Traces of Ayden: Ayden Brooks Jones

He's here! On my birthday, April 26th, Ayden decided he wanted to begin his journey into this world. I woke up around 3am feeling a lot of pressure accompanied by periodic back pain. Soon after waking up, I noticed the pain in my back getting sharper. I woke Jeremy up and and told him what I was feeling and told him I was going to time the pains. They were coming 8 minutes apart and had begun to radiate towards my abdomen. As time passed, the pains got stronger and stronger, so we decided to get dressed and pack up the car just in case we had to make a quick trip to the hospital. At around 8am, I called the OBGYN hotline and spoke with the midwife on call, Freida. She instructed me to take a hot shower and continue to monitor how often the pains/contractions were coming. After I hadn't called back in a while, she called me to check in. I told her the contractions were now coming about 6 minutes apart and that they were staying pretty regular. She had us meet her at the OBGYN office and she checked to see what kind of progress I had made. I was still 1cm and 50% effaced - but she called me a "loose one". She said she felt certain that in 12-24 hours we would see a baby :) She told us to just go home and wait until the contractions were causing me to huff and puff so much that I couldn't talk through them. So, we went home and actually decided, since it was my birthday, to continue with our plans to have family and our small group over for a get together. All the while, I'm sitting around with my stop watch, timing contractions and breathing through them. (bizzare to me still that I was in labor during my own birthday party). Once everyone left, we decided to try to go to bed. I told Jeremy I was going to take another shower to see if it would ease the pain. It had the opposite effect - once I got out of the shower I could barely stand, and the contractions had started coming 3-4 minutes apart. I laid down, which helped, but the pain was getting more intense. I decided to call in again and speak to the midwife on call - Deette. She told us to come in and get checked by the triage nurse. When Deette came to check in, I was 3 cm and she told me I could stay (yay!), and that we were having a baby!

We got into the LDRP room (the room where you labor, deliver, recover, and stay....and room in with baby) and they hooked me up to some pain medication. At this point, it was just a waiting game. Hours passed, and with each hour I dilated another cm. They decided to give me Pitocin at about 10am. At that point I was 6cm. By 3pm, I was ready to push. I did get an epidural, but it wore off on my left side twice. While I was pushing, I was feeling the pain - just on one side.

Once I started pushing, Deette seemed to think we'd have a baby by 4pm. My thought was, I can not push for an hour!! I looked at Jeremy and said - I'm not pushing that long - we're getting him out now! I pushed for 30 minutes...and out he came! :) Words can not express the elation I felt throughout the whole experience. It was nothing like I expected. Sure I felt pain, but nothing like I imagined. The pain was all negated by the anticipation of meeting this little miracle I had carried for the past 9 months. Birth is an amazing experience, and I feel fortunate to say that it's one that I will look back on as a wonderful experience. I was determined to remain positive and upbeat. The 36 hours of labor and waiting....all worth it once he was here. I will NEVER forget how it awesome it felt when he was here and lying on my chest....crying, grunting, and sighing away. :) I marvelled at God's creation and how intricatly he designed childbirth. The way the child just knows what to do...how to descend....and how the mother is able to find the strength to push her child into this world. God is so amazing, and I'm so thankful that I was blessed enough to have this experience.

Ayden arrived at 3:36pm weighing in at 7lbs 14oz and he was 19 inches long. He has a head full of dark brown hair, and his eyes are a dark gray color. He looks like me in his face, but he has Jeremy's hands, feet, and torso. I was already in love with him from the beginning, but once I held him in my arms, I felt a love like I never believed could be felt. He's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen, and he's all ours!

Jeremy was great throughout the entire process. He was there for me through the epidural (which wasn't bad at all), and he played an active role in the delivery. I was afraid he would be a little freaked out, but he just kept saying how amazing it was....how much of a miracle childbirth is....he was just in awe throughout all of it. He kept me calm and reassured me afterwards when they had to take care of me and my repair. I did have to receive some extensive repair, and if Jeremy hadn't been so calm about it, I probably would have been very afraid. Apparently, I lost a lot of blood and had a really deep tear - one that isn't as common as most. He kept his cool though and talked me through the whole process. Dr. Bayne had to come in to take care of that because Deette (my midwife) didn't feel comfortable handling it. They were great. They walked me through what was going on and how it had happened. We discussed education, autism, children's names, and just kept it casual. If they hadn't done that, I probably would have been really worried. By the end of all this, an hour or so had passed. I told Jeremy he needed to tell everyone that Ayden was here and that I was okay. Soon afterwards, a flood of people came in to see us. Surprisingly, I was still full of energy...requesting goooood food for supper. :) Ayden was calm and content, receiving a lot of love from friends and family.

It's hard to believe that I gave birth on Monday! I still feel my belly and expect to feel him there. I have to remind myself that he's not there anymore - that he's really real and finally here with us. He is an absolute blessing and the most beautiful baby I've ever seen. When he looks at me, I just melt. I can't help but cry when I look at him sometimes. He is proof of living miracles and God's immense love. And to imagine...God loves us more that I could ever love Ayden. That's a depth of love that goes way past my understanding....

Well, I'll leave everyone with a few pictures. We're doing well and adjusting to life as parents. We're loving it!

Me before the labor got too intense....