My Little Man is Going to HeadStart. {& his birth story}

Today was a very big deal for me. I kept putting it off until I couldn’t put it off anymore.

I went and enrolled my baby into HeadStart. It doesn’t seem like he is old enough to go to school. Where has the time gone? How has time slipped away so fast? When you look back on everything and realize how precious those moments are. It is so amazing to see him as well as Adisyn learn a little more each day. It has been wonderful being their mom, and I love every hectic second. I wouldn’t trade it for the world.

I thought I would share Aidan’s birth story with you guys tonight. Aidan is my little fighter and I love sharing his story with other preemie moms, so that they have hope.

Aidan was born March 24, 2007 (@ 24 weeks) so he was 16 weeks premature..so you know how much development happens over 16 weeks? ALOT

But here goes the story..

I was 22 weeks pregnant and went to the OB-GYN for an ultrasound, and everything was perfect. We got to find out the sex of the baby, so I was extremely  happy. The only thing that was wrong with my pregnancy was I kept Kidney Infections & UTI’s. (& so I had to take some really gross stuff)..

But I had no clue that at 24 weeks I would  be having a baby. I was staying at my mom’s when Adam was at work, so when I went in, I took I nap. When I woke up I was having terrible back pain. I seriously thought it was just the infections.

Then a little later my stomach starting contracting and that’s when I started to get a little worried. So I called the OB, which her office was closed, so I called the hospital where she was on duty. I didn’t get to talk to her, but someone else who was just as helpful.

He said “Get down here” I lived like 30 minutes away.. He said it could  be Braxton Hicks (false labor) or it could actually be real. So, my mom and my uncle rushed me to the hospital where I was texting Adam non-stop (he was @ work)..

They checked my urine for the infections (which took like an hour)  and said it was clear that the antibiotics had worked..so basically they wanted to check me for dialation. They did and I was dialated 1. So they put me on magnesium and asked if I wanted to be flown to Louisville or Lexington and I said “Louisville”…

They said if the baby was to come, they didn’t have the equiptment to save it. I couldn’t think about it..

they put me in the helicopter & off to Louisville..

When I got in the hospital they checked me for dialation again and told me that I was dialated 10. 10? I couldn’t be dialated 10 (all the way)….& he was coming out (breech) feet first..

So, then I was scared and started shaking (I was only 18 and had never been in the hospital before)..especially not alone with nobody to hold my hand..

They told me they would have to give me an emergency c-section and they couldn’t wait for visitors, and although I was scared to death I just kept saying “do what you have to do to save my baby”..

so off to the surgery room I went. I was sitting on the table shaking like crazy. I wasn’t really crying, because I was in shock. I was upset, but knew I had to remain calm.

So, they put like the biggest needle ever into my spine (which didn’t hurt as bad as I had thought it would) and off goes the surgery.

All I could feel was pulling and tugging on the inside of my body'..I heard them saying “there’s the baby, and there’s the placenta”

I was just laying there when someone walked in and came up to me..he said “I’m here” and so I just thought it was the head doctor or something. He pulled down the mask and it was HIM. It was Adam, come to save the day. To hold my hand and tell me it was ok. Although he had just seen my GUTS outside my body. He just kept saying “it will be ok”…

He asked me if I was ok and if I was cold…I said “No, I’m not cold” he asked “why are you shaking like that” I replied “I’m nervous and scared”…

Something happened right as I said it. I heard them ask Adam if he wanted to see the baby. They said “ you can’t hold him because he is so small, but you can see him”…

They rolled him up to me, and I immediately started crying. He wasn’t like any baby I had ever seen before. He was so small. He was smaller than  a coke bottle…

They wheeled me to recovery where I had to stay for an hour and wait for the anesthesa (spelling?) to wear off…

Then I got to go into my room where I got to see Adam and my family for the first time. They were all scared I could tell. They were acting like they weren’t, like everything was going to be okay. But I knew what they were doing. They were trying to protect me from the hurt. From the hurt of knowing that “My son could die” their may be a chance i have to walk empty handed for the rest of my life, thinking about him…

The nurse came in and told me the risks of having  a premature baby. She said..”The first 72 hours are the most crucial” “We’ll have to see if he takes to the incubator and machines” “50/50 chances….

So then I got to go see him..He was so small. I couldn’t believe how small he was. Weighing at birth 1pound and 13ounces…and being 12 1/2 inches long.

His eyes were still shut and he was on a ventilator..

We couldn’t hold him for 3-4 weeks. We could put our hands in the incubator and hold his tiny little hand, the whole time me saying “please don’t let this precious little miracle die” “please don’t, I can’t handle this.”..

After 28 weeks we got to kangaroo care him (putting him skin to skin with me) this helps to bond  him & I and help him..

The first time I held him he was still small enough to fit in one hand…

He ripped out the white thing in his mouth (picture above) which is called a logans bowl. This helps keep his tubes in place..He started bleeding and I automatically started crying. I was scared and his heart rate was dropping and the nurses were trying everything they could…until finally they got him stable..

Gretta (Aidan’s primary nurse) said “it’s ok“ “he’s ok”..

so..Aidan had to stay in the NICU for 3 1/2 months. Getting to come home on July 9, 2007 just one day after he was SUPPOSED to be born. He would’ve gotten to come home earlier but he wouldn’t eat on his own (he still had to be tube fed)..

The picture above is the first time Alex (My stepson) got to see Aidan..so cute. ☺ we couldn’t take him with us to see him because Aidan was in the hospital during RSV season (which is a small cold to us, but very deadly to a preemie)..

It was extra hard getting used to being a mom of a preemie because there are so many things that could happen to end thier life. So many different types of ruptures and brain bleeds and so on. I was scared so bad.

But he MADE it. I was so happy…♥

He was the smallest baby there, and he got to come home before some did. He was wearing clothes before some of them, and we could even put things in his incubator..like stuffed puppies and turtles♥

It was amazing to see him grow, although we lived life as a hermit. I didn’t take him ANYWHERE and I didn’t go ANYWHERE. Walmart, resturants, and even clothes shopping was out of the question. He could catch something from someone walking or sitting behind us..

But a year later..

he looks so big..

& 2 years later

& 3 years later

He is my little rockstar, playing air guitar to everything including commericals =)

He is a lover of cars and the rugrats..

He is the sweetest little boy always there to help out..smiling, laughing and always wanting to “spin around and around”. He loves the park and just being outdoors period…

He is my little man and I am so glad I am his mommy. He has brightened my life, warmed my heart, and tickled me pink..♥

He is my fighter, my survivor, and overall just an awesome little man.

Thank heaven for little boys♥

♥Jess