Awesome Giveaways @ It's A Preemie Thing.com

I am going to spend all morning on it It's a Preemie Thing @ http://blog.itsapreemiething.com/category/current_giveaways/ registering for all their amazing giveaways!

Cute teething necklaces: http://www.facebook.com/EllieAdorn?sk=wall
It's a Preemie Thing gift cerificate

BabyLegs grab bag giveaway: http://www.facebook.com/babylegs?sk=app_150807158264426

Simply Silhouettes: beautiful custom artwork: http://www.facebook.com/SimplySilhouettes?sk=app_392248091048#!/SimplySilhouettes?sk=wall

Wrapsody: The Wraparound Baby Carrier: http://www.facebook.com/wrapsody?sk=wall

Hope we win something!!

April 28, 2010: One Picture Changes Everything...

Today is the day. I am 22 weeks. We finally get to see if our little bean is a boy or girl! We were so excited and couldn't wait to get back in the little room where they do the ultrasounds. The sonographer that works at my OB/GYN is wonderful and knew how excited we were to finally find out. So I lay down on the table and she gels me up and immediately we see this:

ITS A BOY!!!!!!

There he is... our Aiden Michael (we had names picked out as soon as we found out we were pregnant)

The sonagrapher tried for a few minutes to get a picture of his face. The little booger had his hands up in front of his face every time. Then, finally, a face flashes across the screen and my heart stops. The sonographer saw it too, but Aaron didn't catch it. She proceeds to print out pictures, wipe my belly off, and assist me off the table. We then head into my OB/GYN's office- which I am pretty sure most people don't do after they find out the sex of their baby.

I love my OB/GYN. I often work with him at the hospital and he has known my mother for years. I knew when I saw his face that what I thought I saw was for real. I immediately started bawling. He didn't have to say a word. But he did. He explained that from the pictures Aiden appeared to have a unilateral cleft lip and that usually that is completely isolated and he will not have any other issues associated with it, but he wants us to see a specialist to get more detailed pictures and to see if the palate is affected also. After a lot of tears we head out of his office. In the hallway we pass the sonographer who is awaiting us with a hug. She said she knew I had seen it on the screen, but that she couldn't say anything to me about it. She assured me it would all be ok.

This is what we saw:

Now what do we do? We just got incredible news that we are having a boy and at the same time find out our baby has a cleft lip. We didn't know if we should be excited or sad. After a lot of crying we decided that it was unfair to Aiden to be sad and not celebrate. There was nothing we could at this point. But in the back of my mind I still blamed myself. I was so sick during my pregnancy I relied heavily on Zofran and Phenergan- maybe they played a part in it. I couldn't keep anything down, including my prenatal vitamins- maybe it was caused by some sort of deficiency. Somehow, I was sure that I had caused it. Why else would this be happening to us?

We went on and announced it to the family and on FB just like we had planned. And I was reassured that it was not because of anything I did or didn't do.

March 23, 2010: Too impatient...

So we could not wait to find out what we were having! We bought the stores out of everything duck themed and gender neutral! 

Aaron surprised me and brought home an Intelli.Gender. For those of you who don't know what that is: you pee in a cup that has a powdery substance in the bottom. The HCG in your urine reacts with the chemical in the powder and changes color to "predict" the gender of your baby!

Well it obviously worked for us! But we didn't know it at the time! Just a few more weeks and we will find out way more than just the gender!

February 17, 2010: Baby's 1st Pictures!

Finally! We get to see our little bean! I am 12 weeks along at this point and everything looks great.

Now we cannot wait to find out what we are having! Of course we both decide we don't care if it is a boy or girl as long as he/she is healthy. Just a few more weeks and we will know for sure!

December 2009: Baby on Board!

You know how some people say they just knew they were pregnant without taking a test? Well I was one of those people! I woke up one morning and had this feeling... I can't explain it, but somehow I just knew. I ended up taking a test and.......

There it is! The feeling was right... and we could not have been more excited (scared to death, but super excited none the less) now we just have to tell our parents!

Merry Christmas... oh and by the way, you're going to be grandparents!! SURPRISE!

Time to catch up...

Well, Aiden is 8 (almost 9) months old. So I obviously have some catching up to do! It may take me some time, depending on how much little man allows me to do during the day, but I will hopefully get this thing caught up before too long.

One nasty little bug...

It seems like everyone is getting the dreaded RSV! Every time I sign into baby center.com or face.book someone new has posted that it has been confirmed that their little one has it. UGHH.... that is what I fear more than anything. Aiden only has one more round of the vaccine to go (in March) and *knocks on wood* we have been safe from it so far. I guess we need to quarantine him or put him in a bubble when we go out, but we all know that isn't going to happen. Both mommy and baby would go insane if we couldn't leave the house!
Hopefully I won't be jinxing anything- but Aaron and I were just talking the other night about how lucky we were that Aiden hasn't been sick. His doctors had pretty much guaranteed  us that he would need at least one set of ear tubes (if not multiple). But *knocks on wood again* so far so good.
If we can just make it through the rest of winter without any problems we will be in good shape. I am beginning to think maybe we are finally catching a break. Maybe the big guy upstairs realized he gave us enough to handle right now and that we don't need anything else going on. Maybe we just got lucky. Whatever the reason, I am thankful. We do not need that nasty little bug in our house!

Meet Aiden

Meet Aiden- our 8 month old miracle. He has a smile that will melt any heart that sees it, but he hasn't always had that smile. He was born with a much different smile, what many call a "wide smile." Aiden has a unilateral cleft lip and palate.

He was also born 12 weeks premature. In his short life, our little boy has been through so much, and has more to come. He spent 2 months in the NICU and has had 1 of many surgeries to correct his cleft.

Through this blog I hope to spread the story of our amazingly strong little man, one post at a time.

Every smile has a story...... this is Aiden's