with Eli and Maddie, and Pitocin is no joke. Plus, I wanted to let baby boy come on his own time, and have the opportunity to experience actually going into labor.

I felt like a first time mom again, because I just didn't know what to expect! I had had Braxton Hicks off and on for weeks, and even had a day of full blown contractions that eventually slowed and went away for an entire week {with zero progress}. So we weren't quite sure when Aiden would decide to make his debut. But as always, the Lord's timing is perfect, and we are so excited to have our sweet boy with us, safe and sound. Here is his birth story!

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August 26th

12:30am Contractions started up again, and man, oh man, did they get intense pretty fast. I spent most of the morning curled up on the couch, reassuring Eli and Maddie that mama was ok...sweet babies.

11:30am Contractions eventually hit every 5 minutes for an hour, so we called and headed to labor and delivery. My aunt was our emergency call for Eli and Maddie {until my parents could make the trek from San Antonio}, so we met her in the parking lot to make the hand off and headed in...but not before a few contractions in the parking lot {thanks Babe for the photo evidence}.

12:30pm When we got checked in, I was dilated to 4cm {finally, progress!} so they admitted me and we settled in for labor. This was such a different experience from my first delivery. With Eli and Maddie, I had to have constant monitoring and was in bed the whole time. This time around, I was able to be up, walk around, sit on the birthing ball, etc. And they pretty much left me alone to do my thing. It felt so strange! I kept thinking, "shouldn't someone be telling me what to do??" Haha. But it was nice to be able to be up and moving around. So Mike walked with me, and we walked the halls to get popsicles {because I definitely did not eat before I got checked in...oops}.

2:00pm I was dilated to 5cm and 90% effaced. The doctor on call suggested a low dose of Pitocin and I politely declined. That's the one thing I wanted to avoid! But Aiden was still pretty high up and not moving down, despite all my efforts. So we made the compromise to see where I was in 2 hours and then make decisions. So we walked some more, got some more popsicles, and I sat on the birthing ball. 

4:00pm I was still at 5cm, and Aiden hadn't moved, despite contractions picking up in intensity. By this time, I was pretty tired, and pretty ready for the epidural. I also decided to go ahead and do a low dose of Pitocin. The nurse and anesthesiologist were very sweet and encouraging about how I had been laboring {calmly breathing through each contraction...mostly because they hurt so bad I could hardly breathe}, saying that they thought I could do well without the epidural...as I silently screamed on the inside, "NOPE. Give me the drugs!" Haha. I appreciated the vote of confidence but was ready for some relief.

5:30pm I had dilated to 7cm, and the nurse was convinced that my water was going to break at any minute {which it didn't until the end}.

6:15pm They brought out the peanut ball, in an attempt to move him further down, with no luck.

7:00pm The epidural started wearing off in one specific place, and OH MY GOODNESS. Talk about pain like no other! I tried to work through it, but eventually had to get another dose.

9:30pm I was dilated to 9cm, and he was finally coming down. There was just a small lip of cervix left, so we were hoping we were close.

10:00pm I had to get another epidural dose. Because of where the intensity of the pain was breaking through, I was having a hard time getting into an effective position to push. We think the pain was so intense because of where he was positioned.

10:45pm I was dilated to 10cm! I started pushing, trying to get him to move further down. The doctor wasn't there yet, so I was just being coached by the nurses.

11:20pm Dr. Dani came in {not my regular OB, but an OB in her practice who was on call}. By this time, I only had to push a few more times. It was SO strange because I couldn't feel a thing. With Eli and Maddie, I could at least feel pressure. With Aiden, I had no idea where or how I was pushing. Everyone kept telling me I was doing a great job and pushing just right...and I just had to trust what they were saying, because as far as I knew, I wasn't pushing at all haha.

11:40pm Aiden is born!! 8.0 pounds, 20 inches long, and absolutely perfect :)

We got to have immediate skin-to-skin, and he nursed right away...sweet gifts that I was able to enjoy because I didn't crash immediately after delivery, like I did with Eli and Maddie. We still had some complications afterward {that I will blog about later}, but they didn't cause me to miss out on those first few hours with my boy. And I am so, so thankful.