I'm Free!!!

We were excited to take Aidan off of his jaundice machine this afternoon. He only had to be on it for three days, which seemed like much longer, but was a short amount of time according to the nurse. His color is much better and he is much more active and alert then he used to be. Now that we finally have him on a regular feeding schedule we are exhausted. I was wondering why I felt so good the first couple of days when I was getting so much sleep:) Here is a picture of him finally off the machine. You can see how much better his color is. The video is the result of what can happen when parents get stuck in their living room for 72 hours straight and have to be creative with their time. Enjoy and try not to make fun of us too much.

Thanks Holly!!

Lots of people have commented on my new layout. Although I would like to take credit for knowing how to do it, I am not that good with computers. My good friend Holly Packer put it together for me and I think she did an amazing job!! Thanks Holly!! I wish you didn't live so far away so that we could see each other more!

Glow Worm Baby

We had Aidan's doctor's appointment yesterday. Everything checked out fine except his Jaundice level. It was 18.3. A normal level is 13 and a hospitalization level is 25. So our doctor went ahead and put him on an at home photo blanket to watch his jaundice levels. From what we understand it is pretty normal. The nurse came to our house yesterday to set it up. As you can see in the pictures below he is hooked up to a little machine. The blanket that goes around him is a "bili light" which breaks own the bilirubin particles in his skin into tow noninjurious particles which are removed by the kidneys. It is kind of a pain because he has to be on in 24/7 which means we have about a 3 foot area to work with him as far as feeding, changing, and bathing is concerned. He has been a trooper though and when the nurse came to do his check up this morning his level was down to 17.1. This means hopefully he will be off of the machine by Friday. Keep him in your prayers and Cliff and I as well. We have moved everything into our living room and set up camp there. It will be nice when everything is back to normal and he is in the clear.

Video

I meant to add this video below but forgot. Just for fun!!!

Our Baby Story!

Sorry it has taken so long to post this. We have been pretty busy with the arrival of our son. Aidan is now 5 days old and although we are exhausted and a lot of times stressed out, we have enjoyed every minute of it. It all started last Wednesday morning. I woke up with Cabin Fever. It has been so snowy here that it has been hard to leave the house to do anything. Cliff and I decided that the roads were decent enought for me to make it up to the church building to meet him for lunch. I packed up Gazey ane we set off. I noticed some uncomfortableness in my stomach but it really was not bad at all. When we got there the three of us went to the auditorium to do our routine 2 mile walk. I made it about a mile before I was had to stop. Cliff and I then decided that since we had the evening free together we should use our gift card from my parents to have our last and final date together before having to find a baby sitter. That evening we headed out for Apple Bees. Because of the weather it took us 45 minutes to get there. I remember telling him on the way that I thought my Braxton Hicks contractions were starting to get a little worse. By the time we got there we were both starving. We had just put in our order when I told him that it would really stink if my water broke because we were across town from our hospital and it would probably take a couple of hours to get there in this weather and traffic. Literally less than a minute laster I felt like I had just wet my pants. I looked at Cliff and said "I think my water just broke." He said back "Are you serious?" I told him well maybe not, let me go and check. I got up to go the bathroom and came back out immediately and said "we have to go now!!!!" No steak and shrimp for me! We told our waitor, who I now feel very sorry for having to clean up the booth I was sitting in, and we were off. Just like we thought though we got caught in traffic. We were sitting still for about 15 minutes when my contractions started and I was now soaked from head to toe. (even the collar on my shirt was wet) We freeked out because the doctor has always told us to go to the hospital immediately if my water breaks. So we decided to call 911 to ask what we should do. They told us to pull over into the parking lot of a grocery story and they were going to send an ambulance to come get me. 20 long minutes and 4 contractions later the fire truck arrived. He asked me a bunch of questions and told us that the ambulance was on its way but that it was going to take awhile to get here due to traffic. He then told us that he could escort us to the hospital but unfortunately the traffic would not be able to move for them either because there was no where for them to go. So after that discussion we decided to keep on through traffic ourselves with the assurance from the EMT that since this was our first one it would still probably be awhile. Since my contractions were still 5 minutes apart and traffic started to pick up, we decided to stop by the house to grab our bags and for me to change. Looks like we freeked our for nothing. Once we got to the hospital everything was much better. The check in process took forever. They got me all hooked up to stuff and Cliff put in The Office. My contractions continued to be so minor that we were able to watch about 4 hours worth before I had him shut it off. They gave me some meds to make the contractions more intense. After that it got pretty painful. I lasted for about 2 and a half hours with what I considered "want to kill someone" pains before getting the epiderall. It was all downhill from there. They turned down the lights and Cliff and I rested for awhile. I woke Cliff up eventually and told him I thought it was time for me to push. He told me that the nurse said it was still going to be a couple of hours but I told him that she must have been wrong and to go and get her. After she examened me she called the doctor at home to come into the hospital and said "you were right, let's start to push." An hour and a half later our son was born. I started crying so hard that I couldn't see him through my tears. I chose to wait till after he was cleaned up and i was , you know all the fun stuff, to see him. He was more adorable than I ever could have imagined. After a long 38 and a half weeks and 12 hours of labor, it was all worth the wait and agony.

My repair was pretty extensive so the rest of the hospital stay was not as enjoyable as we anticipated, but when we finally got to bring our son home, it was amazing. I still am having some trouble getting around but luckily I have the most amazing husband anyone could ever ask for and I also am on 3 different pain killers which helps. Here are some pics of our first few days as a family. I will try to post pictures on a regualar basis once things begin to settle down.

Say hello Aidan!

I'd like to introduce Aidan Alexander Mullen to the world. Here are just a few pics for now. We should be home from the hospital tomorrow and we will provide more...and share the hilarious story of his birth!

Baby and Weather Update!

Well, Cliff had to cancel another teen event today due to weather. It has been so crazy!!!! We have gotten 42 inches in a week and a half and are expected to have another 5 today. I believe it, it is coming down so hard right now!!!! Cliff continues to shovel snow 2 or 3 times a day. We are really praying it lets up sometime soon.

We had our 38 and a half check up today. Last week I was 2 centimeters dilated and 80 percent efaced. Unfortunately for us, today I was exactly the same. BOOOOO! He told us last week that I would go early and this week he smiled and said "Right on time." I thought to myself, "why are you smiling?" He asked me if I was having any contractions and I told him no. During the exam he laughed a little and told me that I was having a contraction right then. I asked him if that was strange that I couldn't feel it. He stated that all women experience contractions differently and I should be very thankful. I expressed my concern that I wouldn't be able to feel them when I needed to know. He laughed again and said, "Trust me, you will know." I feel a little naive at times about this whole pregnancy stuff but I am learning. For example, as I am typing this I am having a contraction. I just know what it feels like now. LOL. Finally he brought us into his office to schedule a day for me to get induced assuming that Aidan goes past due. I am due the 9th of January and he scheduled it for January 10th. Ahhh, I love my doctor, a lot of ob's wouldn't due that, especially with your first baby. So we now know that we will have the little one no later than 12 days from now. Good news!!!