Aiden: 1 Year Old

It's hard to believe it's been 1 year since I passed out from exhaustion (and that stupid Stadol - NEVER AGAIN) in that hospital room after pushing for THREE HOURS. Oh wait, I mean, I can't believe our son is a year old!! No seriously though, my dad has been sending us texts that Travis was sending out while I was in delivery, forcing me to relive the hardest thing I've ever done in my life. He saved those messages for a whole year!

Our swollen-faced new man (you should've seen his cone head!)

Here's a quick rundown of that crazy experience:

I was 41 weeks pregnant. They hooked me up to Pitocin at 8 am, then I sat for 9 hours. No food, but eventually they hooked me up to a glucose drip since I am hypoglycemic. Around 5 pm, the doctor broke my water - I was 3 cm dilated. The doc couldn't believe how much fluid I had. That explains why the belly was so huge! 5 hours later my contractions started to get strong. I stuck it out for an hour before I decided to ask for an epidural. Sadly, I was still only 3 cm dilated and they wouldn't give an epidural until I was 4 cm. Instead, I opted for Stadol. BAD IDEA. Basically, it knocked me out. I woke up with every contraction, writhing in pain. But at least I was sleeping? It was a horrible nightmare.

Around midnight, I was finally ready for the epidural. I slept HARD for about 3 hours, after which I had to start with the pushing. I could feel it was time. I needed to push. Of course, we had to wait for doctor approval. Thankfully that only took a few minutes. Travis held my left leg the entire time, counting along with the nurses. I have decided that next time there will be NO PHONES until after the baby is born. He had one hand holding my leg, the other was texting all our family in the waiting room. If I was awake enough, I probably would have thrown that thing into the wall!

After a couple hours, they turned off my epidural. As horrible as it was to feel everything, I think that was just the incentive I needed to give it my all.

Aiden was born at 6:07 AM on July 1, 2009.

For the last part, I was closing my eyes between pushes. I never fully slept, but I didn't really have much of a choice since I could not physically keep them open. The umbilical cord was wrapped around Aiden's neck twice, which meant Travis did not get to cut the cord. As soon as that mess was taken care of, they put him on my chest. I was so tired that all I could think was, "Wow, he is warm." That's it. Exhaustion was pulling me under.

After he got cleaned up and the stats were recorded I held Aiden, and attempted to feed him. I guess he was just as tired as I was, so we decided to hold off for a little bit. The family came in to meet Aiden and I arranged to have breakfast (oh sweet delicious food!) brought in. While I was eating, the lactation consultant came in to talk to me. I was delirious with exhaustion and just nodded at the two women who were standing in front of me, not hearing anything. Did I mention that only ONE consultant came in to the room?

The second that woman left, I PASSED OUT. I think I got two hours of sleep before they brought Aiden back. I felt SO MUCH BETTER. I had food, a nap and a chance for that stupid Stadol to get out of my system. Feeding was much more successful that second try. We spent a couple days in the hospital. It was great to have people bring me food, since I felt like I'd been hit by a train.

Despite that chaos, I would do it all over again. I cannot believe how lucky we are to have such a great son. He has his moments, as all children do, but he is the best we ever could have asked for.

Happy Birthday Aiden!

Presenting: Aiden Gregory from Nicolette Ward on Vimeo.