Aiden's birth story

I'm going to do my best to write this all down while its still fairly fresh in my mind. I may muddle a few things, I'm hurting right now and on pain meds so will see how this goes.

On the morning of March14th we dropped Connor off at my Mom's who was planning to come up later as my induction progressed. As we arrived at the hospital and given a room that contained a window that connects to the U's NICU. I was given a pill that would help soften my cervix and start me to contract. The nurse whose name was Pam and was a really nice lady told me that for most patients it would cause light cramping and I would be checked in four hours. That was at 10:20. Well the light cramping turned in to contractions fairly quickly. Which became much more painful when Pam asked me to lay on my right side because little A's heart rate dropped after each contraction. I knew I wanted an epidermal at some point and I was told right from the start that I could have it at anytime, but I waited.

I  remembered how painful getting the epidural was last time and I didn't feel the pain I was feeling was enough to have one yet. For the first four hours it was just Russ and me. My mom, and dad stayed at home at first becasue they had Connor with them. I didn't want them to come until I knew it wouldn't take to much longer. Anything to help keep Connor from getting to overally bored. After four hours of the pill and continually increased contractions I finally asked for an epidural. And yes it was as ad as I remembered from last time. After they finally got it in right.. felt like it took a half hour before they got the right spot I was finally feeling no pain, though my back still feels bruised from it. I called my parents to come on up once they started pit, because I knew once that was dded I would get a lot closer to giving birth to little A. They showed up and Connor automatically ran up to me and held my hand asked if I was in pain and then was going off on asking for a Doctor to come in and check on me. It was really cute.

It was around 5 at that time and we were all just talking about little things. I was moved to lay on my side which cause me to start feeling the contractions on the side I was not on. I just beared through tit trying not to show that I was in to much pain while Connor was in there. I really didn't want to scare him because I knew future events would b hard enough on him he didn't need to see me in tons of pain. Finally I had to interrupt the conversation we were all having because the last three contractions I felt like  I really needed to push and though I had not been checked for hours I knew it was time to go.

So two doctors and two nurses come rushing in check me and yup ten centimeters and they could already see his head. After I'm not kidding about 15 minutes of pushing Aiden was here (6:41pm). I heard him give out a small cry and they lifted him up and before I knew it he was passed through the open and window and was gone :/  That was not an easy moment I so desperately had wanted to hold him but did not get the chance.  I had second degree tearing and the stitching seemed to take longer then me pushing. I needed a lot of stitches and yes I am still sore from it.  They did briefly open the window were I could here my son screaming, best sound in the world at the moment, to learn that he was 7 pounds 23 ounces, 1 pound smaller then his bog brother.

After they finished cleaning and stitching me up I was moved to a special sectio of the maternity ward. One for mothers who could not have there babies with them. Finally at about 8:30 my son was wheeled into the room. He was in a special incubator used for life flights, so that all of his monitors could go with him. His feet and legs were a bit blue in color which i knew was a sign of a heart defect.

Connor didn't seem to notice nor care what his brother was in, he was just very happy to see him. After I touched my little Aiden the med team mentioned that his brother  could come up and see him and asked me about touching him I of course said yes and they opened a window so Connor could touch his feet.  Connor's second touch brought a small smile to Aiden's face. I did take pictures of the two brothers first moments together.

Unfortunately my camera came out a little fuzzy, but that's ok. My hubby left with the team as they took my sweat beautiful boy over to Primary's. I told my family after he left that they should go to because I was watching Connor and knew he was being pushed to his limits and really needed to be taken home.  After they left I turned on the TV and tried not to get to overally emotional (and yes I had and still am having emotional moments!) and decided to start pumping while I waited for my husband to come back.

After he came back we both tried to get some rest. I'll be honest rest did not come easy for me that night. I wanted to know how Aiden was but with it being as late as it was I knew there would be little answers until the morning. On Thursday I got over to Primarys via wheelchair as soon as I possibly could,. I did need to wait until my pain meds kicked in. but once there I felt instant relief as I looked at my boy.

When we first got there the nurse was not in there but it wasn't long before some one came in and I had what I had needed since the night before. he was in my arms and I was happy and instantly exhausted.

It was about ten minutes after we were there that the Cardiologist came in and confirmed the the fetal diagnosis. he does in fact have and only have Coarctation of the Aorta. That night I did loose it and cried for about an hour. I knew he needed to be were he was but I just wanted him in my arms once more. One of my day nurses who was just an awesome lady went over to see him and dropped off some of the milk er ok the pre milk I had pumped and she said when she came back that he just didn't look like he belonged there. Without knowing he had a heart defect you really would have thought he was perfectly healthy. His feet had pinked up, most likely because of the meds they have him on, but I ma thankful at how healthy he looks and with how big he is! His Hawaiian blood definitely shows with his weight :).

