4.12.2012

Easter Morning and Aiden Today

We happily brought home Aiden on April 7th, the day before Easter Sunday.  The kids had a blast this year at the city Easter egg hunt and were lucky to have not only their dad but also Uncle Kip and Aunt Nicole accompany them on their hunt.  Sunday the Easter bunny visited our home and left eggs hidden around the living room and dining room area as well as goodies in their baskets.






Here are some pictures I took today of Aiden and a couple with Hannah.








His long finger-toes. 

4.03.2012

Aiden Eli Stromberg

I'm officially a mother of three.  It's been a rough road getting that status, but he's here now and life is good.  33 weeks into the pregnancy I went into labor in the middle of the night and headed to the hospital.  I knew I might go into labor early as I did with Hannah at 34 weeks.  Luckily this time around they were able to stop the contractions before I progressed further into the labor process.  Again I started with contractions two days later and again they were able to stop labor from progressing.  I truly cannot express how thankful I am that my mom came to stay with my family and care for myself, my children and my home so that I could take it easy, super easy, for several weeks.  On March 31st I was 37 weeks and 3 days into pregnancy and this time because 37 weeks is considered to term they did not make any attempt to stop my labor.  I had an ultrasound at my doctor's appointment on March 27th and I was told that my baby was going to weigh 10 lbs 14 ozs based on his measurements.  So my doctor said I had to have a c-section as I did with Hannah.  She was breech, and that's why I had a c-section with her.  Aiden actually weighed in at 8 lbs 11 ozs, so yeah, they were off on their prediction.  The umbilical cord was wrapped around his neck and my doctor said that likely meant that I would've needed a c-section once they discovered that fact if I had been trying for a regular birth.  I find that interesting how that all worked out.  Well, as they were weighing Aiden and assessing his Apgar scores they found that he was working too hard to breathe.  After a six hour trial time taking the CPAP on and off they decided he wasn't improving and Aiden was admitted to the NICU.  He's made quite a bit of progress with his breathing and now he just needs to learn how to eat and gain weight.  Basically the stress of his lung issues has weakened him and made it difficult for him to eat without getting too tired too quickly before he's able to get enough to nourish him.  His other main issue is that he's having some trouble digesting the food he does get.  Each day he makes improvements, but it's a process that will take an indefinite amount of time.  I'm  hoping for about another week at the most, but we just have to wait and see. 

I'm trying my best to take it all in stride and stay positive.  This is my second baby stuck in a NICU and I have to say that's it's hard to carry a baby for 9 months with various complications throughout and then endure the pain of childbirth and then leave the hospital without a baby.  Luckily, it's looking pretty good that he'll be in the NICU less time than Hannah was.  Even though things aren't ideal right now, it will get better.  He'll come home eventually and then I'll have my three kids at home with me.

In the meantime, I've been studying every feature on my new baby's face and trying to decide what he has in common with my other babies and where he's different.  What do you think?