Aubrey's Story

Aubrey_newborn

Aubrey has had paragraphs dedicated to her here and there for the past nine months, but now it's her turn for the spotlight!

Friday 3/26/10

I woke up around 6:30am having mild contractions. I went downstairs to lay on the couch and they went away after about an hour. No more for the rest of the morning. Around 1:30pm I laid down for a nap, only to be woken up at 2:30pm by a very strong contraction. But, no more after that until after 4pm. Finally, around 6pm they started to have a little bit of a pattern, but were still 10-20 minutes apart. Kyle took Aidan up to Grandpa and Grandma Finn's house, just in case this was "it". Of course, the contractions stopped and I was thinking that there would be no baby on Saturday.

I ate a light supper, watched some tv, and then the contractions started again around 8pm. This time they were only 6 minutes apart, but not terribly strong or very long. Kyle asked when he should call the hospital, and I was very nonchalant about the whole thing. Here I was, thinking I wouldn't have the baby before 8am on Saturday morning. How quickly things changed.

I called my mom and sister around 9pm to let them know I was is in labor. Contractions were still 6 minutes apart and only lasted 30 seconds. After making the calls I went back downstairs to lay on the couch, and BOOM, a strong contraction that lasted forever, my water broke, and I was having painful contractions every 2 minutes. How in the world did that happen so fast?!?!

I told Kyle I wanted to go to the hospital (only thinking...please, let it not be too late for an epidural!). He was two steps ahead of me. My bag was already downstairs and he had started to load the car.

We made it to the hospital in good time. They took me in through the ambulance bay and up to labor and delivery on a gurney. Yes, a little dramatic! Turns out I was only dilated to 6cm, so I still had time for an epidural. I think I requested it before I had even taken off my shoes. :)

Within an hour I had the epidural, and then realized we didn't bring the camera. Oh No! I sent Kyle home to get it, thinking it would still be awhile before things got going. WRONG. The nurse checked me right after he left and I was dilated to a 10 and the head was right there. The doctor wasn't even there yet! The nurse told me not to push, which was very hard because the epidural that I so desperately wanted did not fully work. Yes, it took the edge off, but nothing like it should have. I shouldn't have felt anything, instead I was still in a lot of pain and trying not to push.

Kyle made it back in record time, the doctor arrived, and away we went. Seven pushes later, Aubrey Mae Finn was born at 11:36 pm, about 2 hours after checking into the hospital. Whew, that was a fast one. Much easier than Aidan's birth. More updates to come on life at home with a newborn and a toddler...

Whoopin' It Up

Aidan and I are taking full advantage of my time off before baby arrives. We spent two and a half hours at the zoo on Monday and two hours at the MN Children's Museum today. It was so gorgeous on Monday that we did the full zoo, not just the indoor exhibits like the last couple of times. The monkeys were, of course, the favorite attraction. Aidan now likes to run around instead of sitting in the stroller the whole time. He's a good workout for this pregnant lady.

Today we hit up the Children's Museum, which we've never been to before. Wow, talk about sensory overload. I was so exhausted and brain dead after two hours that I needed to leave, and even Aidan was saying "all done". He loved the area with all the water tables, and the bubbles were especially fun for him. He also enjoyed a conveyor belt that you have to crank with big foam blocks on it. There were a lot of elementary kids there on field trips. I was a little nervous that he was going to get run over, but he didn't seem to mind. They ignored him and he just stared at them. He didn't get knocked down once, so I'd say it was a success.

Climbing/Driving the truck

Blowing gigantic bubbles (with a little help from mommy)

Did You Hear That?

Around 2:30pm today, did you perhaps hear the heavenly choir signing HALLELUJAH? I did. That was the time that I officially walked out of school, knowing that I was done until next school year. Man, what a great feeling!

The staff had a little breakfast for me this morning, the kids threw me a little party this afternoon...it was a great day. No news at the doctor's office. Still just dilated to 1cm, but I'm a-okay with that. I've got a hair appointment tomorrow and want to get a pedicure on Monday. I'm going to enjoy my time with Aidan and Kyle before massive sleep-deprivation sets in.

Compare and Contrast

Now that my due date is only a week and a half away, I've been thinking about how this pregnancy has been different from Aidan's.