Now I did go on hold him again today before I was discharged  from the hospital and will be going back up tomorrow and every day after until he is home. It sounds like he will be having heart surgery on Tuesday. they are talking about going under his arm but last I heard they were not hundred percent sure. They were going to do another echo which I have called and asked about, last time I checked they had not consulted yet. I figure I will know much more information at my trip tomorrow. I will update more as son as I know more.

Almost here!

So I imagine your all wondering what with this video I have posted. I learned today that Shaun White who is the best in his field was born with a congenital heart defect. One much more severe then what little A has been diagnosed with Tetralogy of Fallot. A heart defect that is a combination four defects, he had two surgeries before he was one years old and look at what he can do! It sure didn't hold him back!

Or how about the little boy in this commercial? He was also born with tetralogy of fallot! I'm glad to know that medicine has advanced so much that others whom would not have lived can survive and thrive now!

Now this coming week isn't going to be easy not in the least, but will do what we must and survive this next month. Wednesday I go in to be induced. I am a little nervous about being induced, but that's nothing compared to what will happen after my little A is here! That part is where I am nervous. I think I'm ready.. as ready as I'll ever be. I know I'm about done being pregnant. I feel huge right now! Between 5 day doctor appointment I went from measuring at 37 weeks to measuring 39 AND gaining 3 pounds! My body is about done with this pregnancy. Its hard to get in and out of bed just getting ready to go to the store tires me out and my hip keeps going out, slowing me down even more.

 I did have a small laugh the other day. We were being audited and one of the auditors asked when I was due I mentioned I was being induced next Wednesday she had this look on her face and was like and your here??? Well where else am I going to be? Yeash. Even my mom has said she's amazed at how I'm doing this all. I go to work then go home and take care of Connor. Am I tired yes. Sire? yes. Dead tired? Of course! But I have to do what I have to do and I only have to do this for a few more days... um little under 3 days now. Oh boy!

And it all catches up to you.

What an eventful week it has been. Wednesday was very stressful at work. Kept getting calls that night from a co worker trying to get short holds to work. (Only good part of Wednesday was having a snowball fight with my son in the garage :). He never did So I got up early the next morning to try and figure out what was wrong. I didn't figure it out, but I think we got a bad batch of chemicals which can't do much about that! So after trying tell about 9:15 I left for my non stress test and Doctor appointment.
While they were doing the NST I had to have a second monitor to monitor my heart beat rate which was in the 130s the entire time. Apparently my heart rate was so high that it could mask little A's it didn't and he passed the test. So they sent me off to see my Doctor. Who was much better then the last one I had. She automatically came in and said that we need to get my induction date set. So I have a date now! My little guy will be here March 14th! Anyways I left went back to work wasn't there or more then 10 minutes when I got a call from the hospital saying I needed to come back right now! Apparently my heart rate being in the 130s was not good. I of course knew why it was that high, its called lost of hours at work and stress! Anyways go back it was about 2 hours since they had checked it and it was still in the 130s. They had me do blood work and an EKG to check my heart. Well both of those came back fine and my heart rate had dropped to the 110s, still considered high by the time I got the EKG. I was sent home to rest and was told to rest on Friday as well.

Burnt

Sorry I haven't posted been way to tired now but thought I'd try to type something up. Work has been... crazy. I've put in so many hours that yes I'm tired and frustrated. Need to get things done around my house but to tired to deal with it when I am home. Not that I'm home often. Last weekend I worked Saturday and Sunday! So since Sunday I've worked 50 hours and I have to go in tomorrow :/. Been irritable, exhausted... and just want to spend time with my little boy!

That's an old picture but felt like posting one. My doctor appointments have been so much fun right now! Keep seeing different Doctors who give me different answers or who apparently don't even take the time to check my chart before coming in and ask me how far a long I ma. Yeah its a joy. Well found out I'm positive for umm strep B.. type of bacteria that when giving birth need to be given antibiotics so baby doesn't get it. One more thing to add to my list becasue the person I was talking to was like.. if you have to go up to the U before your scheduled induction you'll have to tell them that you tested positive.  Not that a date or anything has been set up. Person on the phone asked if its been setup and aid to get that done at my next app. No idea who I talk to to get that done! I'll just ask around until something gets taken care of. Only good news my insurance has been approved as in-network. So there's that I guess.  They also mentioned I should start doing kick counts.. which I'd love to but I don't have the time. I don't have time to lay on my side for an hour and count kicks. If I'm on my side I'm sleeping! And suppose to be when he most active, guess where I am when his is? That's right work :/.

