Aiden's Home

Aiden was able to come home with us from the hospital last Tuesday, July 18th. He's been home almost a full week now and we are adjusting to having him around. We've had lots of visitors since he's been home so we've had lots of help. He's so adorable and been really good while everyone is here. So, since being home we've given Aiden his first bath (at home). We've had to give him sponge baths so far because his umbilical cord still hasn't fallen off. He actually hasn't minded the baths and is really good pretty much throughout the process. His umbilical cord fell off today so tomorrow we'll be able to try giving him a real bath! Aiden's also enjoyed a ride or too in his swing when he gets a little cranky. We've had to add a little padding and blankets so he doesn't slide around but if we plop the swing in front of the TV he loves the movement and staring at the screen. This past weekend my sister through a shower/birthday party with a bunch of my girlfriends from Iowa. There are a few of us with birthdays this month so we thought we could celebrate them as well as Aiden's birth all in one weekend. We had a great time reminiscing and talking about the good old days. They were all able to meet Aiden as well and they spoiled him with more gifts! Aiden fell in love with them all and I think they all fell in love with him as well!

Aiden Update

Aiden has already had lots of visitors in the hospital. Grandpa and Grandma Ulrich along with uncle Ben and uncle Jesse came up on the Sunday he was born. I was a little out of it but Pat was a proud papa and was eager to start showing off his new son. Ryan and Cory Grimm also stopped by on Sunday to pay a visit and were both shocked at how big Aiden was. On Monday Grandpa and Grandma Helleseth made their first visit to Aiden. Grandma Helleseth stayed in Minneapolis then and was able to participate in many trips to the hospital for our regular feedings throughout the week. She stuck around until yesterday, Sunday, since Pat had to leave on Friday so he could be in his brother's wedding over the weekend. It was a blessing to have her here so I didn't have to make all the trips by myself to the hospital while Pat had to be away. Aunt Jessica made the trip up to Minneapolis on Wednesday and took off back to West Bend on Friday for the same wedding Pat was in. She too made a lot of our regular feeding trips last week and is trying to decide if she's ready to be a Mom herself yet. Today, Monday, is our last full day that Aiden has to be in the hospital. Pat and I are both really excited to bring him home tomorrow. He's already growing, the nurses said he weighs 10 lbs. 2 oz. now. It's amazing how different he looks now, even just after a week.

It's a Boy!

After a lot of waiting we finally gave birth to a beautiful baby boy. His name is Aiden Patrick, he weighed in at 9 lbs 14 oz, measured 22.5 inches in length and his head measured 14.75 cm. He’s a big boy! He has some blond hair and blue eyes right now and looks a lot like his Dad. We went into the hospital on Friday to start inducing me into labor. Saturday afternoon around 2:30 they finally were able to break my water and things progressed from then on. I was slow dilating and Aiden was slow to move down so it was a slow process. When we finally started active labor I ended up getting a fever along with having a few other problems. Because of this Aiden contracted Strep B a virus completely treatable by antibiotics. He has to be on the antibiotics for 10 days so he won’t be able to come home with us until Tuesday afternoon (July 18th). He looks and is acting perfectly healthy so it’s really hard leaving him behind at the hospital. We go to the hospital every 3 hours throughout the day for his feedings…it makes for a long day but he’s totally worth it. Plus, there is an end in site and knowing he’s going to be ok makes it easier too. Any way, thought I’d finally post a picture or two so everyone can get a look at our new little boy, Aiden!

Getting Closer

We are now two weeks out from our due date. I can't believe how far we've come and how close we are to finally having our baby. I've been feeling great and just patiently waiting for the baby to decide it's time to come out. Pat and I have been trying to enjoy a few thing that we know will be hard to do when the baby arrives. We've caught a few movies, gone to a few Twins games, done some work around the house and I've tried to get some cleaning done on the inside of the house. I had my shower at work a few weeks ago and received a lot of really nice gifts. The ladies at work were really generous and I had a really good time. Between that shower, the few things we've purchased and what we've gotten from family and friends we've decided that right now we have everything that is essential to have in order to bring the baby home from the hospital someday soon, at least we hope we do! So, I guess that's about it...for now. Hopefully our next post will be the announcement of the birth of our healthy baby!

Getting Close

Well we're about 5 weeks away from the due date and getting quite anxious for the big day. We finished our birthing classes a week or so ago. We learned a lot and I feel a little less apprehensive about what will happen when I start to go into labor and the whole delivery process in general. Pat feels it was far too much information for him but I know he feels a lot better about everything as well. We've spent the last two weekends in West Bend. My cousin Brandi got married the 6th and Kayla and Sam's graduation party was last weekend. This weekend we're heading to Okoboji for Joshua Merideth's wedding and after that we're staying home until the baby is born. I don't want to get stuck somewhere when the baby decides it's time to bless us with it's presence. My last appointment with my doctor went well. He said my blood pressure actually went down. I have another appointment this week, but so far everything on paper looks good so we're just patiently waiting now for the big day.

Baby Room

We finally have the baby room ready to go! Mom and Kay came up this weekend and put a faux over the top of the baby blue coat we painted on a few weeks ago. The room now has clouds on all the walls and the ceiling. Then there is a break in the clouds in a few spots on the ceiling revealing a night time sky. Also on the one wall Kay painted Noah's ark matching the bedding we have in the crib. It turned out so cute...we love it!

Picture of Me

Ok, you asked for it so here it is a picture of me. Pat had to rearrange my shirt just right so that you could all have the best angle on my belly. We have a little over 10 weeks left and everyday the baby seems to move around more and with more power. It's definitely an experience beyond words. We can also actually see it moving now too. Pat and Jess couldn't believe it the first time they saw it wiggle across my belly...it is pretty cool. This past weekend we actually broke down and painted a room for the baby. We painted it a light blue color and next weekend Mom and Kay are going to come up and marble it to look like clouds...now we just have to come up with a theme!

Birthing Class

We had our first birthing class last night. It's a two and a half hour class every Wednesday night for 5 weeks. My initial thought is what the heck are they going to talk about for that long each Wednesday night. However, it was actually quite interesting and I'm glad we signed up. I think it'll help us get over some of the apprehensiveness we're both feeling about the actual labor/delivery process. Another plus is they made Pat give me a back-rub for a while so he could practice! The class has 14 different couples all due roughly around the same time we are so we got to meet lots of new people all going through the same experiences we are. Of course I've never been in a bathroom with so many pregnant ladies like I was last night during our break! So, things are still going good for us and I promise I'll post a picture of me as soon as I can remember to make Pat take one.

Ultrasound Picture

Here is a picture from our ultrasound that you might enjoy. Our ultrasound was on January 31st, 2006. The picture is a profile of the baby.

First Post

I decided this would be a great way to share and update everyone on how things are going for Pat and I as we enter the last few months of my pregnancy and also to share all our special moments once the baby is born. I know a couple other people that have done this and think it's a great way to keep family and friends in the loop! Right now we have a little under 13 weeks left until our due date, June 23rd, is here. Time is flying by and we are starting to consider all the things we need to get rounded up before that date is here. We are also starting to think about where the baby will sleep once he/she arrives…we have two rooms that’ll work we just have to make a decision on which one it’s going to be. We’ve actually already received a few items for the baby from our families. The first was a blanket that my great aunt Mardell made. We also received a cute little pair of booties from Grandma Ang for Christmas. Most recently Grandma Tory hooked us up with some used items from a mother she baby-sits for. This includes a bassinette, a swing, a chair for the baby to lay in that vibrates, and a toy that sits on the ground and has little toys hanging from it for the baby to play with while it lies on its back. So we have a start!