Our Little Aiden
It was Easter morning, April 16, 2006. I had been on bed rest for 5 weeks due to premature labor. The labor was becoming more intense, and I decided I would need to go in for medication to help slow the labor. The doctor had given me a test to determine the likelihood of delivery, and the results reported that I was not likely to deliver soon. However, minutes later, my water broke. The nurses and doctors stayed amazingly calm, although I was not. I thought this meant that I would need to deliver our baby who was only at 26 weeks gestation. They immediately gave me a shot to help mature the baby’s lungs, and informed me I would be airlifted to Methodist Hospital in Rochester, MN. I knew this was serious.
I laid awake the next 24 hours watching the clock, waiting for the second shot that would help our baby’s lungs mature. I prayed continuously that our baby would hang on and not decide to come yet. Every morning I eagerly awaited the nurse to come in and hook me up so that I could hear the baby’s heartbeat as reassurance he was alright. I felt that I was in good hands in Rochester knowing that I was only minutes from a delivery room should we need it. The doctors and nurses were so kind to me. They stayed in the room and chatted with me reassuring me that they handle babies at this gestational age all the time, and they knew just what to do. I also knew it was in God’s Hands.
After ten days in Rochester, on April 26, 2006, the doctor had come earlier on her rounds and said to be prepared for another boring day in the hospital, which was fine with me. Boring was a good thing these days. But two hours later, the doctor stuck her head in the door and asked “How would you like to have a baby today?” I thought she was joking at first, but she said that my lab results indicated that an infection had set in and the infection could do more harm than taking the baby now, so today would be the day. My husband, John and I, were scared about the outcome. I had to wait most of the day before it was time to deliver. Pastor Ned came to visit and pray with us up until I went into the delivery room.
At 5:22 p.m. Aiden was born. He weighed 3 lbs. 3 oz. and was 16 ½ inches long. We got to see him for a short time before he was transferred to St. Mary’s Hospital in Rochester where they have a Level 3 nursery. He spent 4 weeks at St. Mary’s, first on a ventilator and then on a C-Pap. He was taken off the C-Pap and then put back on with a small setback. He had two blood transfusions in Rochester. When he was strong enough, we were able to transfer him back to our home hospital in Eau Claire, WI. He spent another six weeks in the special care nursery there due to needing oxygen. He started to feed well, but just could not be without the oxygen. He needed another blood transfusion to hopefully get him off the oxygen.
Finally, after ten weeks, Aiden was able to go home on July 6, 2006 which was one week shy of his actual due date. Now he is a thriving 3-year-old boy who loves to do everything his older sister, Alexa, does. He had some bumps along the way with sitting up, crawling, and eating, but he has overcome those things and is a healthy, happy boy who brings joy to our lives everyday with his radiant smile and bright blue eyes.
Aiden – a healthy 3-year-old
It took courage for me to lay still every day for 5 weeks, praying that today would not be the day our baby came. I had a miscarriage prior to Aiden and was scared that he would be born too soon. It was hard to watch our little Aiden laying in his isolette with all the wires attached to him. It wasn’t easy when it took the nurses longer to get him out of the isolette than the minutes we were allowed to hold him at first. It wasn’t easy watching him get three blood transfusions. But these were just little bumps in our road that helped me grow by not taking anything or anyone in my life for granted. I learned about love and empathy of others from our friends and family as well as medical staff during this time.
I would like to pass the courage of the Lion to my two friends, Vicki and Jeanne. They both are teachers. They are both fighting cancer. Vicki has been fighting cancer for two years and Jeanne just started her battle a few weeks ago. Ironically, the mascot at our school is a Lion. I pass these lions on to them with love and hope that their battles with cancer are just a little bump in the road on their long journey of life.
Aiden’s 3rd Birthday
