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!!!

37 and a half week checkup

Well it was a lot of work but Cliff managed to shovel enough snow to get us to my doctor's appointment this morning. Last Wednesday we got 24 inches. Saturday to Sunday brought another 9 and last night we got another 4. It is pretty crazy around here. Unfortunately our garage entrance is in the alley which makes things even that much more difficult. Luckily we had one of our friends from church come over with a snow blower on Friday and that was a big help to Cliff. We also have access to a four wheel drive truck if we need it but thanks to my very tired husband we should be okay.

At our doctors appointment Aidan's heartbeat was 161, which is very good, and he was measuring at 38 centimeters. And I lost half a pound (which is exciting to me, as long as our little one is still growing). After my exam he told us that I am 2 centimeters dilated and 80 percent effaced. We are obviously new at this so we weren't quite sure what that meant as far as timing was concerned. Our doctor told us that was a little ahead of the game though so we were excited. We don't necessarily want a Christmas baby but having him before January would be quite all right with us. After talking to my mom, however, she informed me that it was not abnormal for her to be 2 centimeters dilated three weeks before she was due so who knows what will happen. Cliff asked what we could do to speed things up and he recommended walking. Being that this is not easy for us right now due to the weather, we decided to improvise. Gazey has been having cabin fever so we went home and got her and headed up to the church building. She ran around the auditorium for about 30 minutes, which she loved, while I did my 30 minute speed walk. We are now back at home for the evening. Cliff is currently on the roof trying to get rid of some of this snow to prevent leeks. I'm hoping he will come down soon and just relax. He deserves it!!!!!

A Very Snowy Anniversary!

Well Cliff and I got a unique anniversary present today. We both got the day off!! Cliff tried to go into work but wasn't able to make it. I called my employer this morning and she told me to not even think about coming in. This was good news to me because it too me 2 and a half hours to drive 7 miles home from work yesturday. So we are taking it easy and enjoying the time together. Let's just hope I don't go into labor considering there is no way to make it into the hospital and they have cut off emergency services to the hospital. Here is a report I found on the internet about our last 24 hour snowfall and some pics and video of the puppy getting her first Winter Washington snowfall. The second pic is of our backyard and the third pic is our front yard. The red truck, that we are borrowing, cliff was able to dig out this morning to get us some groceries, but if you can make it out, there is another car parked right behind the truck. You can't even see it! That car belongs to our temporary roommate Dave. He has been with us since a week before Thanksgiving. I hope he doesn't plan on going anywhere today:)

RECORD REPORT...CORRECTED PREVIOUS RECORD YEAR
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPOKANE WA
1015 AM PST THU DEC 18 2008

...24-HOUR RECORD SNOWFALL BROKEN ONCE AGAIN IN SPOKANE...

LOCATION SNOWFALL PREVIOUS RECORD PERIOD OF
(INCHES) (INCHES) RECORD

SPOKANE, WA 19.4 13.0 IN 1950 127 YRS SINCE 1881


19.4 INCHES OF SNOW HAD FALLEN AT THE SPOKANE AIRPORT OVER THE PAST
24 HOURS AS OF 10AM. THIS AMOUNT SHATTERED THE OLD RECORD BY 6.3
INCHES. THIS RECORD MAY BE UPDATED LATER TODAY SINCE SNOW IS
STILL BEING REPORTED AT THE SPOKANE AIRPORT AS OF 10 AM.

Happy Birthday Dad!!!

Today is my dad's 56th birthday!! Wish I could celebrate with you dad but I look forward to seeing you in less than a month!