Aiden's Birth Story

Everything happened so fast, but I'll give you as much detail as I can. 

The background info:

I had my 38 week check up and I was having awful bladder pain all day. My OB office takes urine samples at every visit and I was prepared for them to tell me that I had a UTI or something major, because it hurt that bad. So I checked in, peed in my cup and took a seat. My name was called and they checked my weight and took my vitals. I don't remember waiting long to see my doctor. But as soon as she walked through the door she asked me: "are we in labor yet?" That greeting totally shocked me and I replied with a "I wish!" She checked me and I was dilated to 2 cm and effaced 80%. She said his head was really really low and that she would be surprised if I had him within that week. I told her about my awful bladder pain and she said "I think you are just trying to have this baby!" When she was doing my internal she said "let's see if I can stir up labor for you" and she dug around my cervix A LOT. I can only assume that she was stripping my membranes. After she checked me she filled out a form that I give to the receptionist and told me that if I think I'm in labor that I need to just go straight to Labor and Delivery and she will keep me! I was so excited to hear that because I didn't want to be one of those women that got sent home numerous times because they kept thinking they were in labor. That was around 3:30pm. 

After my appointment we went to SAMs to get some last minute stuff and I started hurting really bad. I started cramping down low and started hurting in my lower back insanely bad. I could barely walk and was having to take breaks and lean over the buggy. I had wanted to go to Hobby Lobby, but I was in pain so we decided to just go straight home. Around 6:30 that night I started timing my contractions and they were 3 - 4 minutes apart and lasted 30 seconds to a minute and it stayed like this for about an hour. I called my mom because she's a nurse and I wanted to see what she thought. She said there was no way that was real contractions because I shouldn't be able to talk thought them. All it felt like to me at this point was moderate cramping and tightening. But they were consistent, so I was concerned. My husband was cooking supper for us and we were joking around that I needed to eat a big supper in case I had to go to the hospital. Because I knew as soon as I got to the hospital that I couldn't eat any more. So we decided to watch it for another hour and they got about 2-4 minutes apart. We decided to go to the hospital. When I got there they checked me and I was still at 2cm. They put the monitors on my belly and watched me for about an hour. My nurse called my OB and she decided to admit me. She said that if I didn't break my water on my own, she would come in the morning and break my water.

The moment the nurse came in and told me I was being admitted I was completely speechless. It was go time. I WAS GOING TO HAVE A BABY!

That night was completely crazy and time seemed to drag by. We got to the hospital around 10pm and my IV got started around midnight. Then I had to fill out all of my paperwork and the nurse asked me a thousand questions. Between my nurse bugging me and the excitement that I was going to finally get to meet my little miracle, I got zero sleep. I called close family and announced to Facebook that I was going to be a mommy soon. 

My water never broke on its own. The nurses kept telling me that my doctor would be there soon and the wait was treacherous. I didn't know what to expect from that, but a part of me was just ready to get it over with so that the labor could start and I could meet my baby boy. I got my water broke at 8:30am and they started me on a pitocin drip. My contractions slowly started getting stronger and I was progressing at about a centimeter an hour. I got to 3 cm and I was hurting. They told me when I got to 4 cm that I could get my epidural. But until then I got stadol that made me loopy and tired in between contractions so I was finally able to actually get some rest. I went from a 3 to a 5 within an hour and I was in gut wrenching pain. I was so glad I made progress that quick because I wanted relief. I was having excruciating back labor, so the nurses made me get on all fours to try and flip the baby. Apparently he wasn't in the right position. And it surprised how much that helped with the pain. The anesthesiologist came in and Adam had to leave. I had never been so terrified in my entire life. You had to sit extremely still THROUGH THE MOST PAINFUL CONTRACTION OF YOUR LIFE MIND YOU while he numbed my back and inserted the epidural. It started working super quick. And I got to rest. I got my bladder emptied by a catheter around 1pm and she was supposed to empty it again at 2pm. She completely forgot to empty me again (which wasn't a big deal until after I delivered Aiden.) At 9 cm they turned off my epidural and I had no idea. I started feeling the worst pain in my groin on my right side. And I started to feel his head come down. And I told them that I felt like I had to push. So they let me do a practice push to see how I did with it. But had me stop because my doctor wasn't there yet. My doctor got there and I started pushing with each contraction. At one point I heard the monitor that watched the baby's heart rate, and it started dropping. It freaked me out, but I kept on pushing. They had to give me an oxygen mask to make sure he was getting enough oxygen. And at one point my doctor was like do you feel this? And I felt pressure but not pain. But little did I know that's when they were giving me an episiotomy. I pushed for about 20 minutes and out popped Aiden! But he came out sideways. That's why she cut me, so she could get him out ASAP! And he was born at 3:41pm!! It all happened so fast, but the moment she laid him on my chest is a moment I will never forget.

After he was born he got wiped off and checked by his nurse and I got stitched up. Adam got to hold the baby first, then I got some Aiden snuggles. I was in a lot of pain after wards because I had to pee so bad but couldn't. Once I peed I was in so much relief. Before I got moved to my postpartum room, they started me on some kind of IV medicine that makes your uterus contract to stop the bleeding. Let me tell you, I felt like I was in labor all over again. I was on that drip for almost the whole night. And my OB had one of the nurses "massage" my stomach, but really she grabbed a handful and jerked it back and forth to help push everything out. We got to leave the hospital the next day!

>>>>> Aiden James Dowden <<<<<

Born March 1, 2013
3:41pm
6lbs 10oz
19.5 inches long