Similarities
For the majority of both pregnancies, I felt great
Both went by super-fast
My feet were swollen by the end

Differences
I was horrendously sick the first 14 weeks with this baby
I couldn't sleep through the night after January with Aidan, this time I don't wake up until around 4am
I have only gained 24 lbs (with Aidan I gained 35 lbs)
I'm still wearing my rings...with Aidan I couldn't after January
I couldn't wait to have Aidan, this time I praying I don't go before my due date
I have been having painful contractions that, according to the nurse on Friday, are doing nothing. (Boo to false labor!)

I have had 2 very easy pregnancies, in retrospect, and feel very blessed. (although I could have done without the morning sickness with this one) We still have not agreed on a name, although I have one that I like the best. This is my last week at school and I'm praying it goes smoothly. My sub is coming in on Wed, Thurs, and Fri to get to know the kids. They are VERY anxious (not in a good way) and I foresee some rude little kids toward the end of the week. If all goes according to my plan, I will have all of my paperwork finished this week, time for a pedicure and hair trim early next week, then a baby by the end of next week. Don't worry, I know I have no say in this whole thing. :)

Poop

Why are kids so obsessed with poop? Half the words Aidan says I can't understand, or I can understand, but no one else can. Not the case with "poop". Ever since Aidan pooped in the bathtub he chants "No more poop" at some point during his bath. When I change his diaper he looks at me and asks "No more poop?" "All done poop." Seriously, we've been working on please and thank you for months now, which still just sound like "Peeeee" and thank you is only sounds in the rhythm of thank you. But, poop, well, no doubt about what he's saying with that word. I guess I should be thankful that he now realizes we don't poop in the bathtub, only in the potty or his diaper.

Baby #2 update:
I had my 37 week check-up on Friday and all looks fine. I'm about 1 cm dilated and they still think this baby will come around March 24. The nurse practitioner did a quick ultrasound to make sure the baby was head down. She is. This wasn't the exciting ultrasound where you get to see your baby and ooh and ahh. This was a little more of a freak show that may end up giving me nightmares about what my baby will look like. She's so squished in there, and the ultrasound was so low-tech, that all I could see were blackened eye sockets and her teeth. Yes, her teeth, in their gums. She looked like a skeleton that would pop out of a closet in a scary movie. Not really how you want to picture your unborn child.

Ready?

As I write this, I am listening to high school hockey on Internet radio. Not something I would have predicted 10 years ago, but I've been sucked in. Aidan keeps pointing to his ear and saying "hockey". Yes, we're listening to hockey. Kyle's team is playing in the second round of Sections (they won 10-1 on Thurs) and are beating Bloomington Jefferson at the moment, 3-2. Not sure if my pregnant body can handle the excitement! The announcers are so animated any time the puck goes near the net that there is constant tension. Deep breath, I hope we win.

I am now 36 weeks pregnant and finally feeling some motivation to make sure everything is ready for the baby. Aidan and I hit up "baby store" (as he calls it, aka: Babies 'r Us) this morning. The baby's room is now ready to go minus a changing pad. I forgot that our changing table is two inches shorter than a normal one and I have to order the pad online. Not a big deal. I think the only thing we don't have for this baby is a name. That's right, not one single name that we agree on. We have 4 weeks, right? That's plenty of time. Feel free to add comments with some name suggestions...we are in need of some inspiration.

Elmo Hockey

As we were driving home from the mall today Aidan kept shouting "Elmo" from the backseat. I asked him if he saw Elmo outside, to which he replied "Yah, Elmo outside". Elmo was not outside. I looked. Then Aidan said "Elmo, hockey". I know Elmo does a lot of things, but I've never seen him play hockey. Aidan is pretty convinced that Elmo likes the cold outdoors in MN and also plays hockey. Apparently he is gaining a very active imagination.

Speaking of hockey, Kyle's team beat their arch rivals in the final game of regular season, earning them 2nd seed in the conference. Sections start on Thursday, or as Kyle put it "Only 6 wins away from state champions." We wish them luck and I'm even okay if they make it to state because hockey will be over before the baby comes.

Stick A Fork In Me...I'm Done

It's official. I have formally entered the "I'm done being pregnant" stage. It's not fun or cute anymore. I'm tired, my back hurts, and I can't sleep comfortably. The bright side is that I haven't had heartburn and I only have 5 1/2 weeks left. Deep breath, I will make it.