A day at Primary Children’s Medical Center

I feel him kick, I feel him move and my thoughts go back to where I was standing a few days ago. He feels so normal but I know he is different, special. You could say. Another echo done and the same prognosis spoken, though this cardiologist was more upbeat, he said he believed it was Coa but not nearly as bad as other cases he has seen. Hubby felt better because the first echo he saw nothing wrong no narrowing, but this time he saw it. It wasn’t much but it was there.  The Doc seemed hopeful that maybe it wasn’t as bad as we all thought, that there was a chance, one I’ll be honest I did not want to hear that he may not need surgery. I’m assuming that he does I don’t want to grasp on to possible false hope because I need to be strong for my baby I need to be prepared for him to need heart surgery.  I will try to ignore is goodbye “I hope I don’t see you again!” Me to buddy me to.

Saw New Doctor.

Ok went to my new Doc, well a Doc there not sure who I'll be seeing next week they asked if I cared which one I told them who was ever available. They had me do another ultrasound they wanted to make sure that the did not see other abnomrailities. Appaerntly its common to have otehr problems with a heart defect. Well other then his ine heart defect they saw nothing else wrong. I will be going in for another echo on Friday. What I did learn from teh US is that he's about 5 pounds, has lots of hair and is already in the perfect postion for birth. What a relief! I'm hoping that part goes well so i can have a vaginal birth and not get stuck in the hospital for to long after he gets here. I don't won't to be stuck in my hopsital room the day he has his surgery.

I will be seeing the high risk Doctor once a week now and taking a stress test (they check his heart) once a wekk as well. I would have posted this earlier but I ended up sleeping the last 2 hours. Work is getting to me right now. its crazy. I've done a bit of over time and 14 hours.... worked the last 3 Saturdays, looks like this coming Saturday is going to be me working as well. Can't keep this up I'm almost 35 weeks pregnant! Tired emotional and with a  three year old in the mix its hard.

Only other news I received is they want to induce sometime at 39 weeks. Which little nervous about not that the fact that its 4 weeks away, but because I was a little over a week early with Connor. I better not go into labor before he my induction date... whenever that is! Ok well going to go get my son to sleep so I can go back to sleep still feeling a little dizzy from the long day!

CHD awareness week

Its strange just a month ago I wouldn't have thought about congenital heart defects, but all that changed very quickly. this week is CHD awareness week I wanted to post some of the statistics of CHD. I was rather amazed at how many babies have this, its so much more wide spread then I would have ever imagine. The following facts were taken from The Chirlden's Heart Foundation .

• Congenital heart defects are America’s and every country’s #1 birth defect. Nearly one of every 100 babies is born with a CHD.
• Congenital heart defects are the #1 cause of birth defect related deaths.
• Congenital heart defects are the leading cause of all infant deaths in the United States.
• Each year approximately 40,000 babies are born in the United States with a congenital heart defect. Thousands of them will not reach their first birthday and thousands more die before they reach adulthood.
• Each year over 1,000,000 babies are born worldwide with a congenital heart defect. 100,000 of them will not live to see their first birthday and thousands more die before they reach adulthood.
• More than 50% of all children born with congenital heart defect will require at least one invasive surgery in their lifetime.
• There are more than 40 different types of congenital heart defects. Little is known about the cause of most of them. There is no known prevention or cure for any of them.
• In the United States, twice as many children die from congenital heart defects each year than from all forms of childhood cancer combined, yet funding for pediatric cancer research is five times higher than funding for CHD.
• Congenital heart defects are common and deadly, yet CHD research is grossly under-funded relative to the prevalence of the disease.
• Only one penny of every dollar donated to the American Heart Association goes towards congenital heart defect research.
• Of every dollar the government spends on medical funding only a fraction of a penny is directed toward congenital heart defect research.
• The NHLBI has stated that Congenital Heart Defects are a serious and under-appreciated global health problem.
• In the last decade death rates for congenital heart defects have declined by almost 30% due to advances made through research.

Starting Over?

So much has happened since  learning about Little A's heart defect and things just keep on coming! I got a call from my OBGYN today and I have new appointment with a new Doctor. So goodbye to Dr. Thackeray and hi to Dr. Richards. And ouch! the echogram is going to cost us about 480 dollars and I have another one in a few weeks :/. Not sure how were going to this have another expense on top of it all have to replace out garage door opener its completely broken :/. Only good thing is it'll all come off of our deductible and it'll be almost gone before little A gets here.

Heh my mom just called and told me that they are getting us a garage door opener for Valentines day/ Easter. That will help us a lot!  Trying not to stress about money, but its hard not to. I need to do our tax return I'm going to need it soon :/.

I'm aslo not trying to be upset at the fact that my original appointment was the 10th and now won't see a doctor until the 15th. Long wait when I'm this far along.