New years eve 2008, I called Derek to stop by his way home, before heading to my parent's house, to pick up a pregnancy test. At Christmas i wondered, by now i was pretty sure i was pregnant. My family's Christmas was new years day of 2009 and my mom had gotten all of our favorite alcohol beverages. So I needed to make sure! My parents were at a party and Derek and I planned to just hang out by ourselves that evening. It was just Derek , Emma and I so i decided i couldn't wait any longer to find out, Test 1 + test 2 + !! WE WERE EXPECTING AGAIN! We were both shocked because it took a year and a half for Emma and like a week for the 2nd !Well after my first Dr.'s appointment we found out this child was really meant to be, because he came about 3 weeks prior to trying.
My pregnancy was once again going great. 20 weeks rolled around and it was time to find out what we were having. My grandma Jane was flying out of Sioux Falls that day, so I asked her to join Derek, Emma and I during the ultrasound. When the nurse stated we were having a boy , Derek stood about 5 inches taller, Emma was happy as well as Grandma and I. Except the little stinker decided not to let us get a good picture of his heart or face. So I was to come in 2 weeks for another. During that ultrasound we found out there was fluid on one of his kidneys. Sure this scared me that something was wrong but after talking to the Dr., she said it was quite common, especially in boys. She explained sometimes it fixes itself and in some cases there has to be surgery.
The closer we got to due date, the more problems he was having. The fluid was increasing on his kidney,his heart rate was weird at times and I had really low amount of fluid. So for a month I was going in twice a week. Once for a ultrasound and once for them to listen to his heart rate. Aug 20th, I ended up having to take the kids with me. We listened for his heart rate and it was racing one minute then slowing down the next. Then decided to be normal. So then they did an ultrasound quick and couldn't see anything wrong but were still worried. So I took the kids home then met Derek at the hospital. After a few tests at the hospital, it was decided to induce 2 weeks early. My water was broke around 4, started pushing at 10:45pm and Ayden Lee Kuchenreuther was born at 10:48pm. He was 8lbs 10 oz and 21 1/2 in long. I didn't get to hold him long, they wanted to take him and make sure his heart rate was good and that he was fine.
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| Emma meeting her brother for the 1st time ! |
It was fun getting to see Emma come in and meet him for the first time. And I was really trying to stay positive about his kidney, but when the Dr. came in, it wasn't good news. Ayden did have to have surgery. And the we would have to go to the Children's hospital in Minneapolis.And we would have to do some testing on his kidney, send it to the Dr in MN and wait to see when they wanted to do surgery. Ayden was about 3 weeks old when i got a call saying " the sooner the better".
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| Ayden's 1 month pic |
Ayden was baptized Sept 27th. Of course it was a fun joyous day, but was also one of the hardest days too. Ayden's surgery was set up for the 29th and we would be leaving the next day. Emma went home with my parents, and that was hard too, saying goodbye to Emma. Monday we got up there and we did some tests, met the Dr and found out the plans for the next day. Tuesday came and you could tell we were both nervous but didn't want to admit it. Ayden couldn't eat for 3 hours before surgery, then there was an emergency that held us back. So I remember I had Ayden sleeping in my arms, and I paced and paced the waiting room with him, so he wouldn't wake up. I was time, we had filled out the papers, dressed him for surgery, and I had to hand him over to the nurse. That was the worse feeling, handing my 2 month old over for surgery ! The waiting was horrible. It was taking a lot longer than they said it would. Our name finally flashed up on the screen, Derek and I gathered our things and rushed out to see Ayden. He was so pale. But the Dr. said he was doing great !
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Being fed
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The first day he slept nonstop, which I thought was pretty normal. The second day he still wasn't wanting to stay awake. He didn't even want to wake up to eat, which is very weird for my kids.That is when the red flag went up in my head. Later that afternoon his SAT numbers were dropping and soon the machine was beeping. He had stopped breathing.Derek and I were pushed aside as the 5 nurses came running in to assist our nurse. This happened several more times. The last time was the worst, he even had turned blue. I held it together through it all pretty well until i saw my son turn blue. That was the first time I had the thought that we could lose him. He was put on oxygen, was fed through a feeding tube, and had many tests run on him through out the next few days. We started the week with one Dr. and ended the week with 5 doctors.Our 2 or 3 day visit turned into 6 days. It was the worse week of my life.
Now Ayden is fine. He is growing like a weed. He was tested again that next May and the kidney has stayed the same, which is great !! He is ALL BOY. He is wild but then loves to snuggle and loves being read to. His personality is something else. He can always make me laugh, even when i am trying to discipline him.
Ayden for sure has had many surprises for us along the way. I just pray the rest of them from here on out are all GOOD ones !! :-)
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| 1yr pic |
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| Christmas 2010 |