We've had an exciting Valentine's/Chinese New Year/President's Day weekend. (They sure packed a lot of holidays in a 2 day period this year.) Saturday brought an afternoon hockey game where Aidan was lucky enough to not only see Daddy coach, but Grandpa surprised us and was there too! The rest of the afternoon he could be heard saying, "Daddy at hockey, Boppa (grandpa) at hockey, Aidan at hockey, Mommy at hockey". At one point I asked him if Roxie was at hockey and he looked at me and said "Roxie home". Like, "Duh Mom, you were there, you know Roxie wasn't with us."

We have also been working hard on manners and saying "please" instead of whining. Today I asked him to throw something in the trash, handed it to him, and he looked at me and said "please". Yes, I meant "put this in the trash, please." It's funny to be corrected on your manners by your 22 month old. :)

The most exciting part of the weekend is yet to come. We picked up Aidan's new crib and dresser today, which we'll put together tomorrow. Monday night will be Aidan's first night in his "new room" aka: the current toy room. We dropped off another load of stuff at the Salvation Army today in an attempt to make more room in our ever-shrinking house. When is the Square Footage Fairy going to grace us with her presence and add more space to our house???

If there is any time left over between moving Aidan into his new room and my late afternoon doctor's appointment, I'm going to try to take Aidan to the zoo. Very ambitious of me, I know.

Party Animal

Aidan has been a party animal the past few weeks. Last weekend we helped his friend, Adelyn, celebrate turning 2, today we celebrated Jackson's 1st birthday, and tomorrow we're going up to Grandpa and Grandma Finn's house for a little Super Bowl action. All this birthday-partying begs the question, "What am I going to do for Aidan's birthday?" Um, not sure. We'll definitely go out for dinner on his actual birthday barring I'm not in the hospital having a baby. An actual party though...still up in the air about that one. The weekend before his birthday is right after my due date and the weekend after his birthday is Easter. I'm thinking if we have a party, we'll push it into April and do it at some other venue that I do not have to pre-clean or post-clean.

Aidan has had several mini-breakthroughs this week that have delighted me.

1) He has started calling himself "Aidan" and refers to himself often. "Aidan's chair", "Aidan's spoon", "Aidan happy" all while point to his belly or chest.

2) He wants to sit on the potty like a big boy, then flush it. (no, he doesn't actual go potty yet) A training toilet is on the Target list for tomorrow.

3) He is talking about events that happened weeks ago. i.e.-He points to the empty chair at the dinner table and says "Kali's chair". Yep, that's where Aunt Kali sat when they visited for Christmas. When I picked him up from daycare on Friday he asked me "Mommy's doctor?" Nope, we weren't going to Mommy's doctor (I had already been there before I picked him up) but since we had done that the week before, he thought we might go again.

Minus the screaming tantrums when he doesn't get to eat applesauce or waffles, he's a fun little guy to be around right now!

Pregnancy Update

I had my 32 week appointment on Tuesday and, for the most part, all continues look good. My belly was measuring about a week behind, which I am NOT going to complain about...maybe this baby will be smaller than Aidan's 8 lbs 13 oz. The nurse practitioner could not find the baby's head, so she wasn't sure if she's breech right now or not. Nothing to be concerned about until 36 weeks, but then the baby needs to be head down. I'm crossing my fingers that she's not breech because I've heard nothing but horror stories about how painful it is when they try to turn the baby.
In other pregnancy news, I've decided to switch back to the clinic where I went for Aidan's pregnancy. I initially thought they weren't technologically advanced enough (ie-no 3D ultrasound, didn't test my urine for protein, etc) but the clinic I switched to has made me wait up to an hour(!) each time I visit. Out of my 8 visits I have only seen a doctor twice because they always end up "behind schedule" or "unavailable" when I have an appointment scheduled. I got so frustrated after my hour and twenty minute visit on Tuesday (where they only measured my stomach and listened to the heartbeat) that I decided I was done. So, at this late stage in the game, I am switching clinics. At least I know all the doctors at the clinic I'm going back to, and maybe I'll even get the doctor who delivered Aidan. She was fantastic and stayed with me the entire two hours I spent pushing. I was so impressed that she didn't just pop in for the last five minutes of delivery, then disappear, never to be seen again. Any way it happens, I know I'm going to be more comfortable delivering with a doctor that I've had the chance to meet versus a strange person who couldn't find the time to see me while I was pregnant.